Run #5.2 - What a View!

Still feeling great after the Seattle Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon, I was ready to get started on training for my fifth half marathon coming up in July. I recently learned about a new, extended path heading along the river to the next town south of mine. Since Biker Boy was in town for the extended weekend I suggested we check it out together, and naturally he was game!

I taped myself up, lathered in some Mission Skincare sunblock, filled my water bottle and we got in the car. Huh? Yep, I diverted from my normal plan of just leaving from my house, and instead drove down to the high school where this section of the path begins. We left for the run in the morning, but it was already warm out. Darn.

The plan was to run 4 miles down, 4 miles back. Wouldn't you know it, BB, who hasn't run since he joined me for  a 4 mile run in early June, ran the whole freaking thing! Dammit!! I fully admit that I have a hard time in the heat and I'm still babying my left IT Band. However, with that said, this was the best I've ever run in the heat. I kept at it, I did walk up some of the longer hills, but I still pushed it when I ran and was going at a pretty good speed for myself in hot weather. 

Look at this fabulous view I had during the first four mile section!

I love Oregon!

At the turn around point I found a shady spot to stop and stretch a little bit. My shin was kind of feeling tight, as well as my tooshy. Plus it was freaking hot. When I looked out to enjoy the river view I had at that spot, I noticed two adorable things moving across the river. Horses! Two horses, on their own, just walking down to the river to get a drink of water. How precious!

The run back was actually faster than the way there I think. The hills were crazy, but this time they worked in our favor. All went well until the 10K mark The heat just got to me and I thought I was just going to collapse. I chose to walk at this time, thank goodness. BB was great and sacrificed his water and sprinkled it on my back to help cool me off. Fortunately by this time we were back at the fairgrounds and found a water hook-up spigot and refilled our bottles. I then noticed the gates were open, so I slipped in to use the bathroom and put cold water on myself. That really helped. 

The final 1.8 miles were a lot better, and I felt pretty strong by the time I finished. What a change from last year's summer runs!  In all I ran the 8 miles in 1 hour 34 minutes. Not bad at all I'd say!  I got in the car and was just baffled that it was only 64º. I mean I was certain it was about 95º. Turns out for some reason that day my car just wanted to stay at 64 ... it was really 80º or more. Phew - I thought I was just really losing my mind!

**I have now run more miles in 2011 than I did in all of 2010. Yippee!!**