Three Hot Runs

Tuesday, July 7:

Five miles today in the noonday sun. Sweet Pea and I went out for a run in a local neighborhood, she running a little less distance. We like that - we do repeats of a loop that’s a bit less than a mile, in opposite directions, and greet each other every few minutes. It works. And the loop was less boring than usual today, because of some construction that we could ogle each time we passed by.

Total time was 56:42, for a pace of 11:34. That includes a significant amount of walking with Sweet Pea. I ran at a pace of 9:21 in the central loops. Afterward, though not during the run, I felt a little ache in the right hip that could be either a bursa or the ITB. I’ve had trouble with both, and could have annoyed either of them on the very uneven grass trails in the park two days ago, and some more today on the left side of a road that does have a significant crown. I’ll run very short on Thursday, preferably on flat and level pavement. Maybe the Gateway. Even 3 miles would put me at 26 for the week - enough considering that I ran three marathons in June. Building back toward 30 miles per week.

Sunday, July 5:

With a 4-mile race behind me Saturday, this was a good day to try some hot-weather running. There is a chance that I will do a long race in hot weather soon, longer than a marathon, and a nice 14-mile training run would help my body become conditioned to that. I ran in my usual park, one loop of 6.9 miles and another of 7.1 miles, all on energy-sucking grass & dirt trails. No pavement. Walked up most hills and at other times as well, water every 15 minutes, salt and a gel about every 45 minutes. The afternoon temp was about 85 and the blistering sun showed no mercy. Sometimes I felt a little flushed in the face and slowed just to cool off a bit.

It went OK, though not wonderfully well. I finished in 2:39:57 for an overall pace of 11:26. If that pace could be extrapolated to a marathon, it would mean a finish of almost exactly 5 hours. But I must say that I don’t know where the energy would come from for the rest of a marathon, much less an even-longer race. I felt pretty well wiped out after these 14 miles. I’d have to slow down even more, walking still more of the time, if I would expect to finish an ultra in such hot weather.

There is good news though. I felt no sign of the calf cramping that hampered me in Grandma’s Marathon. Of course that problem really didn’t stop me in Grandma’s until mile 16, but I think I’d have felt some symptoms in 14 miles of hilly trail running. Appropriate hydration and salt intake probably did make a difference.

Gel was Hammer Gel, free handouts from Grandma’s Marathon, and it caused no gastric problems at all. I always took it with water, of course. I tried my new Dirty Girl Gaiters and got no rocks or sand in my shoes.

First loop 1:14:53 (6.9 mi) = pace 10:51, Second loop 1:25:04 (7.1 mi) = pace 11:59, total 2:39:57 (14 mi), overall pace 11:26.

Saturday, July 4:

Marine on St Croix held the 39th running of its 4-mile race celebrating the Fourth of July and benefiting the Marine on St Croix Restoration Society and Marine National Holidays Committee. Several of the St Croix Valley Runners traditionally run that race; it’s a nice little downhill jaunt.

I ran about as fast as I could, finishing the 4.1 (or so) miles in 34:26 for a pace of 8:30. I guess that’s probably my 5k pace right now, or 4-mile downhill pace. In 2006 I finished the same race six minutes faster. I did walk a few times. Dave finished ahead of me pushing a stroller! I hate that. But Dave has always been faster than me. I placed 7th of 13 in the 60+ age group. In fact I’m proud to see that 13 of the 129 runners were men over 60. Good health to us!



We think this pretty girl is a Barred Owl, often called a hoot owl. She graced us with her presence for a couple of days recently, not far from our kitchen window. On and off. According to the bird book she eats anything smaller than her that runs, crawls, wiggles, swims, or flies, though she can't catch a smaller bird on the wing. She is especially keen on moles, voles, and mice. Good for her! She normally hunts at night, but may hunt during the day if she is feeding her chicks. She might also be a he - the sexes are almost indistinguishable, especially to us.