“Life is short…running makes it seem longer”.
(Baron Hansen)
September 5, 2021 is coming! This date may only be circled on my calendar, but it has importance to my Walk into the Future.
The Virginia Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon will take place on 9/5/21. This year’s race marks the 20th anniversary of the Rock n Roll series in Virginia Beach and will also be the last time this race is run. Received an email last week stating the city of Virginia Beach and the Rock n Roll series agreed to make this the last hoorah. This is my first visit to Virginia Beach, and I will have to make the most of it.
The date of the half marathon is significant to me due to my training program. I did not have a huge half marathon training focus in 2020 due to COVID-19. I got miles in but never found my training pace because most races were cancelled due to COVID protocols.
Fast forward to 2021 and races are slowly coming back and the running tourist in me is excited to hit the road again. I am looking forward to exploring new locations and testing myself against courses I have only read about or seen pictures.
So, what’s the problem you may ask? Great question and thanks! The problem is: it is HOT down here!!! 😊
I will not get into the concept of climate change, global warming, etc. but this south Florida heat and humidity is impacting my training program.
I officially launched my half marathon training on 6/28/21. This put me two months out from the Virginia Beach Rock N Roll half and should be plenty of time to get mentally and physically prepared to run. I am getting my runs and bike rides in but struggle to extend my miles due to the heat and humidity in my current location. My long runs top out at 7 miles because I want to be mindful of the impact the heat has while training.
I get up earlier for my weekend runs but the temperature hits the mid-80s by 9 am and only goes up from there. Not complaining because most of my runs on done close to the water so I can always stop and make it a beach outing when I am done with my runs.
I did not think the four-hour drive from Tallahassee to Fort Pierce would make much difference on my running program but there is a different level of heat down here. Again, not complaining but stating a fact. This is a fact I must come to grips with soon to keep preparing for future races. I targeted several local 5ks to keep my competitive juices flowing but need these short races to get me race ready.
I added more bike rides (gym and outside) to get more miles on my legs to build up the threshold needed to run and complete a half marathon. This is a new approach for me but a safe way to extend my training without having to deal with the south Florida heat.
I recently added treadmill runs to my training program. I am not a fan of running on a treadmill, but this equipment allows me to log miles and push myself to get ready for the actual process of running a half marathon. My new training routine consists of morning miles on my regular route near the beach and then a treadmill session with equal miles.
The one treadmill trick I started using is to cover the time/distance/speed display. Running on the treadmill is a mentally draining exercise for me and I believe it is because the display does not match what I THINK I’m accomplishing. Simply put, it feels like I have run further than the display shows so I get frustrated with the process. Covering the display allows me to forget about the distance and time and just put in the work. I see multiple people who appear to enjoy their time on the treadmill, and I am amazed watching them. I need to get over my treadmill DREAD and just put in the work.
Looking forward to cooler weather so I can get back to longer outside runs again. Did I mention it is hot in South Florida? 😊
“Don’t be a jogger. They are the ones who find dead bodies”.
(RuntotheFinish)
Walk Into the Future 