It’s officially Fall, time to break out all the hoodies!

What’s that? The high in Las Vegas is still supposed to be around 100 this entire week? Okay, not ready for a sweatshirt yet. 

While the world continues to roll out all the pumpkin spice products at full speed and I won’t experience autumnal weather until the world has decided it’s Christmas season, I am ready for a season change. 

Many people say that summer is a great time to get out and explore the outdoors more. And yes, that is true if you live somewhere that isn’t actively trying to melt you, in Las Vegas with each passing summer I find myself spending less time exercising outdoors than the previous summer. I am not sure whether that pattern is due to aging, global warming, or overall fatigue with the excessive heat. But this is the first summer in over a decade where I didn’t run outside at all. Not even once. All of my running happened on a treadmill. 

But when it cools off, I would like to start running outdoors more. I’d like to start trying to train Emmie to run with me. She is good at walking on a leash, but the moment I try to run she turns into a psycho and reacts like, “Wait, are we being chased?! Let’s go! Full speed!” I recognize that I need to give up some distance plans and spend that time training her and reinforcing the proper way to run. When it’s super hot and you have to get out at 5 am to beat the heat (as much as one can “beat” it when the overnight low is still in the 90s), it’s hard to have patience for that extra chaos and the need to just stop until the dog refocuses. 

Studies show that physical activity is lower in the winter months, and even lower on the weekends during winter months compared to summer. I wonder how vastly different that study would have been if they studied people in a hot desert climate. I know my mileage increases as the temperature drops. The study would just be flipped here, the 3 months that people exercise less are June, July, August. 

There is some wisdom in approaching training with the seasons though. Elite athlete’s health measurements don’t change as much throughout the year as recreational athletes, but there is still proof that having an “off-season” from your main sport and training in a supplemental way will help support your efforts. Help with your “gainz”… 

I have been strength training a lot more and while I do not enjoy it (I’ve had a whole post about that rattling around in my brain) I am hopeful that it will help me with running, but even more so, will help me with general life. Being a woman in her late 40’s, I know that lifting will help with my bone density, as much as I can at this point. Start in your teens or 20’s ladies, if you can!

(Googling: how to convince my tween to lift weights for the benefit of her 40+ self…) 

I found a great article from Experience Life that walks you through each season and how to approach it. And if you live in a climate like me, just shift it around to match whatever works for you. I both like and dislike their ideas about using Fall as a time to purge what you don’t need, as opposed to the constant spring cleaning. I think it makes sense, but also Fall has an extra chaotic feel to me with back to school season in swing. (Yes, back to school starts before calendar autumn actually starts. I just roll with the life events and how that makes it feel like the season changing as opposed to what the calendar literally tells me.) 

I guess while I wait for it to cool off here, I can at least shop for women’s hoodies. I’ll be prepared when winter hits Las Vegas and “all you need is a light jacket.”