Tuesday, May 19, 2009

DEATH VALLEY TRAINING RUN


I decided to go down to Death Valley and run between Furnace Creek and StovePipe Wells as a training run. My buddy Daryl was joining me again as my "crew". The plan was to start at about 8:00 am as that was the time slot I expected to get for my start (and I learned that day after my run that I was correct). Instead, I started a little after 11:00 due to traffic, etc.

First we stopped at Badwater itself for a bit. It was already quite hot. Then we drove to Furnace Creek and I quickly donned my OR hat, Moebens, watch with thermometer and filled my water bottles. Then I was off.

I found the first few miles pretty tough. It was a bit hard to get my breathing relaxed. But after a while it eased up and I got in a groove.

The scenery was beautiful.

I would stop every couple miles to refill the bottles, repack the ice in my bandanna and soak my hat in water.


As I ran closer towards what would be the 50k point, the temps were still rising.


As the day wore on I needed to stop at the car more often. The temps were approaching 110 and I needed to refill the ice more often. But I found that I was peeing quite often so my hydration (drinking water, Clip2 and S!Caps) was working.

The day passed as I continued my run in the sun.

Soon, I was running the downhill towards the Devil's Cornfield - an open area filled with interesting plants.



Finally I ran past the sand dunes on my way to StovePipe Wells. I ended the day short of a marathon, but still a solid 20+ mile run in the heat. I rewarded myself with an ice cream from the general store.

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