Mad dogs and Englishmen
Today sucked. I let myself get really dehydrated, then went out in the afternoon sun and attempted to do 5 miles. By the time I finished 2 I could barely lift my legs, by 2.25 I was gagging and trying not to vomit while chills raced up my back. By 2.5 miles, I started walking. I turned around and went home. I was, and still am a little upset with myself. I could have run in this heat, it wouldn’t have been pretty but it was possible. I can’t however run in this heat without being hydrated.
I have never quit a scheduled run before, and I didn’t plan to start now. It was sort of demoralizing. Oh well, I haven’t been getting enough sleep and I haven’t been properly hydrating. And…wtf was I running through the hottest part of the day?
I am just going to keep going in the half marathon training, give it a few more weeks, but this was an important workout that I messed up…so it will be on my mind.
I am putting this in the learning column. 35 isn’t 25, I can’t be out all night and pop out into 90 degree heat with absurd humidity and expect to run 5 miles.
Tomorrow is a no brainer, I am going kayaking for my cross training, so that will go off without a hitch. Monday night I am set to run with a friend for 3.5 miles, also should be easy.
Hey Nathan, sorry to hear about your encounter with dehydration but glad it wasn’t worse. I entered the ‘once and done turnpike run’ 5k in early May and didn’t realized I was dehydrated until I took a leak before the race and noticed my urine was pretty dark. At the time I didn’t really think much of it(inside my head was a “it is just a 5k, I’ll grab some gatorade when I finish). I was doing great for the first two mile and a quarter miles and then totally bonked. People started flying by me and asking if I was ok. I was getting sort of a tunnel-vision effect and my leg motion was all jerky. I finally made it to the finish line, but I looked so bad that a couple of guys pulled me out of the chute before my tag was ripped and walked/carried me over to the grass to lay down. I was really out of it. It took me over an hour of lying in the shade, drinking fluids and eating a bit before I started recovering. Since then I’ve been paying a lot of attention to my hydration levels, especially when it is warm out.
Wow Bill, that is pretty crazy. That makes me feel a little better for quitting. I kept forcing myself forward, however, I started thinking about the idea that I was alone on a trail and while it wasn’t the middle of nowhere I could get into trouble if I fell over.