I gave myself sufficient time to rest and whine about Saturday's "race" and run. The humbling 5k was followed by running another 11 miles on a paved trail in between the race site and home. I knew the conditions weren't going to be ideal, but felt like I needed to get the miles in so I could give myself all day Sunday to take it easy.
The lucky marathon I've chosen as my first has a start time of 10:00 am. (weird, right?) I figure it makes sense to plan a couple of training runs to start at that time, as well. This way I can work out fueling and get my body used to wanting to run 26.2 miles when it's normally ready for my late-morning nap.
caught in the act, by The Littlest. Darned tech-savvy kids!
If I can survive 80+ degree, humidity-through-the-roof training runs, in Florida, then 50 degree, breezy, mild, Canadian, marathon miles should be all that much easier. Not "piece of cake", easier, but easier nonetheless.
Right? Right.
I was feeling frisky (and warm) enough to venture out for this run sans top. While I don't generally run in just a jog bra, I'd already decided to leave my Garmin and ipod at home. "Why not leave the shirt and "Run Freely"?" was the day's motto.
For some idiotic reason, I was on a roll and decided to also run with no hydration. Six miles doesn't always necessitate a water bottle, but I should've paid better attention to the weather and my (also idiotic) route, before making that decision.
More often than not, I'll choose a route that leaves from my front door. This run was no exception. As it would turn out, though, the nice little out-and-back I picked has, approximately, 4.2 feet of shade on the entire road. For real. It was like running on the surface of the sun WHILE staring into the actual sun, the entire time. Not sure how that was even possible, but it totally happened. Needless to say it was hot. And I was thirsty. The thought crossed my mind to jump into/and or drink from any one of the nasty retention ponds I sweatily shuffled past.
When I finally did stumble in my my front door, I had a singular focus. I remembered a full, glorious bottle of water I'd stashed in the refrigerator. I yanked open the 'fridge' door, clumsily grabbed that bottle, unscrewed the cap (a miracle with my drippy fingers) and chugged the contents.
I have never chugged any liquid, so fast, in my entire life. Had there been a funnel involved, it would not have gotten down my throat any faster. Impressed yet?
I re-filled it and chugged another full bottle in record time.
There you have it. This training cycle has, in fact, produced an impressive Personal Record. Fastest Drinking, by me, to date.
To think I was feeling discouraged about my lack of progress...
What sort of dumb moves have you made, recently?
If given your choice of drinks, what would you chug fastest on a hot day?
A beer;-)
ReplyDelete*that* was a welcome treat after my last race, too. ;)
DeleteMy first thought as I read this was along the lines of "I bet she grabbed a bottle of (insert favorite foul-tasting refrigerated non-water clear fluid here) by mistake."
ReplyDeleteI'm I a little disturbed by what you guys think I keep in my 'fridge!
DeleteWhen thinking about a dumb thing I did recently, it made your dumb thing seem even more dumb. I ran 6 miles without water. From and back to your front door...where YOU promptly told me how dumb it was to have done so. And that was 2 weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad, though. You're much tougher and faster than me, so it makes sense (in a dumb way)
when you did it, it wasn't Run Freely day...duh.
DeleteHmm... I didn't expect to read that while I am on a business trip my wife is running around the neighborhood topless. I'll try to think of an equally exciting surprise for you. :)
ReplyDeleteI share benign stories to distract you from what *really* goes on in your absence...
Deletemwu hahah!!
Thanks for the shout out!
ReplyDeleteI would chug room temp water. For some reason, cold water isn't as easy to pound.
Dumb moves? I think it might be easier to narrow it down to the one or two smart moves I've made.
I usually can't stomach cold water, either. In fact, I'm the family member who asks for "water, no ice" in restaurants. The other members of my party LOVE it...
DeleteIn that heat, though, it was just what I needed.