Tough Running in Central Phoenix

This was the toughest run I've done in a long time. I was talking to Barry after the run, and he is dreading the arrival of cold weather. He LOVES this hot, humid weather. I, on the other hand, function more poorly as the temperature and humidity increase. The humidity was "only" 42% today, but with the temperatures in the low-90's, I knew I was in for a tough run when I walked out the door. The night before the run, I thought about sticking to 10 miles. But the tough guy in me told the sissy in me, "Shut the hell up! We're doing 12 miles!" I looked at Google Maps and figured out that, starting from Barry's house, running up Central, and then along the canal, the 6-mile point is at 16th St. just north of Glendale Ave. That even looks far on a map. "Oh well, let's do it!" I thought. I left home at 4:30 in the AM and stashed some water at our turnaround point. Thankfully there were fewer drunks out on the road than there were last week. I arrived at Barry's house a little before 5:00 and stretched a little. My shins felt a little achey before the run, but I figured they would eventually loosen up and/or go numb. When we started out, it was still pitch black. There was no sign of the sun. While good for beating the heat, it makes it a little hard to see where you're going when you're running down the Bridle Path. We had a big storm the other night, and the rain cut lots of new ruts into the path. I spent the first 3.5 miles looking down at my feet to make sure I didn't step into any of them and twist an ankle. We made it to the canal without incident, and turned south. At this point, the sun had peaked up over the horizon and was beginning its relentless pounding. I realized at this point that I had already emptied 2 of my 4 water bottles-- and we hadn't even run 4 miles. I had a 16oz bottle of water waiting for me at the turnaround, but I wondered whether that would be enough. As we ran along the canal, we saw lots of people from Team in Training (TiT) running in the opposite direction. We saw their water jug at the intersection of the canal and the Bridle Path. I figured they started at Granada Park and were running to the Bridle Path and back. That's about a 6-mile loop. I felt a little jealous because if that's all I was doing, I would almost be done. I fought to keep cool and hydrated, but I could tell I was losing that battle. I just felt overheated and drained. We slogged it out and made it to the turnaround. I felt relieved to make it that far. Barry looked at me and said, "You look a little beat." I started to dread the return 6 miles. After refilling my bottles, eating a Gu and, uh, taking care of some personal business behind a bush, I mustered some positive thoughts and we set out again. "This too shall pass," I reminded myself. As soon as we set out, I could tell that the 6 miles back were going to be a real slog. I was feeling extremely hot and my shins were still pretty achey. I couldn't seem to slake my thirst. I remembered that there was a water fountain at Northern Ave., so I stopped there briefly to fill up my water bottles. I had already drank all the water I picked up at Glendale by then. I started to feel a little dispirited. My spirits were raised a little when we reached the Bridle Path again. "Only 3.5 more miles!" I thought. But the sun was fully up at this point and I was miserably hot. The teporary happiness I felt melted into a sort of glum resolve. "I will finish this," I thought. "But it ain't gonna be fun." I settled into a sluggish pace (about 9:45) and marked the run by the cross streets we crossed (Northern, Glendale, Maryland, Bethany Home, Missouri). I could tell Barry was feeling great. He would occassionally run ahead-- only to run BACK and fall in time with me again. I finished the last of my water with about a mile to go. I had pretty much stopped sweating, so I could tell I was extremely dehydrated. Any positive vibes I had felt were long gone, but I gritted my teeth (literally) and resolved to finish this damn run. I finally caught a glimpse of the Circle K at the end of Barry's street, and my spirits were lifted a little. I usually try to kick the last section of this run, but I was running on fumes and it was all I could do to keep from walking-- or stopping altogether. We finished at 1:54:50. Pace-wise it was fine, but that run beat the hell out of me. I normally feel somewhat elated at the end of a long run, but not today. I was glad to be done, but I felt spent emotionally. We went to Vicki's pool for a dip, and she commented that we seemed less chipper than usual. I soaked my legs in an ice bath when I got home, and drank a gallon of water during the day, but I fought a vicious headache and achey muscles for the rest of the day. I'm glad I was able to fight through a rough run, but I would probably end my running "career" if every run were like this. Thankfully most of them aren't. I can't wait for autumn and cooler weather! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1207 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: -3 ft Date: 08/16/08 Up/Downhill: [+118/-121] Time: 06:00 AM Difficulty: 3.5 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 89 F temp; 42% humidity 91 F heat index; winds E 7 Performance Distance: 11.77 miles Time: 1:54:50 Speed: 6.2 mph Pace: 9' 45 /mi Calories: 1792 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 46 +0' 01 6.1 -0.0 +19 ft 2 9' 53 +0' 08 6.1 -0.1 +26 ft 3 9' 38 -0' 07 6.2 +0.1 +29 ft 4 9' 36 -0' 09 6.2 +0.1 +19 ft 5 9' 24 -0' 21 6.4 +0.2 +3 ft 6 15' 09 +5' 24 4.0 -2.2 0 ft 7 9' 48 +0' 03 6.1 -0.0 0 ft 8 10' 31 +0' 46 5.7 -0.5 -3 ft 9 9' 50 +0' 05 6.1 -0.1 -23 ft 10 9' 58 +0' 13 6.0 -0.1 -29 ft 11 10' 45 +1' 00 5.6 -0.6 -26 ft end 9' 31 -0' 14 6.3 +0.1 -19 ft Versus average of 9' 45 min/mile

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