Monday, June 20, 2011

Rod Jetton- Bring on the Heat

I'm doing the math and it looks like I have 14 weeks until the 50k.  That means only 14 more chances to get a long run in.  So I planned Saturday for my long one.  I didn't measure the course but we have a 2 mile trail in Branson that goes down a steep cliff along Lake Taneycomo and back up again.

My plan was to run from my house to there and then follow Hwy. 76 back home.  All in all it would be about 4 mile to the trail then 2 miles on the trail and then another 4 or 5 back home.  Not a real hard day for a in shape runner but for an overweight guy just gearing up it seemed like a good way to hurt.

My first mistake was not getting up at 6am and starting.  I waited until 8am and the sun was already starting to heat things up.  I filled my camel back up and started off with a very slow suffering pace.  Now Branson has some huge hills and the first three miles were all downhill to the Lake and then i jogged along to the trail and it started getting rough.  I love running trails but man are they hard.  The terrain isn't level, the hills and inclines are steeper and i was already tires from my jog.

One interesting fact about this trail is the 316 steps built in 1938 that lead to the top.  I love running this trail but today i walked up the whole way and was fairly proud of myself for not stopping and taking a break.  At the top I jogged to the trail head and was tired enough that I planned on calling my wife to come and get me and calling it a day.  I had already run 1 hour and was tired but for some reason at the top I decided i better get used to pain and so i kept running.  Well at least jogging.

Fortunately Hwy. 76 is downhill so it wasn't that hard to shuffle along the sidewalk.  By this time it was hot and I was drinking water as fast as I could.  I was getting tired and hurting but kept telling myself 50k would be very painful and I better get used to it.

I made it to the start of the big 3 miles of uphill back to the house and started walking.  I called my wife to come and get me but no answer.  So I kept walking up the hill.  By this time my fat legs were chaffing and i had more pain that just my lungs, legs and body!!  I ran out of water and started feeling dizzy but i kept going.  About that time my wife called back and came and picked me up saving me the pain of walking the last mile.

It took a shower lots of water and nap to "kind of" recover from the run and I felt sore but good Sunday. It's sad to think how far I have to go to be able to finish a 50k trail run this October but hopefully i can cut some weight, get up earlier and beat the heat.  It took me all day Sunday to get re hydrated but I'm feeling good today and can't wait till next weekend and my pain session.  maybe i can finish this time.

Thanks and take care,

Rodney

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