Being Sick

I usually have a pretty good idea of what to do with my training when I get sick. Working at a public library, I come down with little "crap" all of the time. Not fun. I usually give myself a day off after I'm feeling better just to make sure that my already compromised immune system doesn't knock me back on my butt for heading out for a run.

This last week was torture! It was the never-ending illness. I had 48 hours of terrible terrible, I think I'm dying sickness. Followed by exhaustion and extremely upset stomachness (although nothing like the first 48 hours). I went to work since I was able to and I knew that my gallbladder wasn't contagious, but I was freaking exhausted from it. And my low back was killing me (the leftover pain from my gallbladder attack).

Saturday was the first day that my back didn't hurt, and I really wanted to go out for a long run, until my stomach started bothering me yet again. Sunday I had thought about an easy 3 just to make sure my body still knew how to run, but ended up scrapping that too. Uff da.

It's been a really long time since I've been *this* sick and I don't know if I handled it well or not. It's hard to see a 0 mile week heading in to the hardest half marathon training cycle of my life... probably. Uff. At least my body should be nice and fresh for some miles, because my brain is certainly fret with doubt.

On a similar note: who's had their gallbladder out and how was the recovery on it? I've been putting it off for years, but I refuse to ever be as sick as I was during this last attack. It was bad. I now understand why most people go to the ER during their attacks. Uff. I may try to stretch it out to go on a Friday of a cutback week... :|

Back from the Dead

Last week I managed to get in a whopping 5 miles.  For the week.  Hello megataper.  Rest assured, I did get an awesome workout blowing my nose and hacking up a lung all week long.  I also spent a considerable amount of time looking at the inside of my eyelids all weekend.

Not exactly the best way to spend two weeks before a marathon, but I refused to still be sick while trying to run 26.2 miles.  That’s hard enough on its own, you know?

With that being said, I believe I’m on the mend.  Sunday everything finally started pouring out of me (gross visual, eh?).  I attempted to do ab work and yoga, and almost drown myself in my snot.  Boogers… I haz em.  Luckily my slacker status gave me plenty of time to watch season 7 of Weeds.  No, not get uber ahead in my grad school classes, or even start my paper that’s due the day I get home from Philly.  But watching Weeds.  Priorities, etc.

Because of my sicky status last week, I committed Packer fan blasphemy last night.  I ran during the game.  Oh the horror.  I know.  Stupid me was soooooooo tired Monday morning that I convinced myself to sleep in instead of run (I don’t work until 11 on Mondays) because I could just do it after work.  Naturally when I finally woke up I realized that the Packers were playing after work, and that I screwed myself over royally.  I even tried to find a radio station app for my phone so I could listen to the game while I ran, but then the stupid thing died before I got home.  Oh well, at least GB still pulled out a monster win, and I was able to catch the last quarter.  Phew.

[insert Jerbear's 9-0 dance here.  spoiler alert:  it's pretty SAWEET!]

I did 6 miles in 57 some minutes.  I managed to fall zero times in the super dark uneven sidewalk areas, but my pace was definitely reflecting my “tippy toe” running strategy.

IT’S MOTHER EFFING MARATHON WEEK!

Race goals to come...shortly!

If anyone is interested in tracking me on Sunday, feel free to sign up here.

If you need my bib number, let me know.  I probably shouldn't broadcast my personal info on this here public blog (even though you could probably figure it out anyway with a few brain cells... oy, I think I just offended my dumb stalkers.... craaaaaaaaaap!)

Ninja Death Star Flu*

As I mentioned previously, I've been sicky pants this week.  I took Wednesday and Thursday off from work after gutting it out Monday and Tuesday.  I started to feel better Thursday night so I actually went to work on Friday.  Friday night my stomach started feeling really upset and Saturday morning at about 3am I thought I was going to die.  You know that scene in the exorcist with the projectile vomiting?  Yeah... that was me.  Fun fact:  I haven't thrown up since I was 16 (outside of drinking too much and making myself throw up, TMI?  My bad.)  I was terribly sick from December 23rd to January 2nd, which meant I was sick for Christmas and my sweet 16 birthday.  Le sigh.  I'm still upset about this.

