Got to Step It Up!

So I have been seriously slacking these past few weeks. I don't know what it is, but probably the fact that it's been insanely hot and humid! I've officially switched to being a morning runner, but the past 2 days I ended up just hitting the snooze button and sleeping away my hour run. I've been clocking in about 12-16 miles/week for the last 4 weeks. And this week isn't looking to be much better. I HOPE to go for a run tomorrow morning, but the weekend is looking CRAZY (again) so no chances of a long distance run.

I'm hoping that starting next week I can step it up a notch and start getting back to 18 miles/week MINIMUM with a longer run on the weekend. I still have about 19 weeks left until the marathon though, so I still have plenty of time to start hitting those 10+ mile runs. There's a nice run through Rock Creek Park near my boyfriend's house, where we can run to the Maryland border and back to total roughly 10 miles. Last time I did it I practically died, so I'd like to try it out again.

Last week I did a few sprints again and raced against a high school boy. I beat him and his friend teased him for getting "beat by a girl". I may have won the battle, but I think if we were to continue racing at those speeds he would have won the war.

Anyways, it's over and out....I just wanted to check back in to whoever reads this!

New Running Shoes!

So I finally caved and invested in some fairly pricey new running shoes. I switched from my Saucony brand to New Balance. I had my last pair since August and had put on at least 600 miles on them. The guy at Road Runners informed me that running shoes should be replaced after every 400 miles. Now I'm REALLY going to need to find a job post-AmeriCorps to afford my new running habit. I'm hoping that with training for the MCM, my new pair will last me until the actual marathon. Afterwards I'll definitely have to get another pair. Or maybe I'll be so scarred from running (or failing) a marathon that I'll never run again....haha.

I've actually had 2 successful morning runs so far this week and I'm debating about going again tomorrow morning or sleeping in. The benefit to running tomorrow is that I know I'll beat the heat and inevitable humidity of this weekend and I will have hit my 18 miles that I aim for every week. I REALLY need to do another distance run or sprints again, but with the humidity and heat of the past few weekends that just hasn't happened yet. Next step: sucking it up and getting up early on the weekends to do a long run. Baby steps for now...I'm still getting used to getting up early during the week.

So it's been a while...

Figured it was about time I blog about something. Specifically running. More specifically me running... all in all, nothing too interesting.

So I'm 22 weeks from the MCM. It seems far away when I think about it, but when I look at my training schedule and how I've failed to maintain it for the past 3 weeks, I realize that it's going to be a long long 22 more weeks. It's been hard for me to get back into the groove of things after the half, which I know I've said before. But I figured I've given myself almost a month to get my ass kicked back into shape.

Last week I only ran once. 6 miles. But I did go on a gorgeous 6 mile hike at Crabtree Falls in GW National Park down in Nelson County for Memorial Day weekend. That was definitely nice. I saw 2 people running most of the trail (some of which was pretty muddy), and I was instantly impressed and equally envious of their stamina and fitness. I find trail running extremely difficult. I know some runners enjoy trail running, specifically uphill trail running, but I haven't either a) built those muscles yet or b) taught myself how to breathe correctly to maintain my stamina.

New development in my running, though! I've started to run in the mornings. Now, I know I have complained about morning runs in the past and would definitely prefer running in the afternoons; however, with the heat and humidity that is a DC summer, I pretty much have no choice but to adapt and change my ways. For example, the past few days it has been almost 90 degrees and VERY HUMID and STICKY. In the mornings when I go for my run, around 7:30, it's equally humid but still only in the mid-70s. Definitely preferable to scorching heat.

Due to the humidity I've had to start bringing my water bottle on my 6 mile runs, where before I'd be fine until I got home. I definitely notice a difference staying hydrated. This morning it was so gross out that I had completely soaked through my tank top AND my shorts. Yes, my shorts. I had a huge ass sweat mark on my lovely sky-blue running shorts. Sexy, right? When I finally go and buy new running shoes in the next few weeks I'll have to remember to pick up some white or black running shorts where sweat does not show through as easily....