Blue skies and drier air

NOTHING lifts the spirits of a runner faster than a favorable break in the weather.

This has been an extremely unusual summer in South Texas. We are accustomed to battling through summers, running early or running late, cursing the heat which towards the end of the season can linger at 85 degrees at one in the morning. The pavement radiates the day’s heat back into the faces of those bold enough to pound pavement through the gates of Hell. A “normal” summer will also add occasional insult with high humidity.

This summer has been mild, with only a short period of temperatures over the mid-90s. Overnight lows have been mostly below 80. But most unusual has been the rain, persistent, rarely drying out for more than a week at a time. The copious rain has left a lush green covering over a landscape which is usually a brittle brown by August and early September. Not too bad, right? Wrong! The television weather forecasters love to tell us that we begin to feel the humidity when the dew point exceeds 60 degrees. Conditions this summer have taken that line right out of their play books since the dew point has pretty consistently lingered between 70 and 75 degrees. So, we have been faced for three months with cloudy skies and high, high humidity. My hat is off to those diehards who have managed to log their miles this summer. I’m not among them.

A couple of days ago the clouds blew away and though the humidity was still high and the temperature was far from comfortable I actually felt like running, and I did, hills, even. I’m in a neighborhood which affords me a half dozen different running routes, a couple of which are hills. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of digging into low gear and running a long and challenging hill. Nor is there a pleasure comparable to peaking a hill which reveals a vista of our beautiful downtown San Antonio. It’s good to run and become fit. It’s also great that it gets us out of doors, where we can enjoy the vistas and the hills, all the while taking some care to not stumble into a San Antonio pothole.

A couple of evenings ago I put my VO2 knowledge to work and ran a little harder, pushing my heart rate to a range of 150-155. I managed, but the humidity steamed me to the core. I doubt there was a dry stitch on me when I wrapped up. Runs like this remind me of why it is more difficult to run in high humidity. The humidity, of course, makes it more difficult for the body to cool itself. But the humidity also pushes up the heart rate. The experienced runners will verify that. I’m no sports doctor but I have imagined this has something to do with the body trying to moderate the blood temperature. Anyhow, running with my heart at 150-155 in extremely high humidity made no speed demon of me.

Today a “cool front” arrived, with rain (imagine that!). But the precipitation began to dissipate by mid-afternoon and I ventured out to buy some new running shoes (Nike Air Structure Triax 10+) and sensed a change in the air. It made me want to run, though I had to wait until late in the evening. If you are lucky you can get in a few miles before the sweat begins to get in your eyes. Tonight, I managed about 3 miles before the humidity began to win. Nevertheless, it is marginally drier and that did translate into a pleasant run. Again, I put my heart rate into the 150-155 range for about 40% of the workout while running exactly the same route I struggled with two days ago. The slightly lower humidity allowed me to run the seven miles about 2 ½ minutes faster. No, it wasn’t the new shoes. I was wearing my old Nike Equalons, which still have some miles left in ‘em.

So…after a summer spent more swimming laps at Gold’s Gym than pounding out miles on the streets of San Antonio, I am pumped about blue skies, drier air, and Autumn ahead. Come on, you rats of the gym. Get outside and soak up some rays. We’re on the cusp of outdoor season here in South Texas. Let’s make the most of it.