What you probably can't tell from this picture is that it was in the mid-80s, with about the same level of humidity. I was dripping wet, literally. Not a dry spot on me. That is how most of my runs have been this summer. For a week or two, it wasn't blazing hot, but it was raining non-stop, and I got just as wet. Can I tell you something? I am so over summer. At the beginning of the summer, I was all proud of myself for running in the heat, playing tennis in the heat - it made me feel, well, superior. I was out doing, when so many people were inside, sitting. Now? I am just tired of being so damn wet, of my clothes needing to be wrung out after a run or a tennis match. I can still handle it, but the feeling of superiority has been replaced by a sigh of resignation. If I want to do the things I love, I have to endure.
Thank goodness fall is coming. Oh, true fall in Arkansas is still a ways off, but there is a hint of a cool breeze in the mornings now. The temperatures at only in the low 90s during the day, and it isn't quite warm enough for the pool some days. (That in itself could be an entire blog post - when I was a kid, any day the pool was open was a day warm enough to go swimming. Now, it has to be at least 85 for me to feel the need to get in.)
Anyway, I have been running in the summer in Arkansas so often because I signed up for my second half-marathon at the end of October, and I need to be prepared! I almost signed up for three halfs in a month, but reason kicked in and settled on one. My hope is that all this heat training will make the fall weather seem so glorious and easy to run it that I can break my PR from the spring. So, c'mon Fall!
