As I mentioned in Friday’s post, summer is likely my favorite season for running. This statement remains a little odd to me in that I don’t totally love the high heat and humidity yet at the same time, I prefer this time of year to run.
Early sunrises make me happy and I don’t really mind sweating. In fact, I think I like the sweaty summer run feeling. Granted, I run early enough to not feel the full force of heat and humidity. Sure it’s still there, but it’s not bothering me. I also don’t run the longer distances or as many miles as I once did which I’m sure plays in role in choosing summer as my favorite at the moment. I’m not spending the same long time out there exerting myself as I have in the past. For me, a maximum of an hour of running is more than enough and will limit the feeling of negative effects of summer running.
Whatever the details, right now, I’m a happy runner. I’m eager to get outside to run (and sweat) and push my pace again. For a while there, I was lingering in the really easy zone. And although there’s totally nothing wrong with that, I’ve had a recent desire to push things a bit again. It was a really fun week of running!
Monday – 5 Miles
Tuesday – 45 Min Pure Barre
Wednesday – 5 Miles
This run was a good one! Although nothing formal, I would call it a progression run of effort. Even in the summer heat and early sun, I feel great. I don’t feel as affected by the weather as I used to be.
Thursday – 4 Miles
Friday – 30 Min Pure Barre/Walk
Saturday – 5.5 Miles
Early and fast for summer 5.5 miles. I averaged in the 8’s with a really good effort.
Sunday – 6 Miles
THIS RUN WAS WONDERFUL. I hadn’t run the boardwalk since last year’s 10-mile race and it was incredibly nice to be back. Long-time readers may remember I always ran the boardwalk during the summer but then over the last couple of summer seasons, I kinda stopped doing so. If I can recall correctly, the last time I leisurely ran the boardwalk might have been in 2017.
I’m totally in the mood for my boardwalk runs again. 6 miles flew by so fast yesterday and made my runner heart so happy. I was actually faster than I expected, averaging in the high 8’s and low 9’s. The air and atmosphere were everything. It was hot but nothing oppressive. There were other people running, walking, and riding bikes in the middle, but no one was too close to me. I did my best to run far around walkers and I was always running on my own so social distancing was not an issue. I’m already thinking ahead to next weekend’s boardwalk run.
I did my usual post-boardwalk run of grabbing my cold oatmeal and water from the car and coming back to the boardwalk to sit on a bench and eat it. It was a really beautiful morning and from what I experienced, people were keeping their distance.
The Cookie ChRUNicles 
I agree with your summer running statement. I’ve been slower lately, but something about running and working up a sweat is cathartic and makes me feel like I DID something!
I feel the same way about working up a sweat lately!