The Bloody Pain of a 24km Run

Man, oh Man! That was not easy in any sense. After a night out on the town to watch one of my good friends perform with his band as part of Canada Music Week, not enough sleep, and way too much coffee over the course of yesterday I guess I should have known this would be a mental battle. It was more difficult and painful than I ever expected, but I got through it.

I set off a little later than I wanted to, right around 9am, and within a couple of kilometres I realized that I had overdressed. It was about -1C when I left and I wore a technical t-shirt (more on that later!), a moisture wicking long-sleeve T, and a light fleece. I should have left the fleece at home. Anyway, that may have contributed to the whole end of the run issues, but I think the night out and all that stuff was probably more instrumental in my breakdown.

The first half of the run was fine and I managed to hold a pretty steady and slow pace. The heart rate was a bit higher than it should have been for that intensity and I figured this was a result of those things already mentioned. Never did I consider that I would crash as hard as I did though! Right before I crossed the 21k mark, and my first half-marathon distance ever, my left calf felt like it had been punched real hard and I had to stop to give it a stretch and some rest. The stretching was not really possible since the muscle was tightening up a lot, but I think the minute or two of rest helped. I hobbled the rest of the run very slowly as a result, not wanting to cause more damage.

I had been running with one bottle full of Gatorade and another of water, but I really think that I simply ran out of gas, especially in the lower leg muscles. I hit that wall pretty hard, and it did not feel good. I managed the 24km in 2:17:05 for an average pace of 5:42/km (9:11/mile). The last three kilometres were all over 6:00/km pace on account of the calf. My average heart rate ended up being 154bpm, way higher than it should have been. No going out two days before the Around the Bay in two weeks, that's for damned sure! I checked to see that I went through the half-marathon in about 1:57, which was pretty cool to see on the ole Garmin I must admit.

Tomorrow I have another massage appointment, and I think that will be very timely indeed. I am stiff as all hell right now, and will require much "stripping", even though it's going to hurt like crazy and I know it. Perhaps biking to work again will help get some of the post-run stiffness out?

And lastly, the other thing that happened on this milestone of a run is that I finally got to experience the infamous bloody nipple that runners apparently suffer on a frequent basis! I didn't even notice it until my wife pointed it out: "What's that?"

Me: "That would be blood, dear. My blood. I also have some sweat, and give it a few more minutes and I just might cry from the pain, giving the complete triumvirate of blood, sweat, and tears. No spinning wheel though..."


Here's the shirt with the evidence clearly visible so I don't even need to point it out:




Garmin don't lie.