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Weight:  182

Size:  14

Exercise:  6.4 miles

I hit the pavement today thanks to a couple of my friends throwing me some encouragement.  Thank goodness, or else I wouldn’t have gone today.

I stretched in my front living room before I took off.  Grabbed my 30 ounce ice water and strapped on my Pink Nano then walked out of the house.  I did good the first 10 minutes, then here came the shin splints.  Lovely!  I had them for about 20 or 25 minutes, then my whole right leg started to ache.  Even lovelier!  At about 50 minutes I was all good!!  YEAH!!  So I though.  Ha!

The breeze was amazing today.  Even some light overhead clouds, which were good for blocking out the sun every now and then.  I walked along the canal, saw a few Great Blue Herons (one of my favorite birds), some huge fish and even a big turtle poking its head out of the water.  All was going good.

At one point I looked over at my shoulder before I reached my halfway point and noticed that I was starting to get sun burnt.  Needless to say, I left at the completely wrong time of day, which was 10:40 a.m. and putting on sunscreen didn’t even cross my mind.  I just kept walking.

About 1/8 of a mile before I reached my halfway point I was ready to call my Husband to pick me up.  I guess it is a good thing and a bad thing all at one time that I decided on NOT bringing my cell with me.  As I walked behind my Dentists office I was soooo tempted though.  I was just exhausted today for some reason.  I usually don’t have a hard time even walking 5 miles.  Anyway, I again trudged along.

I hit my half way point at Pecos and Lindsay.  Stopped and stretched for a few minutes.  Went to have a drink of my water and it was hot!  Yuck!  I couldn’t believe it!  Figures, this is Arizona and the Arizona temperatures are well, pretty shitty at times unless you are sitting in your pool and enjoying it.  That I was definitely not doing, but looking so forward to it.  After my stretch and water break I started to make my way back.  I also started to get very, very thirsty, nauseous, and my heart was trying to pound out of my chest.  I even had the chills… that was when I knew I was sun-burnt.

I started searching for a shady spot to sit down for a while and take a rest.  Unfortunately, there really aren’t any along the canal where I walk.  The only one that I could think of that was coming up on my way back was where Andrew and I saw some kids sitting last month when he took a walk with me.  Just great, I was thinking.  That is almost 2 miles from where I was, so I pushed ahead.  Finally I made it there, sat down for 5 or 6 minutes and drank some more hot water.  Then I noticed that I only had a very small amount of water left.  Hot water at that, which just isn’t that refreshing when you are thirsty and dehydrated.  Damnit!  I decided that when I got up to the Fresh and Easy I would stop and fill up with some fresh water out of their drinking fountain.

In the mean time, I was back on my feet again.  Slowly, but moving forward.  Still getting the chills, still feeling like vomiting.  This time I was looking forward to the Green Belt about a mile up on the other side of the canal. Grass & shady trees.  Damn strait I crossed over that bridge when I came to the right one and headed for that shade.  Scoped out a grassy spot and laid down for about 10 minutes, or so.  Got up, finished my water and made my way to Fresh and Easy.  Oh man did it feel sooooo good when I walked into that place.  I must have looked like I was going to keel over.  LOL!  I sure as hell felt like it!  I headed straight back to where I knew the fountains were.  I put my hand under the water… it was cold and I was so happy!  I started to fill up my water container, chugged a bit, then finished filling it up.  Had one last sip, put the cap back on and headed for the door.  One more mile to go.

As I walked by the golf course the wind was blowing the fountain my way and I was able to catch a little of the mist.  It felt great.  I looked ahead and saw the sprinklers on.  Oh yeah!!  I headed for those and stuck my head in one just as I was reaching my neighborhood.  That felt even better!

I made it home.  I couldn’t f’ing believe it!  I never felt that exhausted before, or dehydrated.  I walked in the door, sat on the couch.  Stripped off my Nano, Body Bug, watch, shoes, socks and all of my clothes.  As I headed for the backyard I grabbed my water and towel.  I walked right into that pool.  Oh man did that feel good.  It felt cool and took the pressure off of my body.  I stayed in there for a good while, floating and stretching my legs.  I felt like it was saving my life.

Andrew came out to check on me after he got off the phone and commented that I was “burnt up.”  Now that I look at myself I guess that is kind of an understatement.  He then went inside to check todays temperature.  He came back outside to tell me that it was 102.  Yuck!  The clouds and breeze did fool me.  No wonder I was having such a hard time.  Fricking Arizona!

3 valuable things I learned today… eat breakfast (more than just a protein shake), bring a ton of cold water and rest every so often.  All good and such important things.

What’s ahead for me tomorrow?  Walking on the treadmill in the cool gym and yoga for an hour.  Hopefully!  🙂

xo