It was cloudy, so I was hoping things wouldn't be too bad. I was very wrong. It was only 75 degrees, but felt insanely humid. I'm so bad with heat and humidity. I was almost wondering if I could even finish the 8.5 mile loop.
I was thrown off in the beginning. Almost immediately, they rerouted the Border Trail. It now went around the side, through some grass, rather than straight down and back up. With the potential for ticks, there is no way we can follow this during the race and there was no way I was going to run it today either.I was trying to take it easy. I'd walk the tougher hills and even take a bunch of photos. I thought that would help in the humidity, but it didn't. I was soaked almost from the start. I'm sure having a regular short sleeve shirt on and my UD vest on didn't help either.
I stopped at the bison pen and took a photo. Many cars were there too, as the bison were out near the road. I never get tired of seeing them. I cruised along.
I passed two women who were hiking on the road. I then went over the rocky section and started the gradual climb. I could run it, but decided to hike a lot. The dogs weren't barking, so I was happy about that. I saw a guy hiking down. I'd see him later in the loop too.
Every now and then, there was breeze at the top of the hills. However, I was still dieing. I ran along a bit, but hiked a lot too. I hiked much more than I would've in normal conditions.
I thought hiking would save me on the super steep hill. It didn't though. I was still breathing very heavy. I couldn't get my breathing under control in the thick air. I wasn't even halfway done with the run and I already felt like death.
The creek crossing was nice and shallow. I probably should've jumped into it to cool off. It was good to be heading back toward the zoo, even though I was struggling.
A few years ago, I'd often cut across at the zoo in the summer. It was always hot and I was often struggling like today. However, from experience, I know how much easier the remainder of the run is.Still, easy was all relative today. The humidity was zapping out of me everything that I had. I even started hiking flat sections from time to time too. At least I knew I could hike. I had been using Tailwind and maybe wasn't fueled enough early on. Whatever the case, I sure never recovered.
Mentally, getting to mile 6 was huge. I pressed on. I saw a deer around there. It ran off. I ran where I could, but I could only keep running for short stretches, no matter how easy the terrain was.
I saw three hikers with about 1.5 miles to go. One guy had a NJ Trail Series shirt on. I wondered what race he did, but I didn't have the energy to ask.
I knew I'd being hiking this last long hill. Even that was a challenge. I saw an earlier hiker again on this part of the trail. I ran some of the jeep road by KidsPeace. I saw a couple young girls walking from that way. I'm guessing that they were from there.
It was good to be nearly done, even though I felt so bad. I was now out of water too. I sputtered along. I ran some of the rolling hills before the road crossing, but not much.
I ran across the road. I knew I'd be hiking the last steep uphill. I did and was thrilled to be nearly done. Then, I got another curveball. Again, the trail went off into the grass. I stuck with the old
I guess I have to wear much less clothing to run now. I'll need to run short segments and carry a handheld, rather than the pack. This is the worst time of the year for me. I struggle more than anyone else. I can't even go slow and run okay. The humidity and heat simply destroy me. At least my foot didn't bother me during the run, even though it is a little sore now.
I was planning a run in Upstate NY tomorrow. I look forward to going there and exploring more. I'm not sure if I want to deal with the weather any more. I'm definitely going to be biking more and running less in the summer. I miss winter already.
8.8 miles - 1:44:57 (11:55 pace) 1310 feet of elevation gain
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