Yes, today is in fact my 41st birthday and, apparently, the best way to celebrate this occasion was to grab a run at Severson Dells on my way home from work. Though it was about 98 degrees out at the time, I elected to run on trails then, rather than on the road later when it cooled a bit. I typically run about half my runs on trails and under my current training plan I run roads Tuesday and trails Thursday. So heat be damned, I was going to hit the trails today no matter what.
I should explain further this "plan" I have. I am running the Clinton Half Marathon in Clinton, Iowa, on September 9th. But I also don't want to miss the HOBO 25k, a trail race, which is on the 15th. So I have cobbled together a plan that should have me ready to rise to soaring heights of mediocrity in both races and hopefully with a minimum of suffering. I am now several days into this training regimen and ready to proclaim is a total success already! Nothing could possible go wrong. Right?
This likely will be one of the last long road races I do. I have only done one other half and that was two or three years ago in Madison on an unseasonably hot spring day. I ran a couple minutes over 2 hours, which I know I can beat since I was well under that time at the halfway point of my only marathon. I later imploded in that race, but that is a story for another time when I feel like revisiting that torture chamber. So I am basically running this road half for no other reason than to see what kind of time I can get. Unless I get the urge to tackle a road marathon again (about as likely as me flying someday) I will be doing all my long races on dirt from now on hopefully.
Where was I? Yes, yes! My run today. Was supposed to be an EZ four but nothing is easy when it feels like you are running in the midst of a solar flare. 98 degrees is no joke, my friends! Thankfully, I forgot my watch at home so I had to approximate the distance. With temps like today I am pretty sure I "accidently" underestimated and probably ran more like 3.5, tops. Close enough. I took my handheld Nathan bottle because I didn't want to stroke out and die, but that sloshing was throwing off my rythym, so that wasn't helping things, either. Maybe not the most enjoyable run ever, but any day on a trail is a good day to me.
Looking forward to this weekend at The Galena Territory with friends. The trails there are actually pretty fun and about as hilly as you are going to find around here. Some washed out sections add a bit of technical to the mix. Even if I decide to hit the roads on sunday it won't be bad since I love up and down and the Territory roads have plenty of that. The big question is I can con my son, who is scheduled for a 6 miler, into coming with me on Saturday for my eight. Considering he will have to slow up so I can keep him in sight, he should be able to handle a couple extra miles!
There is a Summer Shandy calling my name...
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