Smokin' Hot

I'm smoking and it's not because I'm running fast. Not at all. I'm not puffing on the peace pipe either. Tempting as it is, it's not my thing. I'm smoking because it is so freaking hot out that I can't even walk on my deck without shoes. Running? Ugh. What a summer we are having! How in the hell (because that is where we are living now) am I supposed to train for the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon I am running in 3 weeks?

I'm smoking mad. Sort of. I guess it's more frustration than mad. I know I have no control over the weather. What I theoretically do have control over is my ability to train in these conditions. That's been a real challenge this summer. We did have a break in the heat and the rain earlier this week and I was able to get in some quality runs. I also dug deep and finally got a long run in--not outside, though.

I know it's still in me.

Praying for a cooler race day...

Running
Monday's cooler morning temperatures were a gift that I fully appreciated. I took myself out for a 6 mile run and I felt so good that I did 9:1 run/walk intervals, dropping the intervals on the first and last mile. This was the fastest run I've had in a long time. I didn't finish feeling like death, either, which was a nice change of pace. Wednesday was still cool but more humid. I was having some knee pain and stiffness, so I slowed it down again. I ended up stopping at 5, because I just didn't feel well. I'm pretty sure that my RA is trying to flare again and I wanted to play it safe. I tried to do speedwork after Thursday's CrossFit, but that was a complete bust.

Total filter fail with my hair! But you get the gist--I was happy with this run on Monday!

I woke up at 5 on Saturday to try and beat the heat and finally get a long run in. I checked my phone but with a dewpoint of 77 and a feels like 90, I turned over and went back to sleep. After a couple cups of coffee and considering my options, I decided that-GASP-the treadmill was a viable option. I had to dig deep and pulled out some old music--some dark, melancholy stuff that helped me get in my head and push me hard. But I did it and it wasn't horrible. I feel much more prepared for RnR in a couple of weeks, although I'd like to do one more long run before then. If only the weather would cooperate.

10 treadmill miles never felt so good!

Even with the success of this 10 mile indoor run, I struggled somewhat as the miles added up. I don't know exactly how fast I was running because my watch and my treadmill are both not calibrated properly. Estimating between the 2 devices, I assume I was running around 10 m/m, using 9:1 run/walk intervals. I was surprised at how hard this felt! I had the AC set at 78 and the humidity inside my house was 46%. I had a fan blowing on me, which helped a lot. My heart rate monitor told the story. At one point in the run, I was having some chest pain and I looked down at my watch to see a heart rate above 170. I took a longer recovery period after that and slowed my pace down to keep my heart rate around 160. This run brought my monthly miles to 90 for June. I can't complain about that, even though I've complained a lot about the weather!

Finally, I kicked off July with a slow 5k recovery run around my neighborhood. I passed on my local 5k/10k this year--I didn't want to push it in this heat and you know me, I can't "just run" a race. There's always next year! By the way, as a follow up to Miranda's post about all the things she finds on the run, I wanted to share my find from Sunday's run. I found this ninja star laying on the road. Glad it wasn't thrown at me! My men were fascinated with it and spent some time flinging it at the tree in our backyard, trying to get it to stick.

Ninja warrior, anyone? I googled it and it goes by the name of Shuriken.
They're illegal to carry but not to sell. Go figure.

CrossFit

Coach Sammy Jo wanted me to go for a one rep PR on my back squats. My PR is 165#. I couldn't do it. But I did squat 155# and I was good with that! Damn, that was heavy. Then we had some fun. I worked on handstands as well as some core activities. I like the core work I do there--I did plank pull-throughs with the wreck bag. That's 50#, y'all! Then I did plank pikes on the slider plates. For some reason, my shoes kept coming off the plates.

Yoga
Since I ran on Monday, I didn't do a vigorous class, instead opting for some recovery work. Five Parks Yoga has a Yoga for Runners Class, which I did for the first time ever. It was good and I recommend it.

King Dancer pose on Sunday for a little quad love

Off the Road

With the end of the month, I said goodbye to 2 of my ambassadorships. InknBurn ambassadors have a 1 year stint after which they are considered "alumni". I really enjoyed my ambassadorship with INB, although my bank account did not! I love all the funky, brightly colored pieces I've bought over the past year. Wearing INB to races has been fun--I have yet to not have someone compliment me on my gear. I loved the interactions with the other ambassadors and hope to stay in touch with them. The women who own the company are really hands-on with the ambassadors, which made for a great experience. For our farewell, they asked us to put together a collage of our favorite INB moments--I had so many that it was hard to choose, so I decided to put some of my race photos in a collage. I think you'll agree that INB sure made running fun for me this year! 

Oh, and by the way, they had one last amazing product for us. I can't spill the beans yet but I'm pretty excited about this one. Stay tuned!

The other ambassadorship that I'm ending is with Tabio socks. While I like the socks, I can't say that I loved my time with Tabio. It was a little directionless--I wanted to have a giveaway, but never could pin them down on the details. Since Tabio is new to the US, I think there's a little learning curve for them in working with bloggers. The company gave us the opportunity to end the relationship and I was ok with that. So many socks, so little time...and now I can go back to sharing my obsession with ALL THE SOCKS. I just ordered these from Zensah--low compression socks, anyone? My fallen arches can't wait to share my hometown love. Now I won't feel like I'm cheating on Tabio...

And that's a wrap! How was your week? Hot enough for you? Would you have resorted to treadmill miles to get the long run in? What kind of interesting things have you found on the run? Have you had an ambassadorship that was a great experience? A bad experience? 

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