Hotter Than July

It's on days like these that I'm thankful I'm a white collar office worker. As much as I sit by my window wishing I could be outside on most days, the last two I've been perfectly content to be stuck in my air conditioned office poring over medical documents. Temperatures yesterday and today were in the high 90s, even on the usually cooler coast.

I got out for a run yesterday morning at about 6:45 and it was still 75, muggy and getting warmer by the second. Speaking of running, I'm officially training for my first marathon in two years: The Smuttynose Rockfest Marathon in Hampton, NH, on Sept. 30.

Actually, this is my fourth week of training. Usually my fall marathons are in October or November, so I had to start a little earlier this time around. So far, so good. I'm doing the Furman FIRST three runs per week method again; it's worked for me in the past and it lets me train well without wearing myself down. This will be my 15th marathon and my first since shutting it down last fall to rehab my right Achilles.

Unlike past years, when I've been able to run at lunch during the week, this time around I've been running before work because my job has required more meetings than before. It's tougher to get away from the office for more than 45 minutes. But I've been enjoying doing the track work and tempo runs, and the long runs haven't been torture...but of course my longest run has been 13 miles so far. Let's see if I'm singing the same song after doing a few 20-milers.

I'm going to do Reach the Beach again in the fall, two weeks before my marathon and maybe a half marathon in October or November if I feel good. I've also lost about 10 pounds since New Year's Day, and that's without engaging in any kind of serious diet or abstaining from stuff like beer. I'm hoping I can drop another 10 as I get deeper into training. But on this sweltering night, I'm going to drink a few cold beers and not feel bad about it. Take it away, JB: