Not a Moment Too Soon!

Finally, finally, finally I had a run without needing to use the facilities*! And not a moment to soon! That was the good news.
On the not so good news, the 32k was a struggle. It started off fine. I was even considering doing the same thing as last week in terms of running the last 3-5k at my race pace. But at the 17k mark, it really started to hit me, and I decided that if I just finished that would be good enough. Maybe it was the heat, or maybe it was fatigue from yesterday's 50min speed session (just me) + 3 hour canoe paddling on Big Lake with my husband. In either case, I really started to suffer. At 18k I filled up my water bottles at a public restroom. I also guzzled a glass of water while doing so. I desperately wanted more, but I was afraid what all that sloshing water would do to my stomach when I was running, so I limited myself with effort.
And for the next 14km, all I could think about was chugging down a glass of cold water.
Every walking break saw me re-start the run with a shuffling hobble (close to a limp) before my muscles started working properly again. The minutes counting down to my next walking break took forever; and I found myself glancing at my watch more and more frequently in disbelief that time could move so slowly. I had to constantly remind myself to straighten up - my shoulders wanted to slump and I wanted to stoop at the hips because my lower back didn't feel like it had the strength to hold me upright any more.
Step by step, I pushed through. The temptation to take a short-cut back was so, so strong. I honestly don't know where I found the strength to keep to the route, but my fear that my "short cut" would get me lost and force me to run for even longer helped.
As soon as I finished, I beelined for the cold water that the Running Room offers and gulped it down until my heart rate slowed.
The exhaustion stayed with me the rest of the day, and it was an effort to stretch out my tired limbs. After my run, I found more chafe marks than I've ever had before - and I was even wearing body glide! Thank goodness I could only feel one of them during the run (the one from my heart rate monitor).
Not a demoralizing run, but tough, tough, tough!

Distance: 32.3km
Time: 4.00.48
Average pace: 7.27min/km (this does include walk breaks and a few red lights; my running pace mostly stayed around the 7min mark).
Average Heart Rate: 141bpm (73%)


*or the "faciliTREES" as it were.