11 Days

I've changed my exercise days this week - running M-W-F and doing my cross-training T-Th-Sat. So on Monday we did our 5.5 mile hilly loop and it was a good run. We averaged about 9:20 per mile and although the hills were hard the overall run felt pretty good. The weather has been really up and down. About 2 weeks ago it was incredibly hot and then this past week was pretty pleasant. Now, it looks like it is about to get really hot and humid again. This always has a huge effect on our runs. Monday's was pleasant but tomorrow's run will probably be tougher just because of hte heat and humidity. We are planning to go 7 tomorrow and then 8 on Friday. This will be our last "long" run before Baltimore.

My plans for cross-training this week is to do my Insanity workouts. Today was Plyo Cardio Circuit and I loved it! I really can't express enough how much I love these workouts! The feeling I get during and after these workouts is like nothing I've ever experienced before. I have worked hard during exercise sessions and have had the feeling of pride and empowerment from those sessions. However, these workouts go way past that. I just feel amped for hours after the session. I am also going to order Insanity the Asylum in the next day or so - I am so psyched to try these workouts! I've been watching a number of YouTube videos that have been reviewing the different sessions and the more I watch the more I want it AND the more it makes me nervous (in a good way). These are really hard workouts and will push me passed anything I've ever done before.

Next week the plan is to keep my intensity high at the beginning of the week but then tail off a bit at the end to make sure my energy stores are high for the race. The wild card here is definitely the weather. If it is as hot an humid on race day as it is going to be the rest of this week, then my goal time is out the window automatically. It just wouldn't be safe to try and run that hard when it is that hot and humid. Add this to the fact that we usually run at 4:45 am so that there is no sun to deal with - and the potential danger rises dramatically. Now if the temperature isn't too bad I am absolutely going for it! We'll just have to wait and see.

I got some great new running shirts for my birthday - I'm looking forward to trying them out this week. I've made some poor choices in clothing over some of my past Baltimore runs so I will try a couple of the new shirts out this week and pick the best one for the race.

The countdown is almost over - I can't believe it! I will definitely need another focus in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping it will be my review of Asylum. Until next time - keep working hard!!