RUN: 4+ miles in Heat. Home <--> Interlachen

6:00pm is still too early to run nowadays.

It was friggin' hot outside. And it was a harsh reintroduction to running. I've been averaging 1 1/2 days of running/week with an average of maybe 3 miles. Today I put in 4+. I carried half-a-bottle of water, of which half went in my mouth and the other half on top of my head. I could feel the steam rising from the back of my neck.

Before the run, I had put on a layer of sunscreen on everything except my face. Also, I applied a quick layer of bug spray (as learned from last time I ran here). I also carried a face towel to wipe away my sweat, and it was very very much needed.

One of the factors of my non-aggressive running schedule is my fear that I'll ruin my knees. Many times after I run or a long day of walking, my knees feel beat up. And I've attributed it to my habit of sashaying instead of walking normally. Upon greater analyzation, I've come to the further conclusion that it's because I'm using more my lower legs to run instead of my abs.

I've always had weak abs. In middle school gym class, I could do more than a dozen pull-ups, run the sub-8-minute mile, but I had to work hard to get the 56 sit-ups in a minute to earn the Presidential Fitness Award. I looked like I have six-pack abs because I've always been pretty lean. Now that I'm not running as much, they're starting to fade away... fade away...

That's what happens when you get older... and gayer.

I need to stop my swishing and get serious about my running... I've got three months before the Disneyland Half-Marathon, and I want to be ready, willing, and able to finish the darn thing. I've run 8 half-marathons and 2 fulls, but this will be the most difficult as far as training goes.

Anyways, here's the pic from the run. Enjoy.