Monday: 6.5 miles

Thursday 4.5 miles

Saturday: 14 miles in 2 hrs. 13 min; 9:30 a mile. Felt sluggish throughout

Total for Week: 25 miles

Last week’s mileage was lower than usual. I didn’t do my weekly 4.5-mile fun run with Dr. Ed Wolfgram Tuesday morning for a couple of reasons, one being that the 75-year-old psychiatrist competed in and won his age category at the Louisville Ironman 2 days before.  That’s right. Less than nine months after open-heart surgery to replace his aortic valve, Wolfgram was back in Ironman action, swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles and running 26. 2 miles. He heads to Hawaii for the World Championships next month. I’ve switched out my photo above for his at Ironman Wisconsin in 2003.  Makes me and my marathon seem wussy, eh?

The other reason my mileage was down last week was because I was busy at work and then on Thursday, I postponed my 6.5-mile run until after work because it poured all morning long. Alas, it was still pouring late afternoon, so I sucked it up and went out but for only 4.5 miles because I had to be home and showered for something. The rain wasn’t bad at all since I wore a waterproof jacket and baseball cap to keep rain out of my eyes. In fact, as I’ve said before, running in the rain on a warm day (though this day wasn’t so warm) can actually be fun.

I did eat too much for lunch at 1:30 that day and was still feeling full at 4:30 when I began running. (Yes, I ate THAT much). I was very sluggish during the run, got a side stitch (highly unusual) and felt slightly nauseated. I’m guessing that my blood was divided between my legs and stomach, which means neither was getting enough for what it was doing.

Yesterday, (Monday) I ran 6.6 miles in 58:50 (8:55-minute miles) and felt really good.

Saturday’s long run was hard. I hadn’t been sleeping well and was tired from the get-go. I didn’t feel like carrying Gatorade with me as I ran to Forest Park, but I did drink a lot of it afterwards. I typically don’t drink Gatorade until after I get above 12 miles on long runs and then it suddenly seems to be a necessity for both carbs and electrolytes.
What do you use for endurance sports and at what distance or amount of time do you feel it becomes necessary?  I’m curious to know.