Had me a blast…Summer Running Happened so fast…

Okay, so the Grease reference was lame. Moving on.

Now that summer is in full swing I find myself race-less until Labor Day, but I am far from being able to take it easy. My summer mission is to keep on top of my running and get myself to the Marine Corps Marathon properly trainined. Anyone that was around for my first round of Marathon training can probably remember that I showed up to the start line with nothing more than 16.5 miles under my belt and that was two months before the race. I am trying to train smarter for the MCM. My only goal for the race is to beat the bridge which means sub-14 min/miles through mile 20. This is completely doable if I just stay consistent through the summer. I do have two half marathons that I am using a training runs – RnR VB and the PDR. Both fall just over a month out from Marathon day and are sandwiched into a 20-miler Big Mac – 20 miler, half, 20 miler, half, 20 miler. I did pad my training plan with an extra 20 milers because I want to be able to build some flexibility into the plan.

So what else am I doing to help myself prepare for the MCM? I have started using the Galloway program for any runs 6 miles or over. I know this will help keep me fresh through the bridge at MCM and will probably be necessary to get me to the finish lines of the Goofy. So far I have run 2 long runs and a moderate run using the Galloway training with an interval of 2:1 minutes. My legs have felt great at the end and my soreness the next day on the long runs has been minimal. I am thinking it will also help me get those long runs in as the summer weather continues to heat up.
The only other thing I believe I need for the MCM recipe is to drop a few lbs. I am carrying all of my extra weight in my stomach, butt and thighs right now, which isn’t too much fun for a runner. So I am looking to be more accountable to myself.

That is the summer plan. I will try my best to keep my blog updated at least weekly since I won’t have any race reports to post. Oh and I STILL need to get a post up for the AOR. There is just so much to write there I don’t know where to start!

The only race I have consistently completed in my 4 years of running is the 4th of July 5K in Dundalk. This is the area in which my grandfather lived and my parents grew up. I probably mentioned it before, but as a child every 4th of July we would go to Pop’s house and then walk up a few blocks to sit on the parade route where I would get a box of poppers and Mike and I would throw them at the ground while we waited for the parade to come through.

The first year I ran it was the year they had rerouted the parade and instead of being a couple blocks away it went right past my grandfather’s old doorstep. I have been asking my father to run this race with me for years. I couple years he was in FL and last year he came with me but didn’t feel ready to run. This year was the year! He finally came to the race with me.

He pulled up in front of the house about a quarter till 6 and when I got into the car we realized we were dressed alike. We both had on black bottoms (he doesn’t wear skirts, yet) and red shirts with blue and black print. Luckily we didn’t have on the exact same shirt. He had on the one from SH7 and I had on my MCM training shirt.

Without telling me my father had decided the night before the race that he wasn’t just going to run this race but he was going to run it with me. It turned out to be a really fun time. We stayed together for almost the entire race. At one point my father turns to me and said that he heard someone yell my name. I had missed it because I was “in the zone”, but it turns out it was a woman that works with my brother. That was a nice and energizing moment, but I felt bad that I didn’t hear her. I have thanked her several times since and I will do it again. Thanks Jen!

As we got near the finish I started to pick it up and Dad fell back a little bit but started to push his pace himself and started to gain on me as we finished. If you believe the race results at Charm City Run he beat me 1:36. Also seems that 12 other people crossed the finish line at the same exact time that he did, which was physically impossible with the narrow finishing shoots. I will let who actually won be our little secret since it wasn’t a race between us but instead a father and daughter enjoying a nice race together in celebration of the birth of their country and the life of my grandfather.