I headed out for a 5 mile run just after 6 p.m. tonight looking like a fashion faux-pas. But that's not really the point of this post but let me finish the attire first. I realized about a mile into my run that I had on light blue shorts, a dark blue shirt and a medium blue hat. It was a hot mess, which got me to thinking about the weather.
Normally in late May a run two hours before sunset is an invitation to a death march. It's usually incredibly hot and unbearably humid. But this spring has been anything but normal. The humidity hasn't found its way to Fort Myers yet.
Dew points by the end of spring are soaring into the 70's. But the weather throughout March, April and May has been unbelievable. It's been downright cool and the air has been, shall we say, crisp. Running has been a joy. And that's been an incredible help given the injury plagued February I endured.
Dew point is always the key here when it comes to weather. I'd much rather run in 85 degree weather with a dew point of 65 than 80 degree weather with a dew point of 70. Today it was 83 with a dew point of 69 as I headed out the door with rain clouds hanging about. About 2 miles into the run it started pouring. It was a blustery, cold rain. It rained for a mile and while I wanted to be miserable I dare not.
A month from now I will dream of a day like today. It will be unceasingly humid and to borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan, hotter than a crotch. It will stay awful until sometime in October when the humidity finally gets sucked back into the Gulf of Mexico.
Summer running in Southwest Florida is nasty. Most of the runners I know here think a long run is 10 to 12 miles. You suggest going 16 to 21 miles and they look at you like you're insane. I seriously don't know how the good high school kids make it through the summer. I know they get up by 6 a.m. to get their miles in, that's for sure.
Meanwhile, I'll start pushing my evening runs back to an hour or so before sunset and limit the length of my runs. I've been banging away at about 35 miles a week for about 2 months now. I'll be happy to keep it at 30 through the summer. It's been great to get through these last 10 weeks pain free. Here's to building a base for some fall racing!
Hi John, it kind of makes you wonder how Frank Shorter functioned as a member of the "Florida Track Club" ... that climate might have driven him to more agreable conditions in Boulder ! By the way, I enjoyed your reminiscence on the 1973 Kansas state track championships. It's mind boggling to think that that goes back 40 years and that Clark Hamilton must be 58 now. I was also thinking a bit about performances. Clearly, that race was tactical one with Clark winning in 4:26. In the two succeeding years in the state 2 mile, Reed Eichner ran 9:13 and 9:01 respectively! I'm not sure many state level high school runners anywhere are approching that standard of performance today. Kind regards, Mason
ReplyDelete