It’s officially fall and that means we’ve officially entered the best time of year for running! Don’t get me wrong, summer is nice and all, but when it’s 80+ degrees out with 1,000% humidity, running outside is pretty miserable. You can only take so many layers off without it getting weird – AND you’re still hot. But in the fall, we get these nice, cool mornings and evenings and it is absolutely perfect for running.
On Wednesdays, we have run club in the evenings after work, and no more will I have to worry about whether or not it’ll be too hot to enjoy it. Even if we have a few more days in the 70’s, that’s still WAY better to run in than anything 80 and over. I’m going to sweat regardless, but at least when it’s cooler, it doesn’t feel like I just jumped in a pool.
Last weekend, my mom, Jen West, and I did a relay for the Jack 15. The race starts in White and ends on the SDSU campus in Brookings. You can either run the entire 15.2 miles, or split it up as a relay. There’s a two-person relay, where each person runs half the race; and three-person relay, where everyone runs five miles; or a five-person relay, where everyone runs a 5K.
We did the three-person relay, and it was a really nice morning for a run. You never know what you’re going to get in September in South Dakota. I’ve run the race before when it was really hot, and other times it’s been pretty chilly. We got pretty lucky with the weather this year – it definitely felt like a fall morning! It was overcast, 60 degrees, and a little humid, but not awful. It started raining after the race, and honestly it probably would have felt pretty good during the race!
I hope to take full advantage of these cool running days, because it won’t be long and we’ll be into winter – BUT we are going to live in the present and not think about that just yet. 🙂
If you’re thinking about getting into running, now is the perfect time to start! The weather is perfect for it. If you want to join us at run club one of these days, we meet on Sunday mornings at 7:00am at Jackson Park, and Wednesday evenings at 5:45pm at the Zoo. Hope to see you there!
Until next time! 🙂
Megan Nelson