Hot Hot Hot

Because it's been a hot week for running for a lot of us. Embrace the heat but be careful out there. Hydrate and then hydrate some more.

Week in Review, 7/11-7/17

Sorry for being MIA.  Work was very busy last week and that took priority.

Here's the summary of how the week went:

Monday:  Travel day for work and rest day.
Tuesday:  Got out close to midnight for a run under the nearly full moon around the golf resort we were staying at (Boyne Highlands).  Had to dodge the sprinklers.  Got about 3.4 miles in.
Wednesday:  Got out again under the full moon around the resort.  The golf courses are strangely silent.  No crickets, no frogs, nothing.  No night sounds at all.  Just the sound of sprinklers.  Got about 5 miles in.
Thursday:  Rest day and traveled Thursday night.
Friday:  Got about 6.2 miles in back on my home route.  Felt good to be back.
Saturday:  Got up early to beat the heat.  Got 10 miles in.  Later, went and picked cherries with the family.  Cherries fresh from the tree taste nothing like what comes from the grocery store.
Sunday:  HOT!  I slept in.  Too hot to run until evening.  I waited until the sun went down and got 5 miles in.  It was still 81 degrees at 9:30 p.m. and very humid.

This week I am celebrating my one year runnerversiary.  Woot!  I am planning to celebrate by...running!  LOL.  I am starting to see a fitness improvement on my 10 mile runs, so I'm thinking one more week of the current mileage and then I will bump my long, slow distance run up to two hours and fifteen minutes for approximately 11.5 miles.

Weekly food notes:  This past week we had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings a couple of times.  I discovered the mango lemonade.  Yum!  It rocks!  It pairs with the mild sauce just perfect.  Watching the MLB All Star game on a tv screen that was about 15 feet across was cool too.  Saturday we had dinner at Thatsa Pizza in Traverse City, MI after picking cherries.  I loved it.  The crust was light and the toppings were substantial.  Just the way I like it.  We'll be going back there again.

Cucumbers are coming on in our garden hot and heavy now.  Very tasty.  I'm been eating them as fast as I can, but they grow faster.  Our peas are almost done.  The kids ate most of them, but I did get a few.  Peas from the garden are a special summer treat.  Too bad it can't last all year.  The tomatoes should start soon.  Probably by the end of this week we'll be able to start picking tomatoes.

What's your favorite summer produce?  Mine has to be tomatoes.  Garden tomatoes are packed with flavor.

Week in Review

This week I went 29.9 miles, did my third 10 miler ever and 2nd one in two weeks.  Had I known where I was at week to date mileage-wise, I would have added .1 miles to my run this evening.  Oh well.  Stuff happens, eh?  The good thing is that other than sweating a lot and working on hydration issues, the mid-summer heat isn't bothering me that much.  I just keep thinking about how cold those January and February runs were.

This coming week the plan will be the same as this past week.  I'm thinking two more weeks of a 10 mile long run and 30 miles for the week.  Then I'm either going to bump the miles or add more hill work.  I'm leaning towards the hill work as I will need to be strong on the hills for my trail half marathon.

We're in the time of year when pizza and buffets just don't sound as good as fresh fruits and veggies.  Still, my wife had me try a chicken bacon ranch pizza this week.  Yum!  I liked it.  Even though it wasn't traditional, I still enjoyed it a ton.  Thank you honey for the suggestion and for broadening my world!

What are your training plans for the week?  Stepping up the miles?  Adding speed or hills?  Cutback week?