July (2016) Running Challenge

2nd Half of the SF Marathon completed. Did the 1st half last year so I qualified for the 'Half it All' Challenge medal which is very cool! The race was great - very cold and drizzly initially and then it felt great. MapMyRun had issues so I had no idea what my pace was throughout the race and initially kept trying to slow down. Based on MMR I ran 14.5 miles instead of 13.1! A pretty huge difference. I tried to be conservative at first to see how my knee would be but then it seemed fine and I just ran. I ended up running most all of it (I did stop to take a couple of pictures in Golden Gate Park and at the corner of Haight and Ashbury) and I had plenty left at the end to power right through to the finish. I am sure I could have pushed harder earlier on but at least I finished with energy to go rather than feeling defeated. I was very surprised that I was 15th in my age group out of 34 and right in the middle of the women overall - very happy with that.
Guess I will start doing a bit more speed work now that I have focused on and built up a good base.

Haven't had time to read all the posts but it looks like everyone finished out the month with great results! My extra miles over goal (26.26) go to @Elise4270 and anyone else sitting on the sidelines.

On to August!

Date.........Miles........Total
07/01.......6.28.........6.28
07/02.......7.36.......13.64
07/03.......0.00.......13.64
07/04.....13.50.......27.14 - ShePower Virtual HM
07/05.......4.13.......31.27 - + Strength Training
07/06.......0.00.......31.27
07/07.......5.63.......36.90 - + Strength Training & Rally
07/08.......5.38.......42.28
07/09.......0.00.......42.28
07/10.......0.00.......42.28
07/11.......7.72.......50.00 - + Agility
07/12.......5.59.......55.59 - + Strength Training
07/13.......0.00.......55.59
07/14.......5.72.......61.31 - + Strength Training & Rally
07/15.......5.38.......66.69
07/16.....13.39.......80.08
07/17.......2.00.......82.08 - Dog Beach!
07/18.......4.37.......86.45 - + Agility
07/19.......3.74.......90.19 - + Strength Training
07/20.......0.00.......90.19 - Rest day
07/21.......4.29.......94.48 - + Strength Training & Rally
07/22.......0.00.......94.48
07/23.......6.83.....101.31 - GOAL!
07/24.......0.00.....101.31 - Dog Beach (Vizsla) family reunion
07/25.......4.22.....105.53 - + Agility (this was like running intervals in 80F and 90% humidity)
07/26.......0.00.....105.53 - Rest day/Taper
07/27.......4.22.....109.75
07/28.......0.00.....109.75 - Rest day/Taper
07/29.......0.00.....109.75
07/30.......3.41.....113.16 - Shake out/Test run
07/31.....13.10.....126.26 - SF Marathon/2nd Half



Upcoming Races - Let me know if you will be running too!
07/04/16 - SHEPower Virtual Half Marathon
07/31/16 - San Francisco 2nd Half Marathon
09/18/16 - Beat the Blerch Half Marathon, Seattle
11/19/16 - USA Invitational Half Marathon (Yay, I qualified again!)
12/18/16 - San Diego Holiday Half Marathon
02/05/17 - Surf City Half Marathon

July 1-7.3 +1.1 with the puppy
July 2-12 miles
July 3-8 miles
July 4-rest day
July 5-6 miles + 1.1 with the puppy
July 6- 5 miles
July 7- 4.6 miles easy + 0.4 miles with puppy (we ran into a doggie friend and she decided that play>running!)
July 8- 4.4 miles speed intervals
July 9-9.3 miles with Mojo group +1.3 miles with Stella
July 10-6.1 miles
July 11- rest
July 12- 6.2 miles AM+4 miles PM
July 13- 3.9 miles+1.1 with the pup
July 14- 5 miles AM
July 15- 4.1 miles hill repeats
July 16- 12.2 miles
July 17- 4.9 miles
July 18-rest day
July 19- 6.1 miles easy
July 20- 7 miles fast finish (AM)+3.4 (PM)
July 21- AM yoga + 5 miles solo+ 1 mile with the puppy-Super hot and humid!
July 22-4.2 miles AM hill repeats
July 23- 12 miles (forgot to start Garmin-only logged 11.5)
July 24-Rest day (swimming!)
July 25- 4.5 miles
July 26- 6.1 miles fast finish+3.7 hot evening miles
July 27-5.0 mile AM recovery run
July 28-4.7 miles with running pal+ 0.6 miles with the puppy+ yoga and core work
July 29-4.0 miles final hill repeats
July 30-12.8 miles hot and humid sweat fest
July 31-5.2 miles

Thought I'd check in with my July tallies before I hop on over to the August thread. All in all, despite the major complaints on the weather, it wasn't a horrible month for running. Exceeded my goal by 18.2 miles, which I am donating to the Elise/Celia/ sick and injured cause.

Just closing out my log.....

