Holy Humidity, Batman!

Ahhh, I had an up close look at what the phrase, "it's not the miles, but the humidity that kills you," really means. Ok, so maybe that's not exactly how the saying goes, but I have never been so aware of how true that saying really is until I set out for a 16 mile run this morning. For the first 7 miles I just kept thinking that running shouldn't feel so much like swimming. The first onset of that, "Ehh, maybe I'll just quit," feeling was at half a mile. Yep. I didn't quit even though I pretty much wanted to every step of the way. My body just kept moving forward.

Falls Bridge over the Schuylkill River

I had a rough start to my run, and I tired to shake it quickly, but the issues to start off with weren't the biggest problem of my run. I started at Lloyd Hall on the Schuylkill Loop in Philadelphia. It is full of runners, walkers, cyclists, and the guy that I saw today who danced and shadowboxed his way up and down the path. I love passing by people who simultaneously put a smile on my face and make me look a little more sane. I looked extra psychotic today due to my discomfort. I only know that because any person who happened to actually make eye contact with me showed a change in expression that went from, "hello there," to "Should I call 911? Nah, I think she's gonna make it, and on the off chance that she is going to try to attack me, I think I can out run her." 

Matt's reward for waiting around while I ran

was this gem of getting to see me fall over

while I was trying to use a lamp post to stretch.

Turns out that they weren't kidding about blocking everything off for the Made in America concert. I turned around at the blockade, which I was actually a little thankful for because I decided that I should go ahead and use the public bathrooms at Lloyd Hall. Well, they are locked until 8 in the fall. It was not even close to 8 am. I used the nearby porta-potty, which had no toilet paper or hand sanitzer. Yeahhhh. It was a nice start. I also very quickly consumed a gel because I could tell that the weather conditions were really dragging me down. The only problem was that I had just eaten one when I got out of the car, and they were both caffeinated. That didn't turn out well. I was having slight heart palpitations and chest pain for the next 5 or 6 miles after that. 

Matt and I had a conversation the day before about how long it would take me to run 16 miles. Neither of us

was right, really.  Well, I thought it would take me about 3 hours. I was at 1:30:34 after finishing mile 8, which was pretty freaking good because I walked SO MUCH. Gah. I was just dragging. I was so annoyed that even though I was moving forward, I kept slowing to a walk. I just could not find a rhythm today, and I seriously wanted to give up. I knew that I could just run the last half, then I would prove Matt wrong, but that didn't happen. And although it didn't take 4 hours, it was way too close for my liking. At least I know that I could do way better in sightly more favorable conditions.