Another Race? What?

So, on a whim I signed up for the Green Jewel Relay. The price was right, and I thought this would be a good motivator to keep up my mileage instead of starting from scratch to train for the Akron Marathon. I put out a call to every running group I know, and eventually a sucker nice runner volunteered to join up with me for a total of 50k. Beth, race director for the Medina Half Marathon, will be running the first 15 + miles, and I will be running the next 16 miles. I've never done this race, and I have no clue how it works, but I'm not going to sweat it, Peeps. I'm going to show up at the relay point and hope that I find a way back to my car when I finish. This, by the way, is not a smart strategy, but I have never claimed to be smart. I am putting this out into the Universe: I need to 1. survive the Green Jewel Relay and 2. find a ride back to my car. If you see me, Peeps, I would appreciate some help.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm pathetic and needy.

Today I ran 8 miles with the Goddesses. Everything kind of derailed for me on this run. I had meticulously packed my bag anticipating running 8 miles on the trails with the Goddesses and then finishing about 6-8 more miles on the Towpath. That just didn't work. There was some rain and some thunder and lots of conversation, so when we finished I had run out of time. I had to go home and garden, Peeps, which is THE WORST.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm avoiding gardening.

I saw Pam (fellow Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Ambassador) and her husband Steve on their long run completing a 100-mile week. I was really tempted to ask them if I could run with them, but they sensed the desperate-ness and told me that I was technically in taper for the Green Jewel, since I had run a marathon two weeks prior and a half marathon the previous week. It was nice of them to phrase it that way. Anyway, I called it a day.

Now that school is out, I'd like to share my new strategy:

1. Track all my food AGAIN. Always. If I can lose 10 pounds, I can be back to my racing weight.
2. Increase my weekly mileage instead of starting from scratch when training for the Akron Marathon. Of course, I trained for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon during the school year, so I had limited time, but now my goal is to increase my during-the-week mileage (without injuring myself). My theory is that I need much higher mileage to better my time from the Cleveland Marathon.

As I continue to write this summer, I'll show you how I am increasing my mileage safely.

What are you training for? Running any trails lately? Check back next week to see if I got stranded during the Green Jewel.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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