Heat Index

When I first started really training for a half marathon, it was already late fall, and the air was crisp and wonderful for running.  As the months went by, people actually thought I was crazy for training for a race during the winter, but I didn't mind running in the cold weather- possibly because I grew up doing outside sports all winter in Colorado.  Granted, there were times when it was really freezing, but most of the time you can put on more layers and be fine running outside. For example, my second half marathon (in late March, no less) had a temperature of 31 degrees at the race start, and I ended up taking off a layer as I ran. In general, I also felt that DC winters are pretty mild, especially compared to the winters up in Rhode Island where I went to college.

The summer, though, is a different story, especially here in DC.  As anyone who lives here knows, the summer heat itself hinders outdoor sports, but an even bigger problem is the humidity (thank you, founding fathers, for creating the nation's Capital on a swamp).  Unfortunately, the humidity can make it FEEL like it's up to 20 degrees hotter than the actual high temperature, also known as the heat index.  The heat and humidity gets really bad in any DC summer, making running outside in June through September very difficult.  The problem for long runs is that even if you wake up at 6 am on the weekend to go on the run, by the time you finish at 8 or 9 it's still extremely hot.  What's more, the amount of water that you lose through sweating is pretty difficult to replace, and so dehydration and heat exhaustion is hard to combat.  Some runners even take salt pills to stay more hydrated.

All of that, though, is still normal circumstances for marathoners and other runners in the summer. This week, though, there has been a record-breaking heat wave, the likes of which is usually even unheard of in DC.  Yesterday, the heat index soared up to 113 degrees, and today and tomorrow are supposed to be even worse, with the highs at 103 or 104 and heat indices at 120 degrees.  Walking for a few minutes out there makes you feel faint, like you are wading through hot soup... so can you imagine running over 10 miles in it? At that point, it's not about toughness or enduring pain, because you could actually get heat stroke or even have a heart attack.

Because of these factors, Flash and I had discussed getting up extremely early tomorrow morning for our 11 mile run, but even at 5 or 6 am it will still be 80 degrees plus humidity, and by 8 am (when we would finish) the heat index is over 100 degrees.  Even though I hate running on the treadmill (as I have mentioned before), I did my short runs inside this week since even running outside for a half hour can be downright dangerous.  However, doing a two hour run on the treadmill is extremely taxing, both mentally and physically.  The most I have ever run on a treadmill is 10 miles, and Flash has done 12.  One of the biggest problems for that long of a run inside is that it's very boring (for some reason, running outside is less so).  What's more, most treadmills time out after an hour, so you are forced to stop for a couple of minutes when you are halfway through to reset the treadmill for the second hour.  Running on the treadmill is also harder on the joints, because your legs move in a repeated motion that doesn't vary as much like on the road.  So, basically we are stuck between a rock and a hard place, but running in a sauna like this is literally not safe.  Flash actually mentioned that it might be a good idea to split the difference, getting up early to run six miles outside and then doing the other half on the treadmill. Honestly, no option seems all that appealing.... I can't wait for the fall!

Stay cool, DC!