Heat. Humidity. Two enemies of the runner. Today I awoke to only one of them and unfortunately it was the worse of the pair; humidity. Today was the day I needed to run 16 miles. After doing a 5k yesterday (19:46), and finishing with my second fastest 5k time of all time, it was as if the planets aligned in the wrong order for me today.
Couple that with awaking at 2:00 a.m. with vicious stomach pain and today was not fun. A little Pepto-Bismol put my stomach issues at bay temporarily last night, but made for horrible sleeping. When the alarm went off at 7:00 a.m. I struggled to the basement, tried to hydrate as much as I could and was off. Within the first mile I could feel the weight of the humidity that would haunt me for a couple of hours.
The first 8 miles went by fairly decent, but when I looped back by the house for a drink and stopped briefly to ingest some Gatorade and water, the first few steps into the second half gave me every indication that it would be a second half struggle. My stomach felt "pukey" again and I took about 1/2 bottle of warm water with me that was gone by the time I hit mile 9 1/2. Eight laps around the track and approaching mile 12 on Luzerne Street I knew I would struggle over the final four awful miles. I equated it to the feelings I had over the final 4 miles in Cincinnati, or the final 11 miles in Frederick. Awful.
But when all was said and done, a cold shower and some water and a small meal and I felt better. But now my stomach continues to give me issues. Price to pay for it I guess.
Still, I've taken the next step to getting back to the mountain top. Today gives me one real strong thought. Please let it be low humidity nine weeks from today in Chicago. Low temperatures would be a bonus, but I'll take the low humidity. If it's anything close to today, forget Boston. It will be another exercise in survival and simply getting it done. Like today.
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