The Month of June

June 2017 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 205 (in comparison, my 2017 thus far has been:  January - 261, February - 212, March - 203, April - 219, May - 249). 

The first couple of full weeks of the month were cutback recovery weeks, I was on a Florida vacation from June 7-15, and then it was primarily about rebuilding base.  I only ran two short official workouts this month (plus two races). 

• May 29-June 4:  51.9
• June 5-11:  38.1
• June 12-18: 44.3
• June 19-25:  53.7
• June 26-July 2:  58.2

Races:

• June 3:  Dam to Dam Half Marathon in 1:26:19 (hot, humid, headwind, humbling...referred to as "that dam race" many times afterward and probably for infamy)
• June 24:  Sertoma Duck Waddle 5K in 18:29 (in the best Missouri June weather we could have hoped for, really!)

Workouts:

• June 17:  Progressive fast finish long run, with the final 3 miles in 6:48, 6:37, 6:25 (7:00 on the nose average for the whole pop).  I was hoping to run more like 6:25, 6:15, 6:05 for the progressive fast finish miles; a combination of post-vacation fatigue and running in Springfield (and therefore dodging traffic and navigating crappy sidewalks) meant that it wasn't to be.  I'm honestly pretty shocked I managed a 6:25 final mile with the footing on the sidewalks by Bass Pro; it's a good thing their real races are on the road!  I ran Bass Pro's Recycle Run 5.8 mile "10K" training run course twice (plus a bit) for this, because I was slated to help with my local running club's table before and after the run.  The volunteering part didn't come to fruition because it was storming before and raining throughout, so no one was hanging around and our table didn't even get set up.  It worked out fine though, aside from the running in town part, because all of the ladies I usually train with were rocking races on this day.
• June 29:  2 mile tempo in 11:46 via 5:54, 5:51 (3 warm-up and 2.7 cool-down).  My goal pace was 6:00, and my training schedule said, "This is just the beginning" in the description of this run...I'm not sure if that was a promise or a threat, haha!  I looked at my watch about a half mile into the tempo, and I was averaging 6:08 pace so I thought "Uggggghh, I need to pick it up", and then I sped up a little too much and came through mile 1 in 5:54.  Then my fate was sealed on pushing the second mile under 5:54 since I'm obsessed with negative splitting!  I typically dislike short tempos because they are over once I start feeling alright, but this one was only a half mile of ugggggggh, a half mile of fine, and then a mile of good (usually I have at least 2 miles of uggggggh at the beginning of any tempo).  I'm not sure what the difference was; perhaps since it was 70* and I did a 3 mile warm-up that included some strides in mile 3 I was better warmed up (typically I have a 2 mile warm-up before tempos).  I guess this was probably the fastest 2 mile tempo I've done, although I've finished the final 2 miles of longer tempos at this pace so it doesn't feel like an accomplishment.  I think I could've hit a 4 mile tempo around this pace...but I fear that I will in time be scheduled to run 8-10 mile tempos at 6:00, which I could NOT currently do.
• Doubles on June 20, 27, and 29.
• Strides on June 1, 21, 24, and 27.
• Strava segment-chasing in Florida (i.e., random pick-ups) on June 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14.
• Bootcamp or strength on June 5, 11 (legs only), 12 (arm and core only), 16, 19, 21, and 25.  During the last week of the month, I made a change in my strength training schedule that I hope will benefit my overall training plan.  I am now going to one bootcamp full body strength workout a week, on Mondays.  I will then aim to do 5-10 minutes of strength training right after the majority of my runs throughout the week (so essentially splitting up the second strength workout across several short sessions).  This will allow me to have a truly very light day on Friday with a short run only, which I think will be important as my volume increases.  Ideally I would do two strength workouts on my two hard running days (which are most often Wednesdays and Saturdays), but I just can't make that work well with my non-running life.

