Marathon Training Update

Last week somehow managed to slip away from me so here I am with a two week update. 

Week 10 started out a little rough but I take sole responsibility for that one. I didn't fuel properly prior to leaving and I didn't bring water with me. The park I was headed to at the halfway point had a water fountain. Normally this would have been completely sufficient, but not when I started out with so little in the tank.

Beautiful view at the halfway point

Less than stellar, but it was done!

Wednesday morning I ran with someone new and it was a huge challenge for me. The weather was cooler and it made for a fantastic run.

Much better than Tuesday!

Beautiful art along the way

and that we did.

Thursday brought a solo run and it was honestly just as fabulous. The weather was still cool and it felt great to keep a faster pace.  

The feeling great thing hung on to a great 17 miler on Saturday too. It really felt pretty easy going the entire time which was a huge improvement over last year when 17 felt like death. I had a decent sized group to run with and was pretty well entertained the entire time. 

Tried out my new tank!

Pretty darn excited with the pace for 17 miles.  Quicker than usual but felt great.

Sunday was cross training with piyo and 15 minutes of other yoga as well. I really needed it and it was easy to squeeze in with working 8am to 530pm that day.

That brings us to week 11!! Monday held a nice 10 mile bike ride with the hubs, who finally fixed his bike :) We took to the river and had a nice flat and easy ride. 

I'll be honest. The rest of the week was BRUTAL. It was hot and humid and really all of my runs were not fun as they should be. It was a real test of my patience and commitment all around. I know that the majority of it was due to the weather, but I was also having a weird new pain (left quad) and a recurring old one (posterior shin splint issue) so that didn't help either. I am currently still trying to work those things out. 

AH! Tuesday miles

Rough but I made it.

Wednesday proved to be even more of a bear. It was sooo hot and so hard to keep an even breath.

Around mile 3 I stopped to soak up some scenery.

Embrace the suck. That's all I could really do.

I managed Wednesday's run only with the help of walk breaks and lots of water. Really nothing to be proud of except the fact that 8 miles was over!

Thursday was no better honestly. Still hot with thick air. I broke up my run into 4 miles alone and then about 1.5 with Fleet Feet. 

So not thrilled

Love this shot (from Fleet Feet Mechanicsburg.. In the air!!

And Saturday proved to be no better with humidity. Thank goodness it was overcast but my legs felt so heavy that it was unreal. We took a handful of walk breaks but we managed to get our 18 in anyway.

Slow and steady is how we rolled. 

My reward for sticking it out and getting it done. 

So there it is. The best and ugliest of marathon training all in one post. I am hoping this week brings at least less humidity (because I already see temps in the high 80's and low 90's). I have a half marathon to run Saturday and although this is technically a training run, I really would love to get both a course PR and half PR as well. Least year I ran this course at a 2:30 which was both crappy and made me proud at the time. It had been so hot I was happy to have finished standing at all. My half PR is 2:02 and I think it is possible to beat or match that at this race if the weather is on my side. 

What do you struggle with the most in summer running- heat or humidity?