Run Early

I ran earlier in the day today, at about 10 a.m. Yesterday the temperature hit 104 degrees with heat index of 121. !!!!!!! I have to say it didn't really feel that hot, but what do I know? I like the heat. This morning proved to be a lot cooler than that. In fact, today's high is ten degrees lower than yesterday. It felt so good, with a little southerly breeze, that I ran two out of the 3 miles. Yes, I sweated quite a bit. After the last couple of outings resulting in walks, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, it was nice to jog. And it also feels nice to have that out of the way before it gets into the mid-90s.

Century Mark

This afternoon the temperature hit the 100-degree mark plus four. Wisely, I went out for a walk instead of a run, finding shade wherever I could. I went a little over 2 miles and then, also wisely, mowed the lawn. I figured I might as well get all of my sweating done at once. The weather is supposed to stay in this pattern at least until the latter half of next week, and I'm guessing beyond that. I honestly don't mind the hot days of summer and much prefer them to the frigid winter weather. At least today it wasn't as humid as Sunday morning in the Texas hill country.

Selma Run

We're in Selma, Texas, staying at a vrbo, for my niece's wedding today. Back home on Thursday, rain kept coming through every half-hour or so and I didn't get a window for a run. Today I walked a couple of miles in this neighborhood. It was nice and quiet on a Sunday morning, other than the fire truck and ambulance that showed up at a house next to the neighborhood park. The humidity was off the charts with all the rain in the area the past week. I walked a quarter-mile and then ran a quarter, and my body said, Nope. As soon as I stopped running, my calf muscles piped up and told me that was a good choice. I walked 2 miles total and at least got in a little bit of exercise to make up for the two visits to top-notch bbq joints in the area. We stopped in Lockhart and ate at Terry Black's on the way down, and then dipped into San Antonio for lunch today at Reese Bros. The brisket in both places was melt-in-your-mouth good. I didn't overeat and avoided the meat sweats. I don't know what people do who can't get such world-class smoked meat. Gives me something to shoot for with my own smoking.

Funk

I was kind of in a funk today with way too many work meetings, plus issues with the parents. I needed a run in the worst way and didn't get out until after four o'clock. I did the now-standard 3 miles, with 2 of that in running mode. The temperature was actually a degree below ninety, which is rare this time of year. Plus, it being so late in the day, I found shade along the route as well as a south wind that certainly helped. I've got my iPod on shuffle right now and with over a thousand songs on it, it could take awhile to get all the way through. I probably won't last that long. I mention this because the Van Halen song "Humans Being" came on before the midway point and I listened to it twice. That's going to extend the list. Let's just say it's a very underrated VH song as well as being the last one Sammy wrote with the band. Fantastic guitar. Give it a listen and crank it up.

Standard Run

It's a Saturday. I spent time eating breakfast, drinking coffee, and writing, before going out about 10:30. That allowed some of the humidity to burn off, but not all. The temperature hit 86 degrees by the time I left. I went 4 miles total, with 2.5 of that in running mode. Felt good and sweat a lot. I saw a few people walking but nobody else running. Guess that makes me the crazy one. As usual, my practice of walking and running worked well. Makes me miss the time I lost over the winter where I couldn't run in the cooler weather. It'll happen soon enough, and in the meantime I'll keep up the same routine.

Earlier

I got earlier today than I did on Tuesday. That worked better since the temperature had only risen into the upper 80s instead of closer to 100, which is actually where we ended up this afternoon. Plus I was able to run longer intervals out of the 3 miles. I ran two one-mile intervals instead of three half-mile increments. For those doing the math at home, that means I ran two miles out of three instead of half the total. It actually felt fine the whole way and I had no problem coming home and mowing the grass afterward. That also free me up at the end of the workday to go smoke a couple of cigars in air conditioning instead of on the patio in the heat. Looks like we get a break with some rain this weekend. Any long-time readers know I don't mind the heat, I just adapt.

In the Oven

Today's run was brought to by Hasty-Bake ovens. Just kidding, it was brought to you by summer in Texas. Temperature? 98 degrees. Heat index? 107. We're supposed to hit the century mark in un-indexed heat several times over the next few weeks. I missed running this weekend due to laziness and smoking meat, so today I definitely needed a good sweat. I modified the pattern to walk a quarter-mile, run a half, walk a quarter, run a half, and so on. The overall running was 1.5 miles out of 3, and the last walk (a "cooldown", if you will) consisted of 3/4 mile. That scheme seemed to work just fine and kept me from getting overheated. I found more shade than normal since I ran later in the day. Too many meetings these days don't allow me to get out as much during earlier hours. That's okay, since the humidity is lower and shade more prevalent in late afternoon.

Rare Friday

Today I had the rare Friday outing. Yesterday I didn't break free until late afternoon and by that time I decided to put off the exercise until today, a holiday. The only problem is that yesterday probably would've been better even though it was hotter. This morning the temperature was almost 80 and the humidity percentage wasn't far behind that number. I only went 2 miles, running three-quarters of a mile and walking back from the midpoint. Yes, humidity is my Achille's heel. At least I got to sweat. I'll run tomorrow or Sunday and hopefully the conditions will be a little more favorable. I'm guess they won't, but a guy can dream, can't he?