Last weekend I had an interesting experience. In the past I have commented about how therapeutic running is. In fact, I have gone on to say that I feel so great after runs that I feel like my reset button was pushed. While much of these claims are true, I recently had an experience that was not so uplifting.
Saturday morning came around and I was up early to head out on a trail run as usual. I felt good and had planned out a route.
I was prepared with the usual snacks, water, etc. When I got started I had to take it slow at first (side note: I have been recovering from a dislocated pinky toe that a dork at the grocery store gladly granted me with his grocery cart.), but got off to a good start. Towards the end of my run I just did not feel well. I felt unusually thirsty and when I drank some cold water I then felt like throwing up. The last time I felt that way was my run up in Seattle with my brother, who was the unfortunate witness to my dry heaving after I took in too much cold water too soon. (I am still researching the physiological signs of why my body cannot take in too much cold water when I am running in warmer weather. That will be for a different post.)
I noticed that I felt like I was over heating and could not get the water to be absorbed by my body. My stomach was not happy with my activity and by the end of the run I was exhausted! I kept thinking to myself how miserable this run went and how I am just not meant for running. When I got home I showered up and tried to rest but felt like I was without energy. That night I felt incredibly thirsty despite also feeling like I was just throwing water into an already full bucket.
Well I woke up in the middle of the night and the fun just got started. I was very sick for the next 4 days. I could barely eat or drink anything after day 2, and after day 4 felt completely malnourished. It wasn’t until the next Saturday that I started to feel like myself again. However I did not make it out all week to get any exercise because I just felt like my body needed the rest.
During this rest it was nice to just relax and not feel like I had to meet any goals and push myself in the heat. I was able to be around my kids a little more and talk to my wife. I felt like I was able to reconnect with my most supportive crowd when it comes to running. In the midst of all this I was able to push an overall reset button that hardly gets pushed. Now that I am feeling better, I can say that I am excited to get back out. I am even excited to run on the roads again! While recovering I was able to reflect on why exercise is so good in the first place, so I can be a better husband and father!