Monday, June 8, 2009

Race report and important lessons

Running as fast as I can - check. Ran the Smutty 5k yesterday with an "official" time of 28:06, six minutes faster than last year, two minutes faster than my personal best, and 50 seconds faster than my "pipe dream" goal. I feel like I put in about as hard of an effort as I could have without burning out or injuring myself. Patty also had a great showing with a time of 23:47, five minutes faster than his time last year as well.
The trouble started after the race. It was a beautiful, hot day by the lake in Newmarket. The free Smuttynose, chili, pizza, and wings were plentiful but as per usual, I wasn't hungry. I have a hard time eating after a hard run, even if I was starving before it, and that's not good. I had a small bowl of chili and a couple beers, and sat in the sun enjoying the day for a few hours. This was also a mistake. I got a horrible sunburn all over my back, chest, shoulders, and even legs. Normally I don't get any color on my legs at all and I certainly don't burn that intensely, but I'm on this stupid medication that makes me even more photosensitive than my Irishy usual.
We were supposed to go to a dinner for our aunt who had just graduated from nursing school, but about halfway there I started getting really disszy, blacking out, and throwing up. I spent the rest of the ride curled up in a ball half-concious. I got home, stumbled up the stairs, and checked my temperature and it was 102, so I took some ibuprofen and passed out at 8:30. It was kind of scary. I don't know what happened, but I do know I have to start eating better. Even if I'm not hungry, I have to eat something after I run.
So now my parents are mad at me, and I still feel like crap. Great.

All in all, I'm very happy with my performance in the race, but not at all happy with my performance in life.

1 comment:

Lauren @ mostly i run said...

It wasn't the no-eating that was the problem. You had sun poisoning. Always wear sunscreen!

Glad you're OK, and glad your race went well!