March Recap

I know, I'm really late. Life has been busy. You know the deal.

On the running front, soooo much going on in March. Let's start with the big picture numbers:

Total Miles: 103 (Hundo club! Yay!)

Yoga Classes: 3 (I missed a week during spring break)

I had some highlights this month, including a 5-mile race with friends. It was my friend Candice's first race post-injury. It was billed as an obstacle course, which it wasn't. When we arrived no one was feeling it. It was a very cold, very windy day, and we'd be running on the beach of Lake Erie. So....cold wet sand? After a mile we all warmed up and it ended up being a lot of fun. No one was pushing the pace. We were just out to be out and get Candice back out there. We went to brunch after at a place I'd never been. Good food and loved the vibe of the place. 

Afterwards, Laurie went to Fleet Feet and bought three new pairs of shoes because we'd "run on dead fish" during the race. There's a chance she's more focused on clean shoes than I am.

With Candice back, it meant a return to running in the dark with her. I particularly like this post-run selfie. A beautiful sunrise and a goofy friend. That's a wonderful morning.

One Saturday we decided to meet at an intersection where we'd never met. I parked part-way between my house and the meet-up spot and ran to meet her. If there's one thing to know about Candice is that she loathes being late. Loathes it. So when our meet-up time came and went and no Candice, I knew something was up. I waited close to 10 minutes. I considered what might have happened, and just started running in the direction I thought was most likely where she'd ended up. We found each other, ran, and got breakfast at a drop-dead amazing bakery. I drank about 30oz of coffee and ate, then decided I should run back to my car. Don't do that. That's dumb. I did that.

Throughout March, I also continued running about once a week with my neighbor Jake. We've been running together since early last summer. It's been a great way to get to know him, and the accountability of a running buddy is always a good thing. I realized I'd never taken a picture of us.

My long run schedule got rearranged a few times for different reasons. The last day of March this meant running closer to home. I "picked up" Candice for the six middle miles of this run. I had to laugh when she said "what's two miles from your house" and I knew exactly. Only a runner would know down to 0.02 miles the distance to everything.

This run was also something of a wake-up call. I felt this run substantially more than most long runs. Why? Because my usual long run has about 75 total feet of elevation gain. Running closer to home means about 300 feet. Lesson: I need to vary my long runs more. Running on totally flat ground all the time is going to make a hilly race feel a lot harder.

And, we do stuff other than run. Since I realize this is hard to believe, here's a picture. We got together for a glass blowing class on night, then went out for dinner after. We made glass flowers. We got to choose our colors and even the shape of the stem, and the total length (shorter ones if they were ring holders). I would definitely do it again!

I also ran with my usual Sunday morning crew a few times. I enjoy them so much. For some reason this is the only picture I can find at the moment. I will have to correct that for April.

MOJo

Haha, get it? MOJo? Because I live in Missouri and my name is Joanna? And no, you cannot call me Jo. Unless you already do, which probably means you're either from a small town in WV or I met you in the US between 1999 and 2003. And that's a whole other story. Anyway, I seem to have lost some of my running mojo. And I need some help finding it. So, completely without segue, some backstory: 

See, I love coffee. (I swear, this is about running. Stay with me.) In fact, I love it so much I once took a picture of a freshly-filled canister of coffee beans to file away in a "Favorite Things" folder (before Pinterest was cool). 

And yet, most summers I try to wean myself from it. Why? Because it's frackin' hot out, and coffee makes it worse. And, life is usually much less chaotic in the summer, so I actually get enough sleep.* Oh yeah, and I have this bizarre need to prove to myself that I can break the addiction every now and then. #masochism. So, yes, I'm currently in the weaning process. I'm down to about 3/4 of one mug each morning. I hate this process.

As if that weren't enough, did I mention that it's hot out? Because, in the words of my beloved Jamie, it's hot as balls out. The last few days we've had highs around 96, also with crazy humidity. I ran my normal 4-mile loop yesterday morning, starting at 7:45am, and was about to hurl by the time I got home.

Neither of these things--the coffee withdrawal or the heat--is particularly motivating me to run. And because I don't have a training plan right now, I'm a little shy on motivation. But I also don't want to lose my new found speed or fitness from the marathon, so I need to find a way to motivate myself. So, you know me. I like lists. Here's what I'm gonna do.

1. Steal underwear. Suck it up, admit that I don't have to be a hero, and face the dreadmill until the heat breaks (which is supposed to happen sometime this weekend. But you know what I think of the weather forecasters here). 
2. Read up on hot weather running tips and be ready when the temps drop back below 90. 
3. Profit.** Set up a non-plan schedule to maintain fitness. Something like 15-20 miles a week with short Monday and Friday runs, slightly longer on Wednesdays, and "long"ish runs on Saturdays. 

Any thoughts or advice? I know a lot of you have more experience in hot weather running and in non-training cycle running than I do, so please share!

*yes, normally work is slower in the summer. Just not right now. It's head-explodingly crazy right now. And I kinda like it. 

** Please, please tell me someone got that joke. Please.