The Road to the Half: Twelve Miles

Each long run is an entry into uncharted territory for me, and I always wake up these mornings with a feeling of dread.  I won’t be able to do it.  It will be very hard.  How will I manage such a long distance?  All of these thoughts swirl in my head each time I embark on a long run.

I usually try to map out a course on roads mixed with our local trail system to get me to the allotted number.  It’s boring running endless loops in our park, no matter how pretty it is.  But today I didn’t really feel like dodging traffic and cars so I decided to carve out as much mileage as I could on our trails and just repeat it as many times as I needed to.

What I’ve been doing is parking my car somewhere that I will pass multiple times during the run so I can stop for hydration and fuel rather than carrying a water belt.  I have one, but I drained it on my eight mile run a few weeks ago.  I knew it wouldn’t be enough for these longer ones.   So today I packed two big water bottles, a GU gel (first time to try this), and a towel to leave on the front seat and mop off with each time I stopped.

I started out in a flat area in the park.  Even though it was chilly this morning (50 degrees), it took me less than half a mile to start sweating.  Fortunately I had guessed this would happen and ditched my jacket in the car quickly.  From there it was a four mile out and back on our trails before I got to my car for a water stop.

I was feeling pretty good, but still wondering how I would make it if I was only one third of the way done.  I took just a few sips of water, and went for the loop around our lake.  In exactly one mile, I was back at my car, but I bypassed it to add a little mileage before  I stopped again.  This put me at 5.6 miles, nearly halfway, when I stopped again for water and a GU gel.

I’ve never had the GUs before, although everyone says they are the best.  I liked the caramel flavor I chose, and downed it with some water.  I wasn’t sure if it was going to be any better than the M and Ms I used on my last long run, but I was willing to try.

At this point I needed to exactly repeat the route I’d done before and add a little extra at the end.  And I honestly felt really strong until around mile 9.  It was then I had to start doing the mental pep talks:  Just make it to your car and then you can stop.  I started doing the endless math in my head of how many miles would be left when I got there.

It was 10.24 miles in on my RunKeeper when I stopped for more water and to stretch.  1.76 miles to go.

They were, of course, the worst miles of the run.  I don’t know what would have happened if I’d just kept going, instead of stopping at my car, but I just felt so much more tired afterwards.  But I don’t think I would have made it without more water, so it’s kind of a moot point.  I allowed myself a few very short walk breaks for the last loop around the lake and then did the final plod towards my car.

Literally plod.  I felt so heavy for that last half mile, like I was just plodding and hitting the ground so hard with each step.  My feet were killing me.  I knew I was chafing in all sorts of places.  But I was determined and I honestly felt better in this last mile than I did for my 11 mile run last week.  It might have been the flatter course, the cooler temps, the GU gel or a combination of all three, I don’t know.  Maybe it was because I was slower throughout the run, but I felt better today than the last time.

I heard the blessed beep indicating “Workout Complete” on my RunKeeper and slowly shuffled towards my car.  I’m sore, and chafed, and blistered….but I did it.

Wednesday Weigh In: Payback

The scale paid me back for my debauchery on Sunday.  I drank WAAAAAAAAY too much at a Memorial Day party, and despite having run four days in a row, including that morning, the damage was significant.  I probably didn’t eat enough either, which you would think would be good for the scale, but it left me feeling so awful on Monday, I ate my way through that day too.

Honestly, the damage could be a lot worse, it’s only up the smallest amount of 0.2 lbs.  But I was hoping for a loss this week, and it just goes to show you that you can blow a pretty stellar week of choices with a day and a half of not caring.  Here’s the thing though:  last week I was upset at my gain because I didn’t understand it.  I had made pretty much good choices all week and the scale rose.  This week, I know exactly why the scale did what it did, and I own those choices.  I’m not upset about it.  It’s exactly what a deserve, so I’ll take it.

Current Week: +0.2 lbs
Total Weight Left To Lose:  10.8 lbs
Age:  43
BMI:  27.5

The Road to the Half: Hilly Run

Today’s run needed to be five miles, and after a slow to rise morning, it was time to face the music and get out there and get it done.  I did a “vanilla” five miler yesterday with my dog, meaning, I didn’t try to do anything special with the run (other than minimize my dog’s need to stop, smell and pee on everything).

