Friday Favorites (and not so favorites)

Another week has gone by and it's time for my Friday favorites and not so favorites. Some weeks I know on Monday what I'll be writing about and other weeks I use my Friday morning run to come up with them. Today was a Friday morning run of trying to find a favorite. I've got some serious bones to pick about my not so favorite but the favorites are lacking. I've only been able to come up with one this week, although it's very important, it's just one. So here goes!

One lonely little favorite for the week: My running partner, Laura, has located her misplaced motivation. She has found it by being inspired to dip her toes into the water of the Tri world. Though this means she won't be doing as much running, it does mean she will still be running. She can still accompany me on segments of my long runs during my marathon training, which is better than getting no running time with her. With her body and mind in better shape she'll make for a great distraction in the middle of these horribly humid and hot long runs. I'll admit I'm Tri-curious. Right now I'm so in love with trail running that I'm not ready to take the plunge. Once I finish the marathon in October I'll assess what direction I want to head with my running. If I opt for shorter faster distances then I may take the plunge. Hopefully when I do Laura will have a tri or two under her belt and can help me work out the logistics. This weekend we may go ogle some bikes and tri gear together, should be lots of fun!

My not so favorite for the week: Summer! Where do I begin? Normally I love warmer weather but this summer is sucking the life out of me. Usually in the summer you have a brutal week here and there but if you get up early enough it's pleasant enough to go for a run without wanting to pack up and move to a more northern state.

Even my husband who really loves summer has commented on how much this heat is sucking. We aren't heat wimps, we lived in many areas of Georgia and have dealt with Georgia summers for many years. In fact we thought our first two summers in NC were very pleasant, leaving us with warm and fuzzy feelings for the state. This year the warm and fuzzy feelings for the NC summer has turned into more of a melting and lack of oxygen to the brain feeling.

The more I get obsessed with trail running the more I loathe the heat of summer. This morning is a great example. All week I had planned on making my 4:45 am run a tempo or fartlek run around the boring streets of my hood. I step out the door to be greeted by stagnant, humid, warm air. It's 75 and probably near 100% humidity with absolutely no breeze to be found anywhere. (Yes, I know it's better than 80 or 90 degrees, but when I'm making the effort to drag my ass out of bed that early for a more pleasant run at least mother nature could throw me a bone!) Team these conditions up with some PMS and you no longer have an attempt at speed work. Now it's just a go out and get your miles in kind of run. I was drenched at the end of my 4 miles and the sun was still a good half hour from rising.

I'm thankful my long run for Sunday is only 9 miles this week instead of the 14 planned for next time. The forecast shows it should be about 77 and I'm sure humid as hell at the start of the run at 6am. Thank goodness Laura is meeting me after I've done 3-4 miles to distract me for the last 5-6 miles. Next week our temperatures should go back down to the low 90's for highs and low 70's for the mornings, that should feel down right chilly after this week.

I hope everyone is doing their best to keep cool and safe during their summer runs this year! Looks like it's an extra warm summer all around the eastern half of the country, not just us in the south.