Feeling my usual lazy self this morning, I decided to wait until the PM to go for a run.* It was 85F when I started, although the humidity was low and the dew point was a reasonable 65F (by which I mean it was not a horrific 75F+). That being said, this is too hot for me, at least right now. I had to walk at around the 30-minute mark.
I decided that today was my 'long run' of my FTL. I am using that term very liberally.
Actually, I was reminded of when I first moved to Florida. It was the start of August, which is the 'Oh God someone shoot me' time of year, weather-wise. Being that I am lazy in the mornings (are you seeing a pattern here?), I often tried running around sunset. I also noticed that practically no one could be found after dark, so I avoided that. However, the actual temperatures were still very nasty and no matter what I did, I had to walk after around 30 minutes. Did not matter how fast/slow I started. Did not matter what pace I maintained (although back then, I did not really track my pace very carefully). At around 30 minutes, I would suddenly have to walk.
Tonight was essentially the same thing. So I walked for about 1-2 minutes, then picked it back up, nice and slowly. After that, things were okay. I suspect that if I had tried to run for much longer, I would have required another walking break, but I also suspect that I got going a bit faster near the end since the end was (metaphorically) in sight--it wasn't actually in sight since I was going by time, but you know what I mean.
I also realized that you need to know what you can and cannot do, athletically. For instance, I knew that I could get through a marathon when I decided to train for one on the grounds that I don't injure very easily and am generally good at sticking to plans, despite what you might glean from this blog. However, I also knew not to expect to be too fast, because I'm not fast. I'm doing a 5k next Sunday and I think that it will be the last one for a while. One thing that I have learned after 4+ years of running down here is that I am not equipped to run in heat. Probably some people are. Then again, some people have knee problems, whereas so far I have been lucky enough to avoid them. Such is life.
I guess the good news is that the more of this I do, the less awful it will feel eventually. It's just so blech when you're actually going through the adopting to heat phase!
*Incidentally, the humidity was in the 90%+ range this morning. In some ways, I'm so glad to be lazy in the mornings. That would have been ick.
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