Training Log: July: A Month of Change

Each time I write a training log, I think: wow, that month flew by. It seems like I was writing June and had just started my job. But the summer months always seem to fly.

What happened this month?

I got into my job, understood my role, and determined what worked for me and my expectations. Plus, on my birthday, we moved our entire house. We got the option to move into a larger home. While I wasn’t thrilled to make my third move in 3 years, our new place (just a quarter of a mile from the other) is much more excellent. We are happy now that we went through all the work to actually move. That being said, we would not have been able to do it without the help of our neighbors. The long story short is between a vacation, moving, and a new job; it was a crazy month.

Miles Run: 278.68
Range of Paces: 6:40-18:30-untimed
Rest days: 4
Workouts: 4
Races:
Spirit Run 5k (22:53)
Swim Across Lake Monticello
WineShine Half Marathon (1:43.36)

Swimming: 7.8 miles
Biking: 13.95

Where to start?

As I mentioned, last month was all over the place. Working out wasn’t my priority, but for the most part, I could still find time before work. Running needs to be done by 7:15 to get to work by 8 am. I’m lucky my commute is 7 minutes from my house or 14 minutes on a bike. I won’t lie, and adjusting hasn’t to this schedule been easy. Even before my job started, I was running early to beat the heat, but the adjustment of being showered and at work by 8 am, plus being gone for 8 hours, has been exhausting.

I haven’t “sat in an office” for 8 hours a day in a long time, and it’s just been a hard adjustment. But I’m still able to run, and for that, I am happy.

For most of the month, my running hasn’t felt “great.” Clearly, it hasn’t been my priority, and I haven’t gotten as much sleep as usual. That manifested a few weeks ago when I tried to race the WineShine Half Marathon after driving up after work. It left me depleted, and I decided that instead of trying to run hard and blowing up, I would run at a moderate pace and enjoy myself. And I did.

So all that to say, I’m probably going through some growing pains as I adjust to my new job. Am I running? Yes. Am I running well? Probably not.

I haven’t had the time or the energy to swim as much as I wanted. I’ve chosen sitting on my couch or napping more than swimming, but that’s ok. All of my biking comes from going to and from work.

August:

My goal for August is to run consistently and “train.” I hope to build some fitness this month and get more into a groove so I can build fitness for a fall race. I want to train for something this fall, but I need more consistency. I don’t want to go into the fall without a consistent base which I feel like I’m slowly getting now.