The Upside

Not long ago, we (myself included) were all grumbling about how cold it was and how TIRED we were of freezing our butts off.

Now, as part of the human condition in which we perpetually can't get no satisfaction, we are all complaining about the summer time heat and humidity (myself included).

Many of you who know me are aware that I am not exactly an optimist and have a propensity toward sometimes maybe being a little bit of a whiner.

I would say I'm a realist who simply states facts.

At any rate, I'm trying very hard to not whine about the hot, humid, miserable weather (otherwise known as summer in central Virginia) and instead think about all the reasons why summer running is awesome.

Here's what I've come up with.

1. MTT (duh)!
2. Summer morning runs are pretty much the only chance I stand at getting something of a tan. I'll take it - even if it is an uneven runner's tan featuring dark arms, chest, and back accompanied by semi-dark legs from mid thigh to ankle. Keep in mind that "dark" for me is more like "what most people call pale."
3. If I can survive running in this crap all summer, Steamtown will feel like a picnic in October.
4. My butt doesn't go numb from cold; an occurrence I always found very disturbing during the winter.
5. Sprinklers have suddenly become magical again. Running through them makes me feel like a kid and I love it.
6. Nothing in life is more satisfying than a post-miserable-summer-run Gatorade.
7. My summer running wardrobe is far more extensive and fun than my winter one.
8. Post-run icy pops are almost as awesome as Gatorade and just as nostalgic as sprinklers.

Anybody have any other happy thoughts about summer running?

 

 

Also, since it is Friday and I won't ever get enough of Mo Farrah Running Away From Things Memes, enjoy!

 

The one that started it all: British graphic designer Luke Harvey's
My personal favorite - can't beat the original.

 



The Road to Steamtown - Week 2

Don't let the calendar fool you - summer started in Central Virginia this week.

 

 

3 runs for 24.9 miles
1 mile swim
1 hour of Bodypump

Running miles logged so far: 158.65
Same time last year: 133.3

It was a disgustingly humid week Monday through Friday. So humid that when I got up in the morning, the windows of my house had so much condensation on them that I couldn't see outside. The morning temperatures weren't bad, but it doesn't matter if it's only 65 degrees when that is accompanied by 110% humidity.

Thank all of the weather gods that a cold front came through on Friday night, taking away some of that humidity. Otherwise, Saturday would have been terrible.

Training highlights:

• It was cloudy on Monday, which made the progressive speedwork session with Greg at least partially tolerable.
• I'm so very thankful for well-to-do-neighborhoods where the rich folks have automatic sprinkler systems for their lawns. We may or may not have run through quite a few of their sprinklers in the past week.
• Return to the pool on Tuesday, where I put in a mile. The first few laps felt pretty awful, but I was surprised when I got over it quickly and pounded out the rest without too much trouble.
• Running "on the edge of Midnight" with Kit, Ed, and Paul on Saturday. If we can keep up with Ed all summer, we are going to kick some butt in Steamtown.

Photo courtesy of MTT Photos

Training lowlights:

• Though the weather was killer and it didn't feel good, Wednesday's tempo run with Kit was a great test of our grit and determination. I couldn't help but add some commentary to our split stats.

                Mile 1 - 8:28 (Hey the weather's not SO bad)
                Mile 2 - 8:02 (Oh look... we're fast. Ah well.)
                Mile 3 - 8:02 (Ooohkay so it's really REALLY muggy out, I don't feel so great)
                Mile 4 - 8:15 (Let's slow ourselves down. No need to kill ourselves.)
                Mile 5 - 8:20 (SLOW DOWN)
                Mile 6 - 8:27 (Ok, so apparently this is as slow as we go.)

• Once again, I failed to get in two sessions of cardio-based cross training. I had an exhausting and stressful week so by the time Friday rolled around, I did not want to get out of bed to go bike or swim. So I didn't. This is going to have to change... fast.
• Husband and I went to Bodypump at 6:00 am on Thursday, only to discover that it was "express" class, which meant it didn't include abs or shoulders and lasted only 45 minutes. I was pretty unhappy about it (I think Husband was fine with it though). When we finished I didn't feel ready to stop so I went upstairs and did a fast one mile run around the indoor track, then used the roller and did a lot of stretching before I finally decided to hit the showers.

Unfortunately this is another very stressful week for me at work and after our short break from humidity, it is scheduled to be even more hot and MORE humid this week (highs that feel like 100 degrees on Wednesday). I don't have high hopes for it to be a great training week, but kind of hope that I'm wrong because it would be nice for something to be good this week.

4 Bridges in 4.5 Miles

We were very lucky in Richmond yesterday - we were blessed (and I mean blessed!) with an absolutely picturesque, gorgeous, perfect day. Temperatures were 10 degrees below normal, topping out around 80. The sky was clear and blue. There was a cool breeze blowing in from the north.

There was almost NO. HUMIDITY. That's a big deal for a June day in central Virginia.

I was chomping at the bit all day - I just couldn't wait until the work day was done and I could get out there and go running. The plan was to meet up with Siri and hit a new route that my other running buddy Greg had taken us on two weeks or so ago. He called it the 4 bridges in 4.5 miles route and it was a stunner, taking us across Richmond's Belle Isle, along the Canal Walk, across the 14th Street Bridge to Mayo Island, along the Flood Wall, and back across the river on the 9th Street Bridge.

