Carry 5k

Well, I promised a blog post about our 5k for water 1st international, with the Seattle Reign. So here it is.

Diana and I left poulsbo at 9:55 am sunday. This was much later than we should have left, but I woke up early and got distracted in my garden, and didn't start taping my legs with KT tape until it was time to go.

Diana took Nick for a quick walk while i finished  placing the magic stretchy tape in all the magic places to give support to my foot. And then we hopped in the car and hoped we would make the ferry.  It was a very close call. I dropped D at the top of the hill, with all of our empty water containers and wraps, and hurried down to park at her friends house.

Then I ran up the hill, then down to the ferry. I made the boat just as they did the last call for walk ons. I was tired, my legs were tired. And my lungs burned. And then we sat for 40 mins and I drank a protein shake. I probably should have stretched or something other than just sitting, but it was fine.

We got off the ferry, and walked pretty quickly to the monorail. We were at the fountain and the space needle in no time at all, so we walked around, signed in and got our shirts, and started loading up on free goodies. Kind bars, Pop popcorn, and stumtown nitro cold brew coffee. We also drank a ton of water. Well, I know I did, not so sure about D.

We saw Elli Reed from the Reign, but I wasn't in the mood for chating  or autographs, so I just pointed out that she was the one from utah, and we sat by the fountain and watched Thor  and some other cosplayers do a photo shoot.

We filled our gallon jugs then played with the wraps. Figuring out how to wrap and carry the water was the big challenge. We made it work.

Just before the race was about to start, Carmen Sandiego showed up, did a walk in registration and joined us.  We did two laps around key arena, the space needle, and memorial stadium, for a nice easy 5 k walk in excellent weather. I wore my kilt, and that kept things nice and cool.

We stopped once in the middle, with a bunch of other people for a potty break, and then we were done. It was over. Carmen Sandiego said goodbye, and we emptied our water jugs and headed over to Mod Pizza to get some lunch.

D went out on the patio to save us a place after we ordered, and I waited to grab the pizzas. When I brought them out, my friend was not looking well at all, her face was red and you could tell she wasn't feeling well. I figured some time sitting and some food would probably help, but after 10 minutes she wasn't looking any better and she wasn't really eating her food.

I went inside for help. The super awesome manager, Brandon came out and sat with us, quickly determining it was dehydration. He gave her ice filled gloves and wet towels to put on her head and cool her down. He sent an employee over to get some fresh orange juice from the skillet, and  he swabbed her wrists with alcholol wipes, which is supposed to help with blood flow I believe he said and then he called the paramedics to come check things out.

D's vitals were all  ok, so we just sat there and rested for a few hours and kept cooling her down.  Finally she started to seem animated and normal again. Her face went back to a normal color, and we hopped on the monorail and caught a ferry home with all the mariners fans.

It was very emotional for me, to see my friend not feeling well. I felt a bit scared and wanted to cry at one point. But luckily everything was ok, and we all got home safely.  

The moral of this story I think can be the things the EMT  pointed out. Diana is a runner, she's in good shape, this was not a difficult 5k. However she had done a lot in the days leading up to this event, and that does take a toll. No matter your fitness level, your body needs recovery days. Especially the older you get. It also needs water. Stay hydrated, it's very very important.

As my friend Sara and I sing at work

"Stand up, stand up, drink water before you dehydrate."