Humidity – runjournal

11/9/21

It’s been a month since the race. I wish I had written sooner. I’ve run 20-25 miles a week following the race and I’m happy with that. I’m running when and because I feel like it now. I love training, with the structure and accountability it requires, but sometimes it gets to be stressful because of the time drain. And the fatigue. So it’s nice to run longer when I feel like it and run shorter when I feel like doing that. It’s kind of my favorite time period of running, when a race is done and all the rules go out the window. But I know that feeling won’t last forever. Eventually, I’ll want to do another one. I only really have one more goal with this kind of running though, and that’s to finish a 100-miler in less than 24 hours. Not too tall of an order I don’t think, and then I’ll be done. Maybe.

So, the race was good. I finished in 11:52, which under the circumstances, I will 100 percent take. It was hot and humid first of all, and the course markings were troublesome to say the least, but overall I had a really fun day. My friend Myke, who I trained with remotely for this race, was with me for half of the way, but had to stop due to dehydration. Like I said, it was hot and humid. However, three weeks later Myke got redemption and finished his first 50 mile race. So a big congratulations to him. Let’s do another one!

I don’t think I’ve ever been as prepared for a race before. Maybe it’s just that I’ve done enough of these races to know what to expect. I think that’s part of it, but not the whole thing. The training had a big impact on my preparation of course, and all the walking I do at work doesn’t hurt either. I don’t know, I just felt like the whole day was very predictable in terms of pace, nutrition, hydration, etc. All the running stuff. I just sort of chugged along happily with no real setbacks or speed bumps. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was easy, but at no point was I in the pain cave. I couldn’t even see the opening to the pain cave. That’s largely because I wasn’t concerned with pace, though. I was just trying to finish in under 12 hours.

The race itself was a good one that I wouldn’t mind doing again. All the people were great, as they always are with ultras. The weather wasn’t great, but it’s usually not that hot from what the race director kept saying. Although, climate change. And the course “markings” were not great either, but in all honesty I only went in the wrong direction twice. Once early on with Myke, and we didn’t get but about 50 feet off track before another runner hollered at us and pointed in the right direction. And once at the end, like less than a mile left. I had to figure that one out on my own. It took me about a quarter of a mile before I realized something was wrong, then I took out my phone and Google-mapped my way to the finish line. Aside from all that stuff, the one thing the race really has going for it is the location. There are lots of sights to see in New Orleans, in and around the city. Also, before and after the race, just being in New Orleans was lots of fun. I had great company too!

I said earlier that my only goal left as far ultras go is a sub-24 hour 100. I guess that’s kind of a recent realization I’ve come to. With work and my aging body (seriously, I am not in my 20s anymore, barely still in my 30s), I can’t imagine what I would feel like in ten or twenty years if I kept on running ultras. So, I think I will be fine with achieving that goal and calling it a day. Of course, my plan is to never stop running completely. I love it too much.

7/17/18

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Every day, the clouds look like this.

I didn’t run on Sunday so there was no entry that day. I didn’t try to make it up yesterday because it doesn’t work that way really. It’s not a big deal. An extra day of rest was probably just as good for me.

I’m still in training for work so my schedule is in flux. Just trying to be normal.

12 miles, 11:50 pace.

6/21/18

I get to run by a major league baseball stadium whenever I want. That’s a cool thing, but it is this stadium. I think about baseball every time I pass because how can I not, I have a mild affinity for the game. Most of the people I know can’t stand baseball, and that’s fine. Dana is usually willing to go with me whenever I feel like I need to go. I don’t know, baseball makes me happy, whether we win or lose, and we lose most of the time.

The weather today was really hard to run in. It rained heavily prior to my run, and the curtain of humidity left behind hung in the air the entire time. I can almost feel the thickness of the air when it’s like this. I filled the two flasks only and left the bladder empty so I only had about a quart of water for 10 miles. It turned out to be just enough, but I’ve learned (the hard way) that getting thrifty with water consumption is a recipe for disaster. I need to be able to drink freely without worrying about running out. On the other hand, I also need to be conscious of drinking too much if the potential to do so is there, like in a race for instance, when supplies are abundant. I was fine today, though. Got into an ice cold shower and drank lots of water afterward. Ate some salty foods. Overall, a good effort and a good run in difficult conditions, which will begin to be the rule, not the exception, very very soon. Like next week, or the week after. 10 miles, 10:40 pace.

6/2/18

After some food, water, and soda, I almost feel like a person again. Today’s run was 24 miles in the hot, humid heat. If that fence in the photo wasn’t there, I might have jumped into the water. The idea was that having the fence partially in the photo would be cool, but the effect is not quite what I thought it would be. I took another photo where I placed the focus on the fence itself, but that worked even less. Who cares, honestly. Continue reading “6/2/18”

5/31/18

The photos don’t always have to do with running. In fact, they almost never have anything to do with running.

I woke up early this morning to take my car to the shop, again. They didn’t fix what they said they fixed. It’s almost like they did absolutely nothing because the same exact thing happened again. When it rains, the floorboards (not sure that’s the right terminology) under the driver and passenger seat get wet. Wet enough to saturate the carpet. It’s pretty awful when it rains for an extended period of time, because I can’t open the windows to air it out, otherwise the rest of the interior would get wet, too. It gets to smelling like mildew. The mechanic’s explanation, which checks out on Google, is that the sunroof/air conditioning drains are clogged. This is not an intuitive thing. Of course, just when my car seems to be trouble-free, a non-mechanical issue arises. A smelly non-mechanical issue. Honda Problems. Continue reading “5/31/18”

5/22/18

First things first, I’m on a new training plan so instead of the usual 8 today, I ran 12. Pace was 10:18. I had a lot of fun, like most days after a day off. My legs were light and I had what felt like endless energy. I still ran 5 minutes and walked 1 minute for the most part, though. With the new plan, I’ll need to conserve a lot more energy. There are longer runs during the week compared to the home-made plan I was on previously. It was nice, though. Whenever I felt like I wanted to run more than 5 minutes, I did. I just never let myself walk more than one. (I had to make a pit stop to pee in the bushes and that was the only exception. It’s crazy how much stopping dead slows the pace clock, as opposed to walking.) Continue reading “5/22/18”

5/15/18

Gear: Lunartempo 2s, Apple watch, that’s it

Excellent effort today. 8 miles at 8:16 pace, with the first mile at 8:32, and the seven subsequent miles all around 8:10 – 8:20. Since it’s been raining off and on, it’s slightly cooler than it has been, but the humidity is high, and the air feels like a soggy blanket. The flowers are blooming all over the place.

From the first step of the run, my legs felt super heavy, which tells me I didn’t fully recover from the weekend. Continue reading “5/15/18”