Mobile Bay Runner

A Blog by Sam Yeager-Allen

June Recap

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Y’all. The year is half way over! Isn’t that insane?

Month Recap: June 2018

The Running

Workouts: I got in some pretty solid efforts workout-wise this month. My new routine basically has me doing workouts on Tuesdays and Saturdays with doubles on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The schedule seems to be working pretty well and I’m trying to stick to it as much as possible.

2 mi. WU, 10 X 400 w/ 400 recovery (86, 84, 83, 84, 85, 83, 83, 83, 83, 81), 3 mi. CD

3 mi. WU, 1 X 1600 (5:53), 4 X 800 (2:56, 2:56, 2:53, 2:57), 3 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 13 X 1:00 hard (5:51 pace) w/ 1:00 jogging recoveries, 3 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 12 X 1:30 hard (5:50 pace) w/ 1:30 jogging recoveries, 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 6 X 1000 (5:49 pace) w/ 2 minute standing recovery, 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 1 X 1600 (6:17), 6 X 400 (86, 90, 89, 91, 93, 99), 2 mi. CD

2 mi. WU, 1600 (6:05), 800 (2:58), 400 (1:29), 1600 (6:07), 800 (2:59), 400 (1:28), 2 mi. CD

Favorite workout: My favorite workouts were the 10 X 400 and 12 X 1:30. Whether you run by time (1:30) or distance (400 meters), the workout is essentially the same if you are running close to 6:00 per mile pace. Both of these workouts went really well for me and I’ve actually been enjoying the timed intervals. I have pretty much trained exclusively by distance in the past, so it’s a nice change of pace (not literally). I also don’t really recall enjoying 400s much in the past, but I’ve definitely been enjoying them here recently.

Races: I ran the Grandman Tri Relay on June 2 and the Hot Trot 5K on June 16.

Favorite race: Hot Trot was definitely my favorite race this month. Oftentimes the best races have nothing to do with the time on the clock and have everything to do with who you shared the experience with.

Paces: My paces ranged from 5:53 to 11:31 (with Brooks).

Miles: 262. I likely have one more month of “lower” mileage and then things will start heating up (hopefully as the temperatures start to cool down).

Longest run: 12 miles.

Shortest run: 4 miles.

Doubles: 6 days of doubles.

Rest days: Just one and it was not scheduled.

Miscellaneous: I did several Jasyoga videos (like 10!), played tennis, did lots of planks, went fishing, rode a bike and went paddle boarding. It was an active month outside of running!

The Other Stuff

Current activity: Packing for a quick weekend trip to the beach!

Current blog: Eat Run Pavement (aka Gazzellie). She lives in a van and is an amazing runner. I’m super intrigued. Edited to add: I just read her latest post and apparently she doesn’t live in her van anymore, but her blog is still very cool regardless.

Current confession: I just can’t get behind the #sportsbrasquad and #ihavearunnersbody hashtags. While I think that the creators of both hashtags mean well and I likely agree with them on a lot of their thinking, I just don’t understand the need to bring more attention to our bodies as runners. I think the hashtags should be #modestishottest and #iamarunner.

Current drink: All the drinks! I am pretty regularly drinking at least four drinks after I run.

Exhibit A – A random weekday at work. 32 oz. of Nuun, 32 oz. of plain water, 20 oz. protein shake and some coffee!

Exhibit B – A standard weekend morning at Warehouse. Nuun, a protein smoothie (it has orange juice, peaches, banana and protein powder), diet coke (because sometimes carbonation just sounds simply AMAZING) and a cold brew coffee.

Current excitement: We will be headed to Colorado in just over one month! Ahh!

Current fail: I had a pretty epic auto-correct fail this week where running was changed to rubbing. So embarrassing.

Current game: Tennis! I played last week and I really hope to be able to add it back a bit more regularly. It should be noted that I was extremely sore in my upper back for days after I played. Apparently there are muscles back there that running and planking don’t touch.

Current habit: Listening to podcasts in the car. There are so many regular podcasts that I enjoy listening to that I can’t keep up with them solely “on the run.” Granted I run with other people 95% of the time, so my podcast listening runs are fairly limited anyway.

Current indulgence: Ice cream and popsicles. Our air conditioning saga continues and cold treats seem to be the only logical solution. It’s like science or something.

Current joke: I’ve got two jokes to share this month, courtesy of Daniel.

Why did the toilet paper roll down the hill? It wanted to get to the bottom.

I ran into a girl at a vegan restaurant who said she knew me … but I never met herbivore!

Current knowledge: Did you know that you can add customizable workouts to your Garmin? I just learned how to do this (shout out to Mollie!). I knew how to program the workouts that were the same interval length, but I had no idea that you could create workouts that have various distance (or time for that matter) repeats. You can’t do it directly from your watch (at least I can’t … I have a Forerunner 235), but can create them using your Garmin Connect app. If you click on “more” at the bottom right and then click on workouts, you can create customized workouts that you can send to your watch. I tested it out on my last workout this month and it worked quite well. The workout was varying distances and had the recoveries by time. It took me a little bit to get it all setup (it was about 15 different things between the warm up, cool down and the workout itself), but I did it and I didn’t have to think about what I was doing when I was running. Very nice.

