farfromfearless
Welcome To America
There’s only one word to describe that run: brutal.
Check this out:
Okay, it’s only 20 minutes, but that was quite possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, certainly physically. It was hellish. After five minutes my thoughts turned to quitting. After ten, I thought I was going to puke. After fourteen, I just switched my Garmin to the timer and left it there, counting down the seconds until I could push stop.
One thing I’ve learned, that I suspected all along - I hate running loops. Hate them. Those people that set world records at 10,000 metres on the track? I don’t know how they do it - it must be so incredibly mindnumbing. I guess they switch off. I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t want to do it.
So, after running those 2.5-minute loops last night, I paid a little bit of attention to the immediate area outside of my in-law’s house when we visited a mall at lunchtime, and worked out a broader loop that clocked in around 8-minutes. Not actually enjoyable, but an improvement from last night. Better: it took me off of the freshly laid tar right outside the house and on to some old, much cooler stuff that from time to time even offered a little bit of shade from overhanging tree branches.
However, I still had that new tar for about half of the time. It’s worth observing that this stuff over the course of a day gets about twenty per cent hotter than the air temperature, so it was anywhere between 120-130F when I was running, and believe me, I could feel it. I honestly thought my soles were on the verge of melting at one point - my feet were on fire. I think if I was out there for an hour or more, they inevitably would.
Once I’d finished, I recovered quickly. This really pleases me. It’s weird - when I woke up this morning I felt that I was coming down with a cold. I was sniffling and sneezing a lot and I figured I’d picked up something on the flight over. By midday, I was starting to feel better, and before my run I felt great. Typing this now, a little while after I’ve finished, I feel absolutely fine.
My plan this week is, as said, to simply acclimatise - I’m want to take part in quite a big local race this Saturday (the wonderfully-named Elvis Presley International) but the online booking system won’t take my credit card, and nobody has yet decided to respond to my ‘what now?’ email. Hopefully I can just pay on the day. Until then, it’ll be nothing more than 3-4 miles each day this week, and then from next Sunday afterwards I’m going to try and up the mileage. Nothing major, but I’m eating heavier (and junkier) stuff here and need to lose those calories. Hopefully all of this extreme weather will make my UK running a breeze on my return.
Splits and chart:
6 people have left comments
Spartan7 said:
I can completely relate to your feeling of just getting the run done and finished. There were so many times in my past where we would just go on what was then considered “long” runs in the steamy weather of Louisiana. The PT uniforms used to made of cotton and the shorts were awful and I despised not having control of anything back then.
Continue to get acclimatized to the South, drink water and get some electrolytes in you after your runs.
Have fun; I gotta run!
Rahn said:
Ah, but only 45% humidity. That’s nothing.
Well, okay, it’s something. And it sucks. We’ve had 45% and up to 95% all week, and it just makes things sticky. Breathing definitely becomes a bar.
Rumor has it that one will eventually become used to it. My third summer down south, and I’m still waiting for that moment.
Blaine Moore said:
Maybe I missed something…but why are you running loops? Why not just do an out and back, or go exploring and figure the area out with your feet? Or look at a map and discover a route that you can run? You have a garmin, so it’s not like you have to worry about figuring out how far you went. Not sure which model you use, but you can probably use it for mapping your way back if you get lost if it’s a 305. You already know that the tar roads are miserable - why keep running on them? Find a nice trail somewhere.
Shéamus said:
I have the Forerunner 50, which is non-GPS.
While I agree it would be useful now, back home, it’s absolutely all I need. As said, this week is just a transition period while I get used to the heat and the area - it’s pretty much all highways once you get outside where I’m staying (which is part of a new development).
Next week I’ll start pushing out a bit further! I did some brief research and asked around a bit before coming here and I don’t think there are any trails in the area. I don’t drive nor do we have access to a free car (we might rent one next week), so I’m kind of stuck with roads at the moment. That’s fine - I like roads - and as said the newly-laid tar is only a smallish part of my current route, and the current one-mile loop I’m doing is a lot better than the 2.5-minute one a couple of days ago. 
AndrewE said:
Abandon the loops and go exploring.
Make sure you hydrate properly as your body may all of a sudden say ‘Enough!’ otherwise.
Shéamus said:
Yeah, I’ve been extra careful before and after runs to get plenty of fluids down. I picked up some low-calorie Gatorade today which should help as well.
There’s not a lot of point in exploring motorway, to be honest. I will venture further afield next week but it’s all pretty much the same stuff - roads!
- Copyright 2009 iRun365.com. All Rights Reserved.
- Back To Top
- Home
Leave a Comment-