Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Such is my story every time summer training rolls around.  Summer training is the best!  All you really have to do is run, work, sleep and repeat.  You can build up mileage carefully without fear of overtraining, and you can hit the gym all the dang time.  You can meet with friends that you haven't seen in ages to run with them.  You can do the trails at home that you've missed all year.
Summer training can also be the worst.  It's hot, you don't get to race for three months (!!!), and you start to go a little stir crazy missing your training partner and the town that you learned to love over the last nine months.  Overall though, summer training is always a positive experience.
This year has definitely gone much better than last year due to one small change that I made.  Instead of starting work at seven and running when I finish at four or five (I don't know why I ever thought this was a good idea.), I do my runs at seven before I go in to work, so not only is it much cooler, I'm not worn out from a day of washing windows.  I also have my sister and her husband to train with this year, which has helped a ton.  It's much easier to push workouts when you have people to run them with.  Looking over my training log from this time last year, I'm already pretty far ahead of where I was then fitness wise, and I've been doing much more of the "little things" like foam rolling daily, taking ice baths, actually doing core, strides, and hurdle drills.  Today I did my longest run ever with a fourteen miler, and next week I plan to bump it up one more mile.  I'll also be doing my highest mileage, finishing the week up with 60 miles.  Before the end of summer, it should be up to 65, and hopefully by then these long runs will get more comfortable because right now, they honestly feel a little bit like death.  I think the only upsetting thing about getting up in mileage is the fact that I finish a thirteen or fourteen mile run and start to feel accomplished, then remember that I know some people who are running that every day and cry a little bit.  Other than that, it's all upsides.  You get to eat more, nap more, and buy more running shoes 100% guilt-free.  I'm fairly sure I ate dinner three times the other day and did not have a single regret.  Plus, my friends and I hiked Mt Timpanogos this past Monday, and it was definitely the easiest ascent I've had yet, so I guess we can put "Less whining on hikes" under the list of added bonuses for actually doing summer training right.