When you think about the weather in Phoenix what's one of the first phrases that comes to your mind? C'mon, I know you know it. Yep, "It's a dry heat."

Well, that's definitely true. It's quite dry here. I can feel fine just before leaving the house for my walk and within the first two minutes I feel absolutely parched.

So, while it's dry, it's still hot. Really hot. I'm amazed at the number of people I see exercising outside in the middle of the day. All I can think is how crazy they are! This is yet another reason why I walk in the early morning; I'm out the door before 5:45 a.m., preferably by 5:35 a.m., but some mornings require a few more minutes to get my tired butt out of bed.

There was actually a time this winter when I wore sweats on my morning walks and considered putting on a light jacket, as well. I've been lucky (fortunate?) so far this summer that the early morning temps have been nice to me (daytime highs this week have been incredible!). While it's been getting up to the upper 90s and low 100s, it can still be in the 60s and 70s when I leave to walk.

There will come a time, though, my mother assures me, that the temps even at 5:35 a.m. will be too much to bear. I've been trying to think back to last summer when I was leaving for work before 7 a.m. Yes, it was hot, and yes I was uncomfortable but that was mostly because I was rushing and wearing nice business casual clothes.

I'm a little nervous about what I might do if the morning temps do get too hot at some point this summer. I've accepted the fact that I will not exercise in my living room while watching fitness videos. It's just not for me. However, I'm more nervous about getting out of this habit that I've worked hard to establish.