Hello, hello friends! I hope you’re enjoying the weekend. I arrived home from Florida on Monday evening and jumped right into a busy workweek…and now I have a houseguest! My mom arrived Friday and will be here for a week. We are heading up to Durham for a day of appointments with the kidney team at Duke. Prayers are always appreciated.

It was the best ever to be reunited with my little guy after six days apart. Finn’s enjoying having my mom in town and we’ve kept her busy with evening walks, a trip to the farmers market and ice cream outings. The salted Oreo from Golden Cow is life.

MARATHON TRAINING BEGINS TOMORROW! 

In other news, MARATHON TRAINING STARTS TOMORROW!!! I honestly cannot believe it but I’m also really, really excited. I’m embarking on an 18-week training cycle that will end with the Every Woman’s Marathon in Savannah on November 16! They just announced this week that the marathon is SOLD OUT so it should be a really fun time and lots of great energy.

I’ve been running really consistently with a fair number of longer runs (and a half marathon!) over the last few months so I feel good about the base that I’m starting training from. My biggest concern is how I’m going to make it through the summer heat for the first couple months of training, especially on long run days. There’s literally no good time of day to run. If you go out early the temps are lower but it’s insanely humid (like 80-100%) and if you go later the humidity is lower but the temps are over 90. All that said, I’ve been running in Georgia/South Carolina/Alabama/North Carolina for over 20 years so I’m sure I’ll figure it out. 😉

My second challenge is how I’m going to do my long runs on weekends that I have Finn. I definitely can’t get up early and get on the road because I won’t have another adult here to watch him, and it’s too early to get a babysitter. Moving my long run to another day on those weeks is a little challenging due to my work schedule but once it’s not so hot it will be more doable.

I really want to adhere to my training schedule as closely as possible so that I can run a race that I feel prepared for. I’m not trying to hit any time goals or anything but I do want to feel good and have a positive race experience.

The plan I created has three days of running (with an optional low-mileage fourth day) and two strength training days. It also leaves time for rest, yoga, etc. In my years of running and racing I have learned that I thrive when running about three days a week and not running consecutive days. It’s important for me to keep lifting heavy to head off injuries, as well as make time for at least one yoga practice a week. (Long gone are my days of doing asana practice daily but that’s a post for another time!)

If you want to check out my 18-week marathon training schedule, you can find it in my app! It includes three day of running (most weeks are an easy run, a speed/tempo run and a long run) as well as two full-body strength training days. The strength workouts are loaded into the plan and are easy to follow with video demonstrations!

Reminder, I offer a one-week free trial of my app!

RUN TO WHOLE FOODS! 

I leave you with an important PSA: get yourself to Whole Foods by July 16 for their annual ice cream sale. All ice cream and frozen treats are 44% off regular prices and 50% off for Prime members. I made one trip last week and will pop by there again tomorrow to grab a few more pints to stock the freezer. I have been on such an ice cream kick this summer so I can’t pass up pints of Jeni’s for $4! That’s the steal of the summer!

QUESTIONS

Are you training for any fall races? 

Best strategies for long runs in the summer heat?