Too ashamed to post

Hey all. Yes . . . I have been too ashamed to post. At least until I got a decent run in. I had a pretty good run last night after mowing the lawn, edging and trimming shrubs. I waited long enough for it to cool off to 90 degrees. I did an untimed 6 miler. I ran the first couple of miles with Shelly, my neighbor who is starting to get serious about her half marathon coming up in Feb. After Shelly finished, I started picking up the pace a little and really tried to concentrate on constantly speeding up. A good run. I needed it after this weekend.

Let me preface talking about Saturday's run by telling you that I spent the whole day Friday out in the heat, playing golf. I thought I drank enough fluids while golfing. The operative word is THOUGHT. Can you see where this is going?

I woke up early Saturday and headed down to the Lakeshore trail. Susan and I had planned my 17.5 mile run down to the enth degree. I was going to run the first 7 1/2 miles (3- 2 1/2 mile segments) and then she would park on the end opposite of my truck. We would then run back to my truck, completing my 10th mile where I'd unload the bike and she would ride 5 miles while I ran and then we'd run my last 2 1/2 miles together back to her car. Pretty elaborate planning and we were really looking forward to it. However, the lack of adequate hydration from the day before raised its ugly head. I ran the first 7 1/2 miles exactly as I wanted . . . I held right at a 9 minute pace but I thought I might be in trouble when I started getting thirsty. Let me tell you something about me-I NEVER GET THIRSTY. Somewhere between 7 1/2 and 10 miles my body decided it would get rid of what last little bit of fluid was in it via MASSIVE amounts of sweat and salt. When I hit the 10 mile mark, my shoes were soaked and my legs and socks were white from the salt. I've always had a little salt around my face and ankles but this was ridiculus. I also slowed way down and started feeling blah. I turned to go back for another 2 1/2 miles but after about a mile, I called it quits. I cannot believe that I quit on a run. Normally my mind will push the body or vice versa but not this past Saturday. Both were weak and I was a wimpy, wussy, girlie-man. I started walking back to my truck, not feeling so good. Thank goodness Susan was there on her bike. She insisted that I just ride her bike back to my truck and she would run the opposite direction back to her car. She wanted to go with me to the truck to make sure I was okay but I would not let her. I managed to get to the truck, load the bike, drink about a quart of water and a quart of Gatorade. It took a couple of hours but I finally got to feeling better.

According to the books and the experts, I should stick to my schedule. That means that I need to run a 20 miler this coming Saturday morning. I will give it a go. However, I will not be out in the sun all day Friday AND I will be starting my run earlier to try to avoid the heat.

Incidentally, I think this coming weekend is the Tupelo marathon and half-marathon. Fellow blogger Shane is running in this. Be sure to stop by his site http://deepsouthrunning.blogspot.com/ and wish him luck.