Jubilant June

June 2021 in review!  

Total mileage for the month: 332.4 (for 2093 miles for 2021 so far!)

• May 31-June 6:  68.8
• June 7-13:  73.1
• June 14-20:  82.4
• June 21-27:  93.9
• June 28-July 4:  65.9

Fast friends!

Races:

• June 5:  Hospital Hill Half Marathon in 1:25:27 for 1st overall female and tons of fun - not to mention heat and hills!

Trevor is the master of on-the-run pics

Workouts:

• June 8:  4 x 6:00 at tempo (paces of 5:54, 5:56, 5:58, 5:54) with 1:00 jog recoveries + 4 x 3:00 at 5k pace (paces of 5:38, 5:40, 5:42, 5:42) with 2:00 jogs recoveries.  My only complaint about this workout was that I'd rather it have been 4 x 1 mile at tempo because with the 6:00 my watch autolapped at 1 mile then lapped again a few seconds later at the 6:00 mark...or in other words, the workout went well!  Colin paced me on it, which is probably the only reason I was able to hit my coach's ambitious paces when the dew point was 69* (humidity 100%). I'm sure it comes as a surprise to no one that I would rather run 4 miles at tempo than run 3 minutes at 5k pace, hah!  My running group warmed up together then had 3 different workout groups going this morning with 2-3 people in each group, and as always it was better together!
• June 12:  16.2 miles that included 2 x (20:00 at MP + 5:00 at tempo) with 5:00 jog between. I went to Christian's and Colin's race in Branson and ran the lakefront path for this workout while they were racing.  The weather was pretty miserable, at 76-79* with a 72* dew point.  I was close on the marathon pace miles, which had a heat adjusted goal of 6:25, but I couldn't drop my pace below 6:15 for the life of me, so the 6:05 tempo heat adjusted pace did not happen (goal paces would have been 6:15 and 5:55 in good weather).  This time-based workout came out to about 8 miles of work, and my paces for the hard miles were: 6:24, 6:29, 6:31, 6:16 / 6:23, 6:35, 6:32, 6:21.  The course wasn't wonderful, with hills and on a curvy path, but the heat got me the most.  The weather was similar to the previous week's conditions at Hospital Hill, so I don't know why it bothered me a lot more on this run than at that race, but I have found that my performance is less predictable in humidity, so I'll credit that (also the air by the lake really smelled like fish so maybe that counts for something, hah!). But the effort was there and I know I'll get the benefits!
• June 15:  7 x 1,000 m at 10k pace with 2:00 recoveries in 3:34, 3:34, 3:36, 3:36, 3:36, 3:35, 3:33 (5:42-5:47 pace - goal is 5:45), (3 warm up, 3 cool down). On the recoveries I walked for a few seconds until the rest of my group finished, jogged 200 m, then stood for about 30 seconds before starting the next rep. Track workouts really intimidate me, but this one felt smooth and amazing, which was a nice way to start my speed block!  My coach texted me "We want this to be a good burn workout, not a balls to the wall workout", but beforehand I wasn't even sure I could hit it going balls to the wall (hahaha!).  Once I got started, it actually felt like 10k pace and not death, which was really, really nice.  It was 68* with 64* dew point, which certainly helped (as compared to the June 12 workout!), and I had 4 running buddies on the track with me, which definitely helped.
• June 22:  8 x 800 m at 5k pace with 200 m jog/2:00 recoveries in 2:47, 2:47, 2:47, 2:49, 2:50, 2:50, 2:50, 2:47 (2.3 warm up, 3 cool down).  This was definitely The Best 800 m Workout Of My Life, at age 40.  Enough said!  The unseasonably cool temps (56 degrees) and group workout helped, but I averaged 2:48 on my own (other group members were doing 2:40ish or 3:00+).  I know I "should" be able to run a workout like this based on my race times, but I sure never have, so a lot of yay here!
• June 26:  17.6 miles with a descending fartlek of 3 x 4' on/4' off, 4 x 3' on/3' off, 5 x 2' on/2' off, 6 x 1' on/1' off.  Colin and I ran this on a hilly course with 906 ft gain, so our paces varied based on the elevation, but my Garmin 745 tells me that on the ons (which added up to 40:00 total) I covered 6.63 miles and my average pace was 6:02.  The on paces ranged from 5:22-6:26 depending on if we were going up or downhill, but the 4:00 and 3:00 pushes were at half effort, the 2:00 at 10k effort, and the 1:00 at 5k effort.  After my June 12 long run workout was a struggle in the heat, I wasn't the most optimistic about this one in 75*/70* dew point (at 5 a.m.!), but it was cloudy and rained on us, which really helped (except for a couple of reps when it rained intensely).
• June 29:  3 x 1,000 m at 5k pace with 3:00 recoveries in 3:30, 3:31, 3:35, for a lighter race week workout!  My pace goal was 3:31-3:35, so I should have run these in the opposite order, but I am pretty good at positive splitting when the dew point is over 70*. I was good with this workout for what it was, and I tested my new race shoes, Adidas Audizero Pros, but they slipped on my heel so I need to re-lace them using a different set of holes (they have multiple lacing options). I don't think that necessarily slowed me down but it sure didn't help.  I was solo on these because Colin was blazing his at 3:15ish and the others were doing 3:45ish.
• Strides: June 3, 4, 7, 11, 14, 21, 25, 28, and a few before most workouts.
• Doubles: June 7, 10, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 24, 27, 29
• Strength Training:  weekly totals of 1:55, 2:22, 2:55, 3:00

