TODAY’S SUMMARY:
3.5 miles, 37:40 = 10:46 min/mile pace
Avg heart rate = 188
Last year when I started training for the marathon in September, it was painfully obvious that I hadn’t done any running during the summer. Despite being in good cardiovascular shape from soccer, swimming, biking, and other things, there really is no exact substitute for running other than…running itself!
So this year, despite the fact that I have no official big race on the schedule, my goal is to get in a run at least twice a week all summer, even if it’s only 3 miles. I just want to be able to maintain at least a base level of running fitness, even if it means running in the Houston summer heat. (UGH, UGH, DOUBLE UGH.)
I ran tonight after work, 1.75 miles out on the Gilruth trail then turned around and came back. My pace was inconsistent, to say the least. Covered the first mile in 10:30, walked for a moment, then hit 1.5 miles in 16:00. Walked a moment more. Passed 2 miles in 21:30, paused at 2.5 at ~27:10 for some water, then pushed myself to finish the last mile in close to 10:00 flat.
Anyway, a run is a run, and this one counts just as much as anything else!
Afterwards, I talked to a guy who’d been slowly gaining on me for the last 1.25 miles. He passed me with about a tenth of a mile left to go — grr! I’d been trying to stay ahead of him, which probably explains my almost 10:00 flat final mile. 😉 We chatted for a bit about marathon training and running in general. He was probably in his late 30s to early 40s, seemed nice enough, but I forgot to ask his name.
My first summer in Houston, I ran through the heat. I’m still proud of myself for that. But the second summer, I just couldn’t do it. I totally wimped out. Good luck! It takes real determination to do it. I found the best thing to do was run from 8:30 to 9:00 pm when it was cooler; it really does make an amazing difference midsummer. Running at 5pm was just complete and utter torture.