After my whining and complaining the other day on my blog, I followed through on my promise to myself and woke up when my alarm went off (6:30 on a weekend morning), made my oatmeal and tea, mapped out a route, and loaded up my ipod. I was on the road by 7:30. I hadn’t checked the temperature; but it wasn’t as humid as it was during the week. It was still warm though. I’d take a guess that it was still around 70 degrees at 7:30 this morning.
To help make this easier for me I reached out to my Mickey Miler friends and learned that I was not alone. My friend Kristie Green was heading out to do 18 miles at 1:30 in the morning in Texas! If she was doing that, then my little 14 miler was nothing. Others were also having a hard time with putting in some more miles lately and we are thinking the heat may be to blame.
To help me mentally prepare I began gathering up my running gear during the day and laying it out so I would see it and start to embrace the fact that I WAS going on this run and I AM picking up my training mileage. Summer is here, and yes it’s harder to get in the longer miles during the summer months, but I knew the worst that could happen would be that I may need to walk more of it. I also made sure to make my water bottles and freeze them as well as mix up some Nuun to make sure I am properly hydrating with electrolytes during the warm warming run.
I set my alarm for 6:30 and was very good about getting up as soon as it went off. I didn’t want to wake up my husband and I knew that I had to get up at that moment or else I could possibly back out or delay it even longer. I am very good at sticking to my plan; but with the way I have been thinking lately I didn’t want to leave any opportunity to fail.
It took me a few miles to get into the game. I walked the first 1/2 mile to warm up my mind and body (or stay cool) and then once I was in the shade I began my 30/30 intervals. After around mile 3 I was starting to get into a little groove; I was also on a shady road so it was helping me feel more comfortable and not overheated. The first 2 miles had a lot of sun on it and it was starting to concern me.
As I approached mile 4.5 I had to walk up some beastly hills. It was tough. Then I was in a lot of sun again. So as I finished around mile 6 I decided that I would stop at my house to get some ice and refresh my water bottles with ice and water. It was too hot and I didn’t want to take any chances of getting sick from the heat. My stomach was also growling so I grabbed a few pretzels. I think my pit stop was for about 15 minutes and then I was back out on the road to finish the last 6 miles. I decided to take a different route than originally planned and ran again on one of the shadier roads.
For the last 2 miles I did a lot more walking than running. But I wasn’t too hard on myself. I knew I was getting back into it again both mentally and physically and the fact that I was out there still in the heat and being smart about it made me feel ok about my pace. When increasing my mileage the last 3 newer miles I tack on since my previous long run are always the hardest. So since my last long run was Chicago 2 weeks ago I knew I’d be ok.
Now to keep up the positive momentum and continue onward toward the Marine Corp Marathon and the 2016 Dopey Challenge!
I think you did amazing!! Reading your blogs inspire me and lately I have been looking forward to them even more because I have an issue with a knee and have not been running. I was supposed to start my training last Sunday for the Rock and Roll Philadelphia but my knee issue got a bit worse. I have pain around the front of my left knee when I walk. About a month ago, the doctor said I had a small meniscus tear and Bakers cyst! I thought I could get started now but I keep getting set back. 🙁