My unexplained absence

Thank you all for your patience as I have been attempting to get my life back together this week! The past few weeks have been a roller coaster, but I think we're close to coming out the other side in one piece.

As you all know (how could you not, with me reminding you constantly?!), Dan and I ran the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach over Labor Day weekend.  We had both been training (separately and together) very hard for this race, and we were really excited.  We went out for a delicious pre-race carb loading dinner on Saturday night with my coworker and her husband (more on them later), who were also running.  We went to bed VERY early, as we were set to wake up at 4:15 a.m. 

I had a dream that night that everything kept going wrong with our race.  I can't remember the specifics now, but I remember it being that a lot of little things went wrong.  I guess someone should just give me a crystal ball...race day was HOT (probably mid-80s at 7:00 a.m. for the start) and HUUUUMMMMIDDDD, so we knew that we were going to have to hydrate a lot.  It was the most painful run of my life; whereas I am usually able to zone out on long runs to the extent that it doesn't even feel like I'm doing the work, I felt every step, and boy were those steps painful.  My goal was to finish in 1:50 (1 hour, 50 minutes), and I got 1:47 (which was 9.5-10 minutes faster than my time last year, which I was very proud of!), and Dan's was to finish in under 1:30 (yeah, my guy is a speed demon!). 

When I reached the finish line, my first thought was that I needed to sit down...boy, was I exhausted.  Just kidding, my ACTUAL first thought after crossing the finish line and going through the receiving line, where bottles of Gatorade and water, wet towels, bananas, canned fruit, etc. were being thrust in my face, was that I wanted to find Dan.  The problem was, I couldn't find him.  I'm not going to go into my lengthy search process, but, nearly an hour later, with my truly amazing coworker, Beth, and her equally amazing husband, Bryan, by my side, I was told that Dan had been taken to the hospital to get fluids.  I lost it.  I was absolutely hysterical, and the walk to the car and subsequent ride to the hospital are a complete blur. My overwhelming feeling was that I wanted to be with him, but I had no idea what kind of condition he was in.

Dan suffered heatstroke (presumably at around mile 11 of the race) and a score of other complications directly resulting from the race.  As a result of rhabdomyolysis (which, by the end of the week, we affectionately called "the rhabdo"), a condition whereby muscle tissue is broken down and released into the bloodstream, the level of myoglobin in Dan's bloodstream was so high that it necessitated an 8-day hospital stay. It was a true rollercoaster of emotions, and every day brought both triumphs and challenges.

Sunday, the day of the race, was by far the most terrifying and hellacious day of my life.  There is no worse feeling than seeing the person you love in a hospital bed, not to mention in pain.  By the end of the day, it became more apparent that Dan was going to be okay, but the following week in the hospital was physically and mentally draining for both of us.  We were so lucky to have the love and support of so many friends and family members (Dan's parents both came down for part of the week, so we had ourselves a nice little party in the hotel room), and I can truly say that I would not have been able to hold it together without all of the heartfelt emails, texts and calls that I received.  Those messages helped me stay strong for Dan (which, if you know me and my tendency to cry at the drop of a hat, is counterintuitive for me).  In particular, I have to give a shoutout to Beth and Bryan, without whose kindness and selflessness I would not have made it through even that first day. 

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't really sure that I even wanted to say anything about last week on this blog, out of respect for Dan's privacy.  However, I wanted this to serve as a cautionary tale for those of you who are active (particularly those of you who run).  Heatstroke can happen to even the most experienced of athletes, so it is of the utmost importance that you stay hydrated and listen to your body, particularly when you are exercising on hot and humid days.  I would not wish what happened to Dan on anyone, and it was definitely a wake-up call for both of us.  We are so incredibly lucky that he is going to be just fine!