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
July 21 - Rest day
July 22 - 5 miles with 3 middle miles of 5 hill repeats, 30 mins stretching/pilates/abs
July 23 - 8 mile run, yardwork (boo!)
July 24 - 4 mi run, 20 min pilates/stretching
July 25 - 20 min arms/abs strength training, 40 min light cardio
July 26 - 3.3 mi run, 1.2 miles of strides then jog home = 4.5 miles - 20 min pilates P.M.
July 27 - 5 mile interval run
July 28 - Rest day
July 29 - 20 min light indoor cardio
July 30 - 3.75 mi walk, .5 mi run
July 31 - Rest day

90.6 miles of 60 (all bonus miles go to our invalids)

Didn't make my stretch goal of 100 but blew my original goal of 60 out of the water :-D I only ran about 25 miles last July because I couldn't tolerate the heat, so this was a huge accomplishment.

30.6 miles for grabs for anyone who was injured/recovering :-D

Recapping July. Miscalculated the number of miles I ran.
7/5....4 miles
7/7....3.66
7/8....10
7/10....6
7/12....4.15
7/15....5.08
7/16....6
7/17....10
7/19....6
7/22....3
7/25....4
7/27....6.
7/29 ...4.46
7/30....9

Goal was 60 miles...Total was 81.35 miles, much farther than I thought. I am going to change August goal based on this information.

A bit of a Long Winded Month End triple report Swimming, Running and Festivities to close out July.
Pretty much a duplicate of my month end swimming report.
Gone on Vacation for a week, Family Reunion and then off to the Rocky Mountains in Northern BC.
Over 300 posts since my last visit so no chance to catch up.

My Calf appears to be recovered as I ran 20km 3 times with no troubles/pain

I found a pool in the Mountain Community of Tumbler Ridge, BC. Multiple lanes but never any lane ropes. Nice and cool - so very refreshing after a day in the mountains. I actually went to the area to attend the local GrizFest Music festival and sneak over to the Running course for the Emperors Challenge 20km mountain run just to see the course. Best Course marking I have ever encountered!!!! Absolutely no question as to where the turns are.
Tuesday July 26 was a travel day.

Wednesday July 27 Hiked the Emperors challenge route ( 5.5 hrs ) and jumped into the pool for a 1 km splash. No real plan just paddling around for 40 lengths.

Thursday July 28 Solo-Self Supported Run ( call me crazy ) on the Emperors Challenge route 3hrs 15mins ( 2015 results would put me at 424/654) . Jumped back in the pool to cool off and refresh myself - another 40 lengths of paddling.

Friday July 29. A few short day hikes - rest and recovery stretch hikes. 20 lengths give or take a few in the pool. Attended open Mic Amateur Night at the GrizFest. May have consumed a few local beverages .

Saturday July 30. Really crazy ( Swimmers and Runners have this problem ) - went back to the Emperor's Challenge route and ran it again to try and reduce my time as I was pushing to hard in the early stages and carrying too much Emergency gear & Water, resulting in Mountain Climbing exhaustion once I got into the serious climbs and ridge running. Did much better as I cut 20 minutes. 2 hrs 55 mins. ( 2015 results would put me at 328/654) Back to the pool for a dip and then the GrizFest. Tom Cochrane was the closing act. The Wild put on a great show.

Sunday July 31 I might have an addiction problem. Most Normal people would never run back to back long distances in the Mountains. Yes I went back again, Less gear, food and less water ( 3 liters ) and a smarter run plan. Dropped another 10 minutes 2hrs 45 minutes( 2015 results would put me at 256/654) . Very happy but the last 3 km downhill were really tough - just doing a little to much with not enough rest. Considering that I was carrying at least 12 pounds extra with my water and emergency gear I can probably shave some more time off if actually running the event - less weight = faster. Based on 2015 results ( 1000 registered - 654 beat the 4.5 hr cutoff ) my time trial appears to put me in the top 300.

Last night of GrizFest and Simple Plan was the closing/headline band. The Standstills put on the best performance of the day/weekend. Definitely consumed some local refreshments in the Beer Gardens - carbs and electrolytes to rehydrate, right?
Overall a great weekend. Slept like a log in my tent - exhausted and happy.

I actually have my name in as a volunteer for the Emperors Challenge as a Trail Sweeper / Water Station / First Aid since I was not able to get registered to do the run this year. Waiting for a call back. This event is in my Bucket List for next year!!!

07/01 – 0.0 km – 0.0 - 100 km
07/05 – 4.0 km – 4.0 – 96 km
07/07 – 4.0 km – 8.0 – 92 km
07/09 – 5.0 km – 13.0 – 87 km
07/13 – 11.0 km – 24.0 – 76 km
07/16 – 8.0 km – 32.0 – 68 km
07/17 – 4.0 km – 36.0 – 64 km
07/22 – 5.0 km – 41.0 – 59 km
07/24 – 5.0 km – 46.0 – 54 km
07/28 –20.0 km – 66.0 – 34 km
07/30 –20.0 km – 86.0 – 14 km
07/31 –20.0 km – 106.0 – +6 km – YTD 725.2 km
Goal + 6km Better than I thought I was going to do based on my results early in the month.



See everyone in August.