Running Down the Dream: Jumping July

July 2021 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 320.8

June 28-July 4: 65.9
July 5-11: 86.2
July 12-18: 74.8
July 19-25: 51.3
July 26-August 1: projected at 86

God Bless the USA!

Races:

July 3: 3.1 on the 3rd in 18:09 in an unofficial 5k race put on by my running group. I decided in advance that I wouldn't count this as a PR, though I was sure I was going to run faster than my 5k PR, but I didn't (whomp whomp) so that was a non-issue! But I did run my second best 5k time running solo on rolling hills, so it wasn't The Worst.
July 24: USATF Masters Outdoor Track and Field National Championships 10,000 m in 39:39 for 2nd place in age group 40-44 and not nearly what I was hoping for!

#jumpingjuly

Workouts:

July 3: 5k at race effort in 18:09 (3 warm up, 5.4 cool down).
July 4: 9 easy, 3 progressive (6:16, 6:11, 6:12), 2.5 easy. I was aiming for 6:20, 6:10, 6:00, but I couldn't get the final mile down. This run in combination with the July 3 "race" showed me that I need to work on my power in regards to going uphill, but lucky for me all of my upcoming goal races are flat or close to it!
July 6: 5 x 1600 m with 2:00 recoveries in 5:48, 5:59, 5:57, 5:55, 6:01 (2 warm up, 2 cool down). My goal pace for these was starting at 5:48 working down to 5:42, but the temperature/humidity adjustment was +13 seconds (5:55-6:01). In my stubbornness I wanted to try the 5:48 working down thing anyway, but as you can see that was a mistake and I ended up hanging on the best I could, and just squeaked them all into the adjusted range. My first rep was the most fun for a lot of reasons, the biggest being that I paced my friend Abby to a new mile PR of 5:49! Colin ran a 4:59 mile time trial, so clearly the two of them succeeded for the day.
July 10: 3 x 2 mile progressive with 5:00 jogs in 12:25 (6:12, 6:13), 12:23 (6:09, 6:14), 12:23 (6:18, 6:05), 2.2 warm up, 3 cool down. My original goal paces by rep were 6:00, 5:55, 5:50, but my coach had me use a temperature/humidity calculator to weather-grade them, and it said to add 18 seconds/mile, so I was aiming for 6:15, 6:10, 6:05 (yes, I do realize that was 15 seconds added). The first rep felt easy, the first 1.5 miles of the second rep felt good, then all of a sudden it did not feel good anymore! The humidity usually sneaks up on me like that. I was happy to get the final mile back down to goal pace, but I really had to work for that. We ran this workout on a rolling route (my Garmin said 246 ft of gain, Christian's said 571 ft, Colin's 387 ft - I'm guessing it was 300-something), so the hills also cut into the paces, but it was a better strength-builder that way...though to be honest, I wanted to run it on the fast loop but got outvoted, hah.
July 14: 9 x 1000 m with 2:00ish recoveries in 3:39, 3:39, 3:36, 3:38, 3:38, 3:38, 3:38, 3:39, 3:35 - that's 5:46-5:52 pace (2.3 warm up, 2.4 cool down). My original pace goal was 5:42-5:48, but my coach said to use the temperature/humidity calculator, which said to add 13 seconds/mile. That seemed like too much, and I also didn't have time to convert mile paces to kilometer paces that morning, so I mostly just went by feel and after the first few decided that high-3:30s was a good goal. Although I felt somewhat "out of gas" going into this workout, I felt fine enough and was happy that I finished with my fastest rep, which is always more challenging for me in warm, humid conditions (73*, dew point 68* for this one).
July 20: 2 mile threshold (road) + 8 x 400 m @ 10k pace (track) in 12:05 via 6:03, 6:02 and 1:26, 1:23, 1:24, 1:23, 1:23, 1:22, 1:23, 1:21 (2.3 warm up, 1.5 cool down). I seem to often run my final tune up workouts too fast, and this was no exception; my 10k pace target was 1:26 and my threshold target was 6:10-6:15 (threshold defined differently than tempo). Every workout has a purpose and running them faster than written isn't necessarily advantageous, but running the 2 mile portion with Christian, testing out my race shoes, a morning that was cool for July (64 degrees), and reduced mileage on my legs made it happen. About halfway through the 400s I just accepted that I had settled into 1:23ish and didn't try for anything different. I felt controlled, like I had a lot still in the tank, and ready to race.
July 27: 3 x (0:30, 0:45, 1:00) hill sprints within a 10 mile run. "30 seconds feels like 30 minutes" was the quote of this workout, which I did with Christian and Colin. Hills are a great way to make less than 7:00 total of effort feel really hard. I also did plyometrics and lifted legs right after this workout, oof! I was sore for 2 days.
July 30: Tempos of 15:00, 12:00, and 10:00 with 2:30 recovery jogs (2.7 warm up and 5.2 cool down for 14.2 miles total). My instructions were to run the tempos by feel, and my paces were 6:07, 6:09, 6:06 / 6:08, 6:10 / 6:15, 6:11, which I was pleased with. It was 72*, dew point 72*, but after my 10,000 m experience 6 days previously, the weather actually felt pretty good (though I finished extremely soaked in sweat). I felt strong and like myself on this workout, which was also good for my ego after my sub-par race performance in Ames. Colin, Christian, Claudio, and Casey also tempoed this morning, and though none of us are currently pace matches it's wonderful to start a 5:00 a.m. workout with others!
Strides: July 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 13, 19, 23, 26, and at least a couple before workouts and races.
Doubles: July 1, 5, 7, 8, 13, 15, 18, 19, 28 (scheduled for July 30 but I ran all of my mileage in the morning due to the afternoon heat advisory).
Strength work: I was consistent with 2 full strength workouts and 3 core workouts a week (reduced the week of my 10,000 m race), plus daily PT work/pre-run activation.
Favorite workout: I loved the July 10 and 30 tempo workouts, but the easiest relative effort was the July 20 one. I'm pumped to move into more marathon-focused work!

