If you're reading from Indiana, you're aware that there are heat advisories here EVERY SINGLE DAY. It makes marathon training a bit difficult. The only way to successfully complete a long run (at least for me) is to get up extremely early. I've done that all week--yesterday I got up at 6 for my 12 miler with 4 miles at marathon pace. And I did the same today for my 20.
Today was a special run, because I didn't have to run alone! Emily came down to run with me. I'm very glad she did, as it made the miles tick by. When I walked out to let her in, I was stunned at how HUMID it was. It wasn't even 6:00 am yet. I checked the temperature and the dew point. It was 81 with a dew point of 74. That is insanely humid. But it wasn't going to get any cooler or less humid, so we set out.
We took the Buddha 20 route. This is not an easy route. Tons of very big hills and rollers throughout. I warned Emily we needed to take it easy due to the weather. We did, but the hills still weren't easy. I really enjoy running very hilly courses. For one, it keeps things interesting. And two, it makes you very, very strong. Hills, of course, are speedwork in disguise. If that is the case, Emily and I got a lot of speedwork today.
I had stashed water every couple of miles last night, and so we were drinking a ton. But I found myself getting very, very thirsty between water stops. Want to know why? We were completely DRENCHED in sweat by mile 7 or 8. Emily was wringing out her shorts. Our sports bras were completely saturated, and by 10 miles our shoes were squeaking with moisture. I think this is the most humid run I've ever been on. We really did look like we'd just jumped in a pool.
It was a very enjoyable run (despite the humidity), as I love running with Emily and we had a lot to catch up on. I had just a smidge of abdominal pain at the beginning, and then it went totally away. So thankful. My right hip/quad is bothering me again a bit. I might need to go see Penny. Never fear--she can take care of anything.
So a couple of other things to talk about. The first is Red Eye Relay, which I'm doing this coming Saturday night. Yes, night. It begins in the evening and goes to the following morning. 100 miles of which I'm running 14. My teammates will be running the rest. We are on a BARA team (sponsored by the Indiana Running Company), and our team's name is "Girls EmBARAssing Boys." Yes, I know the word embarrassing is misspelled, but it was obviously the only way to make it work. Emily had the idea of making us all matching singlets. They are pink with our team name on the front, and the phrase "You just got chick'd" on the back. I'll have to wear it next time I race Bill Deckard :) I've never done this relay. I'm looking forward to it other than the being up all night part. I'm old and I'm tired. But I hope we win.
The next thing--SJ. Which stands for Sara Jane, who I'm helping train for the NYC marathon. We are just three weeks in...and she is killing it. She's running fartleks and nailing pace runs and long runs. Since she already outed it in her blog, I can say here that our plan for her is for he to break 4 hours. She ran 4:23 at Grandma's (a 24 minute PR), but that was after I'd only been working with her a handful of weeks. She can do this, and I can't wait to see what she ultimately does--she's got a lot of untapped talent.
Lots of running this week--60-some miles. I'm also doing some of the final interviews for my dissertation. So it will be busy. And in case you didn't already know it--there is a heat advisory until further notice.
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