August 2021 Monthly Running Challenge

1 Aug - 0.00 Run 1.0 Walk - driveway laps, barely beat the heavy downpour
2 Aug - 3.30 Run 1.0 Walk - 2 hours mowing the lawn - Tempo run

3.30/100 miles running 2.0/31 miles walking

Ran this morning, but not as early as I had planned. I thought it was going to be better weather. The temps were better with 65°F when I started out at 9:20 am, but the humidity was high again at 83% according to Garmin. I don't trust Garmin's weather today though. It has the exact same thing for my warm up walk, run, and cool down walk. I know it warmed up about 5 degrees while I was running, according to my thermometer. It said it was 70°F and 83% humidity the entire time. I doubt that.

Anyway, today was a 40 min Tempo run...5 min Zone 1, 5 min Zone 2, 20 min Zone 3, 5 min Zone 2, 5 min Zone 1. It took a bit for my legs to loosen up, but once they did, it felt pretty good. I didn't get my HR into Zone 3 as much as I was supposed to. I felt like I was running at a pretty "hard" pace for me, but my HR didn't agree, I guess. I was happy with my splits: 12:54, 11:42, 11:40, and 12:54. I estimated from the graphs that I ran 1.77 miles at the tempo pace - did walk some during that part of the run too, with an average pace of 11:17 min/mile. That's pretty good for me.

I went to the doctor today for my annual checkup. He was impressed with my bloodwork results and found nothing to be concerned about. I don't need to go back to him for a year, unless I get sick, of course. I was pretty happy that he said all of my bloodwork was better than any he has seen in at least 2 years (I am assuming for any age group) and that my HDL is the highest that he has ever seen. It is 121. It has always been pretty high, but is steadily increasing due to running. Just another reason to keep it up. He was also impressed that I am training for a HM and told everyone in the office (staff) that I was.

I did some shopping and then, after I got home, went out and mowed my yard for 2 hours. I got plenty of exercise today.

I wanted to post, but don't have time to read everyone else's tonight. I will try to catch up tomorrow.

Thanks for the tip @skippygirlsmom! I had some wristbands a long time ago, but I never used them and they have disappeared. I did find a headband, so I may just wrap that around my wrist a couple times Great that you got such a good deal on an awesome bike for Skip. I know she appreciates it (and you)!

Nice speed session @quilteryoyo, and good news about your doctor visit. Like your doc said, you are doing GREAT!

Very cool that you did that camp counselor for all those kids @polskagirl01 . Looks like you and them had a great time.

Sorry about the tough time with your daughter @zoomie402, and loss of your daughter's grandmother. I hope your father gets better soon.

6.6 miles this morning. Weather promised to be much cooler over night, so I planned some speed work. Well it was about 5F cooler than usual (75F 83% humidity), but I already committed, so I did 4x1 mile threshold with 3 min recovery. Some of the mile repeats didn't quite reach 1 mile, but they were quite a bit faster than they needed to be. I hardly ever get into Zone 4 HR, but Garmin says I spent 69% of the run there. So that's good enough for me for speedwork in August. Might have to put off the majority of the speed sessions until next month. Awww, who am I kidding? It won't be any better until October, then it will be too late. Oh well, suck it up son!

8-1 7k measy (between moderate and easy)
8-2 rest
8-3 7k measy

August Total: 14k
August Goal: 150k

Sunny, mid 50s F, and a light breeze from the northeast. Started out well, but legs tired quickly in the second half. Was trying to squeeze the rest of August out of these shoes, but decided it's time to replace them before an injury.

When you pop in here claiming your December 2021 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?

PUT THE FUN BACK IN THE RUN!
Return to a good running weight of 175 lbs (second attempt)

2021 Races:

6/26 Direction Up 5k, Solon, OH 31:48 chip; 31:59 Garmin; 53d overall; 2d male 65 and over
7/17 Run of the Ox 5k, Mantua, OH 32:19 Garmin; 44th overall; 3d place male 60 and over
9/18 5k Run and Roll, Aurora, OH

@katharmonic Wow. Hiking Seymour in the rain sounds really hard! I'm glad you weren't hurt, made a good friend, and enjoyed your day despite the weather. Glad you didn't see the mama bear. I'm always fearful that I will accidently get between a mamma and her cub. The second hike sounds really hard too, but worth it. Those pictures are amazing. I hope your knee is feeling better. Glad Stella is doing better!

@Avidkeo Glad you are enjoying running for running's sake again.

@polskagirl01 You would think that Guinness would do a better job at verifying those things. It sounds like you really made the running fun and inspiring. I'm sure that is why they kept coming back. Great job! Also nice that you got in some solo runs. Sounds like a fun 10K, even though you were having a mild asthma attack. Glad it passed quickly once you got your meds. I'm glad your kids had fun during their race too. And a bonus reenactment to witness on the way home. What a great week you had!

@penguinmama87 I hope you and your son are able to find shoes that are good for your feet. If they seem too expensive, just ask if they have something cheaper that would work for your foot and gait. They should want to sale you something rather than nothing.

@RunsOnEspresso Glad you made it home in time. I hate it when I feel like I'm running at a decent clip and then the mile pops up and it's so slow! I'm glad the humidity was lower for you morning run, at least. But 90F is still 90F. Great running in those conditions.