I was supposed to work Saturday morning and was told I needed to get a doctor's note.  Yay!  Nothing like spending $100+ for a doctor to say, "yup...you're sick!"  Wouldn't a picture of my barf in the toilet suffice? So I trekked to acute care at 9am (when they opened) and was greeted by a full room of sick kids with their mommies and their blankies.  Color me jealous.  Also, if I wasn't sick already, I'll be twelve different kinds of sick by the time today is over.  Yayzies!  I was told the wait would be around an hour.  During that hour I managed to make multiple trips to the public bathroom to puke my guts out. Uh yeah... the reason I didn't want to go to work is because it's just gross and wrong to puke in a toilet that isn't yours, right?  Ugh.  Fail.

I finally got in around 10am and the nurse took my vitals.  And then let me sit there.... for an hour and 15 minutes before a doctor came in.  At which time I laid down on the exam table in the fetal position alternating trying to sleep with my stocking hat covering my eyes and fighting back tears because I was in so much pain and infuriated that I was at the doctor's who wasn't even seeing me instead of laying in my bed resting.  At one point I had to throw up but there wasn't anyone around to point me in the direction of a bathroom.  Awesome.  Hey nurse, if I tell you that I've been throwing up non-stop since 3am while you're taking my vitals, might not be a bad idea to let me know where the nearest bathroom is before leaving me.  Just sayin'.  I guarantee Nurse Susan would never let this happen.

Finally the doctor comes in around 11:30 and I tell him my symptoms and that I'm sure I have the flu, and my health insurance sucks, so I don't want him to run a bunch of tests that I can't afford, and can I please just have a note for work so I can go home and die.

He decides to run a white blood cell count test to rule out an infection, proving it's the flu so I can be on my merry way.  So the nurse comes in to take my blood work and I demand she takes me to a bathroom to yak, so I don't do it on her instead.  After another 45 minutes of waiting the doctor comes back to say that my white blood cell count is extremely high, and that I have an infection of some sort.  DON'T CARE DUDE GIVE ME MY NOTE SO I CAN GO THE EFFFFFFFFF HOME!!!!!!!!  (Sidenote:  Doc sounded just like Jar Jar Binks, so it was slightly ok that he was so incapable of doing his job.)

More tests!  Yay!  Perhaps it's a kidney infection!  Yay!  Of course I set to googling my white blood cell count on my phone (seriously...smart phone SAVED ME while I was waiting...waiting...waiting....) however googling your symptoms while in the doc's office is not the smartest thing.  "Oh great... I have leukemia...."

After the results of more tests, and more pressing on my stomach, and excessively long wait time, might I add, the doctor comes back and says "I have no idea what kind of infection you have.... but if the pain gets worse, go to the ER."  ARE YOU EFFFFFFING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!  I sat here for 4 hours and by sat I mean, laying on a stone hard cot writhing in pain and agony, and you don't know what's wrong with me?!?!?!?  You couldn't just write me an effing note hours ago?!?!?  Oh... and he also said that I was severely dehydrated, to which I replied, well yeah, I've been throwing up non-stop since early this morning, and I've been here for the last 4 hours without anything to drink while still throwing up, so I'm sure I am dehydrated.  Pissed off Patty = Jerbear.

So he gives me a script for an antibiotic, which I don't have filled because I don't understand how you can perscribe an antibiotic for an infection if you don't know where the infection is.  PLUS as I mentioned, my health insurance sucks and I'm sure all those tests will cost me $$$$$ that I do not have.

And just for good measure, I barf again in their bathroom before leaving.

Source

OH!  And I almost forgot to mention.... once I got home I was obviously in a lot of pain and discomfort. And after awhile, found that the pain was somewhat bearable when I was laying on my back instead of on my side... which I hate laying on my back but whatever.  In my highly feverish state, I started getting all Dr. House and analogy-ridden.  Case in point:  I was half asleep/half dreaming/half Dr. House (I think) and I was diagnosing my (the patient's illness) by stating that there were a group of children at a kid's birthday party.  When the kids were upright, they were happy and having fun (meaning when I was laying on my back) but when they were tipped on their side they were crying and throwing tantrums.  Ok, now remove the children from the party.... what's wrong with your stomach?  And then I realized I was losing brain cells from the fever, and I was sad.


