Someone flicked a switch and turned on summer. It’s hot again here in Texas. Some violent thunderstorms and flooding forced a change in the weekend running from trails to roads.
Still small increments of progress, steadily accumulating. 3 hours 15 minutes on Saturday, 1 hour and 40 minutes on Sunday. Both runs were routine, but I was tired afterwards and sluggish much of the weekend. Getting acclimated to the heat is always part of the June routine. It’s a slow, perspiration-laden build to my races this fall.
As part of my Badwater crew planning, I asked a fellow veteran crew member what works best in terms of clothing for Death Valley. Here’s what he had to say:
“When I’m pacing, I wear the white pants, long sleeved white shirt and the Legionnaire’s hat. After I run, and when I am in the van or doing non-running duties, I take off the pants and have running shorts underneath. I found I sweat more (less evaporation) when I was not covered up and in the van. I was cooler when I was in motion, and covered … being covered is paradoxically cooler than not being covered. When your body temp is 98.6, and the outside temp is Hell-5 degrees, you actually need protection from the outside … The nights are gorgeous. Stars brighter than you’ll ever see. Temperatures at night are very comfortable.”
I took his advice and splurged on the full “Badwater Nerd” costume from this website, including some SPF 65 sunblock. It’s going to be an interesting adventure for me, a great way to at least partially pay back Nattu for his advice and assistance over the past few years. And I’m definitely looking forward to seeing a night sky largely free of artificial light pollution.
I took a salad to the zendo on Sunday for all of the sesshin participants to share – there’s a 7-day sesshin this week that I can’t participate in, but I felt I should provide a little food anyway. Sitting and staring at a wall for a few hours makes you as hungry as a 3-4 hour run, and I know how much I appreciate the good food served during silent meals at the sesshins I’ve attended. I figured it was karma payback time.
One of these days, I also want to volunteer for aid station duty at an ultra rather than race it. Those who prepare and serve food during sesshins and ultras make all of our sitting and running possible. Let’s try to remember them in some helpful way this year, and every year, if we can.
6/8 Yoga 35 minutes
6/9 LHHS track, p.m. 4 x 800, 45 minutes total
6/10 Neighborhood, a.m. 1 hour 15 minutes. Yoga 25 minutes p.m.
6/11 Fitness Center, noon. 26-minute tempo run @ 7:50 pace, 46 minutes total.
6/12 Yoga 40 minutes
6/13 Neighborhood-Lake loop, a.m. 3 hours 15 minutes.
6/14 Neighborhood-North Creek Trail, a.m. 1 hour 20 minutes. Yoga 30 minutes.
