July 2016: The Summer Series & Beyond

I don’t have any other towns for comparison, since I have called Hampton Roads “home” for nearly my entire life—but I would venture to guess that our local running community is ONE OF THE BEST out there! Sure, I bet others are pretty awesome, but there is just something so awesome about the runners in Hampton Roads.

One tradition that is pretty darn great, in my opinion, are the annual Tuesday night runs, every July, through the Botanical Gardens. Local running club Tidewater Striders is to thank for the Summer Series event! Not only is the running camaraderie great, but the weekly theme adds an element of enthusiasm to the tradition. Like in prior years, this year presented the Countdown Run, the Relay Run, & the Poker Run—all meant to be “fun” runs. The final week each year is an official 5K—named the Memorial Scholarship 5K. As the name denotes, the money raised is put toward scholarships for up & coming runner athletes. What’s better than running in the heat & humidity with your closest 200 friends, knowing it’s for a good local cause?! Not to mention, the local running store Running Etc. provides shoe brand options at each of the first 3 weeks’ runs, so that runners can experiment for a single run in a shoe they might not otherwise try. There are even raffles! Have I sold you yet?? Local runners—put this one on your calendar for next year!

I had originally hoped to attend all 4 weeks this year, but ended up skipping the 1-mile Relay Run. I guess my 2-year-streak of the same exact timed mile will have to stand for yet another year! The true story with each of these runs this year was the intense heat & humidity—VA has been having some RIDICULOUS weather these last few weeks! Ick.

First up this year was the Altra Countdown Run. The organizers of the run intend for this weeks’ distance to be 1, 2, or 4-miles. I planned my week, deciding to make this a 6-miler, with partial distance at tempo pace (2 easy, 2 tempo, 2 easy). I ended up running the first 4 miles easier than planned, chatting with my BRF (“best running friend”) Julie—slightly increasing speed towards the end; & then my final 2 miles being summertime solo tempo-ish miles. Total distance: 6 miles = 51:48 {8:38/mile}.

After skipping week #2, I returned to the Gardens on week three for the Saucony Poker Run—this time with a single stroller + 2 boys + 1 hubby in tow. As a sort of last minute decision, I pushed the single stroller for the run, with Alexander in the seat (my smaller twin, ha!). This was by far one of my favorite times during the Tuesday July run nights!! He & I chatted; then he’d run; we’d stop at the fountains next, & then by the lions; then we’d get the poker cards at each station (he picked which person to get the cards from, based on their shirt, ha!); then he’d jump back in the stroller for more relaxing with momma time. There will come a time, sadly, very soon, when I can no longer push them in the stroller. Although they are growing sooooo fast & are quite heavy (!), I am still happy to push them when I can! In the end, our poker cards were awful—none matching, but I still “won” on this night. As we approached the end, hubby & Andersen were waiting for us & cheered us on, with both boys running to the finish! Total distance: 2.28 miles = 22:50 {10:02/mile}.

The final Tuesday night in July brought the Memorial Scholarship 5K. Scott, my sweet hubby, had so much fun the week prior, that he came out again. Another family affair! Knowing my trio of boys would be watching, I wanted to run fast & make them proud—showing the little ones how much hard work can pay off! My warm-up, partially jogged with my twins, was a moment I will never forget—those are the memories that wash away all the bad ones when I am yelling & can’t see past the next hour of their stupidity! 😉 Mother nature decided to bring the hottest race conditions I have ever experienced—a dew point of 76 with real feel temp of 100+ (if I recall the numbers correctly!). So flippin’ hot. And humid. Sweat just pouring, even standing still. As luck would have it, some clouds & a breeze rolled in just prior to the race start—so despite how hot it was it really could have been much hotter IF the race started an hour earlier! Although I wanted to stop & walk a gazillion times during the race, I powered through & was rewarded with 3^rd place age group & 11^th female overall. I consider this a win for the night—simply because I didn’t stop, or die of heat exhaustion! Official time: 24:13 {7:48/mile}.

As July comes to a close, I am excited to finally enter training mode again! Despite logging miles + strength + yoga—I don’t feel like I have pushed myself much since the Shamrock ½ marathon in March. These phases are important though. The body needs to recover & be rejuvenated during non-training portions of the year. July was another maintenance month & looked like the following:

Total Distance: 125 miles

Days with Mileage Logged: 16

Combo Run + Strength Days: 6

Strength Only Days: 2

Yoga Only Days: 3

Total REST Days: 10

I am ready to put in the work & get faster (pending Mother Nature carries some of this AWFUL weather away….)!

August 1^st is the 16-week mark, in which I begin to train for my goal Fall race—the Harbor Lights ½ marathon. Following that race, I will take a short time off, before beginning marathon training for the 2017 Shamrock Marathon. These next 8 months will bring about a lot of miles, as well as “blood sweat & tears”—but it will be WORTH IT, if/when I reach that big BQ goal!! {Yes, I say IF, because I am realist & I know things don’t always go as planned—unfortunately}

Up Next for The Running Blonde: No idea! Send me your August race options! I need to find some race to keep up with my “one-race-per-month-minimum-streak”. After that though, September-December are full of shorter races to keep my racing legs under me!

Thanks for reading!