Oh man, I had to double check on the number of weeks until the Erie Marathon on Sept. 11th.  Is this true??  Only 4 more weeks?  <gulp>  You may have been wondering, what IS up with my running lately?  I know you have been wondering… 🙂

So, when we last spoke about my training, and running, I was getting ready to leave on vacation, and I was having a tough time.  I was visiting a sports massage therapist, and working through lots of hamstring issues.  Since my last visit with her, I haven’t been back again.  In fact, I’m barely even doing any of my PT exercises!  I got so out of habit of doing them during vacation I forgot what I was even supposed to do, and have been sticking with just regular old Hanson’s warm up exercises, which involve some very good basic warm ups.  If it’s good enough for Hanson’s, it’s good enough for me!  I still feel very tight in my hamstrings/glutes when I first start to run, and that goes away within the first mile.

My running on during vacation consisted of getting up early (love waking up early!), running between 4 – 6 miles with my husband, and working up enough sweat to make me not feel guilty about all of the food and tropical drinks I consumed each day!  I just ran whatever I wanted.

The week after vacation was still a modified running plan, with 4 rest days (1 was cycling XT) and adding back a full long run (14 miles, instead of two days of running 7 miles).  This past week has consisted of:

Monday – Rest day! 🙂  Good way to start the week

Tuesday – “Track day” 2 x 3 miles @ 8:40, w/ 1600 rest + warm up & cool down = 9.77 miles.  It was very dark out when I started this run in the morning!  Fall is definitely right around the corner.  This was the worst run I’ve had in along time due to GI issues.  I usually don’t have many GI issues, but this was a doozy.  On a regular day I would have kept going to 10 miles! But trust me – I had to stop several times due to stomach pain.  The worst part, right when I got home on my run, my friend came up to see me and I couldn’t even talk – I had to run into my house!!  Whew!

Wednesday – XT day, cycling 11.77 miles.  I was lazy and slept in, so I didn’t go as far as I wanted to.  However, I do enjoy my cycling mornings a lot.  I get to listen to fun podcasts and just cruise.

Thursday – 6 “easy” miles.  Terrible humidity made this run feel really hard.

Friday – 14 miles long run.  The first half of this run was good because I was on a shaded trail.  On the way back the sun was higher in the sky and my trail was now full sun!!  I had to “hide” in the shade several times to make it through the last few miles.

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Humid, but beautiful shaded scenery in the first half!
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Ugh, full sun now.
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Hello everyone. Don’t mind me just taking a breather over here in the shade!

Saturday – 4 “easy” miles.  I met my friends, and two new friends, and ran with them.  It was a sweat-fest, but such a nice run because I was with friends.  I need to do this more often!!

2016-08-13 13.17.22
You have to wear a pink tank top to hang with us! 😉

 

Sunday – 9 miles at tempo (marathon pace) w/ warm up & cool down = 12 miles.  I decided to avoid the humidity situation all together and ran on the treadmill.  Caught up on the Bachelor in Paradise and watched the start of the Rio Olympic women’s marathon!  Team USA did great!  Sadly, it sure didn’t make me want to run a marathon!  I kept thinking of how tired and hot they must be. haha!

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Total miles = 42.77 miles

I am running the miles, and getting everything done.  It’s not easy by any means, and I still feel pain, but not as much as before.  I am still mostly bothered by an injury on the right side (hamstring).  Granted, I haven’t run *really* far lately, so there hasn’t been the chance to really get my glutes sore.  I’ll be going into the marathon with some uncertainty, but giving it my best shot.

As we finish this week, there are only days left in the kid’s summer break.  We enjoyed a little extra exercise on Sunday at an “inflatable” park.  It has several large slides, dry ones and others with water.  And this large jumping “pillow” that was THE BEST!  We had a great time hopping on it.

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This was actually the reward to the kids for them completing their summer “running” plan.  Sydney made a commitment that she was going to run 75 miles over the summer, and now has around 80 miles logged.  Zachary was in for 50 miles and he still has a few more to run, but he will get his goal for sure in the next few days.   Congrats to them!!

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So there you have it.  My week in review!  I feel successful in getting my workouts completed, but nervous about my pace and stamina.

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Q:  How is your yearly mileage so far?  Are you on target for your goal, if you had one?

Q:  What are your tricks for running in the humidity?

Q:  Have you been watching the Olympics?  What has been your favorite event to watch?

I used to have envy for the runner’s bodies, but now I want to look like a volleyball player! 😉

 

6 thoughts on “Running recap – 4 weeks until Erie!!”
  1. Where is the inflatable park? That looks sweet!

    At the start of the year I decided that I’d run 2016 miles in 2016. So far, so good to reach that goal!

    The humidity has been stifling. I ask myself if it really is extraordinary or if it is normal and I just forget about it every year. In order to get myself out the door and get quality workouts, even when I know the humidity is 95% and up, I remind myself of a few things:

    1.) It will be a harder workout that will translate to stronger and faster training and races in the fall and winter.
    2.) The impact of heat AND humidity is huge and so I must be forgiving to myself.
    3.) People fight through truly awful things like chemotherapy and loss of limbs and mental illness, so I can stick it out and run my mileage in some comparatively minor discomfort.

    As far as the Olympics, I loved watching the Americans kick butt in the pool! Superhuman!

    1. Funagins – in Sylvania. It’s so fun!!
      Great points to remember when the going gets tough. I’ll need to keep those in mind – especially your last point. It really does pale in comparison to other struggles people are having. Every run is something to be thankful for!

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