Overdoing It

Wednesday was an easy day with two runs of 8 and 7 miles. Somehow the morning run wound up being done at a 6:20 pace, although it didn't feel that fast. I think I had a nice breeze at my back that helped push along the pace a little bit. Also, I was running late for work due to some train gaffes, so I might have been subcounciously pushing things trying to make up time. The 7 miles in the afternoon were done at a very pedestrian pace, and went much better than the last time I did a double.

On Thursday, I was planning on doing my usual Thursday tempo run of 5 miles, but due to a late night softball game on Wednesday I didn't get out in the morning for a run. I was then going to knock it out at lunchtime, but things got really crazy at work so that was shot down as well. Normally, those are my only two real windows for running as the rest of the day is reserved for work and family stuff, but today the family was spending the night in Michigan so I had the night pretty much freed up. So in a last minute decision, I decided to swap out the tempo run for a longrun along the lakefront.

When I headed out at about 5:45PM, the temps were in the high 80's and it was pretty humid. I was seriously questioning the wisdom of attempting to run 20 miles, but I had nothing else to do for the night, so I figured I might as well take advantage of it. I took things very slowly for the first half of the run and things actually weren't too bad. There was a decent breeze blowing by the lake and while I was sweating pretty badly, I felt good for the most of the run. I did the first half at a 6:58 pace and did 6:36 for the second half. Things started to get a little hairy around mile 17 or so and by 19 miles I was at a spot where I could either call it a day or do a little mile loop to make it an even 20. I opted for the easy way out and stopped at 19.

While I tried to drink as much as possible during the run, I was pretty dehydrated by the end and my stomach was a mess. I showered and got some water for the ride home, but was pretty miserable the entire time. By the time I got home, I was in pretty bad shape. I was getting the chills and was feeling nauseous anytime I tried to do anything other than lay down. Finally, I got up to try and get some water, and wound up throwing up all the liquid that I've drank up to that point. I wound up throwing up 3 times during the night and had the chills and cold sweats as well. Finally around 2AM, I woke up and was able to eat something and get some fluids in me. Oopsy. Lesson learned.

Not sure what the plans for today are. I still feel a little weak, and the thought of actually running in hot temps again makes me feel sick all over again. I'll probably do the smart thing and take a day off, although a nice easy 7 miler may tempt me later on. We'll see if I can withstand that urge.