12 Odd Miles of Fail

Quite simply, I got my ass handed to me this morning in my (supposed to be) 12 mile long-run.

Heat index was already in the low 90s when I got underway, and from there mother nature just repeatedly kicked me in the crotch as I tried to grind out the miles.

Did an out-and-back, and at the turn at 6 miles I knew I was in trouble.  My internal radiator just wasn't working for me today.  By 2 miles in my shirt was drenched, and I was already hitting the Accelerade.  Slowed my pace after the turn, but just couldn't seem to regulate my temperature.  Finally at 9.5 miles I had to throw in a 1/2 mile walk to try and cool off and recover a bit, resumed running, but after a mile had to throw in another walk-break. By this point I had drained all my Fuel Belt flasks and was really struggling.  Picked up with a slow run again, but could tell my form was really hurting, and rather than risk injury I walked it in from the 11.4 mile mark.

As I've said several times before I love running in the heat and working up a good sweat, but today the heat gods decided to smite me, and smite me good.  I'll break down the run a little later, see what I can learn, and move on to the next one.  Still better than not being able to get out there and even try, which is where I was a couple months back, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Good news is that with all that time out there flailing I was able to test-drive some more throwback training tunes, and should be able to pass a few along this week.  Week 2 is off to a rough start, but I'll get my revenge.