Some Days you're the Hammer

And some days you're the nail.  This morning I was the nail.

Did a 14 mile run around Austin with Clea, and bonked a few miles from the end (actually it was supposed to be 15 miles, but I cut it short).  I hate it when I become the flat tire who holds up the run, but sometimes it just happens (especially in the summer).  I'm just lucky to run with a friend who puts up with me being a bit of a wuss when the mercury rises.

There are several reasons for my bonk, and as usual I know exactly what they are.  I just don't always put that knowledge into practice.

For a start, I was completely under-fueled. I usually eat a banana before these longer runs, but little Dylan has become addicted to them, and ate the last one yesterday.  So I didn't eat anything before the run.  While I can get away with this in the cooler weather, it's not so easy in the summer.  Secondly I really should be alternating Gatorade with water, especially in this heat and humidity.  And finally, said humidity was like a suffocating blanket this morning.  I am like my vegetable garden, and wilt in the heat and humidity of what is shaping up to be a long and brutal summer.

These are the kind of runs that make me question how I ever ran a marathon (let alone an ultra), and why I would ever sign up for another one.  But it's just something to suffer through, with the thought that I just need to continue logging base mileage, because when the cooler weather comes around I will do this same run at least a minute a mile faster with very little effort.

In other news, I watched a really cool documentary the other night on the history of big wave surfing.  It was called "Riding Giants", and had some amazing footage of crazy huge surf breaks and the equally crazy people who ride them.  The highlight was the interviews with some of the characters from the early days of the sport. They had a kind of pioneering spirit about them with some of the risks they took, and as a group seem to share a number of characteristics with trail runners.  Very entertaining viewing.