Nostalgia

Our run Feb. 5.

Today was the first 12-mile run of the season. It started to rain/snow toward the end and I could literally feel bits of ice bouncing off my face...


Oh wait... that's just what I was longing for... weather like that on Feb. 5 when we were in the same point in our training for our spring marathons. Seems like forever ago!


Today was a far different story. Accuweather had a giant heat advisory for the entire day. The started us out early, at 6:30 (which put my wake-up call at 4:45), and even then the humidity was around 90 percent.


I've never done well in the heat. Thanks to the MIT coaches, though, I was prepared for today. They sent us emails all week about dealing with the humidity. Here are some of the things I did:

• Drank lots and lots and lots of water yesterday and this morning 
• Brought extra nutrition (for 12 miles I used a Gu and a pack of Sport beans)
• I've been eating bananas all week
• Extra carbs and salt yesterday
• I made sure to stand outside to get acclimated before running
• Wore my monitor and kept an eye on my heart rate the entire time
• Dumped cups of water on myself at the water stops.

I survived! The first two miles were the toughest (and also uphill), but then I settled in on the shady trail. I've been struggling with shin splits lately, they hurt the first two but then eased off. After I changed I wrung my clothes out in the sink! Grossness! 

This was one of those days I definitely couldn't have survived without MIT and the 10:30 pace team. I know 12 miles was where I broke down trying to run on my own so for some reason I always get nervous before this run. 


(Why is this in a different font. Arg. Whatever, it's nap time, I'll fix it later.)