A Summer Training Pep Talk

HEY EVERYONE. The time has come. School is out, and summer training is here in all its blood, guts, and glory.

But let's get something straight. We ALL know (but some are afraid to admit) that summer training is some of the hardest work you'll ever do. There will be blisters. There will be sore muscles and sun burn and sweat. There will be rainy days and hot days and humid days and days when you really just don't want to get out of bed because if you have to run up one more hill you might implode and you're pretty sure your running shoes are still wet from last nights practice.  There will be intervals, over-distance workouts, sprint workouts, strength workouts, and workouts you probably didn't think were logically possible (cough, "Back To Your Roots" runs, looking at you Coach Tommy Boy). There might (in my case most likely will, because I'm Paige) be tears.

The fact is, summer training is hard. It's designed to be hard. That's why we do it!

These next few months are when the work gets done. We drop the distraction of classes and racing, and hit the roads and trails. This is the time when it's acceptable and actually perfectly warranted to hurt badly during a workout, because we don't have races to worry about, and recovery is probably around the corner. This is the time when we have entire days to spend out running around in the mountains, putting in huge hourly weeks that we didn't imagine we could do. This is what helps us make huge strides come winter and race time. This is when we get tough.

So embrace it! How lucky are we that we thrive on being outside, on working hard, and on pushing our limits? How AWESOME is it to wake up early and be done with a workout by ten AM, and to have the entire day stretching before you hit the roads in the afternoon? How sweet is it to nurse our sore muscles and war wounds and be proud of what we've accomplished? We take it for granted, but our ability to carry us across trails that the normal population doesn't see is pretty darn incredible. And it makes it even better to be surrounded by teammates that are just as excited as we are.

So if you find yourself tired and exhausted and sweaty and stuck asking, "Should I do one more interval? Should I really go for that run? Should I try increase the weight that I'm lifting? Should I really get out of bed this early?"

SAY YES. 

This is the time. 

Summer training should be seen as an opportunity to push yourself to new levels. 

So use it.