First Day of Summer
I planned to drop my car off early this morning, unfortunately Ernie must have decided to get a head start on the long weekend. Mechanics aren't supposed to do that. I had the day off today, and felt cheated at the opportunity for a leisurely morning.
So I got home with nothing to show and started doing stuff around the house, not feeling like running and productively procrastinating. It was around noon before I finally got out, and I realized it was hot. Beating sun, and a stiff breeze.
I noted it and kept running. I decided since I've got this time today to go long. Part of me also wanted to go in the heat. Use the day to get acclimated. I always pride myself as a warm weather runner, but have come to realize that (like most people) my performance lags as the temps climb. But I still have trouble admitting this to myself. By the time I got down to MLK I was aware of the beating sun. There are fountains along the Drive and I stopped there and drank. I took my shirt off and worked on my tan, I had to use it to mop my brow. I thought this must, in some twisted minds, be part of the challenge of Badwater, not to run or race but just to make it a long distance through the intense heat. Of course my little situation was alot shorter and a bit cooler, but it was enough for me.
I get up to Manayunk and I notice my legs starting to ache. Ache as though they are weary. I've complained about this since Broad Street, and today it was more noticeable and somewhat disturbing, as this was at about 9 miles and I was doing roughly an 8 minute pace. I should be able to handle this better.
Crossing the Schuylkill in Manayunk puts me at the ass-end of Belmont Ave. Taking Belmont back into the city necessitates taking on three challenging hills. This didn't help my legs any. Did I say it was hot.
Back into Philly and still going down Belmont. Plodding now. It was a mental game now, to push myself to keep going. This is as good a workout as any. Slowly I started getting the last miles down. My legs were really beaten up, my throat was dry, and I was really sweating. I wasn't worried, I was more interested in seeing how far I could take this. And I knew home wasn't far now.
It was only when I got home that I realized how draining the workout was. I texted Reba that it was the stupidest/insanest (you pick) thing I've done in a while. I downed four tall glasses of Accelerade, a sports drink that dissolves in water so poorly and tastes so gross that I figure it must have lots electrolytes and potassium and the other crap your body supposed loses on a run. My body did crave it and after denying it for two hours I obliged.
I was out for just about 2 hours. Judging my pace to be in the 8's I figured it was about 14 or 15. I had hoped it would be more, both to get the mileage up and to feel better about how drained I was. I wanna nap real bad and my legs feel like they've raced. They shouldn't be feeling this bad after this workout. I'm not whining, I'm just noting it for the record.
I gmapped the course and it was 14.7 miles. Total time was 2:01:12. First dog day of the year, happy summer.
So I got home with nothing to show and started doing stuff around the house, not feeling like running and productively procrastinating. It was around noon before I finally got out, and I realized it was hot. Beating sun, and a stiff breeze.
I noted it and kept running. I decided since I've got this time today to go long. Part of me also wanted to go in the heat. Use the day to get acclimated. I always pride myself as a warm weather runner, but have come to realize that (like most people) my performance lags as the temps climb. But I still have trouble admitting this to myself. By the time I got down to MLK I was aware of the beating sun. There are fountains along the Drive and I stopped there and drank. I took my shirt off and worked on my tan, I had to use it to mop my brow. I thought this must, in some twisted minds, be part of the challenge of Badwater, not to run or race but just to make it a long distance through the intense heat. Of course my little situation was alot shorter and a bit cooler, but it was enough for me.
I get up to Manayunk and I notice my legs starting to ache. Ache as though they are weary. I've complained about this since Broad Street, and today it was more noticeable and somewhat disturbing, as this was at about 9 miles and I was doing roughly an 8 minute pace. I should be able to handle this better.
Crossing the Schuylkill in Manayunk puts me at the ass-end of Belmont Ave. Taking Belmont back into the city necessitates taking on three challenging hills. This didn't help my legs any. Did I say it was hot.
Back into Philly and still going down Belmont. Plodding now. It was a mental game now, to push myself to keep going. This is as good a workout as any. Slowly I started getting the last miles down. My legs were really beaten up, my throat was dry, and I was really sweating. I wasn't worried, I was more interested in seeing how far I could take this. And I knew home wasn't far now.
It was only when I got home that I realized how draining the workout was. I texted Reba that it was the stupidest/insanest (you pick) thing I've done in a while. I downed four tall glasses of Accelerade, a sports drink that dissolves in water so poorly and tastes so gross that I figure it must have lots electrolytes and potassium and the other crap your body supposed loses on a run. My body did crave it and after denying it for two hours I obliged.
I was out for just about 2 hours. Judging my pace to be in the 8's I figured it was about 14 or 15. I had hoped it would be more, both to get the mileage up and to feel better about how drained I was. I wanna nap real bad and my legs feel like they've raced. They shouldn't be feeling this bad after this workout. I'm not whining, I'm just noting it for the record.
I gmapped the course and it was 14.7 miles. Total time was 2:01:12. First dog day of the year, happy summer.
posted by seebo | 7:14 PM
1 Comments:
I feel your pain, welcome to the summer.
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