Casual Post-Work Half

Thursday evening I decided to go for a long run. Yes, I know it was 98 degrees in NYC that day and the low was a whopping 81 degrees. I stocked up on margarita Shot Bloks, which have three times the salt to ward off muscle cramps, Body Glide, and water and headed off to Central Park. 

I went with my Reebok shorts, a Brooks tank, Balega socks, and my red Adrenaline 11s.

Looking skinny if I do say so myself.

I ran the big loop counterclockwise to start. I wanted to pay attention to when I ate my chews and decided that the first mile from my apartment to the park didn't "count" and I would have the first chew at mile 4, which was mile 3 of the park. This made a lot of sense to me at the time because the first mile was my warm up and then two loops are twelve miles and then this would equal a half marathon. In hindsight, I should've brought both packs of Shot Bloks and eaten both of them and screwed this rationing thing. It was hot, my legs felt crampy, and part of me was like, "WTF were you thinking?" The other part was thrilled to be out running.

I made it through the first loop without much ado. I was tired and extremely sweaty, but I felt solid. I turned around to run the second loop clockwise. When I stopped to refill my water bottle for the second time, an ambulance was parked near the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir. The guy inside looked very close in age to me and he was hooked up to all sorts of machines. The heat is no joke and you need to take care of yourself. I patted myself on the pack for taking precautions like drinking extra water and eating fancy salty sports chews.

I survived 13.1 miles and headed out of the park. By that time, I really had to go to the bathroom so I decided to walk home and not jiggle anything around. But then I also thought it would be a good idea to stop by 7-Eleven and get some cold water and a Green Machine juice. La-dee-da. Walked on home and things were great.

Looking super cute on my walk home.

But then things weren't so great. I started shivering and my stomach was in knots. I walked into my apartment and headed on into the shower. By the time I got out, I was dry heaving. And then there wasn't anything dry about it. Throwing up for 6 hours is not fun.

Staying up until 4 AM because you are throwing up in also not fun.

Leaving work the next day to take a nap and then throwing up your lunch at 8 PM at night is not fun either. This heat has to stop because NY is not intended to have Texas weather. We'd all have central air if it did.

In all seriousness, heat exhaustion is very dangerous and this whole experience was horribly uncomfortable. Make sure you stay hydrated and don't push yourself too hard.