4.5 Hours of Bliss

After a solid month of mind-dizzying nausea my stomach is feeling better. I started taking Nexium a couple of weeks ago for my ulcer and it is finally kicking in. No more morning blehs. No more bloaty fullness after eating. No more yuckiness.

I am being much more careful with my diet. I'm trying to cut down on carbs, no tomatoes, very little dairy, low wheat. I have not had any caffeine whatsoever in three weeks. Dwaaaaaaaaaaa. I have never been a caffeine hog, but I do love a cup of mostly decaf in the morning, perhaps a black tea in the afternoon. I miss the little jolt, but overall I feel much more even. I'm not crashing in the afternoons quite as much. And if I do crash, I close my eyes for a few minutes rather than reach for the tea.

I got out early on Saturday morning for a much anticipated, solo run on the trails at Bluff Point. My plan was to run for 4 hours and carefully monitor what I ate and drank. Systematic monitoring is really not my thing. I am a fliberjibbet when I run, especially when I run by myself. My mind wanders all over the place and then it quiets down and I zen out for unspecified blocks of time. I love this. I don't want to have to think about such mundane things as water and food.

But I need to start coming up with and eating/drinking plan that works. Most gels and sports drinks make me queasy during races (not so much during long training runs). So I am trying to find a regimin that keeps me going but does not leave me fighting nausea mile after mile.

Perhaps I have found it.

Saturday I ran with 2L of water in my Wink hydration pack which I sipped constantly. I also carried a handheld bottle of Nuun which I dipped into when I needed a shot of flavor. I took an S Cap along with 2 peanut butter crackers (carbs, salt, protein, fat) every hour on the hour, and I slowly ate a Cliff BLok every hour on the half hour. No stomach problems, no bonking. All good.

I found some nice singetrack between the main fire roads at Bluff Point and cobbled together a nice 1-hour loop. I repeated this loop twice, fiddled around on some hitherto unexplored bits of the part, and then ran home. The whole thing took 4.5 hours. I have absolutely no idea how far I went.

Today (Monday) I ran two hours with Brian at Cockaponsett (rocky, rooty, hilly -- just what I need!). The kids went to the Memorial Day Parade with Grandma and Grandpa, bless them down to their boots. Brian is a freaking goat. He is a downhill running machine. Cresting a hill right behind him, I look down for a second and he's gone. He's down the hill, round the bend, and out of sight. He is a fearless downhill runner. If he ever falls, he's toast. But so far he hasn't.

2 hours is a long run for Old Brian. But he's a good sport. And now he's upstairs sleeping it off: a tired old goat.