Hot, bothered but inspired

Today was supposed to be 17 miles. It also is, like yesterday, freaking hot. 32C with humidex of 36C or 90F/96F with humidex. I got out at 7:40 a.m. and it was really warm out. I knew it would be a challenging run and the original goal was to try to run for time, not distance. Originally I was aiming for two hours or to try to be back at the condo by 9:30 a.m. since JellyP is in town for work.

I ran to the Mall and started it out when I heard loudspeakers ahead. As I approached the Monument, I saw the cyclists and I knew that it was a triathlon. I ran into Hains Point and saw the volunteers setting up the aid stations. I later saw the race leader with a huge lead. I was energized and I thought 'If these guys can race in this weather, I should at least suck it up a little and get through most of this run'.

I ran into Virginia and again across the bridge to Lincoln Memorial when I saw the 9 a.m. wave of swimmers in the river. Amazing. I then ran again near Rock Creek Park and saw the cyclists whizzing by. By this time, I was clipping out good 5:05 kilometres or just over 8:15 miles or so. I decided that I woudn't do the 17 miles. I have build up the fitness and I would not lose it if I'd miss a 17 miler. This is taper and the amount of effort I ended up doing might as well have been a 14 mile run. I ended up with 11 miles in 1:33:17 with an average pace of 5:15 kms. I took some walk breaks to let the heart rate settle. At the end, I saw that the finish line of the race (the Olympic distance) was two blocks from R's condo so I watched and cheered in some of the racers.

So it looks like my longest run will be next weekend's 13 miler. No biggie that I've missed today's, I've got plenty of 17 to 22 milers in the bank with weekly 13 to 15 miles done on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Plenty of miles in me already.