some people call me the space cowboy...
actually they don't. they call me Maurice! ha.
ANYWHO I ran on Pipeline today. After 48 hours of the other kind of runs and 3 days of the sinus infection from hell, I was going stir crazy. Dehydrated stir crazy. I had way too many unstable emotions and I needed to exhaust my hyperactive brain so I could feel normal.
So... off I went. Happily running along Pipeline, doing the first 9ish at a 8:30 pace. Then I felt nauseous, because I thought of the word barbecue. Then I walked for a half mile, had a coughing fit, decided I didn't like running anymore, and I should take a nap instead. So I laid down, snuggled my cushy little vest, and 10 mins later just as I had convinced the flies to vomit/ovulate/poo elsewhere and began to drift off.... someone comes and walks over me. Then another group of two. A bike. A family. They just never stop! So I got my lazy dizzy self back up and decided that, while running in this state was relatively stupid, so was I, so it was best to keep on running.
Mental note also made to make a little sign that says: half-crazed sick and sleep deprived ultra runner. DO NOT WAKE. I should keep it with me at all times.
I passed this girl who jumped like a frightened deer when my shadow passed under her feet. Which would have been better if I wasn't on the outside edge of a cliff. But then I thought, DUDE if I had been on the other side of her she would've totally fallen off the cliff. I practically saved her life! So when I passed her again later she gave me this look like, 'I totally owe you for saving the rest of my very long life.' and I was giving her that look of, 'I know, I know. Pay it forward.'
So the next 10 9.7 I ran a 9:40ish pace. Decided to back off and get 'er done. My iPod was on shuffle and so were my emotions. Sullen, depressed, angry, excited, dark... One song after another, just the mental exhaustion I needed.
At mile 18 the innards of my leg muscles remembered that they were dehydrated and hadn't been fueled up, so they and siezed up on me with the worst cramps I've ever experienced. I took my bad cramps all the way back to the car (I was out of water and was covered in salt I had sweat out) and downed a full liter of water + electrolytes. Felt all better within 20 mins.
So, 11 days before a 62 mile race, I ran 20 miles, tried to take a nap, quit and unquit, and had the worst cramps of my life. Not sure that this was the "confidence buliding" experience I had hoped for, but, what the hell, at least my brain doesn't feel crazy anymore.
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