The Fountain Sent From Above

10:03PM

Well, I hope this is not a sign of things to come but I did NOT have a good run this morning when I officially began my Chicago marathon training. That's the bad news. The good news is - I know exactly why I didn't have a good run and I can fix it. It all started last night....

As I mentioned in my last post, I was at church camp all week. Yesterday was a long day spent cleaning, unpacking, mowing, etc. I was already worn out from camp and all the "back home-cleanup" work wore me out even more. I knew I wanted to run last night since I didn't run Friday. The boys had a birthday party from 5-7 so during the party, my wife and I went to the grocery since our pantry/fridge were barren from the week away. When we got home, I didn't want to eat knowing that I would then have to wait a while to run. So I decided to skip dinner. MISTAKE! Note to self and everyone - don't skip a meal the night b4 a run, especially a long run, especially if you run the night before as well. I ran 6 last night and it was fine. In fact, it was really good. The empty stomach didn't affect me last night. I pretty much got home from the run and went to bed. I was exhausted. I set my alarm for 4:45 this morning so I could get up and run my long run - 12 miles.

When I woke up, I was very thirsty. I got quick drink of water and thought it would be enough. I was wrong. The first 6 miles were fine. I could tell I wasn't feeling the best ever but I was making it. Around mile 6 though, I got extremely thirsty. And I really wanted to walk. I felt so drained, weak, and tired. I saw a sprinkler and decided to stop and try to get a drink. I've done it before but it's very difficult. Sprinklers are usually too strong to drink from. This one was impossible. It was a spider-type which sprays 8 different directions in a complete circle and spins at the same time. Needless to say, all I got was wet which felt nice, but didn't quench the thirst. I was bummed and still so thirsty. So at that point I made the decision to walk a little bit. I hate that. I don't like to walk unless I'm injured but I just didn't feel good. I walked probably a quarter mile and then started running again when I reached a downhill. I still had around 5 miles to go. I needed water bad and didn't know where I was going to get it. Then I saw it....

Believe what you want, but I think the big guy upstairs was watching out for me. About 50 yards into a neighborhood I was passing was a fountain of water shooting 3 feet up in the air. I don't know if a sprinkler was broken or what but it was perfect. It was shooting out at the exact speed of a water fountain and it was a huge gush of clean water. It looked a lot like the picture to the left. It was Heaven at that point. I needed it so bad. I took several drinks and it gave me a little boost. I started running again and thought I would make it all the way back. I got to within a mile of home and my legs started to go numb. The lack of food in my stomach was really hurting me. Again - I know it was a mistake not to eat last night. I've learned my lesson. I walked a little bit more and ran the last half mile home. My time was around 9:20 per mile average due to the walking, not good for me. But like I put on dailymile - everyone had good runs and bad ones. This was a bad one. Lesson learned. I'm due to run 12 again next week so I hope it will go much better. I think it will.

I'll write again later this week about the RRT podcast on Tuesday and my HS coaching career officially starting next week. Be careful out there. Take care of yourselves. I'll try harder to do just that.

Keep runnin',
Albert