July Recap

Well guys, another month has come and gone. July was a good month, but I have a feeling that August is going to be even better! Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s recap July’s running.

Month Recap: July 2018

Workouts: I got in some decent workouts this month and also had some workouts that were cut short or otherwise modified. I actually completed and hit the paces I was prescribed on four of the workouts (in blue below) and the others were all supposed to be longer or different workouts. For example, 3 X 1 mile was supposed to be 5 X 1 mile,  the “fast finish” run was also originally supposed to be a 5 X 1 mile workout (after the first attempt was a bust) and the 3 mile tempo was supposed to have 8 X 400 afterwards. You win some, you lose some. I won more than I lost this month, so at least that’s … something.

3 mi. WU, 3 X 1 mile (5:55, 5:53, 6:30), 3 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 3 X 2 miles (6:49 avg., 6:35 avg., 6:39 avg.), 4 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 3 X 1000 (3:46, 3:42, 3:43), 3 X 600 (2:12, 2:12, 2:14), 3 X 400 (1:24, 1:23, 1:22), 2 mi. CD

10 mi. w/ fast finish for last 3 mi. (6:59, 7:11 and 6:36)

3 mi. WU, 4 X 600 (2:09, 2:09, 2:09, 2:08), 4 X 400 (83, 83, 83, 83), 4 X 200 (39, 40, 39, 38), 2 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 3 mi. tempo (6:39 avg.), 3 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 1.5 mi. threshold (6:20 avg.), 8 X 400 (82, 82, 80, 80, 80, 80, 80, 78), 3 mi. CD

Favorite workout: My favorite workouts were the two ladder workouts where the reps got shorter as the workout went by. I like “front loading” the workout and getting the hard part of the workout out of the way early on. I felt like both of those workouts absolutely flew by, which is always a good thing!

Races: I ran the Shark Run 4 Miler on the Fourth of July!

Favorite race: Months with only one race make me a bit sad, but it doesn’t always work out to run more than one race each month. I definitely enjoyed the Shark Run, but I would’ve enjoyed it a bit more if the course hadn’t been short.

Paces: My paces ranged from 5:53 (second mile of the mile repeat workout, which was too fast and also why I only made it through 3 of my 5 repeats (insert facepalm)) to 9:50 (on the beach).

Miles: 299.7. Ahh! I can’t believe I got so close to 300 and didn’t even know it. It was a bit tempting to go back out and run a third of a mile, but in the spirit of not being *too* crazy, I’ll just let it be.

UPDATE: I was using the total from Strava, but I just looked at Garmin Connect to double check and my total on Garmin Connect was 300.1! I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that Strava rounds everything down to the nearest tenth. Either way, I’m calling it good.

Elevation gain: 14,108 feet! I added this category since a lot of my “easy” runs this month were as hilly as I could possibly make them. I’d like to think that all of this climbing has been beneficial. I know it has. I’m just still not entirely convinced that we are going to be properly trained for the mountains that await us in Colorado.

Longest run: 13 miles. I had 12 runs in the double digits, but never did more than 13 (well … 13.1 to be exact).

Shortest run: 5 miles.

Doubles: 6 days of doubles.

Rest days: 2 rest days.

Coming up: August is going to be a race-filled month! I’m doing a one mile race this Thursday, a 5K next Tuesday, RAGNAR COLORADO next Thursday and maybe a trail race in Auburn the weekend after we get back.

I’m also still ironing out the details of how I am going to get my birthday miles in this year. Ragnar Colorado starts on my birthday and my three legs of the relay add up to close to twenty miles. I’ve just got to figure out how to squeeze in another 13 somewhere along the way. I’m thinking that I might just keep running along the course after I finish my last leg. It’ll be an adventure one way or another!

Tell me: What do you have coming up in August?