Weeks 3-6 in Review + Running Abroad

Well, we're back to the normal routine around these parts after a lovely extended vacation abroad the past few weeks.  I, for obvious reasons, didn't voice that we were away from home on the blog WHILE we were actually away from home.  Well, hopefully, the reasons are pretty obvious. 

So yes, I'm still in the throes of marathon training and now I'm back to face the Midwest heat and humidity all over again.  I will give Mother Nature some props for dropping the temps this week though; she's delivered some wonderful running weather.

The vacation was spent with family, exploring the sights, eating LOTS of (vegan) carbs...and running.  My husband and I logged a total of 45 miles in the UK, and they were ideal.  Great temps, low humidity, a few hills when you needed them, but some flat stretches for long runs...wonderful ambiance and decor for any crazy person who exercises on vacation.

You'll notice the glaring red notations above - those are activities that were skipped due to time constraints, domestic travel (road trip!), jet lag exhaustion, and just for the simple fact I.was.on.vacation.  To be fair though, I did do quite a bit of airport luggage handling, a whole hell of a lot of walking, and not so much sleeping.  Systems have resumed, and I'm not noticing any great decline in fitness and/or strength by cutting out what I did.  But despite that, I'm going back to the plan and sticking to it. 

Caithness, Scotland

Highlights of running in the UK:

• Roadside sheep and cows with long eyelashes. Enough said.
• Beautiful country/sea side scapes in Scotland.  Green and blue have always been my favorite colors.
• Having generous family members willing to watch our little man so my husband and I could run together.  Long runs are so much better when you can take out your hangry on a spouse.  No, really, I was super nice.  For real.
• As mentioned above, no evil heat and humidity to contend with.
• And not that I'm convinced it made a huge difference, but running at a lower altitude may have made things a bit easier. 
• Not UK specific, but I tried the Huma Chia Gels for the first time and they.are.amazing.  My new fuel.

Hi, Sheep!

This week's missions: calculate the miles on my running shoes.  Methinks it's time to get a new pair.  Oh, also, my Garmin's band literally snapped off hours before our trip and so now I need to replace it.  I'd love to just give up on it and get a new one of these, but yeah, shoes trump rocket science running watches.

Peace out and run on.