Saturday, May 29, 2010

The Heat Is On

One week remains until the Minneapolis Marathon, and after a slack-ass week (really ... I ran exactly 1.2 miles all week, but did some no-impact biking instead, thanks to my blisters), I finally Body Glided my tootsies up and headed out for my final "long" run before the big day. My blister on my little toe is still giving me a lot of attitude. I hope one more week of tapering will allow it to heel over completely; if not, I'm pretty sure duct tape and I will become BFFs during the marathon.

Last night I "practiced" my night-before routine. I ate what I want to eat the night before the marathon, went to bed when I think I should go to bed, and set my alarm for when I should get up to arrive at my starting corral on time. I even had grand visions of driving Downtown, parking in the ramp I want to park in the morning of the race, and doing my 8-miler along the course. This morning, however, my alarm went off and I was too pissed at it to wake up. It's a holiday weekend; my body wants sleep!

I hit snooze for ... oh, I'd say a good hour. I finally decided to turn it off, roll over, and snooze until I wanted to wake up. The problem with this is that I have a (terrible?) habit of sleeping waaaay too late. Pretty soon it was nearing 11a.m., the sun was wilting the plants on my patio, there were no clouds anywhere, and I knew I needed to fit in my last 8-miler in midday heat/sun.

What a terrible idea. Welcoming your body back into running is already kind of a pain, let alone doing it when most people are taking cover from Mr. Sun's intense rays. I ran both Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet instead of heading out to the course, and it was hard -- I forgot how little shade there is along the Greenway and on the lakes. I brought my Amphipod handheld and sucked that thing dry, stopping to refill it four times. Four?! In 8 miles? I'm pretty sure in other countries that's considered water boarding.

I was trying to run my goal pace, but I found that -- even while running a smidge slower -- I slowed to a walk a couple of times, usually when I found shade. At a few points during the run, I was feeling pretty lightheaded and I was covered head to toe in goosebumps?! Are you supposed to get goosebumps when it's close to 90 degrees? I wasn't sure if I was getting heatstroke or if my skin was literally burning off. I saw plenty of other runners out at the same time, and not one of them looked like they were suffering as much as I was. What gives?

With this morning's disappointing and painful run, I can take some solace in that my last long run is out of the way -- until next weekend, anyway. I get to look forward to one final week of tapering, even though this week is 75% resting. I've got two 3-mile runs planned for Monday and Tuesday, but for the rest of this weekend you will not find me working out in this heat. Instead I biked over to Minnehaha Falls and enjoyed the view from a summer perspective. It's much different now than it was when I was there this winter!


Next on the holiday weekend agenda: grilling veggies, drinking beer, and sunning myself at the beach. Happy Memorial Day weekend! :)

8.25mi splits (1:15:49)
1: 9:15
2: 8:51
3: 8:53
4: 9:00
5: 9:05
6: 9:01
7: 9:24
8: 9:53
.25: 2:23
Air Temp: 89F, soooo sunny

3 comments:

  1. Minnehaha Falls is one of my favorite places in Minnesota...hands down. We usually go there every Mother's Day just to walk around and hang out!

    I am sure that your blister should be gone in one week. I will keep my fingers crossed for you:)

    I just noticed that you ran in the Polar Dash and the Get Lucky! 7K...so did I:) They were both fun races! I am planning on watching the marathoners finish next week. I will hang out after I am done with my half and just watch & cheer for other runners. I will look for you:)

    I hope that you are enjoying your long weekend!

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  2. So pretty!!!! I hope your blister feels better soon.

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  3. Those forced runs sometimes push you through to the next level, you know? (Or they really irritate you, but let's hope it's not that!!) You have prepped well, so you will be fine. Those falls are awesome. Have a great week.

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