What a crazy-ass journey!

Oh my gosh, today sucks.

Boston Athletic Association finally announced the 2019 Boston Marathon cut-off time for entry into the race.

4:52

You had to run 4:52 under your standard in order to gain acceptance into the race. Absolutely nuts!

Greg was 4:43 under his qualifying time. So he got the denial email. The disappointment we feel is hard to put into words.

Nine freaking seconds.

If you've followed my BQ journey, then you know that my husband was not a marathoner before I qualified. He enjoyed running, had raced shorter distances, and was quite talented, but wasn't planning on running a marathon any time soon.

When I qualified, he decided he wanted to run Boston with me. So he signed up for a race. I've blogged about it a few times:

My husband the marathoner

Go Time

Boston Bound times two

There was always the chance that the cutoff would be something massive this year, but we never fathomed it would be more than his cushion.

When I saw the Facebook post from the B.A.A. today, I was instantly devastated. He worked so hard and sacrificed so much to work towards this goal and he nailed it. He ran such an incredible race, fought for every single second, and earned that BQ. To have it not be quite good enough for entry is a really tough pill to swallow.

I am incredibly proud of him. He did this for me, to be able to experience a bucket list item with me, and wanted so badly to be there with me at the starting line and the finish line and every single step of the 26.2 miles in between. I can't even put into adequate words how I feel about him and what he did for me. He will always be a Boston Qualified marathoner!

I feel like I'm the luckiest wife in the world to be married to someone like him. And I am so heartbroken for both of us. I am still incredibly excited to run the Boston Marathon next year but I can't help but think that I will feel like something is missing.

I barely made it in, with only 15 seconds to spare over the cut-off. If I hadn't been able to speed up during mile 26 at my qualifying marathon (it was 17 seconds faster than mile 25), I would've been less than 4:52 under and out of luck.

I also can't help but thinking that the debacle of a short course in Mississippi in December is a true blessing in disguise. I blogged about that race here:

Disappointment and Learning to move on

Success

I would not have run a fast enough time in Mississippi if the course hadn't been short and disqualified. The best I could've done was a 3:50:45, only 4:15 under my standard. I summed it up in the January 17 post:

It's interesting to me to look back on the past 38 days and everything that's happened. I BQ'd on December 10, only to see that the course was short. My time would've been just under 3:51 had the course been accurate. I had to recover fast and smart and try not to lose too much fitness over the next five weeks so I could do it again. I BQ'd again, this time by more than the 4:00 minute buffer I would've had in Mississippi. I think that's a really big positive to take out of this. I had a better finish time in Louisiana, so I have to see that as a silver lining to the stress from the last five weeks. Had my BQ counted in Mississippi, I doubt I would've raced as hard in Louisiana, and quite possibly would've only run the half marathon. 

I probably wouldn't have run a 3:49 in Louisiana and would not be running the 2019 Boston Marathon. 

The short course in Mississippi was a GOOD thing for me....who would've thought that at the time?

But in the meantime, the Hahn house is a sad and disappointed house. We are not angry. There's absolutely nothing that could have been done or anything that we could've controlled to have a different outcome. My husband raced as hard as he could and left everything on the course. There just happened to be a massive interest in the Boston Marathon and an impressive number of fast Boston Qualifiers out there this year. They only took 220 applicants out of more than 7600 who applied with less than a 5 minute cushion. 2.8% is all they could take! They had a record number of applicants, at over 30,000.

I would still love to run a marathon with my husband. He has no desire to try to qualify again. With the new standards, he needs to be even faster and I can totally understand not wanting to put himself through that. There are other races out there and perhaps we will find one that is meaningful for both of us.

Damn, I love that man.

The Process

I began this blog post last week and then decided to not post it until after I gained acceptance into the Boston Marathon. Well....

I AM IN!!

I got my confirmation of acceptance today and of course, immediately burst into tears. In the lead up to this morning, the Boston Athletic Association was making it really clear that it would be tougher than ever to get into the race.

Here's my post from last week:

*****

It's finally here...registration week!

