Looooong 20 Miles

This is the story of a long 20 mile run.

The night before, my friend Kali came in to visit from Texas! I was planning to get up at 5am to get my long run done so we could play the rest of the day.

Hi Kali!

I got started right on time. I had my Camelbak with me and packed full of fuel. I started off fairly slow, as I usually do. It typically takes me a few miles to really feel loose and to be able to turn my legs over as fast as I want them to. It was pitch black outside, but I enjoyed the quiet and calm Friday morning.

Pitch black. Thought I'd take a picture for you
in case you were wondering what it looked like.

After about 3 miles, I noticed I was sweating waaaay more than normal. TMI? Probably. Your welcome!

I started feeling kind of light headed and figured I was just dehydrated, so I chugged water out of my Camelbak. By 5 miles, I had completely drained my pack. I stopped in a Starbucks to refill it and had another entire cup of water.

I was confused as to why I was so thirsty and was dragging so badly, but figured it was dehydration because as soon as I started running again, I felt fine.

I ran around Lake Union, which was lovely and quiet and then headed up to Greenlake.

Overcast day in Seattle. Monumental. Call the papers!

Again, about 5 miles later, I had to stop because I was feeling so lightheaded. I chugged my Camelbak and refilled it again. I was also taking in lots of fuel.

First I had some Sports beans that went unpictured. I love the Jelly Belly Sports Beans with caffeine. They are tangy and easy to chew and swallow. I also had a GU. I find that Gu's work really well for me, but they are usual harder for me to choke down mid run. I had also found these Buddy Fruit snacks at my grocery store. They were on sale and they worked very well. Kind of like a Gu Chomp! Plus, they were on sale. All around win.

Hydration break at GasWorks Park.

I managed to keep plodding along, but it certainly wasn't easy.

I've gotten into the habit of stopping a lot during long runs, and I need to be better about that. I have one more 20 miler and a 22 miler left, and my goal is to get through most of them unbroken.

Legs, get moving!

By the last 5 miles, I was just done. I was still lightheaded and out of energy. I was also very frustrated with myself because the rest of my body felt great! For some reason I was just losing lots of water through sweat and couldn't replenish it fast enough. I won't even mention how many times I had to stop to use the bathroom. Good thing it was late enough in the morning at this point that lots of stores were open for me to beg for the restroom!

I finally made the last few miles, after having to stop and walk several times.

Not my best run. Not my best time. Not sure what was going on with my body, but I'm hoping it was a fluke and my last few long runs will be much better.

I recovered with an ice bath. It was extra cold this time, but with a full day of running around Seattle ahead of me with Kali, I knew my legs were going to need all the recovery help they could manage!

I'm cold. The end.

I'll recap the rest of my weekend tomorrow. I had a great time showing Kali around and even got in another trail run!