Today the heat wave that had been over us for the last few days came to an end. Unfortunately, this did not happen in time for my morning run: the temperature was in the high 70s, and the humidity was rather high as well. When I walked out my front door, I instantly could tell that the conditions weren't pleasant, but, still, the air felt better than on Sunday morning.
This morning's hot weather, then, reminded me to approach my run conservatively, and I'm glad I did. I arrived at Forbidden Drive and immediately began paying close attention to my pacing. I began running two-minute intervals with one-minute walk breaks, but, by the end of the first mile, when I reached the orange trail, I shifted to three-minute intervals. Even when I hit the orange trail, I found myself more relaxed than I had been: this was going to be one of those runs that, notwithstanding the heat, left me feeling good about running.
Perhaps, too, the orange trail is becoming easier for me as I become more familiar with it. I still don't find myself taking in the sights: I'm wary of taking my eyes off the ground in front of me for more than a split second. Watching the ground does afford me the opportunity to catch sight of a lot of chipmunks. If only I could convince them that I'm not a predator, regardless of how strong the vibrations my feet cause when they hit the ground seem to them.
Usually while I'm running the orange trail, I encounter four or five people walking their dogs, but today I only saw one. Was the heat keeping the others away?
At any rate, it seemed that the humidity had been lifting during the course of my run. Yes, I was soaked as I had been the last few runs, but the last part of my run seemed even easier than I'm accustomed to.
Thursday, the weather will be cooler and dryer. That may be the time for me to explore some other trails.
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