Stuff I've learned so far.

There is an old saying that goes something like, "you never know what you had until it is gone." While I might be butchering the quote, I think you get the general idea...don't you? Well this weekend, I definitely learned how true and versatile that quote really is. Using that quote, here are a few things that I lost this weekend and what I learned.
1) Common Sense - I try to pride myself on thinking practical and using common sense, yet somehow this weekend I naively thought that I would be able to get some sleep after driving down to Gilroy to see a concert by one of my favorite bands and good friends Five Minutes to Freedom and staying in a hotel room with 3 of my friends. I even set several alarms on my phone to make sure I woke up in time to make my running practice. While this may not sound like a mistake yet, this is mistake #1.

2) Water/Hydration/"the good stuff"- After several of my friends bought drinks for me and vice versa during the concert, I decided to slow it down and taper off my drinking. Sound thinking, that is until the after party at the venue. Needless to say, drinking ensued and the tapering and H20 took a back seat. Then the after after party, (that's right two afters), which ended up back at our hotel room. Please see Mistake #1. We had several of the band members, opening acts, techs, a few groupies and a juggling bear all in one quaint hotel room. Alright, no bear but you get the idea. I would like to take this time to thank and apologize to the Ramada Limited of Gilroy for the your patience and tolerance of room 238. Contrary to popular belief, there are no hydrating qualities from a gin and tonic nor from beer of any kind. Mistake #2

3) Sleep - How often we all neglect sleep. A minute here, a hour there never seem like much until it all adds up. Since I started my training, I knew sleep was going to be one of the most important things. I had even tried to get myself into more of a regular sleep pattern. Unfortunately, last week was anything but ordinary. Several nights of restless, broken sleep, and early mornings had left me scatterbrained and weak. Before arriving at the hotel, I grabbed an energy drink to help get me through the night. Please see Mistake #2. The night commenced and then my alarm went off. I had gone the whole night without a wink of sleep. True, I left myself enough time to get back to San Francisco, but not enough time to go to sleep after I got there. Mistake #3

4) Food/Nutrition - It's not what you think. In my haste to Gilroy, I had failed to bring some food to munch on in the morning. After stopping at a Jack-in-the-Box, I thought I would have just enough energy to carry me through my run. Please see Mistake #1. You can't drive cross-country on a gallon of gas, at least not that far.

The perfect storm of events that occurred Saturday morning was capped off that morning as I was sipping my coffee with a running clinic about, (can you guess?), Nutrition and Hydration. As the clinic went on, I slowly crossed off almost everything I had done wrong the night before. There there was the run.
After what seemed like the longest 3.25-3.5 mile run of my life, with no sweat, multiple muscle cramps/aches, and breathing that burned as I exhaled, I realized I had lost one more thing.

5) Being Unprepared - Never will I ever come so unprepared for a run ever again. I'm just sad it took me this long to realize it. I'm not the NCAA athlete, Fraternity member I used to be. I may have the will/drive to do the runs and finish the race, but that's as good as soapbox racer in a Nascar Race. But hell, with nothing in the tank and running on flat tires, I'm excited to see what happens when I do.

P.S. Special Thanks to Charmin who stayed with me during the run at what would probably be her walking pace while I was gunning it in first gear.