June 2019 in Review
Total mileage for the month: 252.1
- May 27-June 2: 70.1 (2:03 strength training)
- June 3-9: 77 (2:08 strength training)
- June 10-16: 62.6 (1:44 strength training)
- June 17-23: 51.7 (0:25 strength training)
- June 24-30: 32.2 (0:30 strength training)
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| After my final little workout before Grandma's |
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| Farm road running for the win |
Races:
- June 22: Grandma's Marathon in 2:47:44. While this wasn't a 2:45:00, it was my best marathon yet (30 seconds off my PR, on a slower course). It's difficult to be upset about a 2:47, but it's also difficult to be content with a 2:47...lots of details here.
- June 4: 2 x 2.5 mile tempos with 2:00 recovery in 5:56, 5:58, 2:56 / 6:02, 5:53, 2:57 (3.2 warm up, 3.6 cool down). After a couple weeks of feeling weak on workouts (related to bronchitis), I felt strong again on this one and it was a much needed confidence-boost since workouts before the marathon were quickly winding down at this point! My 5:57 average was my best tempo workout of the season, in 66* and 95% humidity.
- June 8: 6 miles at MGP, 1 mile tempo, 5 miles at MGP, 1 mile tempo (continuous; no recoveries) in 6:17, 6:13, 6:17, 6:13, 6:12, 6:12, 5:55, 6:15, 6:12, 6:12, 6:14, 6:12, 6:04 (then 5:57 pace for 0.11 because I had to run to 13.11!), with 2.2 warm up and 3 cool down. This amounted to a 1:21:15 half marathon and I wrote about the details here. I was thankful to almost hit this one; the final mile was supposed to be sub-6:00 so I came up 5 seconds short - but I averaged 6:13 on the MGP miles (supposed to be 6:15 this day, although 6:17 would do on marathon day!), so maybe it evened out.
- June 10: 3 x 10:00 tempos with 2:00 recoveries in 5:57, 5:55 pace for 0.68, 5:55, 6:02 pace for 0.68, 5:56, 5:52 pace for 0.69 (2.2 warm up, 2.6 cool down, because I can't do math). My goal pace on this one was 5:55-6:00 and my coach said "don't go any faster than 5:55!!" - so of course I planned to try to average 5:54, but I could still feel my June 8 workout on my legs so in the end I was happy to stay in my range. I think that was probably the point of this workout - getting some last-minute gains on tired legs - because I generally have 2-3 days between workouts instead of 1. Probably the only reason I was able to stay within my range was because it was 61 degrees and only 67% humidity, but I'll take what I can get!
- June 12: 2 x 2 mile tempos with 3:00 recovery in 6:05, 5:55 / 6:08, 5:55 (3.2 warm up, 2 cool down). This workout was interesting because I felt super sluggish on the first miles of both repeats, and then strong on the second miles. My goal pace again was 5:55-6:00, so I was slow on the first miles but it was good enough overall. I always feel tired, "off", and sluggish at some point during my tapers, so I didn't let it bother me - plus this was my third workout in 5 days, which is very atypical (i.e., has never happened before), but as I mentioned above made sense as a final push in the final days to make gains. During my 3:00 recovery I kept telling myself, "This is the final 2 miles at tempo of this training cycle!" to pump myself up to try to finish strong.
- June 17: 3 x 0.75 "tempos" in 4:17 (5:44 pace), 4:12 (5:36 pace), 4:14 (5:40 pace) with full recoveries (which ended up being 2:25 and 3:02), 2.3 warm up, 2.2 cool down. I had instructions to not run these faster than 5:55 pace, so I failed and they weren't a true tempo workout, but on the other hand this showed me that I can actually run 5:40ish pace for a bit. It was a super short workout that got my legs turning over but didn't fatigue them. I also blame/credit Rebecca's speediness plus the rain that was falling and making it difficult to see my watch for making me run these faster than tempo pace.
- Doubles on June 3, 4, 5, 12
- Strides on June 20, 21
- Days off running: June 18, 28
- Favorite workout: The 13.11 mile workout on June 8, hands down. But I enjoyed all the tempo work too! Mainly I'm glad there were no track workouts this month, hah.
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| Our new favorite post-long run/workout pose |
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| #fastbraid for Rebecca & #sweatsoakedbun for me! |
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| Better together |
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| #jumpingjune |
Long Runs:
- June 1: 22.4 miles (7:29 / 2 fast finish in 6:22, 6:12). I had 21 scheduled, so I ran 6 before meeting Rebecca, who wanted to do 15. I wasn't sure if I'd be strong enough to run my final 2 at MGP (I was not quite back to 100% post-bronchitis), but in the end I eeked out 6:17 average exactly on them, although it wasn't easy! As always, the fast finish made me wonder how I could ever run that pace for more than about 2 miles, hah. I then jogged back to Rebecca and ran in with her, hence the 22.4 total. Any excuse to run farther, right (sorry, coach!)?!
- June 8: 18.3 miles total with a workout, detailed above and here.
- June 14: 12.3 miles (7:26) for my last "long" run of the cycle. I had this run on a Friday morning so ended up running it solo, and it was fine. I often feel terrible when tapering, so to feel okay is winning in my book (I do not ever expect to feel good any more during marathon tapers)!
- June 22: The Marathon for a 27.4 mile day, counting the warm-up...plus my watch said I walked almost 6 miles!
- Favorite long run: June 1 is the clear choice since June 8 won favorite workout, June 22 won favorite race, and June 14 wasn't even long.
- I listened to this podcast about the Bill Snyder Highway Half Marathon. They noted that of the 1,400+ runners in the race, only 1 participant negative split! That made me feel a lot better about my positive split. They interviewed the first overall male and second overall female, and both noted that the final 4ish miles were hot and hard, a sentiment everyone seemed to agree with, including me. I was mentioned briefly in the podcast as well.
- I remembered why tapering is not my favorite, but also that it really, truly works - marathon pace NEVER feels strong and smooth except on race day.
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| So much cuteness |
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| My best action shot |
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| How we want to look |
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| How we really look |
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| Plus kids with water guns |
Replace can't with maybe. Most of the year I thought "I can't" about the 2:45 at Grandma's, but during my taper I thought "maybe". "Maybe" didn't mean yes, but it was a step up from a hard no!
I laughed at Bandit's quote, that is so funny!
ReplyDeleteDid you like Commonwealth. My mom read it in one day she liked it so much! I love Joshilyn Jackson, did you like that one? I haven't read it yet! I'm slowly making my way through her books.
Bandit's expression says it all!
DeleteI liked Commonwealth, but not as much as your mom did. I also liked Someone Else's Love Story, but not as much as Almost Sisters by Jackson. You recommended her to me! Sadly, my library only has those two books by her (the drawbacks of living out in the country).
I finally got on a computer to post all the comments I had. I'm so glad your library has Mobius, it has been so nice for me! I totally forgot I recommended Joshilyn Jackson to you but now that you say that, I remember!
DeleteI am so excited to order books on Mobius! I hope I can find Meb's book and Ryan Hall's - plus all of the Richard Paul Evans I haven't read, and more Joshilyn Jackson. Thank you so much for that tip!
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