*Name Patent Pending

I Will Not Faint During My Tempo Run + Road ID Review

Wednesday I was super psyched to hit the bike path for my tempo run.  I know, who am I lately?!?!?!  It was a gorgeously cool day and I was ready to run hard.  My stomach had been upset all afternoon, but I figured it'd be a-ok once I started running.  I had 8 miles to do with 6 at tempo pace of 8:24.

I started the warm up mile and realized that my legs felt fabulous.  Yes.  I started my tempo mile.  Every time I looked down at my garmin it was telling me 7:40 or 8:00 pace.  Uh slow down.  Why is it so hard for me to find that 8:23 tempo pace?  Grrr..... First mile clocked in at 8:10 and my stomach was not happy.  I kept going but slowed down a bit.  I felt like I was going to puke, so I decided I'd try to run this mile 8:24 + the 14 seconds I had spotted myself so that my stomach would chill and I'd be able to get through the rest of the miles.  

About 3/4 of a mile in to this one I saw Miss Sara.  Sara is a runner in town who I got to meet before the Sioux Falls Half, along with her boyfriend now fiance Tom!  Of course I had to stop her to see the sparkly new addition to her left hand, and then I started to see 2 or 3 sparkly rings, and felt like I was going to barf on Sara's shoes or faint at her feet.  Uh oh.  Every once in a while I have a tendency to faint, or almost faint, but it's usually in the shower after a long run (or at the end of a marathon....yeah... kind of forgot about that).  I also remembered that before I faint I always feel like I'm going to vomit, I should definitely try to remember that for the future.

After they continued on their run, I hung out trying to get the world to stop spinning and then started walking towards home..... a good 2.75 miles away.  Not a long ways, by any means, but much too far when you're feeling like butt and are soaked in sweat in 50 degree temps.  I got chilly FAST!

I ended up walking 1/4 of each mile on the way home and taking the jogging part verrrrrry slow.  :(  So much for feeling amped up for the tempo run.  I'm not sure if I just didn't eat enough during the day or if I'm getting sick or what.  Something about throwing up sweats with the hoody UP seems to make me feel better.  

One thing I was thankful for, is that I was wearing my new Road ID for the run.  I was sent an Elite Wrist ID for free by Outside PR to review for my blog, and I was ecstatic when it arrived.  Of course I selected the green color (as if there was any question).  It came in a super de duper cute box.  When I first pulled it out I was a bit confused.  It comes with a long strap that you are to shorten to fit to your wrist.  It seemed like a lot of responsibility, and I didn't know if I was up for it.  :p  Luckily the directions are very helpful, and before no time I was trimming away at my Road ID.

I was able to put my name and my birth year along with my Mom and Grandma's contact numbers for emergencies, and also Passion.  Of course I had to take a photo of the Road ID next to my Passion tattoo.  I'm cool like that.  

I had asked for a Road ID last year for Christmas, but apparently my family doesn't care about my safety, so I didn't get one.  (jk...kinda.)  But I think it's an absolute must for runners/racers/bikers/triathletes.  You never know when it's going to be needed (hopefully never!) but it's a cute accessory in the meantime.  My only complaint, is that if I had been smart, I would've realized that wearing a Road ID and my clunky Garmin on my wrist would get annoying, and I should've gotten an ID for my shoe.  I just made sure the Road ID was big enough to wear slightly up my arm so it didn't rub in to my Garmin. Problem solved.  

And stay tuned, because perhaps a new Road ID is in the cards for my up and coming 100 followers mega giveaway.....
Speaking of giveaways, check out Miss Zippy's!

I Do + I Don't (Enjoy Mile Repeats)

Another reason I went home over the weekend (other than to have legions of shenanigans with my BFFF) was one of my favorite classmates was tying the knot on Saturday!  It was hot hot hot out out but a beautiful ceremony and reception and an awesome wedding dance.  My madre was my date and we had a blast.

Before we left the house I realized that I looked like I was going to prom.  Of course we then had to take a photo of me in front of the corn field next to the house.  Nothing says prom like crops.

