Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Hottest Run of the Year
Last night was the weekly meeting of the "Gumballhead Runners." We thought we'd be smart and beat the heat by waiting until until after 7PM to hit the pavement.
Yeah, right. Those of you regular Chicago-area runners reading this blog are already shaking your heads, because you know that at 7PM last night it was still a million degrees along the Chicago lakefront. We started out at the North Avenue Beach House, where large, unhappy families of morbidly obese complete their long march from the zoo parking lot to the sea. It was apparent from the start that this would be a tough night.
By mile 1 we could see that other runners were also struggling, with many of them seeming to be permanently camped out by the Diversey Harbor water troth. I saw more runners camped out around the water fountains than I did on the on running path!
By mile 2 I knew we were in trouble when Jay kept clutching his stomach, while my arms felt like they were burning up. Except when exposed to fire, I don't think my arms have ever felt hot before in my life.
So we ended taking lots of walk breaks, accomplishing only about 3 1/2 miles of actual running.
Perhaps next year I'll switch to an indoor sport, like bowling.