Summer running

I hardly ever blog about running.  I usually keep all those thoughts in my head to think about over and over and over again.  I try not to bore my family and friends with too much running talk.  Trust me!  I could talk about running for a long time and not because I am an expert.  I just have lots of thoughts in my head about running. 

But, running is what I love...one of the things I love.  It is a huge part of me and they all know that!  I get energy from running.  I get clarity from running.  I feel a sense of peace when I am running even in hot and humid conditions. 

My daily routine and my family's routine are impacted by my running.  I feel like running in in the background of most of my decisions.  Do I get up early to run/exercise or do I do it at nap time?  If I eat that will I feel like crap when I run again?  When will by toe heal...I hate all this foot pain when I run!  Should I run this race?  Should I stop running because it is too hot?  Will people I am crazy for wanting to run another marathon? 

Now, that it is summer running is much harder.  It is hot and humid no matter what time of day I run. I just have to pick how hot and humid I want it to be.  Even running on my treadmill is horrible because it is on our non-air conditioned porch.  It is physically harder to run in the heat...duh!  Your body works so much harder and I have to take better care of what I give my body during recovery times.  It is a lot of work!  I am pretty sure if I did not love to run, my sneakers would be in their boxes until the fall.

But, I do love to run and I have goals for my fall and winter races.  If I don't run and work at running those goals will certainly not happen.  I feel like I have been in the same place running the same times forever.  I feel like I should be making progress and I am not.  I don't think I have reached the point where I won't get any faster.  I do think I have more to give.

I have decided that I am going to push the limits this summer.  To hit my goal marathon time I have to run my easy run around a 9:00/mile give or take 30 seconds.  I have not been running that fast on my regular daily run.  I want to feel uncomfortable for a period of time to test myself.  I know I I can push through the barriers and I feel like now is the time to do it. 

I also plan to run lots of progression runs this summer.  Progression runs are probably my favorite speed work out because they are so easy!  Despite being easy, they will help train me to run faster when I am tired.  They will help!  However, I have to really watch myself because I don't want to run too fast and wear out my body.  It is already fragile with a broken toe and fussy hip.

My only complication is this dumb broken toe.  I can only run so many miles before it is screaming at me.  If I don't run I lose all my fitness and I can't do that.  So, I am going to get really good at running 5-8 miles on a broken toe.  That will at least leave me with some mileage base when it finally heals and the real training begins at the end of the summer.

By the end of August I hope to be running faster.  I want to be running 9min/mile easy runs and tempo runs close to 8 min/mile.  I will still have to improve my times to achieve the big running goals, but I believe this is a good start.  Of course, somewhere along the way I have to learn to really push my mental limits.  Half the running battle is in my brain if not more!