headaches – Slacker Runner

And the long run headaches are back.

I drink plenty of water so it’s not a lack of hydration. Granted I am prone to headaches and migraines so there is that. I am still loving the Ultima for shorter runs but I am wondering if my issue with longer runs is a lack of calories. I still fuel horribly…as in I don’t. I just can’t eat on my longer runs. I buy gels and gu’s and chews and never eat them. I carry them with me but they just end looking very beat up and expired. So maybe my water needs to gain some weight?

With that in mind, it was time to experiment. So I hit up The Feed.

#1 Gen Ucan Orange- I heard great things and I really liked their protein powder so I was hopeful. Out of the package, it mixed chalkier than I had expected. It kind of seemed like it didn’t dissolve. It didn’t taste powdery it just looked like that. It actually had very little taste. Very bland. Taste aside, I had a surprisingly great 8 mile run. I ran a hill I have never run in its entirety before. I even posted about it on Instagram. My mother made fun of me. My post run headache was very muted.

#2- Glukos Orange- Mixed and dissolved well and was very orange in color. It also tasted very yummy. That said, I slammed into a wall at mile 6 of a 9 mile run. I felt ok leading up to that point and then things went very south. It was the same route as before and at first I thought to blame it on the French toast that I had for breakfast but again that was the same as before too. And I had a headache.

#3 Tailwind Raspberry Buzz- Caffeine!!!! I was heading out for what I thought I was going to be a shortened long run because I wasn’t feeling it so I admit I only mixed 1/2 the pouch. It blended well but oh man, it tasted like medicine. I wasn’t a huge fan of the taste but a I went from not wanting to run at all to bartering with myself to just run 4 to actually running a solid 8 miler that day. Hmmmm. I do like that it has caffeine in it. I feel like my asthma cranky lungs appreciate it sometimes. I had a medium headache.

I am still cycling through these options. I bought multiples so I could try each one on multiple runs in hopes of finding the golden ticket. But a new contender has entered the ring too.

Thanks to Bibrave, I get to try the Beachbody Performance line. I’ve heard great things about their Hydrate product so yay! One of these has to solve the long run headaches, right?

How do you hydrate?

Fuel?

This week was rough. Which was shown partly in my lack of posting.

The Horrible-

So in an effort to not whine too much, here’s a brief recap. Monday was a typical Monday except that my stomach graduated from asshat to bastard level and that continued through Wednesday. Good thing I don’t run on Monday’s right? Tuesday I was all set to run but my dad had a phone emergency (he’s on my plan). There was no way for me to run and go to AT&T and still eat dinner at a time that wouldn’t piss off my digestive system further. So no run. Wednesday- usual rest day but I needed and wanted to run after missing the day before. After finishing up at work I headed to the lake path hoping I had enough time to get in 3.5 miles before it got too dark. It was a horrible, miserable run. It wasn’t even because of my achy legs or hamstrings. Those felt fine. My stomach was horrible, my toes hurt and my head was not happy. I called it at 2.5 miles.

Waking on Thursday, I found that the headache that had been playing peak-a-boo for days had turned into a full on migraine. Stupid hormones. I thought about calling in but I am covering another location while their manager is out and knew I couldn’t do that. One plus, is that it’s a shorter commute. Never having worked in this location before I kind of felt like I was putting out fires all day and I didn’t know where the fire extinguisher was. The day ran late and by then my head hurt so bad and I was so nauseated that I didn’t even attempt to run. Friday was more of the same head wise, work was a little calmer though. My head hurt so bad that I actually took 2 Aleve for it Thursday. One thing I’ve never mentioned here is that I dislike taking pills. Maybe because I have so many prescriptions as it is but I rarely to the point of never take something for pain. My go to is an icepack for pretty much everything. I didn’t realize how shocking it would be for me to take something though. I had some interesting reactions when I mentioned it to some people. It was useless anyways, they didn’t help. Oddly the only thing that helped was food. Not only food but greasy food. I ate In n Out 2 days in a row for lunch. The pain actually eased for a few hours. But I was so ready for the weekend by the time work was over. Harmony-

Saturday I was super tired and though my headache had eased, it was still lingering. I slept in before heading to SLO with my mom. It’s kind of a monthly thing. We had both taken running gear so we could potentially go on an easy hike. I wasn’t sure I would be up to it but I felt like a sloth. Particularly after 2 days of fast food. 😦 After a good day of shopping we headed to the Harmony Headlands. It’s short, 4 miles out and back, easy, not technical at all, and has a gorgeous turn around. Let’s be clear, this was not a run, it was supposed to be an easy hike. Which for the most part it was, but damn my mom walks fast. It was hard to keep up sometimes. I know I had an off week but come on. But that’s ok, the scenery made up for it. Plus the weather was awesome. I had some phone problems so I didn’t get a lot of pics from the start of the trail but I figured it out by the end.

All in all, it was a great way to end the day. My legs were happy and my head was good too. And we may have seen whales!!! Well just the spouts, still cool though.

How was your week/ weekend?

Ever had a headache that wanted food? Or am I just weird?