Flame out

Happy 4th of July! It's the middle of summer already...unbelievable. The weather for about the past 9 days has been hot, humid and breezy. I'm loving it!! Well, mostly.
Monday was my first day off of training for over a week, and I really needed it. I was recovering not only from the recent two plus week push and it's ensuing flame out, but from a rare night of celebration and indulgence. More on that in a bit!
My workouts last week were going pretty well. I really tried to push the swim volume. Thursday night's fun team sprint was, indeed, FUN! We did a 300 meter swim in the weed jungle known as Lake Wingra...YUCK! Then on the bike for a 10k ride through the Arb, then a 2k run. That silly little swim was HARD!! UGH...will I ever get better? Swimming through those thick weeds did not help. I felt pretty good on the bike and run. I felt even better after while eating Debby's fabulous cake!!! ;-)
Friday, which is my usual day off, called for a long set in the pool. All felt fine, and I tried to mentally prepare for Saturdays long ride of 4 1/2 hours and 30 minute transition run. I wanted to ride at least 70 miles. Sunday would be another 2 hour run.
The ride started out great! I felt good, and the weather was cloudy and low 70's. It was pretty breezy from the north, so I did my usual loops which head north first before I turn around a ride south. I was looking forward to a nice tailwind!
Of course, the winds died down a bit during the last 2 hours, so I lost the benefit of the tailwind. The clouds disappeared and it got pretty warm. I was loving it...or so I thought? I really tried SO hard to keep up with my nutrition and fluids, taking in more than I ever have. But by the last hour, my stomach was starting to go south. I was annoyed. Why does this keep happening? I even peed twice on the ride, so I felt like I was staying hydrated. When I got off the bike and began to run, I realized it would be a long 30 minutes. The nausea and pain in my stomach were pretty bad, and I felt hot. I didn't have a headache or dizziness, so I just went with it. I took walk breaks and sipped gatoraid. When I was done, I was pretty close to throwing up. I just wish I could have! The pain in my stomach was horrible.
I got in the house and headed for the shower to cool off. While standing in the shower, I started to feel light-headed and dizzy, then the blackness on the edges of my peripheral vision. I thought, "Oh boy, I am going DOWN!". I got out of the shower and immediately lied down on the floor. After a few minutes, I got up to get my cell phone, and the walls started closing in again. Back down on the floor. I was alone since Mike was up at the cabin. I started thinking about what I was going to do if I didn't turn this around. I was assessing my symptoms, trying to determine if what I was experiencing had anything to do with the funky vessels in my head. I've only ever felt this way one other time, when I had my aneurysm. I was pretty confident that this was just a case of heat exhaustion. There was NO pain in my head at all, just my damned stomach!
Mike called at that very moment. I told him what was happening. He stayed with me on the phone until I could at least manage to get up and get some water. It took about 1/2 hour until I started to feel better. I just kept sipping water, then gatoraid. Thankfully, I managed to climb down off the ledge. WHEW!!
The rest of the day was a battle between my head and my stomach. I knew I needed to keep eating and drinking, but my stomach wasn't too happy. I just kept at it. In a few hours I was able to drive to Montello to get my Mom for our girly overnighter. She was pretty worried and a bit irritated with me. She worries that I do too much...and I just proved her right! I took her to Culvers...I even got TWO scoops of Chocolate Heath custard...and felt MUCH better! :-)
The next morning I felt fine! I headed out to the Arb with Susan, and I intended to at least try one loop with her to see how I felt. It was warm and muggy already at 8:30 am! We took it easy and even walked a bit. (The pit stops to Victor Allen's were also quite helpful! ;-))After the first loop, we met up with another friend and decided to go for round two. We continues to take it easy, and I was tired but feeling fine. After loop two, I felt good enough to run for another 15 minutes so I could make it to mile 15. When I finished, I was so relieved. That episode the day before really shook my confidence. I have been over-thinking it ever since. At our group run on Tuesday, Blake talked to all of us about nutrition and bonking. It's such an individual thing, and it can be so challenging to try and figure out not only WHAT your body needs, but HOW you get it to accept what you are putting into it during training. I'll keep working on it...we'll get it figured out! I'll just chalk this one up as one of those VERY bad days.
What my body did NOT need was the form of liquid I choose to put in it later on Sunday night! We celebrated Rachel's 22nd birthday by watching her perform two songs as, "Lady RaRa" at a variety show. It was a fund raiser for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. There were many, shall we say..."interesting" performances! ;-) But she was AMAZING!! She did one ballad by herself, then sang, "Bad Romance" with Robyn and another guy as her back-up dancers. We had so much fun! While my body may not have needed it, my "party girl" spirit....which is still in there and comes out occasionally, really needed it! :-)
Now I look forward to Saturday. It's my birthday, something at this point in my life I approach with mixed feelings. I am so grateful to be here to celebrate another one...really I am. I just wish the number would be a bit lower!! We will be celebrating at the Pardeeville Triathlon and I am so excited for this race! Not only will I be celebrating doing something I absolutely love, I will be doing it with many of my incredible teammates. AND my Mom will be there! AND there will be CAKE!! (I am bringing the cake...and I will be PURCHASING the cake. I do not cook, and there is no way I can compete with Debby! :-)) So on to the next age group I go...where the women are amazingly strong and bad-assed...and I'm very happy to do so.
Enjoy these gorgeous summer days!