The whole thing is incredibly scenic. Siri and I opted to reverse the route this time, starting out by crossing the 9th Street Bridge. This, it turns out, was not such a good idea. More on that later.

Things started off wonderfully. I had been a litle bit nervous about getting lost, but my worries were unfounded. With our combined brain power, Siri and I were able to recreate the route easily. She filled in my blanks and I filled in hers. We stopped along the way for me to take some pretty gorgeous photos of the Richmond skyline from the flood wall on the southside of the James River.

This one is my new banner

Along the canal walk, there is a fabulous mural of some graffiti art, which I believe was sponsored by a great local arts organization called Art 180.

This one made me laugh out loud. I'm sure it IS the James that we smell in Richmond.

The toughest part of the run turned out to be running back up 5th Street. The hill was absolutely killer and completely wiped me of any delusions of turning this loop into a 6 miler by added an out-and-back down Monument Avenue. Siri and I both agreed that the original route had worked out better... 9th Street is also a hill but it is not anywhere near as steep as 5th Street.

See that lovely elevation gain during mile 4? Yeah. It kicked my butt.

There were no protests from my ankle tonight, but strangely enough the inside of my right knee is hurting in a really strange way. It's not like any other pain that I've ever had, so it is making me nervous. I didn't wrench the knee, land wrong, or do anything else different that would've caused a sudden injury so I don't know what's going on. I probably ok, I admit I didn't stretch enough beforehand, but I'm not always the most commited pre-run stretcher anyway.

When I got home I iced it for about an hour... hopefully it was just some weird incident and the pain doesn't persist. I just managed to escape BFF Steve... I don't want to go back!

But I definitely do want to run this route again. It's not looking good for this week - the forecast is calling for 100 degrees on Thursday and 102 on Friday!

Summer. Blah.

What Happened?

Things had been humming along quite nicely here at Run Eat Play RVA and then I dropped off the face of the planet.

So what's the deal?

The weekend after we got back from Boston, BFF and her husband came to stay with us for a visit. We explored nearby Berkeley Plantation (Fun facts include: site of the first Thanksgiving and taps was composed there during the Civil War), ate copious amounts of Key Lime Cake in honor of BFF's birthday, and had an amazing brunch at Can Can Brasserie, which I had every intention of writing a Richmond Rave about.

BFF, unamused by the number of candles on her cake.

Then life happened. That Sunday morning before we headed to brunch, I got a call from my Mom - one of those  kind of calls. My grandfather had died early that morning. The next few days were spent in Hagerstown helping my Mom deal with all that... and not running or doing anything else noteworthy other than stuffing my face with Krumpe's donuts and chicken salad sandwiches.

Krumpe's Donuts - a Hagestown tradition and quite possibly the best donuts on Earth.

This brings us to the weekend of the 16th and 17th... another weekend full of activities. Husband and I traveled to Virginia Beach for my 11th Dave Matthews Band concert (his 4th). Again... very little running going on but lots of interesting people watching.

Otherwise, I've been extremely busy with my work, which means I've been writing a lot of intense stuff, which saps my blogging powers. I've also been going to physical therapy in the mornings, which requires me to wake up at 5:30 am. By the time I get home in the evening after a run, all I want to do is eat dinner and go to bed... and that's pretty much what I have been doing.

Now it's June 22nd. How did that happen, anyway?

More importantly, it's June 22nd and SUMMER has happened. Big time. All of my fellow east coasters have been experiencing this lovely heat wave with me. The past 3 days have seen temps above 100* when humidity is factored in. As a result, I've been pretty much banished to the treadmill, which doesn't make for interesting writing. It also means I'm in a pretty foul mood because I hate summer and the heat and humidity that comes along with it.

Despite all of the craziness going on in June, I have managed to keep plugging away at the run but not getting nearly as many miles as I had hoped. It's looking like I'll be lucky to hit 70 miles for the month, which just feels pathetic to me. But I have to remind myself that my monthly goal last year at this time was 30 miles.

Yesterday at my Physical Therapy appointment, my new BFF Steven deemed me fixed, canceled the appointment I was supposed to have this morning, said to take next week off, and scheduled a follow up for July 3rd. That's right friends - I'm no longer defunct! I have a whole laundry list of exercises to continue to do, including some core strengtheners that are a real b*tch, but Steve thinks I'm ready to start my marathon training without a problem.

Mainly I'm just thrilled that I won't have to wake up at 5:30 am anymore. Though with the heat we're experiencing, I just might have to bite the bullet and start to run in the mornings. But for now, I continue to resist. I'm pretty stubborn (and inherently lazy) so I don't see this changing any time soon unless something drastic happens.

So that's what happened. I hope to get back into the swing of things next week, although I am still in a pretty intensive period of writing through July 5th. After that, marathon training starts (!!!!), at which point I'm going to try to begin a weekly marathon training update. A good intention, but only time will tell if it happens.

Meanwhile, everybody stay safe in this heat!