Summer Training

To start this post off, I would like to sincerely apologize for the last few weeks I've gone without posting anything.  Between my graduation and the fact that I had to wait for my new laptop to get here after turning in my school computer, I haven't had a chance to get on blogger in awhile.

Back to the point, can we take a moment to talk about summer training?  It's weird how out of shape your body manages to get in the two weeks between your last race of track and your first week of summer training.  The first week back, I honestly felt like I was an overweight clown trying to play the bagpipes while on fire every time I went for a run.  My poor little legs were so confused as to how something that had been so much fun just fourteen days ago was now sweaty, difficult, and incredibly uncomfortable.  (Part of their distress may have been due to the fact that I went off of my sugar-free diet for the two weeks I wasn't running and went totally crazy with the treats.  Sorry, legs.)  The idea of going for a run and being expected to do anything else at all in the same day was absolutely ludicrous.
Fortunately for me and every other distance runner ever, this phase doesn't last that long.  About after two weeks, running isn't nearly so bad, and summer running becomes the best part of the year for you.  My high school team did our runs at 8 a.m. to beat the heat, and our coaches always gave us otter pops as an incentive.  We did team breakfast on Mondays, and often had other team bonding activities after practice because we had way too much spare time on our hands.  Plus, there was always camp to look forward to.
This summer has been pretty different because of my work schedule and my training schedule.  Since I'm doing the workouts that Coach Weese sends me instead of those that Jim or the Park City coaches are doing, I no longer have a team to run with.  I'm very excited to move to Bozeman in August so I can meet all of the girls and run with other people again.  I also run later in the evening after work now, and I definitely pity the people who have to be around me afterwards because when it's 90 degrees out, I have a tendency to sweat like a sinner in church.  My sports bra and shorts tan lines are getting out of control.  People can spot that I'm a distance runner from a mile off.  It's a mess.  But it's totally worth it because cross country is the best.