I have lots of family and friends who are not runners, and I know the Boston Marathon process can seem pretty darn confusing. When I first started running, I had no idea you had to qualify to run it. And then I had no idea they had a charity program. And then they changed up all the rules a few years ago, and it got more confusing.

Qualifying doesn't necessarily get you into the race. You can check "Qualified for Boston" off your bucket list, but to secure a spot at the starting line, it can be tougher than that.

Back in 2012, Boston changed up the rules because the race was selling out so fast and some of the fastest runners out there weren't getting into the race. The qualifying standards got tougher, and they instituted a rolling registration schedule.

Currently the qualifying standards are as follows. They are based on gender and age group, and your qualifying time needed is based on your age on Boston Marathon race day.

MEN

18-34: 3:05
35-39: 3:10
40-44: 3:15
45-49: 3:25
50-54: 3:30
55-59: 3:40
60-64: 3:55
65-69: 4:10
70-74: 4:25
75-79: 4:40
80+: 4:55

WOMEN

18-34: 3:35
35-39: 3:40
40-44: 3:45
45-49: 3:55 <----that's me!
50-54: 4:00
55-59: 4:10
60-64: 4:25
65-69: 4:40
70-74: 4:55
75-59: 5:10
80+: 5:25

The qualifying window is typically 7-19 months prior to race day, mid-September to mid-September. Registration is in the September in the year prior to the race. The qualification window for the race will close when registration closes, so you can qualify right up until the last minute.

The registration process goes on for about 2.5 weeks. It is a rolling admission schedule, starting with the fastest qualifiers in his or her age group.

The first day of registration, in this case September 10, is for those who met their standard by 20 minutes or more. On the third day, September 12, it is opened up for those who met their standard by 10 minutes or more. On the fifth day, September 14, it is opened up for those who met their standard by 5 minutes or more. Each new group gets a chance to register provided the field size has not been met.

The second week of registration, starting on September 17, includes all qualifiers provided they reopen it. They will announce the evening of September 15 if they are reopening registration for all qualifiers. Then registration is typically open for a couple more days, and then they will announce if the field size has now been met and if they will be able to accept all qualifiers up to this point. With the exception of 2013, there have been too many applicants for the available spots and this is where it kind of sucks.

Because there are too many applicants, they have to determine where a cut-off needs to be. It's not first-come, first-serve, but rather based on how far under your qualifying time you were able to run. Last year was the strictest cut off since they began this new process, at 3 minutes, 23 seconds under your respective qualifying standard. So if you ran a 3:31:37 and you needed a 3:35 to qualify, you got in. But if you ran a 3:31:38, you did not. Pretty brutal!

It takes them over a week to determine what this cut off is going to be since it's based on how many register and who registers. I would imagine it's a nerve-wracking wait to find out if you are really getting in or if you'll have to try again next year.

I have a cushion of 5 minutes, 7 seconds, so I get to register on September 14. I will be on pins and needles waiting for the announcement on September 15 on if they will be reopening registrations for all qualifiers. If they do, then I know my cushion was big enough.

Greg has a cushion of 4 minutes, 43 seconds. So he has to wait until September 17 and will be one of those who is on pins and needles. However, I would imagine if they reopen, then that kind of cushion should be enough. You never know for sure until the announcement, but I think he'd be pretty safe.

I had an interesting road to my qualification. My first shot at it, at Mississippi Gulf Coast, ended in disappointment not because I didn't run fast enough, but because the course was mismarked and came up short. I calculated that had it been accurate I probably would've qualified with about a 4:10 cushion, not fast enough to avoid the dreaded wait. But because Boston is not accepting any times for that race, I had to run another qualifying time. I did that in Baton Rouge a few weeks later, and ended up with a bigger cushion that what I would've had in Mississippi. While at the time, the shock of a messed up course was agonizing after all that hard work and a great race, it could end up being a blessing in disguise. I honestly don't think I would've pushed as hard at the Louisiana Marathon knowing I had already qualified with over 4 minutes to spare. Or maybe I would've wanted that 5 minutes. I just don't know for certain. Instead, I HAD TO qualify to actually get the opportunity to apply to run Boston. Wouldn't it be crazy if the cut off is 4:15 or something like that? I'm not sure I would've been fast enough in Mississippi! That truly would've sucked.

