farfromfearless
8-Mile Run In The Midday Sun
That was a tough one.
Going out I planned to do eight miles. I wasn’t particularly bothered about time - somewhere around an 8:30 average sounded mighty fine. (As usual, and this will I’m hoping always be the case - there’s no room for a 9-minute mile. That’s a big, big fail.)
I brought my Fuel Belt with me for the first time since I’ve been on vacation. I had a feeling I was going to need it.
It’s not as hot as it was this time last week but it’s still cookin’ - in the low 90s according to the giant thermometer on the strip and the humidity was just a little below that, too. No wind, and the roads are scorchin’. That adds up to a whole lot of uncomfortable.
I had to take the dreaded bathroom break at 3.8 miles - luckily I passed a Kroger’s and so this was easy enough, and to be fair this hasn’t been a problem for a little while now. I haven’t really decided if these breaks help or hurt - it’s nice to be off your feet even for a few minutes, and I took a moment to drink 8oz of water and wipe myself down with a paper napkin (or ten). Kroger’s also has great air conditioning, and while that feels good the change in temperature even over that short a period of time made my legs feel pretty stiff when I got back on the road.
After that, it was pretty steady. It hurt, but it wasn’t too bad. My last three miles are oddly similar at 8:42 - almost like a metronome ticking them off.
Ended up being out there for 1:14 in total, although my actual run time was about 1:07.
Splits:
Had a weird experience last night. I was lying in bed when I suddenly felt this strange sensation in my left foot. I turned to my wife and casually said, “I think my foot just split open.” And it had. There was no blood at all, but a small, maybe three-quarter inch slice had just opened up. It became a little tender quite quickly and we put some medicated cream on there and sealed it up with a band-aid. It felt fine this morning, but what an odd thing. While it didn’t exactly hurt, the feeling when it opened was a bit like how it feels when you peel sunburned skin from your body, only slightly more pointed. I hope this isn’t the beginning of something that’s going to be an issue down the line. My feet have held up amazingly well to date but this constant heat here is making them look a little ragged, I must admit. I’m not quite ready for Krazy Glue and duct tape yet and I hope those kinds of remedies are many miles away. 
In other news, we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch - it was fantastic! I always thought it was another place that was going to be on a par with KFC but it was miles, miles better - really high-quality chicken cuts and the salad and buns (wholewheat!) were great. And those waffle fries… man, oh man! 
7 people have left comments
Spartan7 said:
Ah, the Chick-fil-A. Not open on Sundays, which is the one day I usually pass by one and think to myself, “that would be great!”
The heat and humidity are a real evil combination down here, especially on feet. Even after washing and drying, the feet sometimes develop problems, that should go away within a few weeks of your return.
Use a light coat of foot power after drying your feet to help out with cracking or “odors.”
Yum … Chick-fil-A. Now my mouth is watering.
AndrewE said:
I’m glad to hear that the ‘bathroom’ issues have sorted themselves out.
And that foot crackis just weird!
Rahn said:
About the only better than Chik-Fil-A on a run is Bruesters Ice Cream. (Yes, I’ve actually gone out running with that as my destination.)
Have you been walking around barefoot or something that would dry your feet out? That’s mighty strange.
Pete @ quicktofit said:
Very strange on the foot cracking. I’ve been having some weird foot problems lately as well - just having pains in my right foot in a certain spot that when i put pressure on it, just kills. It doesn’t hurt as much when i wear running shoes, but it is pretty painful.
Ah.. the price we pay for a good run.
Shéamus said:
I have idea why my foot behaved in that way. I don’t walk barefeet anywhere. The only change I’ve made in the past week or so is my foot was itching a bit and so I bought and sprayed some Daktarin on there a few nights in a row. Maybe it’s a different formula to the UK or something, as I’ve used it before. I’m not sure if I had (or have) Athlete’s Foot or not (or how I even got it - usually it comes from showering at the gym) but my foot was itching terribly a week or so back. It’s all fine now, but like I said my left one has cracked a bit and looks a lot worse than my right, which is 100 per cent fine and hasn’t had any issues at all. Strange. I’ve held of on the baby powder thing as talc typically makes me sneeze like crazy but I think as the miles increase it’s going to become important.
Shéamus said:
@ Rahn - We went to Bruster’s about the second or third night we were here. It was good. The problem was they had so many varieties of ice cream that while we were waiting for our order I must have changed my mind about a half dozen times. Also, we got take-out, and by the time we’d got home it had melted quite a bit and I don’t think that’s ever as good. I’ll have to go back again and either have it there or bring an icebox with me.
Actually, one of the best cold things I’ve had here is the frozen coffee (with the extra shot) at Sonic. Sonic do the best drinks, and their happy hour - 2-4pm folks - makes it a real sweet deal.
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