Jumping July

July 2023 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 362.9

• June 26-July 2: 66.4
• July 3-9: 76.5
• July 10-16: 84.3
• July 17-23: 90.0
• July 24-30: 76.9

Karen's got #jumpingjuly skills

Races:

• July 4: Branson Firecracker 5000 (course measured 3.23 miles) in 20:16 for 1st masters female and 3rd overall female.
• July 16: Summer Sizzler 15k in Denver 1:07:55 for 1st overall person. This was clearly a very low-key race and I did it as a marathon effort workout, but I'll take a win when I can get it!

#jumpingjuly at elevation

Workouts:

• July 7: The Mona Fartlek which is 2 x 1:30, 4 x 1:00, 4 x 0:30, 4 x 0:15 pushes with equal duration floats. The key on this one is to not back off too much on the floats - only to about marathon pace. I don't know how accurate my Garmin was on this workout, but it said I averaged 5:45 for the ons and 6:24 for the floats - and that I came through the 5k in 18:58 which I don't buy. I'd guess I ran more like 6:00 for the ons and 6:40 for the floats, but it was about 65* and less humid, so that did help!
• July 11: 16 x 400 m with 0:30 recoveries in 1:32, 1:31, 1:29, 1:30, 1:31, 1:31, 1:30, 1:32, 1:30, 1:30, 1:30, 1:30, 1:29, 1:30, 1:29, 1:25 (average 1:30). The 30 second recoveries were basically enough to stop running, turn around, wipe the sweat off my face, say one sentence, and go again, and oddly enough I liked that a lot. The key was not going too fast. My initial goal was 1:32-1:34 (5k pace), but I kept hitting 1:30s and went with it. I decided to push the final one and was happy with how much I was able to speed up, though I wasn't recovered from that in 30 seconds!
• July 14: 12 x 1:00 pick ups, one at the beginning-ish of each mile starting at mile 4 of a 16 mile long run. I like tiny long run workouts like this better than easy long runs! I think they keep me from slogging and generally I feel less tired from them than easy long runs, plus my overall pace ends up a lot faster.
• July 16: Summer Sizzler 15k at marathon effort (7:08), which wasn't what I'd like marathon pace to be, but I kept my heart rate right where it should have been (using a chest strap) and got in a good effort at altitude.
• July 19: 15 x 2:00 on/2:00 off in a 12.4 mile run. I was still at altitude and wanted a relatively long workout, but didn't think I had a sustained effort in me, so a fartlek was perfect. It wasn't what I'd have done at home (7:07 was my average pace for the 30:00 of work - my final push was my fastest at 6:37) but I worked.
• July 22: 10 x 0:45 hills/inclines during the final 8 miles of a 20 mile run. This run as a whole also ended up being a progression, starting around 8:30 and finishing at 7:15.
• July 25: 3 x (1.25 threshold, 0.25 jog, 0.25 hard, 0.25 jog). My threshold paces showed a nice progression at 6:36, 6:23, 6:17, and my hards were significantly faster than threshold at 5:46, 5:53, 5:48. In hot weather I often have a difficult time negative splitting and in marathon training I often have a difficult time running faster than threshold, but in this workout I did both! I think the first threshold was a little slow, the second about right, and the third too fast - but all together averaged about right at 6:25.
• July 29: 11 x 1:30 pick ups, one during each mile starting at mile 4 of a 15 mile long run. I had my watch programed for 10 pick ups, but one time I hit stop instead of lap when I started one, so I did an extra and missed that distance on my Garmin. I'm sure the missed one was my fastest, hahaha!
• Strides: July 3, 6, 10, 13, 18, 21, 24, 26, 28, and a few other days that I missed.
• Doubles: July 10, 11, 17, 21, 25, 26, 31.
• Favorite workouts: I really liked The Mona Fartlek, the 16 x 400s, and the July 25 mixed system workout!

Post-400 reps workout #jumpingjuly

Post-threshold #jumpingjuly

Long Runs:

• July 1: 14 miles (8:29) of humidity.
• July 8: 18.1 miles (8:26) of more humidity.
• July 14: 16.2 miles (7:55) with 12 x 1:00 pick ups. This one felt great, which I haven't been able to say about a long run for awhile!
• July 22: 20 miles (7:58) with 10 x 0:45 hills. I was planning to run 18, but figured if I felt good I'd finish Casey's 20 with her and I did! Just 2-3 weeks before this I couldn't have finished 20 and definitely not with a pace starting in a 7, so seeing progress feels good.
• July 29: 15 miles (7:33) for a cut-back week long run. I didn't think I needed this cut-back week, but I suppose the key is taking them before you really need them.
• Favorite long run:  July 22, because it was 20 that felt good in the summer!
• Note: Starting July 14 my long runs started coming back around. I had been really slogging them and they were not feeling good in June and early July, but hopefully I have turned a corner with 3 in a row where I felt great/like my normal long run loving self. I guess it just took me a bit to get back into the groove after my April-May time off.

Friday long run #jumpingjuly

Sweltering long run #jumpingjuly

Running Highlights:

• I'm officially in Chicago Marathon training. It's kind of a long story of how this came to fruition, but it's a little humorous because I don't at all like huge marathons or the city of Chicago. But I am very much looking forward to the trip with my running buddies Casey, Abby, and Amy! I am also planning to tack on the Bass Pro Marathon 4 weeks after, provided I feel good (hometown small marathon = more my thing).
• I am also back on my 3 week build/1 cut-back week routine. This month started and ended with cut-back weeks, with 3 higher weeks between. I plan to stay in the 90s for the rest of my big weeks before Chicago. It is possible I will do my biggest week at 100, but I'm trying not to go too crazy with mileage after my spring issue. The week of July 10 I started feeling really great and peppy again. Nothing like some harder months to make you appreciate the good ones!

This was our "David jump" pose

This one was a failure because if we'd have turned
around we'd have had beautiful trees in the background

Life Highlights:

• I flew to Denver on July 15 for for my uncle's memorial and then vacationed with my parents for a few days afterward. We spent most of our time in Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park.
• I did a fun lake day on Table Rock with Amy for her birthday.
• We did a quick trip to Cherryvale, Kansas (where my in-laws live) for the 4th of July. My parents also got to attend!
• I did a day trip to Pitt to relive some college times.

Rocky Mountain National Park

12,000+ ft

Lake Irene

This marmot came very close to the walking
path & many tourists

MSU tent theatre

Books:

• Happy Place by Emily Henry
• Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries by Carrie Jackson Cheadle & Cindy Kuzma
• Marmee by Sarah Miller
• Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu
• The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
• Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter
• The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

Theme for the month:

• Jumping July...running group gets very into jumping photos each January and July. July has much better lighting after 5:30 a.m. runs! Lot of jumping pics below!

My attempt at a Karen jump

I was still running when this one was taken

I got my dad to participate in Estes Park!

At 12,000+ ft