Summer Fun in Las Vegas
By
Mark Jimenez
A blog post where I name 25 songs related to summer for the soundtrack in your head. You’re welcome in advance.
Welcome to Summertime(1) in Las Vegas. We go through this every year, but we seem to have a short memory. This Summer(2) we were fortunate enough to have a very mild June. The mercury didn’t hit triple digits in Las Vegas until June 30, 2023. That’s an incredibly mild start to the summer, and it might have spoiled us. I’m not sure how we always forget what Summer in the City(3) is like, but sure enough the heat came back with vengeance and now we’re in the thick of it.
When it gets Hot In The City(4) runners tend to start waking up much earlier. Personally, I’ve been waking up at 4:00am to get my runs in. The run streak is still alive and well, at the time of this writing I’m at 2,433 days in a row with a run every day. There’s no denying it, though, The Heat Is On(5) and if we as runners don’t prepare properly, we’ll end up getting hurt or much worse. For me, the key to running in the Cruel Summer(6) is beating the heat by waking up early and hydrating throughout the day. I keep a bottle of water next to my bed, and when I wake up in the morning I start drinking.
Summertime(7) (yes, I get to use it twice because this is a different song) also means the start of Cross Country intramural practice. The Shadow Ridge Mustangs are the defending 5A men’s state champions, and the women are return a strong team as well. As soon as School’s Out(8) we start our summer training plan. Coach Flynn and I have found a very successful formula for training in summer when it’s nice and Hot(9) outside. Our goal is to get the kids through any Summertime Sadness(10) that might happen by starting out slow and easy. We slowly ease the kids into speed as they get used to the Endless Summer Nights(11). Coach Flynn and I tell them over and over that it doesn’t matter how fast you are in the summer when it’s Too Hot(12), it matters how fast you are in late October and early November for the regional and state meet.
Running is magical to me. It’s something that anybody can be good at, given enough practice. The Boys of Summer(13) and the Summer Girls(14) that make up the Shadow Ridge Cross Country Team are proof of this. Each year we get freshmen on the team who can’t even run to the end of the parking lot. By the time the Summer Nights(15) are over they are ready to do a 5k time trial and compete for a spot in the starting seven. Running teaches you how to handle stressful situations, it teaches you patience and perseverance, and mostly it just makes you feel good. I tell the kids to give me two or three weeks of running sucking, and I’ll give you an activity that will benefit you for the rest of your life.
When I think back to the state championship meet in November of 2022, all I can say is that It Was a Good Day(16). It was one of those days where everything just came together perfectly. You can read about the state championship meet here. It will definitely go down as one of my fondest memories.
But I digress. We’re talking about running in the heat in Las Vegas, which can sometimes feel like you are literally Walking On Sunshine(17). Even when there is a Summer Breeze(18), it’s usually hot and dry, like somebody is standing in front of you with a blow dryer. When I talk about the geography of Las Vegas to friends and other store owners across the country, I often tell them that Las Vegas is an Island. There’s nothing around us for hundreds of miles. When it’s hot, we’re an Island in the Sun(19), and while I Like It(20) this way, it definitely makes some people want to go on Vacation(21) to a cooler climate.
Just because it’s Hot In Here(22) doesn’t mean that you have to stop running. Whether you believe in Summer Love(23), or you just want to be Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay(24) and enjoying the water, you can still get your run in. Start early, hydrate, and let your body adapt to the heat. Our bodies are actually much better at adapting to heat than they are at adapting to cold. That being said, the heat can still be very dangerous. We need to give ourselves time to adapt to the heat. We should never be out running at the hottest part of the day. Go early in the morning or go at night after the sun has gone down. Always have water and a phone with you in case of an emergency. You can do this, but be smart about it. Don’t do things in the Heat of the Moment(25). Summer in Las Vegas isn’t the time to set personal records and wear yourself out by doing speed workouts every single day. Summer is a great time to get those slow miles in and give your body the break it needs. When the weather cools down, you’ll be ready to get after it again.
- Summertime – Ella Fitzgerald (covered by many others)
- Summer – Calvin Harris
- Summer in the City – The Lovin Spoonful
- Hot In The City – Billy Idol
- The Heat Is On – Glenn Frey
- Cruel Summer – Bananarama
- Summertime – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
- School’s Out – Alice Cooper
- Hot – Avril Lavigne
- Summertime Sadness – Lana Del Ray
- Endless Summer Nights – Richard Marx
- Too Hot – Kool and the Gang
- Boys of Summer – Don Henley
- Summer Girls – LFO
- Summer Nights – John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
- It Was A Good Day – Ice Cube
- Walking On Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
- Summer Breeze – Seals & Crofts
- Island in the Sun – Weezer
- I Like It – Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin
- Vacation – The Go-Gos
- Hot In Here – Nelly
- Summer Love – Justin Timberlake
- Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding
- Heat of the Moment - Asia
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Every Run is a Good Run