8/20/11 – 14 MILES

Today’s 14 miler has the honor of being the known as The Most I’ve Ever Walked in a Long Run.

When I left the house at 5:45AM, the thermometer in the car said it was 91 degrees.  I had already resolved the afternoon before that I wasn’t going to think about the run beforehand, I was going to set the alarm, get up and get ready, and just get out there and do it.  That’s all fine and good until you actually get out there and . . . can’t do it.

My heart and mind just weren’t into the run.  I posted, quite seriously, last week about the possibility of going insane from the heat.  It isn’t even the heat, per se, it’s more the knowing that there’s no end in sight, that the mornings really don’t cool down at all, and that we could possibly still have weeks and weeks of these extreme temperatures.  Obviously, this summer’s lesson for me is to accept what I can’t change.

It doesn’t mean I have to like it.

We ran the entire length of the Santa Fe Trail.  It was shadier than I thought it would be, and it seemed to be all uphill (I think it wasn’t).  We arrived at the water stop that Bill had set up with cold water and Gatorade only to discover that someone had stolen the large water jug.  Major bummer, but I guess that’s part of living in the big city.  It made the next water stop’s cold water that much better.

Even though I’ve been trying to follow the 10% rule and not ramp up too quickly, I’ve been plagued with shin splints and some minor tendonitis in one ankle these past few weeks.  It made the first 4 miles of today’s run uncomfortable and my legs never seemed to warm up.  As if the heat wasn’t enough . . .

I’ve been trying to see the glass half full, but I’m struggling.

We walked.  A lot.  We walked the most I’ve ever walked in a long run.  All of the walking only prolonged our run, of course, and it wasn’t long before the blazing sun made its appearance over the horizon and made the run that much more difficult.  One thing I have learned to accept this summer is walk breaks when it’s this hot, but today was extreme.  Just like the temperature.

Thank goodness for good friends to help you make it to the end of a run like today.  I know it will get better, but gosh, I hope it gets better soon.

Stats:  14 miles @ 9:42 pace – 90 degrees at 6AM