4/24/11 (yesterday)
10 miles
1:32
9:12 avg pace
Spring turned into full blown summer here in Philly. It was 67 degrees when I started running on Sunday (at 8am!) with lots of sun and humidity. Initially the weather felt great but by mile 3 I was feeling the heat. My 9:00 pace felt hard; my breathing and heart rate were more indicative of an 8:30 pace. The miles dragged on and on. I wanted to end with a few miles at marathon pace but there was just no way.
I’m definitely the type of runner that needs to acclimate to hot or cold weather. Sudden, big swings in temperature are not good. It takes about 2 weeks to acclimate myself and then I’m fine. Today’s run wasn’t the best confidence booster for the marathon but I know it was 100% due to the heat. Thankfully the forecast for Sunday’s race is calling for mostly cloudy with a high of 63 and a low of 53. I’d prefer it to be a little colder but I’ll take what I can get!
Week 16 recap of NJ Marathon training:
MON: rest
TUE: 6 miles at marathon pace
WED: 6 miles tempo
THU: rest
FRI: 6 miles easy
SAT: rest
SUN: 10 miles “long”
28 miles for the week. The taper is working because I feel lazy and sluggish 🙂
Do you need to acclimate to hot or cold weather?
Yes! I definitely need to acclimate! Because I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, I thought running my 10 miler at 2 in the afternoon sounded like a good plan (the weather in DC sounds like it was about the same as yours). I, too, planned to negative split the last part of my run. After 2 miles at my pick-up pace, I felt like I was going to die. I know it’s all heat related, but it’s still no fun!
I hear ya on preferring cooler temps for running. My husband and I just got back from visiting his parents in FL…those 3 runs in the heat/humidity were brutal (Even at 8-9am) because I’d been used to running in NJ’s low humidity and 50s. Not sure if I’m ready for summer running! Hopefully at the shore you’ll have a nice little breeze from the ocean to keep you cool- I found that to be the case for the asbury park half last year.
Oooh, I hope so! This heat wave better be over by Sunday!
I’m just like you, I need a chance to adjust. I ran this morning at 7am and it was already 70 and humid and I was dying. By next month, I’ll be fine. Well, I’ll still be a sweaty mess, but I won’t feel like death (hopefully). By the time I run my 50K in June and another in July, the heat will be nothing!
I have not truly trained in the summer heat yet…mostly because last summer was when I first started running and my actual running was pretty sporadic–i was not that committed yet. But I sweat a ton! So it is always hard for me to get used to that again when it gets warm out. I definitely think I am going to need to get acclimated this summer! Plus…I am really bad at drinking water as I run which I really need to improve on–has not hurt me too badly since its been cool but I KNOW I need to get better.
Good job on sticking with your taper 🙂 you are almost there!!
I definitely need time to adjust to the weather. I love it when it’s about 55 and sunny. Perfect running weather for me! I’ll even take the rain over heat.
I have to say I love hearing everyone in Philly talk about weather 🙂 I am doing the Philly marathon this fall and live in Miami where the morning temp hasn’t been below 74 in a month, so I feel like I’ll be flying in PHilly this fall.
funny how our body adjusts to different “normal” temps
OK, I have nothing to complain about then 🙂 I may be doing Philly too. You’ll love it! And the weather is usually pretty good.