Feelin' hot, hot, hot... (no, really)

It is 76 degrees right now. For those of us who have managed to eke out a life here on the frozen tundra, that is HOT.

Fortunately, I managed to finish my run just shy of 11:30 this morning, so I'm not out there broiling now. I knew it was going to be a short-sleeve and shorts kind of day when one layer and a coat was too warm to walk the dogs in this morning. When I left the house just after 10:00, it was already 60 degrees!

I went and parked at the gym so I'd be able to go inside and stretch after I was done, and I decided to add one more little wrinkle to today's 10K: I was NOT going to stop my watch while I had my gel-and-water break at the halfway mark. Time to start working on efficient mid-run fueling, like those guys in the pits at the Indy 500.

I started to run and had to stop (and yes, I turned off my watch, yeah yeah yeah) after a paltry three minutes because the band-aid I'd put around one of my poor afflicted toes made things worse, not better. I literally plopped down on a curb, ripped my shoe and sock off, and yanked that sucker off. Man, did it hurt. I think keeping it on for 10K might have been fatal. Or at least made me wish I were dead.

That little problem taken care of, the rest of the first mile went much better. I made it up the first hill, though it still made me breathe hard, and enjoyed the sunshine and birdsong. You know it's truly spring when the sparrows try and nest in your dryer vent. They do it every year, and every year I yell and wave my arms. Some years I tape the vent shut and only open it when I'm using the dryer.

Around another corner, and here comes the Giant Hill. Mile 2 is right at the very top of the hill and I am determined not to walk it today. Just as I'm thinking that, my stomach growls. I had half a Clif bar 30 minutes before I pushed off, but I guess it wasn't enough. I curse my annoying stomach and keep going. A car waits at the red light where the very steepest part of the hill is, music blaring out the windows, the bass making the trunk vibrate. I am certainly not going to walk now! I keep running, one foot in front of the other, and make it to the top of the hill without walking, though not without breathing like some kind of psycho stalker dude.

The next 1.1 miles are mostly downhill or level, which lets me catch my breath and recover. I get back to my car at 32:24. Not bad for having to go up the Giant Hill.

I should have already had my gel out and opened before I got to the car, but I didn't, so I waste a few seconds opening the packet. It's a raspberry gel this time, and wow, it actually tastes good. The sun has warmed it, so it goes down easily and makes me think of pie and summer and sitting on the porch. I alternate squirts of gel and swallows of water until the gel is all gone, which takes me a little over a minute, but then I realize my parking permit is not visible on my dash. I waste more precious time unlocking my car and getting the permit where it needs to be, and only then do I dash off into my next 5K. Total time idling: two minutes.

I think about doing Liz's Loop again, but the thought of having to tackle the Giant Hill a second time is more than I can stand, so I do the 5K race course instead. Huffing and puffing and hot, I arrive back at the car exactly 32 minutes later, so my total run time for the 10K was 1:04:24. If you include the break, it's 1:06:24. (That's a 10:22 per mile pace without the break and 10:41 with it.)

Considering it's hot and the air is full of tree pollen, I'll take it.

I bump into Betsy while I'm inside the gym stretching, and we end up going out to lunch after her workout. We sit outdoors to soak up the sunshine. I think I have my first sunburn of the year. But who cares?? It's spring. No foolin'!