I had a blast in Galveston over the weekend until it came time for my long run. Having done a couple of 10-milers in previous weeks, 7 miles should have been no problem.

But it took nearly an hour to do the first 5k, I felt nauseated, and I did not think I could finish. I changed my route to swing by the hotel for a toilet break and fresh cold water, rallied my motivation, and set out again.

Overall, it took much longer than I'd have liked, but I finished those damn miles.

And the silver lining is that the 75-80% humidity back home won't feel so bad by comparison.

Marathon training means planning several “shorter” runs during the week and one long run on the weekend, which makes it REALLY hard to train on top of weekend travel and/or socializing. I’ve been pretty good at getting my weekend miles in regardless; I love running in new places, so that definitely helps when I’m out of town.

This weekend I spent Saturday in New Braunfels floating the Comal River with friends, which seems like a relaxing way to spend the day, but I was just EXHAUSTED when I woke Sunday and had to scrap my long run entirely. I knew I couldn’t run and still have the energy to safely drive home 4 hours alone.

I was actually pretty disappointed to skip the run, even though I’d been dreading the hills in San Marcos. After I packed up, I went to the trailhead near our lodging anyway to check out the Spring Lake Nature Preserve where I’d been planning to run.

It was fantastic! At first I was sad to have missed out on running such lovely, shaded dirt trails, but when two deer ran across my path, I realized that hiking it was a better choice. Running would require keeping my eyes glued to the ground to avoid tripping over rocks, but hiking gave me the chance to see so much more and take pictures. I saw birds and butterflies and wildflowers and even an ocelot!

There was no cell phone reception and no other people in the area for nearly an hour. The morning was humid and warm but not unpleasant until just before I left. As I hiked back to the trail head, I saw a deer across a clearing in the trees, and we stared at one another for several long moments.

After an awful week of news, my time spent solitary in the quiet magic of nature was deeply cathartic.

This early in training, I can always run another day.

June 18, I wasn't able to sleep, so I got up a little after 3 a.m. and headed out the door about 4 a.m. for a 10-mile training run. The silver lining of the previous week's >90% humidity was that this run's 80% didn't feel so bad by comparison.

On the June 11 run, I set out to complete 9 miles but did 8.5 and stopped at the house twice for fresh water and anti-chafing cream. A week later, I completed 10 miles non-stop and at a faster per-mile pace of just over 15 minutes!

That's not to say it was at all easy; the last 2.5 miles were brutal. I'd already been running for 2 hours already, and mentally, I was totally done. But I slogged it out, even though that meant a lot of walking breaks.

Then I rollerskated for an hour that afternoon!

Moving right along . . .

This past Saturday, June 25, I ran the Meaningful Miles 10k race, benefitting Back on My Feet. All my training runs had been either very short or finished before sunrise, so this 8 a.m. event was certainly a challenge. Though I'd tapered poorly, was still in pain from Wednesday's workout, and took an hour and 28 minutes to finish, the course was pretty, the breeze was nice, I hydrated well, I really enjoyed myself, and I felt good at the finish.

Summer training in Texas is HARD. So I'm trying not to stress over my consistently slow pace and just work on getting the miles in. I'll definitely be stronger for it, having trained in temps 40-50°F above my ideal, and the December 11 marathon is sure to be cooler than today, even if it could as easily be 80° as 40° that day.

8.5 miles. 92% humidity

#fuckyeah #runlikeagirl #getstronk #quadzilla #everydayislegday

#marathontraining #goTeam #teamintraining #DallasMarathon

#ENELL #bondiband #vibramfivefingers

The triathlon is DONE. It was a wonderful experience and a SPECTACULAR failure. Now marathon training is begun.

June 1 is Global Running Day, and I started it with an enjoyable 4.85 mile run. I need to make that distance my "short" run soon. I'm planning LOTS of cross-training this season to hopefully minimize injury risk.

I happened to run into my Team in Training coordinator at the Dallas Marathon Kickoff 5k event (which was a BLAST!) and mentioned my concern that team training doesn't begin til August. She said I can join the summer group, which starts mid-June. I am VERY grateful for that support.

Fundraising is slow-going, but I'll get there.

Thanks always!