For runners the change in weather is welcome. With cooler mornings and evenings, runs become better in both distance and speed. In hot weather, the body heats up, and it seems stamina and energy are more difficult to keep for the duration of the run. For marathon runners needing those miles in training to prepare for the marathon, it can be dangerous because of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. We had a group in the summer that ran the Freeman Ranch Road to Wimberley, and it was only a matter of time before it would be a runner’s time to hit the wall and have to walk or slow jog the last miles. The distance was 11 miles and on a dirt road for most of the distance. When the weather cooled in the fall it seemed everyone made it with no problem. The one thing that the group noticed is that the time it took to run to Wimberley was less. The pace was slightly faster. The run was an easy run for fun and not a race type run, but the pace was still slightly faster.
For a marathon runner building up to distances of 18 to 20 miles the cooler temperatures definitely help run the entire way. I remember trying to start my buildup of distance late August for the San Antonio Marathon that was the first marathon usually scheduled for Texas marathons. Dallas was in December, Houston was in January and Austin in February. San Antonio was in late September or early October, and building up the long runs had to start five or six weeks before. Trying to run the first 10 mile run in late August or early September seemed to be the hardest run because of the warm weather. As the weather cooled and the temperature dropped into the mid-40’s, it made the 15 to 18 miles easier.
I remember running Dallas one year with the temperature close to freezing. The hard part was knowing that after over 3 ½ hours the temperature was going to be close to 50 degrees and deciding what to wear at the start was the question. If you dress to stay warm for the first few miles that nylon jacket becomes too warm. Tying it around your waist was an option but still made running difficult. Some of the more experienced runners would take a throw away jacket or sweat shirt to wear at the start and then a few miles into the run would toss it alongside the road. Since I was running in the middle of the pack, it was like running through a bargain basement of used clothes from mile three to mile six. My choice was to tolerate the cold and know that it would warm up after about 30 minutes. A wool sock cap and some garden gloves for my hands were the only cold weather gear worn.
