20.5: the good, the bad, and the very very ugly

As I mentioned, crazy training begins in August.  (Oh.  Yeah!)  In 2009, I only did one 20 miler and it was so bad I couldn't even write about it.  In 2010, I did three twenty milers, the first one sucked, the second one apparently rocked, and number three went back to bad times.

This year, my first "20 miler" actually wound up being an 18 mile work out at the gym.  (While I'm crazy for long runs, I'm not insane.  It was just too hot to be running outside.)

Today was the second 20 miler on my schedule and I tried a brand new, I would say more challenging, route.

 

The Good:

• The route - was definitely good.  It was definitely challenging but that long down hill bit around Ft Snelling came at just the right time and really loosened me up.  It was a more challenging route.  Mentally it was challenging because the trip to Ft Snelling is like an 'out and back' to the rest of the route, although the dread I built up in my mind was out of proportion to the actual experience, which was quite relaxing really.
• The pacing - I kept myself paced quite nicely.  I didn't bring my phone (consequently also had no time keeping device) but the fact that I could still run at the end tells me I was doing a good job.
• Nutrition - I got a cliff bar or something yesterday at Run N Fun when I stopped to stock up on Gu and Chomps.  I always used to have protein bars as part of my nutrition plan and I like it.  It's a little protein and a little salt.  And actual food while I can still swallow.  (Later in the run Gu is the only thing I can get down.)
• Incentive to get done - I had an unusual incentive today.  A colleague is leaving our office for another job and her good luck party was this morning right before lunch.  Meaning I had to get DONE so I could make it and wish her luck.

from here; Franklin Ave Bridge

The bad:

• The head games - I am a nut case, ok.  I worry for no reason.  I worry about anything.  And today was no exception.  As I alluded to before, I'd built a sense of dread (as in, 'this will be boring and awful') about running along Minnehaha falls on the way back from the fort, really the whole road back from the fort.  The dread made some of the earlier run worse.  That part of the route was fine except the lack of water fountains.
• The humidity - but yeah! for me for staying calm (about that at least) and giving it a go anyways.

The Ugly:

• GI Issues - I sometimes consult on a project with this nurse practitioner who is also a runner.  Through an odd conversation, she too recommended Imodium before long runs.  I have not discovered the magic.  I've tried it a couple times in the past with varrying success.  For a 10-miler in cool weather it worked fine.  During Twin Cities last year it rectified the, um, urgency and frequency issue but upset my stomach terribly.
  Today, definitely reduced the urgency issue, which has been my biggest concern.  It did totally upset my stomach.  I also forgot how it exacerbates dehydration.  Yes, sweating is a side effect of that medication.  Serious.  On the plus side, drinking gulps and gulps of water was about the only thing that didn't upset my stomach.  (It normally does.)
  So I don't know what to do.  My choices seem to be go un-medicated and pray for facilities (or at least a good hiding spot), or go medicated and deal with an upset stomach.
• Minneapolis Park Board - Yo!  WTF?  You are so awesome at setting up port a pots along all the running trails and at the lakes.  Why make it so no one can use them?  (I refer you to the time the thing was physicially turned around so I couldn't get in the door)  Today, there were two pots with freaking pad locks.  Why?  They've been there all summer.