"WHAT?!?" you say?
Yep, I am NOT running on a Saturday morning. Long story short is that I am supposed to run a 5K a little later this morning, and Mik went skiing this weekend, and Betty is in NYC, and Elsie destroyed her ankle by missing a step, so Mik and I opted to run late yesterday afternoon instead on the Mission Beach Boardwalk.
Now I'm not sure I'll be doing the 5K, but more on that later...
Doing a long run late in the afternoon is not typical for me, or probably for any runner for that matter. We runners are typically early morning peeps. The races start (well most of them anyway) early in the am. Our long runs begin early on. In fact, yesterday's 8 miler was probably the first time I've EVER run for that long late in the day (We started running at 4:30)
It wasn't a stellar run. In fact it was down right difficult, probably because I was running with speedy Mik and even though I KNOW she was plodding along to run at my pace, for me it FELT more like a race pace. Looking back at my Garmin stats now though, I can see that it wasn't. Maybe it was just the time of day...
Also, it was DRY. The weather page doesn't really indicate that there was low humidity, but it FELT dry. We stopped at nearly every drinking fountain along the way. Of course, I did an absolutely crappy job of hydrating all day BEFORE the run, which could have been part of the problem.
On the plus side. It was beautiful out...
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| On my way to Mission Beach |
We ran on the boardwalk and it was CROWDED... apparently we were not the only ones who thought that seeing the sunset was a good idea. Since it's a four day weekend, at least two frat houses appeared to have rented places on the beach and were in early bash-mode. In the more crowded areas (in front of Lahaina's or Kona's...locals, you know the places), we would pick up the pace just to get through the crowd more quickly.
Mik and I ran along, chatted about everything and anything (although after awhile, it was mostly Mik chatting and me grunting along). We ran up the coast, then ran toward Bird Rock. On the way back, we ran down a street with no outlet, and ended up run/walking a beach trail along the cliff...it was lovely.
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| No complaints... |
And I was close to making it all the way...so close. About 1/4 mile from our start point, my intestines started to tighten (you know the feeling), and I had to GO...like IMMEDIATELY!
I told Mik I was going to walk for a bit (she must have though I was CRAZY... I mean, we were less than a 1/4 mile from our start), so I slowed, hoping that I could walk it off, or at least make it to the lifeguard tower...but it became quickly, and clearly evident that THAT wasn't going to happen, so I started to panic, which, by the way, is NOT the best thing to do when you have tummy issues.
There were plenty of people out on their patios, cocktailing, waiting for the sunset. The first patio I spotted had three young guys (about in their 20's), but yes, even in my moments of most dire need, I am a diva and when I looked at them, their youth, the empty beer cans lying about, I made an immediate and stereotypical assumption that their bathroom would probably be really bad, so I decided to ask the next available people.
Luckily, a few patio's down, there were what appeared to be a couple, about my age or a little older, and what I am guessing was their adult age son...and let me tell you, but this time, I was DESPERATE, and I as I tried to think about what I could say that would be compelling enough to persuade strangers to let me use their facility, I could only come up with.
"Excuse me, but can I ask you a question... Do you run?"
Yeah... They really didn't look like runners, but hell, neither do I.
You can imagine the surprised looks on their faces. "uh no?"
So lord only knows what I said next, but I think it was something like... "wellwhenyourunsometimesyouhavetogoandnowisoneofthosetimesformeandifIdon'tgonowit'sgonnagetuglyreallyfast (short breath) canIpleaseuseyourbathroom?" ((wild-eyed look of desperation)).
I think one of the men was going to say no, and had started to point down the boardwalk to the public restrooms, but the woman, bless her soul, must have seen the look of panic in my eyes, and said the words of my salvation "sure dear, inside and to the left."
There are good people in the world.
As I left, I thanked them again, and again. I'm sure I left them with a good story to tell their friends (remember the time when that crazy woman needed to use our bathroom...what a nut!)
So, I was dehydrated, for sure. All last night I felt queasy (I still feel it somewhat this morning). I drank water all night and barely peed. None of these are good signs. You'd think after seven years of running, I'd know better.
Of course, now I'm considering running a 5K. It's an odd little race. The start is at 11:00. It's a local, small run. I'm signed up for it and have my bib and timer. I'll keep you posted.
