In it for the long run

Hot run...summer in the suburbs!

Later start than I'd hoped. Hot, bright, humid--fry-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk weather. Every car horn and shout magnified in volume kind of weather. (Why does hot weather seem to make noises noisier?)

Every-step-as-if-I-had-glue-on-my-shoe kind of run.

Finally retreated to the air conditioned comfort of the local Y for something that a casual onlooker would view as running, so as to get my pace in the single-digit-per-mile range.

I generally prefer outdoor running, but so grateful sometimes to open that door to the Y and feel the cool blast of air, go up the steps two at a time to the wellness center, hop on a treadmill, and stare at an LCD display telling me helpfully, if tactlessly, how far and how fast I was running.

As it happened, after a moment to get it to cruising speed, the machine carried me along at 9:40 pace for a couple of miles, then during the "cooldown" period, I dialed it back into the double digit pace range until I reached my goal of running an hour. I suppose the stuff I did outside might more or less loosely be interpreted as "running." If one was kind....

Since I was in the Y, I did a couple of the weights that didn't have someone working on them (hip adductor/abductor--Dave mentioned my hips needing more strength/flexibility).

This was one of those "survival" runs, but I survived! Note to self (with apologies to Nietzsche): "whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger"--or drive you to the treadmills at the wellness center.

posted by DPMcManus @ 5:25 PM