Humid

Today was another relatively short run. The temperature wasn't high, but it was very humid out. I ran from Boathouse Row to the Walnut Street turnaround on the Schuykill Banks and then back to Spring Garden Street. Overall, the route was about 2.5 miles.

I was walking over to run, I knew it was going to be a tough day due to the humidity. Once I got going and my muscles started to loosen, up I felt pretty good. I ran a nice pace and concentrated on long strides and proper breathing. The humidity was getting to me a little and then all of a sudden, the wind was gusting in my face right before the turnaround. That was part relief and part frustrating (running against the wind).

There was no wind after the turnaround and that made things tough. The one nice thing is that there are quite a few bridges that pass overhead and a couple small trees along the path. I managed to use the shade whenever possible. It made a huge difference.

I really like the end of this route. It's a short uphill that provides a good challenge at the finish. I didn't finish strong, but I don't think my pace fell off too much from the beginning. That's good too considering the humidity.

This was the most humid run I've had to date in Philly since I started running again. The only days that were worse were the two hot days in Indianapolis. The last two days of short runs weren't outstanding, but still productive days. I need to just keep focusing on day to day training or at least week to week. That's the only way I can arrive at the big goal of completing a marathon.

Tomorrow will be a bike ride (probably about 10 miles). Originally, I was thinking of doing speedwork on Thursday. That's because I thought the 5-K that I want to run is the following weekend (it's actually in two weeks). I want to work on my speed some for the 5-K, but I am more focused on increasing distances than I am on the actual race. The race is just to get a feel for where I'm at and to have a little competitive fun.