plunging onto the sword of Summer

It was so hot it was cool.

Admittedly, I'm a hot weather whiner. But it's really about the humidity. I can't hack it unless I'm in flip flops and a sarong and not moving particularly fast. There have been days where it's been only in the low twenties, but sunny and humid, and I wilted.

However, heat without humidity seems ok. I go slower, and sometimes there's that hot breeze/where's the idling bus? thing going on which really does my head in, but other than that, I'm good for about a couple of hours until water doesn't cut it as much anymore....I can still go beyond that, but it's not as comfortable and I start feeling water-logged after a while. I still have to find some salt tablets or something. Anyway, I sweat, but it evaporates and cools me off, and everything's ok. In fact, I have license to go as slow as I need to, and that gets me into a bit of a zone after a while where I'm just skimming along, not doing much....it's kind of nice.

I was able to run this afternoon. Started off around 3 pm and 30C...I think it didn't get hotter than that. It was a bit of a shock, to feel how hot it was, but I decided that that was what it was, and it wouldn't get any worse.

There wasn't much shade on my route but that was expected. The concrete was brighter than I'd anticipated, though--I had a hat, but no sunglasses--so I had to squint. I jogged along, enjoying how coooool the little bits of shade were, here and there--they gave me something to look forward to. I took a break at a water fountain and wet my hat after about 40 minutes/4ish miles. That felt really good; unfortunately, my hat dried out after a couple of miles.

The next bit was very much the same; after about 4 more miles, I took another drink and wet my hat again, taking turns at the fountain with another runner. I was carrying water--usually I don't bother for runs shorter than 2 hours, but I figured I might as well be safe today. However, my water got plasticky and warm, so I didn't drink much beyond that first mouthful.

A couple of miles later was my 3rd water/wet break, and then I jogged a bit more and then walked the last few blocks to cool off. I forgot to stop my Garmin so I have about 2:05 for 11.23 miles. LOL. Mile 10 was 1:40:XX, so it was a respectable speed considering I didn't stop the timer for the waterbreaks or lights--save for one, my nemesis, which takes at least 3 minutes to change, usually leaving enough time for something to cramp up.

So, it was a surprisingly good run. There were very few other runners out there. Don't blame them.

I figured there were still a few dues to pay for summer. Now that I've offered up my sacrificial sweat or whatever, I will have good weather for my races this fall. Seriously, though, it's going to be this hot tomorrow and we have speedwork. I figured if I lolled about out there today for a couple of hours, it wouldn't feel as hot tomorrow.

At any rate, it was nice and dry and that made all the difference. I ran a LOT in 30+C down South, but it was humid and it was much harder. There, the heat and sun seemed to slam me into the ground. Today, it was just sort of hugging me. It was still light.

The dog stayed home. Fortunately, my morning shift is cancelled tomorrow so we can head out early.