Running Down the Dream: Mighty May

May 2024 in review!

Total mileage for the month: 289.5

April 29-May 5: 38.8
May 6-12: 63.1
May 13-19: 73.2
May 20-26: 65.5
May 27-June 2: 71.8

This photo is hard to beat

Races:

May 4: Girls on the Run 5k in a mostly relaxed 20:57 for 1st OAF.

This sign was on the ground & we put
it back by the post it goes on, but it was
a fun photo-op b/c we run this road often

Workouts:

May 4: 2 miles MPish + 1.1 miles push (6:45, 6:50, 6:11, forgot to lap the final 0.1 but I'd guess it was pretty close to 6:11) in a 9 mile run. I also did several ~20 second pushes towards the end of my warm to test the legs a bit.
May 11: 13.2 miles with 10 x 1:00 pick ups to 10k-ish effort around the beginning of each mile from 4 on. I always seem to feel better when I do little pick ups during long runs instead of only running easy, and they are not at all fatiguing.
May 14: 2 warm up, 2 tempo, 5 easy, 2 tempo (tempo miles were 6:46, 6:47, 6:45, 6:59) - I did this just for fun with some of my running buddies who are training for Grandma's Marathon! It was very humid and felt much harder than I'd have liked.
May 18: 20 miles via 5 easy then 15 x 0.1 pick up/0.9 easy. Repeat of May 11 - little pick-ups really help these easy long runs! See below for why I ran 20.
May 21: 6 miles alternating 0.5 at 10kish pace/0.5 at MP, jog to full recovery, 4 x 150 m hard with 50 m walk recoveries. Again I jumped into the Grandma's Marathon crew's workout and specifically helped pace Lisa on the 6 mile portion. Splits for our 10k segments were 3:08, 3:10, 3:10, 3:08, 3:09, 2:59 and splits for the MP segments were 3:38, 3:35, 3:29, 3:24, 3:24, 3:21, then all 150s were 0:30. I didn't tell Lisa beforehand, but I pushed the final 10k pace section and she rose to the occasion and still ran the fastest MPish section after it. Our pacing on the 10k segments was very even with a strong finish, and the MP sections were a nice little progression. This felt 100x better than the May 14 workout I joined, and not because it was any less humid (it was actually warmer too).
May 24: 16 miles alternating 1 at 7:15-7:30/1 at 8:15-8:30. This was yet another Grandma's Marathon workout I jumped in and it was fun! The weather was rough at 72* and 96% humidity at 5:30 a.m., but my friend who I helped hit or exceeded her goal paces (no adjustments) even in that! Shockingly, I also felt great.
May 29: 15 x 1:00 on/1:00 off. I was pretty fatigued after getting home from traveling the night before this, but I needed to do something to stop from slogging. Sometimes a little workout like this feels better than dragging through an easy run. My paces were all over the place, but as I've said before that I don't know how accurate a Garmin is for 1:00 intervals.
I did strides and hill strides many times this month too!
Favorite workout: May 21 certainly felt and went the best, plus I love gear-shifting workouts like that!

#mightymay

#musclemay + Sarah & me twinning
in running group's new singlets

Long Runs:

May 11: 13.2 miles (8:04).
May 18: 20 miles (8:10). I showed up to this run planning to run either the 13 or 15 mile loop, (which are mostly the same and the way we almost always run), but the Grandma's training group really wanted to do the 20 mile loop (which is totally different). I could have gone out with them for 6+ miles and then turned back, but then I'd have had half my run alone so I was coerced into going with them the whole way. I reserved the right to start walking at 15 or 16 and they said the would come back and pick me up, but I felt surprisingly just fine even though it was 77* when we finished, perhaps because I gained some heat adaptation from suffering through Frisco. Since I thought we were doing our usual course, I'd left my handheld on the entrance to my neighborhood, which is 3 miles into the route we usually run. Therefore I had no water or gels, but Lisa had quite a bit of water that she shared with me, plus she and Sarah refilled their bottles at the Rogersville McDonalds. Casey shared her two gels with me but they were both terrible and I could only manage to eat a small amount of each - plus she needed them more because she was running 23 after a 12 miler with work the day before. So, I ran 20 miles on 1/4 of a gel, making it my worst fueled long run in years. I used to run 20+ on nothing but have not since I learned better.
May 24: 16.1 miles (7:46) again helping with Grandma's Marathon training and enjoying myself!
Favorite long run: May 24 was really fun!

#musclemay

#mightymay

Post-20 miler w/ UFO

Post-Frisco run w/ blinding sun

Running Highlights:

I'm just enjoying doing "whatever" at the moment!

Life Highlights:

I went to the ABAI Convention in Philadelphia over Memorial Day weekend. I was a co-author on a presentation and two posters at the conference. While conference days were long (8 a.m. to 6-7 p.m.), I saw all of the area sights via 4 runs and a historical walking tour that was offered one day on a long lunch break. I also ran across the Ben Franklin bridge into New Jersey twice. Travel was an absolute nightmare getting there, including an overnight in the Chicago airport, but everything else went well.