Current list: Does maintaining my training log count as a list? I think it does.

Current mood: Content.

Current need: To be cool (and I don’t mean in a “hip” sort of way).

Current obsession: Moe’s Southwest Grill. There aren’t a lot of vegetarian options here locally, but Moe’s has definitely become a go-to option. I get the “earmuffs bowl” with rice, black beans, tofu, guacamole, mushrooms, tomatoes and cucumbers. It’s delicious and seems to work well as a good night before a workout or long run meal.

Current procrastination: I’ve been driving around with a case of Gatorade and a case of Propel in the back of my car for about a week now. I couldn’t carry all of the groceries at once, so I just left a couple of the non-refrigerated items that wouldn’t go bad in the car. Of course, it is about the same temperature in my car as it is in our house currently, so I don’t guess it really makes much of a difference.

Current quote: The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

Current rave: Did anyone else follow Western States? A few weeks ago we watched the Coconino Cowboys videos on YouTube and we’ve enjoyed following along with Jim Walmsley’s journey. He is so incredibly talented! I was really excited to see him finally get the win and the course record at Western States!

Current show: New Girl! Apparently there was an entire season on Netflix that we hadn’t seen before! Major score.

Current uncertainty: I’m still trying to decide on a late fall marathon. The frontrunner currently is the Philadelphia Marathon. It’s supposed to be a really good course. I don’t really want to take my chances on a marathon in the South during November or December when it could be realistically be 50 degrees or 80 degrees with no way to know for sure until the week of. I want to go ahead and register for something soon though.

Current vegetable: We’ve gotten into the Green Giant rice veggies recently. My two favorites are the cauliflower and broccoli and the cauliflower and sweet potato ones.

Current want: I really want to go paddle boarding this weekend. I hope that the gulf is calm enough in the morning for me to go one day. Edited to add: I got to go!

Current yearning: Simplicity.

Current zone: Tropical!

What is currently going on in your life? Fill me in!

14 thoughts on “June Recap”

  • Wow! I wish I could run as much as you … I think my hip would BREAK if I tried to run as many days during the week as you. But I can spin till the cows come home … so I do that instead! I do have an 18 miler tomorrow morning and it is going to be a KILLER. It is very HOT and HUMID here in the midwest. I am hoping so stay very cool tonight and then grab an extra large iced coffee after my run in the morning. 😉

    Where are you heading in Colorado? I know you’re from the south … but have you ever considered heading north to Minnesota for the Grandma’s Marathon? Its not till next June BUT it might be a good one to look at.

    • I would love to do Grandma’s at some point. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about it! We are headed to Breckenridge. Well, actually the race starts there and then finishes in Snowmass, so I think we’ll likely be a little bit all over the place. I hope your 18 mile run went well and that you got that iced coffee! That’s a lot of miles in this heat and humidity. I am a one trick pony for sure, so I can’t imagine biking or spinning. I know it’s great cross training though!

      • Wow … I LOVE Colorado. I think i’ll have to look into a race in Colorado soon. My parents have a place in Steamboat, Co and I need to be in the mountains very soon. 🙂

        • I love Steamboat! We went there last May and had a wonderful time. I actually ran a 50K while we were there and that was definitely a challenge! It seems like there were lots of other races going on as well though. I wish we had family with a place there. You should definitely take advantage of that!

          • I totally do my best to take advantage of it whenever I can. If you are ever looking for a place to stay when you’re back in Colorado let me know my parents do rent the condo and I honestly love it when others get to enjoy the views! 🙂

  • Wow! I wish I could run as much as you … I think my hip would BREAK if I tried to run as many days during the week as you. But I can spin till the cows come home … so I do that instead! I do have an 18 miler tomorrow morning and it is going to be a KILLER. It is very HOT and HUMID here in the midwest. I am hoping so stay very cool tonight and then grab an extra large iced coffee after my run in the morning. 😉

    Where are you heading in Colorado? I know you’re from the south … but have you ever considered heading north to Minnesota for the Grandma’s Marathon? Its not till next June BUT it might be a good one to look at.

    • I would love to do Grandma’s at some point. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about it! We are headed to Breckenridge. Well, actually the race starts there and then finishes in Snowmass, so I think we’ll likely be a little bit all over the place. I hope your 18 mile run went well and that you got that iced coffee! That’s a lot of miles in this heat and humidity. I am a one trick pony for sure, so I can’t imagine biking or spinning. I know it’s great cross training though!

      • Wow … I LOVE Colorado. I think i’ll have to look into a race in Colorado soon. My parents have a place in Steamboat, Co and I need to be in the mountains very soon. 🙂

        • I love Steamboat! We went there last May and had a wonderful time. I actually ran a 50K while we were there and that was definitely a challenge! It seems like there were lots of other races going on as well though. I wish we had family with a place there. You should definitely take advantage of that!

          • I totally do my best to take advantage of it whenever I can. If you are ever looking for a place to stay when you’re back in Colorado let me know my parents do rent the condo and I honestly love it when others get to enjoy the views! 🙂

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