Friday, July 20, 2012

Me>HOTlanta (7/18/12)

Ah summer.  The time that I retreat to my treadmill like so many Northerners do when the ice & snow hits.  But yesterday I figured it was high time I get my butt outside.  Scattered thunderstorms were in the forecast and I thought I might be able to snag some cooler temperatures if I ran at the right time.

Ha!

While I was driving to the Greenway, the clouds parted and the evil sun came out to play.  As soon as I hit the path, I regretted not bring my fuel belt.  Or did I? It was so hot that the extra fabric and weight might have been not worth the uncomfortable ride.

But I settled soundly into my first mile, feeling gleeful to fully stretch my legs after a few weeks (gulp!) of treadmill running.  7:59.

By the second half of mile 2, the adrenaline bubble popped and the heat bore down.  I contemplated taking my tank top off, but decided it was going to annoy me if I had to carry it/wear it tucked into my shorts.  8:13.

Mile 3 was intense.  There was a good bit of sun exposure and running next to the water made it feel like sauna.  I back off my pace, taking shorter strides and trying to remind myself I still needed some gas left in the tank. 8:19

At the halfway point, I soaked my hat and part of my tank in water.  I stood at the water fountain for about a minute, gulping water (Garmin was clicked off).  Feeling a bit refreshed, I started to head back. 8:18

Mile 5 I started to do a little fartlek to stay under an 8:20 pace.  I'd speed up and recover, trying to hover around that 8:20 mark.  By the end of the mile, any residual effects from the wet hat and water pit stop were gone. 8:16.

Mile 6 was good.  My fartlek game got more intense.  I was full on sprinting for 1/10ths of a mile with a bit longer recovery.  The speed got me riled up and as soon as I recovered, I wanted to go again. 8:06.

With the last mile, I waivered between a cool down mile and full on speed racer mode.  The sky got suddenly dark.  I recovered for a short while and then went into puke mode running for the last half mile. 
My lungs burned and my stomach climbed into my chest.  I felt so elated when I stopped.  7:53.

Total of 7.02 miles in 57:15, average 8:10 pace.

Now, this is nowhere near a great run for me timewise.  I was banging out 10 milers just 'cause last fall with an easy sub-8:00 pace.  But when I got to the car, I checked the weather.  Real Feel of 111F!! I rechecked it about 3 times because I couldn't believe it.  I mean, I was hot, but jeez! 

No comments:

Post a Comment