Hot. Hot. Hot.

If I go outside, I seriously think I might melt.  It's been in the 90's for the last two days, with a heat index of over 100!  In fact, we've been under a heat advisory since some time yesterday.  Of course, I wish I'd have know that before I attempted to go for a long run yesterday!  It was hot.  It was sweaty. It was brutal.  I froze the water bottles for my fuel belt...

 

 ...and by mile 2 they were slushy.  By mile 3, they were pure liquid.  By mile 4, they were warm - yuck!

I quickly realized that this run was not all about speed.  It was about getting through it.  I took it easy.  Very easy.  In fact, I ended up taking a 30+ minute break at one point.  I had come upon a picnic shelter near a water fountain and discovered a lot of athletes (mostly cyclists) taking refuge from the sun's brutality.  It was kind of fun.  We all sat around bemoaning the weather, talking about bikes (I learned a lot) and running (some of them were triathletes).  Finally, I decided to drag myself the last 3 miles home.  I ran two of them and then, when faced with a steep, mile-long uphill, I called it a day.  I turned off my watch and trudged up that hill and home where I was greeted by the most wonderful thing I'd seen all day: The Husband had the sprinkler going. I kicked off my shoes, shed my hat and my fuel belt/iPod and walked right in.  

Distance: 8.0 Miles

Time: 1:26:02 (not including multiple stops to catch my breath/drink/rest)

Avg. Pace: 10:45

I also crammed in a 3 miler on Thursday night:

Distance: 3.01 Miles

Time: 30:01

Avg. Pace: 9:58

I'm really hoping this heat breaks soon.  I definitely got back on track last week (didn't miss a workout), and I don't want to get totally derailed this week!