A little dehydration can go a long way. I flirted with a little bit of it today toward the end of my run. Sometimes when I'm out there my mind starts to drift and things get a little silly. I become incapable of complete thoughts and I find myself fixating on a single noun. Today it was shoelace. Don't ask. I have no idea. I used to think this was just some sort of transcendental state you reach when you're really in the zone or whatever. Stupid. It just means you either need water or calories. I sweat like a little piggy, so usually it's water that I need. Today I think I needed both. A GU packet and some water at 7 miles got me through the last 2.5 miles and back to the car where E was already waiting. The achilles are both a little sore from all of the new exercises. No race for me this weekend. I need to stay focused on being healthy for the fall.

While on the subject of running, I have to say that I am a little disturbed by the amount of crap you can take along with you on a run these days. I'm all about preparation and taking care of yourself, but a 2-gallon size fanny pack with water bottles hanging off it really seems like overkill on a trail that has drinking fountains every 2 miles or so. Also, I feel bad for some of the folks I see out there holding a water bottle while they're running. They look completely miserable. They don't even make eye contact. It seems like they could just leave some of that stuff at home or in the car, maybe go for a shorter run and not be literally weighed down with their need to feel prepared.

I admit that I sometimes feel a little vulnerable out there on the trail. Today I had my shorts, socks, shoes, heart rate monitor, GU packet, and car key. I have no idea what could happen to me out there that I have to worry about, but I think it's safe to assume that I am prepared for nothing. Still, I know what I need to do to get me through a run and I have only had one day in the last year where I could have used a cell phone or something while I was running. My calf cramped and I had limp 2 miles back to the house. It really wasn't that big of a deal.

Also, for anyone who's interested, the new techy fabric running shirts are a total scam. As someone who sweats a lot, I should be a prime candidate for a moisture-wicking polyfiber blah blah blah shirt. After another week of running in high-90s weather, I actually bought in last summer and swiped a couple Nike Dri-Fit shirts off the clearance rack at Nike outlet in Tulare. I guess the actual experience of running in the shirts was okay. It wasn't really exceptional. I mean, a sweaty cotton shirt is about the same as a sweaty poly shirt as far as comfort, weight, etc. The major failure for the techy stuff is the stench! Holy crap! It's like the shirts have a little stank bank and every time you wear the shirt it deposits a little more stank in the bank. Then you wash it and it somehow secures the stank so that every time you wear it smells at least as bad as when you took it off last time. After trying everything I could to remove the poly pew, E actually demanded that I toss the aforementioned Nike shirts. I'm back to the best running...old race t-shirts.