The sun has got his hat on

This week, summer arrived. Big time. We’re talking about the temperature shooting up from around 12C to 26C in the space of a week. People are smiling, summer dresses and sandals have been pulled from the wardrobe, the Olympic Torch came though Chippenham this week – and all’s well with the world. Hmmm – all is well unless you are a runner who doesn’t like the heat (that’d be me then). My tempo run and 2 easy runs were okay, although heart rate was higher than normal. However, Friday’s LSR was something I was dreading.

I deliberately planned a route with as much shade as possible, and even decided to run the loop in reverse as it meant the steep but shady hill would then be uphill, and the long, rough field of sheep with no shade would be downhill.

Entrance to the Secret Garden?

Started off okay – out at 9am (which is impressive for me on a Friday morning!), temperature was just right. Warm but not hot, a cool breeze, and gentle sunshine. Ten minutes later, it was as if someone had flicked the thermostat up and it was suddenly HOT! Took it very slowly, sipped my water, and just ploughed on. Mantra for the day “if I keep running in this heat, eventually I’ll acclimatise to it, won’t I?” I felt very sorry for the sheep still with their heavy fleeces on. They were crammed together under the trees seeking the shade, and if I ran too near they just looked at me with their little sheepy eyes as if to say “Please don’t make me have to run away from you!”

The best part of run, was the lovely old wooden door on the edge of the Estate. It always reminds me of the entrance to ‘the Secret Garden’. It only leads onto the road, but it means you can then run through the gates and down through an avenue of tall trees in blissful shade.

Ran out of water on the last stretch back into the village, which tells me its time to start hiding bottles of water en route again. I don’t often go past shops so can’t just pop in and buy some more. How does everyone else manage with water on long runs?