IT'S THE HEAT!!!

Well, obviously I haven't been keeping up with this blog thing as much as I thought I would but my training runs are definitely more consistent.  I've been getting in my long runs on the weekends and have started to up the miles for my runs during the week.  So far, so good.  Ran 9 miles yesterday early morning and at a good pace.  So, with the 22 I did on Sunday, 6 on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday, and 9 yesterday, that puts my weekly miles so far at 40 miles and I'm planning to try and do 25 tomorrow.  65 miles in a week will, without a doubt, be my highest mileage in a week ever.  Sad thing is, I have to run almost that far in just one day.

Nice.

So, about that heat thing and my 22 on Sunday.  I left out on the White Trail at Oak Mountain at 6:20 a.m and did the 11 mile White to Blue and back loop.  The first loop felt great.  Nathan 70 oz hydration pack kept me hydrated and I think I ate effectively the day prior.  However, 6 miles into the second loop, my calves started to cramp again.  I hobbled along for 10-15 minutes hoping it would work itself out but it didn't so I had to resort to some fairly deep muscle tissue massage with my knuckles (painful to say the least) to see if I could get the calves to relax.  It helped a bit but not 10 minutes later, they returned in full force..and I do mean in FULL FORCE.

The last 4 miles were absolute torture.  I was walking at a 20 min/mile pace and even that was hurting.  The constant climbs and descents of the Blue Trail were excruciating.  I tried to run the flats and the descents and was able to on the flats but the descents have just a high grade with so much rock and roots, my legs just weren't able to safely keep my footing.  There was one section of the Blue Trail that I had to sit for about 5 minutes because of the pain and the dizziness.  I think I was pretty close to heat exhaustion.  I didn't really realize it at the time because I had already consumed about 130 oz of water with electrolytes but now it's pretty evident that's what was going on.  When I finally got made it back to the car, I seriously started to worry that I had bitten off more than I could chew with this first 50 Mile Ultra.  I didn't know if it was the heat, my supplements, or just a lack of endurance. 

I reached out to my ultra 'mentor', David Tosch (http://yourfirstultra.blogspot.com/) who luckily for me lives and runs with me here at Oak Mountain.  To my relief, David was sure it was the heat.  He also had a pretty tough weekend at Oak Mountain because of the heat and this is a guy who just did the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile Ultra a month ago.  I think I just need to not worry so much about the time and take it a bit slower when it gets hotter.  I'm just so worried about this 14 hour time limit and with my stops at the 9 aid stations, I now will have only about 13.5 hrs to finish a Grade 4 Ultra.

Nice.

Tomorrow should be another warm one, 90 plus, but hopefully with the new Vespa supplements, the Nathan Pack, new Electrolyte tabs, and my knowledge that I just need to slow down, I can complete this 25 miles and not have to be airlifted off the mountain...