We went down to Gainesville, Florida this weekend for my sisters graduation from grad school. Cheers to Hannah for becoming a doctor! After being stuck in airports and having canceled flights for almost 12 hours on the way down, I finally arrived with a fever. Slept it off that night and participated in all of the graduation activities on Saturday! After the food coma from lunch started setting in and then following the watching of the sensational win by Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby, I figured it was time to go out for a little run. It had been a few days, as this past week I had lots of exams and projects due and what better time to do it then actually being in Florida!
Figuring it was about time I try out all my gear for a longer run, after taking about 10 minutes to get it all on I was ready to go (or go find my camel as Mark might say). Heading out the first mile or two was like trying to make homemade ice cream, the gears were just not turning so easily. After getting a little loosened up I was cruisin though. Felt great to be outside, felt great to be running by things I had never run by before, felt good to explore the city of Gainesville. I stopped about 5 miles into the run and walked for 1oo yards, at this point covered in sweat. When I started again I felt cold? This new material I was running in is amazing, granted the sun was going down so it was getting cooler, it was still 77 degrees, and I was cold. Sauna training is paying off big time.
If there's one thing I can't stand from all the camping trips and hiking explorations I've been on, it's that high pitched buzzing sound of a mosquito in your ear. Maybe thats why I started running fast/hiking fast, who knows. Well I figured out right quick that in Florida, mosquitoes do not fly at 8.0 miles an hour, so if I just keep running, well thats enough motivation for me.
The hardest part about the run, as I had guessed, was the flat/straight/boring pitch that I was running on. As much training on the treadmill as I've done, its still a whole different ball game looking out there in front of you and all you see is sidewalk, for miles, and miles. This being said, I can only imagine whats going to be going through my head once I get to mile 53 of the race and have to cross the 7 mile bridge without support crew help.
Here is my solution and I'm going to leave it up to those of you reading my blog to help me here. I've asked a few people already in person, and gotten some great responses and even a few cd's already :-) For anyone who wants to participate I want to know everyones favorite song (now I know for some of us its hard to pinpoint one, so if you can't make up your mind between 2 or 3, go ahead and let me know them all!). It can be your favorite workout song, or just your favorite song in general. Collectively I will put together a mix of all the songs on my mp3 player and play that during the race while I am running. Probably the easiest way to do this would be just send me an email at mccoyan@vt.edu with the title as Favorite Song or something along those lines, don't leave out your name either! I'd like to know who they are all from because thinking about my family and friends is one of the things that keeps me going so when your song comes on during the race you know who ill be thinking about! Looking forward to hearing all the different tastes!
Total on the day -
Distance - 8.21 miles
Temp - 82 degrees at 45% humidity (Temp is about the same as keys, humidity will be double)
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