July 2018 Running Challenge

Volunteered for our local track club last night at the Crazy 8s expo which is an 8k that starts at 8:58 tonight. Tons of people run but it’s too crowded for me plus I’m not much of a night runner. I got to see and talk to (well I smiled and said hi so I’m counting that) some of the Kenyans last night. One of them or someone from Eithopia will most likely win.

This morning I hit the trail to run the route again for Tuesday nights 7 mile race. Mile 3 is all uphill. I try to power walk but even that is challenging. I’m a little worried about making the cut off time but I feel a little more confident after today.

Congratulations to everyone that raced today!

July....she will fly (at least her feet will)

7/1 3.92
7/2 3.07
7/3 rest
7/4 3.12
7/5 rest
7/6 rest
7/7 I'm old. I really need rest
7/8 3.83
7/9 played
7/10 4.00
7/11 snorkel 3.5 hours
7/12 3.20
7/13 dealt with the aftermath of Lily's encounter with our yard intruder. You might say she had a "boaring" day....



7/14 3.49


total 23.63
Hooray @skippygirlsmom and skip...and @Avidkeo ...and hugs to all the injured and wounded....

Ticker is my goal for 2018 and progress to date:

I woke up around ten this morning feeling the effects of a late night and too much cider, so I spent the rest of the day in bed reading and napping, half thinking I might go for a run in the evening if I felt better. I woke up from my second nap around quarter to eight and felt better, so out I went.

The route I’d planned was 5.9 miles, but there was a turnoff to a 3.1 mile route a little after the first mile. I was a little concerned about the weather - 86 degrees, dew point in the mid 60s - but I figured I’d be out of the sun at least and if I only felt up for 3.1 miles that was still freaking badass.

Turns out I’ve definitely been running too fast - I kept to a slower pace than I’ve been running the last few weeks, and even though I started doing my teapot impression after a half a mile or so, I fell into a groove pretty early on and didn’t end up needing to walk at all. Which was good, because the couple of times I had to stop I was immediately swarmed by mosquitos. Blech.

The route was absolutely gorgeous, to the point I was sorry I didn’t have a camera with me. I was a little worried about a portion that followed some train tracks but I shouldn’t have been - it turns out that area is also part of a prairie reclamation project and full of wildflowers. A few parts of the route got pretty dark and wooded, to the point that I thought I might have accidentally started jogging, but as I neither found nor became a corpse, I dodged that bullet.

I did miss a turnoff that added about .4 miles to my route, but that’s okay because it meant that I ran my very first ever 10K! So no speed PRs this week but two distance ones: longest single run and most miles in a week. I will take it!

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, lifted heavy things
7/7 Sa - rest
7/8 Su - 1:10:32 - 5.84
7/9 Mo - lifted heavy things
7/10 Tu - 0:36:20 - 3.41
7/11 We - 0:22:40 - 2.00
7/12 Th - rest
7/13 Fr - 0:10:45 - 0.89, lifted heavy things
7/14 Sa - 1:12:28 - 6.30

Total: 32.08/50 miles

Races!
July 4: Red, White and Boom! 5K Chip time: 0:32:20
August 25: The Glo Run Night Race 5K
September 8th, 9th, 15th, or 16th: MN Brewery Running Series 5K-ish fun run
October 6: Twin Cities Marathon Weekend 5K

Friday was a busy work day, and yesterday apparently my friend was praying for rain so she could get out of running with me and there was indeed a downpour. So I slept in, planning to get up later and run by myself. It was hard getting myself out the door, and then my husband suggested we take the kids & bikes to the reservoir. The whole way around is the exact distance I wanted for the day, so I left my bike at home and ran with my favorite little "rabbit" on his bike. The first 10k with him were a real struggle for me, leaving me very much in doubt about tomorrow evening's 5k race and wanting to get a good-for-me time. It was raining, which was fine with me. There was also the incident where we stopped so I could use a portapotty and discovered that there was a couple making out inside. I have no words.

Then we met up with my husband and daughter, who had gone the other way, and had decided to stop at a restaurant along the water "for coffee and tea" and we ended up eating a regular meal. Then I went with my daughter as the rabbit and had no problem running the additional 3.5k back to the car at a faster pace than I had run any of the previous 10. It was almost goal 5k pace, and felt fine! I need to figure out how to replicate that. Long, slow warmup, followed by a snack break, and then take off like a crazy person? Haha.

Today is also a rest day, and tomorrow night my race calendar will be empty. I'm working on it, though!

I met my weekly distance goal, and am right on track for the monthly goal as well



Upcoming race:
7/16 City Trail OnTour 5k

slowly but surely...
ran 3 miles last night 7/14

Knee update.

95% of the swelling is gone. No pain or instability. I still had BBQ yesterday. Nice of dh to go run without me and bring me home too much to eat when all i did was lay on the couch

Afrer church today, I'm going to decide if i should/could/would do a short run and or bike..

Fingers crossed this was all some sort of short lived mysterious injury that never happens again.

Thanks for all the well wishes. Keep 'em comin'. They must be magic! (Throw in a thought or two on the lottery)