So there you have it. The crazy Boston Marathon registration process.

They will also be indicating if there will be any changes to the qualification standards for future races. Will they toughen the standards again? Should they? I'm in the camp that thinks they should toughen the standards starting in 2021, particularly if it's a very large cut off again this year. But maybe it'll be smaller and they won't feel the need to tighten things. It certainly would give me a kick in the pants to push myself even harder in the coming years if I want to continue to qualify.

*****

And now....here we are on Monday, September 17, and they did reopen registration for all qualifiers, but they very clearly stated that they would only take a "small percentage" of Week 2 submissions. The cut off is going to be massive. Greg is sitting on a 4:43 under and he registered this morning. He will need to wait about 9 days to find out if it's enough. I think he'll be just fine and we will REALLY celebrate when he gets that email!

Training Update

For crap's sake, I'm ready for the cold temperatures of fall and winter.

This summer has SUCKED!! I don't remember the last time I ran in weather that was under 75 degrees. I had a taste of a sub-70 dew point last week and it was glorious, but once in dozens of training runs is definitely not enough!

Give me frozen boogers and numb fingers, please.

Of course, when that actually happens, I'll be wishing for tank top running weather. Isn't that how it always is?

I am in Week 9 of California International Marathon training and it's going well. Not spectacular because, like I said, the weather sucks and I'm pretty much totally sick of "80 degrees at 5:30am" training runs. But I am not injured, my endurance is really good, and I'm enjoying training nonetheless.

I just wish I could see my speed and know where I really truly stand with my marathon goals. Pretty hard to do that when it's so oppressive and it takes major discipline to keep my heart rate in control during 18 mile training runs, discipline that means I'm running pretty slow so I don't burn out and overdo it and end up injured.

Let's talk some positives now....

My heart rate data is better than last year, and yet the weather is worse. I'm consistently keeping a lower average heart rate during easy, recovery, and long runs. This morning I ran 8 miles and tried to keep a faster cadence and push a bit more than a very easy run, but never looked at my watch data. At the end of the run my average heart rate was 129, solidly Zone 1 and 2. But I was quicker than usual (not fast, definitely not fast!). For it being 100% humidity out and a pretty long run for mid week, I'd say that was great!

My interval times are faster. It might not seem like much to see a half mile interval split faster than this time last year when you compare that to racing 26.2 miles, but it's still a positive data point.

I'm putting in higher volume earlier in training and I'm not dying (yet) from it.

It's so easy for a marathoner to get burned out trying to train in the summer, and it's hard to see fitness improvements when you know you're running way slower than ability because of the weather constraints. I like to keep a few things in mind while I train through this and wait for cooler temps. First, it's okay to be slow right now. It's okay for the intervals to be a bit shorter right now. It's okay to ease into goal pace work during long runs. My main concern is building my endurance and watching my effort level, to becoming comfortable with faster paces during intervals, to watching my heart rate trends and seeing them move in a positive direction week over week, and to take my recovery very, very seriously.

When the temps start trending down this upcoming week, I am hoping to see my training improve with regards to pace vs effort level. I think I saw a glimpse of that this morning. Plus, if last Friday's run in better weather is any indication, this improvement should be pretty noticeable. I have a long run planned this weekend with four goal marathon pace miles. I'm actually looking forward to this because it should give me a lot of good feedback to use in my future training weeks. The temps will hopefully be a few degrees cooler than they have been but even if they aren't, it's *only* four race pace miles. I can do four!

I'm pushing myself into 45+ mile weeks now, and a 200 mile month for September. Next month I have two races planned to gauge my fitness. On October 7 is a 10 mile race and on October 28 is a half marathon. I have never raced a 10 miler before, but I have an idea of how I want to approach it. What I'm really curious about is how fast I can run a half marathon. My PR is old as dirt and I haven't broken 1:50 yet and I haven't ever attempted it. I really REALLY want to obliterate 1:50. So Houston, could you pretty please give me good racing conditions on October 28? K thanks.

