Saturday mornings are all about marathon training, which means long runs. The plan called for 14 miles Saturday morning. Knowing this was going to be a hot one, I hydrated even more on Friday than normal, but that proved not enough. Friday evening my friend Shannon called to see if we could run together, and I was so glad she did! Running to clear your mind is relaxing, sometimes, but not on a 14 mile journey.
We headed out around 7:00, when it was already 80 outside. The first 5-6 miles were ok. We ran down toward the water and took a break to cool off with the showers they had there. (No, we didn't fully shower, we just sprayed the cool water on our heads) There was surprisingly no breeze on the water and we wanted to try to cool down before the almost entirely up hill climb back. By the time we hit mile 10 we were both at our walls. A slower pace and breaks were essential, but they still did not feel like enough.
We ran out of water around mile 11 and stopped into a local hardware store for some AC and a re fill on the water. Balancing hydration while running without drinking too much to cause pain is something I really struggle with and I was afraid to drink to much. The remaining 3 miles were HORRIBLE!! Our legs were heavy and tired and we could not quench our thirst.
Runs like this leave you mentally drained, they did us, and questioning your training/progress. After the run we found out that the dew point was in excess of 70 degrees! A run in that will not happen again! One lesson learned is that each long run is an experience. This one training run does not define training, we will keep experimenting and learning from each one!
Run on friends!
We did the Iron Girl bike course at 9am Saturday morning and I added an extra 3 miles (got a little off course bc I was ahead of the group) for a total of 20 miles. Thought it would be a good idea to run the 3.2 mile course as well. Well, just as you said it was rough. Hoping it won't be as humid when race day comes.
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