What idiot goes and attempts an 18 miler after having the flu for a week??
Oh yeah. ME
Well, it started off good. Actually I felt better than I have in a long time. My first 5 miles were really good. About Mile 6 I felt my legs a bit but figured I was just working hard. The gel I took at Mile 4 was working...I felt like I had good energy.
Around Mile 8 I took another gel and had some water. I still felt okay but I felt my heart rate going up a bit. So I slowed down to keep my HR in Zone 2 or thereabouts. I was still right around 750 pace so it didn't worry me.
Then the shit hit the fan. Around 9 miles I felt like I was needing another gel already! And I was hungry! Not good. My heart rate was rising again. I grabbed some water at Mile 10 and kept going. I was slowing down.
Mile 11...done. My heart rate shot thru the roof and I had to stop and walk. I was hyperventilating and my legs froze up. I walked ALL the way to Mile 12 where I had more water. I just couldn't put the water back in my body faster than it was going out. I had stopped sweating which is a REALLY bad sign. My arms tingled.
From there til I got home, I managed about a mile and a half of running, but the rest was walking. Every time I'd try to run, my heart rate would just skyrocket. I was underhydrated when I started, so by the time I was halfway thru this run, I was completely dehydrated. I was also depleted of sodium and potassium...as evidenced by the white stripes on my clothes and arms, and the cramps in my legs. Today was an exercise in mental toughness. Or in futility. Or in idiocy...I haven't decided yet. Sheesh, my T-cells must be in the shitter.
1 comment:
Jeff,
Just call it an experiment! As for what's "STOOPID", your experiment reminds me of the time (I think six years ago) when I ran (or tried to run) the Vermont 100 Mile when I was in the full throes of bronchitis. And that wasn't all. I was STOOPID enough to think I could run fast enough to finish before dark, so I didn't take a flashlight, and guess what. Have you ever been in a forest on a night when there are no stars and it is absolutely black, you can't take two steps without hitting your face on a tree, and you are exhausted and coughing? Some runners who were a little brighter than I came along with their lights and I followed them to the next aid station, borrowed a flashlight . . . and then made it to 90 miles, where it dawned on me that I'd far rather be in bed than doing this. And was this all because I was inexperienced? No...I was in my 48th year of competitive running. Now I'm in my 54th year and still learning! I share some of my adventures (and stoopid experiments) at http://enduranceandsustainability.blogspot.com.
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