Dear Trail Dogs,
I am sorry to report that, apparently, I forgot to pay the Muddy Shoes Nice Running Weather weekly fee to Mother Nature Weather Associates, Inc. While I have contacted their customer service and have our account back in good standing, it will not be re-activated by tonight’s run. Therefore, I need to let you know that IT’S GOING TO BE HOT AS HELL out there tonight! My bad. Please accept my humble apologies and a token slice of cool, watermelon (after you run, Sucka!) to make up for it.
All joking aside, once again we will be running in adverse heat conditions. Please take appropriate precautions. Here is a re-print of my advice:
- HY-DRATE!!! All day. Keep chugging H2O. Yes, it will require more frequent bathroom breaks but, hey, that’s a good way to excuse yourself from some boring blah-blah work meetings.
- Dial your effort back a notch. There are no races today. No winners and losers. No need to go all out. Get your training in but be smart about it.
- Electrolytes. Its good to replace these as you sweat them out. They help with your performance. You can get these either through a sports drink, an additive powder or capsules. Chat with your fellow trailies to see what they use.
- Keep an eye on each other. I’m not going to give a dissertation here about the signs and symptoms of heat related stress but here is a good link to read up on it. https://www.cdc.gov/…/heatstress/heatrelillness.html
Heat training is actually an essential part of distance training for a number of reasons. It increases your endurance. It helps your body regulate metabolic function. It helps you build up a tolerance to push through pain (yes, running really, really far can hurt!). It’s important, especially for upcoming Fall races. Ask any of the coaches or experienced distance runners. It sucks while you are out there doing it but as I used to tell my runners when I was an MCRRC marathon coach, ‘The more shit you run through, the less shit affects you.’
One more thing – Mark your trail running calendars for the Groovin’ Woodstock 7K XC race this Saturday 14 August. Here’s the link to sign up to run or volunteer. https://mcrrc.org/calendar…/groovin-woodstock-7k-xc-2022/Our one and only Coach Gretchen presides as the Race Director for this one. It’s a throwback to the 60’s!
OK, tonight’s details:
Location: Lake Needwood
Address: 15700 Needwood Lake Circle (parking lot by the Hiker-Biker Trail head)
Coords: 39.114925, -77.127917
Date: 9 August 2022
Time: Warm Up Mile 6 p.m. Main run 6:15
Course: Clockwise; Across the dam to Parilla Path, crossover lake on Needwood Rd. then out-n-back on Beaver Tale Trail and back down East side of lake, hill repeats on Potty Hill.
Distance: 5.5-6-ish miles with warm-up (feel free to do shorter or longer)
Pace: Slow, Fast and In-between; all are welcome!
Vibe: Chill
Hope to C U there cuz these trails ain’t gonna run themselves!
Cheers,
Muddy Shoes