Coffee...It makes you poo

Sorry to be so crass, but it's the truth.

I stopped in at Vic's Coffee this morning to discuss next week's trip to Costa Rica with a couple of friends (yes, that's right -- I'm going for 8 days and I'm psyched about it!). We came up with a basic game plan that includes volcanoes, jungles, beaches, and surf. I had a nice big cup of Vic's trademark joe, and I must say it did wonders for my digestive system throughout the morning. As someone who started regularly drinking coffee just recently, this well-known effect is somewhat new to me.

Since I did a 5k time trial on Sunday instead of my long run, I decided to swap the week around and do my 10-mile long run today. I felt light and ready as I hit the path, and the first few miles felt easy and went by quickly. I was determined to just enjoy the run today. It was beautiful, sunny, and 55 degrees out. The birds were chirping, the trees were blooming, and half of Boulder was on the creek path enjoying it all.

Somewhere around mile 4 or 5, my legs started feeling more and more fatigued. My paced slowed, until I felt like I was creeping along. I made a game-day decision to skip my usual striders. My legs just didn't feel up to it. After my turn-around point at the top of Eben Fine Park, I slowly started to feel better. By the end of the run, I was back to my usual pace.

But, my legs are tired, there's no doubt about it. When I finished my run, I had a very strange sensation. Have you ever played that game where you stand in a doorway and push your arms up against the sides of the door frame for one minute, then step away? Your arms feel like they are holding themselves up, like they are floating. Well, when I stopped running and walked for a little, my legs felt like they were moving forward on their own. Weird!

Today's stats: 10 miles, 1:25:09, 8:30 pace.

By the way, looking at the elevation profile of today's run, I think I know why I felt good at the start, progressively worse in the middle, and better at the finish. See if you can guess...

Things spotted on the run:

• A clothesline full of clothes hanging to dry, complete with bike shorts and bike jerseys (that's Boulder for you)
• A mean-looking rottweiler back from a recent trip to the vet; it had a green full-leg cast decorated with delicate pink flowers
• A cat-sized wooden raft on the banks of Boulder Creek (I have no idea if it was built for cats, but it did remind me of the time my brothers and I put our cat on a raft and sent it down the creek, much to its dismay)

The training program

I'm going to be tweaking the program over the next few weeks. I'm taking a couple suggestions to heart, and thus I plan to a) gradually increase the length of my long runs, and b) take some rest weeks. The Costa Rica trip is going to be a rest week for me. I'll run some, but maybe only 15-20 miles. I think I can use the rest.