First off I apologize to regular readers because all I’m getting out is training updates but that’s a pretty accurate representation of how my life is right now. This week was always going to be a tough one because I had to take my work truck off the road for what I thought was going to be a few days but has turned into a week (I hope). That means lots of running around hauling things in the days before getting ready so everyone can keep working. Which turned out to be important because while I have a ‘grown up lady car’ to drive around in. It was making a noise that suggested “I should get that checked” but like soon when I have the time. Well right when I needed it that noise escalated into “Should I maybe get this towed?” So cue an unexpected morning at the mechanic (he’s a rock star) and another unscheduled expense. Partway through the week I just started going with the flow and you know what, like always, I got to the end and it’s all worked out! So here’s how running went in all of that!
Tuesday 6.5k: Today was a super stressful day but only in work ways which we tend to let slide off our backs around here. A customer decided to make a pretty big change while things were already happening. Not ideal but he got it and offered to pay for any down time this caused. I was able to make it work with out a moment of down time but that’s always a nice offer when you are throwing a wrench in the plan. The work truck had to go in and honey was doing a super long boat tow which was making me worried but it all worked out by the end of the day which is usually how it happens 98% of the time. We’re on the verge of another heat warning and the fog was rolling out all day so I thought about going after it got dark and cooled down. Well the fog cooled things off early making my earlier run better but it did complicate the big tow earlier in the day.
Wednesday 13k: This run got me thinking, there are many, many times in my life I really couldn’t have done 13k runs during the week or even on the weekend because there was no way I could take the time from work. There were other times it was my lifestyle that interfered but the two were probably at least a little linked. Runners like to sell their sport as cheap and simple and it can be but it can also come from a place of privilege. Taking the time to train has to come from somewhere and for many that time must be filled with work. Endurance athletes do tend to be from a higher income bracket. So I think it’s time in the cycle that I acknowledge that privilege. At no other time in my adult life could I have really done this. Long run = lots of thinking.
So onto the run then. I did a post a few years ago about my intense love of running skirts and one lady said I still had it wrong because all my skirts have shorts attached. I’ve also written about why you should wear what you want (a sports bra) while you’re running. In Canada I can legally, literally run down the road in a g-string and nothing else. I know some runners opt for just an underwear style bottom and that’s totally cool with me. Which is a long way of saying I wore my skirt without shorts underneath this time. Biggest running undies yes, but no shorts in an attempt to deal with the heat and humidity. I was even pretty comfortable with what I was wearing. Today turned out to be the day that I wanted to wear less than I usually do. Here’s the thing though it was slightly breezier but not a life changing difference. Just incase you’ve ever wondered.
Friday 8k: Full confession I cut a km from this run. I’ve been picking up my mom every night this week in a part of town that is further from open water and doesn’t have streetlights. Weird things to mention right? Well I decided to park there early and cover one of the sketchy turns on my race day route I haven’t yet. It is a road crosser in case you are wondering. But this part of town doesn’t have streetlights so I wanted to finish by sunset and didn’t want to keep my mom waiting so I cut a km. We’ve been under a heat warning all this week and into next and the right time to go is in the morning when the fog is thick. But… it’s not that inviting for running so end of the day it was. It was 25 C with a feels like temperature in the mid 30’s weirdly it was also a little bit fast so there’s that!
Sunday 19.5k: Environment Canada you let me down today! Where we live we can get a decent amount of fog. Over the last week or so it’s been reliably foggy in the morning and then again in the afternoon about 4. Sunday was supposed to be the cloudier day and a degree or two cooler. They even said that the fog would retreat to the coast around noon which means probably foggy here all day, like yesterday. So I woke up at 6 and you know what no freaking fog. It actually was the warmest day so far. I got out the door by 7:30 so home by 10 and it was already 25c. It was hot with no wind but going that early I did encounter some shade along the way. Even later in the day when we had a good breeze it was a rare offshore wind which means its hotter than usual. The run was good and I didn’t bother taking a picture after because honey texted me and told me that breakfast was ready. I was about on target for a long run pace but I was pretty sweaty. This was my 4th weekend in a row I’ve basically covered a half marathon and this time was certainly the easiest one. After the fact we hightailed it to the boat and spent the afternoon laying about and swimming. So that’s the part of the day that got documented this week.
If I’m being honest I’m a little over it at this point. Not over the dream of doing Boston (sort of) but over the running part at least. Maybe that’s a bit harsh, perhaps it’s more accurate to say I would appreciate a break. I’m starting to focus on the end and saying things like three more really long runs left and only 5 more hard weeks. Not only is that fair, I’ve been training for 3 months now and covered about 400 km so far it’s totally normal. I still want to get through this and over the finish line for all the reasons I did before this started. However day to day the thought that I’ve come this far so that would be wasted is also factoring in. That too is a normal part of the process. Actually in some ways the investment I’ve already put in is more motivating than getting going in week one or two.
At this point getting my runs in is second nature so yeah for that. Even when things go off the rails the runs are still almost taking care of themselves. I am getting excited for training to be over though and that’s okay too. You can check out the plan I’m using here. If you want a sneak peak of my training follow me on instagram! Are you training for a marathon this year? How is your training going so far? Leave it in the comments below!
Sweat Sweetly 
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