I was supposed to do my long run yesterday, but torrential downpours & an intense headache (which was probably related to the weather!) quickly put an end to that idea. (I spent a good bit of yesterday trying to recover from an ongoing, multiple-day headache! Interestingly enough, the headaches only began after I'd returned to DC from my trip. Hmmmmm. High air-pressure issues perchance? ;) )

Anyhow, I'm glad I waited to run, because today's weather was absolutely beautiful. Even though I woke up with the same pounding headache that I'd had over the last several days, it thankfully disappeared after I began running. Yes, running has been known to do that. :)

What's weird is that, after only 3 miles into the run, I experienced a "runner's high." This almost never happens to me so soon into the run. Usually, I've got to work for it much more, sometimes running as much as 8-10 miles before the feeling finally starts to kick in & take hold.

The run went well for the most part; I was feeling exceptionally good in the beginning, and my pace reflected that for the first few miles. In fact, I almost didn't believe my Nike+iPod when it reported back a 10:10 pace in the first couple of miles - Whoa! I knew that this pace was way too fast as a starting pace for my long training run & couldn't be sustained, so I slowed down to accommodate. [Back in January-March, I ran 14 milers at about an average 11:00 pace, eventually running some of those miles as fast as 9:20, but that was then & this is now. :) ] Long training runs are never about speed; they are about building stamina.

I saw some beautiful sights today: I ran past beautiful purple flowering trees & also some white floral shrubs, all of which smelled divine! The purple flowers smelled almost like grapes! The white floral shrubs lined much of the trail, & perfumed the hot air with this magnificent scent. There was also a bright red cardinal that was sitting on a branch, just inches from my head. I looked up & heard his tweeting and there he was, so incredibly close to me!

There were also tons of people everywhere -- running, cycling, blading, walking, etc. There was even one guy blading on "Nordic track"-like "skis."

There was a nice breeze, especially on the latter half of the run. Ahhh, that felt sooooo refreshing & wonderful! And while the sun was hot & toasty, it wasn't humid at all. The sun visor & sunglasses definitely helped as well.

All went well until about mile 10, when I had this irrepressible urge to "use the facilities." (Geez! I thought I'd taken care of this situation the first 3 times I'd stopped for this very same purpose. Yes, that's right, you heard me correctly. I said "the first 3 times" -- once before the run, and twice at the one & only bathroom on the trail, which I'd made use of in both directions on the trail! Don't you just love it when once just isn't enough! Not! :) )

The only problem was that there wasn't a bathroom or porta-potty in sight. Plus, a good bit of the trail is fenced in & there were people EVERYWHERE, so it's not like I could've just discreetly traipsed off into the woods. (That's certainly one unique challenge city-dwellers face that people living in the countryside don't have to worry about so much!) Talk about uncomfortable. There's nothing worse than having to go when you're got 4 miles left of a 14-miler, & there are NO facilities anywhere in the vicinity. And the bouncing up & down motion of running doesn't make it any better. ;)

A big "uh-oh," indeed!

And, the really weird thing is that I'd actually been very careful about my water-consumption too, hydrating 1.5-2 hours before the run & consciously balancing how much I was sipping on the trail with how much I was perspiring. Honestly, I've never felt like I had to stop off so many times on the trail before, even for other 14+ milers I've done in the past; so, I'm hoping that it's just a one-time anomaly!

Let's just say that this could perhaps explain why my pace wasn't exactly lightening fast over the last 4+ miles. ;)

This was very frustrating for me, because I was feeling really good on all other counts & it would've been great to have seen what I could've done had the "floating eyeballs" situation not "arisen" -- Gah, bad pun! LOL! The legs & feet were holding up well, & I still had a good bit of energy left, etc. It's just that some other -- ahem, internal -- body parts weren't cooperating. ;-0

Thankfully, I somehow made it through, briefly stopping every so often to try to get the lower half in gear & stave off the inevitable. I might as well have run the rest of the way with my legs crossed. :)

With about 1.5 miles left to go, the trail opened up again & I began to approach "civilization" once more. Right before the final bridge, there was another diverging path that led downward, off in the direction of a side street, where I spied the back lots of a few businesses. Since it was Sunday, many of them were closed (Ack!), but I managed to finally find one which was still open -- a McDonald's! Never in my life have I been happier to see those golden arches! :) (I'm trying very hard not to make the obvious joke about "golden arches," so instead, will just leave that part up to your imagination. :) )

This was the first time in years that I'd set foot in a McDonald's, but it's not like I was there to eat their food. :)

I'll spare you the rest of the details about my predicament, (having already been highly euphemistic about many of the details! ;) ) but will just say this: Some of my veteran marathoner friends have advised me that when you've got to "go" on a long run, that it's sometimes possible to hold out & let the kidneys absorb the excess water. However, I clearly tried to do that this time, and while it might work sometimes, there's surely a limit on how much water the kidneys can absorb. :)

I've been trying to analyze the situation to figure out how to prevent it in future, and can honestly say that I'm still a bit baffled by its origin. I've done several 14+ milers before, and honestly have never been this "challenged" before in this very unlikely way. And it's not like I did anything out of the ordinary: I did what I normally do in these situations -- I finished hydrating & fueling well before I'd ran, allowing the usual 2 hours for "processing time." Plus, I drank & ate the same amount of water before the run. On top of that, I barely drank any water on the trail. So these factors can obviously be ruled out.

And while the fueling wasn't an issue, the hydration clearly was. Or rather, my body's reaction to the hydration is possibly what was different this time. So what caused this exactly?

The only thing I can think of is that it wasn't as humid out today as it normally is in DC, which could explain why the usual amount of water I'd consumed might have been too much for my body to process, or why it didn't process the water as quickly as usual. At the very least, it obviously explains why I didn't need to drink as much on the trail, and also possibly why the water I drank earlier wasn't absorbed as quickly by the kidneys or perspired out as quickly through the skin.

Also, I noticed that I felt different internally: It seemed that because I'd waited so long to go, that I was in limbo as a direct result -- I felt like I had to go, and yet, couldn't really do so. So perhaps the water I'd consumed was on its way to the kidneys but hadn't yet made it all the way there? That's the only logical explanation that comes to mind.

The most maddening thing is that, on the last few miles (i.e., before I'd stopped at the McDonald's), I started to feel thirsty and yet, still had to go! I made a point of not drinking water, since I knew that it would ultimately just intensify the situation. The one good thing about being preoccupied with having to go is that it takes the focus off how your other body parts are feeling (i.e., your feet, legs, etc.), which is particularly helpful on long runs, and instead redirects the focus towards the goal of getting to the end of the run or finding a bathroom, whichever comes first! Not surprisingly, the latter objective usually takes precedence, as the former is only a secondary goal done to fulfill the latter. :)

OK, so after eliminating some variables, I've concluded that perhaps I overcompensated in anticipation of the usual humid DC weather. Next time, I'll be sure to check the heat/humidity index more carefully! It's really hard to tell, because sometimes dry hot weather can make you drink just as much water as humid hot weather!

One's body still needs to be hydrated on the trail, but perhaps I should've consumed less water beforehand given the weather conditions, or probably more likely, should've have given my body even more time to absorb/process the water, given the fact that the heat index wasn't as intense, and therefore affected the water absorption rate.

OK, enough analysis. Overall, the run went well. Surprisingly, I didn't even nap afterwards. The longer runs during the week are definitely helping as well.