Well, twice in 12 hours, give or take.
I worked late last night, and went for a run after working hours. Did the base perimiter again, and was having a really good go of it until I started getting cramps in my abs. Guess I must have been dehydrated. Didn’t think so (I’d done the bathroom check before I left), and there is no way in heck that I don’t get enough electrolytes in my diet, so water’s about the only thing left. But despite the cramps, I’d put it down as a really good run; I ran some intervals before I cramped, and only had about 1/2 mile left to go after, which I was able to half walk/half run.
This morning I went down to Beavertail State Park on the south end of Jamestown. Did a 5K, and set a pretty decent standard to improve from: 25:11. I’ve got a new toy; will review once I’ve got more experience with it, but I’ve been dying to quantify my running. Mile splits were 7:45/8:15/8:45, which confirmed what I’ve known for a long while – that I start off way, way too fast. I blame Galloway and his darned RPE (Tried to google it; wasn’t able to find what I was looking for, but I did find a 100 page PDF of running references. This was the closest I could find to what I wanted. Though I’d always thought it was a 10 point scale; I kind of like the add a 0 to get equiv. heart rate)
Ya, percieved effort is a toughy. I tend to look at either HR or by comparing pace and distance between runs. Good food for thought on this post.
On the cramping, watch your breathing. Same thing happens to me when my breathing gets out of rhythm with my ab contractions. Concentrate on expand chest and belly on inhale and depress on exhale.
Force your breathing to keep it regulated.
I second the breathing suggestion. That was one of the more helpful things I found in the book Chi Running.
This was the same night that I had the side stitch. Must have been something in the CT air. I’m going to post about all the different ways to get rid of stitches/cramps.