Ask the Banter- The Brown Out

Today's session of Ask the Banter is brought to you by a new character to the blog. She is one of my athletes and, in many ways, is more of a runner than me. Like most of the people featured in the blog, I tend to invent blog names, which are a bit like Native-American monikers. They are descriptive in relation to the characteristics of the individual. Today's post is brought to you by the Mare.

Some background: the Mare is a Middle-Aged Runner Extraordinaire (get it?). As a coach and a gentleman, I have not dared ask her age. I estimate that she's older than a teenager and is not eligible to apply for her AARP card yet. Hence, middle aged. Also, she really likes running. She identifies with the sport and I'd be hard pressed to get her into a pool and then on a bike before she runs. I guess everybody's got their flaws.

The Mare has a major goal of completing her first full marathon in September, 2013. We have been training and working towards that goal. Recently, she sent me a problem.

Not to blame

fyi

my long run today was cut short ...an emergency bathroom run....

i am guessing due to dietary intake on the previous days

from this day forward i will heed the no fruit or veg the day before a long run.... another reason could be the additional holiday treats that have been everywhere... crap it was a good run.... granted the last couple of miles i need to push myself to complete but today incident was not part of the plan

other suggestions....

I promise that the "crap" and "push myself" innuendos are hers and not mine. Anyway, here was my response:

Ah, the good ol' GI-cut-the-run-short routine. That is a staple in every runner's bag of training. Now, before you go making any big decisions, hear me out. It's not your fault. It's not my fault (at least I don't think so). It's not the fault of the fruits. Or the vegetables. Or the... you get the point. 

The harsh reality of running is that, sometimes, shit happens. Figuratively and, during today's run, literally. In your case, count your blessings that you were in a position to make it back home before the, you know, hit the fan. The infamous brown out is much worse in winter time as all of the emergency leaves, AKA, nature's toilet paper, are covered in snow. Trust me on this, snow does not make for good TP on multiple levels.

What to do? Honestly, keep on trucking. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first incident in our relationship. Therefore, you've clearly not got a problem. If this were happening chronically, I'd be forcing you to keep an accurate log of everything that went into your gullet and out the other end (ew, right?). So, recover from today's run both mentally and physically. Look at the schedule ahead (and be aware of the extreme cold moving in for Wed and Thurs, plan accordingly). Keep me updated as to how things are flowing.

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As a follow-up to the Mare's progress- First, the forecasted 'extreme cold' never happened. She told me that she was ready for it anyway. Second, she's done 4 runs without any crappy complaints, with another one on the schedule for today. See, the system works.