The Dirty Dozen...

For the third time this year, I ran 12 miles. Uuugh... I just can't put into words how painful it was this morning to run the lake. Ok... maybe I can.

First of all, I'm calling this "The Dirty Dozen" because it was probably the toughest run we've had this year. We seemed to have so many obstacles working against us today!

I met Becky at 7:15 AM this morning at Big Thicket - the eastern side of the lake. We hit the road shortly thereafter, and immediately things went south.

One thing that was apparent is we were missing 1/3 of our team - Chandra is in Boston this weekend. Both of us had also worked out the day before. Becky had run in a 5k for charity, and I had mountain biked almost 7 miles with Rob and Kevin. Anyway, we were feeling the effects of sore calves. It took just over 3 miles before they loosened up for both of us.

Next, the humidity. It seems we have very humid mornings here in Dallas these days, and I gotta say that it's killing us! You can't breathe! It's like running in a sauna. So that just causes me, the Sweatinator, to just stream water.

Around mile 5 my right knee started up. This was the same knee I had major problems with in 1999 when I ran the previous marathon. I had to walk - and the only way I can describe it is it felt like someone was jabbing my funny bone... but in my knee. Thankfully, it loosened up and we were able to start running after a bit.

After 6, we started feeling the heat. Geez Louise it was hot! So, humidity... heat... it was a banner day for both of us! Anyway, we ran as best we could and drank as much as we could. At mile 9 I stopped at my truck to drink water and get a dry sweatband. We then made our way across the bridge again and to the other side of the lake, where we turned back and finished up 12 miles in 2 hours 24 minutes. Not a blazing time by any means, but given what we were up against, we were VERY happy with the results.

Just for grins, I want to show you what it looks like to mountain bike. On Saturday (as I mentioned) we biked Boulder Park. It was hot and humid even in the 7 o'clock morning hour, but it was a good "cross training" session for me. Anyway, it looks like spaghetti compared to a run. Mmmmmm.... spaghetti.... :-)