Witness: when I discovered that the photographer at the Bix had taken the classy "up the running skirt" shot of me headed to the finish...
my immediate reaction was not to be horrified by the gigantic size of my thighs. Instead, I thought that, while they are enormous, they looked really muscular and strong.
Such delusions, or, if you prefer, increased self-esteem, can be blamed for my decision to purchase the Ridiculously Short Shorts (RSS), which made their debut on Saturday's 18 mile run.
*not my legs. Obviously.
I remain a total Skirt Convert and love my running skirts beyond all measure. However, on incredibly humid long runs, my skirts have been reduced to a sodden mess, clinging to my legs and threatening me with chafing. It's amazing what the fear of chafing will drive me to, because lo and behold, I found myself actually wearing IN PUBLIC, a pair of Ridiculously Short Shorts that are shorter than any shorts I have every worn in my entire life.
The verdict? Once I got over my fear that one of my butt cheeks would escape and greet the world, they were quite comfortable. Almost like wearing nothing, which obviously I almost was.
My time was excellent, perhaps spurred on in some part by my desire to go home and put some pants on. Goal pace: 10:31 per mile. Actual pace: 10:29 per mile. Score!
Besides running with the lower half of my body almost completely exposed, I employed a few additional strategies that helped me.
- I drank Gatorade in addition to water.
- I put the Gatorade and water in a cooler with ice on my front stoop. For the entire 3 plus hours I was out on the road, my drinks stayed icy cold, which was bliss.
- Lately, I've been running my long runs in loops of about six miles. Run 3 miles out, then back home for a drink/Gu/whatnot/walk break. This time, I took short walk breaks every three miles, which made my breaks at the six mile points much shorter.
- I packed a bag of Sport Beans in my Amphipod. I ate half of them at mile 9 and half at mile 15. I think they really gave me a boost.
9 comments:
Every time I think I have reach my point of writing off the marathon for another year and being *just* a half marathoner, I read another one of your posts, and I think I might just try another week to stay on track. Stop that -- you are ruining my attempts to stay demotivated for running 26.2 miles.
The real question is what is the stronger force in the universe one bad running mother or 105 degree Iowa humid heat. Talk about your unmoveable object vs. the irresistable force. I am going to try 5 today, but may wait until well past dark tonight.
INTERESTING! the chafing o'the skirt on the long runs.
(can you tell Im not there yet? and I heart my skirtage :))
MizFit
Nice! I too would wear just about anything to avoid The Chafe.
Another runner who does my long loop sets up a cooler midway packed with drinks. It's such a good idea. I'm going to do it once my runs get a little longer...
I've been freezing my PowerAde/Water the night before our long runs, they don't stay frozen forever but they do stay cold a lot longer that way, and then I refill with the Gatorade or water from the water stops we have set up.
I've found that short walk breaks every 2-3 miles help me enormously too. When we had our 12-miler the other week I finished feeling remarkably good and I'm sure it was because of the walk breaks.
And now you've motivated me to possibly break out of my shell and purchase a pair of RSS's for myself...
I too own a pair of RSS. The made their debut at the Boston Marathon and I spent the first 15 miles wondering whether thousands of people were staying at my horribly overexposed legs.
After 15 miles I was too exhausted to care.
Glad to have you in the RSS club! It's a comfortable place to be!
Wow- your legs look awesome (serious muscle tone)!! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I think I could learn a lot from you, so I'm adding you to my blogroll. = )
Great job! You look great in your race pic too...
What kind of sports beans did you use? I just tried the watermelon ones with caffeine last weekend and thought they were WAY better than the regular ones.
RSS in public and a 20 miler at 10:29...
You truly are my hero.
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