I got a year older, the weather got warmer, and I had a good (but short) race. That’s May in a nutshell.
May 2017
Total Mileage: 137.20 miles
Average Pace: 11:03/mile
Number of Runs: 24 (or 23, depending on whether my warm-up run for the Teal Diva 5K counts)
Last Month (April 2017): 140.11 miles
Last Year (May 2016): 67.34 miles
Races: Teal Diva 5K, 26:22 (Not a PR, because course was around 3.01 miles.)
Total Mileage for 2017 (through May 31): 675.73 miles
Last May, I was still working my way back from my injury, so that’s why it was so low. I’m a little disappointed that my mileage was down slightly this month from April, but I lost a long run due to my race, and I also cut back a little during the week of May 22. Also, April had 5 Saturdays, and that’s cheating.
Let’s see how I’m doing with my 2017 goals.
Goal 1: 1500 miles
Average miles per day is 675.73 miles divided by 151 days, that’s about 4.47 miles per day, times 365 days for the year, comes out to over 1,633 miles for the year. Last month my projection was 1,638 miles, so I slipped a little, but that’s still well over my goal.
Goal 2: 6 races, with 2 that are 13.1 or greater
With the Teal Diva 5K, I now have 4 races overall. I still only have 1 so far that’s 13.1 or greater, since the Teal Diva 5K wasn’t even 5K, let alone 13.1 miles.
Goal 3: A PR in 3 different races
I may have run my fastest 3 miles ever in the Teal Diva 5K, but I can’t count it as an official 5K PR, so I still have 2 PRs this year.
While my specific goals are on track, my non-specific goals don’t seem to be gaining much traction. I guess I’m still doing well with the slower easy runs/faster hard runs thing, considering my results in the Teal Diva 5K. One that I had been good about, getting some other exercise, I’ve kind of slipped a bit. I missed a few days of my bodyweight routine, and it wasn’t just when I was visiting my parents. My diet hasn’t changed a bit, I still drink too much Mountain Dew and not enough water. I guess it was nice to have a post marking my birthday, but that was the only post this month that wasn’t a weekly wrap-up/monthly wrap-up/race report.
Best Run: May 13, Teal Diva 5K(ish), 3.01 miles in 26:12 (8:42/mile pace) according to Garmin
Man, I wish the course wasn’t short. But yeah, it’s hard to argue with my fastest 3 miles ever. Added bonus, after I was done, I got to briefly run with my 3 year old nephew Jack. He didn’t run very far (it wasn’t fatigue, it was mostly because he got distracted), but it was fun while it lasted.
Shout-out to my birthday run, 5.17 miles on May 17. It was my first outdoor tempo run in months, and it went pretty well.
I might have to retire this section (at least temporarily) because with no races on the calendar, I have a hard time imagining a run in June that will be memorable for a good reason. We’ll see.
Worst Run: May 23, 5.31 miles, 11:42/mile pace
Not only was it my slowest run of the month, my legs felt terrible. I had thought about cutting back on my mileage that week, but my legs pretty much made the decision for me. Also, the weather was pretty freaking miserable.
Looking ahead to June, this is when I actually start my training for the New York City Marathon. I’ll be getting a plan from my coach, so I have no idea how it’s going to go. I expect the weather will get worse, but I’ll figure out a way to get through it. I just have to keep my eyes on the prize.