Today I wanted to do a hilly run.  After my four miler last week where I used the big hill in our park and pushed myself, I noticed I definitely saw some improvements in both stamina and speed.  Everyone tells you that part of training needs to be “hill work” along with “speed work” so today I set out for the hill again.

I left my house at about 7:45 and needed to be back by 9:05 or 9:10 at the latest to get my son to his 10:00 appointment on time.  I don’t know if that pushed me a little bit as I started, but at the five minute mark I was a bit faster than I normally am (then again, it could have been that I didn’t have the dog).

I went up my street, and turned the corner away from the park.  This is all uphill, about 70 ft climb.  After that, I went down another side street towards the entrance to the park that is furthest away from my house.  I needed to clock in miles as well as hills.  After the bit of the uphill, at about the mile mark you get a serious downhill.  I love this part, but just as you get to the park entrance, you hit the first big hill.  A quick fifty foot climb left me out of breath as I entered the park, but I didn’t walk.

Into the park, I enjoyed the super flat drive for about half a mile before I started the loop around our little lake.  This is hillier, but nothing huge.  I felt a little winded at this point, I was about half way done.  But I kept on keeping on, reminding myself that the big hill was still in my future, that this was nothing.  A loop around the lake, a few rolling hills and then it was time to tackle the Big Hill.

The Big Hill is about 3/4 of a mile long and a 100 foot elevation climb.  I surprised myself with being able to run the whole first section of it; it was either less of a climb to start than I remembered or maybe I have improved, not sure.  But finally, I had to slow to a walk and start mapping out trees to stop and start at.  I did four intervals of running and walking as I made it up the hill, allowing myself a little bit of walking at the top.

From there I had about .75 of a mile left to get to five miles, but surprisingly, even though I had walked some of the hill, I was on par with yesterday’s run in terms of time.  I continue to be amazed that sometimes “easy” runs are actually harder or slower than supposedly “harder” runs.  I jogged out of the park, looped the nearby (and thankfully mostly flat) neighborhood, before making the final turn towards home.

I made it home by 8:50 and had plenty of time to cool down and shower before leaving for my son’s appointment.  🙂

The Road to the Half: Speed Work

Today I did speed intervals on my treadmill for today’s training run.

It was rainy here this morning so I resigned myself that I would do today’s four miles on the treadmill anyway.  But then I was thinking that treadmills are really great for keeping track of and forcing you to a certain level of speed.  So I decided that I would create some intervals after an initial warm up.

My normal pace for running four miles outside would tend to be around 5 miles an hour or perhaps 5.1 or 5.2 for most of the run.  I tend to run slower on the treadmill, I’m not sure why.  I would probably have maxed out at 4.8 or 4.9, crawling up to 5.0 for some, but not all of the run.

Today, after half a mile, I decided to do two minute intervals.  I did my slow run at 4.7 mph, and then after two minutes, I upped it to 5.5.  I told myself I would do the speed for two minutes, and then the slower jog for two minutes.  I talked myself into upping the speed by a tenth of a mile each time until I hit 6.0.  Once I hit 6, I told myself, I’d dial it back a tenth of a mile again in two minute intervals until I got back to 5.5.

The 5.5-5.7 intervals were fine.  Definitely a bit challenging, but doable.  5.8 was the breaking point.  I made it to 1:45 and then had to stop.  I had to give myself thirty seconds of walking to get back in the game.  After that I told myself I’d do 1:30 intervals from there on out.  Which I did, until 6.0, where I only made it 1:15.

From there I did two minutes of jog, 1:30 of run until I made it back down to 5.5.  That took me nearly to my allotted four miles, which worked out perfectly.

I wouldn’t say I am a fan of the speed work, but I will admit it made the time on the treadmill go much faster, literally and figuratively.  Literally in that my four miles were done several minutes quicker than they would have been done otherwise, and figuratively in the sense that I never got bored because I was always thinking about getting through the next interval.  I definitely did feel a sense of accomplishment afterwards, though.  I can see the benefit, for sure.

Tomorrow is supposed to be five miles, and it is supposed to be rainy again.  I might try hills on the treadmill with the incline in the same type of way tomorrow.  We’ll see.

Wednesday Weigh In – ??

I truly don’t get the scale.

