July 21-25: Hot Weather!

Wednesday was a planned workout in the AM because I had a doctor’s appt afterwards and couldn’t leave work early to make the workout. Em and I had plans to go to a concert at the Strathmore at night too. Due to time constraints and other issues I couldn’t make it to the hills, and did what I could around town (6). Very hot out. I did get some better asthma medication to help me out since the doctor said my breathing was still inhibited pretty badly. I am really hoping it will help because I haven’t felt like myself recently.
Thursday was a morning run, getting in 7 miles. I wanted to do more but was very tired. I was thinking the heat was getting to me. I planned to double but had a dinner in DC that didn’t get over until later than expected.

Friday was going to be a double since I ran short the previous 2 days. I did 8.5 in the AM and felt great, much better than the previous days. My additional 8.5 miles in the evening did not go as well. It was noticeably hotter and more humid than in the morning. It was a brutal effort just to get the miles in.

Saturday was a store run (12) and we met at 8 since the temp was getting up to 102 that day, with the heat index over 110. Wow! The first hour felt OK, but the last 20 minutes wrecked me. It was hotter than when we started and lacked shade. I felt dizzy when I stopped but then quickly felt better. I stayed in for the rest of the day until it was time to go to Mike Smith’s place to hang out at night.

Sunday we ran the Riley’s Rumble 13.1, which was turned into a “Fun Run” due to high temperatures. Joe, Huge, and I decided to run together and keep it in control. We stopped at the water stops and took on anything cold when we got the chance, including popsicles. We still managed to run about 6 min pace despite the hill, heat, and humidity. MCRRC did an amazing job with this run and it was the best way I could imagine getting in a long run in those conditions. We ran 5 afterwards to get in 18 for the day before heading to Scott K’s place for some food and fun. As you can tell from the picture in this post, we have a great team with some entertaining guys. We had fun until a wicked thunderstorm came through and ruined the party. It dented Huge’s car and was 3 feet away from knocking him out. It also left tress everywhere, keeping us from getting home quickly and knocking out the power. As I’m writing this, the power is still out and we had to spend at least a night with the in-laws to get pregnant Em in some AC. We will also lose all the food in the fridge/freezer. We've had some crazy weather here this year: all the snow in the winter and now extreme heat, an earthquake, and a tornado (maybe) in a week. I got in 86 miles which is decent but I’m still looking for more miles and greater intensity in the following weeks.