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. 
No comments:
Post a Comment