Please keep in mind that you have to run slower when the temps and humidity are high. Remember for every degree of temperature over 65 or every 1% of humidity over 65% you need to add 2 seconds per mile. Therefore if it is 75 degrees and 85% humidity then you should think about running a full minute slower than your goal race pace!! Bottom line is that there are going to be hot and humid days and we need to react accordingly.
That blurb has been posted on the Get Fit Atlanta forums every week since probably mid-May. I hadn't really thought about it until yesterday. I've spent most of the summer bummed about how slow my outdoor runs are. They've been ranging from 12 min/mile to 13:15 min/mile. Even when I have a 'great' run, it's still frustratingly slow. But, if I do the math on the temps and humidity during these runs,s I can usually take a minute+ off the time if we were closer to 'perfect conditions.' And that's not so bad.
Last night's 6 miler through the hills of Buckhead were rough going. But, I felt strong. Strong enough to run up some of the tougher hills with no walk breaks. Strong enough to keep up with our Queen of the Hills up those hills. Rawr!
This was confidence building after Saturday's conquering of Nickajack. I need confidence now. I need to build up my belief in myself. After the run, I was celebrating my "made the hill my b!tch," when my friend Harry said "it's like a switch. you spend all this time training in the heat - thinking 'This SUCKS' - and then one day - it's like a switch is flipped and the heat doesn't matter as much."
He's absolutely right. The heat still sucks, but it's not keeling me over like it has in the past. And that's a great thing.
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