TIART: The Heat is On

This week's TIART at Runner's Lounge is running in the heat. I have lived in Tulsa for roughly 10 years, but lived previously in the relative cool and dry NW New Mexico / SW Colorado and Denver. So, I am a cool weather girl. I am accustomed to very low humidity and if it was 95 deg, it was really not that hot and I knew it would cool down dramatically once the sun set. I also knew I could drive 30-60 min and be at 9000 ft of elevation and 70 deg.

When I was in college, my boyfriend at the time was from a small town south of Lincoln and he would talk about "feeling the air." I have to admit that I had no idea what he was talking about until I moved to Oklahoma. With that in mind, my half hearted attempts at training during the summer here have met with little success. My goal over the past few years has been to simply maintain my fitness level, but not shoot for any gains. If the furthest I ran was a very slow 6 miles, then that's okay. I could knock those out all summer long, knowing I would ramp it up come late September. My races were always scheduled for October through April, allowing me to avoid the hot, humid, dripping days.

This year, my plan is different. I registered and was selected for the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco on October 19. That means I am ramping up my mileage and running my long runs in late July, August and September. The moment after the euphoria of having been selected, I immediately wished I had not registered, knowing the hell that I had just created for myself.

So, given my past, what am I doing different this year?

- I started looking at training plans immediately and hit upon Hal Higdon's intermediate 20 week plan, then I saw that he had a spring training schedule as well. They were designed to be used together and to prepare a runner for Chicago - it is also known as his Personal Best Training Plan. The idea was for to have a solid base of 8-10 mi long runs every week from which to start the marathon plan. I am currently on week 9 of the spring plan and it is going well. I have found it easy to stick to the schedule (so far) and I have tweaked it for my own use.

- I found a training partner for the long runs. One of my son's teachers runs and we have similar paces and similar goals and she volunteered! I typically run by myself, but know I will need the help of a parter to force me to adhere to my plan.

- I plan on running early in the morning. The earlier the better.

- I plan to incorporate water fountains, restrooms, bookstores, and cafe's into the runs. The Arkansas River runs through Tulsa, with a great trail system with water fountains at every mile. I will use this, which I typically avoid because the high traffic, but early in the mornings, it should be less busy.

- I am going to look to my friends and other resources to get me through. This is a new endeavor for me, but I am determined to do it.