My "Running-backwards-and-almost-puking" 5k Run

   For the last couple of weeks I've switched over from trail runs to a 5k run on pavement, here in my neighbourhood. This was a route I'd run extensively up until late February, when the PF hit.
   It's a route I came up with in prep for a trail run I'd signed up for in late April. I'd heard the run was very hilly and challenging so I wanted to incorporate a few more hills into my training. All was going well, right up until the PF.
   I've run this hilly route many times and decided this past week that, simply for a change, I'd run it in the reverse direction.
   Normally, the run starts at my house and finishes up slightly less than half a kilometer away. To run it in reverse, I walk to the normal "finish line", turn around, and start to run.
   Running this route in reverse changed everything. What were once long, wonderful, downhill lopes were now torturous, breath-robbing uphill ascents. What used to be a kilometer-long, mind-numbing slight uphill grade near the end of the run became a delightful, energy-reserving canter near the beginning of the run.

From the bottom...

   Overall, it seemed easier now, apart from one steep stretch I found almost impossible to do without stopping. I'm pretty sure that anyone
watching would have had one finger on 9-1-1, just in case. At the end of that stretch, however, basically everything else was downhill, or at least felt that way.
   At the right is a picture of this hill. Like most pics, it doesn't show the steepness (would that there were "Hill-o-Vision") but I did point my camera straight ahead. The first pic is from the bottom. I then drove half way up and took a pic of the rest, although I had to leave out the very top (cuz no one wants to see runners' skeletons...)


...and halfway up.

   So I did that once, no problem, and noted the time on my Garmin. The second time, I was nearing the end, probably had about half a kilometer to go and I take another quick peek at the Garmin. I notice that I'm pretty close to my previous result and figure that, if I kick it up a notch, I'll be able to better that result. So I put things into a slightly different gear, legs pounding, and bettered my time by five seconds. I did, however, almost collapse in my driveway, thinking to myself please don't collapse in your driveway! I did manage to recover, though, and as is my habit, began walking back along the sidewalk, to cool down. About six houses down, I started to get a sensation I've never had at the end of a run before. I thought I was gonna puke.
   As stated, this was a new feeling for me and I wasn't quite sure what to do. It wasn't like I was in the middle of a trail run and could simply skulk off into the bushes and do my thing. No, I was in the middle of a residential neighbourhood on a well-travelled street. I wasn't that far from my house but, at the same time, I wasn't quite sure I could make it back there. I wondered what the etiquette was for barfing in front of a neighbour's house. Do you barf on the grass or barf on the sidewalk? Do you avoid the driveway? Lawn or boulevard? What's the best way to clean up outdoor puke or do you simply lose your cookies in the street and let the city handle it? Is barf bio-degradable?
   It was amazing how many scenarios ran through my head in the relatively brief time I felt as though I was about to upchuck. This feeling did pass, however, in a minute or two, to my relief. Hopefully, I will remember this the next time I try and go all out at the end of a run. Although I'm not sure it would stop me...

   Have you "lost it" on a run before? Is it kind of an "occupational hazard"?

   And in the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!