The Hardest & Sweatiest 14 Miles of My Life!!!

I'm sitting here trying to come up with the words to describe how "out of it" I am right now. I thought I'd better get myself up to actually attempt to use my brain today (other than staring blankly at the tv). I'm THAT tired... dazed and confused might be a better description.

Today I ran 14 miles. It was the longest run I've done since 1999. It was long. It was hard. It was incredibly strenuous and difficult. But, it's over. Thank the LORD it's over!

The morning started early... 4:00 AM. I awoke in mid-dream thinking (as I do everytime I have to get up that early), "Why am I doing this?" Oh yeah... I'm doing this because I set a goal back on New Year's Eve to run in TWO marathons this year.... and I'm doing this at 4:00 AM because it's so freakin' hot/humid in Dallas that it's the only time to run!

So I met Chandra and Becky out at the lake again at 5:30. Same story... same verse: We ran around the lake. Ok, that sounded bitter. I'll say it like this: They ran around the lake, and I sweated profusely!

Do you know how hard it is to run when you're wet? Seriously... think about it. Imagine dressing in your running clothes, jumping into a swimming pool, and getting out to run a long distance! Obviously it doesn't start just like that. But by mile 6, I'm usually soaked head to toe. My socks are wet, and the shoes are drenched. Apparently "dry fit" really doesn't apply to me.

At mile 9, we were back at the cars. I had some Power Aid Gel, drank some water, attempted to towell off, and then put a new sweatband on.... and off we went. Around mile 11 Chandra made a comment, "Oh my gosh, Regan! You're leaving foot prints!" Yes, as disgusting as that sounds, THAT'S how wet I was.

Obviously, sweating that much is not good for the body. I was struggling big-time today. Even though we would stop at every water fountain, I just couldn't get enough to replenish what I was losing. It was also the 8 o'clock hour, and it was getting hot very fast. I told Becky that she needed to go into "coach" mode. And running with her, I felt like we had a rope attached to the 2 of us... and she was dragging me along!

As if my body decided to tell me, something happened. Around 13 it was like I had an electrical shock. My extremities were tingling, my vision got really blurry, and I was having a hard time running straight. I told Becky and we started walking. After walking for a bit, I started up again. We made it through and finished at 14... but I gotta say, I was gassed. I had nothing in the tank. We walked the rest of the way back to the vehicles. I drank a lot of water, put on some dry clothes, and headed home.

I have since eaten twice and taken a 2.5 hour nap. I am moving around this house VERY slowly... not really from pain, but just from pure exhaustion. I don't think I'll have any problems falling asleep tonight.

Achieving goals are very tough... but I just gotta hope that in the end, it'll be worth enduring days like this.