July 2021 Monthly Running Challenge

Zoomie402

@kgirlhart that would make things very interesting 😂 a donkey with its own house 🤣

quilteryoyo

@kgirlhart Great run in those conditions. The donkey is hilarious. I guess he has his own house. It looks like he has a halter on. I hope someone is making sure he had water.

@Avidkeo Your girls did great! Looks like they are going all out. Hope they enjoyed it.

@Zoomie402 Cats can be funny animals. My mom and dad had a cat that would follow them on their walks. They never went a mile, but we thought it was funny. Great job on your workout.

Scott6255

7 miles this morning. Another soupy one...75F, 74F dew point, 0 wind. When I started, I was determined to take it considerably slower than normal due to the weather, plus I need to make easy days considerably slower than normal. But after mile 3 my brain just wouldn't let me do it, so I added a couple fartleks during each mile, and made myself go slow in between. Those last 4 miles averaged out to being my easy pace goal for the end of summer, so hopefully with nicer weather it will be achievable.

penguinmama87

Going to try and reply a little to the others here! Love seeing the pictures!

@martaindale Scorpions are horrifying! I'm also on team "no gross bugs thank you," and anytime I'm tempted to complain about our cold winters I remind myself that the cold temperatures are the only thing holding the truly disgusting critters back. I second the question about if there's a way to keep them out of your house!

@polskagirl01 So sorry to hear about your race! I would be so irritated if it were me. I'm a big planner and having things cancelled at the last minute really bothers me. Sometimes it's inevitable, but if it looks like just flakiness it really gets to me.

@Zoomie402 Welcome! Love that the kitties kept you company!

@quilteryoyo I'm glad the NP was willing to listen even if she was a little dismissive at first. This is random but how is Zaxby's? My husband and I have passed a few when we've travelled for vacation and we've always wondered if it's any good - sampling other regional fast food can be a fun and relatively inexpensive hobby.

@kgirlhart That donkey is cracking me up. Can we say it has an expression on its face? It sure seems to have one.

@Avidkeo so cool to see your girls running too! My two oldest children (10 and 8) are actually starting cross country next week. We used to homeschool but they will be going to school in the fall and organized athletics was one of the things they were most excited about trying, so I hope they like it!

Now here's me:

Distance Log:
July 2: 4.58 miles
July 5: 4.51
July 7: 4.61

Goal: 13.7/40 miles

Very humid and warm but doable. My pace was a little sluggish but I'm experimenting with some elevation changes too rather than trying to keep to as flat a route as possible (which is relative, where I am it's very hilly so unless I run at a track it isn't flat.) When I got home I decided to chill out for a little bit with the change to the cooler air inside and drink some water before taking a shower, and I felt much better than under similar conditions last week.

I'm also trying to spend more time outdoors before the worst heat of the day arrives, and I think that helps.

Tramboman

7-1 4k tempo
7-2 7k tempo
7-3 7k measy (between moderate and easy)
7-4 7k measy
7-5 rest
7-6 7k measy
7-7 6k measy (but a lot closer to easy than moderate)

July Total: 38k
July Goal: 150k

Hazy sunshine; low 70s F; humid, with little wind. Seemed hotter than yesterday. Saw Queen Anne's Lace in bloom; saw cornflowers in bloom last week. When I was young, those two flowers heralded the end of summer. Now, they are blooming in mid summer.

@kgirlhart Looks like the donkey needs the Property Brothers to stop by and do some renovations.

@Avidkeo Girls are darling!!!

When you pop in here claiming your December 2021 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?

PUT THE FUN BACK IN THE RUN!
Return to a good running weight of 175 lbs (second attempt)

2021 Races:

6/26 Direction Up 5k, Solon, OH 31:48 chip; 31:59 Garmin; 2d male 65 and over
7/17 Run of the Ox 5k, Mantua, OH
9/18 5k Run and Roll, Aurora, OH

martaindale

polskagirl01 wrote: »

@ContraryMaryMary and @Avidkeo you're missing out on all the fun with no natural predators. Maybe we could convince a stoat or wild pig to chase you next time you're out

Hahaha! Yeah, danger keeps you on your toes!! The gnats are super annoying though. I've had one stuck to my eye after I got home too - so gross!

@polskagirl01 Sorry they cancelled your race. That sucks!

martaindale

@kgirlhart That donkey is hilarious!

@Teresa502 @quilteryoyo Pest control can only take you so far. Just like any other pest, there will be some that get through. The house has been treated. I did read that scorpions don't like lavender, so I will be planting some outside every door!!

martaindale

July total: 8.7 miles

7/3: 3 miles
7/5: 2.7 miles
7/7: 3 miles

Another hot and humid run. Got out early enough to take advantage of some cloud cover.