Me and the BFFF before the dancing shoes came out.  Literally.  I wore gorgeous (insanely tall) yellow heels for the wedding and reception and rocked my black Nike flip flops for the dance.  Classy I am.

Mini photo shoot in the town bar that's technically in a basement.

Besties with the groom.  Love that guy.

Taking a break from the dancing.

We looked like twins with almost matching dresses.

1/4 of our graduating class. Yes you read that correctly.  I was in charge or rounding up the rest of the classmates after this photo was taken to get a pic but I forgot until noon on Sunday.  Ooooops.

Upon returning home, I realized I was missing one Garmin ANT stick.  At this time primary suspects include dog and/or cat.  It appears to be an inside job.  If you can provide any information as to the whereabouts of this missing item, please contact me.  Also, if anyone has an extra/old ANT stick they want to just give me, I'll totally pay for the shipping.  Grrrrrr.

Tuesday night I had the scariest workout on my entire half marathon training program.  4x1600 m. repeats at 7:28-7:45 pace with 800 m. jogs in between.  I tend to have a hate-hate relationship with mile repeats.  I hate doing them.  and I hate that I almost always end up sucking at them.  The weather was a cool mid-70s and I knew I didn't have any excuse for failure.  I ran a warm up mile and then got to work.

1.  7:26.  Wow that was hard. (twss)

2.  7:35.  Wow that was even harder.

3.  7:39.  I swear that was faster than the last.  Don't fail me now legs!

4.  7:48.  Ooops.  Legs = bricks.  

Average mile pace:  7:37.

When I got done with the run I was a little bummed with my paces, so I decided to check my running log to see the results of my last mile repeat session.  And that's when I realized that I've done exactly one successful mile repeat session in the last 9 months.  And my average pace for 3x1600 was 7:40.  Progress.  I had joked all day long that my workout was going to make me puke, and I was pretty close.  All night I was nauseous and not hungry at all.  This is pretty typical with really difficult workouts for me.  Imagine my surprise when I get to work and I feel ever more sick.  After consulting with a co-worker, I realized I probably have the flu, so I'm lucky I didn't spew all over the bike trail.  Now it's just me and Glee chilling on the couch while I'm on the mend.  Good thing today is a rest day.

Holy MIA Batman

Sorry loves, I have been teetering on the verge of the non-living the last few days.  Monday mid-way through my morning, I started dry heaving in my trash can in my office.  Uh...not cute.  I high-tailed it out of work, and have spent the last 2 days curled up in the fetal position at home.  I couldn't eat and I couldn't drink.  And I'm 99% certain it was from the torturous death march from Saturday.  I didn't exactly treat my body the best on Saturday with refueling with beers instead of water, and I think it just hit me....HARD.  Luckily today, I feel a wee bit better.  This afternoon at work I started to crave a snickers.  That's sheer proof that I'm almost back to normal, no?  And my urine is almost no longer bright neon yellow.... so there's that.  Overshare?  My bad. ;)

The worst part about being sick and not being able to stomach anything is that I can't run.  In the word's of Snooki:  Waaaah.  I go a bit nutty without my running.  Also, I have a 5k this weekend in my hometown that I would like to do well in, but that would probably necessitate some actual running so we'll see.  I plan to do an easy few miles tonight after the ECLIPSE PREMIER and some speed work tomorrow morning.  Then rest up until Saturday.

My co-worker (Twihard partner in crime) got diagnosed with mono tonight, so I had to coerce another friend to come with me.  What's with my friends not having super sweet vamp/werewolf taste?!?!  Are you all Team Jacob or Team Edward?  I was 100% Team Edward when I read the books, but my gawd how can you not convert to Team Jacob when it's Taylor Lautner?  He has my heart. Fo sho.  Give me the man with a tan anyday.  Mmmmm.

Otherwise the last few days have been spent moping/groaning/catching up on crappy reality TV/Gossip Girl/Dear John (to see my #2 man Channing.....mmmmm)/and eating bananas.  Sadly they were the only thing my stomach could handle.  But I would have to throw away the peel asap because the smell of it would make me nauseous as soon as I was done eating it.  Barf.

