This was just a little brutal. I’m really glad we started running at 5:30, because by the time we were done at 9AM it was already 88 degrees. Heck, it started out only 10 degrees cooler; but at least the humidity wasn’t as bad as it could have been, starting at 77% but dropping to about 60% in the final hour.

But that’s enough complaining. I was a trifle concerned about this run, not having done a huge amount of base the week before, but it wasn’t until I was driving up to RunTex that it started to bother me. I’ve just been too busy thinking about other things, I guess. I managed to eat about half a marathon bar on the way up; that, combined with some Gatorade, was about it. Last night I did take in a decent amount of beans and rice, probably a pretty solid pre-run meal. I got a ride from Jay (did you know that 9 people can fit in a Tahoe comfortably - at least if they’re runners) up to Gateway, where we started shuffling around and, after not too much time, got on the road.

No question about it, I feel stronger now than I did a month ago when we did this run last. That one was only (only!) 20 miles, this time we did a bit more distance on the out and back, and I finished at the zero mile marker instead of the Pfluger bridge, but otherwise they were very similar. Again it felt really odd to be on some of the industrial roads when it was dark, running down the street (no shoulders or sidewalks here), but they were pretty much deserted.

This time out we kept gently accelerating. After a mile or two of sub nine minute paces (we were supposed to be shooting for 9:00-9:30) I started calling out, and we backed it off a touch. Just as before, our first waterstop was at about the 4.5 mile mark, South of 183 and shortly after turning on to Shoal Creek. I just took some Gatorade here, planning to take one of my 4 Gu at each additional waterstop. My calves were aching a touch, but they didn’t really bother me and it gave me a good incentive to really lift my legs on every incline we came to.

As we headed down Shoal Creek I couldn’t help but compare the way I was feeling to last fortnight’s 20 miler. We were in very much the same place now as we had been halfway through that run, and we hadn’t just slogged up 10 miles of hills. Its funny though, here we were five miles in to a run - only 25% different than that time - but somehow because it was a more familiar course (maybe) it felt like we had just set out. Nothing much to cover here other than the fact that the conversation was good, the weather wasn’t too much of a bitch, and the run was for the most part unremarkable. The only really interesting part came around 45th and Guadalupe, where we had to run through a construction zone that had the road closed.

Alex had caught up to us shortly before the previous waterstop; he was only doing 14 but Gilbert had told him that the group he was with wasn’t fast enough, so he sped up to run with us. Despite his best efforts (g) we were able to keep the pace somewhat more moderated and closer to our goal. Surprisingly enough, Jay’s entire pod caught us just before we left the second waterstop; I know we took our sweet time there, but they must have really turned it on for the second leg. We were slower than last month’s times here, but that’s alright.

It was starting to get hot - while we didn’t have the “wet sock” feelings we were used to, by the time we started running through campus you could tell that the climate was taking its toll. Put it this way - we were actually concentrating on running tangents on the curves this time. We did encounter one interesting fellow shortly before (or possibly shortly after, I don’t remember) the waterstop, hustling East and asking desparately if we knew where the Frank Erwin center was. We figured he was an American Idol contestent who was late for his appointment, pointed him on his way and wished him luck - looked like he’d need it. Maybe we’ll catch him on a blooper tape next year.

Our water stops were taking a good minute longer than they were last month - we were all drinking a ton, and trying not to drink too fast and cause cramping. That, and this run just felt a lot harder than the first one did. I’m sure its a combination of the heat and the repetitions. Anyway, this leg was a nice one just going down to 6th, then over to the post-Magnolia water stop. Carrie picked it up at around Congress to keep Kim company, and I came close to doing the opposite - somewhere along the way, near Z Tejas, I started to feel not dehydrated exactly, but as if I was getting close to that being a possibility. Not a very fun feeling when you’re looking at another 7 miles in front of you.

As you can see, last month I’d started to pick it up after the last waterstop. This time, Mike and I upped the effort a bit but we were both suffering from some pretty high heartrates. There was more water ahead at mile eighteen anyway, so we figured that we’d slack off a bit and maybe pick it up from that point. We saw a few people coming back as we headed out, including Jason, Frank, and - before we reached the turnaround - Carrie, looking very efficient and already finished with her final waterstop. I was really wishing I felt half that good.

The Gatorade was sitting near Exposition but I did an extra quarter mile, running to the boat docks and back to use the restroom. By the time I got to the cooler, Sommer had caught up with Mike and they were both ready to head out, so I told them to go and that (heh) I’d catch up. From here on, my mile splits from last time wouldn’t match up, so I’m dropping them off. They were averaging around an 8:00 pace though, just for reference.

This was the final stretch. When I’d gone to the bathroom it felt quite acidic/salty - I took in another good 8 ounces of fluids at the waterstop, and was probably still way under where I should have been. I managed to catch up with Sommer somewhere near the university housing, and she stayed right with me as we came up to the MoPac waterstop. I normally wouldn’t stop here, with two miles to go, especially after two closely-spaced breaks, but I had to. Mike was still here but headed out about 30 seconds after we showed up, and we not only drank our fill, I stuck my head under the shower and we walked for about 50M after the stop, before breaking in to a blistering jog. We discussed picking it up - heck, we were supposed to have picked it up miles ago - and came to the conclusion that we’d rather just live through this one. I figured that if I managed to just hold a reasonable pace for the remainder of the run without bonking totally that I’d done alright.

As you can see from that mile 21 time, we didn’t even really manage to keep our speed up where it had been for the bulk of the run. I won’t exaggerate here, this sucked. Still, it was great to have the company for the final stretch. When we got to the quarter mile marker Gilbert was there encouraging us - I can’t say that we picked it up much, but we did try to straighten out at least. They were just beginning the stretching when we went by, so after finishing, gasping, and drinking another 4-5 cups of water we headed back and worked out the bulk of our kinks.

My final time was 3:30:07 for an average pace of 9:34 which is better than I felt it was. Later on, Gilbert said that our finishing time here, for this run, under these conditions, should be approximately our race finishing time. That’s a comforting thought, at least, since that’s right on my goal. How much of a factor was the heat? Well, I figure I drank approximately 40 ounces of fluid during the run, and had two decent sized recovery drinks afterwards (probably 20 ounces each). I didn’t pee much at all. When I got home, I found out that I’d still managed to lose over five pounds. That’s a lot of sweating.

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