AUGUST 2023 Monthly Running Challenge

I saw this in the 6 Minute Mile email this morning and thought it a relevant topic coming into (maybe) cooler fall weather when more spadework is possible and thought I would share for any of our newer runners or those who just need to refresh what the different speed workouts can be.

Experienced runners will be familiar with the Swedish import of the Fartlek run, but if you need a refresher course, you should check out: “Fartlek Training Is a Fun and Effective Way to Run Faster. Here's How to Do It.” Translated as “speed play,” Fartleks are an unstructured kind of workout that allow you to push the pace while listening to your body. They’re a fun way to introduce intensity into your routine, and by running a few miles with some shifts into race-pace sprinkled throughout, you can improve your speed and endurance significantly. The benefit is that they’re easy to adjust on the fly for a lighter or heavier workout, but some runners may find that lack of precision confusing. If that’s the case, you might want to understand: “What's the difference between fartlek, tempo and interval runs?” Interval and tempo runs have the benefit of a more concrete pacing target, allowing you to more easily track your progression. Intervals are often short and intense, making them suited for developing top speed. On the other hand, tempo runs are more consistent, and runners use them to grow their lactate threshold.

shanaber wrote: »

runners use them to grow their lactate threshold.

I haven't even planted my lactate threshold! I'll pick one up at the garden centre tomorrow.

August 1: Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 1.50 miles
August 2: Wun 3.00 miles - driveway after mowing my lawn - yellow jacket stings
August 3: Walk 1.50 miles - Ran 1.00 mile - treadmill
August 4: Walk 1.00 mile - Ran 6.40 miles - treadmill (birthday run)
August 5: Walk 2.00 miles - treadmill
August 6: Walk 2.00 miles - treadmill
August 7: Walk 2.00 miles - treadmill
August 8: Walk 2.00 miles - treadmill, mowed, and sawed wood
August 9: Walk 1.50 miles - Ran 1.50 miles - driveway laps after tennis
August 10: Walk 2.00 miles - driveway laps
August 11: Walk 1.50 miles - Ran 4.00 miles - treadmill - Also weed eat for 50 min later
August 12: Walk 2.00 miles - treadmill - played 2h26m25s of singles tennis (traversed 1.90 miles)
August 13: Walk 1.00 mile - treadmill
August 14: Walk 2.00 miles - treadmill
August 15: Walk 2.00 miles - ran 1.50 miles - treadmill
August 16: Walk 1.50 miles - treadmill
August 17: Walk 1.35 miles - Ran 1.40 miles - Wun/intervals on the road - almost 2 hours of tennis
August 18: Walk 2.50 miles - driveway laps
August 19: Walk 2.50 miles - driveway laps - Mowed lawn for almost 2 hours
August 20: Walk 2.00 miles - treadmill
August 21: Walk 1.00 miles - treadmill - Tennis twice for a total of almost 3.5 hours
August 22: Walk 2.75 miles - treadmill - actually a wun - Mowed mom's lawn
August 23: Walk 2.00 miles - treadmill
August 24: Walk 1.25 miles - after work - played almost 2 hours of doubles tennis
August 25: Walk 1.85 miles - Run 1.25 miles - treadmill quarter mile intervals
August 26: Walk 2.30 miles - Run 1.80 miles - treadmill

67.85/80 mile goal

The hardest part of today's exercise was getting up off the couch. I really did NOT want to run today. So, I decided to take it easy and do at least 2 miles and further if I felt like it. I wound up walking 5 min for warm up then I did 2/2 min run/walk for 48 min and then walked to rest of the way. The walks were at 3.8 mph and the runs were 4.2mph - 5.0mph, 4.2mph - 4.4mph. Avg HR was 132 with a max of 156 bpm. I ran a total of 24 min and 1.80 miles for an avg pace of 13:20 min/mile. Not great, but better than nothing.

Still on my outside running boycott. Did 10 TM miles this afternoon.

No friggin Kidding..... sorry @7lenny7 but just a run or two is not acclimating. It's just torturing. Hahahaha.

Still at 104. I can get out and walk a mile or play tennis in the shade but I do see some folks running. Probably mad dogs and englishmen.

Triathlon complete ! Results were very comparable to last year. I was 10 seconds faster in the run and 5 seconds slower on the bike - so just about even. The swim was changed this year but I can tell you that I managed to botch that part again (I seem to always mess up on the swimming in a different way).

This year, they were renovating the pool and didn’t finish in time, so they moved the race to a smaller nearby indoor pool and shortened the distance and made mini-small lanes

The first mistake I made was not properly trying on my goggles last night. I have two similar pairs, one with -5.00 on each glass to correct my vision and the other without (because now I wear contacts). Which one did I take? The -5.00 one! Which meant I couldn’t really see anything (but at least I didn’t get any water in my eyes, right?).

So far so good until I seem to have “gotten lost” in the lanes (we swam in zig zag all across the entire pool - 12 different laps. I swam right into some of the other participants in my wave who informed me I have to move over a lane further, which I did, but then a second later I thought about it and knew I couldn’t be ahead of them because there weren’t any men behind me in my wave. So while swimming I’m contemplating what to do and I don’t want to skip 2 lanes or have anyone thinking I’m cheating, so I end up going back under the ropes in the opposite direction, so that I’m the last swimmer in my heat and I probably swam 2 additional laps, but at least I know I didn’t cheat and I can live with that! Better luck next year?

However, if you do need to be bad at one of the disciplines, swimming is the shortest and has the least overall impact. It was a nice day, the weather was great for racing, and, most importantly it was fun!

Including my warmup I have 7.3km for today and 104.4/160km for August.

Aug 2 – 4.77 miles
Aug 4 – 3.28 miles
Aug 5 – 4.34 miles
Aug 6 – 8.02 miles
Aug 8 – 4.01 miles
Aug 9 - 4.26 miles
Aug 14 – 4.01 miles
Aug 15 – 5.13 miles
Aug 16 – 5.02 miles
Aug 17 – 4.70 miles
Aug 20 – 5.45 miles
Aug 22 – 5.21 miles
Aug 24 – 7.15 miles
Aug 26 – 5.05 miles
Total – 70.40 miles

Yesterday, I did a 30-minute strength workout before I ran 5 miles. After I got back home I showered and loaded up my bike and camping gear and headed to a state park a couple of hours away. It has a 57 mile rails-to-trail which is great for biking, running, walking etc. I stayed at a primitive campground located around the 24 mile mark which gave me the option to ride either way. Yesterday I headed north, stopped for lunch in a small town, and then pedaled back for a total of 40 miles. After I set up camp, I waded into the river for a few minutes to cool off. There was a storm that rolled through around 6:30 so that made it a short evening. Before I left this morning, I headed south on the trail and got in 21 biking miles before packing everything up and heading home.

Welcome back @7lenny7! What great racing adventures you have had – thanks for sharing them!

@SummerSkier – COVID has been making its rounds in our area also. I know of at least 8 people who have had it in the last couple of weeks.

Congratulations on your tri @Laurz9191!