It's hottttt

Ugh. August i.e. extreme heat finally hit here in MKE...with only 3 days left to spare.

I am distraught over how fast this summer went. I really love drinking and eating outside. I love playing corn hole or whatever you people call it now (In KY, where I went to college, we call it corn hole. I like the south and pretending I am a southern belle so I refuse to call it anything else). I like floating in a pool feeling the sun ruin my skin and reflecting on how awesome life is. I love summer vacations even if they are only to a lake up north and how calm work can get on a Friday because everyone is sneaking out early... one by one.

I am sure I could think up a trillion more reasons summer is the bomb. dot. com. BUT let me tell you one reason the summer has let me down.

Running in the summer SUCKS.

Plain and simple. It wasn't even that FREAKING hot here this summer compared to where some of you peeps live. But man, that SUN!! SHOOT me now and leave me on the side of the road. There could be the best breeze in the world but if the sun is out in full force that beautiful sun I complain about all 9 months of winter, asking...praying...NO NO pleading for its return sucks every last ounce of life from my happy running legs.

At first I didn't know what was happening this summer. I had just completed two great half marathons in the spring and then alllll of the sudden the first few weeks of June came and I turned into a snail. Sure I knew it was hotter but I didn't actually think it would slash my time like that. I was sad and miserable. Sure I was proud of my mileage but I definitely thought that if my average times were going to suffer like this all summer, I would never run a sub 2 hour half again!!!

Well low and behold, I started reading the bible. Runner's World. ***Get your subscription now, thank me for the rest of your life. The two hours it takes to read each issue will be the happiest, most exciting minutes of your month. Guaranteed.*** And so it seems that this happens to everyone. You slow down. The sun sucks your energy. You need to drink extra water. If you don't you risk all kinds of problems.

Well the CRAZY in me still hated seeing my times suck and the lazy bum in me hated working harder throughout every run. I worried about the fact that I never truly adapted to the heat, which is something the Bible implied would happen.

Now that it is the end of the summer, I realize a few things:

1. Maybe I never adapted because the temperatures WERE all over the place this summer.
2. That I am not an Olympic runner and even though my times suffered, I never gave up. I put some heavy mileage in and that is something to be seriously proud of.
3. Next summer I am going to embrace slowing down. Sometimes when you run just to run, it is way more fun and there will be plenty of time for speed work come fall.

So the long and short of it...If you are new to running please do your research and cut yourself some slack. Running in the heat is serious business. If you like shopping as much as I do, there are also some great products you can arm yourself with to battle the heat. Read up. Slow down. And Drink UP!

YUCK.