Summer in the south is more than here. I won’t bother complaining, as it won’t change a thing. The downside of the horrible summer running is that the wintertime is rather mild. When many runners trudge daily through snow and ice, shoveling snow – I will be running in near perfect 35-45F weather. It seems so far away right now.
With the high temps comes very little racing by me. My mileage has been consistently in the 40-50 mpw range, with last week being the highest since last November (59 mpw). I just haven’t felt compelled to race. A poor race effort usually does more psychological damage to me, so if I’m not in race shape – I don’t race. Therapy is helping as well!
I missed one of my favorite 5ks in June (Harbor Town 5k). It is a flat fast course, but as I recall it was near 95F that day! Even at 7:00 p.m., it was still quite humid and “thick.” With the “thick” air, I have taken to the treadmill a bit more. I was always that diehard runner, who wouldn’t step foot onto a treadmill under any circumstance. As a survivial measure, I now take to it when I want to do some faster running. Recently, I did a series of 1/2 mile repeats at 5:50 pace, which would have been impossible outside, at any time of the day. Hopefully, the dreadmill will keep my fitness level up, in addition to the increased mileage.
I am in the early stages of marathon training (St. Jude Marathon, again). I usually don’t follow a strict plan, but this time I will. Currently, I’m trying to find a schedule that fits me. If anyone has any plans to recommend, please comment. There is a plan in Brad Hudson’s Run Faster that I like, but I’d like to look at others as well.
I’ve signed up for the aforementioned marathon and have every intention of fulfilling my Sub 3 title at this years race. In the past, my mileage only reached at 12-16 week average of ~45mpw. This time, I will push the limits and go upwards of 70-80mpw. If a sub 3 doesn’t happen from this, it probably won’t.
