cramps and bridges and fog, oh my

I’m going to combine a few training updates in one big post, because they just seem to flow that way.

On Wednesday, I completed Week 5, Day 3 of the 5-10K plan for the second time (5:00 warmup/30:00 steady run/5:00 cool down). I got out a little later than planned, and it was humid. Horribly humid. In addition, I didn’t really have enough time for my small pre-run snack to digest, nor was I able to get enough water in me on the way out the door (it still takes me forever to drain my Tervis). I paid dearly. I was sluggish and crampy, so after 15 minutes of running, I started doing 4:1 walk/run intervals, figuring that some running was better than none. Rather than being annoyed, I was pleased that I had gotten out at all and that I hadn’t just cut the whole thing short.

The biggest positive of the morning was looking to one side of the sky and seeing the bright, full moon, and then looking to the other and seeing the glorious sunrise. Stunning.

Friday was almost worse. The planned run was shorter (5:00 warmup/25:00 steady run/5:00 cool down), and I felt properly fueled going out the door, but then our youngest pug got upstairs and wreaked havoc ther, and a frog jumped out at me from the garage door opener control panel and well… it just went downhill from there. About three quarters of the way through, the 5-10K app had a hiccup so I lost that data, and then my RunKeeper app jammed and I had to restart that. Ugh. I really like having my numbers so I can compare and analyze my performance, but I knew how much I had left to complete the workout, so I just set my stopwatch, put my head down and finished.

I did not have the highest hopes for Saturday. We were out late for a wonderful retirement party, I didn’t get to sleep until 12:30, and then had to be up at 5 AM for our bridge run. For some reason, I felt pretty fresh when the alarm went off, and was kind of eager to get going. And then I opened the back door to let the pugs out. It was like being slapped in the face with tepid pea soup. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

However, I was committed, so I packed my bag, loaded up my water cup and grabbed the keys.

When the headlights came on the car, I thought it was raining. And then I realized it was fog. Thick, obstructive fog.

Unnerving is the best way to describe it. We had a very long, careful ride out to the bridge, with the fog never lifting.

I mean, can it be more eerie than this?

It never once let up. The sunrise it created could only be described as baleful, something out of a science fiction novel.

The fog just swallowed the road. There weren’t a lot of runners out, but it was hard to see the ones who were way ahead.

And while the fog was impressive, the real star of the show was the oppressive humidity. The air was wet and heavy, lacking the usual relief of a breeze off the ocean. I was sweating from my elbows and other places from which I never knew I could perspire.

The challenge was real, and I think I rose to meet it. I completed about four miles, running the whole way up and down the bridge once, and then walking up and running down three times, for two complete bridge reps. I had wanted to do the bridge one time and then run on the flat to the beach or the nearby pier, but I didn’t feel entirely safe doing it alone (I had separated from my friend so she could do her six mile run). There’s always next time.

Overall, I’m doing ok. It’s a slow buildup, and I am looking forward to increasing my miles as time passes. I waver between being frustrated at myself for not pushing myself to the breaking point (which is clearly the wrong thing to do, anyway) and being happy that I am out there running.

For now, I’m going with happy. Very red, but very happy.

And in other news? Mr PugRunner is hitting the bridge workouts, too. I am so proud of this guy. My lovely friend, Melody, snapped this picture of him as he finished up his run on Sunday.

How are you beating the heat this summer? 

Do you dial back your workouts when conditions aren’t great, or do you just go for it and hope for the best?