Long Run:

Summer heat and humidity was back with a vengeance this weekend, and it was enough to make my long run seem like it was taking forever.

My legs felt heavy for the first two miles, but once they loosened up, it was my mental game that was off. I struggle with running in the humidity and need to use some mind games to keep myself going.

One of the biggest things that helped me get through Saturday's run was trying to focus on just one mile at a time. If I kept my mental energy confined to one mile and didn't think about how many miles I still had to go, I was able to work harder.

To make this trick work, I rewarded myself with a one minute walk break each mile.

So once I got to mile four, I would let myself walk for one minute and then run the rest of the mile until I got to five. This trick helped me push harder during each mile, since I had the walk break to look forward to. It's easier to convince myself to run for a mile and then recover, than to focus on the whole distance.

I've used this method on a few other long runs, and I've also found my splits seemed to be faster and more consistent when I let myself take short walk breaks than when I try to run the whole time.

How do you get through runs when your mental game is off?

Weekend Fun:

Once I got home from my run it was time to shower and get ready for my cousin's wedding. I took almost no pictures since I didn't have the best vantage point and I had a hard time catching the bride and groom through the people in front of me.

Here are a few a did take:





My cousin looked gorgeous is her dress and everyone had a fun time at the wedding.

Sunday we met my other side of the family for brunch and got to go see my other cousin's first house. She and her fiance bought a really nice place. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a nice deck and backyard and lots of space. It's a really great place and they're doing a great job of decorating it.

All in all, it was a completely family packed weekend.