Running for hours on end!

One of my coaches had recommended doing a 4 hour LSD run during my marathon training. Even though my time goal is 3:40 he thinks it's a good idea for my body to get the feel of running 4 hours, so I took him up on the advice.

I don't know what was wrong with me this morning, I ended up leaving the house without my brain. Here goes the series of unfortunate events 

*Arrive at Wildwood trail mile marker 24 3/4 and meet up with Eric and Baier. Pop my trunk to get my hydration and nutrition and come to realize I left ALL my nutrition on my kitchen counter top! WTF #1. Quickly I call Nicole who has yet to arrive. Bless her heart, the girl drives to the nearest store and returns with 6 Power Gels. This would be my first save of the day. Run starts 45 minutes late. Yes, I am a tool.

*70 minutes into the run I fall, but luckily I wore pants today and it was a soft fall on moss. 

*80 minutes into the run and I get a kamikaze bee that flies right into my left palm. OUCH! WTF#2. So I stand there for a few minutes and dig the little stinger out which had somehow gotten buried into my skin. 

*120 minutes later arrive at car to fill up on hydration and fuel. Go to grab my keys....uh oh! No keys, must have dropped them when I fell. WTF#3. And to make matters worse all my hydration and nutrition where sitting comfortably in my locked POS car. Grrrrr! Eric the superstar he is gave me the rest of his Gatorade and a water. I still had one Power Gel left but knew ultimately this run was going to end in disaster. I was going to be caloric deficient and Gatorade is an arch nemesis on my GI. Oh for the love of God. Nicole and I decide to run back and see how we felt "when" or "if" we found the key. Thankfully 2 miles in and we cross another runner who asks us if we had lost a key. YES! One less thing we had to worry about. 

*180 minutes and it's time to turn around. The sugar from the Gatorade did a lot for my energy but in return started a small storm brewing in my tummy. Ugh....

*210 minutes and I take down fall #2. This was a bad one, I fell hard and landed on my right hip. F#@$!!! Ok, pull yourself together, you only have 30 more minutes to go.

240 minutes - 4 hours and 24 miles later Nicole and I reach the finish. Woot! Woot! I survived! 

A few things I learned....

*Lots of things can go wrong but that doesn't necessarily mean that the end result will be bad.

I* am surprised that my body doesn't hurt. Ok, well my hip hurts but there is reason behind that. As for my legs and back, well they feel pretty damn good. I am also surprised I was able to cover so much mileage with hills on a trail with such a low HR. I ended up averaging 151 bpm. Keeping that low HR was essential for me to finish since I was lacking nutrition.  

*Gatorade is the axis of evil. Although I wouldn't have been able to make it without that 150 calories....my tummy is still paying the price 3-4 hours later, ugh.

*I have some really kick ass training buddies. 

BTW, this was a PR for me longest time and distance running.

Post run Nicole had to run (hehe) off to the circus and I was hungry so I decided to make a stop on the way home. The question was, where to go? My mind and tummy battled between sushi, Burgerville and Reo's Ribs. Mmmmm, BBQ. Reo's Ribs won. They have the BEST BBQ I have ever had! What else would you expect from a restaurant owned by Snoop Doggs Uncle? Endurox held me over for the 40 minute commute. I pulled in and was instantly greeted with the smell of bbq smoke from the pits, my mouth started watering. I ended up getting 3/4 lbs of Beef Ribs and Brisket (that's a whole lot of meat for me!) coleslaw and home made cornbread. I sat there and ate my food and thought I had died and gone to heaven.