Day 60: Solo Runs...

ATHENA'S RUN:

Well, I knew I'd be in Long Island this weekend, so I wanted to get my 16 miler in before that trip!  I actually was visiting my sister at college, so she helped me map out a fairly flat route in the area.  It looked promising and I was mildly optimistic, but that optimism faded quickly.

While I was running, I decided I would call this my "Road Kill Run" mostly because I saw tons of roadkill (several deer, some miscellaneous small game), but also because I felt like the road was killing me.  At 11am (when I began my run), it was 75 degrees outside, and I had an thick insulated long sleeve shirt on - way too much warmth!  Also, I only had an apple & granola bar for breakfast and I only drank 16 ounces prior to the run - more bad news.

Anyway, I think I had heat exhaustion because shortly after mile 5, I felt dizzy and very sick, aside from being completely PARCHED!  I had no strength left in my muscles and, though my breathing was fine, I honestly could not propel my legs further.  I stopped and stretched, I walked, I tried to run a tiny bit.  It was a complete failure of a run.

So, I figure I covered a distance of about 14 miles (cutting out 2 whole miles) and my total elapsed time was 3 hours and 20 minutes.  I was quite discouraged, but fellow running friends explained that sometimes we just have bad running days and that's okay.  I hoped they were right.

Memorable moments:  Once again, Mark gave me his iPod for the run (THANK YOU!).  I actually drank out of a random spring that I found along the roadside (and got a thorn stuck in my hand while bending over to drink from the spring... ouch!).  I stopped in the downtown area and stretched in front of somebody's home only to find that the neighbor on the porch across the street was just staring at me - ahh!  Very close to the end, I could see my final destination probably less than 400 meters away, but had to sit down and rest before being able to find the strength to get there.  Upon arrival, I probably terrified my sister's college roommate by completely raiding their refrigerator, drinking all the half-drank drinks left in the fridge.  WOW, what an experience!!


KENDRA'S RUN:
I won't say too much here...just watch the video and enjoy!