Monday and yesterday I knew it was going to be beastly hot after work, but I headed out to run both days anyway. It’s (almost) summer in Michigan, it’s going to be hot.
Plus, the alternative is running early in the morning when the humidity is ridiculous, which I hate even more. Or running inside on the treadmill, which seems like sacrilege when I spend all winter whining about how cold it is.
I had a frozen bottle of water, I had sunscreen, and I had no speed goals. I was off!
Monday’s run actually wasn’t too bad. I stopped every 1.5-1.75 miles or so to drink, took an extended break at the halfway point at a water fountain in the shade, and kept it super easy. I felt fine and even managed a sub-10 minute per mile pace, which I was happy with.
Tuesday’s run felt more difficult. I stopped several times to drink, walk, and cool down, but I couldn’t make my legs go as fast as the day before. I didn’t push it, though, and ended up with a 10-second slower average. Eh, whatever.
Maybe I was still tired from the day before? Had there been more sun on the second day? Was I just feeling more blah? I also went to NOAA.gov to check out the weather data (I fully admit I am a nerd when it comes to weather data) and saw that although the heat index was a few degrees cooler on Tuesday (87 degrees vs. 90 on Monday), the dewpoint was a smidge higher and the relative humidity was decently higher (48% Tuesday vs. 34% Monday). I am notoriously bad at running in the humidity, so although 48% doesn’t seem that high to me, 34% felt like the desert, by comparison.
Although, it really doesn't matter what the heat index or relative humidity was. It was hot, it will be hot for a while, and I need to acclimate so I can keep running in it all summer long.
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