Things for me to keep in mind as these weeks get tougher leading up to my December 2 marathon:

1. Consistency. Show up and do work everyday, whether it's a hard effort or a recovery run. Every run has importance and I need to take them all seriously. My friends will just have to understand why I can't stay late at that party on Saturday night.

2. Self care. More sleep, better eating habits, consistent hydration, stretching and rolling. Keep the damn cookies away from me. I ain't eating them!

3. Recovery. Why do people have such a hard time with this concept? If you ran hard every single time you laced up your shoes, you would never improve! Recovery effort is Zone 1! If that means you run 11:00 pace when your marathon pace is 8:45, then that's what you run. Truthfully in the summer I find it pretty hard to stay completely in Zone 1, but trust me when I say I am crawling and I'm not even breathing heavy in very low Zone 2 so I cut myself some slack here. I am totally in love with runs like this.

4. Warm up. That first mile is a really easy one, for every single run. When I take that seriously, the rest of my run goes so much better. I'm almost 45 years old. I need to warm up, dammit. On Tuesdays when we do our intervals and tempo runs, our first mile is often well over 11:00 pace. We take it very easy and incorporate drills a few minutes in. When we start our first speed interval, our bodies are ready for it. This will be especially important to do prior to any race start.

5. Believing in myself. It might seem crazy to consider approaching 8:30 pace for a marathon, but at one point I thought under 8:50 pace was insane, and I did it twice in five weeks. I'm in better shape now and I have to believe I'm capable of improvement.

6. Celebrating the small victories. Was my pace 10 sec/mile faster at the same effort compared to my run two weeks ago? That's a victory! Did I maintain Zone 2 over three hours into my long run? Victory! Did 7:30 pace during my interval feel almost easy compared to last week? Another victory! Every little improvement gives me more confidence to take into the next run.

I have 88 more days until California International Marathon. 12 weeks, 4 days. Lots of time to train, to get stronger, to get more confident.

Boston Bound times two

 "Marathons are stupid. I repeat, MARATHONS ARE STUPID. Now that I've got my first marathon under my belt, I can certifiably confirm that they are stupid." - Greg Hahn

My husband ran his first marathon, and I think he's now wishing it was also his last. But since he qualified for Boston with a pretty significant cushion, he's now going to tackle that course with me.

This whole idea of his began when I finished Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon in December. He decided he wanted to run Boston with me, and that meant he needed to qualify as well. He had very little long distance racing experience, and no marathons, but he's really fast. It was going to be a crazy journey, that's for sure!

I wrote him a plan and it wasn't easy at all. I didn't approach it like I would a first time marathoner. I approached it like it was for someone with one shot to make it to Boston. He wanted it that way, so that's how we did it. Six months with gradual base building, speed and endurance building, and a few shorter races to gauge fitness. 900 miles later, he made it to the start line on July 29 in Snoqualmie Pass, Washington.

Preparing properly a few days prior at Edna Valley Vineyards, with a chicken friend

Drove up the Pacific Coast Highway en route to San Jose to then fly to Seattle

Packet Pickup!

Race Start

Checking out the finish line

He didn't have as many nerves before race day as I would've expected. He was definitely eager to get it done. As we drove the 40 miles to the race start that morning, he grew more anxious. He explained his mentality like this:

Mentality of actual race day is just like any other competitive sport. It's game time. Go out and do what you trained to do. That's what you put in all the work for.

This attitude definitely helped him control the anxiety.

Ready as he'll ever be!

He chose a race along the Iron Horse and Snoqualmie trails, so unfortunately because of the difficulty in accessing the course, I wouldn't be able to see him many times during the race. We scouted out the route the day before to be sure I knew where I was going and it was planned for me to see him at the halfway point and around 21 miles and then hightail it to the finish line.

