Hello July!

I know we’re half way through July already, but I still can’t believe how fast this year has gone by. Which means, less and less time to train for that half marathon I am hoping to do in October. Eek!

I’m not really sure I considered how difficult it might be to train for my first half marathon through a summer in Toronto. Yes, this city is in Canada, so we do get some cold winters, but oh my gosh the summers can be hot and HUMID. This city has sub-tropical summers and the humidity can be high from June – September at least. And if you know me, you know that I don’t like humidity. Sure, I grew up with it living in Halifax, but after living in Calgary for 5 years I learned to love the dry heat. Oh, it’s so nice there… you can walk to the bus stop and not be sweating from everywhere on your body. And, most of the time your hair can look good… in Toronto? Don’t expect to have nice hair all summer. Don’t even bother straightening it. Pfft, waste of time.

Anyways, the point here is that I find it difficult to run in heat + high humidity. Long run in 30C with 90% humidity? – oh please, I don’t even want to get out of bed!! So for me, this makes training difficult. It’s not that I won’t go out and run, it just means that it might be shorter (or slower) than usual. Is this a bad thing? Not really, but I would like to be somewhat trained for the half when I get to that point.

Speaking of Calgary, I did go spend a nice week there at the beginning of July. Enjoyed myself while going to a friend’s wedding, visiting family and friends, and taking in a little bit of the Stampede. I also went out for a couple of runs and oh boy what a difference! Calgary tends to have cool mornings and nights, unlike Toronto which rarely cools down enough to make for a comfortable sleep in the summer. So, it was quite refreshing to get up in the morning and run before the temperature got hot. I felt exhilarated even. But, I did notice a weird difference for me there… in Toronto when I run my lungs (I have asthma) usually feel fine but my legs get tired and heavy. In Calgary, my legs felt energetic and light but my lungs felt a little heavy. Not sure if that means anything, it was just something unusual I noticed. My legs really felt like I could keep going and going there, but my lungs were saying hell no.

That was a great trip, and by the time I got back I received an email from Fit Approach letting me know that I’d been chosen to be a Sweat Pink Ambassador. Pretty exciting! I love this online community of women who are encouraging each other, providing tips, and sharing their stories all along the way. Sweat Pink Ambassadors are runners, cyclists, triathletes, yogis, swimmers, and more! So many people living and inspiring an active lifestyle – who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?! 🙂 Hopefully my story is, or will be, inspiring and I’d love to connect with more Ambassadors and others who are taking on their healthy living journey. You know you can find me by clicking on any of the the social media icons on the sidebar. 🙂

Plans for the rest of July? Not sure, but I am trying my best to get on the training track. I’m a little behind in the long run distance, which hopefully doesn’t affect me too much. I guess I will see. Today I did some speed work and while it was difficult, it was also fun. You know what I am not looking forward to? Hill training. Oh boy, look out when I start those…

Have a great week!

Ever been behind on your training? How did you catch up?