Dumb Running Mistakes

Yesterday was one of those fun days, but I was busy all day. So somehow I forgot to eat both lunch and supper. I had a small snack mid afternoon, but that was it. Not really a big deal on a normal day. 

But. . .

This morning I got up at 5am after about 4-5 hours of sleep to run 19 miles. I took some gummies and water with me. And I'd hoped that I started early enough to avoid the major heat. About mile 8 I missed a turn to take the route I'd planned out. Not a big deal, I knew where I was, I just wasn't super familiar with the road. Wow! That was the scariest 3 miles of my life. It was a road with literally no shoulder and tons of morning traffic on the way to work. The speed limit is 45, but people were flying a lot faster than that. I took the first turn off I could find. About mile 12 I was out of water, not near any water and fading fast. So I changed my course and ran home for a few seconds to grab some extra water. I'd run 15 miles by this point and knew that it was only 4 miles back to the Y. So I headed back feeling good. It was a tough 4 miles, but I finished feeling exhausted, but good.

I always shower at the Y. I began feeling nauseous almost immediately after I entered the locker room. It was soon followed by dizziness. I passed out twice in the shower. I was sitting a the bench outside the shower trying not to black out for the 3rd time when a lady tried to ask me a question. I guess my response scared her, because within a minute I was laying on my back with an oxygen mask on my face and my limbs curling up. I couldn't use my arms or legs and my lips wouldn't move. There were several ladies all "working" on me. They gave me a drink (nasty stuff) with some potassium in it to get my limbs to uncurl and let me sit there until my eyesight was no longer fuzzy and blinky. It was a bit weird and disconcerting, but all is good now.

And I've learned several lessons. 

1. Don't forget to eat the day before as well as the day of a long run.

2. Stash way more water than I think I need along the route.

3. Stick to my route unless I know the road completely.

4. Bring more snacks for the run.

5. Add more potassium to my diet a few days before a long run.

But I'm super excited. Quite a few marathon training schedules have the final long run stopping at 20 miles. I just ran 19.15 miles this morning. So while I still have 8 miles to add to my long runs, I'm now capable of running a marathon! Whoohoo!!!

 

Images taken from here and here.