Can we talk about this?!? 👿
It was 93 degrees outside when I finished my 12-mile run this morning. I am not smart.
I woke up bright and early with every intention of starting my run by 5:30 AM to beat the heat, but I don’t know where the time went.
I ate breakfast: peanut butter + banana on whole wheat bread.
Filled my Fuel Belt with Gu Brew.
Snapped a photo for the blog.
By the time I ate breakfast, got dressed, mapped out a route, filled my Fuel Belt, and snapped an unnecessary photo in the bathroom, it was just about 6:00. Ok, so that’s where the time went.
The first three miles of my run were tortuous:
- Mile 1: 9:29
- Mile 2: 9:39
- Mile 3: 9:33
A combination of heat and hills made me think twice about attempting my long run on such a hot day. I even considered scrapping the run all together and doing it tomorrow, but I figured it wouldn’t be that much cooler, and I didn’t want to wake up early again, so I just kept trucking along.
Thankfully, Miles 4 – 8 went better. I got used to the heat and finally got into a groove.
- Mile 4: 9:17
- Mile 5: 9:12
- Mile 6: 8:57
- Mile 7: 8:46
- Mile 8: 9:11
Around Mile 6, I stopped to eat some watermelon-flavored Chomps.
Around Mile 9, it got really hot and the sun started to blaze down on me. I also ran out of water at this point. I was only three miles away from finishing, so I continued to push forward.
- Mile 9: 9:25
- Mile 10: 9:35
Just before I reached Mile 11, I ran by the middle school, so I made a pit-stop with the hope of finding a water fountain inside. Luckily, the school was open, so I snuck inside and grabbed some water. After a little water break, I felt a million times better and finished the last two miles at a pretty good pace:
- Mile 11: 9:15
- Mile 12: 9:09
Total: 1:51:35 (9:17 pace)
This morning’s long run definitely wasn’t my fastest, but I’m so glad that I stuck with it and finished. There were soooo many times that I wanted to quit, but I didn’t let myself.
After my run, I stretched and refueled with another Gu Brew. The Peach Tea flavor is delicious! It didn’t taste like a “performance” drink at all. Mmm! I pretty much chugged it.
I also refueled with a veggie bagel with cream cheese from Bagels Plus and a Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee. Will run for bagels.
Busy day ahead! We’re having a pig roast at our house tomorrow, so we have a lot to do to prepare for it!