This is a random ass post, so my apologies.  Gotta go get gussied up for my dream man! ;)

11 snot filled miles

Sunday I had an 11 mile long run to accomplish.  SOME idiot thought it would be a good idea to go out and celebrate her 5k on Saturday night.  And SOME idiot didn't feel so great all day.  Also, this SAME idiot thought it would be a-ok to do a long run the day after an all out race.  Perhaps that sickness affected my brain, hmmmmm....

After lounging around on the couch, I finally mustered up the energy for the run around 3pm.  As soon as I started out it felt like I was breathing through a straw/an elephant was sitting on my chest.  I'm guessing I felt the same for the 5k the day before, but the adrenaline was pumping so I didn't notice.  Holy poop though.  Ugh.  I also felt like there were bubbles of snot that were blocking off my airwaves, especially during the last half of the run.  I kept hacking and hacking up crap but it never really got any better.

Also it was much warmer out than I had dressed for whoops.  I'm not complaining please don't get me wrong, but I was a pretty sweaty version of myself.  Because of the over indulgence from Saturday night, I was positively parched.  I dried out my handheld at the 5.5 turn around point.  Uh oh.  One slight benefit is that it is MUCH easier running with an empty handheld than a full one.  Who would've thought that was an arm workout?

My last fail for the run is one that I'm beginning to see a trend in (so I'm guessing you readers will be able to pinpoint this one also) CRAPPY FUELING.  What makes me think that I can eat a protein bar for breakfast and pb&j toast for lunch and have it keep me going for 11 miles?  Please see above and then recite it with me, "SOME IDIOT."

Ok, all the poop aside, it really wasn't that horrible of a run, I just didn't feel that "strength" that I feel at the end of the run where I know I can kick it up another notch.  It just wasn't there.  Coincedentelly it wasn't there for the 5k either, so maybe we'll just chalk this run up to the sickness.  Stupid sickness.

I ended up putting in 11 miles in 1:40:52 for a pace of 9:11.

1. 9:19 
2. 9:04 
3. 9:08 
4. 9:06 
5. 9:10 
6. 9:17 
7. 9:14 
8. 9:09 
9. 9:12 
10. 9:05 
11. 9:02

After the run I stretched and took an AWESOME ice bath.  Since SOME IDIOT hadn't stretched at all post-5k, she had really really tight legs.  Shockingly running 11 miles still made them sore.  The ice bath helped 234982349872398x.  I then tried to eat, although pretty unsuccessfully.  It is definitely my goal for the rest of my long runs to consciously take in enough fuel and calories before my runs to make sure that I don't fizzle out at the end.  My poor stomach was a hurting unit most of the night.

To reward myself for completing my run, I enjoyed some retail therapy courtesy of my papa.  Would you like to see what I got?  I thought so.  :)  Have no fear, I will do a winter running gear fashion shoot upon arrival.  I'll even do my hair and everything!  Jk, you know that won't happen.  :)

New pants...on SALE (as far as nike is concerned I guess)

new hat to further the ninja look

new jacket (in green obvi). 

The reviews on the website were pretty swell for crazy cold temps such as those we have here in good ol SoDak.

I'm so stinkin' excited for them to arrive.  Also, I fully understand that since I actually bought them, it will hold off on being bitterly cold again for a while.  Can I let you in on a little secret??  That's okie dokily with me.  :)

6 miles out of a movie + Coach + The Sickness

Monday I had 6 easy miles on the schedule.  The weather was gorg, and I had my iPod loaded up with some slow tunes to help with the slow pace.  I uploaded Regina Spektor's new CD Far, and also Ingrid Michaelson's newest Everybody.  It was literally the most beautiful run I can remember.  There's something about listening to slow, meaningful music which provides the perfect soundtrack to the fall colored leaves that randomly fall off the trees while you're running down the trail.  I literally think I smiled the entire 6 mile run.

Highlights of the run:

• I saw a dude with rollerblades and those big stick things to make it look like he was XC skiing on the trail.  I saw him twice.  His sticks were so long (twss) that he almost pushed me off the trail.  Jeepers.
• I also saw a dude in full on bright orange gear.  We're talking head to toe overalls/coveralls depending on where you're from.  I mean, I know we're in pheasant hunting season and all, but I'm not super concerned about being shot WHILE IN TOWN.  Perhaps I should be?  I dunno.

