I’ve never really been a big fan of summer. I like a lot of the things that happen in summer, but I don’t handle the heat and humidity well. Never have, probably never will. I sweat a lot and I sweat easily. I get gross on the fast.
A perfect warm weather day for me is something like 70° and like 20% humidity, anything more than that I’m rather miserable to be around. And when it comes to running, I rarely enjoy temperatures over 60°—my favorite running temperature is 42°. If forced to make a choice, I’d always choose extreme cold to extreme heat.
As much as I hate the heat, I typically don’t have a terrible time adjusting to the warmer weather as a runner; a couple weeks and I’m good to go. I’m miserable, but my running is okay. Unfortunately, this year has been completely out of whack and I’m really struggling. We haven’t even hit the hot stuff yet and I’ve already spent the last month dying on my runs. I’ve needed walk breaks, I’ve cut my mileage, I’ve struggled to breathe, I’ve basically wanted to die.
The weather has taken a serious toll on my running and thrown me into a rut I’m struggling to get out of. I’m used to marathon training in the summer since I typically run fall marathons, but I just can’t get out of this rut. I feel exhausted all the time and like I’m working with half a lung instead of the two that I’m fairly certain I’ve got in there. Thankfully, hydration is rarely an issue for me.
I need to get out of this rut now though. I’ve got 13.5 weeks until the Erie Marathon and I’ve got a lot of work to do. Right now, I’m not even getting all my scheduled miles in and I’m running about 45 sec/mile slower than I need to be. I need to get it together.
How are you adjusting to the warmer weather?