How about July!

Let me begin with a runfession of sorts....

I did not set any goals for July. What? Gasp! Shocker! What was I thinking?

I had a lot of things happening in July, and just never got around to fine-tuning any specifics on a strategy to get through the month. I know, my bad. Sometimes, though, not having stuff etched in stone can work in one's favor.


Here's how July played out:

Racing
Good grief, Charlie Brown, would you believe I had five races this month?

July race bibs

All of these races were significant...The Sully Freedom Fun Run got me a 1st place AG win (after having to DNS it last year and three prior 2nd place finishes). The Red Rock Balloon Fest 10K was a last-minute hilly endeavor that tested my mental strength. The Midnight Madness 15K brought some serious redemption...rewarding me with a 3rd place AG award, totally making up for the DNF from two years prior. And the Rock'n'Roll 5K  and Half Marathon were in the company of many wonderful blogging/running friends. Seriously, July's racing memories will be tough to beat!

July hardware

Planking
Holy Planking Plethora, Batman! I took part in Rachel's 5-Minute Planking Challenge, and my planking took on a life of its own. Granted, I have been doing daily 2:30-minute planks for several years, so the first part of the Challenge was easy peasy. The final 10 days or so, once the planking holds increased beyond those 2:30 minutes, things got serious. There was even one day when I accidentally did a 4-minute plank when it was supposed to be a 4:30-minute plank (#facepalm)...so I took one for the team and did ANOTHER plank, for the correct amount of time. All told, my planking minutes for July came in at 100...and I've got the calloused elbows to show for it.

Michelle and I even planked as a team while in Chicago for the R'n'R ReMix

HIIT'ing
A new venture for me recently has been doing weekly HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) work. Wow! I never thought I'd enjoy this stuff so much, but the adrenaline rush after a mere 30-40 minutes of serious sweating is pretty sweet! These all have been workouts I have created on my own, so they're probably not as long (or even as intense) as those you'd experience in a gym, but they have been upping my energy level, and dare I say, a few pounds have melted away in the process. All of my HIIT workouts involve push-ups, burpees, various upper body strength moves (usually as an "active rest" component), and there's usually an extended cardio segment (stair climbs, running sprints, walking lunges, etc.).  It's been a fun little step outside of my comfort zone!

Yes, you can burpee and smile about it

Running
Well, low and behold, July handed me my highest mileage month since before Voldie made his appearance (remember Voldie? The unsightly scar on my knee from that unfortunate surgery a year ago?). We're talking 98 miles here (and, no, I am not going to head out before the midnight hour and try to knockout two more miles to reach the century mark). The thing is, I was logging my miles after each run (and race), but I was not keeping an ongoing total. I didn't feel like I was forcing any "extra" miles or overdoing anything. I was just running on my usual days (with an occasional race here and there).

just running...and enjoying the gift

Now, these are just a few highlights. Trust me, there was also daily walking, lots of leg lifts, many push-ups, and weekly speedwork as well. Oh, and let's not forget that epic weekend in Chicago with #allthebloggers.

Over all, I'm giving July 2018 two ginormous thumbs up. As I have referenced in most of my posts in the past several months, I'm grateful for every run. I'm grateful for the gift of running. I'm grateful I have the choice to run...a year ago at this time, I didn't have any of that as I sat out the summer while Voldie healed.

Anyways, enough about me and my July...tell me something about yours! Mileage? Any great races? Training milestones?

**I'm linking up with Marcia and Patty and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.

**I'm also linking this with Debbie and Rachel and Marc and Lora for the Running Coaches' Corner

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