What I ran in June

June 2018

Total mileage for the month:  231.9 (in comparison:  January - 207, February - 254, March - 298, April - 307, May - 355).  My marathon taper and recovery stole some June miles, but that's the nature of marathoning!

• May 28-June 3:  73.2
• June 4-10:  61.7
• June 11-17:  57 (race week)
• June 18-24:  37 (recovery/vacation week)
• June 25-July 1:  58.1 (unstructured training, and I was surprised to end up with this many)

 Races:

• June 16:  Grandma's Marathon in 2:49:08 (6:27 average pace). I was pleased to dip into the 2:40s off of this training cycle, and proud of how I executed the race. This was my second ever fastest marathon, and my third time in the 2:40s on course less fast than the other courses I’ve broken 2:50 on. Of course, 2:45:00 is still my Big Dream Goal, but I really believe I got the best 26.2 miles out of myself that I could have on this day, and that was a great feeling! You can read more about my race here. 
• June 30:  Sertoma Duck Waddle 5K in 18:11, but probably more like 18:26-18:31 and 5:58ish average pace.  This was a for-fun local race that I've now run 3 years in a row, and that I had no expectations for not only because I was 2 weeks post-marathon, but also because we were in a heat advisory on race morning.  I was plenty happy with how it ended up.  The course was not certified, and I believe it was a tad short, so my official time of 18:11 wasn't legit, unfortunately!

Final stretch at Grandma's

 Workouts:

• June 2:  10 x 0.5 mile repeats (0.25 recoveries, 2.1 warm up, 1.8 cool down) in 2:55, 2:57, 2:58, 2:56, 2:59, 2:56, 3:03, 3:01, 3:04, 2:52 - average of 2:58 which is like a 2:56 800 m.  This was supposed to be 10 x 800 m on the track (a.k.a. Yasso 800s), but we arrived at the track to find it under construction. The day before I'd told my coach that if he wanted to change my workout to something like 10 miles at marathon pace I wouldn't be mad, and the torn up track situation made me further feel like the universe was begging me not to run this workout, but I, alas, I made it through.  My average was pretty much the same as I ran for this workout before CIM (which was very unsatisfactory to me at that time!), but I was happy with it for this one because it was 78 degrees with dew point of 73 degrees, i.e., terrible weather conditions for running performance.  Also I historically bomb every Yasso workout I ever run, so I've stopped worrying about how they translate to my marathons.  It IS possible for me to run 2:47-2:49 marathons off of 2:55-2:56 Yasso averages, and I figured heat/humidity-graded this one was more like 2:52 (dew points at this level = "expect pace to suffer greatly"), so it seemed like winning to me!  My coach ran the same workout so I had someone to chase, and his super speedy wife ran 4 repeats with us as part of her workout, and she was kind enough to slow down on the last one to help me finish strong...that's how I got the 2:52 when I was clearly dying, you know, just running with the 8th female in the 2018 Boston Marathon.  All in all, this was just another data point for me indicating that 2:56 Yassos = 2:49 marathon.
• June 6:  20 x 400 m repeats (200 m recoveries between reps, 400 m recoveries between sets of 4, 2.3 warm up, 2 cool down).  My goal was to run faster each set, aiming for 89, 88, 87, 86, 85 on the sets of 4 reps.  This workout is interesting due to the pace control it takes and the sheer volume of repeats.  As far as speed workouts go, it is more suited to my strengths because I am good at negative splitting and volume (I am not good with raw speed).  But it is a lot of 400s and a long time to be on the track, especially alone!  My splits were:  89, 88, 89, 89 / 87, 88, 88, 87 / 87, 86, 88, 86 / 87, 87, 87, 86 / 86, 86, ??, 85 (average 87). I missed my watch on rep 19 and it took me a bit to notice it, but I suspect it was 85-86.  I was either exactly on my target times or 1 second off for every rep, so I accomplished the exercise in pacing and leg turn-over.  This was not the fastest I've ever run this workout (I have averaged 85-86), but it actually was the fastest 400s I'd run in 2018, which was humorous since it was double the reps of the other 400 workouts I'd done.  I didn't exactly set the bar very high in my other 400 repeats this year, but I always say that I can't go any faster but I can keep going, and this workout proved that!  This workout also really illustrated where one of my weaknesses is with speed work, and that is getting going.  I never came through my first 200 any faster than 44, and on most of the reps I came through at 45, meaning that when I was running 86 I was splitting them 45/41.  I've told my coach that I'm flummoxed that I can finish a half marathon with a 5:52-6:02 mile, but I struggle with dropping into the high-5:00's on speed work, and he said it's probably because I have a hard time getting going but once I'm running I can ramp it up, and after this workout I realized he is 100% right on that.  Just another reason I'm better at longer races!
• June 9:  10 miles with 2 fast finish at marathon goal pace-ish (pick up miles in 6:17 and 6:09; 6:52 for all 10).  I started this run feeling sluggish and blah, but finished it feeling great.  I always have a time period during my taper when I feel awful, and this run was the turning point to feeling better again.  The fast finish miles felt more like half marathon effort, probably because they were.
• June 12:  Final tiny tune-up workout of 2 miles at dream marathon goal pace: 6:21, 6:14 for an average of exactly 6:17 (2 warm up, 2.5 cool down).  Like always, this workout inspired NO confidence that I could maintain this pace for much farther than 2 miles.  It was rainy for this run, and at the time the Grandma's race day forecast included heavy rain and a 80% chance for it (that forecast actually didn't change until race morning!).
• Double on June 7...this list is very sad.
• Strides on June 14 and 15, 27, and at least a few before all workouts and the 5K. 
• Full body strength workouts on June 2, 6, 9 (abbreviated), 27 (abbreviated), 30, and 5-10 minutes of core work most days, with the exception of a 7-day span right before and right after the marathon.
• Favorite workout:  Err...the choice is really between two speed workouts, so...I choose the marathon, haha!

