Ah, Summer. I have a love/hate relationship with you. I eagerly await your appearance every year so I can zip across your warm lake waters with a rooster tail shooting up from behind. And yet I'm always humbled by your pace-plummeting, breath-stealing, heat and humidity. Every.Single.Year.
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| Judy, Marcia, Mary Beth, Me Zenaida, Teresa and Kristy (not pictured) |
Summer began by joining fellow bloggers at the Utah Valley Half Marathon, It definitely ranks at the top for one of my BEST racecations. The beautiful scenic downhill course through Provo canyon was an added bonus. College Kid tagged along and we had great fun exploring the canyons, waterfalls, hiking trails and caves in the area. I would do this race again in a heartbeat, and would even consider running the marathon distance.
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| We ran down through those canyons! |
After this race, I felt I needed an off season. My three summer months of reduced mileage equaled a mere 140. I think I can say this was my WORST summer mileage on record. After marathon training for the past two summers, I thought it would be difficult to implement my plan. But having issues in need of rest and recovery, the off season was appreciated. Besides, my sweat was sweating.
By contrast, I cranked out 404 miles on Sanity. Deciding to train for an October century ride (or even a metric century) with Teresa definitely racked up the cycling miles. The BEST thing? I overcame my fear of riding while clipped in on streets with traffic and with those hairy, last second traffic stops.
On to my favorite activity...I'm calling this water skiing season the BEST ever. Not only did I
get an early April start, Wendy traveled south to ski with me. I had never met another woman that slalomed until finding her
through our blogs. After finally accepting my incessant invitation, we could not have had more fun. I giggle every
time I see one of our countless pictures. We are already working on the production of next year's water ski show.
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Of course while Wendy was here, we had to find a race to run. I recorded my WORST 5k time since my very first, almost a hundred 5ks ago. Not respecting the distance and sort of forgetting I was running that low mileage, no speedwork plan, I completely tanked at the Shake and Bake 5k. Moving on...
Finally, some of the BEST sunrise and sunset pictures were captured on the lake the year. My trusty boat driver [and the PoPo to my HoHo] has become quite the photographer...even if he still rolls his eyes when I make my request.
Tell me a BEST and a WORST from your summer!
Thanks to our wonderful host bloggers:
Marcia @ Marcia's Healthy Slice
Erika @ MCM Mama Runs
I'm also linking with Running Coaches' Corner.
Please give these wonderful ladies some love!
Challenge accepted! You were on my best of summer list too! PS I have mastered the peach cobbler.
ReplyDeleteYou inspired me to make both blackberry and peach cobblers recently (or puddler for your dear hubs). In fact, what's a gal to do while waiting out a tropical storm? Make peach cobbler. Delicious!
DeleteI've had a lot of worsts this summer when it comes to racing although I did run a lot of miles, probably more miles than most other summers. Honestly, it hasn't been a great summer for me in general though. I have had some good times hanging out with friends and trying new to me bars and restaurants, going to a baseball game, and going to the beach. I'm hoping for a good Fall and that things will improve on my end!
ReplyDeleteI think you are certainly due for a great fall season. The good always comes with some bad. All we can do is learn from those experiences and move ahead. It sounds like you had great fun with your friends this summer!
DeleteWhat a fun summer you had!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm looking forward to a Fantastic Fall as well!
DeleteUtah was awesome! Persnickety me didn't include it because it was technically spring. ;p
ReplyDeleteI kind of love that you took a summer break from running. I need to follow your lead on that one of these years.
Ha! I went with the more forgiving Memorial Day is the start to summer rule. The lower mileage is much easier when it's swampy!
DeleteI understand slowing down when the temps are so warm and humid. I didn't have that excuse.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a fantastic fall. Can't wait for Vegas!
I'm looking forward to a great Fall which includes fabulous Las Vegas!
DeleteWell....I probably don't need to dwell on the worst of my summer (duh, I've written volumes on it LOL), but the best is yet to come...ahem ...Vegas ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to Vegas! I can't imagine what running on the strip at night will be like. And, I'm sure we'll have many BEST stories to share.