On Monday, I weighed in at my bootcamp class for our weight loss challenge.  It showed exactly what I expected after what I considered to be a great week:  great food tracking, two long runs (10 and 11 miles) and an overall sense of being in control of my food intake and activity level.  Down nearly three pounds, woohoo.

This morning, just two days later, I stepped on my scale and it is up 0.4 lbs. How on earth is that possible?

It’s not even like I ate Chinese food yesterday or am expecting my period or any nonsense like that.  I had a great food day yesterday.  I ate homemade pancakes (whole wheat, made with applesauce not oil) with peanut butter for breakfast, an amazing hard boiled egg and veggie wrap for lunch, and whole wheat pasta (just a small amount) with sauce and two small meatballs and a huge salad for dinner.

I’ve been eating more veggies, less processed food, drinking less wine, more water and exercising more all freaking week.

This is one of those weeks where I just have to trust the process, know I am doing the right things, and assume the scale will respond in kind next time (as it did Monday; I know I haven’t gained three pounds since Monday!).

I need to write more posts about my half marathon training.  It’s getting surreal, these double digit runs.  They are amazingly hard for me, but I am doing them.  I have to plan out when my next one will be….it will be twelve miles.  I am nearly there, to 13.1, which I can’t even really believe.  A few weeks ago seven miles seemed impossible.  I need to write more about these runs and the training as I get into this last month before the race.

Until then…

Current Week: +0.4 lbs
Total Weight Left To Lose:  10.6 lbs
Age:  43
BMI:  27.5

The Road to the Half: Ten Miles

I cracked the double digits today. What I mean is, I ran (well, mostly) ten miles this morning. I’m not posting this to brag or anything even remotely like that. But for me, for a person who has never been athletic, who was the manager on the track team because she couldn’t run, who has been overweight for most of her adult life, this is a big thing. I never, ever in a million years thought I would ever type the sentence “I ran ten miles today” and it would be true. But I did. It wasn’t pretty. It took a long time. I had to walk some of it. But I did it. I ran ten miles today. I didn’t want to say anything about it, but it’s a really big deal for me. I didn’t change the world, I know it’s a first world thing, but it still means something to me, the chubby girl who got the “participant” ribbon at Field Day. I ran ten miles today.

**I posted this to my Facebook page today, hesitant to do so.  The outpouring of support was so overwhelming that I cried.  It would be weird not to mark this milestone on my fitness blog too.  Today was a big day for me.**

Wednesday Weigh In

Down a bit this week, which is good.  Of course you hope for more, but alternatively, any time there is a holiday of any sort, I’m grateful to still lose (Mother’s Day) anything in the course of that week.

Overall not much to say about this week.  I started another weight loss challenge at my bootcamp classes, so I am still feeling the fresh motivation of starting that. There are some new people involved this time, so hopefully the competition with them will keep me a little more honest than last time.

I did feel good about my back to back races over the weekend, and went back out yesterday for another training run.  From here on out my Tuesday runs (unless I have to mix them up due to weather or weekend plans) are supposed to be four mile runs.  I took the advice of my friend the marathon runner and decided to make my short runs a hill run.  There’s a trail near my house that includes a very steep hill.  I ran to it, down it, around a lake, and then back up it.  I couldn’t run the whole thing (especially not after three miles plus in) but I did it as an interval session.  I turned that big hill into three intervals of running and walking (it probably is about a third of a mile long).  In the end, I ran more than I thought I would be able to.  Next week I think I will do the hill twice and cut out some of the flatter parts of the run so I get more hill work.

I am trying to really be aware of food for fuel as I up my mileage and training.  I am finding myself more tired lately and I am sure it has to do with the increase in miles.  I know exercise is supposed to give you more energy, but does that end somewhere when you are pulling long runs?  I don’t know.  But I am going to have to do some more research about it because I really am noticing a difference.

Otherwise, just plan on plugging away this week.

Current Week: -0.4 lbs
Total Weight Left To Lose:  10.2 lbs
Age:  43
BMI:  27.4

Double Race Recap: Back to Back 5K and 10K

So this weekend, for the first time, I ran two races:  a 5K on Saturday, and a 10K on Sunday.  And while I was a little nervous when I planned that out a few weeks ago, by now in my half training it is actually significantly less than I am supposed to be doing on a Saturday and Sunday (should be 5 and then 10 miles this weekend so I am down by about six miles, which I intend to make up Tuesday or Wednesday).

