So Saturday was supposed to be my twenty mile run. Then, thanks be to God, I got an email from my coach, saying that we should only do eighteen, so we weren't running too much too close to the actual marathon. I was a little worried about this, since we would have gotten in late (we always get in late) to Murfreesboro, and I'd be tired, and L. won't take a bottle, so I have to run RIGHT AFTER I nurse her, so she won't be screaming by the time I get back from my three-ish hour run.
I decided to run on a trail that's 4.5 miles long, so I'd have to run out and back twice. As I started running, I felt bored already by the thought of doing the same route: out, back, out, back, so I decided to just run around when I got to the end of the trail, kill some time (so to speak) by running 9 miles in town, then heading back down the trail.
Oh, and did I mention it was getting really hot?
I realize that I could drag this story out, but the long and the short of it is that when I was about two miles from my van (parked at the trailhead), I could go no further. It was hot, I was worn out, and out of juice. I had had a bit of water before I started, and then maybe a half glass at the halfway point, but I had not eaten anything since the night before, and I started getting shakier and shakier. I started hyperventilating and almost blacked out a couple times.
Finally, I sat down on a bench, and when a nice gentleman walking by asked if I was ok, I confessed that I wasn't. He let me use his cell phone, and I called Mom, who informed me that Dad and Bob had just left to start looking for me. Bob has a pretty good sense of my pace and thought they should have heard from me by then.
I had Mom call them and send them to the "bark park" which (I thought) was just around the bend. I second-guessed myself when the guy said, didn't you just pass the dog park? But I hadn't. Anyway. I had to climb a very slight hill and when I got up to the bark park parking lot, I sat on the curb and tried not to cry. Dad and Bob didn't know where the park was, so Mom gave them the phone number I'd called from, and that man gave them directions, and boy, were we relieved to see each other...
It had taken me 25 minutes to walk a quarter of a mile.
I was whupped.
I had Bob take a picture before I went to hibernate in a hot bath. (On a sidenote, Mom and Dad have THE BEST soaker tub ever. It's long and deep and just plain heavenly.)
And then we hopped in the car to drive to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where one of my favorite cousins was getting married.
Nothing like heels and a baby strapped to you when EVERYTHING hurts...It was a gorgeous wedding, and I was so glad we were there. And, for the record, if Bob and I had had an outdoor wedding, I would have wanted Allison's idea for the fans-- they were both the fan and the program... Very cool. And they also served as entertainment for a feisty two-year-old.
Congratulations, John & Allison!
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