Arrgh humidity!

We have been spoiled this summer... here it is July 27th and it is officially the first week where I dread my runs on account of heat and humidity. It is taking some getting used to, but I am chugging along. I fully expect this week to be my slowest in quite some time, but as long as I log the miles I'm not going to worry too much about it.

Since I've last blogged (which has been much too long ago), I've reached some milestones. I've run 12 miles in training, which went surprisingly well. I was on a weekend away in Western Mass, but I found a decent route from Northampton to Easthampton. Although part of the route was on a busy, ugly road (Rt. 10), I quickly found some scenic farmland at the bottom of Mt. Tom and the Easthampton bike path. On the way back to downtown Noho I was lucky enough to run into the farmers market and the most awesome whole chocolate milk from a local vendor. Sooo goood.

Last weekend I ran the Blessing of the Fleet 10 miler in Narragansett. My friend Sasha and I had a relaxing day on the beach, and this being an evening race... we were not exactly "feeling" the racing vibe. This was my longest and first night-time event... and I was happy with my performance. According to my trusty Garmin I came in around 1:32:19, but my official time was 1:33:19. Averaging around 9:20 miles! It took some time to get over the starting line, but from there it was good and steady. The views were nice, the crowds were really fun. The only incredibly boring bit was on Point Judith Road, nothing to look at, no shade and not as much crowd support. After the race, once I got home to the beach house, I was feeling really crappy. Chills, nausea, etc. A wee bit scary. I'm not sure if the chills are from dehydration... but I hit almost every water stop. I'll have to keep an eye on this for upcoming training runs. Other than this my legs and feet felt fine so hopefully I can slug through the marathon itself. It now scares me that I have to race 16.2 additional miles in just over two months. I can't believe how fast training has gone by.

My First Spill

It was destined to happen - I finally took a header on a run. On the banks of the Mystic River, there are a LOT of tree roots. Every time I run this route I think to myself... one of these days I'll have to trip. I knew my days were numbered, and today was the day. It was a perfect storm of the tie of my shorts coming undone, roots underfoot, two runners headed towards me and a SKUNK sighting. Luckily I took the spill after the runners passed, and narrowly avoided the oncoming skunk... Traditionally wilderness sightings are my favorite part of a run, the possibility of landing on a skunk kind of put it all in perspective.

Anyhow, now I have a nasty scrape on my shin, the first injury (and hopefully last) of marathon training.

Not a pretty runner

Again I've been lucky enough to run a lot this weekend... getting up early to run 10 miles (again) on Sunday. Trustom Pond and its cavalcade of deer (a baby one this time!). On the way back I trailed a woman who was on a short run, and we paced each other so I was much faster on the last mile. 10 minute miles on average for the 10 mile run, my best yet. I also attended beach yoga, which ended up being a bit d.i.y.... the teacher started with modifications so there was more thinking on my part than usual. She would say "you can do a Chaturanga if you want now!" So I would, but I'm not exactly an expert and would really have to think about it all (breathing, posture, etc.) The location (a short walk down the beach from the beach shack) and view (of Block Island) couldn't be beat though! I did miss a X-training workout but those are the breaks. I was going to try for a swim but the waves were not very inviting this weekend.

Since you are all my good friends, and I think would enjoy a laugh, here are my absolutely yucky photos from the Charles River Run. Arrgh! So awful! Please don't tell me they don't look that bad, as this will just prove my utter ickiness. Do I look like this in real life? Who would ever want to buy an 8" x 10" of this monstrosity?

My form is also awful. I look like a monkey or something.

Now which gym...

Lucky for me, at work we have a great gym. This includes a price that cannot be beat, good classes, free towels, nice locker rooms, decent equipment, and an indoor track. Problem is, the hours are limited in the summer (this is the trade-off for the blessed absence of students)... and what is a girl in marathon training to do? I ended up, like my good friend Sasha, now belonging to more than one gym.

This deal came my way, for a month and a half of Healthworks (all women's gym, in Cambridge among other locations) for $18. I used to belong here, but it got waaaaay to expensive. Once the rate hit $80 a month, I was DONE, but for $18 who can resist? It is worth it for a quick yoga session on the weekends, or a spin class, or just some elliptical. These have been my three cross training activities of choice and so far seemed to have contributed to my increased speed. Much more so than running, I have to force myself to spin or elliptical-it. At least spinning has fun music (with the exception of the dude who played Nickelback or some sort of horrible stuff, to his credit he said "If you like Nickelback you are going to LOVE this, if you don't, you are NOT.") and someone forcing me to push myself to the threshold, which otherwise I would not. Yoga continues to be awesome, and I now need my fix every week or I get really antsy. I may be pushing it up to two times a week when I can fit it in.

Anyone have any good cardio/low-impact x-training alternatives? I think in a few months I will definitely need to mix it up.