The race start. I didn't capture Greg, but I did get a pic of my friend Bill (in yellow)

He felt great for most of the race. I was worried the heat and humidity would deplete him sooner than expected. Temps at the start were a muggy 65 degrees and would climb to well over 70 before he was done. He kept focusing on the fact that it was still 15 degrees cooler than all his training runs. Sure enough, he was fine with the weather and shot through 13.1 in just under 1:38, a 5 minute PR at that distance. His BQ time is 3:25, and his goal was 3:20, so he was doing great. Needing a 1:42-1:47 in the second half was really awesome.

In order to get to the next checkpoint at 21 miles, I first needed to run down a 1.2 mile steep dirt road. Luckily when I arrived at the road to head up to the trail, I got to hitch a ride with a volunteer firefighter so I didn't have to climb up the road too much. Not so lucky on the way down, but I made it to the next point with plenty of time to spare. I was definitely noticing how hot it was getting outside and was genuinely worried for Greg.

The road leading to 13.1 mile checkpoint

My cool ride up the hill

Coming into the 13.1 aid station

I tracked him via his phone location and knew he was still right on pace and sure enough, at 2:40 into the race, I saw him. I was positioned on the trail at about 21.3 miles. He looked so strong still and I screamed my head off, jumped up and down like a lunatic, told him I loved him and to not slow down and got it all on video.

Moving so fast, he's blurry

Less than five more miles!!

At this point, I was an absolute nervous wreck. I know how marathons feel and the next half hour for him was going to be excruciating. He had time in the bank (he was definitely running balls-to-the-wall) and could slow down and still run a 3:20 but I was still stressed out for him. This whole marathon sherpa thing is a lot harder than you'd think! Especially on unfamiliar roads and dirt trails.

I made it to the finish line with 20 minutes to spare. I religiously checked his location and it showed me he was still doing just fine. He probably wanted to die but he still appeared to be running a good enough pace. Waiting those last 20 minutes at the line and hearing the announcer cheer for all the finishers hitting BQs was only serving to make my heart rate go up higher. At this point I knew Greg was going to do it. It just remained to be seen just how big of a qualifying time cushion he could get.

Waiting at the finish

Seeing him coming through to the finish was probably one of the best moments ever, despite the fact that I could definitely tell at that point that he wanted to die. There's no sugar coating it - he looked pretty depleted!

He finished in 3:20:17, which is 4:43 under his qualifying time. SO close to that 5 minutes that he needed to register at the same time as me, but still a really comfortable cushion.

My husband was a Boston Qualified Marathon Finisher!

Thank God that was over.

But now I genuinely was worried about him. He was feeling awful and he looked even worse (sorry, honey). He found a lounger to rest on at the medical tent and was pretty much not functional for several minutes. A crapload of water, Gatorade, and Muscle Milk helped. A paramedic came over and was concerned and wanted to be sure he was ok.

That conversation went something like this:

Greg: Can I have an IV?

Paramedic:  We'd have to take you to the hospital

Greg: I'm good. I don't need an IV.

That's the paramedic in the background

He made his ankle bloody

He was so glad it was over. He also told me over and over that marathons were stupid and maybe he wouldn't actually register for Boston after all because that would mean running another marathon and marathons are stupid. He has since come to terms with running one more, but for awhile there I really thought he'd forgo actually running Boston! The fact that he'd be running much slower with me helped him come to his senses.

We've spent so much time talking about how he executed the race and I seriously could not be prouder of him. Before the race, I coached him on the mental side of the last 10K, and those lessons coupled with his past athletic pursuits got him through the worst part of the race.

He started feeling the fatigue at 20 miles and his pace slowed slightly but he was ahead of pace so he allowed his body the break. It got really difficult at 24 miles and the final part of the race was excruciating for him. I asked him how he got through it.

He focused on what he had left and not what he had already done. "Anyone can run 6...5...4...3 miles" is what he told himself.

The slowdown in the final few miles didn't worry him because he was ahead of pace. He kept calculating that he only needed 9 minute miles toward the end and he would still qualify. This made it less daunting.

People were dropping like flies, but rather than let that mess with his head, it gave him greater resolve to keep pushing and not walk.

He kept reminding himself that he didn't push this hard, train that long, and endure that much pain in the race to just give up at that point.

