Well, this week turned out to be much more interesting than I had originally intended. My original plan had been to run 7 miles with my group on Saturday morning. I was especially looking forward to seeing some of my regular running buddies plus a girl I met on Thursday during a group training session. In addition to that, this week we were running the same mileage as the intermediate group, so I was also looking forward to the possibility of seeing some other people I know on other teams. Things didn't quite work out that way.
Friday, I got sick. Not sniffy nose, achy body sick. More like leave a clear path to the bathroom sick. It was completely unexpected and not at all fun. I went to bed early Friday and hoped that I'd feel better by Saturday.
While things had much improved by Saturday morning I still wasn't feeling quite right. I had woken up early so I could really assess how I was feeling and to allow time to see how food would affect me. Hans made me oatmeal (a fairly safe option), and one bite sent me back to the bathroom. Since it was 80 degrees out, and I could eat anything, I decided to go back to bed. The run would have to wait until later.
As the day wore on, I started feeling better, and by late afternoon my appetite had returned. I was able to keep down a bagel, bread sticks, and pasta. Yep! I wanted carbs. I thought about going out that night, but two things stopped me. First was that I was just so tired. I'm sure my system was still a little out of whack, and going up the stairs exhausted me. The thought of running 7 miles in the now 90-100 degree heat did not sound appealing. Second, was the incoming storm. If I did go out, I wanted to go out after the heat of the day (around 7:30), but they were calling for severe storms for the evening. At one point I almost changed into my running clothes, but one look at the sky made me hesitate. Boy, am I glad I did too. The rains came about 30 minutes later. Running would have to wait a little longer.
This morning, Sunday morning, I was determined to go out. I could join up with Sunday MTT training group, or I could go out on my own, but either way I was going to go out. I decided to sleep in a little more and go out on my own. Hans was lovely and agreed to be my SAG crew. So, around 7:45 I left in the 75 degree heat and humidity. Luckily there was cloud coverage.
Around mile 3 the sun came up, and that made things much warmer. My pace slowed considerably. I did see the MTT SAG crew just before they packed up, and they offered me water, but Hans was right down the road with water, Gatorade, and watermelon, so I ran on to him instead. That first stop felt good, but I was ready to move on, so on I went.
As I continued running I got much hotter. My pace slowed some more. I stopped at one point to use a restroom and splash some water on my face, and I stopped at another point for something more amusing...to watch a squirrel try to carry an old package of cookies up a tree. I wish I'd had my camera! By the time I reached Hans the second time at 4.5 miles I needed the break. I dumped cool water on my head, I sipped some Gatorade, and I ate a couple pieces of watermelon. This helped settle my stomach which wasn't being entirely cooperative. I also asked Hans to only go short distances ahead, because I feared I might need him. Then, I continued on.
For the next 2.5 miles my only thought was of stepping into air conditioning. Oh how wonderful that would be! I finally had to stop for water again with only .6 mile left. If there had been more I would have had much more trouble finishing. After this, Hans only went 1 block ahead at a time...just in case.
Finally, after 1 hour 17 minutes and 40 seconds I had completed 7 miles. My average pace was exactly 11 minutes per mile. I'd say this isn't bad for being sick the day before and for the unbelievable heat. If it had been cooler it would have been much easier. Still, this is a new accomplishment for me. I've never run 7 miles before, and I'm now over 1/4 of the way to a marathon. Woohoo!!!
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