My Summertime Half-Marathon in Florida

This morning I ran my first half-marathon in months. Actually, I went beyond that distance, reaching 13.78 miles in 2 hours 14 minutes 28 seconds. This was a lower time than my Gainesville LifeSouth half-marathon race in February, in spite of the facts (1) that the distance covered was .67 mile longer than a half-marathon, (2) the average temperature was forty degrees hotter today than for that February race, and (3) I walked for a minute every seven minutes throughout my run.

This wasn't a race, but rather my own personal training run. I have recently extended my course to cover some relatively hilly (for Florida) terrain. When I began at 9:15 am, the temperature was 69 and the humidity was 82%. At the end, at about 11:30, the temperature had climbed to 83 with the humidity dropping to 55%. Still, in spite of the heat, this was much more temperate than the excruciating summer conditions I had been experiencing.

My plan is to flow with the eventual cooling trend with the weather and gradually increase my training distance as I continue to redesign my course. In Jacksonville, there is a marathon in December that I am aiming for. Just three months ahead!