Long Runs:

July 4: 14.5 miles (7:20) that included a 3 mile progression, referenced in workouts above. Colin and Casey ran this with me, though we separated on the progression, and the miles flew by and the 4th of July was good. God bless the USA!
July 11: 12 miles, with a workout, described above. My running group's team singlets came in the afternoon before this run, which was exciting!
July 12: 16.3 miles easy (8:07), which was a normal enjoyable group run with Elise, Casey, Colin, Austin, and Rebecca.
July 17: 13.1 miles light progression (7:41). My coach said to start a 8:15 (MP+2:00) and gradually drop to 7:15 (MP+1:00), which is how I run about every easy long run anyway! Christian is being coached by Nichole now as well, and had 10 miles of the same. Most of our workouts are coordinating partially right now. After the run we celebrated Amy's 50th birthday with a Lululemon cake at 7:30 a.m.!
July 24: 11.7 miles of warm up, 10k race, cool down (this barely counts, and I was going to do 12 but got back from my cool down a little early and was just done).
July 31: 18 miles (7:53) that flew by! We had a great group and my first 7 miles were supposed to be super easy (8:15+) then the rest were 7:30-7:50, which really didn't feel any faster.
Favorite long run: July 31, since it was the longest! All were very enjoyable aside from July 24.

We celebrated Amy's 50th with Lululemon cake at 7:30 a.m.!

Not bad for after a long run (David says he doesn't
jump anymore & Colin also hates jumping post-run)

Running Highlights:

I got my new rabbitELITE race kit and my running group's Miles from Mentor singlet.

C- photo of A+ singlets

Life Highlights:

We spent the 4th of July in SE Kansas at my in-laws. Albani loves fireworks and cousin time! My parents were able to join us as well, making it even better.
My parents accompanied me to Iowa for the USATF Masters Outdoor Champs, and we had a great vacation along with the meh race.