Being Tested pt 1

I was being tested today in a BIG way! Everything about today's run was off- it started out with me getting to practice to find that two of my fuel bottles were unusable. I still had two left but I knew I needed to be careful with how much I was drinking. In case you haven't notices- I'm fat. Because I weight more, when I run I exert more energy and use up more nutrients then my slender running pals - in some cases I weigh double them! So when it comes to fuel - water, electrolytes calories - I need to consume more then the average joe! Back to my point. I filled my water bottles up at every water stop and even stopped twice at a public fountain for water and it still wasn't enough. Twice the water stop was out of Gatorade which is really important in terms of replacing salt lost. So not only was I running low on water - I now was running low on salt. Insult to injury, it was90 degrees outside today... thank God fall's promised cool weather is here... NOT! That only added to more sweating = more water and salt lost. When I run, I use GU electrolyte gel and it helps me replace calories I've burned off while running and I time it accordingly and I haven't had any problems using it at all, in fact I think it works pretty damn good but by the end, my blood sugar was dropping and I was already dehydrated and it was BAD. So just to keep score so far I'm both dehydrated AND running out of calories. So to add to the list of reasons why 18 miles sucked was i never found my groove! Its a given that the first 4 miles are going to suck, they always do but then my body gets warmed up and I start to feel the running mojo and things become easier... I never got to that point at ALL today. Every mile, from mile one to the very last felt like it was the longest mile I've ever run. I talked about some health issues I have been having- well thought I was having. See previous Blog! So I'm still searching for energy and after mile 2, I felt drained! By mile 13 I was exhausted and my feet were hurting and by mile 14 I was being tested. I was miserable and NOTHING about it was enjoyable. I felt like I had reached as far as I could go - I wanted to stop, I wanted to sit down. We kept going but by this time our pace had come to a crawl and by mile 16 I was having issues with just walking. the effects of dehydration and not enough calories become apparent and by the end of the run, I was shaking and ready to pass out - instead I sat down (HUGE MISTAKE)and all the muscles from my hip to my knee on my left leg seized up and I went into panic mode. I've never felt pain like this in my LIFE - and I've survived a car accident! My coaches rushed to my aid - one massaged my leg with something called "the stick" while another held me up as I was both standing and falling over at the same time and another rushed to get me food and drink to replace my electrolytes. It sounds just awful and if your contemplating ever becoming a runner, the first half of this blog probably isn't a great way to convince you of how great a sport it is... but luckily for you, there's a second part to this blog!