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I had this week scheduled as my peak for marathon training. Unfortunately, it came during a time we were experiencing record early heat. It was well over 90 degrees every day. After running 18 miles in the heat last weekend, I just couldn't wrap my head around doing it again. I fretted. I whined. I was cranky. Very Cranky.
Tuesday evening, I cycled indoors in the much appreciated air conditioning. 70 minutes was also a peak for cardio cross training. Since I was cycling one day earlier than usual, I couldn't enjoy my usual Survivor diversion and chose a couple episodes of Roseanne instead. It's hard to believe that show was brought back after 30 years.
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| Because pics on the mag trainer get boring... |
Wednesday I ran my peak mid-week marathon race pace run of 11 miles. It was very warm so this run felt harder than all of my other MRP runs. I checked and re-checked my weather apps still worrying about my weekend long run.
Finally, I made the decision to get up crazy early on the coolest overnight I could see we were going to have any time soon; 66 degrees with 85% humidity and no wind -- before daylight. I set my alarm for 3:55. After a quick breakfast of watermelon yogurt and a few vanilla wafers, I hit the pavement Friday morning at 4:15. Just in case you are interested, I consumed 40 ounces of Tailwind, 16 ounces of water, 1/2 of a banana, 2 GU and 1 salt capsule during my run.
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| Why not add in some elevation? |
Giving in to a I-might-as-well-make-it-even-tougher urge, I ran my hilliest route. After all, I still need all the downhills I can find. The dark miles were actually not too bad; having me wish I'd started earlier. Once the sun was up, it was tough. I've never been so happy to have a 20 mile run behind me!
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| IT IS DONE! Now...off to work. |
I did very little Saturday except for holding down a pool float as we celebrated Mother's Day in our back yard. Sunday morning I enjoyed a short, hot 7.4 mile run before road-tripping to the in-laws. I can only hope for some chilly mountain air on race day!
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| These yummy hand dipped strawberries were waiting after my Mother's Day run. |
Total Run Miles = 38.4
Total Cycle Miles = 23.3
My sweet Mom has been gone 10 years. Hug your Mom if you have the chance!
Happy Mother's Day!
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| And that's a wrap! |
Happy Mother’s Day to you, Holly! I’m sure it is very hard to miss your mom for 10 years... I’m so sorry. You are my hero for waking up at 3 am to run. My gosh! But I bet that’s a breeze compared to the heat.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds horrific waking up that early, but it definitely beats a hot and humid run! It looks like I'll have one more early wake up before my race as it is still too warm and muggy.
DeleteI am so impressed with that early morning 20-miler!! And then off to work! I did a 20-miler (a couple years ago) on a work day, but I did it in the early sunlight hours (7-10ish) and then went to work in the afternoon...you're more #badazz than myself LOL
ReplyDeleteIt was simply necessary. Summer has begun with a vengeance, especially with the tropical humidity. I'm afraid I'll have to do it again, but only 12 miles this time -- so I guess I can sleep a tad later. LOL.
DeleteSmart to get up that early and beat the heat! I actually look forward to needing to do that this summer. THose chocolate dipped berries look like a nice Mother's Day treat. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteI was so impressed by my middle son. He dipped those berries and rolled them in coconut. I swear, they were the size of a small apple too!
DeleteHappy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in Florida, I used to get up that early on long run days. Now that I'm training again, I think I'm going to have to get back to that. South-eastern Virginia and the Florida panhandle are very similar in climate. UGH.
Hope you've had a great day with your in-laws! I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. I know it was 10 years ago but still, I can't imagine what that must be like. *hugs*
Down south, once the sun is up (as you know) it heats up so quickly! Even though it's much more humid before daylight, at least you don't have to deal with the sun.
DeleteGreat job planning your long run - love the way you celebrate Mother's Day ;) in the pool!
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty much where you can find us on a hot summer weekend! Or the lake.
DeleteWay to get in that long run, and on the tough route to boot! And thanks for sharing your fuel/fluids intake, I find that stuff interesting! This fellow Southern runner is also grumpy about the heat, but I’m taking notes from your badassery! Hope the rest of your Mother’s Day is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI probably needed a little more fuel for this run, but the Tailwind helped. I may whine about the heat until October or so...
