Monday, August 4, 2008

Too damn hot

I'm a big fat wussy when it comes to heat and this last week was the hottest we've had so far this summer with highs in the 90s and pushing 100 for a couple of days. I am officially sick of summer and can't wait for fall (all two weeks or so of it) to arrive. I think when I retire, instead of spending the winters somewhere warm ( like Arizona) and the summers somewhere not as hot as Arizona, I'll just travel around following the 50 degree temperatures.

In any case, another week of recovery is in the books. Nothing too spectacular, except that I got totally wiped out by my "long" run on Saturday...

Sunday - There was no running to be had. It was a scheduled rest day, which was good, because scheduled or not, a rest day it was gonna be. You see, we were in Hamilton, MT, for my wife's high school reunion and the combination of a barbecue at her dad's house and the microbrew fest going on downtown took a mighty toll.

Monday - Another rest day, but alcohol wasn't a factor this time. A 680 mile drive home was. We left Hamilton at just after 5 AM and got back to Belle Fourche at about 4:30 PM. Sound like fun? Didn't think so...

Tuesday - 6.2 miles recovery. Nothing exciting, but it was too damn warm (60s) for 4:30 AM. I like my low temps in the 40s or 50s.

Wednesday - 6.3 miles recovery.

Thursday - 7.1 hot, hot, hot recovery miles. It was my wife's turn to run in the morning, so I did this one in the afternoon after getting off of work. Even though I was running a full minute per mile slower than my Missoula pace, my heart rate was the same. Damn heat....

Friday - 6.9 miles recovery. My wife got the morning run again and when I got off work at 4:30 it was pushing 100 degrees so I pushed the run back until it started getting dark at 9:00. It was still in the 80s then, about the same as Thursday's run.

Saturday - 13.3 more tiring than they should have been miles. After running at 9:00 the night before, I turned around and left at 5:30 in the morning to beat the Saturday heat, effectively giving me over 20 miles of running in less than 10 hours. It was definitely cooler, but still not as cool as I'd like (60s) again. I think the toll of the last two hot days and the quick turnaround from Friday's run was a little too much, because I was totally wiped out on this run. I was actually planning on running 14 miles, but somehow, even with a Garmin strapped to my wrist, managed to turnaround at the wrong place and came up 0.7 short. Honestly though, I didn't really give a damn by the time I reached my house...I was done at that point no matter what.

Total - 39.8 miles. Maddeningly close to 40, but oh well.

I'll bump the miles up a little bit more this week (and the next, and the next, and the next....).

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