Each Step is One in The Right Direction

Be Careful of the Heat

So, I am alive. I didn't die. Although at some points yesterday I felt like I would. So here's the story...(and read it all because I don't want any of you to die.)

The morning was beautiful, 14 degrees celcius, not a cloud in the sky. At 8:30 am, I was at the Running Room, in my long sleeved clima lite shirt, my black nike running skirt, running room socks, and new shoes. Of course, I had 2 packages of sports beans, 3 gels and my fuel belt, which carries 6oz of water in every bottle, and there are four bottles on the belt. *(Note: I do not use all of this energy, but I do carry it, just incase those around me need it. Of course, I had on a hat, and some sunscreen.

The run called for 18 km, and our group leader had set it out so that we ran up the biggest hill in the area, and then up the only significant hill in the race.. (The race hill seems so much smaller after the first one.)
At about 8:35, we were on our way. I started running with the girls that I usually run with, but I felt significantly undertrained from the day befores run (long story short, I struggled through the whole 10k) so I decided to run with Carrie, whom I had run last sunday's run with. And I still felt like I was going to slow..( I didn't pay MUCH attention to pace, but I think it was like 6:35/kilometer) so I caught up with the head of the pack, which included our group leader, and then we chit chatted, and I met another lady, and then I kept clipping along.

I found the biggest hill in the area (well actually they warned me) and I bounded up that hill like it was nothing, and kept running down the street, and I was still doing good, although I was feeling a little tired. I had taken one gel before the hill and took another gel about 5 kilometer later, and I still felt fine, although I had sucked my fuel belt dry. I ran up the race hill, and I suddenly felt really cold.

I had the chills, I had a stomach cramp, I felt naseous, I wasn't sweating, I was really dizzy and I had trouble breathing.

I turned the 10 and 1's into I'll walk when I need to, and turned my ipod on. I think I walked more than I ran. People started to catch up with me, and someone walked with me for awhile, and then the group leader caught up with me, and walked with me. He thought that it might be "The Wall" . At this point we were only like 1 kilometer away from the store, so it was all gonna be okay. I went back to the store, and he suggested that I get gatorade from there, to replenish the salts or whatever. By the time the run was over it was about 22 degrees.

In the car on the way home to get my uniform, I was shivering, and under a big jacket. I was still nauseous and shaking. My mom bugged me "What day is it? Who's the primeminister" and whatever. My brother brought my stuff down stairs, and we dropped him at work, and then I went to work. I was feeling really crappy, shaking and I could barely stand up.

"It was the Wall" I told myself.

So I went to work, and I was almost crying, cause I felt sooo bad. I had what, 6 tables all day. It was a struggle to do them. I couldn't drink anything because my poor tummy wouldn't tolerate it. I went on my break, and still couldn't eat. I just laid there. I was still shaking and cold and nauseous. I also hadn't used the bathroom since 7 o'clock that morning.

I had ended up going home. Well, more like being forced to go home. One of the girls from work drove me home. I hope everything was good there. I don't like letting people down and they only had a few servers. We will see I guess.

I came home, and kind of laid there for 2 hours or so. I started to drink the gatorade that I had from the morning, which made my tummy more upset, but I forced myself to drink it. I didn't want to die you know.

After I finished the bottle I started to feel a little better. I hadn't eaten that day either. But I still wasn't trying. Then finally, at 11 o'clock that night, I went to the potty. For those of you not familiar with the "Urine Test," the darker the urine, the more water you need to drink. So I was pretty dehydrated I think.

Still, I haven't gone since then, so I am staying home today. I still have pain in my chest and I am colder than normal but I am feeling much better today.

SO...the point to this long post, Please be careful. Carry enough water so that you do not get dehydrated. I had Heat Exhaustion, or possibly the first signs of Heatstroke, which can be potentially life threatining. It is a really scary experience.

I hope everyone is well,

Keep Cool
Tiger

posted by AddictedToEndorphins @ 5:02 AM