Three Things Friday

1. I had a great time spectating the Rock n' Roll USA Half Marathon/Marathon on Saturday with Cheryl and Dash.  The weather wasn't so bad for spectating, but I was quite comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt by mid-morning, which is never a good sign for everyone running. Knowing how hard everyone had trained, I was disappointed for my teammates that the weather didn't cooperate. But you have to play the hand that you are dealt and I was proud of everyone for making the best of what was a not an ideal day for racing.

2. I went back to the track for intervals on Tuesday morning for the first time since before Philly. It felt great to be running fast and I had no pain! It seems that I am now back to "regular" training and I am thrilled.  Not necessarily thrilled with where I am during the workouts, but no one ever said that getting back in shape was easy or quick. I'm still sorting out my schedule, but I think I've got it figured out so I can work in a fifth day of running (second easy run of the week) and get my weekly mileage to that happy place, without sacrificing time at the pool.

3. While my legs are quite happy to be back to regular training, my stomach is not.  It's been very angry at the end of my last two long runs (both 14 miles) and was a somewhat unsettled after Tuesday's track workout (though it does seem to be fine after this morning's tempo). At first I blamed what I ate before long run #1 (bagel and peanut butter), but I tried something different before long run #2 (Clif bar) and it didn't change the results.  Both were breakfasts that I have a had no problems with in the past (though I thought the problem could have possibly been eating a whole wheat bagel instead of a plain one).  This weekend I plan to get up earlier so I can eat farther ahead of the run, but if that doesn't work, I don't know what else to try.

The only other thought I've had is that the culprit might be the faster pace. The first long run when this surfaced was the one when I didn't look at my watch and went significantly faster. I'm hoping that if speed is the cause that my stomach will eventually adjust. I've had similar long run stomach issues in the past and they tend to resolve themselves after a few weeks after my stomach gets adjusted to the "change."  The first time I had stomach issues was during my first marathon training, when I wasn't used to eating when running, and it happened again when I started doing runs of longer than an hour before work. Perhaps after several months of only relatively easy paced runs, my stomach is out of shape for the faster stuff too.