All this week I have been trying to get out early to beat the heat. Today was no exception. Unfortunately like several other days this week I didn’t get up early enough to beat it. But I did manage to go ahead an join it! So off I went with a bottle full of water and a couple of sharkies in my pocket.
It was one of those runs where I had no plans and no idea of how far I would go. Despite the heat I quickly decided to do a long one and headed out on one of my longer routes. I made a conscious effort to drink small sips of water at pretty regular intervals. This was the key to a successful run for me. I wasn’t really regulating my speed and heart rate, but I noticed four miles into it that I was keeping my HR pretty low, so I decided to keep at it and not push too much. The strategy worked out really well. I had water constantly throughout the run and even had extra energy to power up and out of the reed campus to make it to my neighborhood. It wasn’t until I stopped at the library to pick up one book that I had on hold and found a total of eight waiting for me that I acknowledged the run was over. I had to run about a tenth of a mile with my armload to reach nine miles and that was all I could muster. But I was satisfied. I’ll wait for double digit miles until I am ready for it (and don’t have the books!)
These hot runs this summer have had me a little concerned. We have had such a long cool spring that I have gotten spoiled. So when the temps finally increased I worried how I would react to them. So far so good. I have been bringing my water with me and taking little sips throughout the run. This really seems to help keep me hydrated. I also have been careful to get enough fluids in after the run too. Add in a good amount of shade on my main routes and I am surviving!
One thing about today’s run that was a bit of a bummer: when I got home I saw a message from my acupuncturist asking where I was. I had totally forgotten the appt. But she was gracious enough to fit me in and we had a really good session. She is concentrating on my foot issues of numbness and pain as well as helping me get rid of a plantar wart. For the plantar wart she is using a technique called maxa that consists of little tiny cones of incense that are burned on the accu points. She is doing them all around the wart as well aas in the center. The heat is supposed to bring the wart to the surface. So far it seems to be working really well and it actually looks better than ever and much better than salicylic acid treatments make it look (like a weird burned out crater.) She also works points on the leg and ankle. I haven’t seen a lot of improvement there, but this is also due to me not doing my foot stretches with a foam roller. I have had the worse blister on my little toe (actually the blister IS my little toe!) and it has been too painful to do much other than go barefoot. I have been running still, but with padding. My running shoes don’t appear to irritate it at all, but my converse sure did! The good news is that my toe is getting close to being back to normal! Phew. I am really curious to see what the accu is able to do for my foot pain and spacticity issues, more to come.