Running through the vineyards reminds me of the Concord grape vine that grew in Betty's yard.

This is the week where I realized that Sport Beans are evil. I won’t be making that mistake twice. On the bright side, my long run was along a vineyard-lined course in Livermore, which makes everything seem much nicer.

The Plan

• Monday, 7/26: 30 minute easy run (switched to non-run home stretching as a follow-up to the day-late long run on Sunday)
• Tuesday, 7/27: Team workout (skipped the long drive to Concord and went to kickboxing instead)
• Wednesday, 7/28: 60 minutes of non-run (the longest yoga class ever)
• Thursday, 7/29: Kickboxing
• Friday. 7/30: Mandatory rest
• Saturday, 7/31: 7 mile run with the Team
• Sunday, 8/1: 60 minutes of non-run (stretching and play)

Last week, an oversleeping mishap led to my long run being pushed from Saturday to Sunday. This threw off my week’s schedule because I didn’t want to run two days in a row, so I improvised by adding a non-run day on Monday where I did stretching, balance and strength work. It all sounded good until later in the week when I realized that I now had a full work week without any running at all. That’s not to say that the week was cardi0-free, because kickboxing is nonstop, heart-pumping action, but I really do need to work more on my pace and form.

On Wednesday, feeling a little bit tight from a particularly tough kickboxing class the day before, I decided to try a yoga class for the first time in five years. First of all, I had no idea that this class was going to run for one hour and forty-five minutes, about twice as long as I’d been expecting. But there I was, in the beginner/intermediate class with a bunch of senior ladies. Yes, I know that yoga isn’t competitive, but I couldn’t watch these women without thinking, “Hey, I should be able to do that.” So as you might imagine, I completely overdid it, finally coming to grips with how far out of my league I was when I watched an 80-year-old woman do a headstand that I couldn’t even begin to accomplish.

But my poor choices didn’t end there. On Saturday, I had a 7-mile team run through the vineyards of Livermore, a gorgeous venue. Because I have a hard time eating the right breakfast before a distance run — the proper balance of fuel without having the ate-too-much blahs — I decided to eat an apple before the run and just down some Sport Beans midway through for on-the-go energy.

I’m a big fan of Jelly Belly and I’d heard such good things about the Sport Beans from other runners. Lesson learned: I will never again listen to other runners. About 10 minutes after downing the Beans, the stomach cramps started.

After a strong start for the first 4 miles, everything fell apart. I didn’t want to run. I didn’t even want to walk. I just wanted to curl up in a ball on the side of the road. The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that if I could just get back to my car, I could go eat something real to settle my stomach. Of course, nothing real looked appetizing, but I choked down part of a Peet’s scone for carb refueling. It was still a good two hours before I felt anything close to normal again. From here on out, I’m sticking with real foods or GU.

Tags: competitive, GU, kickboxing, running, Sport Beans, team in training, yoga

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