Dehydration or pending illness? ‘eh, lets run anyway.

I woke up this morning, and my mouth and throat were super dry.. Almost painfully so.  I thought perhaps I had slept on my back with my mouth wide open all night.. (Which makes me wonder how my wife got any sleep as I would imagine that would make me snore badly!)  I proceeded to drink water to dampen up that dry tissue that was complaining to me..   Although my mouth began feeling normal, my throat never did.. After 130 or more ounces of water (and a couple of cups of coffee,) I still had “that” feeling in the back of my throat.. So either I am getting sick, or I was super dehydrated..

Come to think of it, I’m not all that sure I really had any water in the last 48-72 hours..  hmm.

Either way, sick or dehydrated – It occurred to me that today’s run should probably be a relatively easy one.  I couldn’t see going out and killing myself helping either of these situations, so starting speed work up was put off.

I did head out on a different route, thinking it might help expand the distance a little. I had been at 2.7, so around 3 miles is where my standard run should be now.  This loop blew it again.. Instead of increasing it by .3 miles, I ran .5 miles further.

I kept it at a comfortable pace, trying to make sure that (other than the beginning of the run – where my legs wonder what on earth I am asking them to do) there was no real un-comfortableness, struggling, or pain in my legs. I also made sure my breathing wasn’t labored.   I felt like I was going really easily – and figured I  would be at 9:30 or 10 minutes when I hit the mile marker..

Needless to say, I was pretty surprised when it told me 8:33.  When I heard that I had sped up a bit for mile 2 and then again for mile 3 – I was VERY surprised!  Now I know that would only be a 26:30ish 5k – a long way from my 22:51 PR in the 5k (7:21 pace), but it tells me that I am getting back on track!  I felt like I could have done several more miles at that pace, even considering my hydration state!

I have a lot of hope for this year.. I’m keeping my base building to a slow pace.. I’m feeling good!

About Robinson

I run, because I am a runner. Having realized that I have always "been a runner" - even when I went years with out running, I am learning how it has integrated itself in all aspects of my life. When I started running in highschool, my perspective on life changed. Funny that I didn't realize how much it had affected it until just recently.