Celiac and running with a 21-year-old guy

I have Celiac. Not something I like to mention a lot, but since it affected my run today... I thought I would bring it up.

You see, I was a bit careless yesterday. I try to be extremely careful but occasionally, I forget to ask about things or just... get careless. And I did eat some food that was contaminated with gluten. Eventually, that meant that that evening I was scattered in my brain, a little bit too easily stressed, and eventually bloated to the point of looking 2-3 months pregnant, and in a bit of pain. Hoping it would pass enough by the next morning when I needed to run (I had taken a massive amount of enzymes)... I took a bath with lavender essential oil (calming), and went to bed.

Unfortunately, I awoke still slightly bloated. And. In pain. It was difficult to make myself eat. But... even if my body wasn't going to absorb a lot of nutrients, I needed to try. I was supposed to run. And I was hopeful that the running would help me eventually feel at least a bit better. And, I was meeting Anthony, my 21-year-old co-worker. So I had to get going... My sleep was decent... and here I was... off to run 14-16 miles with Anthony.

Thing is... Anthony hadn't run in a while, and being a male of his age, decided that he would be okay to run with me that far... I couldn't convince him otherwise. I'll tell you how that went in a bit.

Apparently, me being in pain turned out to be a good thing for him... Because I had to go at a consistently slower pace.

Having the Celiac affect me meant that for at least the first 10 miles or so I had significant pain in my... intestines. Not quite as bad as a charlie horse, but close. So much fun. Normally, I try sleeping it off... but. I guess I'm determined. And I like running. And I was curious if I had the stamina to do it. The last few miles, I started feeling a bit better... slowly. A bit.

Okay. Anthony. Good guy. But... we have a few things to work on.

What he was wearing: sweatpants, long sleeve t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt. Brought his phone, and a couple of granola bars in his pocket. (Which I eventually asked him to split up because the sound was annoying as they clacked against one another.)

What I was wearing: Capri running leggings, wicking running short sleeve shirt, pull-over light jacket with a small pocket for my car key. Oh, and better [newer/less miles] shoes, and brand new socks which were wonderfully padded, especially for the toes. I got the green pair... I'm trying out new socks gradually instead of just sticking to my usual "I'm in love with smartwool." Gotta branch out! My toes blister occasionally, and my morton's toenail tends to bruise badly.

And... something else I was wearing... I bought a $20 pair of underwear by Patagonia. I was curious to see if they were worth it. Consensus: YES!!!!!!! I may have to get a few more pairs. The moisture wicking really is amazing. Very helpful.

Now that I have bridged the "Too Much Information" category potentially... let's move on.

The weather was in the 50's and really windy... I think there was a wind advisory. We were running the chain of lakes in Minneapolis, and repeating Lake Calhoun. Making for a total of 16.4 miles? I think?

Anthony and I started off really slow. (Another thing for him to learn--rhythm, balance, pacing.) I was in pain, but also a bit worried about him. We stopped more times than I tend to stop on a long run, but not only did I need a few water stops, but I definitely wanted to make sure Anthony got them in. I kept the pace slower, and overall let Anthony stay ahead of me, when he wasn't chatting.

After about mile 10... Anthony really hit a wall. And me... well... I realized... my stamina is fine if I go slowly enough... I could have gone the full distance no problem. We averaged about a 10 min/mile for 14-ish miles. Making sure to walk the last bit of the 16 plus miles. Anthony was at his limit. Yes, I could have gone on, but that's okay. Decent run. I'm not sore at all (besides the Celiac thing), but Anthony... I gave him our store's version of Wobenzym tonight and told him what to eat and drink, because he was already incredibly sore and exhausted.

So... here's an obvious statement: Food is important for life. So... all about being crazy careful again. And hoping the bloating goes away soon. And thinking about what I'll be doing tomorrow.

And... as a fun note... Last Wednesday I ran 10 miles in 93 minutes, with one stop, and after I had climbed that morning. Now THAT is an amazing day. Climbing and running in the same day. Gotta love those.

I'm rather happy that I can run... Even in pain. And so... now... with that... I need some sleep... to hopefully get this pain back in balance.

Hopefully, I've not been too rude. Continue to find that running is definitely about balance--the balance with other people, for instance. If you're going to run or bike with someone, be a good running partner. Learn your own weaknesses. It'll help. Learn balance, pacing, rhythm... You'll make it better. Eat well. Drink enough.