12 Miles in Heat and Humidity

After this morning, I am now officially one of those crazy people that my father shakes his head at. Yes, I got up at 4:30 to drive down to Ithaca and run 12 miles in high heat and humidity.

(We're leaving early Saturday morning to go to Cooperstown, NY to see the Pirates of Penzance at the Glimmerglass Opera so I won't have enough time to run with the group that day. Several other people also had weekend commitments so we decided to meet on Wednesday and do the long run together.)

When I left the house it was 80 degrees in Interlaken. According to this weather station located in Ithaca, it was 75.8 degrees with 88% humidity when we started running a little after 5:30. When we finished, 2 hours and 31 minutes later, the temperature was about 81.8 with 79% humidity.

We ran one 6-mile loop two times and had four water stops. After the first loop, I ingested my first ever packet of GU (lemon sublime flavor) which is supposed to give me more energy for the rest of my workout. I couldn't tell if it worked and the stuff is thick and gross so I'm not anxious to try it again. Despite being very tired in the legs, I did finish the second loop, although I walked up two hills and a few other short sections. 12 miles is a long way, particularly in 80% humidity. (This is the first time I have been able to wring my shorts out from sweat, not rain.)

In the true spirit of marathon training, I have been experiencing some minor aches and pains, chafing and abrasions on my chest from the neckline of my sports bra (because I keep forgetting to slather myself with Body Glide) and now, after today's run, three bruised, purple toenails.

The rest of my body feels surprisingly OK after these 12 miles but my toes are SORE so I am walking gingerly and trying not to have them stepped on by the kids (no easy feat--pardon the pun.) The toes in question are the second toes on both feet and the big toe on my right foot. The left toe is the most sore and purple:


while the others are more mildly bruised:



I may take tomorrow off and rest my poor feet.

And thanks to some very generous recent donations by friends and family, I'm now 99% of the way to my fundraising goal of $4,000! Anyone want to give $37 to make it 100%?