Back to back 50-mile weeks

Yesterday morning Kathleen and I battled our way to 10 'easy' miles on the Terry Hershey Trail along Buffalo Bayou.  Our pace was likely over 10 minutes per mile, not that it mattered. I concentrated on keeping my heart rate under 130 - it is very easy to overdo it under the very hot and extremely humid conditions that we were running in.  Kathleen was struggling a bit and she is reluctant to pull the trigger on the entry for the October Hudson-Mohawk Marathon, a potential Boston qualifier for her.  Having trained for the Marine Corps Marathon one summer many years ago (1996?) I know just how difficult it can be to log several really long runs in the Houston summer.

This morning we signed up for a repeat performance, but not quite as bad: just 6 miles along the same route.  Along the way, an ambulance passed us on the trail going in the opposite direction: either someone had succumbed to the stress or a biker had taken a bad fall.  It was sobering - makes you realize how fortunate you are to be in good health and serves as a reminder to keep it up.  Being fit to the point where you can run 10 miles or so at the drop of a hat, or to be competitive in your age group in shorter running events, does not come without constant effort and sacrifice.  Sure I would rather be lounging by the poolside or reading a book, but that is not going to make me break 21 minutes in a 5K...

I was quite happy to log back to back 50-mile weeks and to rack up 192 miles for the month of May.  More than I have managed to do in well over 2, probably 3 years or so.  It should be interesting to see how it affects my race times over the summer.  I am looking forward to a few very competitive local runs such as the Run Wild 5K on the 4th of July, the Lazy Hazy Days of Summer 5K and then one that I always go all out for, the Lunar Rendezvous 5K at Space Center Houston in August.