knowing your limits, or why a marathon is never a good idea

Last week I was averaging about 3.5 hours of sleep a night. Averaging. This lack of sleep inhibited my ability to think. Saturday I took off to the gym as soon as the codeine kicked in and the baby was asleep. Never mind that I could feel a sore throat coming on, I was running off of zero sleep, and hadn't had anything good to eat all day.

I needed to get out of the house. By myself. Nothing else mattered.

I jumped on the treadmill and let my eyes wander to the silent TV screens. The Olympics were on. The women's marathon was about halfway over. These women were running FAST. Faster than me. I studied their bodies, searching for body fat. I found none.They looked like machines. I bet that if I ran that fast I could look like that, I thought.

Then the adrenaline hit. GOODBYE baby pooch HELLO marathon body!, I thought as I turned up the speed on the treadmill to maximum capacity. I was sprinting, trying to keep up with tall blond Romanian lady who was in the lead. The runner's high was euphoric. I should totally run a marathon, I thought, this is so not a big deal. Piece of cake.

After about ten minutes my vision started to blur. My legs turned to jello, and little flecks of light were coming at me like comets. I quickly turned the speed back down to zero, grabbed my keys, and staggered to the car like a drunk. Luckily I made it home. "Are you OK?" J-P asked as I collapsed onto the couch. I couldn't even answer.

So, I got sick. Shocking, I know. I spent the whole next day in bed, and have been walking around like a zombie all week. Today I feel much better and have committed to staying healthy by eating well and exercising MODERATELY. We are warding off illness with antioxidants. Our lunch today: tortilla soup accompanied by blueberries, avocado, and kiwi.