Run Log 6-28-08: 10 Mile Run

This particular 10 mile run was hard, very hard.

I knew it was going to be a challenge even before I got on the 5:45 a.m. train to Chicago after hearing it was alreay 75F on the lake. I figured as soon as that sun got up, the temperature was going to go up along with it.

I was right.

At the start of my run near 8 a.m., it was already 80F in the shade. As soon as I hit the lakefront near Millenium Park, that sun was hot, hot, hot. I decided to take all four of my hydration bottles with me, and I'm glad I did. I filled two bottles with a 70/30 mix of Gatorade and water respectively. The other two were straight water.

I made sure to drink water every 15-20 minutes during my run, and saved the Gatorade mix for after mile 5 for a carbohydrate boost. I took one Power Gel at mile 7 to get me to the end. Thanks to the angels at the Fleet Feet water station that serves the runners on the lakefront, but the straight shot of Gatorade I took at the station made me cramp up. I followed it with some water, and after a few minutes it went away. I knew there was a reason I mix that stuff with water!

I had a bicyclist nearly run into me near mile 7.5! This guy was pedaling towards me, and I noticed he wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him. All I could do was yell, and wave my hands around. Fortunately, he saw me at the very last minute and swerved. It gets crowded down there!

I'll have to rate this long run as one of the toughest to date due to the intense heat, but I battled through it. At times, I felt so relaxed that I was just cruising along. Still, I really had to push it and almost gave up near the end- it got that bad. Seeing the other runners that were still out running in the heat inspired me to keep going.

This week is a recovery week, so I'll be taking it easy with very little running through the holiday weekend.