I’ve been running now for four years. This past year I completed two half marathons — one in March and one in May. So running 8 miles is something I’m used to.
But for some reason, today’s run was treacherous!
My coach had 8 miles on the Training Peaks schedule, so I decided to do it on the Wantagh Parkway. I figured four miles out from Wantagh to Jones Beach and four miles back. It seemed doable. I’ve done it dozens of times this year without a problem. But today, it was a problem.
The first mile, my knee started bothering me but I ignored it. The second mile was okay. Mile 3 and 4 started getting rough but I forced myself not to turn around. I only had two 8 ounce bottles of water and a couple of packets of Gu. I was finding myself reaching for the water more often than I thought I would. (There is no water on the route and there’s no shade.)
It was hot. The air was still and I was having a hard time breathing. I felt as if there was no oxygen. I started to see black spots during mile four and by mile five I was walking. I tried to find shade. I just needed to sit and get my heart rate down. It was at 145 while walking. I was running out of water. I saw an older couple taking a break and I asked them if I could get some water from them. The man was kind enough to fill up my 8 ounce bottle. I drank it. It tasted great. I needed that.
Mile 5, 6 and 7 were torture. I walked most of the way. I tried to run but I couldn’t get enough air and was so dry and so hot I just felt as if I couldn’t go on. I looked down at my legs and arms and noticed that I got a heat rash. The inside of my legs were burning from the scraping of my shorts.
When will this be over??? I kept asking myself. Another 1.5 miles to go.
I called my husband. “I can’t go on,” I said. “I don’t think I’m going to make it. I’m dizzy. I see black spots and I’m getting a rash all over my body.”
He told me to take it easy and take my time.
Finally, I saw the mile sign to Cedar Park. Okay, I thought, I could do this. Just a little more to go. I kept wishing there was water. I was sweating so much everything was sticking to me. I started to feel depressed that I wasn’t accomplishing my goal. I wanted to do these 8 miles in an hour and 20 minutes and instead it was taking me more than two hours. I was feeling frustrated.
When I finally reached the car, I turned on the air conditioning and drank a 24 ounce bottle of water that I had sitting on ice.
It wasn’t a great 8 mile run/walk but at least I did it….