Training Run (7/17/2010)

There are times when you have to ask yourself, is it worth injury to go out there and get the miles in? That's just what I thought this morning as it poured rain with a nice mixture of lightning and thunder; go get the miles in and risk getting struck but a huge electric bolt, or stay indoor until it passes - or skip today altogether. I opted to see if it would pass quickly and try to get the Sony laptop working again, and the rain passed. The picture here is of the route I ran this morning.

By 8:20 this morning I was dressed and ready to hit the road. I was well hydrated, partially stretched and mentally ready for a 10 mile run through the streets of Bethel. The temperature wasn't too bad, but the humidity was, and the further I ran the more the heat and humidity became a factor. I started with a decent 9:20 pace for the first six to seven miles, but by then the sun was starting to break through the clouds, this was the beginning of the end. By mile 8 I was running considerably slower than I had started, but still not too bad. It was here that I ran out of water as well. Mile 9 came and passed and I decided to walk about a quarter of a mile before running back to the house. I finished at 9.81 miles with a 9:46/mile pace and felt pretty good despite having lost nearly all liquid in my body to sweat.

Normally when I run in the mornings I don't see a lot of traffic or people out and about, but today was different. This weekend is the bi-monthly Bethel Village wide yard sale, and the people were out en mass this morning. This higher than usual concentration of cars, bikes and walkers made the trek a little slower, but at least there were a lot of people to wave to!

Donation update: With October approaching steadily (at the usual pace), my attempts to raise funds for autism research are finally starting to pay dividends. A big thanks go out to my first three supporters who have donated $70 dollars so far. This weekend I am taking aluminum can donations that I will be taking to the recycling plant next weekend. This coming Friday will be the first public fund raiser at Harmony Hill Winery between 5 - 9 pm. I really appreciate every penny that is donated to this great cause and hope the donations continue to come in. Thanks for your wonderful support of Runner With a Reason!