Running without water

I’m one of the runners on Oak Hill high school’s cross country team. Everyday I wake up, get ready for school, go to school, do work at school, and then when it turns 2 pm I head towards Mr. Anderson’s and ask him what we’ll be doing that day. After that I go and get my shorts on and do whatever we’re doing in cross country that day. One day in Augusta I didn’t have a good ending to a race. This was because I didn’t drink enough water and I didn’t know what a safe amount of water was to drink before a race. I never had any issues after a race before that was water related.

In Augusta, which was the first meet this year I ran the 5k ahead of the whole team. We started out with normal stretches and then a bees stun my ankle. This concerned me at first, but I didn’t let that bother me too much. Like I predicted the bee didn’t hold me back from running. We all took off and I started a little too fast I guess. I knew this race was going to be important for me to see my potential since my last cross country season. I felt my ankles get caught on roots and my calves hurting as I went up the hills. I remember wanting to give up and seeing a puddle that everyone around me slowed down at. I ran faster and jumped over it and continued running. I got to the final 100m and heard Mr. Anderson tell me to sprint. So I sprinted as fast as I could to the finish line. When I finished I thought I was fine, but then a couple minutes later my body caught up with the exercise. After walking around for a little bit after running the race my right calf went into pain and I fell. The pain felt like a horrible migraine stuck in my leg. It then compared to the pain of a broken bone. This was because when the body is dehydrated the muscles tighten and this gives you a cramp. Well because I just ran a 5k my muscles needed tons of water that they didn’t have and also needed to be stretched. I never had this issue at a race before since I never ran so hard or was so dehydrated at a race. I was told to straighten out my leg and pull my toes back. Then keep ice on the muscle. Over a couple minutes the pain went away. I limpet to my water bottle after and I felt like everyone’s stares were disappointment. It felt embarrassing knowing I mess up so badly.   

That day was the day I learned to drink more water before running, 32 oz is my safe number. I should drink more than that, but that seems like the number that I need to drink if I don’t want issues. After that race in Augusta I never had issues with dehydration.