He might as well be destroyed and hit his goal and feel the accomplishment rather than the letdown. 

He didn't want to disappoint me. (I assured him that he could never disappoint me no matter what the clock said in the end.) 

It's not often that one qualifies for Boston on their first marathon finish, and I'm so glad my husband was a big enough badass to do just that. He did it so he could run a prestigious marathon with me and I think that is just about the sweetest thing ever.

I'll keep him.

Post race recovery

Touring Seattle the day after

Got to see my niece!

Nine years

Nine years ago today, I hugged my sister for the very last time. I had no idea that would be it. She died two weeks later.

Nearly every year, I write a blog post about my sister around this time of year. It helps me to get through the milestone dates and to keep her memory alive. It helps me come to terms with my grief, which ebbs and flows through the years but never disappears. It never will. The loss is too great.

From 2017: 8 years later

From 2016: If I could call you

From 2015: When something is missing

From 2012: Reflections


When I saw her the last time, I hadn't seen her in four years. FOUR YEARS. Looking back on that, I'm so upset with myself by not making it a bigger priority to see her. We lived in two different parts of the country, had young families, and traveling was difficult. We happened to both be traveling to California in July 2009 and got to spend a couple days together. That was all....only two days in four years. Not nearly enough, but I'm so grateful for those two days. Knowing that I had just seen her has helped me tremendously over the years in getting through my grief.

It doesn't matter how many years have passed...I still wish with all my being that I could pick up the phone and call her. She was my only sister. I could use a sister right now. As I'm entering the last years of raising my kids and am in the throes of teenagerhood, it would be so nice to commiserate with her and get her advice. Sure, I've got so many friends dealing with similar issues, but family is a whole different thing. There is nothing like family. They are irreplaceable.

I want to always be thankful for the people that are in my life, especially our parents. I am beyond excited to see them next week when we travel to California. I wish we had more time there, but it's a crazy schedule with having to fly to Washington for Greg's race as well. However, I'm going to use every minute I can to soak up the love. I never want to take them for granted. Our kids are very lucky to still have both sets of grandparents around. I never knew my paternal grandpa as he passed before I was born, and my paternal grandma died when I was 16. My maternal grandparents both passed over a decade ago. If my kids could spend every week with their grandparents, they would. I do hate sometimes that we live so far away, and I feel some guilt for willingly moving far away, but I think we do a good job of making the most of our time together.

Tell people you love them, appreciate them, and then go and make time for them, even if it's just a phone call. Show grace, find the positives, and for just a minute, think about how you would feel if it was all gone suddenly. Because it can happen.

Go Time

This blog post has two parts to it - "Go Time" as it relates to my upcoming training, and "Go Time" regarding my husband's marathon journey and the start of his taper.

My marathon training technically starts today (with a rest day! Ha!). Twenty one weeks of intense training leading up to California International Marathon on December 2. The last few months I've been trying to maintain my fitness, gauge where I'm at, and prepare for the rigors of my most ambitious training cycle yet. These last two months have been especially great for me as I've been running purely for the love of it rather than because of some obligation I feel. Since May 1, I have run 300 miles.

Most of my miles have been easy pace, trying to build my base and my aerobic capacity, with a couple of days and a few miles per week of speed thrown in there to keep it interesting. With this summer being warmer than normal, being able to run easy without guilt has been vital to keep my head in the game. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the heat and humidity and to dread each workout, but when you take the pressure of speed out of the equation and put the focus back on base building, that dread can virtually disappear. While it's certainly not as fun as running in cooler temps, I'm still finding a lot of joy in every mile that I'm out there. I honestly don't remember ever feeling this at ease during the summer months.

So what is my training going to look like? For Mississippi Gulf Coast and Louisiana last winter, I increased my volume and the percentage of easy miles run, while upping the intensity and pushing my limits during my hard effort runs. I religiously wore my heart rate monitor and tracked my improvement. I got my body into pretty darn good shape (for an almost-44 year old). The formula worked, and because I'm entering this training cycle ahead of where I was a year ago, I don't see any reason why I can't push my limits a bit more. More miles, longer tempo runs, more race pace simulation, while still taking rest and recovery very seriously and listening to my body and my head. I'm looking forward to honing in on more marathon specific training again. The last few months have been fun, but the focus will get tighter now.