I did 6 miles in 57:09 for a pace of 9:32.

1. 9:26 
2. 9:25 
3. 9:29 
4. 9:39 
5. 9:40 
6. 9:27 

It's actually pretty humorous, because I was running INTO the wind for the first 3 miles, and WITH it for the last 3.  You'd think it'd be the other way around.  I realized that it's hard for me to run easy/relaxed into the wind because of my training as a sprinter.  We were taught how to work against the wind, and apparently I do that without thinking, even when running 6 miles instead of a 100 m. dash.  :p

I got a super exciting email from one of my BFFFs over the weekend.  This is the chica that got me on to running.  She decided she wanted to challenge herself to try a half marathon, and saw me running all the time and thought I should do it too.  I found some training programs, and totally thought they were doable, and our friendship was formed.  :)

[Dang totally thought I had a pic of us post-race to include in this post...turns out I can't find it.  Le sigh.  This one was pre-going out to Holocene in Portland when I went to visit her summer 08.]

Email

Subject:  Why not?

Because I know you love this kind of thing... I need you to make me a half marathon race schedule. Ridiculously short amount of time. The Angkor Wat Half Marathon Run is December 6th.   :D

m

Um ya, did I mention she's in Cambodia right now!??!  So of course I got super excited and came up with a training program for her.  Plus now we're training for HMs that are a week apart.  WHOO!!  I told her she has to refer to me as Coach from now on, but other than that, a training program was created.  :)

_____________________________

I probably should've known based on all the snot rockets blown/loogies coughed up in recent runs, that I have "the sickness."  I went home from work Tuesday at about 10am and today, Thursday is day 3 of being home.  Not only does it suck to be sick, but I had planned on doing a 5k on Saturday.  I had a great impromptu training schedule created for this week, and no where in there does it say, "Eat a ridiculous amount of food (ya, apparently my appetite is out of control.  I still blame this weekend's starve-fest.), drink a gallon of OJ, sit on the couch, watch all the runners run by your place."

I do feel a LOT better today but just staying home so I can hack up the last of the phlegm in the privacy of my own home, instead of in front of clients, or on the phone with clients.  I'm classy like that.  I do still plan on running the 5k on Saturday :s unless my sickness takes a few steps backwards.  Fingers crossed that they don't, please?

______________

Being home has its perks.  I got to watch Away We Go, which has Jim Halpert from The Office in it, and Maya Rudolph from SNL.  It was sooooo good.  I will probably have to buy it actually (I rarely buy movies).  I also watched Monsters vs. Aliens which was also really really good.  :)  I've been on a music searching spree also.  I may have a new music post in the works for the near future.  :)

Good luck to ChasRunner who's going to kick butt in her marathon this weekend.  Kill it Girl!

P.S.  Thanks for all your super sweet comments on the wedding pics.  Apparently the crazy red wasn't quite so bad.  I still think it'll be the first and last time my lips see it.  :)

10 miles, I kicked your @$$

and subsequently, you made my digestive system your bitch.  Touche.

But let's back up, shall we.  :)  Saturday Taylor and I went to the big jazz festival that was in our town this weekend.  I somehow managed to resist the temptation of the funnel cakes, cheese curds, indian taco deliciousness.  Small lie.  I did have a small bite of Tay's fry bread.  Nom.  He's not a big jazz fan, so we went to his hometown to hang out with some buddies.  Since I didn't get the wine that I was craving on Friday night, I decided to have a glass.  Merely hydrating for the long run, I told myself.  The wine did not hit the spot.  So I followed it up with a TALL glass of Fat Tire.  Mmmmm.  That hit the spot.  Unfortunately, these 2 drinks took me from soberness to not so sober in a very limited amount of time.  Whooops.  We also split a buffalo chicken pizza.  Holy crap it was good.  But yes, I'm an idiot as I'm lactose intolerant, and didn't have any lactase pills on me.  Also, it is very possible that I have a mild case of IBS, this will come into play later in this story.  [If you're keeping tabs at home, this is long run #2 that I have fueled with pizza and beer.  I'm an idiot.  :)]

Then we went back into town to the jazz festival with his friends.  In his mind, jazz is bearable when he can drink large amounts of beer.  Decent reasoning.  :)  Drink 3, 4, and 5 followed over the course of the night.  Luckily 4 and 5 were teeny tiny glasses of cheap wine.  But still not the ideal way to spend the night before a long run.

