Kicking it old school

I've finally accepted that there is no cute solution to keeping my hair out of my face when I'm running. I've tried pigtails, My hair is layered so a ponytail won't work, so lately I've been doing the ponytail and a thin elastic headband. I end up fighting with the headband the whole time because it's too thin to stay in place but when I've tried thicker elastic ones they're uncomfortable. I don't want to do a hat because my head gets too hot as it is and I wouldn't be caught dead in a visor. So what's a girl to do besides shave my head (which I've thought about on many a sweaty run).

My solution? I'm bringing back the old-school John McEnroe-style terrycloth sweatband. Yes. It's come to that. It may not be my best look but I did not mess with my hair once today. Now that I'm making it my thing I'm going to look for some real old school ones, like those rainbow striped ones from the 70s. Might as well own the look.

Today's run started out excellent. I was feeling strong and doing well about mile 7. Then, out of nowhere, I felt blackout tired. I'm used to having waves of fatigue but they usually pass. This was different. Then I realized that the unthinkable was happening -- I was getting a migraine. I haven't had one in over a year but the signs for me are unmistakable: the feeling I'm about to drop, the circles in my vision, and the tightness in my chest. It's horrible. I realized that I had been looking down while I was running and since it was a super sunny day all the patches of sunlight on the ground coming through the trees was too much on my eyes and sending me quickly into migraine territory. That was a first for me, I've never had that happen on a run before. I didn't even know how my legs were still moving because my head felt completely disconnected from my body.

I was in a remote part of the trail and I kept telling myself to get to a more traveled part in case I needed help. It never occurred to me that if I was really in trouble I had my phone but my brain was shutting down. I decided to walk for a little thinking that if my heart rate came down maybe that would help relieve the pressure in my head. It seemed to work, after 5 or 6 minutes I felt okay. As soon as I started running the lights on the ground were moving faster and I felt just as bad.

On the trail I have to look down because there's so many rocks that could take my ankle out and dips from water runoff. I had to force myself to keep my eyes on the horizon but I was worried that I'd trip on something. I was upset that a potentially awesome run got completely derailed but even though the last 3 miles were agonizing my overall pace was around 11:47 for 10.12 miles. A month ago that would have been a great pace for me so if there's something good to take away from today, it's that I am making progress on my pace.

I don't know what to do next time. I really don't want to wear sunglasses. I finally solved the hair problem (unless it was my John McEnroe headband that caused my migraine by squeezing my brain) so having yet one more accessory to fall off, slip around, and be a giant pain in the butt is not something I am looking to take on. As it is, I fight with my headphones the whole time and I have the ones that hook over the ears. I already run with a pack for my phone, license, iphone, and sport beans. I have to run with a water bottle (which was also a disaster today, I ran out of water 2 miles before I finished and it was freaking HOT). How much other crap am I supposed to carry? I'll just have to hope that most of my runs are overcast. Ugh.

All and all, a good long run. Next week I'll go 8 since I did 10 for 2 weeks in a row, then I'll try to push it up to 11 or 12. I'm still 6 weeks ahead the training schedule for the long run. It's going to catch up FAST in August though.

Here's me in my McEnroe sweatband and a migraine after my 10 miles in the sun. I think I'm rocking the look! HAHA!