Day 291: The Problem of Elctrolytes

Greetings Mammoths!

So last week I was really down in the mouth. For the first time ever I missed a Boot Camp! It was Tuesday morning and I just couldn't get out of bed. Now normally I am all fired up and ready to go but for some reason I just could not get out of the rack. We had a Mammoth down and fir the life of me I had no idea what was wrong with me. So being the nervous Nelson that I am I put in a call to Michael Williams and we scheduled a coffee. During the coffee he and I looked over my training schedule and we found the problem almost immediately.

Now here in Georgia it is getting hot. So the Saturday before last I got up and did the WoW Boot Camp/ New Balance Run where the WoW folks got to try on these really cool light weight shoes the 890s and boy were people saying how great they were. Now Mammoths I wanted to try on a pair but my gargantuan 14 inch foot was a little bit more man sized than Ty and his crew were prepared for so I had to look on with envy. On that Saturday I posted a three mile run in 42 minutes and was feeling great especially since I was in Zone 1. In felt great all day, went and watched my man Aiden score three goals, and had a great Saturday with friends. Sunday I did a hour loosen up walk and prepared for the four miler I was going to do on Monday...this is where the wheels fall off for your favorite Mammoth.

It being a Monday I was going to go and exercise early when I got an email that said I needed to get into the office ASAP to handle a mini crisis. So I put off my run until that evening. Now during the day it hit 90+ degrees outside and I knew that I would need to wear my KamelBack to keep myself hydrated. So I got my route ready, filled up my KamelBack, and proceeded to go run. Around mile 2 I started feeling horrible, I couldn't focus, and I wanted to throw up. Classic signs of heat exhaustion and I should have gone in but this old Mammoth is stubborn as heck so I continued on. By the time I was finished I was completely wiped out. I could barely get myself into the shower and when I ate my Good Measure Meal I could feel the nutrients going straight to my muscles. Little did I know just how much I had depleted my system. Because of my bullheadedness I had robbed myself of important electrolytes and being a Mammoth runner you have to have those electrolytes or your system is going to shut down. During my talk with Michael he explained to me the importance of electrolyte replacement and how I need to make sure I was doing that before, during, and after my run. I explained all of this to Mommoth and she went on the net and found a recipe for a drink that was small calorie and would replace my electrolytes. So we decided to try the concoction out this past Saturday as I had a four and a half mile zone 1&2 run. The drink worked and I posted my best time ever. 4 1/2 miles in 1 hour 9 minutes!!! So the moral of the story here is keep yourself hydrated but also check those electrolytes.

I finally got around to fixing my bike and so starting next week I will be riding my bike to work which will increase my cardio vascular work and I am very excited about that. The Mommoth and I have started a Team in Training Team for the Savannah 1/2 and Full Marathon. If you are interested in working with us then drop me a line and I will get you hooked up. I will also be setting up a separate blog post about TNT and how you can help me and the Mommoth reach our fundraising goals.

Leaving for San Antonio tomorrow Mammoths so I will be running and blogging from the Alamo! So be safe out there and I hope to see you on the range, stick close to a good watering hole, and watch what you are grazing on.