It was a dark and humid night
I didn’t get down to the trail until about 6:30pm tonight, and it was pretty dark before I started. That wasn’t too bad though, even with the washouts from the recent rains its a very familiar place to run. The weather, however, was nasty: mid 70s with a lot of humidity. I ended up running at a 3/4 breathing pattern (three footfalls on inhale and four on exhale), and didn’t match my speed from this weekend when it was cooler.
I was scheduled for seven miles, but after about four I started to feel a little tight - like I was getting stomach cramps. A quarter mile later they began to subside, but just as I was running up next to the Radisson I got behind a small crowd of people strolling the trail (cool) while smoking pungent cigars (uncool). I was hit by a wave of nausea, and decided that I had better cut the run short. The last half mile was unpleasant.
By the end of five miles things were clearing up, and I should have just done another two miles, but I wasn’t really in the mood. That gave me just 4.81 miles in 43:57 for a 9:08 overall pace.
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Jan 5th 2005
9:29 AM
Nothing like a good cigar to make a walk in nature so appealing. YUCK!
Jan 5th 2005
10:24 AM
nothing worse that being hit with smoke when you’re struggling through a workout, and bummer about the sticky weather. today is a new day though!
Jan 5th 2005
11:09 AM
Yeah, the good news is that a cold front comes through today. It was 71 when I woke up, should be about 50 this evening with highs in the 40s tomorrow. That’s much more like it.
Jan 5th 2005
1:05 PM
I was walking this morning when the cold front hit. When I left the house it was 60s and damp. After two miles the temp dropped at least 10 degrees and it was raining and windy. I managed to get in 6 miles but I was really cold when I finished.
Are you guys getting tons of rain down there? I don’t think the trails will ever be dry here!
Too bad about the cigar smoke. I don’t know how people can smoke them–it makes me ill when I am 20 feet away.
Take care.
Jan 5th 2005
4:14 PM
When I use to run on one of our trails, I either ended up passing a large group of people out on a smoke break or following some woman that would walk while smoking. Uncool is right.
Jan 6th 2005
4:58 PM
First of all, thanks for stopping by my journal and posting advice. I can definately use all I can get :) This running thing is new to me.
As for cigars - I am running at a rec center currently, because of the cold weather outside. (There’s a foot of snow on the ground.) If I run in the cold, I get crud in my lungs.
And you CUT your run to almost 5 miles? Heh - someday I’ll be there. Just watch me. You’ve got a great site here, and I’ll be back often.
-Silas
Jan 7th 2005
7:25 AM
Ricahrd,
Just stopping by to say hello and catch up on your blog. Sounds like training is still going stellarly for you… Your site looks different now, did you add your picture? Now I’ll know what you look like next time we’re at the same race (Freescale!). Good luck with these last few weeks!
Take care! Meghan
Jan 7th 2005
7:26 AM
I just posted a comment, but I think it got eaten. Glad to hear your training is still progressing along well. I stopped by to catch up on your blog!
Take care and good luck with these last few weeks of training!
Meghan
Jan 7th 2005
8:10 AM
How does breathing in a pattern help? You mentioned 3/4. That’s so interesting to me that anyone would be able to count their breathing while also running, looking ahead for obstacles, etc…
The weather has certainly cooled off down south of you, though it’s rainy and gray today. Hope you can still get some good runs in!