If it's on the Internet it must be true

God telling me not to run a track workout

 Long Runs:

• June 3:  15.3 miles (7:05).  This was the first run in weeks that I finished with some of my clothing still dry!  It was in the high 60s and the dew point was 57*, in sharp contrast to the heavy humidity we'd been experiencing (plus I did not over-dress, which clearly helped!).  I could feel the previous day's 10 x half mile repeats and strength workout on my legs, but the shorter distance and nicer weather evened it all out!  Rebecca ran the first 10 with me and then I was nearly finished!
• June 9: 10 miles (6:52), described above and really not long.
  
• Favorite long run:  Well, there was really only one, which makes me even more sad than the list of my doubles above.  Again, I choose the marathon!
  

Highlights/thoughts/randomness:

• My running streak lives on - my last day off was January 26.  I didn't take the week after Grandma's off because I love running on vacation, and also because I didn't want to!  My last days off were after Houston, when I was feeling burned out both physically and mentally, and I wasn't afraid to do that again, but I didn't want it this time and was excited for my short recovery runs.  After CIM I ran on vacation in the same manner.  I don't plan to streak long-term, because I'll take the time when I need it, but it's been fun to count since I've started running 7 days a week in June 2017 -- within the 13 months since then, I've taken 5 days off, all after Houston.

This arrived (I'd completely forgotten it was coming)!

 Life events:

• Albani has been losing teeth like crazy!  She is onto us about the non-existence of the Tooth Fairy, but still gladly accepts her dollars.
• Albani was in her school district's newsletter, reading.
• We vacationed after Grandma's Marathon, in Grand Marais, Minnesota, Grand Portage, Minnesota, and in Thunder Bay Canada.  You can read more about our vacation here.

2 teeth lost within 10 minutes!

Half of my department at our ABA BBQ

Photo from the district newsletter