We're back to that time of year where I need to give myself a pep talk before heading out the door. I have stopped looking at what the temperature is supposed to be for my 5am runs - it's only going to miserably confirm what I already know: It'll be HOT. I simply lay out the least amount of clothing possible (while ensuring I am not arrested for indecent exposure) the night before and throw it on at 5am before heading out into the sticky, humid mess that is a Richmond summer morning. The one upside to summer running is that I've been able to leave the headlamp at home most mornings since the sun is up so early. Hurray! One less thing to get soaked with my sweat.

With the kids around all day (I've got 3 of them at home now - my stepdaughter is here for the summer as well) and various activities to get everyone to and from (swim team practice, a morning camp or two for the younger ones, BodyPump teaching for me, etc.) it's been a bit more of a hectic pace this summer than last. Yet another reason why I'm thankful to be getting my runs in super early! Even though it's not always fun to drag myself out of bed so early, I'm happy to get it done before the day really starts. That way, no matter how crazy the rest of my day gets, I know I've gotten my run in! And that makes for a happier Mama.

We are now 12 weeks out from my goal race: Erie (Presque Isle) Marathon on September 13th. I've been steadily increasing my mileage and am comfortably back up into the high 60s. I've been fortunate to have a few friends around the area to run with a few days a week - they've made both the miles and the humidity seem more bearable. I've still got a ways to go before race day, but I feel like I'm entering the portion where I need to turn on the focus, put my head down and get to work. To give you an idea of where my training is at, let's recap the last week:

Monday: 10 miles w/10 striders (a.m.), 3 miles recovery (p.m.) - Yup. The double runs are back. 76 degrees and 95% humidity made the first part of this run very sweaty. Second run was done at 1pm in the blazing 93 degree heat. It wasn't optimal but it was the only time I had - I (predictibly) felt pretty lousy since it was so hot, but made it through.

Tuesday: 6 miles easy - Ran this one on the treadmill, nice and easy. Taught BodyPump later in the morning. Feel like I have a cold coming on with a sore throat and some drainage.

Wednesday: 10 miles w/5x1000m w/3 min recovery, cut down 200s (a.m.), 3 miles recovery (p.m.) - It was 15 degrees warmer this morning than the last time I did 1000s - 77 degrees at 5:10am with our normal miserable humidity. So given that, and the fact that we had to play sprinkler dodgeball at the track (we'd run a lap, then on the second pass we'd have to run into lanes 2-3 so as not to get whacked in the face by the water!), it made for a less-than-stellar run.

Intervals were: 3:50, 3:49, 3:49, 3:48, 3:41 Avg HR in the 182-193 range for the intervals. Two weeks ago (in 62 degree weather vs. the 77 degrees today) those intervals were 3:48, 3:45, 3:44, 3:43, 3:40. I followed it up with the 200s - 37, 39, 38, 37 - They felt pretty lousy, but I think that's because the legs were shot! Thankfully the hamstring didn't protest. Did 3 miles later in the morning at the YMCA, followed by my hip/glute exercises and my core work class.

Thursday: 8 miles, avg. pace 8:15. Taught BodyPump later in the morning. Still feeling the effects of fatigue from the summer cold I seem to have caught.

Friday: 4.25 miles, avg. pace 9:03. Shortened run-turned-recovery-day since I'm still feeling cruddy due to the cold. So glad I only had 4 miles to do - it was work just to get through those. Drank gallons of water today and went to bed around 8:30pm.

Saturday: 18 miles, avg. pace 7:55. Thankfully I woke up feeling a bit better! I was up super early to be running by 5am - I knew I had to get all of the miles done before 7:40 so that I had enough time to grab a quick shower and be dressed and back at the gym around 8am for our BodyPump launch! No one was around to run with me so ended up using the time to listen to the songs for the new BodyPump release and practice my cueing for the tracks that I'd been assigned to present at launch. The nice thing about 18 miles is that it gives you PLENTY of time to practice. I took it easy on myself and ran 4 of the miles on the track just so that I'd have a little bit of flat land to run on as well as access to a water fountain since it was so warm. I finished up, grabbed a shower and some breakfast and then headed over to team teach the new release! Our theme was "superheroes" and the members had a great time. My tracks went well and I stayed to attend the CXWORX (core work) class and about 10 minutes of the Body Combat (kickboxing class) before I took my tired body home. It was a busy, but very fun, morning.

Sunday: 6 miles, avg. pace 8:14. Ran early before church. Felt a bit sluggish on this run (most likely due to yesterday's efforts). Taught BodyPump at noon and was very happy to be done with my BodyPump teaching obligations for the week. Whew! Still battling some drainage and fatigue from the cold but it seems to be improving.

And that's it! 68 miles for the week.

I'm still guzzling water and trying to get to bed early in hopes of ridding myself of the rest of this cold. I had a rest day on Monday which helped so hopefully I'll be back to full power soon!

Tomorrow's run is a tempo that I'm nervous about - mostly due to the lingering effects of this cold, along with the hot temps and humidity we'll have tomorrow morning. (Triple digit temps today mean that it won't cool down very much at night...) But I'm going to get up early and do my best. I've got 12 weeks to increase my fitness so that I can chase down that 3-hour mark and I won't get there if I don't put in the work. Let's do it!

Hope your week is going well! Anyone else out there suffering from the same miserable heat and humidity as we are in RVA?