Summer time...and the livin's easy...

Okay, so summer is in full swing in eastern PA, and while the living may be easy, the running is not following suit. The past week has been sticky, sultry, thick, and evening has provided very little relief. Even the backyard pool has turned into an oversized bathtub full of lukewarm water that is hardly refreshing.

My morning runs have turns from the blessed cool jaunts to continuations of the evening before...with everyone I pass giving me the same glazed-over look I probably have. It's that part of the summer I dream about the cool autumn evenings, and longer runs in 40 degree weather.

This is the kind of weather where I find myself not motivated to a single thing (including blogging, which can be proven my by three-week gap...yeah, sorry about that). Ted and I come home from work, throw something quick together for dinner, and plop down in front of the TV (which is new, along with the HD box and DVR, meaning no more commercials for Mr. Remote). Then we pull ourselves upstairs, and pray for the air-conditioner to kick in quickly. This is a small price we pay for a charming 100+-year-old borough home, but it's a price nonetheless. The morning comes, I get up and run, we go to work, and the routine starts all over.

It doesn't quite look like the heat will break any time soon...while the weather promises relief soon, the temperatures are still in the high 80s, and unless it cools down at night, the pattern of slow, staggered running will continue.

Every summer I seem to repeat this whine. Every summer we go through the exact same process at some point, and you'd think I'd be used to it, or learn how to accommodate myself. Oh I do learn...I figure out the best way for me to run effectively in this weather, then it's September and fall starts (and I welcome it) and then winter, and spring, and I forget what I taught myself the year before and another vicious cycle continues...me whining and moaning about heat and humidity, finally bucking up and figuring out what to do when autumn rolls around.

But I'm still out there, which is more than I can say for other summers. I'm still on my streak...six and a half months and counting.

So to all of you running in this weather--be careful. Be smart. To those of you who enjoy it--more power (and pass me your secrets).