July (2016) Running Challenge

7/1 - Baseball tournament...no chance to run.
7/2 - More baseball!
7/3 - Family day. Not starting the month so well.
7/4 - 3.82 miles on a beautiful, cool morning.
7/5 - Bodypump class, followed by 1.5 miles on indoor track.
7/6 - 4.01 miles through the soupy air...HOLY HUMIDITY!
7/7 - Bodypump class, then 1.5 miles on indoor track.
7/8 - Spin Class. Not sure of mileage. ~50 minutes.
7/9 - Rest Day. Moved a lot of furniture.
7/10 - Bodypump class, then 2.0 miles on treadmill
7/11 - Unplanned rest day.
7/12 - Bodypump class, then 30 minute abs/core class (ouch)
7/13 - 3.8 miles on hotel treadmill. Even the fitness center is hot and humid in Orlando.
7/14 - 3.35 miles on hotel treadmill, then weights.
7/15 - 4 miles on hotel treadmill.
7/16 - Travel day...gotta get home.
7/17 - Bodypump class.
7/18 - Unplanned rest day. Woke up feeling ill...ugh
7/19 - Bodypump class, then 30 minute abs / core class...I so need it, because I suck at it!
7/20 - 4 miles in the thick, wet air. Temperature wasn't too bad, thank goodness.

July 1 - 5 mile run with 3 miles of hills....10 min pilates
July 2 - 2 mi "trail running fail".....4 miles real running :-p
July 3 - 2.5 mi hard run
July 4 - Rest day
July 5 - 3 mi easy run....1.5 mi walk with sprinting intervals....25 min strength/pilates/stretching
July 6 - 4 mi run
July 7 - 30 min indoor cardio, 30 min strength/pilates
July 8 - 6 mile run with 2 miles of hill repeats
July 9 - 5 mi run
July 10 - Sick day
July 11 - 2 mi awful run......40 min cardio/strength circuit type workout
July 12 - 4 mi easy run followed by 1 mi of strides and .5 jog home = 5.5 miles
July 13 - 5 slow miles
July 14 - 20 min light cardio, 20 min pilates
July 15 - 40 min light cardio
July 16 - 8 mi run ***distance PR*** and 25 min pilates/strength
July 17 - 4 mi pretty achy/tired run A.M./1hr40 min rollerskating P.M.
July 18 - 20 min light cardio A.M./pilates and strength later in the P.M.
July 19 - 3 mi run with 1 mi of hill repeats in the middle
July 20 - Brutal, hot 5 mile run

63.5 miles of 60 (all bonus miles go to our invalids) ***I'm starting to think I may actually hit 100 miles this month***

Well, I guess you can't win them all! After last night's run felt too good to be true, this morning I was dying. It was 75F with 85% humidity and I was miserable. I wanted to try and push myself this morning to run faster. I still ended up averaging 10:00 pace due to walk breaks and one calf stretching break. I'm just very frustrated overall with my current pace and the fact that it is taking me so long to warm up basically. Like the last 5 miles of my 8 miler on Sat were average 9:32 pace - yay! But I had to first run 3 miles at average of 10:38 then I was warmed up enough I guess. I want to just go out and run the faster pace like I used to. And I know, I know, it's HOT outside. I'm just frustrated.

@kristinegift Your pics just get better and better Jealous of your weather :-p

@Orphia Love your pics too! I haven't done dark running but this morning was pushing it. I stepped outside at 5:40 this morning and the moon was still big and bright and street lights on, but it didn't feel dark. Sunrise was coming quickly.

@TattooedDolphinGirl78 Great job on your virtual race and PR

@skippygirlsmom I hate trash cans! Half the area I run gets picks up Wed and half Thurs. I don't run Thurs mornings so I avoid it mostly but once in awhile on a Wed I'll get into the other area with Wed pickup and then regret it :-D Of course winter is much better.....

@skippygirlsmom - The Forerunner 225 also has pace alerts that you can set to beep when you are outside of your target pace zone. This might help. Honestly, for me, running with a heart rate monitor really helped me to get a good handle on where my pace is and where it should be. I used it religiously for several months and tracked HR and pace. Now I can just pretty much go on perceived effort and I am generally within a 10 second window of where I think I am.

@skippygirlsmom Looks like the Forerunner 10 has "virtual pacer" which lets you set a target and will let you know if you're out of your target pace range. Although maybe her coach would prefer her not rely on something like that and go by feel? I'm really not great and telling my pace but if it gets difficult to count my right foot falls by 2s, I'm going pretty fast "for me". LOL

RespectTheKitty wrote: »

Since I'm really reluctant to do a real race (hate crowds, can't wake up early), I decided to look into virtual races. There seem to be quite a few virtual 5k races out there for various charities. This looks to be right up my alley. There's even a race to help sharks... who doesn't want to save the sharks??

Does anyone here have any virtual races they're doing? I'm looking for suggestions.

I'm doing quite a few virtual races via my Zombies Run! App. I haven't explored any others outside of that yet. Even though we have races here, I'm not a big lover of crowds. I figure this will be my way to go (except for the colour runs I do).

If you find anything, please let me know though. I'd be interested in seeing what's out there.

@RespectTheKitty: I did one virtual 5K, and it was organized by a running friend who's sister passed away a few years ago, in her 20s, from an asthma attack. I never knew my friend's sister, but the race was in her honor and set up as a fundraiser for an animal shelter she volunteered with. I figured "why not" and participated. It was fun, and it was for a good cause for a friend who supports me in these kinds of things, as well - like participating in my team for various runs/walks to raise money for pancreatic cancer research in honor of my mom.

On a sort-of related note, I am running my first race with a for profit company in the Fall. I am not super excited about this, but a friend really wants to run it, so she created a team and asked me to join. We'll see how that goes. I'm a little leery of the whole thing, but on the other hand, it does look like a fun run.

@kristinegift: I am so happy for you! You had a great run, set up a home visit, and are super close to a job offer. My fingers are crossed that the job offer works out for you.

@kristinegift -congrats on the almost job offer. Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Lovely pics too!

1/7: 4.5 Miles
3/7: 8.1 Miles
5/7: 6.5 Miles
7/7: 6.3 Miles
9/7: 9.0 Miles
11/7: 5.1 Miles
13/7: 6.3 Miles
15/7: 5.1 Miles
17/5: 5.1 Miles
20/7: 3.7 Miles