@skippygirlsmom Glad you got to see your family in FL. It is SOOOOO hot there. Good for you for running at all. I have a hard time running when I visit my family there. Great deal on the bike too. Maybe you can eat pinto beans and cornbread all week. That's pretty cheap.

@Zoomie402 Hugs to you and your daughter. That's a lot for a young person to process. I hope your dad gets better soon.

@rheddmobile Glad you were able to identify your butterfly. They are pretty. It is interesting the things you learn about them. I have noticed a lot of different ones on cow and horse poop before. I don't think I realized they like blood though. That's a little disconcerting.

Thanks @Scott6255 ! Great job on your speed work. You are doing great.

Thanks @skippygirlsmom .

AlphaHowls wrote: »

@WhatMeRunning wrote: »

@AlphaHowls - I agree that "unofficially crazy" is better than "officially crazy" every time! Is it possible to get out of that jury duty by convincing them how crazy you are by showing them your fitbit data?

Funny you mention that! One of the questions was what is the bumper sticker/decal on your vehicle. I told them 13.1 and 26.2. Then the lawyer asked, "and did you earn those?" I stated, "yes, ma'am!"
The lawyer then told the court what that meant, "that means she runs long distance."

❤ I also love your "unofficially crazy", rather than recognition.

5.5 km for me today, because that's how far it was to run to the Baltic Sea from where I'm staying. Picture everyone walking by bundled up in coats looking cold, and me and my family (husband drove the kids to meet me there) in our swimsuits looking like crazy people in the water.

08/01: Walked 1 mile
08/02: 50 Minutes Cycle Fusion (spin meets bootcamp) 2.75 treadmill miles
08/03: N/A 12 hour shift

Thanks everyone for the good thoughts. My daughter came back to my house yesterday and is doing well. She was able to hold her grandmas hand through the end, and was able to grieve with her family. My dad is frustrated. He's on day 13 in the hospital with no answers. He will have a bronchoscopy done today, but the doc is a little concerned because he's only been off of his blood thinners for a day. Dad thinks he'll get sent home after the procedure. Mom thinks he'll be in for a few more days. Guess we'll see!

On the good news front, I have an interview tomorrow for a job I am really wanting! I'm very excited about it. I applied June 2nd, so it's been a really long and slow process, but I'm patient enough.

@skippygirlsmom I grew up about 100 miles south of Tampa in Port Charlotte. I love the gulf coast. I'm sure that was really hard on your daughter. Hopefully she's been able to find her own peace with it. I haven't been able to watch any of the Olympics but I hear it's been crazy this year.

@katharmonic I wish my gym had a sauna. I bet that feels so good!

@quilteryoyo Congrats on the good doc visit.

@Scott6255 weather is so hard to battle sometimes! It's so hot here in August, then in September when we are hoping for fall, it just stays summer. We get about 2 weeks in October before it starts to get really cold. Maybe September will be nice to you this year.

@AlphaHowls fingers crossed that you make it out of the on call time frame without being called in

@polskagirl01 beautiful photo! I bet that was a funny sight to see. My ex-husband and I went to Vegas once in February. It was nothing but a big sheet of ice in Nebraska, and even though Vegas had snow flurries when we landed, we got on our swimsuits and headed to the pool. We got some crazy looks. When we got to the pool, it was closed for cold weather

So far August is not going well. I'm unable to run this week due to work commitments and family activities. I can't ever recall having a week off before, so it's going to be tough.

I've also had confirmation that my Ultra Marathon race is going ahead in 6 weeks and I'm way behind in my long run training. But, as usual, I'll just see what happens on the day.

I'd like to reach 100 miles again this month, plus 10,000 feet of elevation. But it's looking unlikely.

@quilteryoyo I think I’d rather not eat than eat pinto beans but thanks for the recommendation ha ha

So the woman with the Guinness Book of World Records lives in New Jersey and she lists the accomplishment on her resume in Linkedin. She’s run 126 marathons (doesn’t divide out HM and full) and 62 ultras. Another woman in 2018 claimed to run 141 in a year. All so interesting to read. Ah she started the Awesomesauce Events which a friend of mine does, you can any distance and have I think 48 hours to finish it, so you can start a marathon at 8 am and complete 12 miles and then at midnight go back out to finish the rest. She doesn’t run she walks everything. Again interesting.

@AlphaHowls you definitely have the unofficial record!! And then some. When I lived in NJ you went ONE day, if you didn’t get selected you were done. Thank you very much. I vote you show them your fitbit data! Ha ha We are always asked “is anyone in your family in law enforcement” “yes” “will it prevent you judging my client fairly” “yes it will”

@polskagirl01 just before I noticed the spoiler I was getting ready to ask you send a picture. How beautiful.

@Teresa502 thank you, she is a really good kid. She’s has given me some heartache but nothing compared to what I’ve given my mom that’s for sure ha ha. I was telling her the other day that when I was in HS we had to do all different sections and different sports, like gymnastics, softball, track and field, field hockey, tennis. She was like what?! Oh yeah I had to act like freaking Simone Biles and climb up on a dang balance beam and try not to die, and the uneven bars, are these people nuts!!! So during T&F I had to high jump and hurdle (I’m 5’6” will long legs), she was like no way..girl your momma could hurdle back in the day ha ha okay enough to get a good grade but that was it. I’m glad your wisdom prevailed!!