by Tomorrow, I have a 20-miler on the schedule.
Last weekend was a fall-back week, and I remembered being supremely thankful at the time that I wasn’t running longer than 11–12 miles. So I find myself wilting a bit at the thought of tomorrow’s run. It’s not the distance, it’s the temperature.
Acclimating to Heat
Last summer, we had 69 days of 100+ degree weather here in Austin. It was awful but I ran all summer and actually got ready for a longer event, the 50K out at Palo Duro. I was even on track to do a February 100-miler at that point, but I made the decision to be conservative and go for the 50-miler. So my running numbers are actually lower right now than they were last summer. However, I’ve been having some issues with the heat this week.
Is it because we haven’t had so many 100+ degree days? Is it because I spent the month of July at milder temperatures in Europe? Is it just that it’s just plain old fucking hot? I don’t know.
So today, I’m taking it easy, hydrating, skipping the yard work that I’d planned to do, and making sure I’ve gotten good food and sleep. Every little thing I can do to make tomorrow’s run go that much better will help, so that all I’m really battling is the heat.
And if I need to run at an absolute turtle’s pace to keep myself from overheating, then so be it.
What is it about this summer?
I trained much harder last year in the much longer hotter summer, but this year feels worse. I have no idea why! I\’m dreading tomorrow\’s long ride and run. Last year\’s motto of \”it is what it is\” has been replaced by \”this just sucks\”.
I\’m completely with Pam; for some reason this year has felt twice as hard as last. I think part of it is the humidity. Plus, as Amy pointed out last night, it takes about two months to get acclimated, and about 3 days away to lose it.
Following Canada, I\’m considering starting all of my runs (trail runs, yay!) at 3am.