A Beautiful Work In Progress, Chapters 16-20
Posted on Nov. 24th, 2021
Do you ever get one mile into a long run only to
realize that your sock is sinking and beginning to bunch up in your shoe? This used
to be one of my biggest pet peeves on a run when I had just gotten a new pair
of running socks. Nowadays I always keep an extra pair of my most reliable socks
in my running bag at all times and am sure to warm-up in new socks to make sure
they won't sink before taking off on a run in them. Rookie mistakes am I right?
As we dive back into Valerio's racing experiences through
these chapters while she moves up from half-marathons to marathons and
eventually ultras, I appreciate that she shares more of the physical struggle and
some of the first timer mistakes she made during the preparation and racing throughout
her transition upward in distance (so we don't have to make the same mistakes!).
In her first 18-mile run in preparation for her first
marathon, she decides not to eat before hand and rely on gels (of which she did
not pack enough). By 9 miles she had conked out and needed to stop for food to
make it the next 9 miles back to her car. The lesson? Always eat something
before a long run. She could get away with it if she started her run early
enough when doing 10 miles or even 12 miles to prepare for her half marathons,
but 18 was way too far. She started making toast with peanut butter a staple
before runs after that.
Another thing she discussed was chafing on long runs.
She had experienced it before, but only in races so she figured that she would
be ok in training. However, in that same 18-mile training run, she experienced
that worst chafing of her life that stung badly in the shower. The lesson? Use
lubricant on long training runs if this is an issue for you. I'll add to this,
also don't wear a cotton shirt for a long run. I have made this mistake and
ended with a serious rug burn on my back.
Lastly, as she left the roads and started doing more
trail running and trail ultras, she talked about experiencing plantar fasciitis
on longer runs in her feet. It has been said that it's not the mountains that
wear you out, but the little pebble in your shoe (paraphrased from a Muhammed
Ali quote) and plantar fasciitis pain in the arch of your foot definitely falls
into the pebble category. It can be persistent and chronically painful. The
lesson? Find the right shoes. Valerio eventually invests in a pair of good trail-running
shoes that help ease the foot pain. I'll also add that stretching and rolling your
feet on a lacrosse ball during the warm-up go a long way as well.
So, as we all prepare for our turkey trots tomorrow,
whether you are an experienced runner or a first timer, 5k runner or a
marathoner, please drop your best advice in the comments so we can all avoid
making rookie mistakes.
Discussion Questions:
1. What
rookie mistakes have you made when first tackling new distances in running and
walking? How have you since solved them?
2. What
is your advice to the many first time or infrequent runners who will be lining
up for tomorrow's turkey trots?