Zoomie402

@penguinmama87 I'm with you on the team no yuck bugs and winter. I absolutely hate winter, but after being greeting by a massive spider on my front porch this morning, I'm ready for them to all just go away! What area do you live in to get the hilly conditions? I'm in Nebraska and we get a good mix of both, and it gets really oppressive here with heat in July and August. Yuck.


I work 12 hours today, and have a 2 hour writing assignment due by 11:59pm. I'm hoping to get a few miles in during breaks. Frustrating that I can't do it all at once today. It was thunderstormy this morning, so I couldn't get out before work. But, I'll take what I can get, even if that means a mile here and there. I need to also remember that I am getting my foot back into shape, so taking those smaller spurts is probably for the best anyway. I really miss being able to just bang out 6 miles easy peasy I'll get there again though.

WhatMeRunning

Welcome @Zoomie402 hope you get some time in to run, and more importantly rest!

@sweetdaisy13 seems like the right idea to take a break from those isometrics for a bit. I often struggle trying to get the right balance of strength training for my running and have to adjust.

Good to hear that the cardio thinks you're OK @quilteryoyo hope that experience during tennis was just a fluke.

@kgirlhart I've heard of donkey squats, but a donkey squatter??? Now I've seen and heard just about everything imaginable!

Congrats on the girls doing cross country @Avidkeo that is awesome!

@Scott6255 is it possible your easy pace is already there?

As for scorpions, I've never had to deal with them before. Thankfully. I suspect I wouldn't like them.

For everyone who asked, my brother is doing well. He took too much medication on accident, developed a fast heart rate from it, had a panic attack and admitted himself. He was fine and required no treatments other than a saline drip to help dilute/flush his system. I didn't think of it at the time until just typing that out how we both went in just a few days apart over fears over our heart rate. Go figure! Weird universe remains weird.

WhatMeRunning

7/1 - 6.49 miles, midweek long run (90 mins Z2)
7/4 - 1.54 miles, aborted long run (20 mins Z2)
7/6 - 3.71 miles, threshold run (30 mins Z4, 15 mins Z2 (warm-up and cool-down))
7/7 - 3.45 miles, easy effort (45 mins Z2)

July Total: 15.19 miles
July Goal: Originally 135 miles, but will take any number greater than zero

Today's run was decent even though it was warm and humid. Not sure of the dew points (haven't looked) but it is about to rain and lows have been in the 70's, so by 8am it was probably mid to upper 70's and humid as can be.

penguinmama87

Zoomie402 wrote: »

@penguinmama87 I'm with you on the team no yuck bugs and winter. I absolutely hate winter, but after being greeting by a massive spider on my front porch this morning, I'm ready for them to all just go away! What area do you live in to get the hilly conditions? I'm in Nebraska and we get a good mix of both, and it gets really oppressive here with heat in July and August. Yuck.

I'm in PA, so very hilly (really more mountainous, though our mountains are definitely not as intense as further West). Hot and very humid summers and cold winters, though neither are truly oppressive. Purely in terms of climate, I actually wouldn't mind living a bit further north, where we could get away without A/C and would have more snow (I figure if it's cold it might as well look pretty too). But we live where my husband grew up and I really do think of it as the best place in the world.

skippygirlsmom

7/1 – 3.02
7/2 – 5.02
7/2 - .50 cool down
7/3 – 4.02
7/4 – 1.05 with pups
7/4 – 1.44 hiking down and back up from swim basin
7/5 – 4.67 trails
7/5 - .41 cool down to get to 5 miles
7/6 – rest day walked the dogs
7/7 – 4.03

24.16 of 65 miles

Welcome @Zoomie402 12 hour shifts are tough. I’m also coming back from a foot injury so same here, slow and steady coming back. I laughed so hard at the cats, I gets lots of stray dogs with me, but never cats.

@sweetdaisy13 regarding the knee pain, have you added more mileage than usual? How many miles are on your shoes? My daughter went through the same type of hurt while running and sleeping and she had tendinitis in both knees, I’d keep an eye on it for sure.

@quilteryoyo glad you explained the pounding situation to the NP sounds like a good plan of action if it happens again. Glad you had a chance to visit your cousin and he is doing well.

@WhatMeRunning glad your brother is on the road to recovery

@kgirlhart I’m laughing too hard about the donkey, that is crazy, he’s just like hey there! He really needs a straw hat with fake flowers, no idea why just seems appropriate. We have lots of donkeys in fields here because they keep the coyotes out of the fields and away from the livestock. Nice size fox.

@Avidkeo you know I love watching girls running XC!!! Great form on both of them.

