eighteen on the eighteenth

Went out for a long run today. Same route from my episode a few weeks ago. This time it was light, though, and sunny and cooler (80 degrees) and I brought a water bottle with me that I refilled a few times at the drinking fountains for a total of about eighty ounces. This seemed to help. I was still pretty wiped out at around the 16-mile mark and could only just focus on putting one foot in front of the other to get home. Still need to add calories.

There were a lot of tailgaters around the Rose Bowl for the UCLA game. Looked like they were having a pretty nice morning getting ready for the game with their bbq’s and their music and their beers and such. It feels a little strange to be running by all that, though. It’s like an alien world crammed with really long RV/UFOs.

The lesson I’ve learned from these two runs: don’t get in a hot bath after a long workout on a warm day. I’m starting to believe that was what pushed me over the edge a few weeks ago. I felt it pushing me over again today so I switched on a cool shower which seemed to neutralize the craziness. After difficult workouts my body seems to have trouble with temperature regulation and maybe submersion in water overwhelms whatever ability it has left to regulate throwing the body into the crazy spiral.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon on the couch with a blanket sipping water and watching both the games (UCLA, USC.) Maybe the next run will be slightly better still…