DISCLAIMER: This post may be a little inappropriate for some readers. If poop-talk makes you queasy, then you might want to stop after the first couple paragraphs. This shit is about to get real! :)
This morning was a six-mile run. I saw lots of things this morning on my run around my neighborhood: a doe chilling in one of my neighbor's yards, a BLACK squirrel with a BROWN tail, and my chiropractor on his morning run (he actually lives right around the corner from me). Also, my Nike iPod tracks my progress as I run and I reached another 250 miles today! I'm at a total of 1,005.73 miles now. YAY! Unfortunately, Nike had Tiger Woods voice as the athlete who congratulated me on my milestone... (whomp, whomp...) =-/
I was supposed to wake up at 6:00 AM, but I laid in bed for a while and drifted off again so I didn't get out the door to run until around 6:30 AM by the time I got dressed and made my pre-run trip to the bathroom (you runners out there know what I'm talking about). This leads me to the theme of my post today, pre-run poops! :)
Now, this blog post is probably not the most pleasant, but HEY, this isn't a cutie tootie, here's-how-my-day-went kind of blog. It's monitoring ALL my feelings and obstacles in preparing for this race. If you know me you know that I am VERY open and may share a little too much about my bowels and such. But, to me, it's really not that big of deal. I fart, poop, pee and so do you. So what's the big deal? Now begins the real poop talk...
Why is it that before a run or even if I think about running I get that anxious feeling in my stomach and automatically have to go number two? Runner's anxiety! No matter how much I try to trick myself into believing that the race is no big deal or that I'm really not going on a run, it never fails... Not only do I make one bathroom trip, but two, three, four, five, MULTIPLE times! It doesn't matter what I eat the night before, I'm going to have to go and A LOT! However, I do notice that dairy the night before makes it even worse... Now, if I'm just getting up to go on a run by myself, no race, then once maybe twice before I head out the door, sometimes not at all until after my run if it's early enough.
But, before a race... My stomach feels like it has a million butterflies in it and they're tearing up my tummy! It's terrible... I'm not the only one either! I actually Googled "Why do runners poop so much before a run?" I got a lot of different blogs and Runner's World forums. Here's a good one: Poop Question.You should really check this out if you have the same issues I do. I was already aware of the fact that I am not alone with this issue. That's why there are always so many porter potties at the start line of races and lines for them each and every time. The Akron Marathon has blocks and blocks dedicated just to porter potties, yet you still have to wait in line for like a half hour! My first half marathon there was maybe 50 people, so it was a small one. We didn't start until like 10-15 minutes later than we were supposed to because so many people were still in line for the bathroom.
Some people hate porter potties and refuse to use them. Well, if you're a runner, you sometimes have no choice. Some races are near high schools or on universities, so you get to use their nice facilities. But, I'll take a porter potties over running when I have to go!
Sorry for the unpleasant talk... :)
This Saturday is 11 miles - the most I've ran since May 15 at the Cleveland Marathon. Should be interesting... So, until then... Stay fit my friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment