July 2018 Running Challenge

It was a beautiful morning for running, except for the fact that I stayed in bed two hours later than I’d planned and had to twist my own arm to get myself out the door. Then of course the greenway and big lake were packed with people and I spent my first mile and change trying not to get grumpy about all the people passing me. I mean, who cares, FFS? That particular lake is a bit of a meat market - I may try and avoid it in the future, at least during peak times.

Anyhow, I split off from the lake after around mile three and ran around a nearby cemetery and down to the third of the chain of lakes. It was also packed, more families than hardbodies, but by this point I was feeling pretty badass and didn’t mind it as much. I’d been keeping to a pretty slow pace and only walking a bit on hills, but around mile four I realized that my long runs are probably getting a little too long to do on an empty stomach. The last couple of miles were a bit of a drag and involved more walking than I’d prefer, but I made it!

Week end summary: a very successful week! I hit PRs in everything I’m currently tracking - longest run, fastest mile, fastest 5K pace, fastest 2 mile pace, and most weekly miles ran. I ran my very first ever race and it was a lot of fun, even if I haven’t decided if racing is going to be a thing for me or not. I’m still getting back to normal after a packed June and having a holiday mid week didn’t do much for that, but other than my work hours being low and still being behind on household chores, things are honestly going pretty well.

JULY MILES:
7/1 Su - 1:01:09 - 5.43
7/2 Mo - lifted heavy things
7/3 Tu - 0:20:33 - 2.01
7/4 We - 0:32:46 - 3.13
7/5 Th - rest
7/6 Fr - 0:20:19 - 2.01
7/7 Sa - rest
7/8 Su - 1:10:32 - 5.84

Total: 18.42/50 miles

Races!
July 4: Red, White and Boom! 5K Chip time: 0:32:20
August 25: The Glo Run Night Race 5K
October 6: Twin Cities Marathon Weekend 5K

How’s the 50 mile club doing? @amgreenwell, @ahelgers10, @bride001, @mcw2018mfp, @ereck44, @Teerai, @hanlonsk, @madisenb, @Marissaxzxzxz

July goals 60 miles. Work up to 5 minutes of running. Bike often. Rehab smart.

1---5.52 mtn bike
2---2.09 run 3(4,4)
3---5.58 mtn bike
4---3.33 mile run 5(4,4)
4---2.43 road bike
5---3.42 run 7(3,3)
6---9.04 mtn bike
7---6.33 5(4-2,3-2,2-2)
8---3.26 run 7(3-3)
8---6.48 road bike

MILES
Running 18.4
Cycling/MTN bike 29.1

Upcoming Races
July 22 Draper Lake Duathlon (3k,22.5k,3k). Norman OK
October 14th Spirit of Survival Lawton OK. Quarter Marathon
March 31, 2019 A2A Undecided distance. Ardmore OK
April 28, 2019 OKC Memorial Marathon (half)

I ran my 16 miles today in these very light, very flexible, extremely minimalist zero-drop shoes... I can literally roll them up and put them in my pockets.

AlphaHowls wrote: »

7/1 13.54 miles
7/2 20.08 miles
7/3 16.51 miles
7/4 20.38 miles
7/5 2.07 miles
7/6 15.36 miles
7/7 16.66 miles
7/8 16.03 miles

I have now been on MFP for three years. My starting weight was 223 lbs. My original goal was to lose weight, until I hit normal BMI. I passed that by and just kept right on going till I found a range I was good with. My range is 125 lbs to 135 lbs. I started walking when I first started MFP. After about nine months, someone asked me if I was a runner. I adamantly stated 'no'. After that day I thought about what the lady had asked and thought, 'why not?' I started running in spurts, no plans, just repeat in my head, 'don't stop'. Now here, I am pushing goals I never thought I would ever achieve. I ran a marathon a few months ago, now I just want to run, no destination, no alarming goal, just get up, get out and run. I thank everyone here for all the help, I have learned so much in reading about everyone. Thank you so much for the inspirations, insights and the smiles that go with my miles.

And now YOU are the inspiration gor so many of US!

Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
07/01/18 :::: 3.1 :::: 3.1
07/02/18 :::: 5.5 :::: 8.6
07/03/18 :::: 3.0 :::: 11.5
07/04/18 :::: 5.6 :::: 17.1
07/05/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 17.1
07/06/18 :::: 2.0 :::: 19.2
07/07/18 :::: 3.8 :::: 22.9
07/08/18 :::: 9.4 :::: 32.4

Utica (NY) Boilermaker 15k race today. What a fun and crazy experience. This is by far the biggest race I've done, with over 11,000 finishing the 15k and another 4000 or so for the 5k. The day started way too early to drive an hour to the race and get there in plenty of time for parking, etc. We parked by the start and watched as the crowd grew. It took something like 15 minutes for us to get across the start after the gun went off. The weather was really good - we were so lucky the heat of the last week had broken. It was right around 61 degrees F when we started which was apparently either the coolest or second coolest Boilermaker race day ever.

Once we got moving, it was pretty wall to wall with people. My two friends and I weren't too concerned with time, but were concerned about not losing each other in the crowd, it was hard to navigate. Compared to other races I've done, this one was pretty thick with people the whole time, it never really thinned out that much. The crowd along the course was fantastic. There were so many bands, tons of water stops, most of which also had cups of ice, lots of signs and cheering. Several places had water hoses to run through. The water stops were tricky though with the crowd and the cups everywhere - you had to really watch your step.

Despite the relatively cool temp, I still felt like it was fairly hot during the race. I maintained a decent but not fast for me pace along with my friends. My one friend felt really exhausted by the last two miles so I spent a lot of time encouraging her to keep going. I was really happy for her that she was able to gut it out. Our other friend did great - it was her first race over 10k ever and she seemed to love it after being filled with dread about it for the last few weeks. My time was 1:43, which was about an 11:03 pace. Not great compared to the last few longer races, but I felt good about it and had a fun time.

The party after was something else. So incredibly crowded. There was a great band and free beer, which was definitely being consumed in quantities. I managed to see quite a few runners I knew, which surprised me in the sea of humanity. The food was disappointing, but a couple of beers in I stopped caring too much. We stayed for a while and then trekked back to the car for the drive home. I was so happy to finally get home and get some real food and take a shower.

Kind of disappointing that there wasn't a shirt or medal with this race, just a pin and a pint glass. But I guess the fun of the race and the party makes it worth it (plus the entry was fairly reasonable). I would definitely consider doing this again, but now I know I will probably never get so lucky with the weather again.

@AlphaHowls You are so awesome!!!
@katharmonic Great job!!

7/1: 4.5 miles
7/3: 2.5 miles
7/4: 6.3 miles
7/6: 3 miles
7/7: 5 miles
7/8: 5.2 miles + 3.3 mile hike

Total: 26.5/85

Upcoming Races:
Wineglass Marathon 9/30

I ran 5.2 in my neighborhood. It was overcast and fairly cool, and I ran in the opposite direction I normally run to mix things up.

I mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters, so I took my Little on a hike today. We saw a turtle, and she was so excited because apparently she has never seen a turtle outside of a zoo. The place where we hiked also has an area where they house rehabilitated animals that can’t go back into the wild for whatever reason, so that was nice too.

@midwesterner85 - Skittles are a good idea or gummy bears. Also pretzels or corn tortilla chips but I am not a huge potato chip fan. Also watermelon in small pieces. Any of these could be put in the same tiny cups as the water then you wouldn't have the hands in the bowl issue... sorry the thought of lots of sweaty hands in a bowl of food grosses me out.