You see, I have this race coming up in October, The Grindstone 100. I felt a big fall race would be great as I would not have to battle high temps on race day, totally forgetting I would be training in the Godforsaken heat all summer long! I am now at the point in my training where the long runs are heading North of 20-30+ miles, and I have foolishly put two 50K races on my schedule for August. I have never done well with the heat, but with each passing summer of training, I am able to handle it a little better.
Last week was a light week for me, so I met up with two of the girls I coach for a run on Saturday. Hannah had 13 on her schedule and Meghan had 6, so I split the route into two 6.5 mile loops. Meghan, the speedster that she is, dropped us early on the first loop, but cheered us on as Hannah and I went out for loop #2. The first loop felt good, but we could feel the heat beginning to rise and we had some more hills waiting for us on this round as well. By mile 9 I was drenched from head to toe. I could feel my feet beginning to squish in my Hokas! Even though we had started at 7am, we were now starting to bake in the exposed areas. We stopped and power walked a couple of sections. We even made a "guerrilla" water stop at one of the local gas stations to fill our hand- helds from their sink. Thankfully the clerk was too distracted with other customers to notice the dripping wet runners staggering through his store. We then ran past a guy selling watermelons on the side of the road. If I had cash with me I would have bought one. Hannah and I could have probably eaten the entire thing at that point. We had finished all the hills, and with 2 miles to go it was basically a flat run back to the gym. In the midst of all this fun, Hannah had dropped her car key. Meghan had told us she saw a key on the side of the road when we met up with her after loop one. Sure enough, Hannah was missing her key. We went back out the same way for loop 2, but did not see the key. Coming back in from loop 2, we ran past the spot again, but could still not locate it! After a call to Meghan for more specific info, we went back out and finally found Hannah's key.
The rest of Saturday I spent chugging water and laying about the house. I messaged Hannah later on in the day and was comforted to find out she was doing the same exact thing.
Sunday I got back out early to run at Umstead Park and got 8 miles in on the Bridle trail. Conditions were similar, but surprisingly enough I felt good and was able to run all the hills, including the rather long one on Reedy Creek that takes you back up to the parking lot. After running 24 miles out at Umstead the week before, 8 miles was a treat!
A few things that have really helped me keep going through the heat:
GenerationUCAN is my main fuel source for all my training and racing. Check them out! generationUCAN.com
Elete Electrolytes: These awesome folks really keep my hydration dialed in, proud to have them as a sponsor! http://www.eletewater.com/
Red11Sport are the ones who keep me "safe and unchaffed"! A great product that keeps me going mile after mile with no chaffing or "monkey butt'! http://red11sport.com/
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| one of my patented "sweat angels"! |
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