courtesy motrin.com
My cell phone’s alarm jolted me awake Sunday morning at 5:30 am. For a second I forgot why I had set it to go off so early but quickly remembered I was meeting Linda to run 30K in Fairfield as part of our marathon training. It was a supported run with water and Gatorade stops along the 18.6 mile course; we’d add on at the end for a neat 20 miles. I met her in a hotel parking lot off of I-95 in Milford, climbed into her car, still tired from the 6 1/2 hour round trip drive to my dad’s party the day before. At 7:30 we were lined up at the start, ready to run.
A little over three hours later, about the time it took to drive 185 miles to PA, we crossed the finish line. I was almost out of gas so we only added 1/2 mile for a total of 19.1 miles. We grabbed our reward out of the boxes on the table, a bagel and banana, and were on our way. By the time I got back to Bill’s house my lower back was sore, my legs were tight. I hobbled up the stairs, sent Bill in search of ibuprofen. He came back with a bottle of Motrin, 200 mg; I swallowed three with a glass of water and laid down on the family room floor. I dozed for a few minutes, woke up and showered, got ready to go to Bill’s dad’s house.
“I’m sleepy,” I said to Bill when we were ready to leave. “Does the Motrin have a sleep aid in it?”
He wrinkled his brow, skeptical. I knew what he was thinking: you just ran 19 miles, of course you’re tired. He picked up the bottle and read it out loud, “Motrin, PM.”
“You drugged me!”
Still skeptical Bill read the label, looked at me sheepishly. “It says you shouldn’t drive.”
“That’s because you drugged me!”
I slept in the car on the trip to Bill’s dad’s house. I visited for a while, explained what happened and fell asleep on the couch. I slept in the car on the trip home from Bill’s dad’s house.
Later, we ate dinner, watched The Walking Dead, got ready for bed. After turning off the lights, saying our good nights, Bill rolled toward me and said in the dark, “I’m sorry I drugged you.”
Categories: Home, Run, Uncategorized
where my feet are 
Oh my sleep on! Your body was tired enough that there was no fight to stay awake. You’ve got great tenacity, best wishes with your training and marathon – you are to be admired for your dedication in pursuing your goal.
Thanks Mary! Yes, I was tired BEFORE the Motrin incident…very tired after! At least the aches and pains in my back and legs were gone. 🙂
lol, how funny!
Running eighteen plus miles and three Motrin PMs…I would have slept for a week, Geralyn! Great job on the run. 🙂
Thanks, Jill. Another long run under my belt. Sunday, I felt like I could sleep for a week!
Nicely done with the run! Oh yes, you must have tired… But I’m happy to have just found your blog and now following it too 🙂
Hi Christy, Thanks and welcome! I’ve fully recovered from my run and Motrim PM situation. I have more running to do, will stick to ibuprofen! Thanks for your comment.
That’s funny. A friend of mine mixed up his am/pm pills and took the pm pills one morning before heading out to ski at Sun Valley. He is normally a bit of a dufous, but that morning, his friends were seriously worried about him. He kept nodding off as if he had narcolepsy. Then he had a horrendous crash, wrecking his shoulder in the process. It wasn’t till he got home from the hospital and reached for his pm pills that he realized he’d taken a sleep aid in the morning! At least you figured out the PM part before you did something really dangerous and I’ll bet you slept like a baby.
Yikes, that’s awful for your friend. I’m pretty clumsy on a good day so I’m glad nothing like that happened to me. Bill’s dad didn’t seem to mind that I slept through our entire visit; that was the worst that happened. From now on thought I’m carrying my own bottle of ibuprofen! 🙂
Well, look at this way. You got some much needed rest. 😀 Sorry, At least you had an excuse at Bill’s parents house so it was his fault you fell asleep. I admire you for running long distance. I’ve always wanted to be able to do that. Unfortunately my health hasn’t been cooperative so I’m stuck with walking. Way to go!
Elizabeth, I was sure to blame Bill when I got to his dad’s house. His sister was visiting too so I made sure she knew Bill drugged me too. 🙂 Thanks for the encouragement with my running, I forgot how exhausting it is. Walking sounds like really good right about now.