August (2016) Running Challenge

I was supposed to run yesterday but opted instead to watch the Men's Marathon at the Olympics, which is right up there with a 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' marathon for general upbeat optimism for the human race. By the time it was over it was 92 degrees outside and, well, those Netflix movies weren't going to watch themselves.

Date     Miles      MTD
------   -----    -------
Aug  2     5.0      5.0 
Aug  3     5.8     10.8 
Aug  4     4.3     15.1 
Aug  6     5.6     20.7 
Aug  7     5.1     25.8 
Aug  9     5.1     30.9 
Aug 10     6.2     37.1
Aug 11     4.3     41.4
Aug 13     6.3     47.7
Aug 16     5.5     53.2
Aug 18     5.8     59.0
Aug 20     5.6     64.6
Aug 22     5.6     70.2

8/01: Off, rest day
8/02: 4 miles, easy + strides + strength training
8/03: 8 miles, fartlek
8/04: 4 miles, easy + strides + strength training
8/05: Off, active rest day - leisurely biking and walking
8/06: 13.1 miles, long and super easy
8/07: 10K race (51:59 - 6.30 miles) + 2.13 mile warm up
8/08: Off, rest day
8/09: 4 miles, easy + strides + strength training
8/10: 5 miles
8/11: Off, injured - 45 minutes elliptical + strength training
8/12: Off, injured - 80 minutes elliptical + core
8/13: Off, injured - 85 minutes biking
8/14: Off, injured - 50 minutes biking + core
8/15: Off, injured/rest day
8/16: Off, injured - 85 minutes biking + core
8/17: Off, injured - 80 minutes biking
8/18: Off, injured/rest day
8/19: Off, injured/rest day
8/20: Off, injured/rest day
8/21: Off, injured/rest day
8/22: 1.5 miles (!!!) + 15 minutes elliptical
Total: 48.2 miles

Overview:
Guys!! I ran for 15 whole minutes today! It’s not much at all; I was really slow and my HR was higher than usual and my shin/calf was achy and now my knee is a tiny bit sore in the bad spot, but after 11 days off it felt so good to run again! Stretched out really well afterwards, then iced/rolled the hell out of my legs when I get home. Maybe this marathon thing can still happen after all?!? Knee and shin are still a little tender, but if things still feel kind of ok tomorrow I might try another 15 minutes. Definitely want to take things nice and slow, because the last thing I want is to have to take more time off with only 7 weeks to go. I'm still just so happy to run again today!!!





Upcoming races:
8/07: Chicago 10K 51:59 - not my best by a long shot but I'll take it
8/26: Rock the Night 5K
9/10: Chicago Women's Half Marathon
9/25: Lifetime 5K
10/09: Chicago Marathon
10/30: Hot Chocolate 5K
11/27: Space Coast Half Marathon

I think I will be skipping my picnic this evening, and I, therefore, might do a bit of a longer run than the few miles I planned on cramming in directly after work. The weather is supposed to be great yet today, and it's supposed to get hotter as the week goes on, so I'm thinking this evening might be my chance for another long run. We'll see how I feel this afternoon, I suppose.

zmcgrandles wrote: »

@instantmartian how did you get tickets for harry potter? rather jealous I've been after them for months, enjoy it and I hope the good weather carries on over here for you, it's been rather nice over in the UK at the moment (read that as mostly sunny with some rain)

I've heard the weather has been nice over there recently, and actually on the warmish side for this time of year, which I am perfectly fine with! I was originally planning on highs in the low 60s F, but, as of right now, it looks like it'll be in the mid 60s to mid-70s when we're there! I am super excited for the trip over!

As for the tickets, Magic. No, I literally sat at my computer for nearly 10 hours dealing with all the tech issues on the first day tickets went on sale (October 28 of last year). It was not a very productive work day! They had this massively long online queue for tickets, and once I made my way through, over about two hours later, the site wouldn't work. I could see tickets, I could add them to my cart, and when I would go to checkout, it would dump be back into the queue of 10,000+ people. It was frustrating, to say the least. I finally gave up, and, about an hour or so later, I thought I should try, again. I was able to get through the queue rather quickly, and got tickets for September 4 - the exact day I wanted them for! It was truly amazing. September 5 is a Federal holiday for the US this year. The plan was to spend 4 or 5 days in London with my father (the Harry Potter fanatic) around the holiday, with only needing to take off a day or two from work. See, my mother passed away, rather suddenly, from pancreatic cancer on October 9 of last year, and it was that week later that I learned about the tickets. I thought it would be a really good thing for my father to look forward to. My parents always traveled a lot, but never got to do nearly the amount of traveling they planned since my mom passed at the age of 58, only three years after she retired. Most of her retirement years were sent caring for my sickly grandmother who passed on June 9 of last year. After we decided I would try to get us tickets, we then opened the invitation to my boyfriend and my brother and his (now) fiance. A few weeks after I managed to score the HP tickets, my dad decided we should spend a longer time over there, and see Ireland since we will be so close when we're in London. A trip to Ireland is actually something my mom was planning as a family trip after my brother graduated from nursing school (this past May). So, we'll be spending three full days in London, and doing a 6-day tour of Northern Ireland. My dad's dad's ancestry can be traced to Donegal, so we found a small-group tour that spends some time over there, which also happened to be at the exact time we needed it to be. This trip worked out so perfectly, it's almost unbelievable. I really think there must have been some kind of otherworldly interventions going on.

skippygirlsmom wrote: »

@instantmartian I have read all the Harry Potter books (except the new one) but haven't watched any of the movies fully. I catch bits and pieces. I really prefer books to movies. Enjoy the show sounds like fun

When the books were released, I was in a place in my life (high school) where reading for fun wasn't an option. I was in all honors classes which were heavy on the reading, so when I had time to read for fun, my brain was too tired. I was always an avid reader, and I have rediscovered my love for reading about a year ago. So, I watched all the movies when they were released. At first, it was because my father dragged me to the movies to see them. I do plan on reading the books at some point, but my "to read" list is just so long! My mission, now, is to get my boyfriend to watch at least the first four books before we go to see the play, as he has never seen any of the movies or read any of the books, and you really need to have a solid background to appreciate the play, as it is very heavy on the references. We have been to both parks at Universal Studios in Orlando, we road all the HP rides and such, and I did explain some things to him there, so he has, at least, a little knowledge of HP. Thankfully, most of the references in the play only go as far as Goblet of Fire. Any happenings after that seem to be explained well enough, but without knowing the background of some characters and their relationships, or knowing all that happened during the Goblet of Fire, I think Cursed Child would actually be kind of confusing.

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

I liked the half marathon I did, but I'm starting to realize that I might like the "shorter" faster races better. 10k is a great distance. You'll love it when you get to it.

This. I am beginning to realize that, while training for and participating in half marathons is a welcome challenge, I thoroughly enjoy 10Ks the most. They're long enough to push myself, but they're over in an hour or so, which is also awesome. I will probably do some more half marathons in my life, but I'm beginning to realize that 10K seem to be my most comfortable race distance.