Humid Bermuda
September 19 2004
Time: 5:30am
Place: Bermuda
Temp 20 C at the start
Humidity 8 on 10 at the start
Distance 32km
Woke up at 4:30am to prepare for this race. For dinner, I had sushi the previous night. I only slept 5 hours before. Good sleep. mattress and pillows were really comfy at the hotel.
Breakfast. Yogurt and banana. 4 for $3 usd Yikes!
The run from the hotel to the Botanical Gardens where local running group meets was an adventure in of it self. It was about a 25 min run from the hotel to the opposite side of the Botanical gardens. It would have been a 35 min run had I circled the perimeter of the garden. In hindsight, that would have been the better thing to do as the the 25 min included a run through the garden in pitch darkness.
There I was sporting my Garmin like a flashlight in the dark. It emits a faint green backlight which really didn't do much to alleviate my fear. I would have freaked out had the backlight allowed me to few someone or something was in front of me. Starlight proved to be my only guide as I made my way through this winding path to the opposite side of the park. The only relief to be found was the sound of the occassional passing car on the other side of the park which served as a guide to the other side. The path was downward sloping and uneven. It was the longest 15 minutes of my life.
The runners were all British ex patriots currently working on assignment in Bermuda. They were all training for the nyc marathon this November. The pack was pretty fast as the slowest one was running 5min km. I decided to maintain my pace running 5:30s. I had to keep up with the pack as they new the course and I did not want to end up lost. What made the run that much challenging was the fact that at the start, it was really dark and if you lost sight of the runners in the lead pack, you'd be all alone. There were some segnents of the run where the overhang from the tree would obscure the moonlight and I would litterally be running in the dark.
Some of the runners were sporting reflective vests and reflective lights that blinked intermittently. Thank goodness for them. During the those dark segments, those blinky lights were a godsend.
I was able to keep up with one Brit runner. He was the slowest of the pack running 5 min kms.
After the first hour, he started to wilt and I was able to catch up with him. He introduced himself as Lee Dwyer and we continued to chat. Actually I continued to chat and an hour and a half into the run, he was visibly in signs of distress. He was having a horrible day. He was not able to establish a proper rhythm, as his stride length was inconsistent and body movement was contrived and contorted at best.
I thought that I would hang on to his coat tails as he knew the pace but when the sun rose ( I heard 3 roosters crow) the humidity was replaced by a merciless heat. I could not abandon Lee as I did not know the course and it would not be in good conscience to leaving someone in distress in that position.
For myself, I was not immune to the heat and humidity. I ran slowly with him my pace had slowed to 6:30-45. Ultimately I would run ahead and stop to wait for Lee to catch up. We were able to complete the long run in 4 hours.
How I felt afterward: Fine. Good stretch and all those walking break with Lee left me fresh
Concerns: Stress fracture.
Time: 5:30am
Place: Bermuda
Temp 20 C at the start
Humidity 8 on 10 at the start
Distance 32km
Woke up at 4:30am to prepare for this race. For dinner, I had sushi the previous night. I only slept 5 hours before. Good sleep. mattress and pillows were really comfy at the hotel.
Breakfast. Yogurt and banana. 4 for $3 usd Yikes!
The run from the hotel to the Botanical Gardens where local running group meets was an adventure in of it self. It was about a 25 min run from the hotel to the opposite side of the Botanical gardens. It would have been a 35 min run had I circled the perimeter of the garden. In hindsight, that would have been the better thing to do as the the 25 min included a run through the garden in pitch darkness.
There I was sporting my Garmin like a flashlight in the dark. It emits a faint green backlight which really didn't do much to alleviate my fear. I would have freaked out had the backlight allowed me to few someone or something was in front of me. Starlight proved to be my only guide as I made my way through this winding path to the opposite side of the park. The only relief to be found was the sound of the occassional passing car on the other side of the park which served as a guide to the other side. The path was downward sloping and uneven. It was the longest 15 minutes of my life.
The runners were all British ex patriots currently working on assignment in Bermuda. They were all training for the nyc marathon this November. The pack was pretty fast as the slowest one was running 5min km. I decided to maintain my pace running 5:30s. I had to keep up with the pack as they new the course and I did not want to end up lost. What made the run that much challenging was the fact that at the start, it was really dark and if you lost sight of the runners in the lead pack, you'd be all alone. There were some segnents of the run where the overhang from the tree would obscure the moonlight and I would litterally be running in the dark.
Some of the runners were sporting reflective vests and reflective lights that blinked intermittently. Thank goodness for them. During the those dark segments, those blinky lights were a godsend.
I was able to keep up with one Brit runner. He was the slowest of the pack running 5 min kms.
After the first hour, he started to wilt and I was able to catch up with him. He introduced himself as Lee Dwyer and we continued to chat. Actually I continued to chat and an hour and a half into the run, he was visibly in signs of distress. He was having a horrible day. He was not able to establish a proper rhythm, as his stride length was inconsistent and body movement was contrived and contorted at best.
I thought that I would hang on to his coat tails as he knew the pace but when the sun rose ( I heard 3 roosters crow) the humidity was replaced by a merciless heat. I could not abandon Lee as I did not know the course and it would not be in good conscience to leaving someone in distress in that position.
For myself, I was not immune to the heat and humidity. I ran slowly with him my pace had slowed to 6:30-45. Ultimately I would run ahead and stop to wait for Lee to catch up. We were able to complete the long run in 4 hours.
How I felt afterward: Fine. Good stretch and all those walking break with Lee left me fresh
Concerns: Stress fracture.
posted by Turtleboy at 12:07 AM
1 Comments:
How you ran 4 hours on a stress fracture is way beyond me... I'm about to attempt 40 minutes this morning and I have all my limbs...
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