The Terrible Heat

Sorry for the disruption in posts. I'm just a week back from a vacation in Ireland. I have a great post coming about running there but before that I have to tell you about my run this past Saturday.

The pressure was on. I had just 3 weeks left to my race and I was getting really nervous. I missed one of my long runs while on holiday and with the slow down in focus on running, I was feeling a bit stressed about the whole thing. I decided to run 16 miles on Saturday and 20 miles next weekend, leaving myself 2 weeks for recovery before the big event.

Knowing it was going to be hot, I got up at 5:45am. I took my time with breakfast and preparation and left the house shortly before 7 to start running about 7:20am. The first hour was OK. I wasn't very consistent, starting too fast because of the nerves and giving myself side pains that meant I had to stop and walk to recover. I missed my running partner. Even with the jittery run / walk pace, I managed a fairly respectable 5.5 miles in an hour. An average of 11 minute miles is pretty good for my long runs. But I was nervous. For the last mile I had been pushing very hard. The sun was beating down and there was no shade. When I got home I looked up the weather and it was 85 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 30 Celsius). The heat hit me like a smack in the face. Despite bringing my hydration belt with four 7 ounce bottles of Cytomax, and drinking consistently, I must have been really dehydrated. Later, when I got home, I weighed myself and realized that I lost 8 lbs during this run - all fluid. (I know because the next day I was back to normal weight).

For the next hour I dragged myself another 4.5 miles. It was one of the longest hours of my life. My runkeeper data shows how I would work myself up to run, put everything I had into it, run too fast to maintain, and then have to walk to recover. I fought so hard for each one of those bursts of energy, intent on being positive, getting myself through. My body just didn't want to run though, every step required gritted teeth and determination. The heat was relentless and about mile 9.5 I decided to call it quits earlier than my intended 16 miles. I walked despondently for a mile, got up the energy to jog for a little bit and then nearly crawled to my car.

It was without a doubt the worst experience running I've had throughout this whole training. Ever in fact. 3 weeks before the marathon.

Now I'm saying that it was the heat. Of course it was the heat. Knowing how dehydrated I was and what the temperature was makes it pretty clear. Seattle won't be that hot and I have managed so much better in the past that I'm writing this off as a one off. Still, I'm rattled. What if after ALL of this, I don't get to the finish line?