Summer Run! :P

Today was 80 degrees. Now, I am NEVER one to complain about hot weather. Never,

And that’s not what I’m doing right now.

I’m just saying maybe I wasn’t quite ready for that big of a change in temperature.

It’s been nice. I get to wear shorts. I get to sit outside in the sun. It smells amazing. I feel relaxed. It’s lovely really.

But at the same time, I finally understand why spring exists.

The way I see it is that in the winter our bodies customize to the cold. And in the summer our bodies get accustomed to the heat. And spring and fall are gradual turnings from one extreme to the other. So they are like in-between times that allow our bodies the time to prepare for the extremities.

That hasn’t really happened so far.

You see, us here in the Chicago area actually had a pretty mild winter. We had about one to two snowstorms and never negative numbers for temperatures. It was nice. Really nice. Especially after all the weather forecasters had been predicting a horrible winter. But apparently the weather gods decided that because we had such a mild winter then we could hop right on into July heat. Okay, no. i don’t believe in weather gods. I believe in one God and I’m positive that He knows exactly what is best for me. Just maybe I don’t know what’s best for me.

Like, could it have been Him, telling me to bring water on my run today? Yes, it probably was.

“But, God!!! I hate carrying stuff when I’m running!”      

I really should have brought water. Instead, I had to stop at Los Burritos Tapatios for a break. This is a mile and a half into my run and I’m already sweating buckets.

But my point is that when the weather goes all haywire 50 degrees one day and 80 the next, a body doesn’t know what to do. Especially a runner’s body.  Springtime is prep time. For those of us TOUGH enough to run in the winter, it’s prep time for the heat of summer. For those who don’t run in the winter, it’s catching-up time to all those wacko runners. Not one of these runners, hard-core, medium-core, or no-core, are prepared to just bolt off into the (very fiery) sunset. We need springtime to prep ourselves for the heat to come. Okay, everyone understand?

Regardless of the weather I still ran my 4 miles in 32:56 with an average mile of 8:14. Yea, I looked like an idiot out there, gasping for air or water or something. My throat is still recovering from the lack of moisture. But I am glad that I went. I soaked through every millimeter of cloth I was wearing with sweat. Sweat was dripping down my face. At first, the sun was burning, each time it went behind a translucent cloud, I was happy for small relief from the calidity. But by the end of my run, the sun was behind my back and the wind was also blowing from behind, giving me a chill. The first thing I did when I got home was drink water. The second thing I did was stretch. Then I took a freezing shower. I’m just saying, I have no idea how those hard-core runners take those ice baths! I took a freezing shower and I was like, “oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and then I turned the water a teeny bit warmer! 🙂 But it felt really good. So that’s the story of my run.

I have been a really good little exerciser this week! On Monday I ran 3 miles. Then yesterday I did cross-training with Abby and Lisa which consisted of sprints, running up and down bleachers (a lot harder than it sounds), and crunches. That was fun. Then today I ran 4 miles and tomorrow I’m cross-training with Abby and Lisa again. I’m probably not going to work out on Friday cause  I will be gone all day but hopefully I can fit a run in on Saturday.

Anyways, I have a lovely picture for you. I always go traipsing all over our house, ripping apart everything looking for my camera cord and it’s almost always on my dresser. Really Claire? Really?

Yes. Just lovely. Water is truly amazing. This is me after my first 80-degree run of the year. I love this running outfit! I have really cute summer running outfits.

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