The very first run back in Australia

After returning to Australia on the weekend I returned to running today. An overnight flight took running Sunday out of the equation and waking to torrential rain to took Monday out of the equation. This morning I went running though, skies still dark and stormy, small amount of rain falling but I needed to get out and run.

So I headed from home straight to the beach, which was pretty ugly after some very poor weather while I have been away from home for three weeks. I decided to get straight back into my normal hill session I’ve been doing on a Tuesday.

Some major differences to running in Korea at the start of spring to Australia at the start of Autumn.

Korea in March – Cold mornings, under 5 c and low humidity. Once I acclimatised to the colder temperature it was perfect running conditions.

Australia in April – Warmer mornings, 15 c and 80-90% humidity. After a 7km run this morning the humidity had sapped.

Needless to say I am going to need to reacclimatise to the higher humidity here in Australia. It has surprised me that running elsewhere with a vastly different climate for only three weeks has altered my ability to cope with humid conditions. It was only a month ago that I finished a 14 week marathon preparation through a record Australian summer. I was doing tough long runs in much hotter and humid conditions.

The other difference is coming from a city back to a smaller regional city. This morning at 6am there were very few cars, Korea last week was a bustling city. There is much more to see in a city, but the serenity of running in quiet streets early in the morning is nice too.

It’s always good to come back home and run in familiar surrounds, exploring Korea on the run was fantastic, but coming home and running my familiar paths is equally as great. I am sure it won’t take long to readjust to the climate that I spend most of my life.

Now to find a new race goal, there are a few on radar that I’ll decide between and work out a plan soon. Until then, more running…

Gwangmyeong, Korea last week.

Port Macquarie, Australia today.