July 18 - July 24 Training

Monday: 6 miles (9:41).  Last cool morning run in Sonoma before heading back to Tennessee.
Tuesday: 4 miles (9:25), 3 miles (10:08), 4.51 miles (9:09).   Easy 4 mile run in the morning.  Pretty humid after being in California.  Unbearable heat in the afternoon.  After 1.5 miles, I turned back towards the library with a storm rolling in and got back just in time before the heavy downpour.  Went back out in the early evening to finish off the miles and it was much cooler out.
Wednesday: 3 miles (9:27), 10 miles (8:59).  10 mile run on the treadmill included 2 mile warmup, 4 miles 8:45-8:30, 1 easy, 2 sub 8:20, 1 cooldown.
Thursday: 3 miles (10:22), 3 miles (9:53).  Brutally hot outside.
Friday:3 miles (9:30), 4 miles (9:30).  Treadmill running.
Saturday:2 miles (9:48), 1 mile (9:11), 4.01 miles (7:52), 5 miles (8:59).  Ran the Goodlettsville 4 Miler on Saturday morning.  It was around 77-79 at the start with 74 dew point.  Very tough conditions.  I knew I would have to keep focused to beat my PR there from 2013.  But I hung on at the end for 31:34 and a 6 second PR, first place Age Group.
Sunday: 9 miles (9:18), 3 miles (9:10).  Got an early start on the 6@6 Starbucks group and then circled back to Starbucks at 6.  Felt out of gas after 9 miles, having had 0 calories and was pretty thirsty. Had planned on 6 miles on my second run at Moss Wright Park, but it rained just before I arrived there and it was very steamy out.  After the 3 mile out and back, that was enough!

Total Miles: 67.5 miles.  Biggest week since May 30-June 5, so I'll take it.  I wanted 70 miles, but it was just wasn't in the cards with this week's humidity.

July 11 - July 17 Training

Monday: 8 miles (9:08).  Extended Brixx run.
Tuesday: 5 miles (9:28), 1 mile (9:57).  Right leg was bothering me on the second run, so I stopped after 1 mile.
Wednesday: 2.5 miles (10:22).  Short run before heading to the airport to fly to Sacramento.
Thursday: 1 mile (9:37), 3 miles (8:30), 2 miles (9:49).  Ran 6 x (400m@1:47, 400m@easy) in Sonoma in the afternoon with 88 degree temperatures.  Ran these in the High School parking lot since the track was closed.
Friday: 5 miles (9:38).  Nice 55 degree morning in Sonoma.
Saturday: 3 miles (10:14).  Short run before heading to the Opus One winery.
Sunday: 13.17 miles (8:35).  Ran the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon in 1:53:01.  Ran the first half pretty easy around 8:55 pace and then ran the last half closer to 8:15 pace for a nice negative split.  Really good conditions for running.  Temp was about 55 at the start and probably 60 at the end.

Total Miles: 43.7 miles.  Last low volume week in a while.  Time to ramp up for the New York City Marathon on November 6th.

July 4 - July 10 Training

Monday: 1 miles (9:52), .5 miles (9:12), 13.17 miles (8:40), .5 miles (9:58).  I ran a 1 mile warmup from the hotel to the packet pickup for the Twin Cities Red, White, and Boom half marathon.  Then ran a 1/2 mile warmup to the start line, ran the half marathon in 1:54, and then did a 1/2 mile cool down.  The humidity rose all night before the race, but the temperature wasn't bad in the low 60's and there was a lot of shade.  But I just didn't have the engine power today to run it as fast as I would have liked.  I felt like I lost some fitness the last couple weeks and didn't have the drive to hit it hard.

Tuesday: 5 miles (9:15).  Finally back home at Drakes Creek Park.
Wednesday: 2 miles (9:34), 3 miles (9:30), 3 miles (9:24).  Started running at Drakes Creek Park but a big storm came rolling in, so after 2 miles I went home and ran a few on the treadmill.  It looked better after dinner time, so ran a few more at Drakes Creek Park.
Thursday: 2 miles (9:52), 3.7 miles (8:59), 1 mile (9:52).  Hill Repeats on Bison Way, 3 up, 3 down.  Man I was slow on those.  My downhills were slower than my uphills from May, that is bad.
Friday: 5 miles (10:26).  I struggled in the heat.
Saturday: 3 miles (9:30), 5 miles (8:55).  Second run outside in the heat, but for some reason I felt good out there.
Sunday: 8 miles (9:53), 2 miles (9:53).  This was a struggle right from the start and was supposed to be 16 miles with the last 4 sub 8:05.  I knew after 5-6 miles that I wasn't going to make it for 16 miles and then my right leg started bothering me on mile 7 and slowed me down considerably, so stopped after 8 miles.  Added a second run.  Right leg still a bit sore, so only two miles.

Total Miles:  58.  Was supposed to run closer to 70 miles, but after two weeks of 30 miles, I think the increase was taking a toll on me plus the race on Monday.  Off to the Napa/Sonoma region on Wednesday night to run the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon next Sunday.

June 27 - July 3 Training

There wasn't a lot of real training this week, as I was saddened on Monday Night when my mom passed away.  I was lucky that I was able to get back to my home town on May 7th and run a half marathon with my mom standing up and watching me sprint to the finish line.  The next day was Mother's Day and for the first time since the 1970's, my mom saw all 4 of her children on Mother's Day.  She told my sister the next day that it was her best Mother's Day ever.


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So this week, I traveled back to Minnesota on Wednesday and spent time with family and we had a small, private funeral to honor and remember my Mom.

Here is a recap of my running for the week:

Monday: 4 miles (10:20).
Tuesday: 6 miles (9:10).
Wednesday: 3 miles (8:57).  Back in Owatonna, Minnesota.
Thursday: 5.78 miles (8:40).  This session was supposed to be 3 easy miles followed by 3 miles sub 8:00.  I went to turn around after 2.78 miles of the sub 8:00 and started to throw up from running fast in the humid weather.  So I walked it back to the car.
Friday: 6 miles (9:15).
Saturday: 3 miles (9:16).  Headed to the Twin Cities in the late afternoon.
Sunday: 3 miles (9:40).  Felt sluggish running in the Mall of America parking lot.

Total Miles: 30.8.  Reduced mileage due to the time needed to be spent with family back in Owatonna.  I did sign up for a 4th of July half marathon to start the next week.