Take That Humidity

Yesterday I ran 8 miles. I was actually scheduled to run 7.5 but I was so close to the 8 mile mark I decided to finish up that last .5 miles. I struggle with running half miles, they are hard to plan for on my usual routs and I struggle with them mentally: if I can run .5 miles, why not go all the way to 1?

I was up at 5:30 that morning. I didn’t sleep well the night before, not sure why. I usually anticipate my alarm on my early running days, but that night was just due to random insomnia. I ate half a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon and half of a banana. I tried to drink some water, but not too much. Just a few minutes past six, I had foam rolled and was ready to go. It was early dawn, the sun was just starting to wake up. It was 77 degrees with 100% humidity. I could sure feel that humidity. The first three miles were hard. I felt slow, heavy and sluggish. Once the sun came up, the humidity started to drop and I noticed a difference. Even a 3% drop is easily noticeable. I took a gel at 4 miles. I was thankful for my new hydration vest. The Nathan Intensity 2L vest was perfect! I could take a swig as needed and not slow down to fumble with my flasks. I did bring two flasks of nuun in my hydration belt and two flasks of water for dousing my face, neck and head. By the end of the run, my flasks were empty but my vest was over half full. Great news for longer distances in this NOLA humidity! I passed a few other runners, a bit uncommon for my morning runs. Not sure why everyone decided to wake up at 6am to run? Maybe it was the rain we had the day before?

These 8 miles were indeed the hardest I have ever run, but I kept them all under 13 minute miles (don’t forget I said 100% humidity) and that made me feel good. I think that as the humidity drops, I will find my speed. I hope.

I spent the rest of the afternoon drinking the rest of my water and watching Lord of the Rings: Return of the King with the family. For dinner we had some rocking steak fajitas and I might have had a gin a tonic. Overall, it was an epic day.

Today, the boys and I went for a short walk. I’m only a tad sore from yesterday. I mostly feel tired and run down. I’m guessing that is from the humidity. Looking forward to another three miles either tomorrow night or Saturday morning- depending on the weather and how I’m feeling.

It’s a great day for running y’all!