We don’t have scorpions here but until I got rid of my pool and fish pond I’d find black widows a lot. Ugh!

sweetdaisy13

@WhatMeRunning I'm definitely going to stop the squats and wall sit isometric exercises I do for a while, to see if my knees stop aching.

@skippygirlsmom I have 3 pairs of running shoes on the go at the moment: Trail, Road and Barefoot shoes. It's definitely not the shoes causing knee pain.

Also, I've not really changed my running mileage/terrain so have to rule that out.

Back in November, I fell badly during a run as our Local Authority has the bright idea (no pun intended!) of turning off street lights during winter to save money and it was dark and I went flying over a raised paving slab and cut my knee open.

My knee has not been 100% since then, but it hurts more at night sleeping than it does at any other time. Running seems to ease it. I'm starting to think I may have the start of arthritis in my knees. Both of my parents have it too.

sweetdaisy13

6.3 mile run, average pace 9:36 min per mile with 608 feet of elevation.

July cumulative:
25.7/100 miles
2,630/10,000 feet of elevation

Zoomie402

@sweetdaisy13 injuries like that are rough! There are so many reasons why turning off street lights seem dangerous, and tripping hazards are just the tip of that iceberg. I have arthritis in my right wrist that I once believed was carpal tunnel. Hopefully some rest will set you back on track.

sweetdaisy13

Thank you @Zoomie402, I'll continue running as it's more of an ache than a hurting pain when I run. I'll change my strength and conditioning workouts so that I take a break from squats and wall sits. I may incorporate some resistance band work and it will be a case of trial and error to see what works.

rheddmobile

5 miles on trails this morning. Humid but not too hot. Ate so many spiders. One went in my eye socket and my husband had to pick it off my eyelid - turns out it was an arrowhead spider, they are harmless and kinda interesting looking, their butts are triangle shaped.

Our trailhead looked like this! Can you believe!

This doesn’t even begin to capture it. Just fireworks and beer trash everywhere. People are so irresponsible. And the worst of it is, the trailhead isn’t very large and sits in the middle of dense underbrush and woods, so they were detonating the fireworks over the woods. If a fire started it would take out a hundred acres and no emergency vehicles would be able to get to it. I enjoy fireworks but I am half past sick of the people who use them.

quilteryoyo

Nice running @Scott6255 !

@penguinmama87 I like Zaxby's. It's a lot better than "normal" fast food. It's worth a try if you are near one. If you are ever in upper E. TN, the place to try to find is Pals. Most people really like it. I like both their burgers and their chipped ham.

Thanks all with regards to my cardiology visit and my cousin. Love the care and concern of this group.

Nice running @sweetdaisy13 ! Hope you knee starts feeling better.

@rheddmobile Great job on the run. I hate running into spider webs. I always feel them crawling on me when they aren't. I've seen the arrowhead spiders before. They are pretty neat looking, but wouldn't want one in my eye! All of that trash is beyond ridiculous!

quilteryoyo

7-1 2.1 miles running and 1.0 mile walking (Hill Repeats after cutting cedars for almost 1.5 hours)
7-2 0.0 miles running but 1.0 mile walking on treadmill (also played doubles tennis this morning)
7-3 9.0 miles running, 1.0 mile walking (easy pace, but not an easy run)
7-4 0.0 miles running, 1.0 mile walking laps on the driveway
7-5 2.3 miles running, 1.0 mile walking (also played doubles tennis for almost 2 hours, outdoors)
7-6 0.0 miles running, 1.0 mile walking
7-7 1.0 mile running, 1.0 mile walking (fast mile)

MT = 14.4/70 miles running: 7.0/31miles walking

I worked the 6:30 - 3:30 shift at daycare today. I was in the 3-4 year old classroom. That can be a tough age. Today wasn't horrible, but wasn't easy either. Too much drama when they don't get their way.

I'm trying to get used to going with mom to church on Wednesday nights. It's been a really long time since I have gone on my own, but she likes the person who teaches at her church, so I try to take her. I like him too, so don't mind going, but I do have to take that into account when trying to get my run in. Today, I was only home for 1.5 hours between work and leaving for church. I am working 7:30-4:30 tomorrow, so will be getting up early again. I wanted to get in some running, but knew I wouldn't have time for the scheduled 30 min easy run. Instead, I decided to do my normal half mile of warm up and cool down walks and run one fast mile on the treadmill. I had hoped I'd be able to get a PR, which is 9:20 min, according to Garmin, or at least under 10 minutes. I just didn't have it in me today. I had to run at 5.5 mph for a couple of minutes and that did me in. My time was 10:05 minutes. Close, but no cigar.