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

In Case You Were Wondering

Thought I would give you a run down of the week.....just in case you were wondering.

Sunday:

Miles run in the drizzling rain:  3.24

It rained buckets last Sunday morning. I had a planned training run with a local running club in Myrtle Beach and was hoping the rain would stop in time for the run. About mid-day, it stopped long enough for the powers-to-be to announce that we would indeed run. Yippee!

I left home about 30 minutes before so that I could get in a good warm-up. On the way, it started to rain again....just a strong drizzle really. But as luck would have it, Murphy and his law showed up. I have a crazy window in my car that will roll down on it's own, if you don't keep the windows in the locked position. Well, for some reason, the locked position didn't matter that day. The danged window rolled down anyway. I started talking to myself and to the window. It was a mess. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the window to roll up. So, I pulled into the mall parking lot, got out and opened the crazy door and starting tugging on the crazy window.

I was making a scene. People were watching. Thought they were about to call the Mall Cops. Decided I better get back in the car, just in case. A mall parking lot arrest would have been scandalous!

Anyway, thought I was gonna have to turn around and go home. I couldn't leave the window down. I had a very valuable (worth tens of thousands of dollars, if you know what I mean) framed college diploma in the back seat that I needed to send to my daughter in Colorado. I also had my purse that I could hide, but what if? And hello, it was raining again! I made the decision to proceed with said plans. If it was meant for me to run, then I would figure something out. Lo and behold, just in the nick of time, I tried once more and the window rolled up. Hallelujah! Run is on!

The run actually turned out to be intervals. We warmed up by running a slow half mile. Then we were to run as fast as we could for a quarter of a mile out and then either walk or run slowly a quarter mile back to recover and then repeat that 6 times.  Well, little miss competitive here decided to go for broke. I hauled hiney. The coach was right beside me. She was saying, "That's the way to dig, good job, keep it going....etc." And then about half way, I felt like my lungs were going to explode, like my chest was going to shoot them right through my throat. The coach was saying, "Ok, you are going into glycogen depletion, this is normal".  Normal? Is it normal to puke up a lung? Ummmm, what did I get myself into? Well, I guess she knew what she was talking about. I made it to the end, bent over double and heaving, but by golly I made it. And we did that 6 times. Let me tell you, I felt GREAT afterwards! Must have been a runner's high. I am definitely going back!!

Monday:
I did a triathlon at the gym with my husband. Holler! My first ever. Swam 300 yards, biked 5 miles and ran a 1/2 mile. Another realm of exercise and fitness that was not in my vocabulary nor did I want it to be before. But, let me tell you....it was awesome! I am definitely going to do that again!!

Earlier Monday, before going to the gym, Cliff and I went to Brookgreen Gardens. The tulips were starting to bloom and the daffodils were still hanging around. It was so cold and the wind was blowing so hard that we didn't stay too long. We took a few pictures (see below), had lunch and called it a day.

If you are ever in this part of SC, you owe it too yourself to stop by Brookgreen Gardens. If you do, let me know...I have connections on the inside ;) The gardens are beautiful. I wish I had more pictures, but like I said....it was too cold to stay long this time.

Alee of Oaks

 

 

 

 

 

The azaleas are starting to bloom. Gorgeous!

Tuesday - Friday:

Sawyer has the flu and I've kept him all week, while Emily worked. He's been a sick little boy. When Emily brought him to me this morning, I asked if he felt better. He said, "Yes, and  I lost the diarrhea". Bless it! That was the worst part for him.

Well that wraps up another week on LaLa Lane. Got lots of running to do this weekend. I'm running an 8K race tomorrow at the Inlet and then an Easter Sunrise run on the beach, Sunday morning. That should be glorious!  Sure hope you all have a wonderful Easter. And as my daughter just signed off on a text message,

PEACE!

Laurie