DAWS Wag Your Tail 5K

This is the second year I took part in this.  It is a fundraiser for the local animal shelter where we got our dog.  When I first started running, Gizmo was my constant companion on my runs.  Now that I’m going for longer distances, he doesn’t always join me, but I still couldn’t skip this race.

It had been rainy right up until the start of the race, so when we started, inside a parking garage, it was a challenge.  First of all, my dog was wanting to run ten miles an hour to my five, and he wanted to chase all of the other dogs.  My first ten minutes was spent trying not to slip on the water and telling my dog to heel.

The first mile was mostly downhill out of the parking garage, which felt great.  Totally picked up the pace and cruised along, enjoying the flow.  Until we turned the corner.

A long, slow uphill greeted us there, and pretty much we were running either uphill or downhill for the rest of the race.  The sun had come out and the humidity from the rain that had fallen previously kicked in, and the going got a lot rougher. I finally had to slow to a walk on some of the hills because they were pretty serious.

I stopped at the one water stop, grateful that I didn’t have to drop a poop bag in the trash there (they gave you bags at the start but I had packed my own too) and caught my breath.

It didn’t matter.  The hills honestly got steeper and steeper.  I resigned myself to running them until I thought I would die, and then walking to the summit, and trying to pick up speed on the downhills.  Which is what I did all the way to the end.

Last year, somehow, I ran this course in under 33 minutes.  I have never, ever run a 5K that fast and I was in worse shape last year.  I realized that the course must have been short.  Sure enough, this year, they added a bit to the course (another $#@%$ hill!) to make it a full 5K.  Which was why when I heard RunKeeper chime off 35 minutes in my ear, I was neither surprised or cared much.  Definitely not a PR course by any stretch, but that isn’t why I ran it.

Finally crossed the final pedestrian bridge (so cruel to put a hill at mile 2.9 on a 3.1 mile course) and plodded towards the finish.  There would be no sprint to the end today.  I was absolutely spent, after only a 5K.  That’s how hilly and hot it was.

I only was smiling here because I knew my husband was taking pictures.   I finished in 37:15, which I was not happy about, but I had to remind myself that not that long ago, that was a good time for me, so I am dealing with it.  They did give us a cute finisher’s medal, which was nice.

I will say that the after party food was amazing.  Plentiful fruit, sandwiches and large bottles of water, so I hydrated up before we packed me and my super muddy dog back into the SUV for the ride home.  🙂

Norwalk Mother’s Day 10K

This is another race I ran last year, and I really wanted to run it again to gauge my progress with training.  I didn’t love this race last year, so I really wanted to redeem myself.

The race starts smartly at 8am, which is smart because Mother’s Day can be warm sometimes.  Last year the race started out with a light drizzle but ended with 70+ degrees and sun, so the early start makes sense.  It starts and ends at a beach on Long Island Sound (I type this a lot…I like beach races), so I got to the race site by 7:15.

Of course I took a pre race selfie on the beach.  It was gorgeous out there!

Lots of race day registrations so the race started a bit late.  I spent the time chatting with a woman who was wearing the shirt from the last 10K I ran two weeks ago.  She was irritated that that race hadn’t given race age group awards.  I didn’t even know that; obviously when you finish third from last, you don’t really worry about trophies.  I told her my only competition was myself.  I don’t know if she thought that was admirable or stupid.

Anyway, I positioned myself in the back of the pack as we went out.  This course is billed as “fast and flat” so I was hoping to beat my time from two weeks ago, where the course had a few hills I’d had to walk.

The first few miles were fine.   I found my pace easily.  I knew it was going to be sunny and warm so I added a new piece of equipment to my race gear today:  a hat.  Normally I think hats make me hotter, but I bought a hat last week that is for running with lots of ventilation and air holes.  I knew keeping the sun off my face would help me feel cooler, even if my head was a bit covered.  I definitely was glad I’d done it, because most of the course was in full sun.

I passed probably six or seven people which made me feel good, and didn’t lose the herd until nearly the third mile, which also made me feel good.  But I could definitely tell the heat was catching up with me.  I made sure to stop at the second water stop, because by that time I was sweating so much that my hat was dripping (took me a while to figure out that it was my sweat, I thought I was running under drips!).

