Weekly Wrap-Up: July 9-15

The week started out well. The end of the week? Uh…it started out well.

I’m finally caught up on all of my backlog of monthly wrap-ups, and one nagging race recap, so there’s that. Also, added bonus, I successfully scheduled both of my posts during this past week. Go me.

Weight Check: 165.3, down 2.8 pounds from last week. Wow. I was thinking (hoping?) there would be a loss, but 2.8 pounds? Nice. A lot of that is my increased mileage, but I guess I’ve been eating OK as well.

This Week’s Runs
Day Scheduled Total Miles
Monday 5 miles easy 5.01
Tuesday 4 miles easy 4.01
Wednesday Progression Run: 5 miles easy, then 1 mile comfortably hard 6.01
Friday 5 miles easy 5.01
Saturday 13 miles easy 13.11

Total: 33.15 miles

Well, I got my miles in.

Monday was close to Portland weather, 61 degrees and not that humid. My legs were still pretty tired from last Saturday’s long run, though. I really felt it in mile 3, but then it got a little better, and I was able to rally nicely on the last mile.

On Tuesday, the weather was still pretty decent for July, 65 degrees and reasonable humidity. My legs were a little tired, since Monday was the first time I did bodyweight squats in a few weeks. (My strength training hasn’t been as consistent as I’d like over the past few weeks with my schedule.) I was still able to increase my pace on each mile while keeping the effort easy until the last quarter mile or so.

Wednesday, the weather got more July-like, 69 degrees and humid, although it still wasn’t as bad as the previous week. My legs felt a little bit of fatigue, especially on the uphill parts, but it seemed to get better as I went along. I was able to improve my pace on each mile, and on the last mile, I was pleasantly surprised. I was never going all out (except maybe at the very end), but it was definitely a hard effort, and I still felt fairly comfortable. And 9:33 for that last mile? I’ll take it.

On Friday, the July weather that I know and don’t love returned, 76 and humid. My legs felt fine, or maybe I just didn’t notice them because of the heat and humidity. I kept my effort “easy”, or at least as close to easy as I can get in these conditions, except for the last quarter mile or so. I survived.

Saturday…sigh. That was disappointing.

The weather was pretty rough, 73, humid, and lots of sun. (Also, I somehow managed to leave my visor at home. I swear, I’d leave my head behind if it wasn’t attached.) My legs were OK until about the 10 mile mark, when I basically hit a wall. It was my longest run of this year, and it’s going to end up being my highest mileage week since before last year’s New York City Marathon, so it’s not a complete surprise, but still disappointing. I was definitely too fast on mile 2, but otherwise, I thought I did a decent job with my pacing.

I stopped for water roughly once every mile and had Gu at around 5 and 9 miles. I included a few hills.

It was only fatigue, though, no pain, so I should be OK. I’ll just get back out there next week.

Next week, my schedule will get messed up thanks to being on call for work, and I’m going to somehow run 14 miles in my neighborhood on Friday before work. I’m not sure how I’m going to pull that off, either. But at least I don’t have any more posts in the backlog.