Well, training hasn't been going all that well lately. I'm still lingering around week 2 of my training regime even though I should be well beyond that. I've been playing a waiting game with the weather. Shortly after my last run every single slot I'd allocated for training was thwarted by heavy downpours, not a reason to skip training per se, but at this stage I'm not so commited to running that I want to be soaked and miserable on a regular basis. The Derby 10k is suffieciently far away so what the heck, I thought, I'll sit it out for a bit. Now I face a different problem in that I wasn't expecting the Scottish Highlands to undergo such a prolonged period of heatwave. As I watch the local golf course slowly turn brown it's clear I'm not going to have comfortable running conditions any time soon.
Here are my main problems:
Raining - I don't like being cold. That's about it. The cold makes me cough which makes running unpleasant (cross country at school was always in the Winter, which made for a very miserable experience. I certainly never improved my stamina.)
Heatwave - The heat makes me very lethargic (by which I mean I have no energy for basic tasks, never mind running), and just by walking the dog a short distance every day lately I can tell that running in these conditions won't be productive.
So following some (more) research, I collected the following tips from the collective wisdom of the Internet. This is not an easy problem to tackle as it basically boils down to will power. I'd rather have a cup of tea on a rainy day than take to the roads, likewise on hot days I'd rather sit with a cool beer. So, what do the better disciplined runners out there advise:
