big dog’s backyard ultra hour 56:
and sometimes it is the weather.
i was so relieved last week when the weather finally broke.
and real fall came (allegedly)
up until then every day i went out into sweltering heat.
temperatures were in the 80s and 90s
and i was worried team usa was going to cook in my backyard.
then the temperature finally broke
we felt some of that fall briskness in the air.
i thought to myself;
“self, it’s sure a good thing we are running this week!”
wtong!
whatever it was passed.
and team usa is cooking in my backyard.
we have discovered a new form of the death spiral…
it is so hot the runners can barely finish the yard before the whistles sound.
which gives them no time to rest,
or cool off.
making running the next yard even harder
making them slower
leaving less time to rest.
at night there was a new wrinkle.
it really is fall according to the angle of the sun.
at night it gets cold.
not bitter cold
unless you have been baking all day.
so at night,’when the practice has been to run faster laps
and make time for a little sleep.
everyone was still struggling to beat the whistles.
i know that the answer to most of our problems is to run faster.
but how?
2/3 of the field has been here before.
and they ran faster then.
the problem is not the runners.
i hate to see it.
we are losing athletes who are capable of much more.
but i cant really complain.
at least we didnt have 80 mile an hour winds!
