Listening to Your Body

I admit, I suck at listening to my body.  Technically, I'll listen to whispers and sit out when I could/should keep going, but I'll ignore the yelling.  So I do hear it, I just don't react correctly.  Sometimes, I don't have a choice.

I did  my long run last Thursday, and I totally read the thermometer wrong.  It was a comfy 72 degrees in the house, not outside.  Outside, it was a toasty 78 degrees and a wee bit sunny (it was 1130 am or so).  Luckily, my long run was only 6 miles (hey, I still have 12 weeks!), but I hit the hills since Zooma will be a hilly course.  I charged up the first one, and did pretty good out till mile 3, since it was mostly down hill.  Coming back was painful.  I must have looked like hell, because at the bottom of the steep hill, I was given a bottle of water from a gardener.  I survived, not too sore, and even did 6x30 sec intervals the next day.

Then yesterday came.  I was going to do 6 miles with a buddy.  He was running late, so we set out along the (flat) course along the Charles River at 6:15 or so.  About half way through, the humidity was weighing me down and I told him I was only going to make the 4.5 mile loop we normally do.  Since we were running late, and I suspect his weekend was still clinging to him, he agreed.  We started across the Mass Ave Bridge and a garbage truck passed us.  I was so overwhelmed by the stench, I started gagging and almost threw up over the bridge.  Fortunately, for both me and the poor girls rowing on the Charles, I didn't lose my cookies.  I made it back to the office, and in the middle of coffee, it hit. I had an ocular migraine.  The picture here is pretty accurate for what I was seeing, except mine are off centered to the right.  I took my excedrin, drank my coffee and closed my eyes.  It went away, then the pain started.  Yep, full blown migraine.  I managed to work the full day, pick up the boys, and make dinner, all before falling asleep on the couch at 6pm.  Needless to say, I slept in today and did not do strength as planned. 

The sucky thing is, summer is the worst time for my migraines.  It's the temperature shifts (hot and humid outside to icy cold AC inside) and it just sends my poor brain into chaos.  This is my first summer really running, so it's going to take a while to figure out they whole hydration and heat thing.

I'm a bit disappointed I got slammed by the migraine, but better now then during the race, right?