Heat and Humid Running

Summer has arrived and is in full, and I do mean full, bloom.  It is hot, and in FL it is VERY humid. With Fall running events on the horizon, there is no option other than to train hard in the summer... and so we run.

Runner's World had some good articles in their August 2017 edition, all worth taking a read of.  But in the end, I feel that summer running is not complicated.  It requires some simple planing and a little thought. Done properly, I get my miles in and improve my conditioning.  From my perspective hot/humid weather running involves the following:

•           Run during cooler parts of the day,
•           Run shady routes (stay out of the direct sun as much as possible),
•           Run slower,
•           Run hydrated,
•           Run connected (with a phone or with someone),
•           Run aware of your body’s condition.

I took exception to a part of the Runner's World article regarding avoiding out and back routes; in other words, be able to bail on the run if things were to go south. At many levels I have to agree that this advice makes sense, but at it's core I disagree that runners should give ourselves a way out of a hard run. Say whaaaat???

We always have a way out of a run - we just stop the run.  We find shade, we walk instead of running, we sit down, we call for help and so on. "Bailing" should not be an option... as in "instead of doing the 10 miles that I need to run, I'm only going to do 3..."

I tend to prefer a point to point run (usually a big loop), but often do out and backs. The one advantage of an out and back is that once I get to the turn-around point, I won't be done until I get back to my starting point, and thus the impetus to keep running. This almost always works out, although I've had to bail a few times and either walk back or get a ride - it happens. But the point is that the goal is to accomplish a given distance; given the option to bail takes some of that impetus away.

So having said the above, if I'm going to run an out and back in hot and/or humid conditions, I need to plan accordingly, and yes, I do refer to my list.

Summer running is hard, but I do admit that doing it makes me a better Fall and Winter runner. I have no idea what it does to my body physically (actually I do, but not enough to talk about...), but what ever it is, it seems to be good. My biggest problem is that when I travel to the cooler north for an event, I have no idea what my pace is - and then I become pleasantly surprised! So it seems to be worth the effort!

Run cool... Summer is here...

Lazy

I got lazy. I procrastinated. About running I mean. Conflicting priorities and events pulled me away from my usual morning run routine, and then it started... the laziness, the procrastination. "Well, I didn't run yesterday, or the day before, or the day before that.... and I have things that I really need to get started on today, so maybe I'll just skip today's run..." You know - that kind of a thing.

And so a week went by, then two weeks, and so on... And every now and again I'd drag my sorry butt out the door for a short unsatisfying run.

Not that I have anything to prove to anyone by posting up consistent mileage. It's all me. I run only for myself, and general sanity. But I did notice my waistline - that little bicycle inner tube that was forming.  And the little plumpness in my gut.

I made a vow to myself seven or eight years ago that I would never, ever, let my girth precede me through a door, i.e. I did not want to grow the dreaded middle aged gut. And so far, so good.  But stop running for a couple of weeks and seeds seem to sprout...

It's not like I'm sitting on my butt all day instead of running, but it seems that the act of consistently running has helped my body keep itself together. Or maybe it's just age...  After all, I am a decade past the magic 50.

It's also interesting that in the first week or so of not running, my legs just did not feel right. Like they were antsy and restless. I kept up my stretching routine, but I'm guessing that my legs missed the runs.

I did feel a little guilty while being lazy and not running... like something was admonishing me that had not run that day. I tried not to feel guilty; I still felt like a runner; I still felt that I had earned those stripes; I just wasn't running that particular day (or the one before, and the one before that, etc...). It was odd. When I'd see other runners I'd watch them almost longingly, wishing myself out there, to get back into my routine.

But it's so easy not to; so easy to skip a day. There were appointments, meetings, different crises to tend to. Or it was too windy, too cold, too hot, too late, or too much or too little of something. There were a thousand reasons to put off the run, some of them even valid... But none of them good enough actually.

Then my father-in-law wound up in the hospital with congestive heart failure and while sitting with him I obviously heard a great deal regarding the causes and prevention of heart disease. Aerobic and anaerobic exercise are paramount.  If you are not moving, you are dying. The various doctors and nurses would compliment me on my apparent "good shape" and congratulated me on my exercise routines. "Keep it up" they'd say... Little did they know that I had become "lazy" about all that... and I didn't share that little fact because suddenly I did feel very guilty.

I had to start my running routine again - no excuses. If I'm not moving, I'm dying.

So I'm working on getting back into it -
But it has been difficult to get back into the longer runs. Not running for a few weeks seems to have sapped my endurance levels. My legs feel ok, but I seem to have no juice. So I run until I feel fatigued, then walk for a bit, wait until my heart or lungs or whatever catch up, and then run some more. I pick out-and-back routes so that I'd have no choice but to make it back. Naturally I'll challenge myself to go another 1/2 mile or more each time... And my level of impatience is such that I'd run versus walk so that I could get home, shower, and get on with my next task.

I need to get over this laziness and procrastination. If I'm not moving, I'm dying. And I don't want to die sitting in a chair or on a couch.