June

So, regardless of the fact that Summer doesn't officially start for a further 10 days, Summer is here. The heat index got above 103F for the past 4 days. That's Summer to me. A mysterious thing happens though when we get the first heat wave of the summer. More people run. What the hell, people? It's above 90F at 6:30am. Stay indoors. Crank the air conditioner. Cover yourself in ice. For Pete's sake, what would make you want to run in this?! Hands down, I would rather run when the wind chill brings the temps below 0F. It only takes about 5 minutes before your body is creating enough heat to keep you cozy. But you can only take off so many layers in the heat. I must be a sight to see. I've heard children gasp. "EWWW, that hairy man was all wet." I'm not kidding. "Did you see that?! Ewwww!" Honestly, I couldn't care less. When the mercury rises above 70, I just can't be comfortable running with a top on. On Saturday, we broke the records for that particular day in June. National Airport officially reported 98 degrees, but everyone knows it was closer to 151. And the humidity is the worst part. There was just no escaping it. I soaked completely through my shorts with sweat, and completely through my socks and shoes. After the run, my shoes couldn't even dry out because there was too much moisture in the air for anything to evaporate. Yikes. By Tuesday, my body was just starting to adapt. I was able to run without wanting to cry. Great. Just in time for the heat wave to abate. When I woke up this morning, it was a chilly 75! A week ago, I would have absolutely bemoaned a morning temp of 75 degrees. The high for today was forecast to be only 88! 88?! A week ago, 88 would have been blistering. With my new perspective, I was wondering if I should don long sleeves this morning. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm done bitching about the hot weather. It's another element of training to which my body must learn to adapt. If the heat continued all summer, it would just be that much easier to run my fastest race in cool cloudy Dublin. So BRING IT ON. (Just kidding. I also like the lower temps :) )

I guess the only other updates are the boring ones. Still on schedule. Still running 6 days. Still healthy. 43 Miles last week. Time is flying for me at this point. Only the rest of this week and next week to close out Phase 1. Jaysus. That is a scary thought. I've got my fingers crossed that my body will be able to adapt to the new stimuli. Phase 2 will introduce strength work and a bit of speed and get my legs ready for the peak mileage and long tempo stuff of the ever important Phase 3. I've got a 5k scheduled for the 28th of June. I ran the inaugural Harbor Hustle race last year and I had my first (and only) podium finish (I sneaked in with a bronze). The 5k doesn't necessarily fit into the training but the siren call of another possible high finish is just too alluring to avoid. How stereotypically male.

Soooo... Not much substance in this post. My apologies. I've got one brewing though, I hope to have that to you within a few days. Until next time...