{Monday Runday} The Epic 7 Mile Fail

Not really a “hill,” but still a steady incline.

At mile 4 crossing over the interstate.  My house is still about 3 miles north, beyond all those buildings on the horizon. Aurgh….

I had to stop at about mile 3, which is not normal for me.  I typically run the whole thing, maybe stopping for 30 seconds to get a drink or something, but I don’t normally stop for longer than that.  I can usually run a 5k, no problem.  But those first 3 miles were running straight into a 15 mph wind, which was so stinking hard.  My heart rate during a 5k is normally about 140-160, but for much of those first 3 miles with the wind and “hills” combined, my heart rate was close to 185, hence why I thought I might die.  I stopped and sat for like 5 minutes, so as not to puke. And when my heart rate came back down, I started back up.

I got to mile 4, stopped again, and ate my honey stinger and drink more water.  I told myself “only 3 more miles to go!” So I got back up again and took off. At mile 5, my wonderful husband, who had been out to lunch with some of our friends, pulled up to see how I was doing.  I told him I thought I might die, but I was going to finish.  Being the awesome husband that he is, he ran home to get some more water for me.  I kept running.

At mile 5.5, he pulled up with a squirt bottle and a big bottle of cold water.  Remember how I said it was 75 right after church? That quickly became 85 degrees while I was out there running.  And in West Texas, you cannot escape the sun.  It will scorch you.  So I drink a ton of water and got hosed down with a squirt bottle and it felt sooooo good…

Feeling refreshed, I tackled that last 1.5 miles.  And let me tell you…it sucks when you get to your house and your garmin says “6.80 miles.”  Cory was waiting in the front yard for me and I hollered as I ran past “this really sucks! I’m home, but I can’t stop! I got .2 miles to run still! I’ll be back!!”  So past the house I go.  I turned around at 6.9 miles and at 7 miles, I was in my driveway.  I hit stop on my garmin, (thank God!) and promptly collapsed on the ground, where I felt I could have stayed for about an entire week.

oh 7 mile route, you are dead to me.

My husband is so good to me that he had a pb&j waiting for me, along with some P90X recovery formula.

My hero!

So my 7 mile run was an epic fail.  Let me sum up to you what I learned.

1. 7 miles is a long way in a scorching sun, 85 degrees and running into 15 mph winds.  This run made me feel like crap.
2. I need more water than I thought I did.  Time to invest in a bigger bottle, more fuelbelt bottles or a camelpack to run with.
3. Running mid-day on not much food is a stupid thing to do.  I ate breakfast, then had some fruit before my run. I typically run on very little food in the morning because running with food in my stomach upsets my tummy.  Apparently this is not the same for a mid-day run. Only run long runs in the morning.  Noted.
4. Eye of the Tiger Pandora station is the ultimate pandora station for running.
5. I have an awesome husband, who checked to make sure I wasn’t dead on the road somewhere.