The 14 miles that almost killed me.

Coming off of my runs with Rachael, I think I got a little over confident.  I had a little bit of that feeling that I had after giving birth.  That "I am the queen of awesomeness and I can do anything!!!!" feeling.

Pride cometh before the fall.

Our 14 miles was my fall.  If I remember right, it was supposed to be a 15 miler.  We had it mapped out, but ended up taking a short cut and making it just 14.2-ish.  I know I probably could have made it the full 15, but it just might have killed me.

Looking back, there were a few factors contributing to that run sucking so much.  It had finally gotten truly hot.  So even though we started the run early, it was already hot.  Consequently, I sweat a lot.  We ran a loop that included a Maverik, where we stopped to refill our waters.  I had gatorade in two of my little bottles, and it was already gone, but I didn't think I would need anymore, so I didn't buy a gatorade at Maverik.  I was soon regretting it.  We had a hill right after Maverik, and I seriously struggled while climbing it.  It wasn't that I was in my own head and didn't think I could do it.  In fact, I was thinking, "I can do this.  Why won't my legs listen to me right now?"  I was just so weak.  

Heather and Ryan were doing their best to be supportive, but they were struggling off and on themselves.  Sometimes the words of encouragement really boost me.  And other times I just need to put my head down and pretend I am alone.  I remember one run where I was struggling on a steady uphill, and Heather said, "There's only 5 more telephone poles until it evens out."  And I nearly punched her.  It's funny because another time that very sentence would have given me just the boost I needed. 

Those 14 miles humbled me again.  They reminded me that while I had come a long way, I still had a long way to go.  I needed to swallow my pride when it came to refueling and "chomping up."  ("chomping up is our term for taking a minute to get some energy in us.  In the beginning, this came in the form of Gatorade's CHOMPS, hence the term "chomping up.") 

From that point on, I gave those long runs the respect they deserved.  I made sure I had all the energy and fuel I needed.  I made rest and hydration a priority the night before the run.  I listened to my gut, and listened to my body.  It wasn't the last crummy run I've had, but I am glad that I had that eye opening craptastic run to make me more cautious and aware.  I'm not letting a run catch me by surprise again!