DeleteHappy Mother's day to you! I don't know what is more impressive, running 11 miles in that heat or getting up at 3:55 am to go run! kudos to you! Those strawberries look yummy!
ReplyDeleteThe strawberries were a very sweet (get it?) surprise. I may do one more super early run. We'll see.
DeleteI feel you on the heat. It's been well over 90 every day here too. I had "car duty" at school this week and came in with a sunburn after 10 minutes outside, ha! Happy Mother's Day to you, Holly!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. That sounds hot, especially around the heat of the cars too.
DeleteGreat job with that early 20 miler! Its gotta be tough getting in your miles with that heat.
ReplyDeleteIt is. I had hoped I could make through marathon training without running in the summer heat. NO such luck.
Delete3:55?? I don't miss the southern heat, and I could never bring myself to run early in the morning to beat the sunrise. Our weather is still quite nice, and hopefully you'll have good weather for your race.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed that Colorado weather will be kind to me on race day!
DeleteYou are one tough cookie. I don't know what I'd do in those circumstances. I know I couldn't face a 20 mile treadmill run! Good thing I'm not planning to run any marathons.
ReplyDeleteWe celebrated mother's day yesterday, since my parents had other plans for today. And yes, of course, I hugged my mom (and took her & my sister & the rest of the local family out to lunch, AND brought her tulips, too).
I took my mother in law a beautiful basket of mixed flowers and gave her a hug. She is a very sweet lady just like my Mom was.
DeleteI cannot believe you ran 20 miles before work!!!!
ReplyDeleteI ran 3 miles in the Florida humidity and I was toast.
Me either! But, I was tired of stressing over when to do it. It made the weekend so much more relaxing.
DeleteIt's fun to get up that early and be done with your long run before you even know what happened :) Nice work!
ReplyDeleteStrong week for you!
I really did enjoy having the weekend "free" from a super long run. I may move my long run to Friday during future training cycles!
DeleteMy mom has been gone for 10 years too. I still miss her every day! I am marathon training for August. Can't believe that I soon have to start running 16, 18, 20 milers again in the heat. Ugh! Not looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI trained for Chicago twice during our hot summers. Thinking back, I don't know how I did that! At least the heat didn't get really bad until the last few weeks of this cycle.
DeleteCongrats on surviving peak week! And hey, even with the heat, at least you got to cross train inside. But I do agree, it seems like it got hot even earlier this year than other years. I also like watching Roseanne but haven't watched it when Xtraining yet; it is a fun show and I like the remake. A lot of people criticize how political it is, and I am on the other side of Roseanne but I still think it's a fun show and that we can laugh without turning it into a battle of left vs. right.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship and banter between Jackie and Roseanne is very funny! I was also shocked at how political it is, but they seem to be handling it well.
DeleteOh wow way to rock that steamy 20 in the wee hours. Mental toughness for sure! I haven't seen the "new" Roseanne yet. I have no idea when it's even on. Ha! Happy taper my friend!
ReplyDeleteI DVR so many shows (and then delete without watching!) and it was on my list. I'm so happy to be in Taper Town!
DeleteWow, that is some serious dedication to your training plan. Good for you for getting it done - you deserved all that pool time. and all those berries! Happy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteI will not admit how many berries (which were as big as small apples) I ate! HA. It was so hot this weekend, the pool was really the only choice.
DeleteGood for you getting that 20 miler in! I did some of those pre-dawn long runs when I trained for my
ReplyDeleteChicago marathons--it just gets too hot here and there was that whole going to work thing. A runner's gotta do...
I hope you enjoyed your mama's day!
I was hoping to be finished with this training cycle when our excessive heat set in. I missed by a few weeks! Like you said, a runner's gotta do...
Deletewe had a couple of those super hot days last week too. I am not adapted to them at all! Nice job getting it done. My question is after drinking 56 oz before your run, how do you not have to pee the whole time?!
ReplyDeleteSadly, I never adapt to the heat. No no, I drank that during my run not before. And no, I've never stopped to pee. TMI?
DeleteI'm not looking forward to summer long runs either. Ick.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine! You have it much worse than I do!
DeleteYou have got to feel good about that 20 miler! Way to crank it out! And I'd be clinging to a pool float for the rest of the day too.
ReplyDeleteThat cold pool water felt amazing on my poor, previously broken feet!
