That snuck up on me

I got a surprise on Monday or Tuesday. One of my coworkers asked about my weekend plans - Side Note: Who asks about the next weekend's plans on Monday or Tuesday? That's just rubbing it in that it's so far away. - and I started to give my standard "eh, nothing much" answer. Then I thought about it and checked my calendar and discovered that this weekend is the Seafair Torchlight run. This is going to be a special run for me. Last year I ran the Torchlight 5-k and it was like a rebirth of running for me. I'd done some in the past, but never very seriously and I've never kept it up as long as I have this time. I can't wait. I'll have a race report for that one up soon after, probably Sunday, but I reserve the right to be lazy and take my time writing it.

So my plan this week was to take it somewhat easy so that I'm not totally gassed by time the torch is lit. I have a time to beat (00:52:59), since I've run an 8-k within recent memory. I think my previous 8-k time is misleading since I actually had to wait at least three minutes for the freaking bridge to go back down. If you want to read about that one, go here.

Monday was a rest day, of course. On Tuesday I went to the gym and ran on a 'mill. I didn't do my planned interval run because of the aforementioned "take it easy" attitude. What I probably should have done was slowed my pace and made my short run take a bit longer than usual. Instead, I sped up and did the whole thing about a half mile per hour faster pace. I'd say that's going to burn me on Saturday night, but honestly there were other things that are far far FAR more likely to be a drain on my speed come race-day. More on that in a few minutes.

I got a new toy on Wednesday, but not until after I'd already gone to the gym and ran on the treadmill. I ordered a Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS receiver so that I can get a little more accuracy out of my training. If I'd just been able to come home half an hour later for lunch I probably would have been able to get it from the concierge and charge it up in time for an outside run to test it out, but I didn't so I went to the gym instead. As a result, the first time I use it might be at the Torchlight. I'm at least going to take it and see if I can figure it out in time to start the race.

My four-miler that evening sucked ass. I just can't think of a single good thing about it, other than that it eventually ended. As soon as I hopped on the mill I felt the urge to pee, but I toughed it out until the two-mile point. I could have gone the whole way without stopping, but it was a really hard run for not being any faster or longer than usual. So I took a 3 minute break to make a pit stop and then I came back with a little bit of rest to do the second half. I don't know what it was about Wednesday, but another running friend, who runs at the same gym and on the same treadmills, also had a tough running day. It must have been something in the air.

If there's anything about this week that is going to cause problems at the race, it's going to be my Thursday night activity. I've talked about working in a yoga class at the gym to act as my cross training and stretch me out a bit, but there's a place over on 4th and Olive, Urban Yoga Spa, that offers a Hot Hatha class on Thursdays at 6:30. It's a 90-minute class, and I should have known I was in for some trouble as soon as I walked in the classroom door. There was a time when a 100 degrees was hot, but I could function and be active in it. However, it's been three summers since I have experienced the heat of a Texas summer, and I've acclimated to the cooler weather of Seattle - Side Note: that should be read as "I've wussified." I'm not as heat resistant as I used to be.

We walked in the room and passed the conveniently placed thermostat which screamed 101 degrees at us. It was like willingly walking into an oven. I'm glad we had a few minutes to get used to it before the class started. I wanted to do a Hatha class because that's the type (I think) that focuses on balance and flexibility, two things that I desperately need work on. Not that I don't equally desperately need work on strength, but that takes more work. The poses weren't particularly challenging in and of themselves, but when you do those moves in temps ranging from 101 to 107 just standing up becomes a challenge all its own. In all the things I've ever done, including refereeing flag football in a Texas summer, I've never sweat so much. It was rolling off of me so fast it was almost a single, steady stream. Really, it's disgusting when you think about it.

After 45 minutes of standing poses, we finally got to get on the floor. I thought that the class was almost done, because as good as it was it still felt like hours in the standing part of the class. I was so hot that even laying still wasn't much of a relief. Here's something I never had a reason to consider about poses closer to the ground: the sweat has a better chance of pooling before it gets soaked up by the mat. At one point I looked down and I could SEE MY FREAKING REFLECTION IN A POOL OF SWEAT!!!! Without involving other bodily fluids, is it possible to get more disgusting than that? By the time the class was done, Lisa and I both looked like we had jumped into a swimming pool fully clothed and started home without trying to dry off. I hate the feel of a wet shirt that's had a chance to get cold touching my skin.

Now, you may have inferred that I didn't like the class from my description of it, but in retrospect I liked it a lot and I will probably do it again although it's not likely to be an every week thing. I'm still trying to recover a little bit, and there are a few things I will differently next time. Next time I'll bring a fresh pair of underwear so that I can shower at the studio. Next time I'll wear one of my sleeveless wicking shirts instead of your standard short-sleeve cotton t-shirt. The sleeves restrict my movement just a little bit and the cotton gets ridiculously heavy when it gets wet. And I'll stock up on some Gatorade or Powerade before I go next time. I didn't think about it until someone said something about it, but I probably needed to replenish a lot of electrolytes, not that I know what those are for, after all the sweating I did.

I'm looking forward to this run tomorrow night. We'll go up onto the Alaskan Way Viaduct almost immediately after the start, and there's something surreal about running down a place that you instinctively know you shouldn't be, like the middle of a highway. Plus, prophets, doomsayers and the occasional structural engineer all say that it's going to come crashing down at our next good earthquake, so I've got a lot of incentive to get on and get off as fast as possible. I'll get that race report done as soon as I can.