Sigh.
There was good and bad to this long run. Let me tell you about it! First of all, I was only going for 7 miles. For many of you, this isn’t a lot, but it was the longest I’ve gone in awhile. Normally, I look forward to my long runs but I had a feeling this one was gonna be tough. I haven’t been running a lot due to the foot stuff, and I knew that was gonna make me hurt. After all, this whole running thing is hard for me!
And I was right. It did.
I was excited when I woke up to a sunny and warm day–the birds were chirping and it seriously felt like June. However, this was when I committed error #1 of the day: I forgot my water. Real winner right here, let me tell you.
Typically, a 7-miler on April 1 wouldn’t be disastrous without water, but this nice “sunny and warm day” quickly escalated into HOT HOT HOT! By the time I got out there, it was almost 85 degrees and my trail is completely exposed to the sun.
The sad thing is that I contemplated bringing my new Fuel Belt. After all, this is exactly why I purchased it, right? However, I haven’t used it yet and I was worried that I wouldn’t like it, the belt would start irritating me, and I’d be 3 miles out and wanting to pitch it into the meadow. Needless to say, I “logically” told myself that I’d try it out on a shorter run. Once again, major IQ points for me!
Sure enough, I got to my turn around at mile 3.5 and I was parched. The sun was beating down on me and because I was clearly showing signs of genius, I had forgotten to wear sunscreen. If you saw my nice tan lines today, you’d be super impressed. Promise.
Luckily, there is a community college in the area and I decided that somehow, I was going to get into that school. After all, colleges have water fountains, right?
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| The sweet, sweet promise of water |
See, there was even a fire hydrant. That for sure means that they have water!
Unfortunately for me, it was a Sunday at 10am, and the majority of the campus was closed. When I was in undergrad at CU, they typically left all the doors on the buildings open, round the clock. Apparently this community college doesn’t follow that same policy: I spent 30 MINUTES wandering around, pulling on every single door, hoping it was unlocked. I had practically given up when I find my golden door: IT WAS OPEN! And even better, there was a water fountain within 5 feet. Score!
After my near-death experience (and no, I never exaggerate), I continued on my merry way. Of course, then I realized that I had chugged too much water in my hopes to rehydrate and I was facing the repercussions. That water was sloshing around in my stomach like nobody’s business!
I finally slogged my way back to my car at the trail head, but I assure you: it wasn’t pretty. However, the view was pretty, so let’s take a look at that for a moment!
What did I learn from the debacle?
- I still actually enjoy my long run…. when I’m prepared
- BodyGlide is my friend
- Sunscreen is also my friend
- Water is good
- I need to man up and stop bitching