Day 4,165—the Heat, the Errands, and thinking about the 50 State Project—

 

        I slept until 7:30 and struggled to start my run by 9 a.m. I was tired, but I didn’t run that much yesterday, and the week before, I didn’t do as much as I wanted. Sunday, I meant to run longer. Now, I am starting to question my training, but at the same time, I don’t think I have gotten out of shape since the Badger 100. I might be smart to do a longer run next weekend, but after that, I will plan to keep it closer to 30 miles over the weekend, around what I did this weekend.

        Yesterday, I might have only run 14 miles, but I was outside for hours at the Green Tree Festival, carrying children and standing in the heat. I wish I had left my watch on to see how much I walked. I doubt it was more than 3 miles, but it felt like a lot, so I felt the pressure to run at least a marathon today, but I got off to a slow start. I also wasn’t motivated to do a straight loop that I have done recently. The heat was bad already and getting worse. I decided to make the most of my unique challenges today and do some errands, starting by running to the store to buy bread. I was surprised by how many people were working in the morning.

        I ended up getting some things for my kids, so I was carrying the bread in one hand and the rest of the food in my hydration vest. By the time I was back home, I hadn’t run 3 miles yet. In my next section, I went to the library and the grocery store. I needed to buy apples and bananas. They felt heavy carrying them around. I noticed a new Mexican restaurant that looked nice. It was called simply Mexico STL. It said it was open, but there was no one in the parking lot.

        I went home by running on Big Bend because I wanted to get to at least 13 miles. I was home for a while. I had gotten some done and completed some errands, but I knew I still needed to run at least 13 more. I decided I would take a different route for another 7 miles and go back home for water. I bought a drink every time I stopped at a store, but I didn’t carry anything to drink.

        I was thinking how good a Powerade Slurpee would be, so I planned on ending my marathon close to QT so I could buy one. The last 6 miles were a modification of the 5-mile route I did a lot this week. It wasn’t the most exciting route, but at times I was captivated by the leaves changing colors, and I find sections comforting, so I figured it would be a good way to end my run. When I made it to QT, I was only at 25.3. I debated running more before getting something, but it was a nice repast. I ran the next mile while holding the drink. But I was still thirsty when I got home. I hadn’t eaten anything all day, so I spent the next hour making food after I took a shower.

Yesterday, I was trying to plan out my racing schedule for next year. And I was surprised how quickly it got complicated. I am still debating on what to run at the end of the year to get one more in, but thinking about what states to try to get next year made me realize that some states I didn’t find any in, and there were not a tun of options during every season. I need to focus just on next year and the year after. My goal is to run in at least 2-3 different states per year, so I will be done in 20 years.