August 9, 2009

I swam out the front door this morning.

Today is absolutely the hottest and most humid day so far this summer in Michigan. It has already topped 90 degrees and the humidity, last I checked, was 88%. HOLY CRAP!

Knowing this was coming, as they actually successfully predicted it, I got up plenty early to get my 15 mile run in, with as many miles at MP as possible. Turned out, there was no getting up early enough. At 6:30, it was almost 70 and the humidity was already in the high 80s. Sheesh! Well, hoping another hour wouldn't make too much a difference seeing as it was so uncomfortable out already, I made my coffee and mentally prepared for the run. I always enjoy long runs, so I was sitting there getting more and more excited. I didn't think running at MP was really going to be an issue. It should be a fairly comfortable pace, after all.

Boy was I wrong! I swam out the front door into the ocean of air that surrounded me and knew I was in for trouble. I've run several times in warm, humid conditions, but this was bordering on extreme. I did my first 3 miles at an easy pace, or what is usually an easy pace. Then I decided to go for it and kicked into MP. Actually, the first 3 miles at MP weren't too bad, but after that the stress of the pace and the humidity started wearing on me. I made it another 2 miles at MP before I had to slow down. Five miles at MP in 88% humidity - not too bad. I was hoping to do a lot more, but should be proud of what I did. I ran another 2 at easy pace before giving one more shot at MP. Did another 2 at MP and barely finished the last mile. Even the 3 easy miles to round out the 15 were killer. Wow, tough workout! Glad it is over and proud of what I accomplished!

Here are my splits (goal for MP was 7:30):

8:31 - 3 miles warm-up
8:12
8:17

7:38 - 5 miles MP
7:35
7:33
7:16 (oops! Can't let this happen during the race!)
7:25

8:29 - 2 recovery miles
8:08

7:36 - 2 more miles MP
7:39

8:08 - 3 miles cool-down
8:36
8:11

And this brings my mileage to 56.6 for the week which is also a new record for me.

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