Heat Wave

Tomorrow will begin the month of September, and yet another day well into the 90s. This is Maine, right? I'm sorry, I thought I was back in Florida. But enough sarcasm. At least cooler weather is on the way this weekend, and hopefully this will be the last stretch of temps in the 90s until next summer.

But for now, I opted to do a double today to get in the mileage and help break up the running to make it easier to beat the heat.

AM:
I was out the door around 5am and temps were in the lower 60s, which was very tolerable. I hit the trails in the woods out back, as my headlamp guided the way. The sun still showed no signs of rising, so it was very dark and I did manage to trip on a root and fall once, but not that bad.

Further into the woods, I heard a barred owl let out a single, long and loud hoot from a few tenths of a mile away. Not sure if it was directed at me, but it added to the Zen-like ambience of the early morning.

About halfway through the run, the sun began to rise, and increasingly lit the way as I headed back home to shower and have a few cups of coffee before work.

Ran 5.0 miles @ 9:09/mile pace.
Trails and fire roads.
Slightly hilly.
Lower 60s, clear skies.
Brooks Cascadia 3, shorts, short sleeved shirt, headlamp.

PM:
Things a bit hap-hazard in the afternoon, as the athletic director ordered practices be held at 6pm because of the heat wave. It was 95 degrees at the normal practice time of 2pm, so good call in my opinion.

The XC team was to run the trails adjacent to the school at their own paces and on their own reconnaissance, which worked out well for me as I was able to repeat a one mile loop around the school to check up on them and also get in my own workout.

Ran 5.0 miles @ 7:25/mile pace.
Paved roads and paved paths.
Mostly flat.
Mid-80s, sunny, humid.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts, short sleeved shirt.

Oh yeah, I looked at my monthly total for August. Today's two runs brought me up to 244.2 miles for the month. Not bad for me, and chocked full of quality workouts to boot.