A Break from the Heat

After a pretty pathetic week of running, I literally ran out the door to get started this morning!

I was running a 16 mile out and back and was hoping for a break in the heat.  What an amazing morning!  Although the humidity was 95%, the temperature was only 79 degrees and it was cloudy all morning - perfect long run weather.

I met my running group at St. Andrews and started running at 5:00am.  It was a smaller group this morning, only eight of us showed up.  Cathy R is traveling in the Outback (not the restaurant, the real place) and Ninja Stuntman must be at home nursing his beat up body.  Marine Nicholson (I will come up with a better nickname later) joined us for the second time.  He is crazy fast and is working on a BQ (Boston Qualifier).  No doubt he will get it soon.

Coach Greg had us running a route that would take us over the Cooper River Bridge (this is one of my favorite routes for a long run).  I ended up running with Annie P and Torre (sp?) for the first 3.5 miles.  Everyone (except me) was running seven today so after that point I was on my own...

After the other runners turned around I kept running over the the bridge to Downtown Charleston.  I stayed on East Bay Street and headed to the Battery.  I ran on the upper wall this morning (have not done that in a long time).  The wind felt great coming off the harbor and the waves were splashing against the wall making loud crashing noises.  It was an amazing experience as I ran in the dark in such a cool place.  There were only a few people out that early and they all seemed in such a good mood (thats what happens when the weather in nice around here).

I followed the road to the Coast Guard Station and waved to the guys as they were heading out on patrol.  I went around to Lockwood Blvd and headed to the Marina.  My plan was to stop there and get a drink for the return trip.  I was a little over my eight mile turn around, but close enough to the store that I kept going.  As I arrived I noticed that the lights were off (the store does not open until 7:00am on Saturdays) - ugh...  I headed back and tried another store, but it too was closed.  I was completely out of water so I headed over to some tennis courts that have a water fountain and restroom.  The water fountain was on, but the water was hot!  I ended up getting water from the restroom sink (a little cooler).

I ran back around the Battery and up East Bay when I saw Coach Greg's red truck coming down the road.  Big shout out to Coach Greg for finishing his run and then heading over to help me out.  I refilled my water bottle and was ready to go.

The trip back over the bridge was great!  Its amazing how much the bridge changes from 5:00am to 7:00am.  It was packed with walkers, runners, and bicyclists.  I even ran by a huge group of cross country kids.

I finished back at St. Andrews feeling really good.  I had stayed hydrated with water, Gatorade and BaNa (I took salt pills at miles five and ten).  I stayed fueled with gels at miles six and twelve.  My hydration plan is really working great.  I am looking forward to testing it on a twenty plus run soon.

The weather made a huge difference on this run.  When ever I start beating myself up over a bad run or doubting that I can ever break four hours on a marathon I have to remind myself that the weather in Indy will be much cooler.

Stay hydrated and keep running everyone, it won't be long before I am back to complaining about the cold...