Last week was a much, much, much (muchmuchmuchmuchMUCH) needed break from the oppressive heat and humidity here in Charleston. After a did not (officially) finish at the IOP 10K (more on that in a later recap post), and getting discouraged on every run because I'm so dang slow right now and it feels like a major effort, plus coming off a mild injury and a week and a half of illness (thanks, daycare!), I really needed a break. I also needed the reminder that I'm not, in fact, getting slower. I'm just running my first full summer in Charleston and I'm not exactly acclimated yet.

I remember struggling similarly in Charlotte when I moved there from Pennsylvania and it took me until my second summer there to really acclimate. And even though I was here last summer, I had stopped running by the time it got humid and then started again at the end of July and was a turtle just because of the running break and pregnancy, so no comparisons there with this year (I'm definitely much faster now than I was then!). 

In PA, my paces for the short, easy (and hilly) runs I did were much faster than easy runs - if there even is such a thing as an easy run in the summer in Charleston - here. In fact, I looked down at several points and saw high 7s as my paces in the second half of my runs after I was warmed up. I wish I had had time to run longer runs, but I ran what I had time for and at least I got a few in. It was still humid up there, but nothing (nothing!) like down here. Here the air feels like you're breathing pudding through a straw. The air was thinner there and I could get it into my lungs without a fight. 

Since I didn't have my regular paddleboarding workouts, I tried out Move It Studio, a new barre, pilates and dance studio in downtown Lancaster. I loved it! I used to do Pure Barre two or three times a week, and I really liked that, but I liked Move It Studio's workout so much better! It included more pure dance moves than Pure Barre uses. They need to open a second location in Mount Pleasant! But until then (ha!), Move It will be my go-to core workout studio whenever we travel back home. So glad I found that place!

While I only managed to get three workouts in, I still spent a ton of time walking around - most days were spent on my feet. When we got home late Sunday night, I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation! But we had a good time and I'll post pictures soon. 

After returning, my first run back felt better than I've felt in a long while running here. It was hot and the humidity was near 100%, but my little vacation of short, cool runs left me feeling refreshed and ready to tackle fall half marathon training (which starts next week!).