Heat. Humidity. Pollen. Snakes?!?!

The Fab Five, ready to rock it out on another eight-miler!

The five of us had a pretty tough eight-mile run today, but we got through it. It's like someone flipped a switch: we hit a record high of 81 degrees yesterday, which is blistering for early April, and the trees have responded by exploding into blossom (and weighing down the air with pollen). We runners responded by wearing shorts and short-sleeve shirts rather than the multiple layers we needed just last weekend. It seems impossible that it was just last Saturday that Rebecca's pigtails had a coating of ice and people's hats had frost on the sides! By the way, if you can't read it, Kelli's headband is hilarious. It says "Will run for wine." And that's Amy on the far right. (Everybody say "Hi, Amy!") If you don't recognize the other three people, you clearly haven't been following this blog for very long.

Several of us decided to try out some new gear on this run. Taking another step toward Ultra Hardcore Badass Runner-dom (Step 1: Eat gels, Step 2: Use BodyGlide), I wore my Saucony shorts for the first time today. These are the ones with a built-in liner. I decided to just trust the liner rather than adding another layer. The others agreed that this was pretty hardcore when I told them about it.

Liz showed off her new hydration belt. She wanted one that would put the water at the lumbar spine rather than on the front of the hips.

It holds a 22-ounce water bottle and has two side pockets big enough for keys and gels. Cool, no?

It was already in the upper 60s by the time we pushed off around 9:20. The air felt thick and sticky, a curtain to be constantly pushed aside. We did a leisurely 11:30 on our first mile, and then Amy, Kelli and I started to pick it up for the second mile. It was rough going. Just after we crossed the two-mile mark, Amy yelped, "Snake!" and vaulted a snake stretched right across the path (no doubt sunning itself before being so rudely interrupted). It was a small yellow-striped garter snake--kind of cute, actually, except for the being-right-in-our-way part. We stopped to look at it and point it out to the others, who carefully went around it.

That bit of excitement out of the way, we continued on to our first water stop at mile 2.7, not making particularly good time, and arrived there in 31 minutes and change. My wonderful husband was there with nice cool water, which tasted absolutely delightful, and the gel collection. Someone had told me that the Hammer apple-cinnamon gel tasted like apple pie, and wow, it really did. It tasted great. I think it's a tossup whether I like the raspberry or the apple-cinnamon flavor better. I'm just so happy I've found gels that don't make me want to gag.

Refreshed, we set out on the next leg through a more wooded area. We were rewarded with a bit of a breeze and some shade. Maybe it was just an illusion, but the air seemed cooler. We hit the 4-mile turnaround at just over 46 minutes and started back.

Unfortunately, Kelli and Amy and I didn't immediately see the next snake stretched across the path. It was on the left side and I was running on the right, so I didn't see it at all before I was past it, but Amy and Kelli had to do another vault-the-snake move. ("I thought it was a stick!" Amy said.) Liz and Lindsey were right behind us, so they got almost no warning, and this snake didn't look as friendly as the first one. It was a dark color with darker but not well-defined rings, longer and thicker than the first snake but still not humongous. It may have been another garter snake or perhaps a Northern Water Snake. It was rather cranky and actually reared back and hissed at Liz as she ran by. Yikes! The warmer weather must have brought all the snakes out of hibernation this week!

We hit mile 5.3 (and thus water/gel stop #2) at 1:03:05. In between slurps of gel and handfuls of pretzels, we talked about meeting for a weeknight run on Tuesday and agreed on a time and place. I have never run with anyone else during the week before--it should be fun! And we "only" have to do 4 miles, so it won't take that long, and then we can enjoy dinner afterward at a place Kelli suggested that sounded scrumptious. I'm looking forward to it.

I got a little watch-obsessed on the last 2.7-mile leg back. "If we run this last section in less than 31:55, we'll beat our time from two weeks ago!" I couldn't help saying, and okay, I admit it, I just wanted to be done already. So Kelli and Amy and I picked it up again, but the pollen and the swollen sweltering air were really getting to us, and we actually walked for about two-tenths of a mile just as we came up on Mile 7. At the mile marker, we resolved to burn it up and finish the last mile strong, and we did, though not without encountering YET ANOTHER snake! Once again, poor Amy had to play Vault the Snake, and I saw it and shrieked out a warning literally one step before she would have flattened it. This snake looked like the first one, but was even smaller. I was just glad Amy missed it.

I pulled slightly ahead of Amy and Kelli at the very end to finish in 1:32:59, two minutes and one second faster than two weeks ago. (That's an 11:37 pace per mile--pretty leisurely, but still faster than the 11:52 pace we posted last time.) Then we turned back to pick up Lindsey and Liz, who walked part of the way together because Liz' foot was in a fair bit of pain. "I'm all sausage-y," said Lindsey, showing us her swollen hands, and it was true: all of us had sausage fingers. The heat makes you swell up, I guess. That would explain why my feet felt like big globs of bread dough in my shoes. My right foot in particular was pretty unhappy by the end, and my right sartorius was a little achy for the last three miles.

None of us was really feelin' it (TM Randy Jackson) today, but we pushed on anyway and got it in the books! Now for the good part: the bakery.

Mindful of yesterday's post, I did not order several cubic yards of carbs. I got a cup (not a bowl, just a cup) of corn chowder and an egg salad sandwich and coffee. And then Kelli generously bought us an eclair to share and cut it in quarters for dessert. It was perfect, cool and creamy and chocolate-y all at once, and that quarter eclair made the whole damn run worth it.

P.S. And the new shorts were fantastic. Light and airy and perfect for warmer weather--and I didn't think for one second about the whole liner thing. If race day is warm and I can fit at least two gels into the one tiny inside pocket, I might even wear them to the race!