Sometimes you go out on a run and it's pretty simple - you just run and finish. Other times, like today, things happen; good things, bad things, annoying things, amazing things, etc. That's the way it was today.
In fact before I even sat down to write this, with Clint Eastwood fresh on my mind -like everybody else- I had decided to title this post "The Good, The Bad, The Humid and the Ugly". And that's a fairly apt description of today's run. Overall, I haven't had such a frustrating run since doing the Miami Marathon and being totally bake by the humidity.
So last night I got it in my mind that I should do a long(er) run (10, maybe 11 miles). I was doing this as I couldn't join our runners today for our 7:00 run and for me, I really feel its important to not just say but do. While they may not know (or even care) that I run the days they do if I miss a session, I care. Tonight we're celebrating my daughter's 17th Birthday - (that makes me, well, never mind...). Anyway, I woke up at 5:30 ready to run, weather be what it may.
I stepped outside and got a punch in the face a.k.a. humidity. But I didn't care, I was doing what I was doing. That's GOOD. Got to be like that. In fact, I looked at it as an opportunity to practice Jeff Galloway's calibration of slowing down for each 10% increment above 60 degrees. So, intelligently, I started off by holding myself back and going slower than my typical early pacing.
But somewhere between intelligent and mile 4, it had 1) gotten even more humid - or I was just becoming aware of it do to the drenching of my shirt 2) it started to drizzle and 3) I was just not feeling great. But I continued. In fact, I'm happy to say I continued until I got to Hastings (my original goal). And I was excited because I had been wanting to map out a route for Teens Run Yonkers to run in the October Acquefest. So it was very cool to be able to get on to it right from the tip of Hastings.
So more GOOD. Running on the trail was great - in fact, it was beautiful..In fact, at about 2 miles I had what I would call one of those "running moments". You know, the sort of stuff they always put in the Runners World Magazine and call it the Rave Run - really cool scenery, nature - all that stuff. And I actually came across a family of deer staring at me. Very cool. Kept going and going and ended up mapping out a good 5K for us to do.
That's when the BAD and UGLY started. As soon as I got off the trail and ran about another mile, something about my legs just cried out NO MORE!! So I walked. Stopped for what was now my 3rd bottle of water. Tried to run a bit more. No go.
Not to belabor it, I was clearly drenched, dehydrated (I never drink 4 bottles of water on a 10 mile run) and just felt like words I shouldn't include on a public blog.
Lesson's learned: Pay attention not just to temperature but humidity and conditions! If you must go out in 85% humidity (the read according to weather channel) go out Killer Slow. And sometimes you just have to accept the bad run and find the one good thing in the experience like learning a new route and seeing some deer. THE END
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