Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Recap: The running date

I was so excited, I woke up 40 minutes before my alarm and couldn't really fall back to sleep. But as soon as I stepped outside I knew I was in for it. So here it is--the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Mile 0-0.65, run from my house to the neighbors to meet up.

Mile 0.65-2.5ish: Ran about 30-40 seconds/mile faster than my marathon race pace. I told my neighbor that it felt fine, but could not be sustained for the whole run. We ran past one of the very groovy landmarks of the run, the brewery. Yes, that brewery! My thoughts exactly. Until we ran past an exhaust fan and I caught the smell of beer. And then I wanted to hurl. But before I knew it we were past the brewery and headed down a gentle hill.

2.5ish-3.5ish: It started occurring to me how totally screwed I was. I was carrying Gu but no water (I hate carrying things when I run). And I was sweating unlike anything. Somewhere toward the end of this stretch we ran past a Panera, where we ducked in for a drink of beautifully cold water. (Thank you, Panera!)

3.5ish-5.8: As you approach downtown on foot or by car, the Arch is visible from some distance. Which I knew. But I had forgotten how on relatively flat land, things do look deceptively closer than they are. I kept thinking we must be close, it must be close. The Arch was our turn-around point and water stop. By the time we got there I was absolutely soaked with sweat. But, it was my favorite part of the run. It was the first time I've been up close to the Arch, and the sun glimmering off of it is captivating. Then, just as we made the turnaround to start the loop back out of the park, the sky turned dark behind us. Over the river we saw a big storm rolling in. We were sort of afraid we would be caught in it, but as we ran we saw it blow past us on the other side of the river. Gorgeous. And it brought a breeze. And then I got to run through a sprinkler. All things of beauty.

5.8-8ish: Walk breaks were becoming frequent. By the time we got back to the Panera the heat was becoming a serious problem. I felt torn. Do I do what I know is safe and not push myself in weather that cannot be reasoned with, or try not to look like a complete wimp on the first run with my ultra-running neighbor?

8ish-11: We walked most of the last mile back to the meet-up spot. As I told Mr. Joanna later, it's sort of an extreme decision for me to walk 2+ miles of a long run. But the neighbor wasn't concerned about it and by mile 10 I wasn't either.

11-11.8: I slowly ran the path from the meet-up spot back to my house, and it wasn't bad. We stood and talked for just a few minutes before going our separate ways. After just that few minutes of standing to stretch and talk, I saw that I had accumulated an impressive pool of sweat on the sidewalk. I've honestly never seen anything like it. I've NEVER come home that drenched from a run. I looked like someone had thrown me in a pool. Then I saw that it was currently 87 degrees with 64% humidity. No doubt it had been even more humid earlier, and probably not much cooler.

I appreciated the chance to go explore and the chance to get to know a runner/neighbor a bit. He seems like a good guy to know, and is very easy to run with. And I am VERY glad I got that missed long run crammed back into the schedule. But all the same, I think I'll probably head indoors for this weekend's long run. One last thing to leave you with--thank you all so much for the comments on my hill workout and the enthusiasm about my running date!

mileage: 357.7 + 2.4 + 11.8 = 371.8 miles


4 comments:

Stephanie said...

love the mile by mile commentary!

TNTcoach Ken said...

Ahhhhhhh, the smell of beer in the morning........ ha

Run Jess Run said...

I used to run by a grocery store on an out & back route and it always wafted freshly baked bread. On the way out, it smelled fantastic. On the way back, barf city.

Damaris said...

yay for finding a running buddy! and so close to home, too! :) i bet running toward the Arch was pretty sweet.