Well it was a case of "Quality Over Quantity" last week as the humidity ruled the roost and dictated the state of play throughout the week, however in the classic you can't teach an auld dog new ticks department I discovered it's not the temperature you need to pay attention to it's the humidity.......
W/ heatwave #2 in full effect I spent more time on my weather app than usual last week checking on a daily basis the temperature and humidity to see if and when there was a chance to get out and run, eventually Thursday looked like it was doable if I was willing to get up at 5.30am and run 8 miles rather than the 5 milers I've been running thus far, I'm at a juncture now in mid July that has become "piss or get off the pot" the clock is ticking on Dublin, Sunday marks 16 weeks to go I need to be able to up the ante from 6 miles to 8 miles this week so that next week it's 10 miles and so on and so forth that my weekly longer run is getting longer, however in order to get to 10 miles I need to get to 8 first and thus far I'm 0 for 2 in my attempt to log and 8 miler so w/ that in mind I spent most of Wednesday hydrating in preparation for Thursday morning
When the alarm went off at 5.30am I was ready by 5.47am I was dressed, stretched and out the door 74 degrees.....but more importantly only 76% humidity.....finally after several days of stifling humidity a chance to get out and run
A modest 8.34 opening mile, while I was shooting for 9.00 min mile pace the truth was this was more about trying and hopefully getting 8 miles in, time, speed, pace were secondary.....distance was the goal 9.12 at mile 2 as I crossed the South St bridge a little b4 6.10am already dozens of likeminded other runners had the same idea to get out early getting the miles in b4 it became too steamy ,8.51 at mile 3 and 9.00 flat at mile 4, 35.37 at the turnaround just after Lloyd Hall on Kelly Dr, 2 weeks ago when I reached Lloyd Hall I knew I was fried today I was able to turn and head back along the Schuylkill River Trail
I wasn't overly concerned about miles 5 and 6 I had enough 5 miles logged in recent weeks to cover them it was miles 7 and 8 that were a concern my most recent 8 and 9 mile runs came in early to mid April in prep for Broad St on May 5th, bonking on the weekend is bad enough and seldom sits well but on a weekday when I still have to get home get in and out of the shower and get to work by 8amish meant failure was not an option or to quote Eminem from Lose Yourself ''success is my only motherfuckin' option, failure's not......
9.11 for mile 5 and 9.23 for mile 6 the on/off ramp up to South St bridge is always a challenge but it was one I passed today, now for the closing 2 miles.......I was too close to home now to bonk in my heart and mind......I just had to hope my legs were on the same page........
9.01 for mile 7, I was going to be close to the 1.12 target time off 9.00 min mile pace if I could dredge up the last ounces of strength I had......w/ 7 blocks to go and 7.30 on the Garmin I did have to dig deep I was TOO close to home now not to
A laboured 9.41 final mile to reach my door step in 1.12.52 off 9.07 mile pace as I said earlier time, speed, pace were not the issue here, getting 8 miles in was and I was able to do that and hopefully that puts me on the next rung of the ladder moving up the mileage ladder
For the record the temperature on Saturday at 6am was a comfortable 74 degrees.......however the humidity was 96% it was a suicide mission to even attempt to run so I settled for Thursdays 8 miles and began checking the 10 day weather forecast for heat and humidity to see when is the next opportunity to get out there and run, heatwave #3 is about to begin so it's going to be a game of wait and see.....
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