Done being sick, just in time for my next race

...tomorrow.  The words hooray! and help! immediately come to mind.  I'm extremely excited to be in the race atmosphere again, but I'm also anxious/curious about running this particular course.  I won't be trying to PR {set a personal record}, so I'm not worried about my time...but I've never done a trail race before!  There are more rules {i.e. if you wear headphones, you can only have one ear in and if you drop trash outside aid stations, you're DQ'd} and runner etiquette {you have to run single-file for a lot of the race and have to say "on your left" when you pass} to remember, there are no bathrooms on the course {only at the start/finish lines}, it is easy to get 'lost' or off course if you're not paying attention to the markers, and you have to watch out for wildlife and environmental hazards {potholes, fallen trees, branches, cliffs--jk}.  All this focus and concentration on 8 millions things besides running could either work for me or against me.  Let's hope it's all team Natalie and I don't stress myself out.  I do that?  Also, the weather forecast says 'blazing hot'.  Yeah, it's supposed to get well into the 90s, what the what.    

The week started out rough and yesterday I felt the closest to normal I've felt since Sunday.  Saturday I noticed I felt more tired than I should've, especially for getting enough sleep most of the week.  Sunday I felt extremely tired the entire day and then Monday and Tuesday were spent throwing up {and the joke is, I never get sick, so I was pretty disappointed and totally blind-sided by it}.  

It was unexpected and I think I was most disappointed when I realized I wouldn't be running those days.  When I woke up Monday, I immediately put my running clothes on and noticed feeling pretty dizzy doing so.  Then I grabbed the dog to let her out, and while waiting for her to do her business, I had that 'oh my gosh I need a toilet to throw up in' feeling.  Worst feeling ever.  My plan was a 5-mile on Monday, 10-mile on Tuesday, 6-mile on Wednesday, 3-mile on Thursday, a 2-mile walk on Friday, and a 13.1 mile race on Saturday.  

But instead, this is how my Monday was spent:  fruit/vegetable juice, water, gatorade, and saltines while sitting on the couch, unless I was taking a trip to the bathroom to vomit.  Gross.  Tuesday, graham crackers and half an apple were added to my menu, but my booty was still planted on the couch whenever possible to avoid dizziness and nausea.

Wednesday, I was bound and determined to go for a run.  I had to wait a few hours after being awake for my stomach and bowels to chill out, but after eating and patiently waiting, I finally got to run.  It was warm and my body had to work harder, but it felt awesome to run again--I hadn't run since Friday.   Although I was wearing my garmin, I avoided checking my pace so I would run strictly according to how my body felt.  I finished 5.1 miles and was pretty hot and kind of weak by the end, but my legs felt real good.  My average and max heart rate during the run were 20 beats higher than normal, but that was to be expected after being sick.  Once I got home and cooled down with water, gatorade, and standing in front of our window unit, I felt better.  I was also determined to eat more than saltines and graham crackers this day.  I was so happy my stomach didn't have any complaints about my chocolate/banana/peanut butter/protein shake as my post-run 'refuel'.  

I think I'm officially done being sick and am getting my strength back.  Yesterday I only ran a few miles before realizing I started my run much too late into the day to be  hero and run in the heat.  I felt parched after 2 miles and then admitted to myself that an 8-mile wouldn't be such a great idea.  And now today, I'm about to take Tina on a long walk to keep my legs loose and put a couple more miles on them.  Wish me luck on my race tomorrow and I'll try to keep myself as hydrated as possible today.  And I'll start memorizing the course map so I don't get lost and accidentally run into a bear cave.  

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Who else hates 24/48 hour stomach bugs?  Hopefully everyone I am sure.  

Do saltines help your stomach?  What are your stomach bug remedies?