Is running blindness/brain freeze a thing?

[Mary_O]

I think I went a bit nuts tonight. Was very tired (six hour journey home from Bingley mostly sitting in traffic - should have taken 3 hours and a half) and stiff, so went for a run to get my steps up and get my legs moving and feeling a bit better.

I KNOW that the distance between the railway bridge near the sports centre up to the next one on the cycle path is 2.5 km. So, even with wanting to do 5k, I should have walked to that, run to the top bridge and back, then walked home.

Oh no. Started the Fitbit app at home, thought "never mind, the pace will be wrong for the first km but at least it'll track the whole thing." Started running on the path towards the first bridge. The 1 km warning sounded not long after I had passed my "start line."

Brain, totally illogically (and it is illogical, I know that now) argued "okay, I haven't run 1 k yet, because that's up by the sheep field, so if I run to 3 km then it's about 2 km really and I've got about 3 km from that point to get home and then I'll have done my 5k."

Ran to the top bridge (remember in real terms, by this point I've actually run over 2.5 km and I've convinced myself I've done less than this). Turned around, started to run back. Started to get a stitch not long afterwards (because panic has set in, I'm running too fast and it's the time of the month, TMI but heigh ho). Had to walk for a few seconds then started running again. Told myself off and vowed to run a bit further at the end to make up for it. Over the next five minutes I have to walk again twice - probably for no more than twenty seconds - so agree with myself to carry on running a little bit further at the end to make up for this failure.

The 6k warning goes off before I get back to the sports centre bridge. Acknowledging that technically I have run 5k by this point (which part of my brain kicks in I'm not sure, but I soon start ignoring it again, never fear) I walk, stretch out my right side (which is cramping, again) and then carry on running. Up the track, and home.

Checked on computer when I got in, just to compare mapmyrun stats with Fitbit (because I don't completely trust Fitbit yet, and mapmyrun shows a nice pace graph Fitbit doesn't).

Total distance covered: 6.96 km.

You can see on the graph that my pace went up when I started running at 0.5 km. I carried on running (with the brief walks) until I got to my door.

So 6.46 km was covered mostly running.

No wonder I now feel rough. I am blaming hormones and tiredness for just not noticing.

I might have a two day rest now. I only really went out because it's going to chuck it down here tomorrow!! And now bits of me hurt and I'm confused because I didn't actually run 5k without stopping, but I probably did get to about 3 and a bit before walking briefly and... gah! Onwards and upwards.

[gary_bart]

Maybe you really wanted to run the whole almost 7km, knowing it wasn't such a good idea, and then just tricked yourself into doing it? Without tricking yourself like that, you'd have had to run a lesser distance you actually weren't in the mood to run. ... No, no, that would mean this running has made you mad.

[Mary_O Graduate in reply to gary_bart]

Definitely a lack of blood to the brain tonight I think, it was all in my legs! You're right though, I wasn't completely in the mood to run and dragged myself out of the door. Sort of glad I did now - but I suspect I'm going to suffer tomorrow!

[Hidden]

sorry about you day but you most remember when its ladies month your body losers oxygen which can make you light headed it is best not to do things like this when you have had a long driver getting stressed up then trying then to run 2.5k your body went into shock mode which with ladies month not good hope this helped bigalan

[Mary_O Graduate in reply to Hidden]

To be honest, if I didn't attempt to run at the time of month, I'd be sofa-bound for up to ten days at a time! I certainly wasn't light-headed at any point during the run. Oh, and husband was driving, not me today.

You're right about not overdoing it though, and when I set out I was happy to accept that I might not manage the full 5k. That's why I stopped, walked, and thought I'd just carry on to "make up a bit of time" later. I think tiredness was mostly to blame for the maths failure.

[Hidden in reply to Mary_O]

hi their thanks for you reply i'm glad that you are okish today and what i asked was wrong but i'm glad that your ok take care bigalan

[Anaverageman Graduate]

Sorry I ran tonight, got brain freeze reading trying to work out what was happening when you ran...lol

[DownNotUp Graduate]

Maybe if you do the route backwards next time you can take the bit you did over, off the total, if you see what I mean.

[Mary_O Graduate in reply to DownNotUp]

What's even more depressing is that I've run this route so many times already. It's literally a five minute walk to the railway bridge, then run up a practically straight cycle route to the next bridge, turn around and come home. If I had had Laura in my ear I'd have stopped running and walked the last five minutes, leaving it at a 5k run.

Oh well, I'll have to remind myself not to get creative next time!

[mfamilias Graduate]

It was a good run, so don't worry. Herr Hormone is a despot. I managed to take the wrong turn on my run yesterday and ended up running around in a field like Benny Hill in trainers... and guess what? Same situation as you...

[Mary_O Graduate in reply to mfamilias]

Glad I'm not the only one! This is why I map the runs before going out - I'd end up in the next county with a 10 km walk home and wondering why I was tired.

[Anaverageman Graduate]

thats why i stick to the same runs!!

[rmnsuk Graduate in reply to Anaverageman]

So do I, but I now know the parkrun loop inside-out in both directions, including the short-cut, both ways! I really must sit down with mapmyrun and find another, longer, run. You can only do 4-5 times round the lake so many times before it becomes almost as boring as a treadmill. And I'm sure that I've run it so many times I've tamped it down. Even the "hill" doesn't seem quite as steep as it used to

[Mary_O Graduate in reply to rmnsuk]

You're right, that's why I run different circuits, so it's not boring.

[Anaverageman Graduate]

you should try running ACROSS the lake then... ? lol nice smooth surface.. bit slippery.. no hills.. all it takes is faith...

[Mary_O Graduate in reply to Anaverageman]

I like this idea.

This winter, if I try running across the meadow it WILL have flooded and frozen over (walked over part of it one year, when it was covered in snow and heard that awful, warning crack of thick ice giving way over a suspiciously flat part of the field). Maybe I won't try that though.

[Anaverageman Graduate]

errr no I agree with that....

I lived in Hamsterjam for 3 years and the Dutch had a saying that you shouldn't go on ice until the air temperature had been consistently ( and solidly) below zero for two weeks.. only then would it be sure to be thick enough to support you..

[Mary_O Graduate in reply to Anaverageman]

Very sensible. I, obviously, hadn't clocked the worryingly flat bit until the creaking groan and then I backed off, fast.