Today’s scheduled run was 22 miles. I did not make that lofty goal. I only ran 19.52 miles. MFH met me at that spot and made me stop. I know it was the right thing to do but still…Rats!
Here is what happened…
I was running along Hwy 182 having a lovely run. Things were going perfect. I was about a half to a quarter mile away from the 15 mile water stop when I noticed a truck pull into the driveway where we stash the bucket, aka: Water stop.
This cute little old guy gets out of the truck. He walked over to the bucket. I am getting nervous. I am about out of Gatorade and do not want to see my supply go bye-bye.
The cute little old guy picks up the bucket and starts poking around the contents. This is not good. He then carries the bucket to the trailer that he is pulling with his truck. He was going to take my water stop!!!
I started yelling, “Sir! Sir!!!”
He did not hear me.
Panic.
I run faster.
“Sir! SIR!!!”
I am running about as fast as I can by now and am yelling at the top of my lungs, waving my arms…generally looking like an idiot.
He finally notices me and stops.
I reached him and explained that the bucket was my water stop. I apologized for not asking permission before stashing it at the end of his driveway.
He was pretty cool for a cute little old guy.
He said, “I used to be an Army Ranger.”
I was immediately impressed.
He continued, “We had to do 10 mile runs every single day. Sunday’s were the worst because we had to run the 10 miles carrying our weapons. I hated that! I understand the need for a water stop. Feel free to use my driveway.”
Nice guy!
I now had a problem, though. I was overheated from trying to reach the guy before my water stop disappeared. Rats!
I drank my Gatorade and refilled my carry bottle.
MFH had put bottles of water in the bucket for me to douse myself but they and the Gatorade were rather warm. Almost hot to the touch. It was counterproductive.
I started back up. SLOW. I knew I was in trouble.
I ran another three miles then called my parents. They lived about 7 miles from where I was running. MFH was about 20 miles from where I was running. I asked them if they would be willing to bring me some ice water. They did!
I drank some of the ice water and then poured the rest on myself.
BRRRR!!! I started to chill.
I thanked my parents and continued on to my next to the last water stop. I was supposed to call MFH from there. I reached the water stop, called MFH and kept on going. He started driving to the last water stop.
This last section of the run had no shade whatsoever and was very hilly. This just would not do.
I was burning up.
I called MFH again and asked where he was. He was at the water stop I had just left a couple of miles back. I told him how hot I was and asked if he could meet me with some more cold water.
We met up about a mile later, He gave me some cool water and I immediately dumped it on myself. That was cold! It felt great! But I was hot right away again. No relief. He had me pour another bottle on myself, and then a third. I could not cool down and started getting dizzy.
He pulled the plug on the rest of the run. I was sooooo close! But I know he was right. RATS. I am still on schedule for the race. That is not a problem. I just feel like a huge failure when I do not complete a training run.
So, that is my confession for the day. Run incomplete.