The Summer Racing Doldrums

I don't have a whole lot to say (by my standards) about today's 5 mile race. I don't feel like I ran badly and I don't feel like I ran well either. I've just felt a bit out of shape recently---I added 5-7 pounds or so over the last year and I ran really well this winter in spite of that but as it gets hotter outside it just makes me feel kind of crappy when I run and like I could make my running so much easier by just being a little lighter. My times are still a still step up compared to where I was year ago, but my cardio fitness is much better and I'm running a lot more than a year ago so I don't really want to compare myself to then because I know there is so much more out there for me to improve and I just don't feel race fit if that makes sense. The fact also is that I'm not in the shape I was in April and I just feel like I'm slogging through some of these shorter races right now, even some of the fast running I've been doing just doesn't feel very fast and I just don't have the sense of my muscles being full of energy and propelling a fine-tuned body over the ground (LOL).

On that note I ran a 30:11 today in my 5 mile race. Only 15 seconds off the PR I set in January, but basically the same pace I ran for 10 miles and a 15K in March and April. I went out too fast in the first mile trying to hang with someone who I used to be at the same fitness as in the winter and went through mile 1 in 5:48, then I hit 5:58, 6:19 in the hills, 6:06, and 6:00.

I think I need to start doing my core workouts and leg weights in the gym again so that I feel strong and explosive like I did at the beginning of the winter season. Maybe the problem is the summer weather and that I didn't really take much time after the marathon to recover and regroup, or that I've been racing a lot lately including track races midweek, but as I run through this summer heat particularly it is obvious that getting a little lighter would probably go a long way to making me feel sharp again. I sort of feel like I'm getting by in shorter races while feeling out of shape but if I were to run another long race I would really struggle. In spite of all that the plan is to just keep running more, try to lose a little of that added weight, get my core muscles back into shape, and do a lot of shorter races. I'd like my times to drop in the summer and fall but that's not really my goal right now, I just want to get that sense of being a well-oiled fit machine back that I've had at other times in my running life. My best racing and improvements have usually come in the winter anyway so I just want to prepare myself well for then and put in myself in a position to succeed and keep running healthy. I'll do something with a fall marathon probably but I'm just going to go for it and not really let whatever the race or races are dictate or consume my training and hopefully I might be able to pick off 3 hours (which wouldn't be a fitness improvement from where I was in March and April for sure or even in May minus the week of race strep throat), but I'm not looking for anything too special until the winter of next spring, I just want to get my running mojo back right now.