Drink Up

Okay, I did all 58 of my planned miles for the week bringing me up to 714.something for the year. Yesterday I got up early to bring Sam for SAT's and figured I'd get an early start on my 24 miles. When I saw a hunter's truck parked near the fields, I realized it was the start of turkey season and the fields would be off limits to me till noon. I didn't want to wait too late to run so opted to do a big portion on the roads.

My first leg was just over 12 miles. I'd brought 16 oz of Gatorade and 1 Gu knowing that I'd be back in time for the next fix. I didn't realize how much I would be sweating, but felt good right along. I refilled my Fuel Belt flasks, drank another 16 oz, had 1/2 PBJ, and some pretzels. I also changed my sports bra and shirt. Back to the road, but at least this 8 mile stint included some dirt road stretches.

I was stopped by a Lisbon cop (I was heading back into Lisbon from Sabattus). He wanted to know if I'd seen two 30-something guys in jeans anywhere. Nope. Guess they'd broken into a house, beat up the owner, and robbed the place. Yup, I'd be glad to get back to the fields.

This time back home, I realized I needed to drink more. Even though I had 16 oz with me for just the 8 miles, I was definitely feeling thirsty. So I had more Gatorade and a 12 oz Coke, the rest of my PBJ, more pretzels, and some Honey Stinger Chews. Even though I had just under 4 miles left for my field leg, I brought 16 more oz of Gatorade.

As soon as I got home I drank another 6 oz of Gatorade before heading to the shower. I weighed myself and was surprised to find out I was nearly 5 lbs lighter than at the start. I know I sweat a lot, but, since my early days of running, I've ususally been pretty good at staying hydrated.

In my first marathon (back in '86), I lost 8 pounds...and that was measured after some post-run eating. AND I was nearly 10 pounds lighter as a base weight then (you know, pre-babies and 24 years) so that was a huge % of my body weight for a marathon. That was also before I knew that I needed more than just water and don't think any one knew of Gu.

Now, I didn't think to weigh myself before heading out on my 10 miles today; I just assumed I did a good re-hydrating job. It was pretty hot out there - even on the humid side. Normally I wouldn't have brought fluids with me on a 10 mile easy run, but, given the conditions and my condition yesterday, took some along. Good thing. I was dripping wet after just two miles.

At least I had Rick for company on the first 3 miles. I picked two ticks of the back of his legs before he headed back to the house. Made me feel like each mud splatter on me was a tick crawling up.

Given how hard my run was, even though all of my parts were fully recovered from the day before, I suspected I was still low on fluids. I was even another pound down from the low of yesterday. Wow! Hadn't seen that number on the scale since pre-kids.

Gotta drink more.