One of the guys in my group takes a few weeks each summer dialed back, and says these down weeks keep him from injury, so I am doing the same. Not off, but slightly reduced mileage and more off days. That's fine, because I'm having a hard time acclimating to the humidity. It hasn't been a terrible summer so far (I mean, it's not even actually summer yet!) but I've overheated and almost quit on a long run and a tempo run - all signs that taking it easy is a good idea!
I have signed up for some summer races: The Armadillo Dash and the Spillway Classic, both three mile trail races in the muddy spillway. But those are more laid-back than a typical race, almost closer to a mud run than a race!
One of our typical summer workouts is either a Fartlek or repeats on the bridges on the lakefront (oh, the things we do to get hill work in in NOLA), and one of our runners invited us to her pool nearby right after. Now that's how I like my summer workouts!
I plan to run a winter marathon to update my Boston time, so once I'm done resting a bit I'll be back to training for that. But for now, it's mostly easy running and some less-intense workouts.
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Mmm, post-workout pool time is the best! Bonus if you get a cold beer along with it. What winter marathons are you looking at that aren't too close to Boston?
ReplyDeleteI bet it felt amazing to get in the pool after a tough workout. When I was marathon training and doing long runs at my parents lake home, I would come back, take off my socks and shoes and jump in the lake. It was so refreshing. Kind of a mess to have my running clothes be shopping wet but it was worth it to instantly cool down my core temp!
ReplyDelete@Grace: Eyeing Rocket City in Huntsville or the Louisiana Marathon in BR (although I'm a little tired of that one).
ReplyDeleteGood approach and thanks for posting this. I think I need to go this route next summer for 4-5 weeks for all the reasons you posted.
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