DeleteWow! Nothing like a record heat wave to inspire you to run super early, right? Colorado weather will feel so nice after that!
ReplyDeleteI've really gambled on the CO weather still being cool. It was when I ran their half marathon in August a few years ago. Fingers crossed.
DeleteCongrats on the 11 miler! That's too bad about the heat. And you know you're mid-marathon training when 7+ miles is a "short" run :) Those strawberries look great! Happy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a sure indication you are in the depths of marathon training!
DeleteOh my goodness, 3:55am! I can't imagine, 4:30am is my limit and then I need a nap later. You go girl! Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteI've gotten up that early to travel to races before but never for a training run. It honestly wasn't that bad!
DeleteTaking my imaginary hat off to you!!! Wow lady! A 04:15 run on a WORK day and oh... for 20 miles!?!? If that's not commitment to get a run done, I don't know what is!
ReplyDeleteII was so tired about worrying when I'd get this run done over the hot Mothers Day weekend, that I just had to get it done. It made the weekend so much more relaxed.
DeleteGreat job getting in your early morning run. I got up last week at 5am and was out running at 5:55 - I though that was early, ha ha!
ReplyDeleteIt is! I've been the queen of sleeping late this year too so this was way out of my comfort zone for a start time.
DeleteWay to go on that hot 20 miler! And that's awesome that you were able to spend the rest of the day by the pool, it sounds like the perfect option after that run :)
ReplyDeleteSaturday was nothing but a lazy day for me. I enjoyed every bit of it!
DeleteAs you know, the heat training will help you SO MUCH! I totally feel you on the super early runs to beat the sun. The heat/humidity is bad enough but throw in the sun and dang! You are going to do great, lady!
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope so because it is very humbling to try and train (and hit certain paces) in this heat and humidity!
DeleteI've been struggling too, except instead of heat we are getting SO MUCH RAIN! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThat can be equally as frustrating! Especially if you are running on muddy trails!
DeleteOuch on that hot 20 miler - big props to you for buckling down and getting it done!
ReplyDeleteI admit I was definitely not looking forward to it, but the early rise time made it tolerable.
DeleteI'm SO impressed by your ability to do marathon training in the summer heat, especially running in super hot temps for your peak week!
ReplyDeleteI hope that you had a great Mother's Day yesterday and enjoyed those strawberries!
I thought the timing would work out where I'd be finished when our brutal heat started. I was off a few weeks! LOL.
DeleteGood for you for getting out early to beat the heat. As tough as it is to get out of bed when that early alarm goes off, running before the sun comes up is my favorite time to run. It's amazing how hot it's already gotten down there.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the linkup!
I think I'll be forced to do one more double digit run at a crazy early wake up time. It is what it is!
DeleteI have totally moved my long run to the coolest day of the week...and I am not beyond getting up several hours before the sun to have enough time to get it ALL DONE before the heat sets in! I feel so accomplished for getting it done before the rest of the world is aware the day has started :)
ReplyDeleteI understand that accomplished feeling. I did many double digit runs prior to going to work during this training cycle. By the afternoon, I'd often forget I had run that morning. LOL.
DeleteLots of love for a hard day. <3
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like you had a strong week of training. I haven't seen any of the new Roseanne's. Are they any good?
I think the banter between Roseanne and her sister Jackie is very funny. The show is quite political though.
DeleteCan you believe we are this close?!? It seems like it took forever to get there yet flew by at the same time! I can't wait to see you in Atlanta! :)
ReplyDeleteI am sooooo ready for our trip. Let's get this thing done!
DeleteHappy mother's day - those strawberries look like the perfect post run snack! I can't imagine doing a 20 mile run before work! I'm crazy impressed. I usually want to do absolutely nothing about a long run, so I can't imagine being able to go to work! I'm dreading marathon training over the summer - I see many EARLY mornings in my future to beat the heat!
ReplyDeleteI can admit that was a very long day a work. I think I yawned a lot actually...and drank lots of coffee. I'm glad it was a Friday.
DeleteSorry to hear that your peak week was during a time of record high heat. Way to get your 20 miler done in those conditions! Hope you had wonderful mother's day! Those strawberries look delicious! :)
ReplyDeleteI was very impressed by the tasty strawberries our middle son made for me. That surely hit the spot after my run too!
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