Making Peace With Humidity

I got to Virginia on Sunday.  I came in on a Redeye flight from Sacramento, to New York, then to Richmond.  Then, my cousin’s daughter picked me up, and we drove 90 miles to Norfolk.  I was so sleepy, having to go to the visitation for my Uncle just a few hours later.

The next morning, I decided to try to run early.  I opened the door, and was hit with what felt like an oppressing wall of heat.  But…not just heat, something else…heavy and warm.  My hair became damp, I started to sweat, and not in a pretty, glistening way.  I had been hit with 97% humidity.  Yes, you read that right.  97.  PERCENT.  Like, almost water, right?

Well, I shelved the run, and later my cousin and I walked for an hour, so as to salvage some type of exercise plan.  I was soaked, drenched from head to toe.

Today, I decided that I have to run, because there is a little marathon I’m committed to in Washington DC on Halloween.  So, I go outside, fully prepared to run 5 miles, although we’ve driven around enough to know that I would probably get lost.  One street was stately, beautiful homes, the next street, people are partying on their porches, trash on the lawn.

I step outside.  My internet says it’s ONLY 57%.  Apparently, I read that when I didn’t have my glasses on my head.  It was again 97.  I started to run at a snail’s pace, and not because I was tired, or my legs were hurting or anything…It was because I felt like I was running AGAINST something.  The rest of the run was uneventful, except that I kept looking at Crash to see if and when this thing would end.

I finally stopped at the perimeter of the Ocean View golf course, doing 2.19 miles in 23:52.

Here’s what went through my mind:  There really should be a grading system to get into say, Boston or something.  Like, if you PR in the South that should MEAN something in terms of time.  I do enough complaining about running period, but compared to the South and East coast, running in California is a dream.  SO, if you looked at the elements in California, what do we have?  Hills? okay.  Yeah, they should grade a hilly marathon compared to a flat one…a humid vs. a dry.  Makes perfect sense to me.   Or, if you live in a place like, say Colorado…you could really kick some marathon ass in a place like Fresno. BQ even.

So my hat is off to the runners I know from the South and East.  I think if you want a PR though, you should go elsewhere.  If my run today is any indication of the rest of the week, I should be sufficiently tough enough to go back to California and race something spectacular.

I’m going back to the Golf Course tomorrow.  My plan is to double the miles.  I must make peace with this humidity, because after all, I am training, and the marathon has taught me one thing:  You don’t control the weather on race day, and NEVER on training runs.  I’m glad I brought two pairs of shoes.