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The run from heck

So, I woke up Saturday morning and didn’t feel the same pain that had marked every day of the previous week; I thought this was a good sign, so I got dressed for my run, loaded up the old iPod with some audio, and zipped out the door at about 8:30. I drove up to Vienna to get on the W&OD Trail at a point where I knew I’d have a fair amount of flat running for my 13 miles, stopped to get a couple of waters, and pretty soon was on the trail itself.

I felt great through the first half of the run; I made it all the way up to Reston, which was surprising - I used to live there, and I never thought it was that close to Vienna (though the Trail takes a more direct route than do the roads I normally drive on). I turned around at 6.5 miles, stopped off at a 7-11 for a fresh water bottle, and was back on my way without a great deal of trouble.

At about nine miles, I started feeling a little off; my water wasn’t lasting like I’d hoped it would, and when I looked down, I noticed that sweat was leaving salt trails on my leg. I slowed my pace a little more and tried to stick to the shaded parts of the trail, but the feeling just got worse and worse as I continued. I walked a big uphill and had a hard time getting going again, and I was taking longer and longer walking breaks at each mile marker. By the time I hit mile 11, I was done - I walked from there back to the car. At that point, I had about two mouthfuls of water left in my bottle (they were gone by mile 12 despite my rationing efforts).

Once I started walking in earnest, my back began to hurt. I had to stop every quarter-mile or so to bend over and stretch it out. After a while, I got so frustrated that I tried to run again - but after the first step, my calf cramped in a most unpleasant (and all-too-familiar way - I have a history of bad muscle cramps that start in the calves), so I stretched it out and went back to walking.

It was a long, long two miles - but eventually, I made it. I grabbed my extra water from the car and laid on the grass nearby for five or ten minutes, then got into the car and drove home. Once home, I jumped into the shower for a long soak and felt better. I then crawled into bed and tried to go to sleep while Lacie got ready to go to a meeting of a board she’s on.

And here’s where it got a little scary: after Lacie left, I stayed in bed for another fifteen minutes or so, then I got up and went to the bathroon - at which point, I felt faint, started sweating heavily, and had my eyesight go a little dark. I had to lay on the bathroom floor for a while just to cool off, then crawled back into the shower for another twenty minutes or so before feeling strong enough to get back to the bed. After napping for an hour or so, I was able to wander into the kitchen for some food and was able to make it through the rest of the day without too much trouble.

All in all, it was quite the adventure - and one I’m not eager to repeat. I found out after I got home and recovered a bit that the heat index for the second half of my run was over 100°; I’m guessing that contributed a fair amount to my problem. Next time, I’ll set out earlier to try to beat the heat. Luckily, my run for next weekend is only 8 miles - a piece of cake compared to the last two weeks. Whew! Who knew running a marathon would be such hard work?