Heat, humidity, and electrolytes...

So for basically the whole month of June I have been avoiding the heat and humidity and running on our treadmill.  This has been partially to get in some speed and hill work and partially out of laziness.  Avoiding the summer weather, however, could not happen forever so this weekend I decided Bennett and I needed to venture back out in to summer running conditions.  We set out on Saturday for our first run with the running club that I will be training with for the marathon.  Everyone that met for the Saturday run was really nice and chill, with a range of runners both faster and slower than me.  This was exactly the kind of group I was looking for so that made me very happy.

So we set out on our run, me with my two bottle pink fuel belt and Bennett with his little hand held water bottle.  The temperature was in the low 70s and very humid.  We were aiming for an hour run of about 6 miles. 

Well this run showed me some good improvements in my fitness.  Normally with that level of humidity I would be wheezing from early on in the run.  However, my lungs held up pretty well.  I’m really hoping that’s a good sign for the future and not a lucky fluke.  This run, however, reminded both Bennett and me that electrolytes are a must for the summer.  Bennett especially suffered since he’s such a salty sweater…in fact, I thought I almost killed him… 

Luckily we were already planning on some premarathon training running purchases.  The running stores made a nice bit of money on us this weekend…new shoes, new summer running clothes, electrolyte tablets, cliff shot blocks, and new four bottle fuel belts!  Even with 4 bottles I don’t know if that will be enough come August and September when the runs get really long…  I’m hoping I like these electrolyte tablets since I am not a big fan of Gatorade.  And really, I’d be lost without the cliff shot blocks which I love!  Plus, I get to have multiple pairs of running shoes with marathon training!   I got a new pair of Nike Vomeros and I tried to get my Asics Nimbuses but no one wanted to have them in my size; it was very sad.  I will have to get them in a few weeks.  And yes, I realize only running dorks care what kind of shoes I’m wearing…