I haven’t blogged much about running recently because my running schedule has gotten a bit– I hate to use the word– boring. Since I work outside four days a week for ten hours a day, I’ve been using my three off days to get my 15-20 miles in. I confess: it’s been much closer to 15 rather than 20 these days (it’s also getting so hot outside).

Sundays I do four or five miles, Monday has become my new long run day, and Tuesdays I close out the week with another 4/5 miles. My long runs are still 7-10 miles, which is great, but my running schedule is far from ideal.

I’ve also been doing my strength training after my runs, which means that all my working out is condensed into three consecutive days, and then I don’t do anything for the next four. After four days of not working out, it feels weird to run, and then my muscles are exhausted by Tuesday. Again, it’s not great.

I’m trying to force myself to do some mid-week yoga after work one day a week, but so far I’ve just gone straight from work to eating dinner, to watching my newest favorite show (AMC’s Turn), to bed.

However… there is one shining light in my workout world: I signed up for my next half marathon! It’s a Rock ‘n’ Roll race next April, which means that even if I fall off the running bandwagon while I’m abroad, I’ll have time to train.

Even though it’s almost a year away, it does give me some motivation to keep running! And I’ve got to say, it felt pretty great to be able to answer “no” when the registration page asked if it was my first half marathon.

How do you guys stay motivated? Any tips from running in the summer heat?