I'm Streaking Again

Just like I did a Holiday Running Streak last Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, I decided to do a Patriotic Running Streak from Flag Day to Independence Day. This latest streak isn’t that long in duration, but my intent is to get my butt out there and run more frequently, especially in the hot, sweaty summer weather. And I picked a fine time to start this new streak on a week when we’ve had heat indices into the 100F range. Still, I’m three days strong in my streak. If I hadn’t set this as a goal, I would have used the hot, muggy weather as an excuse to stay in the air conditioning.

What’s it like to run in a sauna? Awful, in my opinion. I know several people who actually enjoy running in the heat. I am not one of them. My body does not like to run in extreme temperatures of any kind. In bitter cold, my muscles have trouble warming up and I feel tight and heavy, never quite getting into a groove. In heat and humidity, I never feel like I get enough fresh air into my lungs, and I tend to get more side stitches. That has been my experience thus far for my three-day streak. I set a goal to run at least one mile, and I’ve done better than that each day, but my mileage has been less than if the weather was more moderate.

Cooling off with friends from Shirlington Running Club at our new meet-up location: Samuel Beckett's

But I’ll keep at this streak. I’ll go to Shirlington Running Club on Tuesday nights, and I’ll join Friends & Fitness for their Wednesday night track workouts and Saturday morning long runs. On the other days, I’ll go out on my own on the W&OD and Four Mile Run trails. Some days I’ll just barely get my one mile in; other days I’ll do more. In any case, I will try to reinforce the habit or running more regularly than I have been doing. I have no races scheduled until the fall, but I know that the weeks and months will creep up on me. I really can’t afford to take time off. I need this running streak. I need the groups I run with. If you see me in person or online, please ask me how the streak is going. In this weather, especially, I need all the support I can get.

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