Long Runs:

• June 3:  With the Dam to Dam half (13.1) and its warm-up (2.8) and cool-down (1.1), I ended up with 17 miles total.  My cool-down mile felt like the longest mile ever, and it was my slowest mile in June (even slower than the first mile of my post-Disney park easy runs!)! 
• June 9:  10.2 miles (7:02), which I wouldn't classify as even in mid-week long run territory, but since I spent 14 hours at the Magic Kingdom afterward, I think this day as a whole counted as an ultra, haha!  I ran this "long run" a day early because I expected to be exhausted on June 10, and I was.
• June 17:  12.1 miles (7:00), with 3 progressive fast finish miles as mentioned above. 
• June 25:  11 miles (7:12); another short long run, with a nice group.  Our little group continues to grow and really isn't so little any more!  We've now tapped into the local collegiate teams and have a cross-country/track runner and a coach (from two different teams) joining us sometimes.

News:

• I picked a half marathon goal race for the fall:  the Indy Women's Half on September 30!  I was accepted as an elite into the event and am officially registered.   I am also registered for the Bass Pro Half on November 5, and although it's a great local race and will be a really good checkpoint for my fitness four weeks out from my goal marathon, it's not the fastest course because it has a million turns and a very thin field under 1:30.  I am running the Waddell & Reed Half on October 21, but that one will be done as a workout.
• I also chose a goal 10K for the fall:  the Plaza 10K.  I am really excited to try a fast road 10K!
• I discovered what my husband thinks is my weirdest delicious food combination yet:  a peanut butter beet sandwich.  If you like peanut butter banana sandwiches, you have to give it a try!  I got home around 8:45 p.m. one evening after a board meeting and hadn't had dinner yet, so was frantically eating cold cooked beets while making a plain peanut butter sandwich, and was inspired to try a bite of peanut butter sandwich with a beet slice on it.  The rest is history!  This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, because I also love peanut butter as a topping on baked sweet potatoes, melted on steamed broccoli, in smoothies, and as a dipping sauce for baked chicken (in addition to on normal things).  Beets are super healthy for endurance athletes, and I've had the luxury of eating a ton of them - mostly roasted or boiled - from our garden recently.
• Beeturia is a real thing!

Highlights/thoughts/randomness:

• For a bit after Dam to Dam, I didn't really want to train; I wanted to give up.  This mindset typically means I am on the brink of over-training and need to back off, and my disappointment about my performance didn't help.  The recovery weeks were on my schedule before I felt that way, and I welcomed them instead of resisting them like usual.  I also loosened the reigns on my eating habits (e.g., gorged on sweets) during the training break; my desire to do this was also related to feeling run-down I think!
• We were on vacation from June 7-15, and I asked for no doubles during this time frame, but I wouldn't have had them anyway considering how low my mileage was.  You can read about my vacation runs here, here, here, and here.
• Having a recovery phase during a vacation was both a good and bad thing; good because my runs were shorter before spending long days at Disney parks, but bad because my legs didn't get the same recovery benefits as they would have had I not been walking 7-8 miles a day in crowds in the heat! 
• I felt like my new training block really started the week of June 19.  My running between Dam to Dam and that week was kind of just to stay in the routine and for enjoyment, and then starting with my June 20 run (since Monday, June 19 was a non-running day) I felt like I was back on a mission with summer base building, although I still felt "off" for some of the week.
• The week of June 26 was my first week running 7 days a week.  My coach thinks I can handle it and that it will be helpful, and he has never led me astray so it's happening.  I've read several articles like this one that recommend "no days off" and 90ish miles a week to break 3 hours in the marathon, and that ship has sailed, but that may be what I need to have any remote chance at 2:45:00 (I won't hit 90 mpw this year, though).  I've been running 6 days a week with Mondays off, and now I'm running 3 miles on Mondays so it's a very light start.  This final week was also when I started feeling back in a groove with running!
• After hearing "One Way or Another" by Blondie during my solo run on June 20, I adopted it as my official theme song for this training block.  "You" in the "I'm gonna get you" referring to 2:45!  Expect a blog with adapted lyrics soon.
• And looking ahead to December, this became my favorite article.
• Finally, I learned a way to net some race photos that I actually like; run 6 minutes slower than my goal time, wear sunglasses (this tip I already knew), and make sure that the pics are not free downloads!  Photo credit to Jolesch Enterprises.