Summer Running...

Had me a blast... Summer running.... happened so fast. For some reason that brings to mind the tune to Summer Nights from Grease. Although, admittedly, I'm not having a blast, and this summer running is certainly not fast. After a 12 mile run on Saturday morning in the Chicago summer heat, I was nothing but slow and miserable. I had forgotten the importance of hydrating before a run on a hot summer morning, since I really haven't run in any super hot temperatures yet this year. But I was brutally reminded immediately after finishing when I felt like a train was barreling through my head. Heck, I'm just now starting to feel normal again 2 days later.

I'm already dreading those 20 milers coming up this summer as I prepare for Chicago's Bank of America Marathon in October. Although, somehow, a 197-mile relay in Oregon has been incorporated as part of my training. How the heck did that happen? And more importantly, how am I going to train in Chicago for a mountainous run from Mt. Hood to the Pacific coast? I did have a nice rolling hill run in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan last weekend, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to do more than one set of rolling hills to have even a slight chance at not keeling over during the Hood to Coast Relay. If any of you have ideas on where I can find some hills in the Chicago-land area, let me know.

So my mantra this summer...hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. And try to drag my arse out of bed earlier than 10 a.m. to beat some of the intense heat. Of course, I could follow the lead of Bob, owner of Bob-San Sushi (which is delicious, by the way) and run at 3 a.m. after strategically hiding bottles of water throughout my pre-mapped course. I'll be looking for his ponytail during the Chicago Marathon and maybe if I look tired and pathetic enough I can get some post-race sake out of him. Sake counts has hydration, doesn't it?