Hello! Happy AUGUST! I always love August. It’s my birthday month (woohoo!) and it always seems like August is your last chance scramble to enjoy all the bits of summer you can before fall begins.
While training for the Phoenix Marathon, I used to do monthly recaps where I’d review what went right, and what went wrong for the month. I found it a really useful tool to look at everything by the numbers and try to identify areas where I could improve. I’d like to eventually bring that back into the posting rotation, but since I haven’t been doing any stellar months since February (yikes!), I haven’t posted one. Today at the end of this post, I’ll do a quick recap of how July went for me. In the meantime, let’s get crackin!
I didn’t run with my Garmin much this week, as I wanted to focus on how I felt, rather than my pace. So for a lot of these runs, I went on trails or routes where I knew mile markers so I could turn around when I wanted to. It seemed to work pretty well for me, so it’s something I may incorporate on rest weeks from here on out.
Monday – 4 mile accidental progression run
This was completely accidental and nothing stellar. I set out for my run on Monday after work on one of my favorite urban trails. Since I didn’t know what I wanted out of this week, go hard or step back a bit, I decided to just run and see how my legs were doing, rather than force myself up hills repeatedly. I started out and my first mile clocked in at around a 9 min/mile pace. I cursed myself for wearing my Garmin and tried not to focus on the pace, but focus on my breathing and how my legs felt. I was enjoying the trail and the beautiful day and tried with every ounce of me to not look at my watch. My next mile beeped at 8:30, the third at 8:15 and my fourth at 8:05. I felt tired by the end, but not spent. Towards the the third mile I realized that I was negative splitting, so I pushed myself towards the end to hit under the 8:15, and felt really good. It wasn’t terribly hard maintaining that pace, so I’m happy to actually have proof that as my endurance comes back, my speed should as well!
Tuesday – 1 mile + Deck of cards workout
It was so hot on Tuesday after work. I got home and got ready to go run. I stepped outside and ran about 0.06 of a mile and turned around. It was so hot and my legs felt so heavy and dead. I figured that maybe running on the treadmill would be a better option. I got on the treadmill and got through a mile before my knee started to hurt. I really needed new shoes and I figured that had to be the reason. So, I hopped off and decided to make the day a strength day instead. Deck of cards workout (I’m really loving this workout. Challenging and fast and you can customize it for whatever you want to focus on!): Squats, donkey kicks, push ups and sit ups.
Wednesday – 4 miles total, 2 miles in morning, 2 in the afternoon
I had set my alarm to get up and run early before work, but when 5am came around, I opted for more sleep instead. I got up at 6 and realized I had some time since our lunches were already made (thanks leftovers!), so I leashed Rudy up and we went on a quick 2 mile run.
When I got home from work, I laced up again and ran another two to bring my daily total to 4. Not quite the double I’d like to be doing, but it was kind of nice to split it up throughout the day.
Thursday – 5 miles
I already wrote about the magic that was this run. 5 miles at about an 8:30 pace.
Friday – 3 easy miles
I got my new shoes Friday!
Aren’t they pretty? Brooks, you know how to make a good shoe!
I decided to branch out from my Adrenalines and try out the Ravennas. They’re definitely different, but I like them a lot so far. I’ll do a full review after I have a shot to run in them a few more times.
I took Rudy with me initially, but the boy did not want to run that day. He wanted to sniff all the things. So, I did a mile with him, dropped him off and home and then did another easy 2 miles on my own.
Saturday – Long run, 8.5 miles total
I woke up early on Saturday in order to get my 9 miles in. We had plans to head down to Phoenix that morning to meet up with my folks + little brother who were driving through on their way to Tucson (my bro just moved there to start school! Wooohooo for having him so close!). When I was on mile 2, my mom texted me to let me know that they left an hour earlier so they’d be in Phoenix an hour earlier, sooo I had to cut my run short. I got through 7.5 miles and then we got on the road. I figured I’d finish the last two when we got home with Rudy. Well, nachos and 2 beers happened at lunch and when we got home, I wasn’t feeling super motivated to run. But, I laced up and leashed up Rudy and gave it a shot anyway. We made it a whole half a mile before I decided there was just no way. My legs felt heavy and gross and it was hot out which made me feel even worse. So, we did a mile total and then I went home, had a snack and watched “The Astronaut Wives Club” and napped. It was worth it.
Total miles: 25.5
I’m really happy with how this week went! Even though I didn’t get my goal mileage for my long run, I got close and that’s good enough. My weekly mileage is still increasing steadily and I feel really, really good. Hoping to get back into the 30’s in the next couple of weeks!
July mileage total: 82 miles
I’m pretty happy with getting 80 miles in during July. It makes me wanting to hit 100 in August seem more realistic. I finally feel like I’m getting my mojo back and that makes me really excited to keep running. We’ll see how the next few weeks go in terms of training for the half, but I’m keep an open mind about running the 10k, too. I want to be as healthy and happy (mentally AND physically) as I can be, and I want to run to have fun. So, we’ll see how August goes. July was a great month for me, it started rough in Houston, but I was able to pull together a few really solid training weeks in the last 3 weeks. I’m finally feeling good and excited and hope to keep the momentum going into August!
Have a great Monday everyone and a stellar week!