Yep! Last week was really hot! And I did runs in two different cities and it was hot in BOTH! Who ordered all this heat and can I return it for a better forecast?
I was in Indianapolis last Tuesday through Friday for a church conference that lasts almost two weeks. I figured I would not let that interfere with my marathon training, however, so I fully intended to run. Well, it is hotter here than it was in Chicago! I did my runs at 5:30am figuring that it would be the coolest period of the day. Well, yeah it was cooler -- around 77F -- and also very dark! It was 104F during the day!
My Wednesday run wasn't too bad. I ran 3.28 miles with a friend who wasn't feeling all that well, so we took it pretty slow. The temps was 75F at the start and we ended up doing some walking. But the important thing was that we were out there!
On Thursday, it was 77F and a LOT more humid. I ran with my roommate who is like an elite runner (he runs a 5K in 14:12), but he kept it slow for my sake. We got in 4.5 miles and while I did take a couple of walk breaks, my run segments were at 10:13/mm pace which was acceptable to me.
Then I had to go back home unexpectedly that Friday afternoon. I ended up doing my Long Run with my buddy Mike at our usual place -- the Prairie Path. We clocked in 6.78 miles at a nice slow pace. Thankfully, they had paved the section of the path that was all dug up last weekend. It was 80F when we started the run but was 92F by the time we finished. (I had planned to go for 10 Miles but when it got so hot we decided to cut the run a bit short).
So, the total miles for last week was only about 14.5 miles -- about 7 miles shorter than I had planned. I will take it as a 'cut-back' week and look forward to the next. This brings my total Marathon Training mileage to 75.3, a little lower than I wanted it to be at this point but definitely nothing that will impact my overall training goals.
Last Sunday, I was scheduled to run a 5K race sponsored by the church conference. Well, that turned out to be my first DNS (Did Not Start)! Why? Because my wife was hospitalized on Thursday so I had to leave the conference in Indy (where the race was) to come home to be with her and the kids.
The good news is that my wife is fine. She came home Sunday and is feeling much better! So at least my first DNS was due to a good reason, right? Honestly, I am not that hung up on it, just sayin it was my 'first'.
So I have the remainder of this week at the Conference (I drove back to Indy on Sunday), with three training runs planned in the hot early mornings. Can't wait to get home on Friday because it is cooler in Chicago right now than it is in Indy so my Sunday Long Run will be more comfortable!