Aesthete Runner

Marathon training can get redundant and boring after a while, so I like to head to new trails or ones I haven't frequented in a while to shake things up. It is neat to check out new scenery, and you never know what you might see! I am careful to select some paved trails so that I can still get pavement time on my feet in preparation for the marathon, but part of the fun is running on different surfaces.

It turns out that a cut back week during week 10 of training is still a lot of work. The miles that were cut out of the long run were added to the mid-week runs, so I still put in a lot of time on my feet. It feels odd to say that a cut back week was only 30 miles!

This was a week of being able to experience sights without capturing them in photos. If you were like me and was able to view the eclipse yesterday, you know what I mean. Even though I was in a path of 89% coverage, it was still an amazing thing to experience. There are no pictures that would have done it justice. I just love that so many people opted outside to experience this natural phenomenon and will remember it for a long time.

9 weeks down, 7 weeks to go! Another difficult, but great week of training in the books. I think this week was more mentally challenging vs physically challenging. The hot, humid temps came back in full force, and I had to complete my very least favorite speed workout - Yasso 800s.

One of my favorite things about running on trails year round is being able to notice when new flowers suddenly pop up, or when my favorites return. Normally spring is what you think of when you think of flowers blooming, but August in IL is pretty great as well.

Finally, a great solid week of training! This past Tuesday marked 2 months until marathon day, and I was happy to start this week rested and ready to take on training. I finally recovered from my "fun" food poisoning adventure, and with the extra rest days during my camping trip, I have never felt more physically or mentally ready.

Summer is my least favorite season for running. I'm sure that most would say that winter is their least favorite, but honestly, I like winter. You can put as many layers as needed on, but with summer running, there is only so much you can take off. I've tried a lot of styles over the years, and thankfully summer styles have improved a lot. I've rounded up my favorite hot weather styles that have gotten me through some very steamy weather.

We are back on my home turf again for this week's Trail Tuesday. While it's a far cry from some of the beautiful trails I've seen this summer, the wildlife around here is still pretty great.

The good news is that I couldn't have picked a better week to have a built-in extra week of training. The bad news is that this week was spent feeling ill with almost no energy for running. I guess it was a good week to learn about how rest and recovery is important. Too often we want to push ourselves to stick to a plan no matter what and from my experience, that always backfires. While I'm not happy I had to spend this week in misery, I'm glad I've learned a thing or two over the years and just accepted that rest is what I needed more than anything.

Starved Rock was so amazing that I needed two weeks to devote to the pictures I took. So many waterfalls, so little time!