I'm So Dizzy, My Head is Spinning...

Well, it was an interesting day at the running office today. On the schedule was a pace run, going 5 easy miles and then the last 5 at a faster pace. We'd do the Longhorn Dam loop, kicking it into high gear after passing under I-35 on the way back. It was substantially warmer than last week, and high humidity as well. I was dressed appropriately for the weather, though, and was ready to run, I thought. I did feel a touch of allergy or something like that, but nothing terrible. Still a little sore from Saturday's 16 mile romp, I soldiered on.

We took the early easy pace to heart, and were pretty good about the first 5 miles. It was a nice-sized group, with most of my pace pals present this morning. We had Amy, Brian, Jennifer, Jan, Rich, Matt, Shannon, Charlene and me. We sort of took turns leading the pace, and finally took a brief water stop at the fountain behind Holly Power Plant. Conversation was good, and we seemed to be in good shape for the accelerated finish. Finally, we crossed under I-35, and it was time to pick up the pace. Gilbert wanted at least a 3 minute difference between the first 5 miles and last 5 miles, preferably even more of a difference. We'd see.

Easy miles: 9:47, 9:34, 9:19, 9:13 (0.85 miles to water fountain), 9:14, and 9:14 (.37 miles). Average for easy miles was 9:25, right about where we should be.

I picked it up at that point to a pace that felt faster, but still reasonable. At first, I was alone out front, but within a half mile, Charlene and then Rich reeled me in, and we went along for a couple of miles together, to the Mopac bridge. I was starting to feel out of sorts, and Charlene and Rich pulled ahead at that point, eventually finishing about 30 seconds ahead of me. It turns out that my pace stayed pretty consistent, but it sure felt like I was either slowing down or working a lot harder to maintain what I had. I fought off the urge to stop and walk, and soon enough, I was at Auditorium Shores and the finish. Thank God for that! As soon as I finished, I had to try to find a way to recover, because I was feeling pretty dizzy at that point. I got a drink of water, and went over to where Gilbert was leading folks in some strides. I had to sit down there on the low stone wall, trying to gather myself.

Fast miles were pretty good, though: 8:05, 7:59, 8:12, 8:12, 8:13. Pace miles average 8:08. Splits were first 5.2 in 48:58, last 4.96 miles in 40:21, so I accomplished what Gilbert had asked. Overall pace for 10.16 miles was 8:47/mile. Good running.

I did the first strider at a walking pace, doing the balance drills to loosen my legs as I continued to try to recover. Eventually, I felt good enough to do 4 striders, but I just wasn't right, even 5-10 minutes after the pace run was complete.

After walking back over to RunTex and getting my dry clothes and post-run drink, I found myself shivering and shaking a bit as I sat with Shannon and Alex on the stretching deck. I guess I was suffering from some fairly extensive dehydration for some reason that I cannot explain. It was uncomfortable, and I think it scared my friends a little. Eventually, I felt a little better, and I never got leg cramps or anything. Two full bottles of fluids didn't make much of a dent in my hydration deficit, I guess. I did just a tiny bit of stretching, but had to stop eventually because I just didn't feel very good.

Once I got home and put on a couple of sweatshirts, I settled down a little more, and more and more fluids finally seemed to do the trick by mid-afternoon to bring me back to feeling normal. That was pretty weird this morning, but I can only hope it was a fluke occurrence. The weather report promises nice morning cool temperatures by Thursday or Friday, which I'm looking forward to!