Suddenly, I remember the merits of HYRDRATION

I've been tired and grumpy all week.  While running 10 miles on Tuesday was certainly a great idea, I think it really took a lot out of me.  I'm also experiencing how much calorie restriction can reduce my energy as well.  (And I'm not even restricting my calories all that much.)

This morning when my alarm went off at 5:30am (there is no way on god's green earth I'm getting out of this bed) I re-set it for much later and planned on going to the gym after work.  But then when  I did get up at 7:15, no, 7:45?, hmmm, sometime after 8am I realized my running gear was packed from yesterday when I bailed on Team:Work because of the rain.

Endomondo is this new app I put on my phone.  I decided a hill run after work would be the perfect time to try it out.  (I'm already packed for it and I love the route.)  As I mentioned a few days ago, my iPods are crumbling before me so I needed a new run tracking method.  My phone is currently the only gear I own that can accommodate the job.

75* was the temperature when I started the run.  (Tell me again why I thought this was a good idea.)  I really do love the route.  Against my better senses, I started *liking* this new app.  (Really, it was only supposed to be a replacement for a week or two while I save up for a new iPod.)  Suddenly the same voice as my GPS lady is whispering in my ear, "one mile, your pace is....", and then a bit later, "two miles in ....minutes, second lap time is ....minutes".  Well, that's really nice.  I was even more impressed when I got home and logged onto their website and found:

A map of my route.  I've never used a GPS enabled device on my run before.  Think of all the time I won't have to spend drawing out routes on Gmaps.

A pace chart (the yellow line) and and elevation profile to go with the pace chart.

A lap pace chart - the bunny was a mostly down hill mile.  The turtle... I can explain.

The jury is still out (it was only one run after all) but I am encouraged by the initial results. I'm not totally a fun of running with my phone.  (Which I know is odd.)  It's heaver than my iPod and I don't have a good arm band for it.  The biggest question is how this sucker will hold up for having the GPS active and music player running four or five solid hours as can happen in my long 20-milers.

The run, as you can see, was not one of my best, but it was ok really.  It was hot when I started, as I knew it would be, and there's not a ton of shade.  Even though this was a slow run, I did work out (finally) why I've been having so many digestive issues.  Today I had the same problem.  (And there's no facilities around there.)  I finally put together that I hadn't hydrated properly (or at all) and that was probably related to my distress.  I certainly wasn't hydrated on Tuesday either, the last time I had said issue.

Some google searching when I came home lead to two helpful articles, this one reminded me that high fiber foods are bad.  (That quinoa dish is probably out for a while.) and this second article mentioned that dieters are more likely to have digestive issues while running than non-dieters.  (It doesn't say what kind of diet, like calorie restriction or only eating certain foods, but it is relevant.)

Even after all this running, I still have a 16-miler to do this weekend.  I'm starting the hydration plan now and hoping for a more pleasant experience.