9.5 miles

I did it. :)

I was out of town for several days, so I had an opportunity to run in an area that was unfamiliar to me. We mapped out a run the night before, after several passes of trying to get the correct mileage, blah blah blah.

I parked down by the marina (who knew there was a marina in the Midwest?!) Saturday morning, ready to go, Camelbak and all. And I did. I did every single step of it, plus a little bit. The run was supposed to be 9.4 miles but I tagged on a little at both the beginning and the end to get to a clean 9.5.

I think this is perhaps as good a time as any to talk about an issue that may affect many of you who run. I have a tendency to develop stomach cramps at the 6 or 7 mile mark. I always do. It's normal for me. I just keep running and, so far, have not been forced to stop. We can keep the conversation focused on the actual run itself and not delve into the land of bowels, but suffice it to say, the stomach cramps I started experiencing around mile 7 were not surprising to me. I just kept running and they faded. They came back and faded, etc. All of that is perfectly normal for me.

What is not normal for me is feeling so overwhelmingly nauseated after a run that I literally cannot function. I got back to the house after the run and the stomach ailments just hit. At first I thought it was dehydration (which seemed unlikely, as I'd taken good care to stay hydrated). Then I thought it might be just the exertion that my body had to get used to. After hours and hours of non-stop nausea, I figured something else must be going on. It has continued on and off since then.

Yesterday, the nausea waned for several hours and I ate a little more normally. It returned today with a vengeance and I'm sitting here typing this having already popped 3 Pepcid Complete tablets, and after an afternoon of doing nothing but lying in bed.

Wash your hands, folks. Whatever this is, it's not fun.

I didn't get to run today, for obvious reasons, but I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow and feel fine. We shall see.

Kellie is away right now as well, and I'm hoping she can get some running time in, but even more than the time factor will be the altitude factor. My run this weekend was essentially an even altitude with Boston, I think. Hers is absolutely not. Not at all.

Oh, and since it wasn't advertised here last week:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEL!

8.28 miles means too tired to blog

Kellie and I ran 8.28 miles last Saturday (not this past one, but the one before).
We then both had a zillion things to do to get ready to leave town and we neglected to blog.

Please forgive us.

We ran a beautiful path, and I hope to do it again soon. We both kicked ass.