Track crew

Another track day

Long Runs:

• June 5:  18 miles total with 2.8 warm up, the Hospital Hill Half, and 2 cool down.  The warm up and cool down were also hilly...
• June 12:  16.2 miles with a workout, described above.
• June 19:  16.5 miles (7:44) that started at 5 a.m.! Summer is here and my husband wanted me to help him at the Farmer's Market as soon as I could get there after 7 a.m., so I started this run at the Farmer's Market location then immediately ran over to help when I finished.  Colin and Brad were kind enough to also start at 5 a.m., even though they knew I was going to talk excessively about the Shelby Houlihan doping conviction which I followed far too closely.
• June 26:  17.6 miles (7:10) with a workout, described above.
  
• I did 10 miles each Sunday this month, and I don't count 10 as a long run so didn't note those (trust me, you do not want me to note every day I run 10 miles), but as I work into more marathon-specific training it should be easy to up those to 12-14 milers if my coach so chooses.  I told her how much I loved back-to-back long runs during 50k training and how much I thought they helped my strength, but I trust whatever she writes for me.

Sponsored by Ibbetson Farms

Running Highlights:

• I was selected for the 2021-2022 rabbitELITE squad! Their pink crop hop is my absolute favorite race top, their community is awesome, and I am honored to represent.  It's my first time being selected for anything like this and I'm so excited for all of the rabbit gear.
• I made it over 2000 miles YTD this month.  I don't typically keep an eye on this but saw others posting that they were over 2000 and on track to exceed 4000 for the year, so I checked on mine.  It is best for me not to check my yearly mileage until December 31, though I think I've been doing much better recently about not being crazy about stuff like that and could handle it now.
• I started working with my awesome coach Nichole again on June 7.  I think I did really well self-coaching the last 6 months (miracles can happen!), but I can never be completely objective about my own training and believe I will run better with her guidance than without.  I wouldn't have taken a break from coaching if I hadn't had that hip issue in 2020, but I felt uncertain about my trajectory for awhile.
• I accompanied my friends Christian and Colin to a steamy half marathon on June 12, and they took home overall male and female wins so that was fun!

Find friends who will get in Table
Rock Lake with you after long runs!

Life Highlights:

• I attended my niece's high school graduation on June 2.
• Ibbetson Family Farm started back in full swing - please like and share our Facebook page if you have a moment! Jon and Albani are producing a plethora of fresh produce along with several sweet treat options this year.
• I met up with a group of my grad school friends in Pittsburg (my college town) on June 19, and it was wonderful to see everyone in person.

My mom, niece, and sister

It's pretty clear what year this graduation
occurred...

Beyond cuteness

No one has aged since grad school, correct?

Making sure to be an embarrassing
mother at the fireworks stand

Books:

• Love Story (The Baxter Family #1) by Karen Kingsbury
• Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
• The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene
• The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V. E. Schwab
• Fly Away (Firefly Lane #2) by Kristin Hannah
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• It looks as if my reading was down this month, but I think it's because most of these were pretty lengthy.

Theme for the month:

Summer of Speed - as much as faster, shorter stuff intimidates me, it's been fun to get on the track for some work!  I've hit speed workout PRs, so I am going to use the hashtag #fasterasamaster now.  I have had big goals for many years, and this year it's not that I don't have ambitions, but that I'm enjoying whatever my best is versus trying to force anything specific or reach too far.  I have never felt so good about my running physically or emotionally - I love being 40 and the masters running opportunities it has opened for me.  I am running the 10,000 m in the USATF Masters Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Ames, Iowa next month and could not be more excited about that!