August 2021 Monthly Running Challenge

quilteryoyo wrote: »

@sweetdaisy13 I hope that the family activities are fun ones, at least. One week off shouldn't hurt you. How long is your Ultra? I know I've probably asked before, but I have forgotten.

Children are off school on their summer break, plus work and a family member is unwell, so lots of juggling to do and also trying to keep the children occupied. But hoping to have a couple of good days.

My Ultra is 31 miles with 6,000+ feet of elevation. I ran an ultra (same distance) in June, but I just feel like I've been slacking a bit in my training since then. But, as always, when a race starts I just go into 'race mode' and hope for the best 😁.

Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
08/01/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
08/02/21 :::: 3.0 :::: 3.0
08/03/21 :::: 1.8 :::: 4.8

A pre-yoga run outside the gym this morning. Lovely cool morning but I didn't get out of the house on time so had only a short time to run. I also screwed up starting my watch, so I recorded the same segment I missed on the way back with Strava app to estimate the distance. I'm not sure why it matters but I needed the proof.

I’ve been absent because of life!

Still running though, although I missed a run last week as I was furiously prepping our house to be photographed for sale - I figure 16+ hours of cleaning, tidying and ‘styling’ makes up for it. And I missed yesterday’s run as I’m furiously baking a massive birthday cake (including macarons and truffles) for my sister’s 50th on Friday.

However, as the photographers arrived last Friday, I headed out the door for a weekend’s running with a few friends. One has a bach (holiday house) at Waihi Beach, right on the beach. On the Saturday we ran over the headland to the next bay (the first couple of kilometres on sand (sprinting to beat the high tide waves as we left the beach and started climbing) - then single track out and back. About 17 very hilly kilometres.

It was changeable weather - we had a big debate about shorts or leggings - we all opted for leggings and I regretted it about 20 mins in when the sun came out, but was very thankful a little later when the wind got up and it started raining. We obviously just missed the worst of the rain as it rained for 5-10 minutes yet when we came back on the return, the trail was a bit of a stream in places.

Waihi photos:
On Sunday, we stopped in the Karangahake Gorge on the way home for another run. It was a stunner day - cool and clear. My favourite. I pulled rank and veto’d the 17km summit run because 700m straight up (and we’d also have to sacrifice our sleep in), and we did a 14km rolling loop instead - some cycleway, some road, some single track through the bush, some tunnel! It’s stunning and one of my favourite places to run.

Funnily, at around 10k we bumped into a group of four runners just heading out - turned out it included someone from our running group and my coach! Very small world.

Karangahake photos:

August 1 – 6.33
August 2 – 5.35
August 3 – 5.28
August 4 – 5.27

Temp was 63F this morning but humidity was high. A light rain was supposed to hit about 20 minutes into our run but we only got a few sprinkles. We had a track club meeting last night so I didn’t get home until after my usual bed time. I was dragging this morning but my run got done. Rest day tomorrow (but only because I have to be at work super early for a day of long, stressful meetings)!

@ContraryMaryMary – Your weekend sounds fun (love the pictures) and well-deserved after all that work getting your house ready and then the baking and making of treats. Happy Birthday to your sister!

In for 60 miles this month. With my training plan, I should actually come in a few miles more than that, but 60 is a nice round number.
I did my last run the last day of July in the hill country, which is ... hilly. Shocking, I know. I am not used to hills so my 5 mile planned run became 3 and I was sore the next day! I met a nice woman who lives up the road from me who was out running so maybe we can meet up occasionally. Getting a few runs a month in out there will definitely make me a stronger runner, but in the short-term, the runs are just hard. But, I did see a bunch of deer and the views are pretty.
I read through the end of July and beginning of August. Glad to see people accomplishing big things! Hugs to those of you having health and family challenges.

Edit for pics. The first is the hill right by my house. Some deer, and the sunrise.

No run today... ended up taking a narrow-gauge train trip, stopping to see a lighthouse, and to swim at another beach. Weather was much warmer today, very nice. On a cliff overlooking the beach, we saw the ruins of a church that in the 14-15th Century stood in the center of a town, over a mile inland. Erosion has changed the coast that much! I did get in a quick openwater swim, just for fun. The cold water was really refreshing and the waves weren't too bad. It was definitely different from swimming in a lake.

@ContraryMaryMary and @polskagirl01 lovely pics of some gorgeous places!

@martaindale, yes that's a hill that will give you a workout. Usually pictures don't capture the steepness well but that looks tough!

@RunsOnEspresso that's cool that you are a HotChocolate race ambassador. I wish there was one near me, I'd do it. I'll consider the virtual.

Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
08/01/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
08/02/21 :::: 3.0 :::: 3.0
08/03/21 :::: 1.8 :::: 4.8
08/04/21 :::: 5.5 :::: 10.3

HM/marathon training tonight was long intervals. 5-7-3 minute intervals hard, with 2 minutes recovery between, then repeat the set with only 1 minute recovery. This is a hard workout. I wasn't running max speed because I still feel like I'm recovering from hiking over the weekend. But I was still exhausted after.

1 Aug - 0.00 Run 1.0 Walk - driveway laps, barely beat the heavy downpour
2 Aug - 3.30 Run 1.0 Walk - Tempo run - 2 hours mowing the lawn
3 Aug - 2.50 Run 1.0 Walk - Recovery Run on the driveway - Weed eat at mom's in the afternoon
4 Aug - 6.20 Run 1.0 Walk - Birthday run on the driveway - played singles tennis earlier

12.00/100 miles running 4.0/31 miles walking

I got up this morning to a cool wet world. It was 64°F in August. Crazy. I had plans to play tennis with a friend this morning. It didn't look like that was going to happen, but there were only spotty showers, so my tennis buddy and I decided to go to the courts and see how they looked. When we got there, it was a lot drier than at my house. There were some puddles that we were able to squeegee out, warmed up making sure we didn't run on the wet spots, and then played a couple of sets. I won 6-3, and 6-1. I thought I was going to win the first on 6-2, for my birthday, but I put too much pressure on myself at 5-2 and lost the next game. It was fun and much closer than the scores show.

When I got home, it was drizzling again, but still only 64°F. I thought about doing my run on the treadmill, but those temperatures were calling me to run outside. I didn't want my neighbors to think I was crazy, so I did my birthday run on the driveway. Turns out, even with 100% humidity, it was a great run. I think that is my new favorite weather for a run. I ran at what felt like a fairly easy pace, walking most of the biggest hill. My goal was to keep my HR in Zones 2 and 3. I succeeded with only 1:53 minutes above Zone 3. Elevation gain was 1,842 feet. My pace averaged 13:42 min/mile. That's more than 1 min/mile faster than yesterday. Still slow, but I'll take it for a driveway easy paced run. @Scott6255 FYI my warm up and cool down walks were both 56% in Zone 2 and around 40% in Zone 2.

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
08/04: 3 miles

Ended up getting a few miles in later last night. It was a busy day! The weather is just about perfect for the moment. It’ll be blazing again next week though. I intended to run, but my daughter wanted to come along. She’s working her way off an inhaler because she wants to join the military, and she’s not up for running much yet, but she does want to join my sister and I for the Wine and Dine HM at Disney next year. She starts allergy shots weekly starting next month in the hopes to fully move away from her inhaler.