![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_7429.png\")
<\/a> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_7428.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMy weather app warned me it would be a dark and humid run.\u00a0 My own personal weather forecaster, namely me as I walked out the door of the hotel, confirmed it.<\/p>\n
I was a little worried about that lightning storm percentage forecast but they had that pretty much all day yesterday and it was a glorious, sunny day so… you know where this is going… the heavens would eventually open up and rain down upon me like, well, rain.\u00a0 But more on that in a moment.<\/p>\n Given the pre-dawn hours of starting and running, I knew my notoriously awful in low-light and maybe just in general iPhone camera was going to produce subpar images.\u00a0 I didn’t realize just how sup-bar but, like the rain forecast “foreshadowing” above, more on that in a moment.\u00a0 Complicating matters, I had thrown my phone into my waterproof phone pouch so I would be shooting through plastic vinyl.\u00a0 I’ve ruined more than a few Apple phones because of heat and humidity during marathons so when I know it’s going to be tough weather I try and get going with some sort of mitigating planning.\u00a0 And because of the rule of threes when it comes to writing, consider this a third “foreshadowing” moment.<\/p>\n Why am I putting “foreshadowing” in quotes?\u00a0 Who do I think I am?\u00a0 A tweeting President?<\/p>\n Some pre-race shots, featuring the neon starting tunnel which is apparently a Guam Marathon tradition.<\/p>\n When someone asks if you want a photo with the Guam Angels, you don’t ask, “Who are the Guam Angels?”\u00a0 You just say, “where do you want me?”<\/p>\n They’re also apparently something of a United Guam Marathon (sometimes abbreviated as UGM) tradition.\u00a0 Without halos, I felt they were more Guam Fairies but, hey, ya know what?\u00a0 They can be angels.<\/p>\n I was particularly moved at seeing them respectfully stand for the National Anthem… and the Guam Hymn.\u00a0 I wish I had video’d it rather than trying to get still shots — the hymn was actually quite lovely.\u00a0 I didn’t love the singer’s version of the National Anthem but he killed the Guam Hymn.<\/p>\n As promised by the pre-start staging map, there was indeed a Fire Show.\u00a0 I shot some animated GIFs but the internet connection at this Guam Business Motel is beyond shoddy… as is their power supply and water which has variously been shut off for repairs several times in the less than 2 days I’ve been here… two days?\u00a0 Three?\u00a0 I don’t know.\u00a0 I’ve lost track.<\/p>\n Still shots are easier to upload so…<\/p>\n As the final countdown commenced, I donned my sunglasses to see how that was going to go… the short answer is that it’s really, REALLY dark at 3 AM in Guam.\u00a0 On top of that, I look pretty “chinny” in there photos which only further body shames me.\u00a0 Can one body shame oneself?\u00a0 I think the evidence is pretty clear on all counts.<\/p>\n We were off with a burst of fire extinguishers into the night and a cascade of confetti shot into our path.<\/p>\n People were very, very fast out of the starting chute.\u00a0 Supposedly there were 600 or so marathoners (I didn’t hear the figures for the other events), and I think at least a hundred of them passed me in the opening kilometer.\u00a0 To be honest, I was struggling with the heat and humidity early on… I was dripping wet long before I was passed like an anchored ship in the night by a fleet of cigarette boats.<\/p>\n Did I mention it was dark?\u00a0 I’m surprised race organizers didn’t require headlamps or flashlights because in the late evening or is it early morning hours on Guam it’s pretty damn dark.\u00a0 All the moreso as the rolling clouds obscured what illumination the waning gibbous moon was providing.\u00a0 There were street lamps and portable generator lights but there was also long stretches of just… darkness.\u00a0 I found myself fretting over maybe phantom potholes and stumbling over discarded cups and gel packs.\u00a0 The latter wasn’t an issue at the numerous water stops — those volunteers did yeomen work and were bright spots in an otherwise lonely race.\u00a0 However, unlike the map showing numerous food stops, I think I only saw one “local cucumber” offering and a potentially murderous coconut shaving.\u00a0 As the day… or night… as the race dragged on, I sure could’ve used a banana or a Snickers.\u00a0 But to the best of my weary eyes, I didn’t see that on offer.<\/span><\/p>\n Seriously, did I mention the dark?\u00a0 Despite knowing the embarrassingly poor performance of the iPhone in low level light, I felt obligated to at least TRY and snap some shots.\u00a0 Here is both a perfect illustration of the run and a perfect illustration of why I may try a Samsung Galaxy when my Sprint contract is up for renewal:<\/p>\n I felt like I was doing pretty well, even with all the humidity and heat.\u00a0 I kept moving and was trucking along, dousing myself with cups of water at each water stop and knocking back some Gatorade or H2O while moving — not an easy thing to do.\u00a0 I sometimes when drinking on the run wind up snarfing.\u00a0 Wait — not snarfing.\u00a0 Snarfing is when you shoot the drink out of your nose, right?\u00a0 Or is that something else?\u00a0 Whatever the term is for inadvertently splashing the drink UP one’s nose while moving… or dribbling it all over one’s face without actually getting it into one’s mouth — that’s what happens sometimes when I try and drink and run at the same time.\u00a0 And the less said about my attempts to pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time the better.<\/p>\n Point was, I was moving along and clocking mileage and keeping it around 8 minute miles for a good bit of the time… and then somewhere around the halfway point, things got, well, fuzzy…<\/p>\n I started having problems catching my breath, felt a little light headed, and was stumbling back and forth along the roadway as if I were a drunken sailor on the first night of a 48 hour leave.\u00a0 Was I overheated?\u00a0 Did I not eat the right things?\u00a0 (I did have that nasty United Airlines chicken curry… some time in the not-too-distant past?\u00a0 Was that just 27 hours prior?)\u00a0 Was I just underslept and jetlagged?\u00a0 Or was I trying to force a recovery too fast and this was my body’s way of telling me, “Listen, buttercup… you may act like it’s no big deal but I’m here to tell you it’s a very big deal.”<\/p>\n Whatever the reasoning or causes, the reality and the effect were I saw my average mileage pace tick ever longer and harder.<\/p>\n It was as if I were in quicksand and no matter what I did to try and get myself moving forward, I just fell deeper and deeper into the mire.<\/p>\n I had a cramp.\u00a0 I was tired.\u00a0 I was still weaving along the road when I should’ve been in a straight line… and then the rain came.<\/p>\n At first it was great — helped cool things off and offered a refreshing breather.\u00a0 But then it got harder.\u00a0 And heavier.\u00a0 And the wind kicked up.\u00a0 Droplets of water the size of skittles fell (where were the Skittles, UGM?\u00a0 I was promised actual skittles, not this!).\u00a0 And with the wind, it came both from above and sideways, pelting my sopped shirt and bare skin.\u00a0 It hurt.\u00a0 And I was just… broken by it.\u00a0 I opted to shoot some video to try and capture the experience.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n