One thing that I've learned about myself over the years is that my body really doesn't tolerate extreme anything particularly well. Heat, cold, elevation...I probably have a story where I've either wound up in an ER or should have.
So after running the Broad Street Run, I chased winter in Colorado and experienced altitude sickness for the second time in the last decade. In my defense, I was completely fine at 9,000', and arguably I would have remained upright if all I was doing was just sitting around on my rear at 11,000' rather than attempting to follow way stronger skiers around A-basin 15 hours after landing in Denver.
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| Chasing winter....in May! |
Finally, I remembered: get out there before the sun gets too high because I am way better at dealing with mugginess than heat. Or, run a north/south route so that the buildings block the sun. Also, I'm giving my wrist a break from carrying around a Garmin or any timing device for that matter. None of my routes are new. I know their distances, and all I'm aiming for right now is an aerobic base.
Not all my runs since this epiphany have been great, either, but I'm not as stressed out about something that's supposed to be fun. My road trip wing woman and I are registered for my second half marathon — the Urban Bourbon in Louisville, Kentucky — this fall. I want to run a half in under 2 hours at some point, but my strategy for now is to see where this summer base building thing takes me and go from there.
We're really running for the bourbon at the finish line, anyway.
