The 5 O'Clock Hour Run

There's a reason why no one is running during the middle of a Texas summer between the hours of 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. (okay, really anytime between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.). And the magic reason is that it's UNBELIEVABLY HOT. I'm not talking just hot, I'm talking Africa Hot, scraping my skin off the sidewalk with a spatula hot. So, I deemed myself a moron and continued on without dying somehow.

Now, let me rewind to why I was running at this time and by myself, if you haven't guessed. My uncle came into town last week, but called me last night (yeah, I yelled at him, too) to go out for drinks with the family and to what I found out later to celebrate my cousin's birthday and graduation (yeah, I yelled at them, too). Consequently, I had to cancel on Jodi last night. In fact, the whole training schedule I put up on Tuesday has been thrown out the window. I'm probably going to have to cancel this evening, too. We will use that for next week.

So, I got home about 5:30 p.m. and decided to squeeze in a quick run before I head out for dinner. Quick run?! Ha! I laugh at that oxymoron. I planned to just to do that 1.4 mile run by my house since I knew it well and that I can get it done. I didn't count on the heat, the blazing sun, seeing mirages on the desert type heat.

I did a quick leg stretch, got my ipod all ready, and started my warmup walk around the back area of my house before my starting point. Since I had heard alot of ACDC these last couple of weeks, I decided to try something different. I put on Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift Soundtrack. I remembered how this soundtrack really helped me, while I worked out to get away from the stress at my IBM job (when I worked like 50-60 hours a week). And yes, I love Tokyo Drift, but I hated the other Fast and the Furious movies with the very bad acting (especially the second one). Tokyo Drift had a cooler plot and it was all about drifting...in parking lots. Moving on...

I started my walk and as the music moved, so did my hips and some dips. This soundtrack always makes me move my hips ala Shakira style. So, I got alittle more exercise. However, I immediately got a side cramp. Stupid heat, stupid hip moving, stupid whatever excuse I can come up with to use. When I got to the sidewalk and passed the little construction zone, I started my run. I was on a roll. I felt faster, I was moving to the music. I was trying hard to ignore that stupid side cramp and eventually, it worked. What I didn't realize was that the starting point was pretty much in the shade. When I rounded the corner halfway to the turnaround, the sun hit me and hit me hard like five shots of Jagermeister. All of sudden, my pace slowed and all I wanted to do was just stop, drop, and roll into a fetal position asking, "Why God have you forsaken me?". But I persevered. I focused on just making it to the turnaround point and the music, but I couldn't help but notice that I was the only moron out there doing anything. Even the kids weren't out.

Most of the run was all in the sun; I was so happy to hit a patch of trees with shade even if I passed through it like a small Texas town. But as luck would have it, the clouds covered the sun and gave me some relief. I felt my pace speed up just alittle bit. So, I kept running and running I did. I managed to make it farther than I ever have. The sun was coming back out from under the cloud and all I kept thinking to keep me motivated, "make it to there so I can get some shade." I made it to the stopsign and kept going. When I hit a big patch of shade, I stopped. I had to walk and I walked (shaking my hips some more) until I hit the next stopsign. I started to run again, but didn't last long. All the beginning part of the run was now sunny, but still had more shade than what I just went through. I was done and coudln't run anymore. I walked the rest of the way home for a nice cooldown.

Even though, it wasn't my best run since I think I did that in about 20 minutes, I still did it on my own and ran the farthest that I have ever ran for that little neighborhood run.

Tonight, I will either run that run again with Jodi or by myself or not at all. I have so much to do for the Heat Waves Boogie this weekend at Skydive Houston. Be there or be lame!