Okay, the Youngstown Half Marathon I ran two weeks before being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes was my worst run ever, but today’s run was a close second.

Since this is the first Saturday of the entire summer that we didn’t have plans or weren’t in Sandusky, I decided to sleep in and take my time heading out. Not a smart thing to do when it’s 90 degrees and humid outside. I ate breakfast (I cut my usual bolus in half), turned my basal rate down, put my Nano on and headed out the door with a 222 blood sugar (I just ate) and a plan to run 14 miles. Kyle and the kids were going to meet me at Shaker Lakes with a water bottle and some inspiration. At mile 2 the sweat was pouring, the air was stagnant, breathing was difficult and I cursed myself for not getting on the road earlier. I almost asked a man watering his flowers to turn the hose in my direction for a litttle relief (it didn’t even matter that he had one of those plant food things attached to the nozzle).

At mile 4 the arrows on my sensor graph were pointing down, but it said 146 so I waited to eat. I was struggling and I hadn’t even made it to mile 5 yet. At mile 5 I ate a blok, hoping to keep my sugar in the 150 range. When I got to Kyle and the kids at mile 5.6 I stopped to test and it said 71, which isn’t conducive to running. I took a minute to towel off, drink guzzle some water, eat another blok, gross my family out with sweaty kisses and let my sugar come up a bit. I could have easily ended the run at that point, but my conscience wouldn’t let me. We said our goodbyes and I was off again.

Things were good until mile 8. I noticed that my graph was staying at 96 despite the two shot bloks I consumed. I was feeling pretty dizzy and nauseous so I figured that my sugar was high and the sensor wasn’t working. I stopped to test…96. I ate a third blok and made a goal to at least get to mile 10, every mile after that would be bonus. It was nearly impossible for me to make it to mile 10. My water bottle was almost empty, my sugar was only 104, my vision was blurring, I felt nauseous, and I kept experiencing tingling “chills” even though I was running in extreme heat (umm…now I know those are the symptoms of heat stroke). I was scared. I stopped shortly after the 10 mile point and started to walk. I couldn’t catch my breath and my heart was pumping out of my chest (more symptoms). I called Kyle to tell him that I was walking home and to see if he could come get me. Liv had just laid down for a nap, but he was going to wake her up. I didn’t want my shitty run to ruin the rest of the day with the family so I told him to let her sleep. After walking about a mile, I decided to run the last mile home because it would get me there faster. Bad idea. Thankfully, Kyle showed up and whisked me into the car and safely home. I managed to get 12 of the 14 miles in, but if you are talking quality over quantity then it was really only a 3 mile run.

If this year is anything like last year’s race, I’m going to have a hard time finishing those 26.2 miles in Chicago. My calf didn’t give me any problems, my legs felt great, and the mileage wasn’t an issue…it was the heat and humidity that knocked me on my ass. I was seriously close to falling over with heat stroke. Thank goodness I have the world’s greatest husband and supporter or I would have been in major trouble today.

Why do I insist on running fall marathons that require summer training? Running in the snow has it’s perks. Remind me of days like this when I’m bitching about the cold in a few months.

“Please tell me you remembered to bring the water bottle. I think I’m going to die out here.”

“Can we please trade places? Photography is a much more practical hobby.”

Yes, I love to rock out in a skirt. After my style post I remembered that I bought this skirt on clearance at the Akron Marathon expo despite it’s being one size too big. It’s a different material than the skirt I want to order, but it was nice and comfortable. It might make an appearance in Chicago…we’ll see.