Nothing like a cold ice bath
Tonight we went back to Crystal Springs for another 6 mile run. We are planning on relaxing on Saturday for the 4th, so we wanted to get our long run out of the way so we can just go for a "short" 4 mile run on Saturday. Let me tell you, it was much harder running six miles with just the two of us instead of a whole horde of motivated runners along side you. I must say tonight was fairly brutal. Sean made the mistake of not eating an hour before we ran, and I made the opposite mistake of eating a little too much. Usually we have a bowl of cereal or something, but I hadn't eaten since noon and I didnt want to run on an empty stomach so I had a granola bar and a sandwich. Plus I felt like I hadn't drank enough today so I had a half bottle of water or something on the way to San Mateo. Bad idea. I actually felt ok from an endurance perspective for most of the run, but my stomach was not feeling the best from all the food and water sloshing around. Sean on the other hand was living off the Gu because he was feeling a bit shaky about three miles in. He said all he could think about was cheeseburgers. Hee hee.
The only real body issue we've been experiencing since we've started running are some aches and pains in our knees. Usually we feel much better once we warm up a bit a mile or so in, but I think because we have upped our mileage and had a pretty intense track workout on Tuesday we hadn't recovered fully. Our TNT mentor Patricia mentioned that taking a cold ice water bath for 15 minutes after you run helps, so I decided to follow her advice. My muscles were burning and I felt really stiff, so I filled up the tub with about six inches of water, added a tray of ice cubes and jumped in. Whooo weee! She also made the suggestion of making some tea and keeping a a sweatshirt on to keep warm. I followed that advice as well, as she was right that after a minute or two you go numb anyway. I could feel the heat radiating out of my legs. So far while my muscles feel a bit stiff I must say that my knees aren't bothering me right now. The one thing I have to say is that while the runs vary from easy to challenging, there hasn't been a single time where Sean and I finished our run and felt really fantastic afterwards for completing our goal. At times it was truly mind over matter to just keep going tonight, but we did it. As we were stretching it felt really exhilarating that we had gotten through it, and it definitely feels less intimidating for next time. Also, it is really clear that we are building endurance. The first two miles flew by, and four miles felt like no big thing. Go Team Zimm!
