Today is June 21 and it is the first day of summer, people! The. First. Day. Of. Summer. Except in the Pacific Northwest where it is, apparently, March 21.
I know I should count my blessings at my ability to run in cool, temperate weather most of the time, winter and summer (not that there's much difference between the two, this year). I read about runners in the East, South, Midwest, Southwest, even California—pretty much everywhere but here and Oregon—and I shudder at the thought of their hot, sometimes humid, running environments. I read of dehydration, heat exhaustion, and just plain lethargy and I know I am lucky to avoid these heat-exacerbated conditions.
But. Still. IT IS SUMMER NOW! Would it hurt for the sun to come out for a day or two? Would it hurt for the temperature gauge to rise out of the fifties and on a good day sixties, just a little bit? Is it asking too much to expect that the weather be more clement in June than in January?
Yes. Apparently yes, it is.
Now, the weather forecast over the next couple of days does show a sun (only partially obscured by clouds), so it is possible that we may get a temporary reprieve from the rain. But if the projected forecast for the remainder of the month is correct, we will have passed the entire month of June without one day's temperature above 69.
What does the weather have to do with a taper? Well, I hadn't planned on a taper for the Seattle Rock & Roll Half Marathon (coming up on Saturday), because I don't taper for half marathons. I did plan on modifying this week's schedule a bit to run on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday (leaving Friday off to rest). Had I run this morning, it would have been my fourth consecutive running day.
Last night, with sore knees from my fall and possibly feeling more achy than usual after a long run, I debated giving up Monday's run and running on Tuesday and Thursday this week instead. That would drop me to only three running days (including the half on Saturday), but I had five last week so I guess it averages out. Listening to the rain pounding on the roof, I sort of left it up to the universe. If it was raining again on Monday morning, I would switch over to the Plan B schedule above. If it wasn't raining...well, I'd play it by ear depending on how I felt.
This morning when I woke up I could still hear rain on the roof and I took that as a sign from the heavens to rest my legs a little more today. Modified rest, of course, as I still got up and went to the Y (elliptical). Tomorrow I will do my easy/recovery run, then on Thursday I will do my Wednesday speed work, which this week just consists of a regular run plus four 400/quarter-mile intervals at the track.
Happy Summer Solstice, everyone!
The Fremont Summer Solstice Parade
1 comment:
I hear you about the crappy weather. It's depressing. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada and am now living at Fort Lewis so I should be used to this. But still, it's depressing. I want summer weather. Hell, I've worked pretty hard for nice arms and shoulders and would love to wear a tank top sometime before August.
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