Training – Week 9 – Week 7 of Marathon Training – Friday – 7 Miles in the 90+ Degrees Heat

Whew! Was it ever smoking hot out today! I was not able to get my run in until mid afternoon which is the worst time to run. However, when you have three kids you have to make do with what you have. I took off around 2:30 or so for my 7 mile run. I really wanted to run at my Bix 7 pace, but once I got out in the heat I knew this was not going to happen. The bank read 92 degrees, but when I got home it said it felt like 98 degrees outside. The air was not moving at all and I could not find shade.

To be honest I did not feel too bad at first. I was moving at a nice pace that felt easy. I ran mile 1 at 8:21, mile at 8:12, mile 3 at 8:43 where I tackled a large hill to practice for the Bix 7 next weekend. It was at that point that my body started to fade.

I slowed the pace down and still felt okay running mile 4 in 9:04, mile 5 at 9:04 and then my body hit a wall. I felt very hot(obviously) and I just did not want to overdo it. My body has been through a lot this week with the 20 mile run on Monday, the waterparks Tuesday-Thursday with a 5 mile run yesterday that did not feel easy.

I took miles 6 and 7 very easy running 9:16 and 9:50 respectively. It is so hard to breathe in this heat and humidity. The run feels so much harder.

I know that heat plays a large part in how well I run, but I still cannot think that my eating the last couple days did not help matters much. I need this weather to cool off so I can get a few good running times in prior to the Bix. I need a good run to help me enter the Bix 7 race with confidence. I want to beat my time from last year, but I have not had a decent run in quite some time.

It will happen. I just have to be patient. I know you cannot have a stellar run every time you run and even less of a chance in this heat wave. It did feel good to get this run in after gaining some motivation from our little vacation (read my GETTING IT DONE post)

I finished this run in 62 minutes and 43 seconds which is a 8:57 pace.

I still need to mow the yard and I would like to get a bike ride in tonight. Bike ride might not happen after mowing so I will have to get a good ride in the morning if not.