New Years Runs

It's 2008 and I'm determined to hit the ground running. Fortunately I had plenty of time off over the holidays so I was able to get started on my regimen without disrupting my sleep cycle. Always a PLUS!

We went to one of the local trails which is paved and flat all the way through. That way we could work on our distance runs without adding in too many additional stressers such as large hills and broken pavement.

Our first run...5 miles. Really not so bad. It was unbelievably cold that day so by the end neither of us could feel our face let alone any other extremities, covered or uncovered. It felt so good to get back out there and man oh man I didn't think I would be able to keep pace with Emma for so long, but we actually managed to stay together up until the last half mile.

Our second run...6 miles. The weather was actually warm. It was actually the exact opposite of the weather from the last week. So instead of going 2.5 miles and turning around we only had to do 3 miles and turn around. It was a good little mind trick. Just kept telling myself it's only a little bit further. To make it even more interesting the last mile was by a golf course so I just kept thinking "Oooo, what's around the next bend?" Before you knew it I was done.

Mile Mile 5-6 were hard though. By that time we had completed all the really scenic parts of the trail and it was just two miles of trees. Not only that I was soooo thirsty! All I could think about was "Water...Gatorade...Must Have!!" Emma made it in 5 minutes ahead of me, but I never stopped. My pace just slowed down during those last two miles.

Of course knowing me I have to know why, scientifically, I slowed down. Of course hydration was an obvious answer, but what was going on, really. Then we got our weekly running email and low and behold,

"Physiologically, the body must learn to tap into and utilize energy reserves from fat storage sites after the glycogen (fuel stores in the muscles, converted over from carbohydrate food sources) have been depleted. Through long run training, the capacity to store more glycogen within the muscles increases. An increase in glycogen stores translates into the ability to maintain one's pace during the marathon and delay the onset of fatigue. Conversely, trouble is on the horizon when you run out of glycogen, as your pace will significantly decrease."

Gotta love it! Science is brilliant!