Sep 9, 2007

dehydrated runner.

i feel like i have been in a perpetual state of heat exhaustion for about a month. there was one day in particular, about a month ago ... (let me preface this quick story by saying i'm trying to be really good during this training & cut back on my candy intake. so, because i'm an all or nothing sort of girl - i don't simply cut back. i quit. cold turkey.) ... so, one day - i feel tired. and sort of feverish. and really nauseous. and i think: omg! its a candy deficiency! i'm going into detox from lack of candy. (i promise you - i thought this.) and i left the house & went out to buy a big bag of gumdrops to remedy the situation. then, on the news that night, they were yammering on about the heat & the umpteenth day of 3 digit temps, blahblahblahblah ... but what catches my ear is when they start to list the symptoms for heat exhaustion: feverish, nausea - and so on. and i'm standing in my kitchen thinking, shit. it wasn't a candy deficiency. i bet i'm heat exhausted. i fell off the wagon for nothing.

so, even though i feel like i have been in this perpetual state of heat exhaustion, i know i am still not drinking enough water ...

i went to bed last night ... the night before a long run and when i was just in that place between asleep & awake, it dawned on me that once again, i didn't drink nearly enough water. and if i really thought about it - i wasn't sure that other than the water bottle i depleted on yesterdays' ride, i had any water at all.

shit. good god girl - can you get any stupider?

so i down a half bottle of water and hoped for the best.

needless to say, i woke up with a raging headache. i'm familiar with these headaches - they happen when i'm DEHYDRATED. duh. and they just get worse & worse and if not stopped dead in their tracks, turn into a migraine.

a smart girl may have gone back to bed to wait for headache to subside. she would have spent some more time hydrating. but i never said i was smart. determined. stubborn, yes. smart? not so much. i had 15 miles on the docket ... and now that i am a butt crack of dawn runner - there's nothing worse than the thought of a workout looming over me all day when any number of things could interfere with it & take it away from me.

i was doing this run - headache & dehydration be damned. i tried to will the headache away, tried to pretend i didn't notice that it hurt if i turned my head. i said it was welcome to come back later & put me down for the rest of the day, but please please please, just give me a little over 2 hours. please.

1 banana, a GU, and half bottle of water and i head out the door. figuring i'd just take it nice & slow and stop to drink at every water fountain along my run. every fountain that wasn't inexplicably turned off or just plain missing, that is.

the worst part came with one mile to go right before i was supposed to kick it into big dog pace. the water fountain that i was running towards -just make it to that fountain. just make it to that fountain - was locked behind the garage doors of the auto body shop. and the sight of the soda machine across the street had me cursing myself for forgetting to bring any money on a long run yet again. cause i would have died right there for a soda.

surprisingly, i did indeed make it home in one piece. ok. maybe not so much in one piece. felt more like pieces were on the verge of falling off. one more mile & i bet they would have. but! the headache disappeared around mile 3, never to resurface. and despite the lack of hydration, the 15 miles were done at a perfectly acceptable pace that won't have me beating myself up all day. perhaps planets were colliding. cause i would have bet my last GU that it wasn't gonna go so well.

since completing dehydrated 15 miles, i have been hydrating.
a lot.
which, i obviously should have been doing all along.
i have exactly 6 weeks till race day.
the stupid has to stop.
it's not a candy deficiency.
its a need for water.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I hope you rewarded yourself wth a "big dog" nap!

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!

M

zanne said...

as soon as i peeled my face from its resting spot of the cold kitchen counter & mustered up the energy to make the kids pancakes ... yes, i did take a nice little snooze!

Vickie said...

Yikes! Scary what we put ourselves through sometimes. Start carrying a bucket of water with you! Dehydration also makes you very tired and low energy, so beware! And treat yourself to a big bag of M&Ms or something right after the race. That's how I bribe myself to get the workouts done lately!

zanne said...

yeah ... tired & low energy. it's all coming together now. like light has dawned on planet zanne.

Gotta Run..... said...

If I had your phone number I would call you RIGHT NOW!!!! Have you not learned anything from my STUPID mistakes missy??

It takes more than water so make sure you are getting in enough electrolytes. I am on strict orders to consume half a gallon of electrolytes a day in addition to the water. Doctors orders! Also pay close attention to your intake 48 hours before your longest run outdoors. It is what you do to prepare your body before rather than what you can take in quickly the day of.

The last thing you want is to have your body shutdown all together. The warning signs are there so be smarter than I was.

Now where is your number.... you are in BIG trouble!

Anonymous said...

It's amazing what we know and still ignore.

We all need to form one big calling tree and first put out a gentle reminder call and then follow it up with a "What-the-hell-were-you
-thinking?" call.

I'm learning from your lesson. Thanks.