It's Getting Hot in Here

I kind of stumbled through this past weekend as the family was very busy with typical summer stuff and I was really lacking in motivation to get out there and run. I did getout for a quick 7 mile run on Saturday, but then did nothing on Sunday. It left me with a rather meager 64 miles for the week. Funny how your perspective changes over the years. Less than 2 years ago, I would have been absolutely thrilled with anything even approaching 60 miles for the week. Now, I sit here and wonder what went wrong. I'll just have to go with the standard, "the day off will do me good" and to be honest, I think it did. Things were beginning to hurt last week and that extra day off seemed to have calmed things down a bit, although my hamstring continues to give me problems. I think I probably have a low level strain in my left hamstring. For now I'm treating it with my own brand of RICE:

R - Rub it
I - Ignore it
C - Continue Running
E - Expect the worst

We'll see how that goes.

The past week has been extremely hot and humid in Chicago and I've really been feeling it on my runs. I've always thought of myself as something of a warm weather runner, but I think it might be time to rethink that theory. Actually it isn't so much the heat that has been bugging me as it is the humidity. I've been absolutely soaked to the bone after every single run this week. Things are supposed to cool off a bit starting tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to get in a little bit more quality on the tail end of the week as opposed to the survival runs that have defined the week thus far.

Monday was 9 miles and yesterday was 14 miles. Yesterday was one of the first long runs in a long time where I was getting progressively slower as the run went on. I kept watching my average pace go higher and higher throughout the run and there was very little I could do to stop the bleeding. I was thinking of extending the run to 15 or 16 miles, but to be honest, it probably would have been counter-productive so I called it quits at 14. The afternoon was followed with some pretty intense cramping in the hamstring which I'm sure was brought on by dehydration (and the strain).

Today was an easy 9 miler and I hope to get out tonight for 7 more slowish miles before my 9:30 softball game. While I do like the late-night softball games since I can put the kids to bed and still make it to the game, it pretty much wipes out any hopes I have of an early morning run the next day, which is why I'd really like to get a short run in this evening. Of course that always easier said than done.