52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 34: Blistering! (And I don’t mean my pace)

I think I’m still traumatized after this past weekend’s double shot of runs, the Shark Weekend 5K in Nahant, MA, and the YuKanRun 5K in Cape Ann, MA. Maybe I am suffering from residual heatstroke that manifests itself in the blocking out of salient yet humiliating details, but both runs have managed to blur into one.

If I hadn’t set myself this insane 52-week challenge, there’s no way I would have been outside exerting myself in such conditions two days in a row, especially when I could have broken a sweat just by standing still. It was my most grueling race weekend ever.

Good thing I am about to run a half-marathon on Saturday. What with the lingering trauma and all …

This way for sharks!

These runs weren’t just hot. They were also hilly. Swear-inducingly hilly. I’m normally not allowed to complain about hills, but this is an exception. It was comedy. A hill lurked around every corner, meaning maximum grouchiness and slowpokery on my part, especially during the YuKanRun 5K. About a mile into that one, I expressed myself in a manner not fit for a family blog.

Both runs were in lovely beach settings, which of course meant they were extra-tough. This is not the first time that has happened. Anyone recall the disastrous 3.5-miler on Salisbury Beach? (You mean you’re not committing the minutiae of my runs to memory?)

Shark Week 5K. Hot. And pretty. But mostly hot.

On both runs, I added a good chunk of time to my almost-PR of last week. It was brutal. There was a great deal of trudging, and I’m pretty certain I gave the race photographers nightmares with my death glare (a glance at the race photos that landed in my email confirmed the death-glare part). I’m so glad I had a group of lovely current and former colleagues there to witness my undoing at Shark Weekend. (Kidding, it was great fun.)

YuKanRun 5K. Sunny side up.

Shark tank!

They were both fabulous events. The first-time Shark Weekend run, which raised money for the National Brain Tumor Society, handed out the best T-shirt I had seen in a while. Mostly because it wasn’t a T-shirt at all.

The YuKan, supporting the Open Door Food Pantry, included the option of completing a one mile/5K/half-marathon trifecta (15 minutes between each). I obviously didn’t do this, but Hubby did. An amazing feat of endurance on a sweltering day. He has run 13 half-marathons so far this year. Puts me to shame.

In two days I’ll be running the SeaWheeze half-marathon in Vancouver. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so true.

The event: Shark Weekend 5K and YuKanRun Half-Marathon, 5K, and 1 mile
The location: Nahant and Cape Ann, MA
The date: August 4 and 5, 2012
My time: Shark: 36.02 (one of my worst runs ever); YuKan: 34.06 (pace: 10.59)
Hubby’s time: Shark: 21.21 (pace 6.53); YuKan: 5.31/20.30/1.53.35
The causes: National Brain Tumor Society; Open Door Food Pantry
The T-shirt: Blue cotton tank; white tech T-shirt
The aftermath: Bananas, oranges, bagels, roasted shark (we didn’t partake)