DeleteSounds like a lot of fun. Summer was busy, but no vacations for me. I took some days off to relax, but my only travel vacation this year will be to Vegas.
ReplyDeleteI believe Vegas will be my first half of the season. I'm looking forward to it and meeting you too!
DeleteUtah was definitely one of my summer highs as well! Looking forward to making Opelika a 'best of Fall'! :)
ReplyDeleteFunny how our century ride finally played out. I had no idea Opelika hosted a ride. It will absolutely be a BEST of Fall, no doubt!
DeleteI always look forward to summer until I remember how hot it gets! But this summer didnt seem too bad...or maybe that was because I wasn't running! Glad you had a great summer!
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed how I totally forget what summer feels like as a runner EVERY year. I guess I think it's going to be different?? LOL.
DeleteThis was my worst summer of running mileage as well and I just did not enjoy it very much. Like you, I did lots of biking and other activities that I enjoyed. Already loving fall so far!
ReplyDeleteThere were many runs this summer where I questioned what I was doing! But, these recent cooler mornings (occurring much earlier than usual) answered that question. I love it.
DeleteStarting off the summer with a PR and renewing a love hiking was definitely one of the highlights of the summer. Continuing to get in the occasional hike was also great -- because soon I'll run out of hiking weather (unless I snowshoe).
ReplyDeleteAnd also having my parents' house under contract was a huge relief to every one (now just crossing fingers that the sale goes through).
The worst was probably the frustrations with Bandit, which were so much better than our first summer, I can't really complain that much about it. And, of course, all the rain this summer wasn't a #holotta fun, but it's not like we didn't have nice days nd no hurricanes, so again, I'm not complaining!
A shiny new PR was the perfect kickoff to summer! Our summer was rainy. I don't think we turned on our sprinkler system until August and that was only once or twice. So, I appreciated the lower water bill!
DeleteI'm sure your body appreciated the cut back in training- we can't keep pushing hard year round! My low was taking 6 weeks off this summer but the nice thing was that it helped me fall in love with pool running!
ReplyDeleteI did some pool running this summer too. It's the best alternate training for runners. I was hoping to continue but our water has cooled off considerably in the last two weeks. It may warm up again, we'll see.
DeleteYou had such an action packed summer! I forgot about all the fun in Utah!
ReplyDeleteFor me the summer was pretty blah, lol. Lots of running for marathon training but I didn't do a lot of fun stuff. Oh well, there's always next year!
Utah was technically not summer (June 10th) but around here -- our summer starts in April. LOL. You trained for a marathon this summer! My hat is off to you!!
DeleteI think the name of our show will be Old Women Still Slalom. LOL! It was a fun summer, despite the soul sucking heat and humidity. Sanity is tired though.
ReplyDeleteAwww, I love the idea for this post! Perhaps my best and worst of summer happened at the same moment. The best was spending a week in Chicago for my son's MBA graduation from Chicago Booth. The worst was that his graduation fell on the same day as the Utah Half. If there hadn't been a conflict, I would have joined you in a heartbeat. Bill and I have been wanting to return to Utah and the race would have been the perfect excuse.
ReplyDeleteWell, the kids always come first. Congrats to your son. I'm afraid I won't run as many spring races next year, unless they are local. My son is playing baseball as a senior (after taking a few years off) and I can't miss his games!
DeleteMy summer highlight was definately the vacation to Jamaica. Lowlight, that awful calf cramp in the Magnolia Hill trail run!
ReplyDeleteYour summer had so much variety! I totally get why you took a running break over the summer... marathon training in the summer is not much fun!
Our trip to Jamaica in 2005 was a blast. I hope we can go again. Calf cramps are the worst and they usually come out of nowhere.
DeleteWow, that is an incredible sunset shot from the boat!! And, the flag girls made me smile :) The highlight of my summer was a vacation in Mexico, but the lowlight was the fact that I had hamstrings all summer and hated running. I'm finding my love of running again though, so yeah that!!
ReplyDeleteI had a hamstring issue over the summer as well. I'm not sure what exactly set it off (skiing? cyling? half marathon hills?) but thankfully it is much better now.
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