I accidentally ran 100 miles.

Whoops.  I didn't mean it.  Honestly.

How does one go about accidentally running 100 miles in 7 days?  Easy.  The heat wave takes a breather, you squeeze in a few doubles, each day has at least 10 miles, streak 7 days, do a 20 mile long run... add a few miles here and there because you felt like going a little longer... and there you have it.  100.  (And to think there was a time that I feared this number).

Since I took last Sunday off, it only amounted to 86 miles last week.  After running longer than expected yesterday, the 7 day Monday-thru-Sunday streak added up to 100. 

Yesterday, I put in 14 miles.  It was supposed to be a shorter, recovery run yet for some reason I felt good and started stretching it out.  At one point, I realized that if I went 14 then I would hit 100.  It didn't take much convincing from there.  Given one of the more accommodating days of the summer, I even turned the run into somewhat of an aggressive progression towards MGP.  So much for an easy recovery. 

That was the theme of the last week... steadily upping my miles and effort as the weather improved from being unbearable to very manageable.  It's amazing how much better you feel, when you're not sweating buckets after 2 miles or suffering from heat exhaustion. 

This bump is at least a couple weeks ahead of schedule.  I'll try to press on for a few more days before heading up to the cabin.  From there, it's 2 solid weeks of hill work.

I still feel a little behind in my overall training, but for the first time I'm starting to think that I'll be able to pull my training together in time for October 7th.

This Chicago Weather!!

So I've been pushing my mileage back up in preparation for a fall marathon, but I have to admit... it has been practically impossible to run anything of quality + quantity under the conditions that we've had in the past couple months.

It's official: July 2012 was the hottest month on record EVER for the USA, according to NOAA.  There have been more 100 degree days in Chicago this year that I can even fathom.  More than I've ever experienced in all of my 35 years, combined.  Even worse, when a guy needs to run 60-75 miles a week... he doesn't have a choice... he bites down and takes it.

The last 2 months have been completely exhausting.  I've been feeling totally beat and tired.   And sadly, I'm even behind in my training by a week or two - so technically, I haven't even spent as much time out there as I should've been… UGH.

It's not often that I really complain about the weather.... but mark this as a formal complaint: I AM SICK AND TIRED OF RUNNING IN 100 DEGREE HEAT... sick of 95 degrees... and sick of "just" 90 degrees with 60% humidity.  I'll stop short of saying that I wish it was zero degrees right now... but at least when it's 32, I can get in quality running without utter exhaustion.

OK, enough whining. Here's what I've been doing recently:

This will be my 3rd week in a row at or above 75 miles, and 6th week in a row above 50 miles.  I'd love more, but that constitutes the start of a good-enough base.  Another week at that level, then I go up to the Adirondacks for two straight weeks... at that point, game on.  The weather will be much more favorable, I'll be able to rehydrate my whole body from this fucking heat, and I'll get 14 days of solid hill work.  When I get back from the cabin, I should be a monster and ready to gut out 1 final month of hard training.

I've had some speed in the last couple weeks, though nothing to brag about.  I've done 3 tempo runs - all 5 miles each averaging about 5:50's.  Going faster or longer has just not been possible given the weather.  I'll hit the track tonight for the first time since March or April.  Any interval work has been in fartlek runs. 

Months ago, when it was consistently 75-80 degrees in MARCH, I jokingly said that we were gonna be cooked to death in the 12/21/12 apocalypse.  I really hope that's not the case, but something is certainly not right with this picture: