Road trip to the Dentist and my worst run...EVER!

I was too ill and depressed to blog about my running experience yesterday, but as I have now pulled myself together slightly I will share it with you, but first I will set the scene of the day as it panned out before disaster struck!

I got up fairly early at 7am (it is school holidays so there is no need for this!) after tossing and turning since 5am.  My daughter and I both had dentist appointments in Penrith (Some 28 miles away!) -  in the 18 years since moving here I have been unable to secure a place at a local dentist  so twice a year we have to endure the 56 mile round trip for the pleasure of a check-up! The good old NHS - providing such a marvelous service.  After a check-up followed by a scale and polish we met my Mum (who also lives in Penrith) to do a bit of shopping, believe me this is a near impossibility in a place like Penrith, then we went for lunch in a small Bistro type cafe.  

After perusing the menu all thoughts of healthy eating and detoxing after my holiday went out the window and I ordered a chicken and bacon club sandwich with garlic mayonnaise served with chunky chips, salad and coleslaw and after clearing my plate (would be rude not to!) I washed it all down with two large cappuccino's served with fudge. Quite some time later I waddled out of there feeling over stuffed and extremely bloated - but boy it was good at the time! After relaxing at my Mum's and letting my food settle we headed back home arriving back at around 4.30pm. Just enough time to sort out some washing and ironing before heading out the door again - but this time for a run!

I was meeting my running buddy Gina at 6pm.  It was another nice sunny day (highly unusual!) and this time I ensured I wore suitable attire and took a water bottle with me. We set off and after about half a mile we hit our first hill (the downside of living in the Lake District!). This was absolute torture - my legs felt like lead and my stomach gurgled and churned and as an act of rebellion sent garlic mayonnaise vapors up through my throat into my mouth, by the time I reached the top of the hill I felt thoroughly nauseous. But with mind over matter I soldiered on ... it got harder and harder to keep up with Gina, even when she slowed her pace. After 3 miles I started to feel dizzy and knew there was no way on this earth was I going to complete and survive the 6 mile route planned, so on approaching a path that would provide me with an escape route home I told Gina I was abandoning her and going back.  

I said I would have a gentle jog home, but when I became so embarrassingly slow I started to walk.  I felt like I was underwater, sounds and sights were distorted and I did wonder whether I would make it back even walking. Luckily I did and had managed to run/walk just over 4 miles!

I grabbed a fresh water bottle and sat down.  All of a sudden I became over overwhelmingly hot and extremely dizzy and my chest got tighter and tighter until I was struggling to breath.  I don't suffer from Asthma so I can only imagine that an Asthma attack would feel similar.  I honestly thought I was going to lose conscientiousness and started to get anxious - not helpful in the given situation. My husband started wafting me with a newspaper to cool me down and after a couple of minutes the attack subsided leaving me with just the tightness in my chest. Once I was feeling slightly better I struggled upstairs for a shower and then retreated to the sofa for the rest of the evening.  I couldn't face any food and was absolutely exhausted.  I kept drifting in and out of sleep whilst watching the super fit Olympians on telly - making me feel even more of a failure! Eventually I gave in and went to bed and being melodramatic I did wonder whether I would ever wake up!

I had a restless night again, and eventually at 7am I decided to get up.  I stuck one leg out of bed, then the other before pushing myself up onto my feet!  I assessed my body's reactions ... head felt OK, chest was slightly tight, stomach still gurgling, legs achy but I felt 100% better than last night!

I have googled and analysed my symptoms - a dangerous thing to do I know - and have come to the conclusion that I either ran on too full a stomach or my body was fighting bacteria that had got into my bloodstream during the scale and polish at the dentist and couldn't cope with doing that and exercising. One to remember for the future!

I'm not sure what I will do today exercise wise - I will bide my time and see how I feel later!

I going to put the whole awful experience behind me and not let it mess with my confidence - after all I have a half marathon to run in less than 3 weeks. YIKES!

You can view this awful experience here!