Runs for Cookies

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 06:00 PM PDT

Boy, did I pick a bad day to run 10 miles outside.

The kids spent the night at my parents' house, so I woke up bright and early at 5:30 to drive to the Metropark and start running by 6:00. The idea was to finish before it got TOO hot outside. When I stepped outside, the air was so thick it was hard to breathe. I couldn't believe how humid it was at 5:45 in the morning! As I drove to the Metropark, I started having second thoughts. But the sun was just coming up, and it was gorgeous next to the water:

I wanted to try and run at a pace that felt similar to running on the treadmill, just to compare my pace to running outside vs. the treadmill. I didn't want to push myself too hard, for fear of not being able to finish the run; but I didn't want it to feel too easy, either.

I wasn't focusing too much on my pace, just running by feel. I brought along my iPod, and I was listening to Jillian Michaels' podcast. I saw at least 10,000 bunnies all over the path, and one baby deer. I had mapped out an out-and-back route, and as I approached the turn-around, I ran into a family friend, so I chatted with her for a minute or so. I even saw a hang glider (parachuter? Not sure what to call that!) above me, which I never see around here:

Can you see it?!

I was getting really hot at that point, and as soon as I turned around, I was bummed to discover that the sun had come up over the trees and was right in my face. There wasn't any shade coming up for a few miles, and I started to get a little worried about how much I was sweating. I only brought water with me, instead of a sports drink, which was stupid on my part (no sodium).

Thankfully, my knee was holding up well--I was able to keep running without any walk breaks. At mile 7, I was back into the Metropark, and I felt my whole body get covered in goosebumps despite the heat (a sign of heat exhaustion). I took that as a queue to take a walk break. I walked a little to bring my heart rate back down and drink some water. Thankfully, I got about a mile of shade.

At mile 8, I got nauseous. That has only happened a couple of times while running, and I knew it was a bad sign. I decided to be safe and call it quits, so I stopped to call my dad (the first time I've ever called for a pick-up!). He works at the Metropark I was running in, so I was going to ask him to drive me to my car. Unfortunately, his cell phone was turned off--he never has it on when it's important that I get a hold of him!

I put my iPod in my pocket to be more aware of how I was feeling (and breathing). I walked for a little bit, then jogged a little, and kept repeating that. I stopped for more water about a mile from the car, and I doused myself with water from the fountain to cool off. That cooled me off enough to walk/jog the rest of the way back to the car.

The first 7 miles went pretty well!

I was so relieved to be done! I definitely should have planned better. In retrospect, I should have 1) warned my dad to leave his phone on, just in case; 2) brought Gatorade instead of water; 3) planned my route backwards, so that the sun wasn't in my face for the worst part of the run; 4) when I saw how hot it was going to be, completely forget about trying to set a good pace and just run much more slowly than I wanted.

My splits:

The first half of the run was actually going pretty well, and I felt good. It wasn't until I turned around and the sun was in my face that I started to really feel the heat. I definitely learned some lessons for next time, though!

I burned 971 calories, and I had already planned what I was going to spend them on--you guessed it, pecan pancakes at Cracker Barrel. Rather than go right after my run, however, I decided to wait and go for dinner when Jerry and the kids could go with me.

That was actually a wise choice, because it helped me to stay on track with my calories all day. If I had gone right after running, I'm afraid I would have had the "eff it" mentality and overate all day (which is what happened last week!). The pancakes were delicious, per usual, a great way to spend the calories I burned.

If you're running in this heat, please be careful and listen to your body!

My first blog post as a Fitterati is now posted on the Fitness website! It was so much fun to write--it reminded me of when I used to write columns for my high school newspaper ;)