June Bug Running

[Crankin]

That's so cool, Oak. Not many "famous" people would send a personal note.

[Catrin]

... But, since I was thinking about it, Catrin - although it's probably a good idea to have water on the trails where getting lost is a possibility, I think a lot of gym rats can get married to their water bottles. I don't ever carry water on runs of less than an hour and a half, longer in cooler weather. And I typically carry more water than most runners - I think I'm the only non-ultra runner in the world who uses that three-liter Synergy pack, and I'll use it whenever I go over 18 or so, particularly if it's hot. Are you sure you need to be thinking about water carriers yet?

I am indeed a gym rat, and yeah, I am tied to my water bottle I hadn't even considered not taking it - and there is the occasional water source in the park I jogged/walked to. I don't see my running outside in any other location for now so it is likely a non-issue at this time. I also didn't notice any foot pain or soreness from running on that trail with my usual running shoes - but that trail is quite smooth, very very few roots and what gravel there may have been was very small and not loose. I just walked the small sections that were more rough.

Nice that you got the personal touch from the author!

[Crankin]

I can do 2 miles without water, in cool or cold weather, but anything over 3 miles, I need water. I drink a lot, maybe from all my years as a gym rat, but probably also from living in the desert. When I moved here, it kind of astounded me how little people hydrated.

[skhill]

I don't usually carry water either. Most of my usual routes take me past public water fountains from time to time so there's no need. But those rare occasions when I run on the nearby MUP-- about 10 miles from my front door to the far end-- I do bring some. There are a couple of porta-potties, but no water out there... At 5'6" and 130lbs, I'm hardly a twig either; it gets me sometimes that I'm average height and far from underweight and yet unisex smalls can be huge...

The knee basically felt fine today, thankfully. A few twinges when on a very tilted stretch of sidewalk, but it's been OK since. 7 miles in an hour and I've been constantly hungry since.

[yellow]

I had a pretty good event last weekend at the Bighorn Mtn Trail Run 50 (actually 52) mile near Dayton, Wyoming. The last 20 miles were a little rough--I ended up a bit dehydrated and my hip got angry--but I finished, and finished running (many people walked the last 5 miles, which was on double track). I was fortunate to connect with a wonderful woman at about mile 28 and we finished together. We were in the same age group and although we crossed the finish together (hand in hand), her chip registered first so she got 2nd in AG and I got 3rd. I can't complain. It was a beautiful course, the weather was awesome, I met many wonderful people, I did not puke, and I ran more than I hiked. The course surprised me; it was much harder than I thought it would be (much of it was very technical singletrack). 10:56 and change. I feel pretty good this week, and am recovering quickly. I have another 50 mile in mid-July. Back at it next week!

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[OakLeaf]

Wow, congratulations Yellow!

[Catrin]

Wow Yellow - that just sounds plain awesome!!!! Sounds like you were in beautiful surroundings!

[skhill]

Wow, Yellow! Sounds like a great event and a great adventure!

Today was an easy run, but my route took me past the track. So in honor of Tyson Gay, national champion in the 100 and 200 and local hero, I threw in a couple 200s (yards not meters). First one I really tried to run fast and did it in 41 seconds. Second one I relaxed and focused on good form and did it in 40 seconds. A good lesson to remember! Including the track exploits, a total of 5.9 miles and boy it was humid out there.

[OakLeaf]

I guess I'd heard a little bit about the One Run for Boston, but I didn't know until Friday that the route was going to pass a mile and a half from my house. I wasn't going to miss that. I only ran about 2-1/2 miles with the relay runners - with running out to meet them and running back from where I turned around, it gave me not quite 8 for the day, which was enough in this heat, over 90° and humid.

Generally I'm skeptical of charity events, especially since this one apparently hasn't even bothered to file for tax-exempt status (it isn't the deduction I'm worried about, it's the basic commitment to accounting that the application represents) - but it's a pretty amazing undertaking, there's a lot of healing going on among the runners, they claim to be the first non-stop cross-country running relay, and I wanted to be a little part of it.

The women officially running the stage came from the other end of Ohio, so I didn't know them - but it turns out that they were at the same place I was when the race was stopped, at Commonwealth & Mass. Ave. One was running, the other had gone as a spectator since she'd been injured. I was really glad I ran with them today, even for such a short distance.

[Crankin]

That is awesome, Oak. And in 90 degrees .

[OakLeaf]

The whole stage was 13.5 miles. The stage before ours the woman ran solo (with a support vehicle that's doing the whole relay) at a staggering pace - a couple of degrees cooler, but way hillier. At least one or two of the overnight stages last night went through severe thunderstorms - don't know how severe it was out on the course, but we had massive amounts of lightning here. And the baton kept moving. It's got a GPS tracker so you can follow it on the website (and join in or cheer if anyone is nearby). And such a feeling of community among the runners. What an incredible event. I wish I'd done more of it - if I'd known about it earlier I'd probably have signed up to do the whole stage - but I'm really glad I got a chance to participate.

[Veronica]

I picked up Marathon Woman after Oak wrote about it. What an awesome book! Thanks for telling me about it.

Sue, you always amaze me.

We ran 5.5 miles on Sunday in Maine, the last mile in pouring rain. My feet were so wet, I didn't even notice I was running in puddles until Thom told me to get out of them. It wasn't cold, so it was a fun adventure. We're in Boston now and thinking about where to run to tomorrow, maybe Bunker Hill, maybe towards the Tea Party ships. We've walked that way and the sidewalk is pretty smooth, unlike other places we've walked to.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Ran to Bunker Hill and back - 3.5 miles. It's kind of foggy in Boston this morning. It's strange to be in a place that actually has weather in the summer. It was too early for the Monument to be open this morning, but it was easy to imagine how much you'd be able to see from the hill before there were all the buildings.

Veronica

[skhill]

Second crappy run in a row today. Yesterday was warm and humid and I hadn't slept well, so it was understandable. Today's weather was much better and I got enough sleep, but it felt like I was running through oatmeal. I gave up at about 6.5 miles, half of what I had intended. So it was unintentional tapering for Thursday's 10k.

[TrekDianna]

After thinking about it, and deciding to break the "I will never run again" vow I made after retiring from the Army, I signed up for a 5k and ran it on June 30th. My goal was not to come in last in my age group and I didn't! I was right in the middle. I'm not so much interested in racing against other people as I am in bettering my own times. I suppose that's sort of strange to enter a race with no intention of racing!