Notes
This was a long run that started of very strong, and seemed very promising, but ended up being an ABSOLUTE disaster. I underestimated exactly how hot an humid this day was going to be, and started out too late. I thought it was not only going to be low humidity, but the sun was supposed to stay behind the clouds all day. Turns out neither ended up being true.
Everything started off strong. First 7.5 miles went very smoothly. Stopped to hydrate, since it was so hot. Then set back out and the next five went well also, but I was starting to struggle a lot more than I should have. The sun broke through the clouds at this point, and everything started to go downhill FAST. By mile 16, I was REALLY struggling to keep moving-- I was being drained of energy rapidly, and I was PROFUSELY sweating. I tried to power through, and BARELY made it to mile 18, after having to have stopped and taken a few short breaks. Even re-hydrated at mile 17. At this point, I had nothing left-- I was going to have to walk it in.
Turns out even THAT was going to be a problem. After I started walking, every muscle in my lower body started cramping up, and I was having a hard time making ANY forward progress. It took a LONG time, but eventually I made the last two miles home. After arriving home, I was nauseated, light headed, and even blacked out once. I had lost over 8 pounds of water weight-- I was suffered pretty severe heat exhaustion-- well on my way to heat stroke!
Ugh... horrible experience. But, I guess I still technically went 20 miles-- so I don't have to officially call it a DNF. Not the way I wanted to finish off my last 20 miler before the race. Here's hoping we get a nice chilly day for the MCM in a few weeks!