Planned run 80 minutes

Date: 15 March 2009
Time: 76 minutes 49 seconds
Distance: 13.68 km
Approx Speed: 10.68 kmh
Average Heart Rate: 146
Google Ped: route
Weight pre run: 78.4kg
Weight post run: 76.9kg
Fluid loss: 1.5kg

There is something about Sundays, I always seem to have a bad run!! I ran at about 6:45AM with Christine - she is going out with friends this afternoon, so needed to run in the morning.

This is my first 80 minute run, and it began badly. I got cramp in the front of my calf _again_ in the front muscle, the muscle that lifts the front of the foot as you bring the foot forward and bring the heal down. It has to be something to do with being warmed up, or maybe hydration? Who knows, I will have to try a few things to find a solution to the problem. I really have to work harder on warm up and stretching to avoid this problem I think.

I began and did this route - about 1.6km in 8 - 10 minutes. I stopped because of the cramp. I stretched again in the hope that it would loosen up, then began again and did 76 minutes. In total I did about 86 minutes today, and around 15 km. The cramp did not really go away, I ran with it. Felt really stiff and could not relax into the run, which was very frustrating.

I did not feel very good at all on this run, I struggled all the way, and really stiffened up in the last 30 minutes. It is like starting running all over again. I guess I have to go through this to get fit enough to run 2 hours and do a decent half marathon.

I have added a Weight pre and Weight post as well as Weight loss entry, so as to be slightly scientific in my approach. I am trying to determine how much fluid I loose over a run. This way I will know exactly how much fluid I need to carry on a long run, and thus avoid dehydration.

I found a handy fluid loss calculator on line - Gatorade It says for this for the time ( 76 minutes ), level of exertion, and temperature:

- consume 470 to 710 ml 2 hours before exercise
- Projected loss 1.6 litres
- 310ml intake every 5 minutes during the run
- continue replenishing fluids up to 150% of the deficit for the next 2 - 6 hours after exercise