The Tiny Terror

Happy Monday everyone! June is here, so hello heat and humidity! It’s the reality of living in the South, just like other areas have to deal with cold weather or snow. Plus, running in the humidity always makes my lungs stronger for Fall races and strengthens my mental game as well.

No matter what the weather reports or my Garmin say, I can’t complain about running right now. May was my highest mileage month since October.

Thankfully the weather wasn’t too crazy this week, and life wasn’t too crazy either. I did two workouts, got a sports massage, and volunteered at Race the Landing. I also had a productive work and real life week.

I was off work on Monday for Memorial Day, so I did a 30 minute tempo run at Planet Fitness on the treadmill while watching The Price is Right. I need a running game for treadmilling during the Price is Right. Maybe increase the incline by 1% every time a contestant outbids another by $1 and see just how steep the run is by the end of the show.

Lowe’s had a fun sale on grills for the holiday so we bought a new one. So far this week, Clay grilled kabob vegetables, sea scallops, and chicken. My husband loves his grill.

On Tuesday, I had to squeeze my run in early because I scheduled a house cleaning and we were the first home on the lady’s list. I ran so early that I even beat the trash trucks and school buses.

I ran on a bike path near my house, and there’s a fallen tree on the path. The tree’s about the color and size of a gator. It’s been on the ground since the winter, and I’ve run by it probably 20 times, but when I approach that tree, I always think it’s a gator- especially early in the mornings.

I wish some good Samaritan would move the tree- shouldn’t the city have a number to call for that?

^^That is a meme. Those are real gators and that is a photoshopped sign. That is NOT my actual bike path.^^

Aside from the psuedo gator, Tuesday’s run was boring. I was hungry and tired, and my pace reflected that. Sometimes you have to schedule the miles whenever you can. I’m not usually a weekday morning runner, but I was far more productive for the rest of the day, and perhaps my run contributed to that. Even if it wasn’t the best run, it made my day a little better- and that’s what counts.

On Wednesday, I did a track workout with the crew. We had a good crowd, but we had to dodge high school aged sprinters who basically hogged the track. Their coach said we could run in lanes 8-9, which isn’t ideal but most of us program our workouts into our watches so the lane we run in doesn’t matter. I’m just grateful we can run there because other schools here lock tracks, and we’ve been using this track for over two years now.

Anyway, this coach and his athletes left their spikes, blocks, and a chair out in lanes 8-9. Kids were walking in front of us or just standing there. One kid ran a lap really hard and basically collapsed in Lane 9 and stayed there with me lapping him during my 1200. The other kids who run in this area are great and the coaches are understanding and supportive.

Despite dodging obstacles and kids, I ran 4 x 1200m repeats, and it was probably my best workout since February.

I took a rest day on Thursday to get a sports massage and volunteer at Race the Landing. I unpacked 200 medals, opened at least that many water bottles, and took a ton of pictures. I learned that I need to take a day off running on days I volunteer because it takes a lot out of you physically and mentally. I was exhausted when I got home.

Every runner should volunteer sometimes. Whether you volunteer because you’re sidelined or by choices (and I’ve done both), you leave with a different appreciation and view of the sport. That’s a whole different blog post, though.

On Saturday I ran the bridge. I watched the Lowcountry Splash swimmers swim underneath the bridge while I was running it, which was neat. Over an 11 mile run, I didn’t see any runners I knew on the bridge, which is really rare. Almost everyone I know was running a local 5K or doing the Splash Swim.

I ran with the OnShore/Hampton Park group on Sunday for 8 miles. It wasn’t quite 100% humidity so I had a small dry spot on my shirt when I finished (Saturday was so humid, I looked like I did Lowcountry Splash). Afterwards Emily and I went to Harris Teeter to buy groceries since it was Super Double Coupon weekend and then went to yoga.

Now, it’s Sunday evening. Clay grilled again! I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

I’m linking up with Holly at Hohoruns and Tricia at MississippiPiddlin‘ for their weekly wrap link and with Courtney of Eat, Pray, Run, DC.