Scorcher.

Holy wowzers, it's hot outside. The temp is somewhere up near 90º and we just got back from our run. I've gotta say, it was pretty brutal. My side cramps returned early on in the run, so I pretty much ran the entire time with an ache in both of my sides. J was really struggling today; he had worked the past five nights and is working again tonight, so he was pretty wrecked physically already. We split up about .75 miles into the run; he stopped to walk and I kept on running.

I really missed having him on the run with me. Although we normally don't talk much during our run, it is reassuring to have him by my side. I wasn't sure that I was going to make it even to the same landmark that we ran to last time, but every time I really wanted to give up, I willed myself to keep going and just put one foot in front of the other. It got progressively harder and harder to breathe, though, and by the time I saw the intersection where we had stopped the last time up ahead I was gasping for breath and knew that I wouldn't make it any farther. I kept checking over my shoulder to look for J, but I figured that he had returned home rather than continue on the 3 mile loop. I walked by myself for quite a while, desperately switching sides of the street to find the shade. I surprised myself by running for two more intervals after the one long one.

It's interesting to me how my perception of distance has changed. I ran the first interval and it felt like I barely ran ten feet before I was exhausted, and I figured in my head that it probably would be around a tenth of a mile. I walked for a while longer, and when I started up again, I soon rounded a curve that put Main Street back in my view; I figured I would run to Main Street and then walk the rest of the way home, which was not far at all. Again, while I was running, I figured that the distance was slightly longer than the second interval, but not by much.

The only part that I was right about was the very last bit; the third interval was in fact slightly longer than the second interval. The distances were 0.21 miles and 0.29 miles respectively. I was rather surprised when I saw those distances on the map, only because it seemed like it was so short when I was running it. I really am improving! The other huge improvement this run was that I ran the 1.79 miles in 17:48, whereas last time I ran it in 19:16. That takes me from a 5.5 mph pace all the way up to a 6 mph pace! I was pretty excited when I saw that on my watch.

I walked proudly back to my house, but I could tell long before I got there that the door was closed and locked. My heart sank; I had assumed that J had returned to the house and would be waiting there for me to come home. He had the house key. I circled the house, even though I knew that both doors and all the windows were locked. I was ready to expire. I wanted a tall glass of ice water, a place to stretch, an ice cold shower, and a ton of protein. I wanted to tear my rotisserie chicken out of the kitchen and sit on the floor gnawing on it like a dog, I was so hungry and thirsty and hot all at the same time. Minutes ticked by. I thought about walking back and retracing the route, looking for J, but I knew I didn't have it in me. Fortunately, my land lord pulled in to the driveway and I begged him for the key. Just as he went upstairs to find the keys, I saw J walking down the street. Perfect timing.

The only thing on the aforementioned list that I didn't actually do upon entering my house was the gnawing on the chicken like a dog. I did however do an excellent stretch routine, drank a huge glass of ice water, and nearly gave myself a heart attack with a freezing cold shower. I could barely breathe, again, because the water was so cold. It felt really nice on my legs though.

I'm still not sure what is causing me to have side cramps. I thought it was the yogurt that I was eating before the runs, but a peach isn't yogurt. I'm thinking now that it's perhaps an air quality/hydration/heat issue. The last time I got side cramps was when I ran with my brother and that was a really hot day. Today was pretty hot also. We will see, I will have to investigate.

Moral of the day? Improvements are great, running in near 90º heat with ridiculous humidity is not so great.