Tuesday, October 24, was the first run on the schedule after having to skip training for most of week 7, including skipping the Palo Duro Trail Run. (One of my favorites. I’ve registered for it four times but have only managed to run it that first registration in 2018.) 8 miles was on the schedule for the day. I put off starting until late afternoon, which is always risky. That late in the day, it’s as easy for me to skip it because it’s “too late” as it is to skip a morning run because it’s “too early.” 🙂
It was actually a perfect afternoon for a long run. I got started at 4:30 pm. There was a strong 14 mph wind blowing out of the southeast. I tried to capture it in a photo, but this was the best I could do. My ponytail, which is usually unseen from the front, is blowing all around my head in the wind.
I felt strong and comfortable for the first 6 miles, comfortable enough that I found it easy to manage my pace and not start off too hard. During the first 2.5 miles, I was running 1:1 (1 min walk:run) intervals. I was having trouble with the interval timer app on my phone and had forgotten my GymBoss, so I started running intervals by my heart rate . When it dropped down into the 120s, I’d jog at a slow pace until it got back up into the 140s. Then I’d repeat the process: 120s, jog, 140s, walk. Based on the workout charts in Garmin Connect, I was able to keep that up–although at increasingly longer walk intervals–into mile 7. That’s about the time I think I hit the proverbial wall. Definitely no doubt that I slammed into it at the end of mile 8.
Of course, that last mile is mostly up a slight incline. My pace dropped down to around 19:30 and 21:30 minute per mile. That’s slower than my easy walking pace. My heart rate was stuck in the high 140s, low 150s. The muscles from my low back to my ankles were so tight it made it hard to walk. I was still able to keep going to make it back to the house. Now, once back at the house and stopped– That’s another matter entirely.
My legs were trembling. Not surprising. I often experience fatigue in my legs after a hard effort. Given that this was the first run I’d done in a week and it was 8 miles long, this one definitely qualified as “a hard effort.” I’d carried plenty of water with me and drank it steadily on my route. However, since I was so shaky, I decided to suck down some IV Liquid I had prepared and cold in the refrigerator. I took it over and sat down in a recliner, took my shoes off and waited for recovery.
Except my calves were “zinging,” that’s the only way I can think to explain those tight, painful muscles. If I had to stand up, like to get some cold water after I’d had enough of the sweet sports drink, the muscles from butt to calves would have these little quaking spasms. Not cramping just yet, but a threat of future pain. On my feet again to get my massage gun and back to the recliner to start on my legs with gentle impact massage. That’s when my whole body started shaking. Not just trembling, but full body shakes like I had a really, really bad chill. The kind of shakes that make your teeth chatter and your speech stuttering gasps. Ummm…yeah…that’s not good.
My preference would have been to soak in a nice, hot tube of Epsom Salts water. Unfortunately, the hot water spigot doesn’t work in the tub. There’s a bench seat in Dad’s shower, so I settled for a really hot shower. It took quite a while, but it eventually seemed to work. I stopped shaking and my legs stopped spasming. I was able to rub some magnesium oil into my legs (a substitute for the Epsom Salts soak) after I’d dried off. It seemed to do the trick. I had no leg cramps, even during the night–which are the worst! Nothing like getting snatched out of sleep by horrible pain.
Based on my research, it seems the most likely culprit of those whole body shakes was complete depletion of glycogen in my muscles. Another possible culprit was low blood sugar, which my research said was very likely with individuals who are diabetic (and I think pre-diabetic, as I am, qualifies). I didn’t think to check my blood sugar, but I wasn’t dizzy or faint and I still had enough energy to get up and get the things I needed. I settled on depleted glycogen and began to research how to “load” glycogen since it’s not so much blood glucose you need for endurance sports as it is glycogen which your muscles then break down into the glucose used.
I told a friend recently that I really liked the “science” I was learning and using as I sought a way to address each new issue or obstacle in my training. She agreed that we can feel like our own personal science project when we’re training for ultra distances.
So…there was another 8 miles on the training plan for Thursday, two days after the worrisome slam into the “wall” on Tuesday. I was a little fearful of trying it. I was at last eating normally, since I didn’t take the last dose of Mounjaro I had. I decided to give it another day or so to build up my glycogen stores. LOL You can say it, “silly scared-y cat.” It was rainy and raining too, so there was that. 😉
Also in the plan was the Chupacabra Trail Run at Cameron Park in Waco on Saturday. A 15K (9.32M) course, most of which was on the twisty, windy trails up on top of the bluff. I really wanted to test myself on that course since I hadn’t done the XTERRA race in June. It was still raining race day and I didn’t feel I could tackle all the challenges at one time–technical terrain, wet muddy technical terrain at that, the distance, and the cut-off. Their 3.5 hour cutoff meant an average 22:32 minute per mile pace. The best average pace I’ve gotten on technical terrain in the past two months was around 23:00 min/mi. I was pretty sure I couldn’t make the cut-off. However, it would give me the opportunity to test myself on that course since I’d been training more consistently. But, as I said, it was still raining on Saturday. And 5:30 am was too damn early to get up after not going to sleep until about 1:30.
No, I didn’t get up and drive to Waco to run the course. What I did do, was get my butt out of bed, into my running gear, and on the county roads by 10:15 am to at least run the distance on Saturday. 9.55 miles at a 17:39 min/mi pace. No trembling legs after and, especially grateful, no muscle spasms or whole body shakes. I also made myself run/jog the heart rate intervals until the last mile when my heart rate wouldn’t come down any longer.
I find that my legs don’t tighten up as badly if I jog for much/most of a long distance. Walking it, the muscles just get tighter and tighter. That’s not to say I didn’t have tight muscles–or hip pain, because I was doing much more jogging than I usually do on those longer distances. However, I did have a 90-min deep tissue, full body massage scheduled for Saturday afternoon. That turned into a very good training day over all. I’m happy with the flexibility I allow myself since I still struggle so much with consistency and motivation.
Sunday was a rest day, so ended week 8 of 50K training. (18 more to go!)