I noticed after the second water stop that I felt a bit better.  I definitely was getting dehydrated with the temperatures and the sun.  I found a woman who seemed to be running about the same pace as me and decided to follow her for a bit.  I almost passed her around mile 4.5, but then we had to go over an overpass to I 95.  I decided I’d better just run a little slowly and stick with her to be sure I didn’t run out of energy on the course.

This was the part of the race that I hated last year, miles 4-6.  The sun had been strong that day too and I just ran out of steam.  I walked a lot, even in the flat parts then.  But this year I felt much better.  I could tell a huge difference in my stamina, even though the weather was pretty much the same.  It spurred me on.  I took a bit more water at the last water stop near mile 5.  I couldn’t believe it, but another burst of energy kicked in about half a mile later.  I passed the girl I had been pacing with.  I was tired at this point, but knew the rest of the course was completely flat and tried to kick it up a notch to the end.

I finally saw the clock just as it was turning over to 75 minutes.  I was a little bummed, because it meant that I wasn’t going to beat my time from two weeks ago.  Still, I saw my family waiting for me, so I pushed on and ran as fast as I could to the finish.

Again, I’m only smiling because I knew my husband was taking this photo.  Still, it’s got to be one of my all time favorite photos of me running.  It really shows the story of this race.  I felt so much better heading into the finish line this year.

I crossed at 1:15:15.  I had really wanted to get in under 1:15.  Still, since they don’t do chip timing on this race and I was in the back of the herd, I probably am close to it.  And if it had been the same weather as I’d had two weeks ago for my other 10K, I think I would have beat that time.  Either way, it’s still a solid four minutes faster than last year, and I’ll take that.  To be honest, I think the 10K overall felt easier than the 5K yesterday because it was a flat course.  It was longer, and hotter, but I never had that feeling like I just wanted to stop.  I could have kept going if I’d needed to today, and that felt really, really great.

One thing I have to say is that the after party for this race really was a fail.  I wasn’t the last at all; I saw someone come in a full fifteen minutes after me.  And still, there was no fruit left when I came through, no Gatorade and the only water they had was in big, nasty, muddy jugs that had clearly been left out overnight in the storms.  There were no plastic bags lining the fruit and bagel bins either so it felt super unsanitary.  It was a shame because I like the course and the water stations were well manned but if there’s nothing left for you to fuel up with after a race, it gives you a bad feeling.  I had a sudden pang about five minutes after I finished the race, knowing if I didn’t have some food in my stomach I might be sick.  And there was very, very slim pickings by then.  I felt really bad for those who finished after me (again, not many, but also not one or two either).

At this point I am not sure if I am going to do any more races until the Half Marathon on June 22.  If I do, it’ll be a 5K with a friend or something once.  I need to really be sticking with my training plan and getting in the longer runs, and I really have to acclimate to the heat.  I want to be sure I’m doing everything I can to be ready.  While I love races, I think at this point I’m going to need to really focus on training until the Big Day.

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Wednesday Weigh In

Well, I finally broke the four week gain streak and pulled off a 1.2 lb loss this week.  I was definitely more aware this week of my food and drink choices, but I also think last week’s gain was partly a fluke that made no sense.  Now to bust back down into the 130s (I am 1.8 lbs off my low point that I hit in March) and get back on track towards my goal of losing these last ten pounds.

It’s funny because honestly, that goal takes me to the top of my healthy BMI range.  I follow several health and fitness blogs as well as some “mom” type ones.  Recently, one of my mom bloggers that I follow decided to take off her pregnancy weight.  But here’s the kicker:  she started her weight loss journey at a BMI of 25, which is where I plan on ending up.  She recently declared her weight loss journey “complete” now that she has hit a BMI of 19.5.

If I wanted to hit that same BMI, I wouldn’t have to lose 10 pounds.  I’d have to lose 40.

Maybe I’m lazier than her, maybe I have a slower metabolism, maybe I just know what I am willling (and not willing) to give up, but I just don’t think that I would ever be happy living at that kind of weight.  I suppose that if I was 100 lbs (which is how much I’d have to weigh to hit that BMI) I would be the real expectation of thin:  I’d probably be in a size 2 or 4.  At my height (five feet exactly), that’s probably what a real thin person looks like.

