The forecast for the next week is cool and sunny, with a few slight chances for rain. For a runner to train for the marathon season coming up, the cooler temperatures are a real treat. It seems so much easier to run a long distance when the temperature is down in the 50s for most of the morning and again in the evening. While it makes it easier to run longer distances, it also seems that the pace can pick up for a faster time during the run. When the temperature drops down below the 50-degree mark (versus the 90-degree mark that is sometimes the case over the summer), the pace can drop as much as a minute per mile.

For some runners, the lower temperature can mean digging out the fall and winter running gear in a short time. It feels cool when you first step out the door for a run when it is below 50 degrees, but wearing a jacket or long tights on the legs really isn’t necessary yet. It only takes a few blocks when you wish you had on that t-shirt and shorts again. Let the temperature get closer to the 40s before you get serious about changing into “winter” running gear. About the only change will be switching from a short-sleeved shirt to a long-sleeved shirt in the high 40s; and adding a cap of some sorts in the low 40s, and in the upper 30s a wind jacket and a pair of tights on the legs, will be nice.

Gloves on the hands are another addition in the 30s, but that is still a month or more away. For right now you can remove the cold weather running gear from the top drawer and look at it for a few more weeks before putting it on. It might not hurt to try it on and see if it still fits or needs to be replaced. It is always fun to have an excuse to visit a running store and check out all the new colors for the year, the new styles in running gear and maybe even find something that you never even knew you needed and don’t have. New products are constantly being put on the shelves for runners to make their training more comfortable and fashionable. It is always fun to be the first one on the block, or to show up at a run, with the latest and greatest in running gear before anyone else has it.

You can tell it has been a long and hot summer running season when, at the first sign of cool weather, the topic drifts to thoughts of when it will hopefully get a little cooler so that a runner can wear something different.

I talked with Paul Paese this week, and he told me he passed running 700 days in a row for his streak. During this 700-day running streak he covered 5,289 miles and averaged 7.6 miles per day. He is thinking of ending the streak when he hits the two-year mark of 730 days in a couple of weeks, or maybe until the end of the year. Paul will run the San Antonio Marathon in early November, and then maybe take a day off after that unless he decides to extend the streak to the next year. He does a lot of traveling to other countries to give presentations and check on student teachers for Texas State University; and keeping the streak alive takes some extra effort on his part. It might be in the form of an early morning run starting at 3:00 A.M., or adjusting to a time change in another country and still checking to see if that time is not another day since crossing the international date line.

All in all, when you think about running for two years or more without a day off, it is quite an accomplishment. He mentioned that some days were tougher than others due to severe weather or not feeling well, or just being tired. There are some runners around the United States, and maybe even some in Texas, who have long streaks for running, but Paul Paese is holding his own and has set an envious mark for someone to try to follow.