avoided the treadmill but thought my head was going to explode

[chusan51]

Have to admit I was rather happy to go into the gym last night and discover the only working treadmill was being monopolised by a spanish adonis running faster then Seb Coe and giving the me perfect excuse not to use the contraption. Instead I used a stepping maching where the force required to do the left step was about 3 times more than that needed for the right step, so needless to say I gave up and decided to run outside.

Unfortunately I had only taken my ipod instead of my phone so didnt have the lovely Laura to keep me motivated. Instead I had Adele crying over her ex boyfriend as my 4 minute warm up followed by 40 minutes of Abba, Boyzone, Cher, Annie Lennox, Westlife, Atomic Kitten, Sonya and Kylie, followed by a cool down to Isabel Pantocha (the spanish shirley Bassey for those unfamiliar with La Diva). I ran through the back streets of Gran Canaria with surprising ease though did have to stop for water for about 20 seconds. All in all I managed to run for just over 40 minutes and was rather chuffed with myself.

Tho on stopping to stretch I felt my heart beating in my head - I kid you not, I thought my whole head was pulsating like my heart and that it was going to explode. It wasnt that warm, maybe 14 or 15 degrees most of the way round but thats the warmest I've run in and my body seemed to go into shock when I stopped, which is rather wierd as the actual run was probably the longest I have ever managed and it wasnt that hard. I then came over all dizzy and as soon as I drank some water, well it got worse. Not quiet a Paula Ratcliffe London marathon moment, but all I can say is the water didnt stay in for long. Think I should have planned to hydrate more on the way round, but the good news is five minutes later I was fine and buzzing and into a nice brisk 5 minutes cool down, and today I feel great.

Think today resting at pool may include a quick google check on how to run and keep hydrated. No more treadmill for me today, back to road running tonight though might try to download some better music.

Tom

[DeliaItaly Graduate]

Good afternoon Tom, first of all well done for what sounds like a great run! Second, do take care. Mad dogs and Englishmen do come to mind, but I am only joking

You probably need to drink at least 2 glasses of water before running in a warm temperature and not run in the sun either, try and keep to the shade. But if it was evening it presumably wasn't sunny. I've run in the high 20ies and boy, did I need water and sugar afterwards. Take care and have a nice day off, you've earned it, Delia xox

[swanscot Graduate]

A couple of occasions when I've come to an abrupt stop when running (stopped to chat to a neighbour), I've felt light-headed and dizzy. I researched this and found this is caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure. When we run, our blood vessels dilate to support the increased blood flow necessary for exercise. When we stop running, especially if it’s abruptly, our heart rate slows, which decreases the blood flow. However, the blood vessels remain expanded. This can decrease blood pressure, resulting in dizziness.

It's not a problem when I slow to a cool down walk before stopping.

[chusan51 Graduate]

I think you hit the nail on the head. I did come to an abrupt halt as was about to cross road when cars came so I stopped and went straight into stretching mode and that's when the weird feelings hit me. Lesson learned: do as told and keep moving after run and slow down gradually :-).