Except I know myself.  My lowest adult weight, ever, I hit when I was 19.  I lived for a while maintaining at 110 pounds.  I exercised via videotapes every morning in my living room.  I didn’t walk, swim, or run.  I ate a lot of Lean Cuisines.  Sure I was thinner, but I certainly wasn’t healthier.  I wore a size 4 or 6 during this time.

My second lowest adult weight was probably held for the longest, which was 125-130.  I lived there for most of my twenties.  By then I’d found a gym, so I was doing more exercise, but I still wasn’t eating very healthfully.  But I certainly was much more conscious and aware, and able to sustain that level without much work.  I wore a size 8 mostly during this time.

The rest of my adult life, I’ve fluctuated between 150-163, depending on babies, exercise, food choices.  These were definitely my heavy years, from 30 to present.  I hit my highest weight in 2007, when I finally went to Weight Watchers.  I weighted in for the first visit at my highest, 163.  I spent the next year working hard and lost 35 pounds, taking my weight right back to where I’d comfortably lived for years in my twenties.  I honestly didn’t feel I could really go much lower.  It was a struggle to get down to that point.

So much of a struggle, that I gained every bit of that 35 pounds back, in five pound increments, over the subsequent two years.  By 2010 I was back knocking on 160’s door.

Things are different now.  First, I exercise more and differently, and I see food often as fuel for that.  Obviously I still indulge and overeat or I would weigh less today and wouldn’t struggle every week with weigh ins.  But I definitely eat a lot cleaner, make healthier choices more consistently, and am a lot more aware of everything I consume.  But secondly, and more importantly, I think I recognize that while the scale is a smart tool for gauging progress, it isn’t the only one.  While I do have a goal weight in mind, I haven’t chosen it arbitrarily to hit a magic BMI.  I chose a goal weight that I think is realistic, healthy, that will allow me to still enjoy life and achieve my fitness goals.

I think the bottom line is I’m not shooting for skinny.  I don’t need to be 100 pounds.  I want to be healthy and fuel my body in a smart way to help me be strong an achieve my goals.  This is a journey, a process and a learning curve all the time.  And I’m OK with that.

Current Week: -1.2 lbs
Total Weight Left To Lose:  10.6 lbs
Age:  43
BMI:  27.5

April Progress Report

April is already over.  Here’s the latest on march to meet goals I set for myself in 2014:

1.  Run at least one race a month.

I’m ahead on this one.  I didn’t run any in January, ran 1 February and 2 in March.  This month I completed the Donnelly Dash 3.5 Mile race and the Minuteman 10K race.  This will help me in say, July or December if I don’t end up signed up for anything.  I’m already signed up for a 5k and a 10K next month so I’ll be two ahead by the end of May.

2.  Run at least 2 10Ks this year.

This is in progress.  I ran the first one this past weekend in Westport and I’ll run the second on Mother’s Day in Norwalk.  I am really excited for the Mother’s Day one since I ran it last year.  Really looking to see some progress based on how the one this past weekend went.

3.  Run a half marathon.

Still training and on target for the 6/22 marathon.  At this point my longest run has been 8 miles, with a 9 miler scheduled for this weekend.  My shorter runs are now 4 and 5 miles.  This is real progress for me.  I am so curious to see how the 9 miler feels this weekend.  The 7 and 8 were both very challenging, but weirdly felt equally challenging.  In other words, once I ran the 7, I was OK during the 8 up until 7.  It seems like that last mile, the new mile, is always the hardest.  Part of that has to be mental.  I am going to have to start carrying my water belt on the long runs.  I parked in the middle of my route for the last one and stopped in the middle for water and that helped.

4.  Finally reach my goal weight.

This one is going backwards, and I have to get back on track.  I’m officially up two pounds in April, so 11.8 lbs to go towards goal.  Need to get my head back in the game.  I thought I was doing better and would erase some of the damage during the last week of April, but the scale didn’t agree.  I want to feel as good about my weight as I do about the progress I am making, and they go hand in hand anyway.  I’ve noticed when I choose better foods and am losing my performance seems to go up.  So need to do better on this front in May.

So glad it is finally starting to warm up here (although we are still having one of the coldest springs I can remember since I’ve lived here) and I can get my runs mostly in outside.  I am not sure how people train for early spring marathons like Boston; I don’t mind running out in the cold but this winter was really tough.  Looking forward to warmer weather and the summer ahead.