Saturday, August 8, 2009

What a Difference the Heat Makes

If you know me or if you have read this much, you know that I run quite a bit. I generally run Tuesday and Thursday mornings and then a long run on Saturday. I ran the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in April, and I am currently training for The Middle Half on October 3.

When I was training for the Country Music 1/2, the vast majority of my runs were in temperatures less than 60 degrees. On race day, however, the temperature at the start time was about 70 degrees. This made a huge difference. In fact, on my overall pace, the temperature cost me about 1:30 per mile. Recently we have been training for the race in October. Last week we ran 7 miles at about 10:30 am. I haven't compared my run times from the training in April and the last week, but I can guess what they look like. Last week I was able to keep about a 9:30 pace for the entire 7 miles. If I had to guess, my 7 mile run in later winter was probably about 9:10.

In the past I have ran several 5k's. I really enjoy the distance and this has always been something that Allison has enjoyed and I am able to push Cooper along the way. In May we ran the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home Run 4 Kids. The weather was perfect for that race. I don't remember the exact temperature, but it was cool and there was very little humidity. At that race Allison and I both set personal records for a 5 k. Today we ran in the Smyrna Parks and Recreation 5k. Today was much warmer and much more humidity. Because I have been running in preparation for The Middle Half, I felt that I had a chance to run faster than my previous best. Boy, was I wrong! I started out strong, but in the end the heat and humidity slowed me down again. I ran a pretty good time, fast enough for my third best time ever, but not what I had hoped for. Hopefully, come October, the temperature will be down and so will my time. We'll just have to wait and see.

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