21 miles in 6:44 AP; total time: 2:21:21 Well, that was NOT the most fun I have ever had on a long run. It started out pretty awesome in the gorgeous 43 degree sunshine. My legs were somewhat tired from yesterday's workout and weights, but they loosened up after a couple of miles. I got into a groove early and felt confident that the run would go well. Aaron and the kids drove out to mile 8 (seeing my smiling family was the highlight of my run) and gave me a bottle of EFS electrolyte drink, so I drank about 100 calories of that at mile 8. I went out to the 10.5 mile turn around and stopped briefly to visit the bushes. Stopped again on my way back at mile 13 to take in a strawberry Clif Shot and the other 100 calories of EFS. My energy felt great, legs felt strong, mental tenacity was pushing me right along. And then, right around mile 15 my stomach started twisting into knots and my head and back of my neck started tingling. I had to stop to fertilize the trees two more times in the final six miles. At mile 16 I forced down another few calories of liquid shot and some water but my stomach was NOT happy with me. I didn't pick up the pace at all in the final few miles, I was lucky to hold on to 6:50 pace as I brainstormed what could possibly be the cause of this annoying stomach and head problem. At first I wanted to blame it on the 25 mg of caffeine in the Clif Shot I had taken at mile 13. Then I thought maybe it was the fact that I ate too much cheese with my dinner last night. I'm coming to the conclusion lately that cheese and my stomach are not terribly good friends. Then with a mile to go I started thinking about my kids and husband back home and I remembered yesterday evening and the hour or so of time spent with my Son, Abe giving him a back rub to help comfort him through his own stomachache and headache. Over the past 24 hours I've had lots of close contact with him, washed his stinky sheets, given him a bath, and wiped his bloody/snotty nose many times. And now that I'm finished with my run and I'm sitting here with a rumbling tummy unable to eat anything more than chicken noodle soup and Emergen-C, its clear to me what the problem was in those final 5 miles...good ol' fashion stomach bug. We've called off all our plans for today and Abe and I both will be taking naps and resting ih hopes that we can recover and feel better by tomorrow.
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