Learned my lesson...

So today was Long Run Saturday. 

As I mentioned last week, my goals for Long Run Saturday were (a) to become more efficient in the timing of preparation for my run; and (b) to increase mileage.

Well I now need to revise the second goal --  increase mileage without major stomach issues for hours afterwards.

It was a glorious running day like this on my Loop
even though my stomach was less than glorious...

Yeah. When I list all the stupid things I did that could have contributed to this, nobody will be too surprised I had stomach issues on my first 10 mile run. Still I'm surprised and disheartened by just how bad it was. I need to find a way to avoid this for sure or that will be the end of the 10 mile Long Run Saturday.

Let me start by saying that I have been known to brag about how low maintenance I am in this department. I have zero dietary restrictions. I can eat anything, in pretty large quantities for my size and not have any real issues. When I travel, I embrace the food - in hole in the wall restaurants, on the street, at people's homes. Mystery meat stew while camping in Africa? No problem. Spicy street food in India? No problem. All kinds of dairy on a regular basis? Welcome to my world. My stomach can handle it all.

I have had stomach issues for sure when running longer distances than I'm used to. But it usually just requires a pit stop on the run and then I can pick up and finish, and I feel fine. Maybe a little tired, but fine. No lingering issue.

Not so this Long Run Saturday. In fact, my run was over nearly 6 hours ago and my poor stomach is still not 100%. So here I am,  on a Saturday night, on my couch writing this instead of heading out to a nice dinner & drinks with my friends. A dinner that I had planned earlier this week and was so looking forward to. :( I am feeling a little sorry for myself. In fact I don't even feel happy right now that I met one of my goals and completed the run.

So what happened? 

Well, here is what I did. In line with not wanting to be too overly disciplined on a Friday night.. last night, while watching March Madness with friends, we all went a little crazy with delicious bar food for dinner. Basically, everything was fried, except the nachos (which I made sure to eat topped with jalepenos and doused with tobasco sauce). The fries and chicken fingers had multiple creamy dipping sauces. All was pretty delicious if unhealthy to an excessive point, but why not? every once in a while, a little good- tasting-but-bad-for-you food is in order. We were at a bar watching basketball after all. I say live a little. And eat a salad tomorrow.

Of course, it was all rinsed down with a strong beer and two glasses of wine. And after the games, we headed to another bar where I shared another glass of wine  and a spicy margarita w/ my friend (didn't mean to but I am a sucker for these things..). 

Got home at a decent time (12:30 or so) had some Vitamin Water Zero and went to bed. 

Woke up around 10 AM this morning very thirsty and with a headache. Had another Vitamin Water Zero and took 2 Advil. Had peanut butter toast and banana with tea and milk for breakfast. More Vitamin Water Zero and water. Stomach was a little unsettled so took a couple Tums. 

At 12:30 I felt good. I headed out for my run. I ran north on the Westside Highway for 1.5 miles and back to get the 3 extra miles on my Loop. I noticed my Garmin said I was running too fast for a new longer-distance-run -- my pace lingered around 7:45 for the first 4 miles. I tried to slow down a little but just couldn't, it didn't feel right to run slower.

My stomach was talking to me the whole time - gurggling and making weird noises. But I felt OK. 

Miles 6-7 my pace slowed - my stomach stopped talking and started yelling at me a little. I started thinking I might need to make a pit stop - but then talked myself out of it. That was easy to do because there wasn't anywhere to stop anyway. Long stretch with no bathrooms or portas. Mile 8 -10 my pace was a steady 8:30 - ish.  My stomach was not happy with me at all, but I was able to hold it together and didn't make a pit stop. I have felt more emergency-about-to-happen on past runs. Mile 10 was tough - but I did it and kept a steady 8:30 pace. 

So I finished 10.07 miles in a little over 1:24. Average pace of about 8:20. As I said, I didn't pace myself well in the beginning - and was slow at mile 6-7, but I felt I still finished at a decent pace (for me!). I was happy with this for my first try.

When I stopped running, my stomach was churning, but I didn't need an emergency pit stop on the mile walk home. 

I made it home - went straight to the toilet and figured that would be the end of it. I made myself lunch (2 eggs and toast, pretzels and half a banana). I felt fine. For about 15 minutes. 

But, then..... my stomach was very, very unhappy. All afternoon. And, as I said, it is still not 100%. I was also beat. I mean really really out of it, tired.  I had an appointment to get my hair cut at 4 and I'm not sure how I even managed to walk the 15 minutes to get there - I almost took a cab, but managed walking - slowly like a zombie - trying not to think of my stomach churning -- and somehow made it through the appointment (I had to make 2 bathroom runs during the appointment then skipped the blow out b/c I just had to get home...) Walked home slowly like a zombie, picked up a Gatorade (figured I was all sorts of dehydrated at this point and somehow the Vitamin Water Zero wasn't appealing anymore) changed into sweats and crashed on my couch.

Aside from several trips to the bathroom, I have not left my couch since. And that was a few hours ago now. 

So what happened?? Yes, I'm aware of runner's trots -- but I thought that meant while running, not for hours afterwards?! And, it's not like I just completed an ironman or even a marathon or even a truly Long run. 10 miles is nothing in the grand scheme of real runners' runs!! Nor should it have been that big of a deal for me. It wasn't that big of an increase from what I've done before -- I ran 9 miles last week (albeit at a slower pace) and have been running 7 -8 miles once a week for months. 

Of course, being the internet detective that I am, I did a few google searches and found out this is not uncommon. Increasing mileage can cause it - and it can last for hours - and you can feel totally wiped and exhausted. So I guess that is a relief (?) It's likely not a parasite or worse.

According to my very scientific google research, here are the suggested things to do to try to avoid this from happening --

Eat low fat / bland food the night before

Limit alcohol

Limit caffeine the day of

Limit milk the day of

Avoid aspirin or ibuprofen

Avoid antacids

Avoid sugar substitute sweeteners (*found in most low cal drinks - like Vitamin Water Zero)

Eat at least 2-3 hours before running

Be properly hydrated

Ok, most of this is pretty common sense. But, yeah, I pretty much broke every rule on the list. The only thing I did right was the peanut butter banana toast for breakfast. Still - I cannot believe how bad it was - especially considering my normal brag worthy low maintenance stomach. (I mean - it was so bad that I am still considering whether I need to see a doctor to rule out anything more serious -- and I never go to the doctor except for routine check ups!)

Have any of you had this happen and successfully gotten past it in future runs? 

I can't wipe out my whole Saturday and Saturday night because of a 10 mile Long Run Saturday. I loved the challenge of completing it and in general like the idea of increasing mileage - but if this is the consequence, it's just not worth it to me.

For anyone who has been through this, does your body eventually get used to it? Should I go back to doing 8 miles and gradually work up to 10 instead of just going for another 10 miler next weekend?

Oh and thanks for sticking it out on this oh so pleasant topic ......  I do hope everyone else is having a fabulous Saturday night ! And avoiding the many belligerent in green, scouring the city right now after hours of drinking. I guess maybe it's not such a bad night to avoid the craziness out there in exchange for a lazy night renting movies and catching up on my book.

Then again, now that my stomach is finally starting to feel almost normal again, I wonder what my friends are up to after dinner....