So Much Humidity You Could See It

This was a jacked-up week, and next week promises to be more of the same. But more on that in a minute. I didn't run on Thursday since I was at The Boy's baseball practice until after 8 o'clock. I was playing infield while the kids batted and got in plenty of sweating and exercise, so I figured I was good. Plus I just felt worn out and thought I could use an off-day. Friday we took the family to Worlds of Fun, and I knew I wouldn't be running the day after walking around in mid-90 temperatures all day.

Which brings us to Sunday morning. I awoke at 5 a.m. and headed out the door by 5:20. My intent was to run as much as possible before the sun came up. However, I knew I was in trouble by the end of the first mile when I was already shaking sweat off my head. I ran toward the pool and then turned around to head back up Tullis to the park. About halfway up the hill I must have passed through a thermal layer or something meteorologically related because I went from humid cool air to humid extremely warm air. That produced an audible grunt from this runner. I planned on a 12-mile run and went 10 miles. I think the lesson I'm learning is that I need to hydrate earlier on my long runs. I waited until 8 miles in before grabbing my sports drink from the house and that was probably a tactical error. I also tried some new energy bursts since Target no longer carries sports gels. They were okay but a little more work than a gel. Because you know, chewing requires such effort. I have a half-pack left so I'll give them another shot before deciding if that's what I want to continue using.

On the last part of my run I started listening to Steven Wright's recent comedy album. Several lines made me smile and even laugh out loud. My favorite one so far: One of my friends has a trophy wife but it wasn't first place.

This week I'm at a conference in Denver, and I plan on running a couple of times there. I think I'll run Monday morning before heading to the airport, and then if things work out I'll run Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I'm looking forward to seeing some mountains!