Today was another blazing hot day. Of course, I was stuck running in it later in the day. The run began at 5 PM and it was still very hot then. I think the temperature was actually 90 degrees. A huge difference from last week's cool weather.
My friend Tom commented on facebook that he was going to run in the morning today to avoid the heat. I saw that another friend, Emily, responded that she had to run in the heat. I sent her a message, since I figured misery enjoys company. We agree to meet up at the Route 33 Boat Launch, because she suggested running near some water.
It was one of those days that is just so hot and sticky that you nearly sweat just stepping out of the car. That's including when wearing a singlet and shorts. It was that hot.
I asked Emily what she wanted to do and she said she didn't care. Two runners without real set plans. Just get out there and run. I told her I wanted to try to run 8 to 10 miles, but wasn't sure if the heat would allow it. I suggested that we run 3 miles out and 3 more back. We definitely needed to stop and rehydrate at some point.
We started off heading west towards Bethlehem. The great thing about this run was that there was shade most of the time. That was a huge relief. It was still hot as hell though. The first mile was a little slow, as it often is for me at 8:37.
After that mile, things got quicker. Both of us usually run easy runs around an 8 minute pace, so it was perfect. The only issue is that it became a struggle for me, where she adapted to the heat much better. We chatted away and were busy talking throughout the run. We discussed training, specifically things like speedwork and marathon training, as well as nutrition (something she is good at and I'm terrible with). I still amaze myself with how talkative I can be while running, considering how quiet I am at other times. I'm usually more of a person that avoids conversation.
Although running with someone did make it easier, the run was still tough. Time didn't seem to fly by quite as fast as it does in a group on more comfortable days. I didn't look at my watch as much though. At one point, it read 1.86 miles. I was frustrated because I thought we ran farther than that.
The second mile was pretty quick at under 8 minutes and the third one was 8 minutes flat. I told Emily we should probably slow down or we might not make. What I really meant was I might not make it. We agreed to slow, but I think we actually ended up going faster. The turn around was a great relief.
The heat was having a huge impact, but so was all my running throughout the week. My legs were sore and dead. They clearly hadn't recovered much from the tempo run on Tuesday and the hilly run yesterday. I was hoping they might come around at some point, but they didn't. They were holding me back for sure.
I thought coming back might be easier, because it is supposed to be slightly downhill I believe. It definitely wasn't and I was struggling. The heat didn't take its toll a lot early on, but by now I was really dragging. The miles were coming in at just over an 8 minute pace.
I remember Emily commenting about not being far from our cars at one point. That was at mile 4.5. The remaining 1.5 miles seemed so far away. My mouth was so dry and I badly needed a drink. This mile, we definitely slowed down. It was an 8:15 pace.
In the final mile back to the boat launch, the trail is narrow. Emily asked me if I wanted to lead, but I was too dead. I told her she could just take off. She said she wasn't going to, but I guess changed her mind and flew on in anyway. That was fine with me. Even though I fell pretty far behind, she was still a good pacemaker. I ran that mile at a solid 8:08. Without her, I might've been walking in that mile.
There were a lot of kids swimming in the river. That looked so tempting. I was surprised that they didn't tease me about Emily being so far ahead of me. They just went about their business though.
Having Emily there was a big help for the final two miles as well. I was so exhausted and beat up and soaked when we got back to our cars. I wasn't sure how I could even run any more. I knew I definitely needed some water. With someone else there, I knew I'd keep going. Emily had asked me if I wanted to keep going and I said, "I don't know how I can run any more, but I'm going to try." She suggested a slower 9 minute pace.
The rest and recovery was great. I figured that some how, some way, I could tough out 2 more miles. I didn't think we would actually run that slower pace, but we did. When my legs restarted, I'm not sure I could've run a faster pace.
Something interesting happened too. Maybe it was the slower pace, but my legs actually felt better. The beginning leg of the run was on dirt and stone. This part, toward Riverview Park, was paved. Maybe that actually helped my legs rather than hurt them. Whatever the case, I felt much better.
Going out, it was actually cool and breezy. Now, these last 2 miles did kind of fly by. I was relieved once we got to the turn around. At this slower pace, I probably could've run another 2 miles and got to 10 total miles for the day. I was happy with 8 miles in the heat though.
We came back and it was great to be done. These final 2 miles were 8:51 and 8:39, respectively. That was much more reasonable for me anyway. I'm sure I was holding Emily back. We stretched, relaxed and chatted some more afterward. I ran out of water, so I did need to get back home for a drink. I need to start bringing more water along with me.
It wasn't fun while it was happening, but running through the heat and being done felt very rewarding. Emily was a huge help. There's no question that I would've quit earlier without her. My mental toughness does lack a bit when I'm on my own.
Tomorrow will definitely be an off day. My legs surely need it. I might walk a lot of the Jacobsburg course to make sure that everything is good for my big group run there on Saturday. It will be about 9 miles. I have almost 40 people committed to attend. It should be fun. I'm not planning on marking the course, so hopefully I can keep everyone generally together. I'm not planning on running too fast, even though it can be a fast trail.
First Leg 6 miles - 49:00 (8:10 pace)
Second Leg 2 miles - 17:35 (8:41 pace)
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