Caramel Karma

Let me tell you a little story.  It starts out with a birthday filled with fun and food.  Cake and caramels were in ample supply and were eaten joyously.  It was a day of freedom and a carefree attitude towards the sweeter things in life.  It was only one day--what harm could it do?

Flash forward one day.  Everything is fine and dandy.  There are minimal regrets on the once a year binge (though there is a small bit of guilt which is to be expected).  Overall, I was feeling pretty good about my birthday and about moving forward from the bad eating of the day and starting fresh.  I was tracking my calories, drinking my water, and participating in general good health.  I figured this would override any harm I may have done to myself the day before.  I even went for a 4.5 mile run.

The run started out well--I found that I was running a big faster than I wanted to but couldn't seem to slow my pace.  I blame the song (Rollin' in the Deep--Adele).  It just urged me to run faster.  My heart beat quickened and I was in the zone.  It felt good to be running.  

As the miles added up, I found myself finally slipping back into my regular rhythm.  No longer was I focusing on everything and anything that I could possibly focus on.  My brain finally settled down and just...was.  I wasn't focusing on the pain of the run, or the shortness of breath, or anything else related to the act of running.  My body finally just let me run and let me escape.  Most of the time I didn't even realize I was running; I was just lost in enjoying the music.  I had lost this ability after taking a break due to the injury, and I've been very eager to get it back.  Runs are awful when you have to actively participate in them!

Anyway, around mile 3 it became clear that my poor nutrition from the day before was not providing me a good base of energy.  I felt sluggish and yucky.  Then the dreaded happened.  The runner's nightmare--urgent need to use the bathroom and no bathroom nearby.  I've never had that problem on short runs!  Luckily, it was only half a mile (longest half mile of my life!) to my house so I made a quick route change and headed that way.  Not to go into details, but apparently my body decided it would be a good idea to enact a swift revenge on me for treating it so poorly on my birthday.  Clearly, my food choices did not agree with my body.  I paid for it during the run, and through the rest of the evening and morning.  Caramel Karma struck with a vengeance.

I wasn't about to let that deter me though; I had set out to run 4.5 miles and I was going to get it done no matter what.  After paying my debt to Caramel Karma, I quickly ran back outside and finished the last mile of my run.  I chose to ran the last section around the park near my house, and it felt wonderful.  The air was crisp and clean, the kids were out playing baseball, and families were starting to brave the chill temperatures and try to force Spring out of hiding.  I can feel warm weather coming, and cannot wait!

Overall, my pace for this run was much improved over the last couple of runs I've done.  Here is a quick look at my splits:

I have been running at a 12 minute mile plus pace since coming back from my injury, and since before the injury I was around a 10 minute mile I am anxious to get back to where I was.  I hate losing that hard earned pace!  Hopefully my body will remember and I can get back to 100% shortly.  Either way, I was very pleased with how this run went (I am choosing to ignore the potty break).  And consider this a lesson learned--I am going to be a LOT better about how I choose to feed my body and make sure I give it the energy it needs to perform like I want it to.  Thankfully yesterday my eating was completely on program.  Wahoo!

So...learn from my mistakes.  Don't binge on sugary foods for your birthday.  You won't like the present that your body decides to give you a day later.