But let's hear it for my husband! He just finished peak marathon training week with a 21 mile run yesterday and a 58 mile week. He's run over 270 miles since June 1! His race is on July 29 in Washington and he's as ready as he's ever going to be. He has done the work, shown me that the speed and endurance is there to meet his goal. This is his FIRST marathon, so he's entering uncharted territory on race day. I've run 14 marathons, some great ones and some truly horrendous ones so I know where his head will be on race day and throughout the marathon. I've tried to coach him to the best of my ability to not only prepare his body physically for the demands of 26.2 miles, but to prepare his head for the possibility of wanting to quit 20 miles into the race. He knows he's capable of completing the race in the time goal he's set for himself, and so hopefully with the mental training, his head won't sabotage him. The marathon can be a dirty beast sometimes, but it's not inevitable that one will hit the mental or physical wall. I have a lot of confidence my husband will become one hell of a marathoner on July 29.

I am so excited to go on this journey with him, and then to have him by my side cheering me on and supporting me as I begin my training for marathon #15.  Teamwork!!

Bring on the Heat

It's summer! This usually means misery for Central Texas runners and athletes. We don't get a break from warm and humid mornings and see pretty much nothing but 90s or 100s as the high temps day in and day out. There's really not any great time of day to exercise outdoors. This forces us to either acclimate to the heat or hate life for months and months.

Up until last year, I really despised running in the summer and refused to train for a marathon during these months. It was bad enough trying to train for January and February races since training would typically start in August when we would still have one or two months of heat. But last year I changed my attitude, changed my training, and sucked it up because I had a big goal and I didn't want anything to screw with that.

It worked! I actually had a great training cycle and the heat didn't screw with me nearly as bad as it has in previous years. I slowed it down, wore my heart rate monitor, mostly ran early in the morning before the sun would get too high in the sky, and added so much volume that my body had no choice but to get used to it.

My marathon training doesn't officially start until the middle of July, but I've been trying to maintain 4-5 days and 30 miles per week of running since May began. The temps before sunrise rarely dip below 75 and the humidity hovers over 80%. It's not exactly conducive to fast times and endurance training.

But I'm doing great! I can safely say that I haven't been horribly affected by the weather. Sure, it hurts more to hit my fast intervals and I haven't even tried to do a longer tempo run, and I slow it down during long runs, but I'm actually really enjoying running right now. Even after an hour or two out on my Sunday long runs, I'm finding myself still with energy and my breathing is totally under control. A couple weeks ago I planned to run 12 miles, but at my turnaround point I was feeling so good and was having a great run, so I decided to keep going and knocked out 14 miles instead. I'm pretty sure that's the longest June run I've ever had in my life and I finished it feeling accomplished and happy. I've also run a few 12 mile runs and am feeling great about those as well. Now, mind you, my pace is WAY over marathon pace, but I'm keeping my heart rate in the high 120s or low 130s, which is actually better than last year at this time. Solid Zone 1 and Zone 2 training, with Zone 3 typically only coming on uphill stretches. Not bad for 80 degrees and relentless sweating.

A part of me is definitely being inspired by my husband right now. He's smack in the middle of the hardest part of marathon training. It's his first marathon and he chose a July 29 race (don't worry, it's in Washington, NOT Texas!). He has two more 20+ mile training runs to complete and he's hanging in there, hitting paces on his hard effort days that I could only dream about. His strength and determination is definitely fueling my love of running and helping me to keep my volume base on a much higher summer level than normal. I'm enjoying sharing this time with him, that's for sure. I'm very thankful for this inspiration.

July 9 officially marks the start of my 21 week California International Marathon training plan. It's really not going to feel any different than how I'm running right now, at least in the first few weeks. I should be able to ease into the higher volume weeks without difficulty as long as I stay healthy. I'm on target to run 130 miles this month and I'm quite pleased with that number.

When you've found the winning formula, you've gotta stick with it!