Made it through May

 Mileage fell off a bit in May and I wound up taking a whole week off near the end of the month (busy working on house projects that had me on my feet all day).   I still managed to get 52 miles in which is the most miles I've ran in May since 2022.  May is when I start to swoon.. temps gets hotter and the motivation to train for river to river is gone. I am on pace for an even better June.  I've run 6 out of 9 days and have 24.4 miles in so far... not a ton but considering I only ran 16 miles in June 2024 and 0 in June 2023, then this should be an easy win. Goal right now is to just remain consistent.  I think I'd rather run more often and shorter distances than less frequently and longer distances.  I think if I can maintain consistency then the mileage will follow.  

I ran my first track "workout" in about a year.  4 X 400m with a mile warmup and cooldown.  Ran about 1:30 for each lap with maybe about a minute rest between.  Not gonna lie, it wasn't pretty, but I made it through.  Hardest part was that I don't think my body was prepared for that intensity level of effort.  After the workout I had a really hard time sleeping that night with restless legs and body.  Good to get it out of the way and hope to starting running track workouts every Thursday for the next couple months to see how my body responds. Hoping this is what I need to jumpstart my way to higher fitness.  I got in an easy 6.7 miles yesterday and an even easier 3.13 miles this morning.  9:07 pace for the 3.13 miles and kept my HR under 140 for the first time this year.  

Going has been really slow but it really does seem that I'm starting to make some progress even if its hard to notice.  

8 more miles

 It took about 3 weeks but I'd say I'm finally recovered from the River to River relay and running productively again.  Kind of fascinating how much I struggled the last few weeks with slow pace and dead legs.  I guess that's what happens when you hammer yourself to the limit while also being undertrained.  So Sunday I went out for an 8 miler and for the first time in a few weeks, the run didn't completely suck.  

I went out at what was a loose and relaxed pace which was an 8:40 first mile but then ran 8:17 and 8:19 pace for the next two miles and I was probably pushing a bit too hard but I also felt pretty good so I kept pushing while at the same time trying not to over push... I cruised for the next 2 miles at 8:35 and 8:27 but then finished with 8:14, 8:10, 7:56.  It was a tough effort and my HR was high but I stayed relaxed and never hurt and it never crossed my mind to consider walking (which is something I've had to fight over the last few weeks).  

Final pace was 8:20 pace.  About a minute per mile faster than I was running a month ago and not at that much more of an effort... like tangible progress, and maybe if I can get just a few more months of training in I might bust out of my stalled state of fitness and start getting into actual shape.

New Day Mid May

 Good hard run this morning.  3.75 at 8:02 pace.  Started the first mile at 8:28 then, 8:02, then 7:40 and 7:51.  

Wasn't particularly fast but it felt like a good hard workout.  I pushed the last 2+ miles and got a decent effort in.  My only problem is that I'm still feeling mucusy.  Lots of hacking and spitting and it just seems to fuck with my breathing and breathing rhythm.  Its tolerable but would be more fun if I didn't have to contend with this issue and could just run freely.  I'm hoping that its either seasonal allergies or maybe something that will fade away as my fitness improves.  

I'm happy to get a hard effort in though.  Its something that I feel I've been lacking but lots of times my body just won't move fast enough to get that hard effort in and going slower seems laborious enough.

Really just pushing for continued consistency and then want to start getting some workouts in.  This is a good start.

Mid-May

 29 miles in May so far.  Nothing spectacular but I haven't given up and have been getting out about every other day.  Not sure what the deal is but I just don't feel great.  Legs are kind of sluggish and still sort of mucussy.  I've just been stuck in a rut for a while where I'm never running that hard but it still doesn't feel great and I don't really feel like I can handle going harder...  I figure if I stick with it then eventually, I'll pull through it, but it just hasn't quite clicked yet. Enough bitching though.  

On a positive note by Garmin, VO2 max has increased from 41 to 47 since January 1st.   My average pace has been on steady decline as well.  9:10 in January, 9:06 in February, 9:03 in March,  8:41 in April, and 8:44 so far in May.  My "race predictor" has me at 22:20 for a 5K.  22:20 is exactly what I ran last August (at the time my race predictor had me at 23:00 so maybe not that accurate).  

