Two hot sub-31's

Ugh, this heat! Today is definitely the hottest day yet. Today I also didn't go out. I'm trying to get up earlier--something that's become really difficult since leaving high school--so I can avoid the heat and get the run done before I have time to make excuses.

I've been successful on half of that. Running seems to be becoming more habit than not, and I'm ever so slowly getting quicker. Even though it may not feel quick enough to me. Patience, consistency, blah blah blah. I still haven't run two days in a row, because I'm a little wary of getting injured. I notice early in all of my runs that the bottoms of my feet seem to be getting sore, which would be a new injury if it developed into anything more. Hopefully I can keep that from happening.

The other half of the equation is much more of a problem: damn heat! On Saturday I headed out at 11 (yes, I know, much too late) and ran straight through some festival thing on the esplanade. I could see, or projected, a little exasperation on all the other runners' faces as we darted and dodged around people strolling leisurely with their ice cream and other festival food. But I escaped and made it home for my first 30:57, my fastest yet since I started running again.

Yesterday, two days later, I went out at 10 am--nice try, self, but still too hot. Things were a lot less crowded, and I finished with a sprint to try to make it in under 31 minutes again. Same time, 30:57. My heart rate reached 200 by the end.

I want to get faster, but it's a tough balance between staying fresh and non-injured, and the seconds that keep on coming. I will walk a little when my HR gets beyond 180, so that makes it slower. One nice holdover from my tennis days is that I recover really quickly, so the HR goes way down as soon as I stop running. Still, it would be nice to not have to walk. I'll get there, I know, it'll just take some persistence. And maybe some cooler weather: next attempt will probably be a 9am.