Last weekend, marked the end of my Grit 300 Summer Distance Challenge. I cannot believe I completed the challenge and that it’s been 30 days.
The last month has flown by for a couple of reasons: I began moving across the country 30 days ago, but also I reached my goal of running 30 miles in 30 Days.
As I mentioned in my newsletter, I was so excited to do this challenge that Belive in the Run gave me a $5 off coupon for readers (LOLZ5).
You can still enter the challenge and run your own distance, including 25 miles, 75, 150, or 225. Everyone who is doing a challenge is entered to win prizes and I’ve known A LOT of people to win shoes, including the Asics Metaracers.
Mileage lately has been easy, kind of. As Frank Shorter said, hills are speedwork in disguise. I haven’t added “true and formal” speedwork recently because, with the increase of mileage, I didn’t want to fall victim to too much soon and find myself with an injury. First, being injured stinks, but being injured during social distancing in a new area with not many friends doesn’t sound that fun either!
Thoughts:
If you want to follow me on Strava, I regularly update runs there too. I ran 12 miles most days and mostly easy on the trails. The runs were a lot more like outings. While I did run most of it, some parts require a brisk walk-run to climb. I’ve found the trails to be less hard on my body too.
Just thinking my way through the process, it’s a reason I am able to run more miles right now. I’m running but I’m not stressing my body as hard as speed workouts do. I’m working on climbing hills better as well as going downhill better. Since my pace is nearly 11 mins per mile, I spent a lot more time on my feet since my pace averages about 11 minutes per mile.
The other thing allowing me to run so much is not having a job to go too, so I have some more flexibility in my mornings. I will say I miss going to work and having a daily routine…I am not one that enjoys sitting at home all day.
On Wednesday and Saturday, I ran around the base. I ran a hard loop around a local dirt trail. It’s 1.3 miles, and I ran about 6:50 pace both times. That’s been the extent of my speed work right now.
Since we just moved into our house, I’ll feel like I can finally get back into a routine with running. To be honest, I’m not sure where the next few months will take me. Maybe I’ll focus on trails or speed. With the lack of races, there isn’t anything to “train for” so it’s nice to have the freedom.
Posts from the Week:
The Never Miss a Workout Mentality is Dumb
A Quick Hike at Lime Ridge Open Space (Walnut Creek, Ca)
Questions for you:
Have you done a virtual challenge?
How has your running been?