Every year I tell myself I'm not going to sign up for an early fall half marathon because training through the DC heat and humidity in July and August is just brutal.

And then just about every year, I find myself throwing down money for a half marathon in September.

This year is no different.

All hopped up on post-race endorphins after Shamrock back in March, Emily and I threw down the entry fee for the Navy-Air Force half marathon in early September.


Diana, Aila, me and Emily after Shamrock

At the time, training seemed like it was such a long way off.

Fast forward a few months and all of a sudden we're about to head into July and training's kicking off.

And of course...the DC humidity is here to stay.

I have a feeling, it's going to be a long hot summer of training.

We're officially 22 days into the Runner's World running streak, and for the past three weeks I have religiously been running every day. Some days just a mile to make sure I get my distance to qualify -- other days 3-5 milers.

It's been a good run, but I think my streak is coming to a very premature end.

I've noticed a nagging in my left hamstring since Saturday. I'm not sure if I did something specific to irritate it in my softball double-header Saturday morning or if it's just sore from the accumulation of running without a real rest day.

At first, I did what any stubborn runner would do: Ignore it. Run through it. Stretch it out and hope for the best.

I only ran a mile on Saturday evening after my games and that seemed to go OK.

Sunday's mile was not fun. My hamstring barked at me the whole way, every time I lifted up my left foot. By the end of the day, my hamstring hurt when I was walking.

This morning, getting out of bed was not fun, but I figured with some stretching, a nice, easy, very, very slow one-mile run to keep the streak alive would be manageable.

I ran half a block and realized there was no chance I was running a mile on my hamstring in its current condition. I stopped to stretch. Thought maybe I could push on. Tried to run a few more steps and then stopped.

This run streak has been fun. I've really enjoyed the challenge of squeezing in at least one mile each day -- even on days I would typically consider rest days. But this streak is not something to be stupid about.

This is not the time to push through a nagging hamstring thing -- just so I can say I completed the streak.

I've been stupid about stuff like this before and it's never ended well, so this time I'm going to try to be smarter. My hamstring is telling me it needs some time off and maybe a little TLC, and I'm going to grant it that.

Once it loosens up again, I'm hoping to pick the streak back up. I know it's not the same as running the whole time, but I'm working with what I've got going on here and trying to make the best of it.

Half marathon training will be starting in a month or so, and I can't be dealing with some stupid hamstring thing because I held on to this running streak for dear life.

Happy National Running Day friends!

I hope you all go out and get in some miles today to celebrate.



I woke up early this morning to knock out a short four miler before my day was overrun with work projects and before it got to be a million degrees outside.

Summer humidity is hitting DC hard this week, and I was very glad I didn't wear my Garmin on this morning's run. I would not have enjoyed seeing my pace. It felt slow and labored.

But the miles are done, the running streak is still going strong and we're half way through the week! Whoop!

So back in March, I used my super persuasive powers to convince two of my closest friends to sign up and train for their very first 10K.


Meg, me and Emily in Annapolis

And this past Saturday was race weekend!

We all piled into my car Saturday morning after way too few hours of sleep the night before and headed to Annapolis for the Zooma Women's 10K.

I wasn't sure how this race would go for any of us. Emily was at a work event until close to midnight. Meg was at the Nat's game and I had softball, and we didn't get back to my apartment until sometime around 1 a.m.

Definitely setting ourselves up for massive success right there.

But despite ridiculous exhaustion, we all ran pretty awesome races.


After we finished with our medals!

My time was slow for me and nowhere near my PR, but that's probably because somewhere near mile 4, I decided Annapolis was a beautiful city that I shouldn't rush through. So I took a nice long walk break.

And I mean, Annapolis really is a beautiful city, and this course did an amazing job of showing that off. I loved running down Main Street watching the sun glisten off the water. I loved running through the docks and out and around the Naval Academy.

Most of all I loved that the 10K turn-around was right before the Naval Academy bridge, so unlike the poor half marathoners who had to run up and over it, I was spared.



(I remember running that bridge in the Annapolis 10 miler several years ago, and it still haunts me...)

I crossed the finish line, collected my medal (yes, medals for a 10K) and waited for Meg and Emily to finish.

The girls both did awesome, and as a bonus, had a really fun time. I was a little worried they'd be cursing my name somewhere along the course.

We celebrated our awesome race by spending the day relaxing in Annapolis before heading home to watch the Terps baseball team beat South Carolina.

(Then the Terps beat the Gamecocks again last night and so we're going to the Super Regionals for the first time ever!!! Whooo go Terps!)


Victory celebration last night!