Plan B in the Summer Heat

Appears courtesy of Felice from TheHappyRunner.

Have you heard? There’s a heat wave going on so it is hot. I know! It’s summer. And it’s hot! Go figure . . .



Anyway, yesterday was really hot and — wouldn’t you know it — I had a 5 mile tempo run on the schedule. Before heading out for my run in the evening, I double-checked my training plan, just to make sure I was right. Yup. Wednesday, July 20: 5 mile tempo. Sigh.

I told Owen. He told me it was hot. I said I knew. He said I had to remember to be flexible. I told him I would skip the tempo run. He told me that was a good idea.

So, that was that. I planned to skip the tempo and run 5 easy miles. I started up the hill that begins my regular running route and I was going sloooooow. I kept on running but as I got half-way up the next hill I felt like giving myself a big smack on the head. What are you doing? I asked myself.

Are you really giving up on your plan this early in the training cycle? How are you going to go after your A goal in the half if you let a little heat get in the way of your Plan A? This is July. It’s hot. You knew you were going to have to train through the summer when you signed up for the race. So what are you doing? You need to suck it up, Happy Runner. Suck. It. Up.

You had better believe that when I hit Mile 1, I picked up the pace.

My original plan for the 5 mile tempo was a 1 mile warm-up followed by 3 miles at 8:00/mile and then a 1 mile cool-down. I went for it. Heat and hills and all.

The 3 fast miles didn’t exactly hit the pace I was shooting for — I averaged 8:14 per mile for the 3 miles instead of 8:00 — but, you know what? That’s fine. My effort was undoubtedly there. I pushed on and felt better for it.

Tempo run #1 . . . DONE!