Seasons of running

The recent hot weather makes me realize why I like the cold so much more. When it's cold, you're so focused on getting warm that you don't have time to think about what you're doing. You just want to run and get it over with. But when it's hot, there seems to be too much going on. There's sweat everywhere. You have to avoid getting sweat in your eyes ... the sweat makes your shirt stick to your back ... there's sweat dripping off your arms and legs. I like to run in the mornings, but when it's hot, there's really no escaping the heat. When I left for an hour run at 7 a.m. earlier this week is was 65 degrees ... by the time I got home it warmed up 10 more degrees.

All this makes me wonder why there are so many races in the summer and very few in the winter? My half marathon was in the "winter," but mid-March can bring 70-plus degree temperatures, or like this year when it was 25 degrees at the start. (Like I said earlier, you just want to run and get it over with when it's that cold ...) In Lynchburg there's a 5K in February that usually doesn't bring out much of a crowd, but why? It seems runners like to take the late fall and winter off, or at least drastically cut back, then start training again in the spring. I have to disagree with that thought to a certain point because it seems winter is a great time to build great base miles. Just last year at this time, a "long" run for me was just 4 miles, and this Saturday will be my second 10K in a month - and I'd like to attribute that to running a lot in the winter. At the same time, taking time off does a body good ... I guess after training hard in the winter I'll continue to go about it a little differently and rest up in April. Who knows, though, what I might think after Nov. 10.

I guess you could say this point really has no point - I went out for a 5 mile run today and it was just hot, hot, hot and I needed to write something about running. I know this heat will get worse, much worse, until September rolls around, but it certainly makes me appreciate the runs in the cold so much more. No matter what though, I'll keep running.