I woke up early and realized that I didn't really have anything to munch on to fuel up, so I ate a sugary cereal bar.  Definitely not ideal, but better than nothing.  My stomach, was NOT happy with me.  I laid on my bed reading magazines begging it to chill out or just "process" all the bad (meaning the buffalo pizza that was still lingering) so I could go out for my run.  Luckily, it was nice and cool this morning and would be until 11am, so I had some extra time to wait.  Finally, an hour later, I was ready to run.  :)  Within the first .2 miles I thought I had to turn around and hit up the rest room again, but thankfully it was a false alarm (the only bathroom on this route is 3.5 miles in, that could be brutal).  And I was officially off.

Some things worth mentioning:

• My ab started to hurt during the 2nd mile.  The pain was so intense I had to stop a couple of times to try to stretch it out.  Just as quick as it came on, it was gone.
• I had an Espresso Love GU for the first time and liked it quite a bit.  Except I thought it tasted more honey-like than espresso-y.
• Not nearly as many runners/bikers out as last Saturday.  Is everyone in this town on a Saturday long run program?  It was kind of boring without the extra people watching.
• Not to disappoint:  I saw a lady biking, with a big basket in the back for her yorkie.  The yorkie was wearing sunglasses.  I literally laughed out loud when she biked past me.
• I saw a lady jogging in cut off jean shorts and a fitted tee.  It was random.  I practically get chaffing just walking in jean shorts, I can't imagine how that worked out for her.  :s
• I saw a badger for the first time in real life.  At first I thought it was a fat squirrel, but when I did my double take I realized I was wrong.  The only reason I was about to identify it as a badger is because of Wisconsin's mascot logo.  Ha.
• I had a biker ask how far I was going, which was kind of random, and another tell me I was "running strong" on the last mile of my run.  Literally made my run.  :)
• Ab started hurting again towards the end of mile 9.  The pain (or possibly the exerted effort at that point) caused me to feel pukey/nauseous, which was interesting.
• I actually spent the first few seconds post-run dry heaving outside my apartment.  Eew.

It ended up being a really great run.  I wanted to shoot for 9:00 pace doing an under/over method/negative splits/progression run.  At the halfway point I was 30 seconds over the pace, so I knew the last five miles had to be averaging 8:48 to hit my goal pace.  (Does anyone else love a good math problem while running?  I love figuring out math in my head because it makes me forget I'm running.)  :)  I hit that pace and then some.

I felt really strong on the back half of the run, but started to feel sick the last couple of miles (as I mentioned above).  It was only mid-60s when I was running, but I started to get goosebumps and feel chilled during the last couple of miles.  Granted, it was in the shade for a bit of the run and it was breezy, but I know my body temp wasn't cool.  When I got home my fingers were swollen to the size of sausages.  This has happened during each of my half marathons, but still not sure why.

I'm wondering if I got sick because I over-hydrated.  ????  It was MUCH cooler than it has been and I know I sweated much less than I have on my recent long runs, but I still stopped and drank at the water fountains on the course (4 in total).  Or it could've just been because I was pushing hard and my body wasn't used to it.

Either way, I've felt sick all day.  My stomach still hurts, and I almost feel like I have food poisoning it is so upset.  :(

Ponder that and let me know your thoughts.  It's also completely acceptable to give me a virtual slap in the face and tell me to suck it up because I'm being a wuss.  I won't be offended by that.  :)

Here are my glorious splits.  Totally worth the last 9 1/2 hours of pukeyness.

1. 8:59 2. 9:10 3. 9:11 4. 9:05 5. 9:00 6. 8:49 7. 8:41 8. 8:42 9. 8:18 10. 7:51

I did the 10 miles in 1:27:50 for a pace of 8:47. Whoo. Plus I was super psyched at the last 2 mile times. :)