I’m not sure if it’s the heat or if it’s the distraction of entertaining my visiting family, but it’s been hard getting my butt in front of the laptop to blog.

Yesterday we decided to get a head start and began at 6am. The temperature in Baltimore at 6am was 79 degrees with the humidity at 82%. The air was definitely thick and it felt like you were running through and breathing in mud. Needless to say, hydration was going to be the key for a successful 12 miles.

I added a little bit of Ultima Replenisher to one of my bottles and filled the other bottle with just plain water. Ultima is a powdered supplement to add electrolytes to your water. There are so many ways to ensure that you have the electrolytes needed during these long runs and it’s best to find what works for you. I actually prefer to use a combination of half Gatorade and half water in my bottles instead of Ultima, but I was out of Gatorade. I will be reviewing some of the many different products soon.

The hills of Loch Raven were a bitch, but the beauty of the place makes up for it. You can see from the times below when we were going uphill or downhill.

• Mile 1 – 12:15
• Mile 2 – 11:45
• Mile 3 – 11:02
• GU (caffeinated)
  
• Mile 4 – 11:16
• Mile 5 – 12:05
• Mile 6 – 11:45
• Mile 7 – 11:26
• GU (caffeinated)
  
• Mile 8 – 11:50
• Mile 9 – 12:15
• Mile 10 – 11:28
• GU (non-caffeinated)
• Mile 11 – 11:29
• Mile 12 – 10:33

My running partners stopped around mile 10.5 so I really tried to push it for my last two miles. I was happy to end with a 10:33 considering the running conditions

Today I’ve got my 3 mile recovery run. Since I have to entertain my visiting family, I think I’ll take them with me 😉