I would really like to break 20 in the 5K but at this rate doesn't seem likely any time soon.  Probably low or sub 21:00 is most realistic.  

Still having trouble squeezing in consistent training due to kids sporting events and work.  I've been so tired that I haven't been getting up early in the morning enough to get my run in...  there have been many weekends that i've been out of the house by 7 in the morning for some event or another.  without the consistency i've been getting out in the morning some days and in the evening on others.  I'm proud of myself for keeping with it and not completely quitting.  It is much easier to get in training and stay focused when its on routine.

This Saturday I'll probably miss again.  Twins have the state track meet.  Maya is running the 4X200 Meters at 9 am and 4x400 Meters at 3:00 pm.  Will be a long day at the track but should be fun.  Kenna is an alternate.  

May 2025

5 months into the year and another River 2 River relay in the books.  

I ran leg 8 this year, which is the leg I've run 3 out of 4 years.  This was my slowest leg 8 but I performed slightly better than last year when I ran leg 4, running a slightly faster pace ~7:50 average on a tougher course.

Its been 2 weeks since River 2 River and the effort really took it out of me but I'm slowly recovering and been continuing to put in mileage even with my legs being sort of dead.

Last year I got a few short runs in after river to river and then tapered off and took about 2 months off.  In fact I ran 28 miles between River to River last April and July 1st.  This year I've already got in 21 miles since River 2 River.  

This year I hope to forgo the break.  Train through the summer and then see what I can run at the Old Settlers Day 5K in August.  Last year I ran 22:20 so should have plenty of room for improvement by then if I keep running and way more room if I actually get in some decent training.  Stretch goal would be to break 20 minutes but probably need to start getting serious pretty soon.

For the year I'm at 275 miles. Right now I'm on pace for about 800 miles in 2025.  Hope to get in at least 1000 miles if I can keep building.  Don't have a ton of time to train but have been relatively consistent, getting out 3-4 times a week,

Looking back again

Just hopped on here again and saw that I was actually starting to get into some semblance of shape in October.  I put in 60 miles in October and then pretty much quit over November and December. 

January I put in 45 miles.  I got in 65 in February and 67 in March...  I was actually starting to feel okay at the beginning of March... I ran back to back 7 miler and 8 miler over a weekend which resulted in some Achilles soreness (which is mostly but not quite healed now).  Then I got sick which really impacted my breathing and my ability to run.  I got in lots of 2-3 mile efforts which were absolute struggles for every step.  

It really wasn't until a couple days ago that I went for a run and thought to myself "hey, that actually didn't suck"... Kind of the way my running has been going for years now... I never totally quit but I never really get into shape either.  I either lose motivation or get sick or get injured or something.

All in all I'm pretty happy with myself for sticking with it.  Sure I haven't gotten up to the 2000 or even 1000 miles in a year that I achieved a few years back but I've been getting some mileage in every year and I ran every month last year for a total of 527 miles (even if I only ran once in December.  

I got 200 miles in so far this year which is pretty much what I had at this same point last year.  Last year I just about quit for May and June.

I'm not getting any younger.   Still hoping to get my fitness back up to some semblance of a peak at some point.  Not getting any easier...  But I'm not dead yet either :)

Hoping that next time I post on this blog I'll be touting some additional progress and not just status quo.

New month, still going

A late push to get to 100 miles in September left me a bit flat.  I missed my step goal on September 30 and wound up taking Oct 1 with minimal activity.  

I felt fairly refreshed this morning and executed a 5 miler at 8:10 pace.  At this pace, it felt relatively easy, and I had a strong finish with the last 2 miles at 7:52 and 7:43.  5 miles is still longer than average for me right now but I'm working towards that being my base run.  Of course, it's getting darker and colder in the mornings, so we'll see how that effects things.  

Nothing exceptional about todays run except for the fact that I felt good and pushed a little but not too hard.  HR averaged 143 for the run and Garmin boosted by VO2 from 48 (which it's been at since early September) to 49.  The weight is still slowly coming down and I've been consistently at or under 188 for the last week.  

No real goals on the horizon except to remain consistent on the running for the rest of the year and hopefully the fitness gains and weight loss will gradually follow along with it.