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Hello? It’s me, your GI. You’re not running today.

Hello? It’s me, your GI. You’re not running today.

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Ah, yes.  A post about my gastrointestinal (GI) tract.  We all knew this was coming, sooner or later, since it’s often the subject of many a conversation on the run.

I was inspired to write about this because last Saturday, my 14-miler ended pretty abruptly when I first had to start walking because of what felt like knives going through my gut.  After a bit of walking and bathroom break #1, I felt a lot better, though I still had some seriously sharp pains in my abdomen.  As Jack and I ran a little more, natured called yet again, and by then I had finally realized that my GI was giving me a big “F-U,” middle finger for the morning.  14 miles suddenly, and without any opportunity for me to plead otherwise, suddenly became a lousy 7.   This hasn’t happened in a while, so I guess it was “time.”  Yet another way that the human body, particularly my own, humbles me…

I read a lot of running-related publications, typically online, and I can say with 100% certainty that I’m not alone when it comes to negotiating, for lack of a better word, with my GI when I want to run or, sometimes, when I’m actually on a run.  I’ve read or have heard horror stories or have endured them, myself, when I’m out on a run and suddenly my stomach decides that it’s done for the day.  My stomach says “no more miles,” yet my legs cry, “Go on!  Go on!”  And it’s always the stomach that wins out.

I’ll spare the gory and fairly disgusting details, but suffice it to say that, since I started partaking in all this marathon business in 2007, I have had many a run cut short, and end rather unpleasantly, because of GI issues of some shape or another.  At first, I thought it was strictly related to what I was eating immediately preceding my runs, so I got smarter about that — minimize the volume of fiber I had consumed, be really careful with dairy (which is a breeze now, thanks to my vegetarian-yet-vegan-like-tendencies), don’t drink pop or anything carbonated or caffeinated immediately before, go easy on the sugary Gatorade or sports drinks, chase the gels or gus with water, etc. — but sometimes this isn’t enough.  Some days it seems like the wind blowing the wrong way can affect the way my innards (again, very scientific, I know) handle all the repetitive pounding that is part of the territory of running and long-distance training.  I have often wondered, especially of late, if there is some sort of food allergy or intolerance I have besides those I already know, and it’d probably behoove me to get tested so I can adjust my diet accordingly.  I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Though I haven’t been marathoning for very many years, I think I’ve gotten smart enough to realize that when my body is trying to tell me something, I better listen…or I could be paying for it, substantially more, later.  I was irked that I couldn’t complete my long run on Saturday, yet as the day wore on, my GI freak-out continued, so I figured it was for the better that I didn’t push it.  Besides, there will always be other times and days to run.  If you don’t take care of yourself wisely, today, you may be jeopardizing your chance to run well, tomorrow.

Going with it

Going with it

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On a recent long run with the FF group, to get to know people a little better, I asked the loaded question: why do you run?  How did you get into running?  The answers ran the (usual) gamut — fitness, something I did in high school/middle school/college, the challenge, it’s fun, etc.  I added my own two cents about running’s purity and simplicity: reasons, I think, are among the most compelling for me to a) run in the first place and b) continue to run.

As simple as running can be, though, it can also be unduly complicated.  Some in the running world swear by their gizmos and gadgets, wanting to know exactly how many calories/mile they’ve burned in the past X minutes.  Some try to “get back to nature” by running barefoot, or by buying running shoes that mimic barefoot running.  Others insist on only buying Big Running Brand because that’s where their allegiances (or sponsorships) lie.  Still others preach that their running plans are The Gospel, completely infallible, and that Nothing Can Go Wrong with a plan designed by Running Expert Y.

Phooey.

Though my running years may still be premature, compared to those of my running buddies, one of the perennial lessons I’ve learned (IMHO, of course) is to simply Go With It.  This means running in shoes that feel best for your feet (regardless of how “barefoot” or “non-barefoot” they feel); wearing clothes that you don’t have to think about when you’re running (because let me assure you, it doesn’t matter how much bling your clothes may have… if they’re chafing you in any way, you’ll want ’em off straightaway!); and perhaps most importantly, listening to your body when it’s trying to tell you something.

That last part — the “listening to your body” part — is sometimes a struggle for me.  Though my plan may call for a rest day, if I’m feeling So Good, I’ll be tempted to run.  Conversely, if I am supposed to run but am not feeling up to it, I’ll still sometimes sludge through the work-out, thinking that I have to follow The Gospel, else my training will fall behind and my performance suffer.  Becoming acutely aware to my body’s signals has taken some time to get used to, and is obviously still a work in progress, but it’s something I’ve gotten better about.

Case in point: after Wednesday’s altered speed workout (since ice and hills don’t go too well together), Thursday was a planned complete rest day for me, and this morning was supposed to be a 7-miler.  Sometime between yesterday morning and yesterday night I came down fast and furious with a cold- or allergy-like “thing.”  This meant that I was in bed by about 7:12 last night (I remember seeing the clock) and woke up every hour, almost on the hour, to blow my spigot-of-a-nose.  To make matters worse, when I awoke around 5:55/6 this morning to do my 7 miler, I had some lovely GI issues surface.  Perfect.  Though I wanted to run, and I knew that I’d likely make myself feel better if I did, I remembered reading somewhere that if anything is awry below your neck, you shouldn’t run.  And alas, that was the case.

This may mean that I’ll be about 7 miles off this week’s target.  Is it the end of the world?  Not at all.  Is it enough to make me a little nervous?  Absolutely.  What am I going to do about it – try to do a longer-than-long run tomorrow (slated for 12), or a longer-than-usual recovery run on Sunday (slated for 3)?  Eh, we’ll see.  For now, I’ll just go with it…