Wild Hogs and My First DNS

Gosh, a week goes by very fast these days. Lots to catch you up on.

Lidia and Sawyer on lunch break.

Last weekend Emily and the kids were here. We gave Lidia a new bike for her birthday. So Saturday, Cliff and the kids rode their bikes around Market Common while I ran my 10 miles. Emily met them for lunch and they sat at one of the outside tables. I kept running by and would grab a swallow of Cliff's Coke, which I hate, but it hit the spot at about mile 8. And then I grabbed a piece of Sawyer's pizza. I just got the corner of the pizza, just bread really and it hit the spot, too. They finished lunch and I finished my run. The kids then went roller skating with their daddy and Emily, Cliff and I went to see "Divergent".  On Sunday, it was back to Market Common with the bikes. I rode mine this time with Cliff, Lidia and Sawyer. We rode for about 4 to 5 miles and stopped for lunch. Emily met us there. It was a good thing we stopped when we did because Sawyer was starting to go downhill. He said, "I'm starting to think this was not a good idea. Maybe, I should have stayed at home." HaHa! I had to encourage him a little to let's have lunch and if he still felt that way, that he could ride home with his mama. Well, just as I thought. After lunch, he was all refreshed and ready to ride some more. We sort of back tracked and ended the day with 9.76 miles. And then, it was time for them to head back home. :(  I'm sure the kids slept good that night, though. They are going to be here for Spring Break. Yay!!! Let's see who can tucker who out.

Oh, by the way, remember the picture I posted not long ago of Sawyer's toothless grin? Well, he's still toothless. I told him that at the rate his teeth were growing back, he might better go ahead and send Santa Claus a letter now. He thought for a minute and said, "Well, ok, but I don't want any wood teeth and I don't want any plastic ones, you know....fake ones." He cracks me up!!!

I ran 3 miles on Monday. And then 3 miles, again, on Wednesday. I met Cliff at the Jericho trail afterwards...like after running 3 miles, ok. I just needed you to know that. So, back to the trail... I rode the mountain bike, while Cliff ran. I nearly died. It was the hardest ride I've ever done. And, it shouldn't have been. The plan was to do a 3-mile out and back. I almost didn't make it. It was so hard. I had to get off several times to walk around mud holes. Cliff was running and he was faster than I was on the bike. He got completely out of sight. I got to a fork on the trail and stopped to try to determine which way to go. I lost my balance and fell. After figuring out which way to go, I got back on the bike and about that time Cliff was calling me to see if I was ok. He had already made it to the turn-around-point. I was seriously thinking of stopping and waiting until he got back, but he really wanted me to see this particular bridge. So, I told him that I would keep coming, but very slowly. I finally got to the bridge and just could not believe how hard of a time I was having. Honestly, it was not normal.

This is the bridge Cliff wanted me to see.

 

Here's another one...I didn't make it this far.

 

Ok, bridge tour over and it was time to head back. I wouldn't even try to ride the bike back. I started walking. At one point, Cliff said, "Get on the bike and I'll push you." That worked for a little while until we got to the first mud hole. I had to get off the bike to walk around. So, I just kept walking at that point. There was a slight shortcut back to the highway, up ahead. I told Cliff to ride the bike back to the Jeep and come pick me up at the end of the shortcut. It is scary as heck being left in the middle of the woods by yourself, let me just tell ya. I was being brave though......had no choice. It was the best way to get out of there. I pushed snakes right out of my mind. It was a little cold for them anyway, I thought. But, what was more on my mind were wild hogs! Or bears! We have little black bears in our woods, believe it or not. I've seen them....well one. But, hogs? Girl, hush your mouth. I've never seen any, but they are there. Cliff even gave me instructions on what to do, if charged by one. He left me with a weapon.....a knife, with maybe a 4" blade. Well Lord, maybe I could aim for an eyeball. Still thinking of hogs, I thought to myself that maybe a little noise would scare off any hogs that might be in the neighborhood. So, I started singing.....Amazing Grace. And I can't sing! Can't carry a tune in a bucket! But I sang my little heart out, and then that sent me to a whole other level. God and I were having a moment! I knew then that I would be alright. When my mind came back to the trail and the thought of hogs, I began to realize that my singing could very well be mistaken for a wounded animal. And I don't even want to know what's in those woods that would love to come upon a wounded animal. So, I figured I better stop the singing altogether. And then, praise be....I was at the end of the trail. Cliff and I had made it to the rendezvous point at almost the exact time. I nearly collapsed in the Jeep.

After getting home, I went straight to take a hot bath. I sat there trying to warm up and relax my muscles. When I was finally able to get out of the tub, I was freezing to death....to the point of shaking. That's when I realized that I had a fever. And the body aches and fatigue was most likely from that. I felt like I had the flu. I felt terrible the rest of the night. Had a terrible headache. I was up and down all night long, taking Advil, trying to get rid of it. Thursday and Friday, I felt terrible and now had a sore throat. I was sure I had the flu. Saturday, I was supposed to run an 8K. There was no way. This was the first time I've ever had a DNS (did not show). I felt so ashamed, but I quickly got over that. It was raining buckets anyway. I would have had a hard time making myself go run in the rain, even if I wasn't sick. We missed dinner with our good friends Alice and Tom. I was bummed! By Sunday, I was feeling better. I was already starting to think about running again, but Alice said that I should rest another couple of days. I'll take her advice, she's a nurse.

Phew! Glad I feel better. And I'm sure Cliff is too. Now he doesn't have to load and unload the dishwasher. He really is a trooper. He helps a lot, when I'm sick and such. But, maybe, possibly, one of the reasons I'm glad I'm better is that I have a bone to pick with that Jericho Trail.

Update.......most of this post took place a week ago. I'm still training for a half-marathon and due to whatever I had last week, my training has been almost non-existent. I ran one day this week....it was supposed to be 6 miles, but I could only squeak out 3. Last night, I felt feverish again. And then today, I needed to run 11 miles to be on schedule with my training. Today's run was the worst I have ever had! I kid you not. It started out really nice. The temperature was in the low 70's, I was feeling good....just perfect. But by the time I reached mile 8, I was starting to feel extremely fatigued. By mile 9, I was struggling big time. Finally, I determined that I had bonked....hit the wall! I was also determined to finish the 11 miles. So I walked/ran the last 2....ok, mostly walked. But I finished! Christie rode by twice and asked if I was ok. I guess seeing me walking was not what she expected. OMG! I wanted to crawl up in her car so bad, but I fought the urge. And then when I was almost back to my car, I just wanted to lie down on the grass. I didn't really care if anyone saw me or not, but again, I fought the urge.

Cliff saw this while out kayaking yesterday.

Poor thing.

After my run today, I felt just like this!!

If I hadn't fought the urge to lie down in the grass, this is exactly what I would have looked like, too.

I'm taking it easy for a couple of days.  Hope today's run didn't ruin it for the rest of the week.

Time will tell.

Later Gator,

Laurie