Battling Heat, Humidity, Hills, Flies, and Treadmills

Believe it or not, the past several weeks, even though on vacation, I have been running regularly.

I am DETERMINED to run at least a half marathon before year's end, if not a full marathon. Admittedly, it hasn't been easy.

I got one run in on a treadmill in Columbus, OH on my way to Massachusetts. Once in Massachusetts, things were good for running because the weather was AMAZING . . . for about a week. I ran my two maintenance runs and had a pretty good 6-miler before heading to the beach - and the HEAT.

OH MY GOD WAS IT HOT. My brother is really good about keeping me on track at the beach, but on the Tuesday after the 4th, he wasn't feeling well and there was a heat advisory. For the beach. In New Hampshire. WTF? Regardless, I ran my 4 maintenance miles alone and nearly vomited around mile 3. This is very unlike me. I spent years training in the awful DC heat and humidity running 10, 15, 18 miles. I was surprised by my body's reaction to the weather, but I felt like I was suffocating. I walked about 1/4 mile and then finished the run. I spent the rest of the day recovering.

I decided for the rest of that ugly weather week that I would run earlier and my brother did join me. It was still gross, but we got it done. The day before we left, we ran 7 miles and my dad was nice enough to meet us half-way with some Gatorade. What a help!

From there I was off to Cape Cod for a night, and the next morning I ran the bike trail there. I was lucky my motel was right next to it! I ran 4, but again, felt a little like I was suffocating. At least there was cloud cover so it wasn't quite as bad.

Then I was off to Acworth, NH. It was still hot and humid along the northeast, and to add to my misery, Acworth is a very HILLY town. These are not your momma's hills! These are mother effing hills! On the first day, I walked 7 miles with a friend. The next day I tried to run 4 and hit one hill that went up 700 feet in very short order at the end of my run. No can do. I hate hills anyway, but this was ridiculous! Plus, I was battling the black flies who were trying to drive me mad with biting. Bastards!

Instead of going to war against hills, heat, and flies, I chose to walk the rest of my stay and wear a hat. It helped . . . some.

That weekend I was back at my folks' house and ran my 8 miles. Once again, my dad was stellar and met me half way with some water and a towel. It was still pretty hot, but not quite as bad and I did get an early start.

Then I was off to DC. It was terribly hot and humid there. We had heat advisories and air quality warnings nearly every day. Still, I got out and ran. I was staying with a friend in Hyattsville, MD and she lives just up a hill from a bike path. So I decided to run that, knowing full well it would mean hitting the hill at the very end of my run. I ran, trying to track mileage, but not quite sure how far I was going. It took me nearly an hour each time I ran, so I figured I had slowed down due to the heat.

However, my final morning there I clocked the mileage to the bike path and it was over a mile to get there! So including my mileage on the trail, I'm pretty sure I was running 6 miles. It wasn't much fun, and I was soaked with sweat when I finished, but at least I got it done. On the day I was scheduled to run 9 miles, the forecast was for heat indices over 110 degrees. I opted out and went to brunch at Eastern Market instead. A WISE decision!

Of course, I had to make those miles up and finally did at my hotel in Frankfort, KY. Nine miles on the treadmill. BORING. But at least it was climate controlled and I could have my water right there without carrying it.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to run 10 miles. And I'm nervous. I haven't seen 10 miles in nearly 2 years - since my stress fracture. I will be on my own - no father at the half way point, no dogs for company. But I'll get it done somehow. I haven't decided if I'm going to carry some Gatorade or if I'm going to choose a route that will run by my house once or twice. That gets really boring, but I despise carrying my liquids. And I've never had a running belt I've liked. I can't abide things wrapped around my waist. Even my jeans are low rise!

And of course, now that I've hit double digits, I need to consume calories before and during the run. Yuck. Back to oatmeal at 5 AM and a very soft energy bar cut in tiny pieces to carry with me.

Maybe I WILL run by my house.

It may be hot and humid tomorrow, but at least it will be flat, fly-less, and outside.

I'll let you know how it goes.