Hello heat & high HR

Oops forgot to hit Publish on this last week...

There are a number of things that plain suck when it comes to not running, many of which I’ve complained about here. Well here’s another. Somehow between when I was running regularly and now, it has gone from winter to summer. I missed that last little bit of decent running weather. Now even the mornings are too warm for my liking for running. I will say that if I had to pick between winter and summer temperatures, I’d pick winter, especially where I live. Winters in SC are perfect. Summers on the other hand I hate and it lasts way too long. Spring and fall which are my favorite seasons last two weeks. Despite all this complaining I do like where I live.

I think it’s safe to say I sweat more than the average person. I remember doing runs first thing in the morning with friends last summer. By the end they would look somewhat damp with sweat. I on the other hand would have squishing shoes from collected sweat and looked like I just went swimming (but didn’t smell like it). I could wring out a puddle of sweat from my hair. It’s a sexy imagine I know but no one ever said the life of a triathlete was glamorous. It’s anything but.

I’ve made comments in the past about how my HR seemed low on the bike, especially when I was on the trainer. Well yesterday that certainly wasn’t the case. I kept looking at my HR during an aerobic ride thinking “why does this feel so difficult and why it my HR so high?! This is higher than during my 70.3 and at much lower power!”. I know I’m a pansy but seriously… I don’t like the heat. Now I’m learning the important lesson that if I’m riding in the middle of the afternoon on a sunny day with little shade, I need to bring a lot more to drink.

I also am remembering how heat slows running pace. And holy hell between the heat, humidity, and fact that I haven’t been running recently, running now feels incredibly tiring. My PT cleared me to run 2 min/ walk 1 min up to 15 min which I did yesterday. Those 2 minutes… sooo tiring! Seriously, when did running become so difficult! I feel like I’m starting over back to the days when I couldn’t run a lap around the track without walking. Part of it is because I was given things to focus on for improving my form which feels awkward as hell. It’s forcing me to use my muscles a bit differently than my normal run which will take some getting used to. Despite being tired from running/walking 15 minutes and running slower and only running 2 minutes at a time and being  covered in sweat from that little bit, I’m thrilled I got to run and it’s the best I’ve felt running in regards to pain in weeks, maybe months. Baby steps hopefully in the right direction. Nikita is eager for me to be pain free and with better form so she can join me again.