Hello, hello friends! I hope you’re enjoying the weekend. I arrived home from Florida on Monday evening and jumped right into a busy workweek…and now I have a houseguest! My mom arrived Friday and will be here for a week. We are heading up to Durham for a day of appointments with the kidney team at Duke. Prayers are always appreciated.
It was the best ever to be reunited with my little guy after six days apart. Finn’s enjoying having my mom in town and we’ve kept her busy with evening walks, a trip to the farmers market and ice cream outings. The salted Oreo from Golden Cow is life.
MARATHON TRAINING BEGINS TOMORROW!
In other news, MARATHON TRAINING STARTS TOMORROW!!! I honestly cannot believe it but I’m also really, really excited. I’m embarking on an 18-week training cycle that will end with the Every Woman’s Marathon in Savannah on November 16! They just announced this week that the marathon is SOLD OUT so it should be a really fun time and lots of great energy.
I’ve been running really consistently with a fair number of longer runs (and a half marathon!) over the last few months so I feel good about the base that I’m starting training from. My biggest concern is how I’m going to make it through the summer heat for the first couple months of training, especially on long run days. There’s literally no good time of day to run. If you go out early the temps are lower but it’s insanely humid (like 80-100%) and if you go later the humidity is lower but the temps are over 90. All that said, I’ve been running in Georgia/South Carolina/Alabama/North Carolina for over 20 years so I’m sure I’ll figure it out. 😉
My second challenge is how I’m going to do my long runs on weekends that I have Finn. I definitely can’t get up early and get on the road because I won’t have another adult here to watch him, and it’s too early to get a babysitter. Moving my long run to another day on those weeks is a little challenging due to my work schedule but once it’s not so hot it will be more doable.
I really want to adhere to my training schedule as closely as possible so that I can run a race that I feel prepared for. I’m not trying to hit any time goals or anything but I do want to feel good and have a positive race experience.
The plan I created has three days of running (with an optional low-mileage fourth day) and two strength training days. It also leaves time for rest, yoga, etc. In my years of running and racing I have learned that I thrive when running about three days a week and not running consecutive days. It’s important for me to keep lifting heavy to head off injuries, as well as make time for at least one yoga practice a week. (Long gone are my days of doing asana practice daily but that’s a post for another time!)
If you want to check out my 18-week marathon training schedule, you can find it in my app! It includes three day of running (most weeks are an easy run, a speed/tempo run and a long run) as well as two full-body strength training days. The strength workouts are loaded into the plan and are easy to follow with video demonstrations!
Reminder, I offer a one-week free trial of my app!
RUN TO WHOLE FOODS!
I leave you with an important PSA: get yourself to Whole Foods by July 16 for their annual ice cream sale. All ice cream and frozen treats are 44% off regular prices and 50% off for Prime members. I made one trip last week and will pop by there again tomorrow to grab a few more pints to stock the freezer. I have been on such an ice cream kick this summer so I can’t pass up pints of Jeni’s for $4! That’s the steal of the summer!
QUESTIONS
Are you training for any fall races?
Best strategies for long runs in the summer heat?
I’m training for a half marathon in October, in NH. It’ll be my 7th. 😄
I’m in MA and I’d rather deal with the humidity than the heat so I’m an early runner. I just know they’ll be slow runs but hopefully training in the heat will make me faster in the fall! 😄
I’m training for City of Oaks Half-Marathon in Raleigh, NC on November 3. It will be my 11th half-marathon but the first one in 5 years. I’m struggling with when to run too! Too humid in the morning and too hot in the evening. It wasn’t like this 5 years ago!
sending prayers
Thinking of you and your mom and I hope all goes well at her appointments 🩷
I am training for Chicago marathon! I live in the south as well and this will be my third year in a row of training through summer for a fall marathon. I have found that for me getting up and knocking it out early works best. For long runs I carry a water bottle with Skratch hydration mixed in and that also helps!
I’m so excited for you that you are running a marathon this fall and look forward to reading about your training this summer!!
Please add some new 45-60 minute yoga classes on your app. Thank you!
One thing I did is teach my five year old to bike with me when I run. I made a big deal of needing her to support me while I run and she felt really important getting to help. Our rules are she has to stop and wait for me at every intersection or street and that I have to be able to still see her if you rides ahead. I also asked her to help me by letting me focus on my run and not interrupting me or asking for snacks and water every five minutes which she did great with. It made her feel like she had an important job and I got to get a quality run in.
Hey Alexia – thank you so much for this comment and sharing your experience. It’s really, really helpful. Finn has yet to embrace his bike but I’m going to keep trying – maybe now that he’s a little older (6) he will turn the corner. He does like his scooter so I guess that is an option too but seems to be a little harder for him to keep pace over a longer stretch!