July 2018 training recap
And here we are, more than halfway through the year. July was pretty busy and seemed to pass rather quickly, with just shy of 200 miles (198.1, one of the higher months this year), a 5 miler on the 4th in Ohio, my first Wharf to Wharf (and a top 100 finish), and of course, the Big One, the SF Marathon. The kids and I were in Ohio until about halfway through the month, visiting my family and soaking in all the quality time we could, which was awesome on all accounts.
Iāve written pretty exhaustively about the aforementioned races at this point, particularly the marathon, so I donāt have much more to add, especially on the high-level side of things. Since SF, Iāve taken the past two weeks now pretty easily, running only twice in the week after SF (on Tuesday and Thursday, during swimming, for just about a half hour each) and then going to Disney and walking all day/night and pushing a double on Saturday-Monday. Itās a little weird to not be running a ton at the moment, but I think these two weeks of relative downtime will help me enter into CIM/XC training mode itching to go. In the two weeks post-marathon, Iāve run exactly four times. Thatās it. (And honestly, the break was awesome).
Even with everything Iāve already said about SF, about being grateful to have been able to run in the first place, given the events 6 months ago, to have had an āoff dayā and still be in the 3:20s (and BQ mightily, etc. etc.), I feel kinda shitty to admit that Iām disappointed about how I ran. That also makes me human, so thereās that. Itās frustrating but obviously not the end of the world. This isnāt me looking for pity or the but SF is such a hard course! sentiments or any other justification; itās more of me simply commiserating with everyone who has ever trained hard for a race and come up short. We can control a lot when it comes to training for and racing marathons, but there are also many aspects outside our control. Itās sorta part of the process. Itās cool.
The nice thing, naturally, is that you can pick your perspective on the situation as well as your focus. (Thereās also loads to be said for process versus outcome-based goals, too, obviously). The best thing I can do is chalk up SF ā18 as a learning experience and apply the lessons learned to subsequent training rounds, which is what I plan to do. Iāll start CIM/XC training here shortly, so Iāll have plenty of opportunities soon to test my knowledge. Canāt wait! Ā Ā
——————– Ā
Running: The aforementioned July 4th 5 miler; Wharf to Wharf; and SF Marathon in July. I also got to meet-up in Ohio with my old high school track training partner and got to share some miles with her for the first time in 17 years! It was a blast running with her on an incredibly steamy morning and super fun to compare notes and stories from when we last saw each other nearly 20 years ago. Sheās training for Marine Corps., and sheās going to do so well. (Weāre basically leading somewhat parallel lives, albeit on opposite sides of the country. We had this going for us in high school, too.). I wonāt be pacing the 3:33 group at the Santa Rosa Marathon this year, so I think the only races on the calendar for August are a couple XC meets.
Listening: Finding Mastery had a great conversation with Des Linden that was pretty interesting to listen to; I canāt remember off the top of my head (nor do I have it in my notes), but I also heard a really interesting podcast with Des and her agent, Josh Cox, in the past month. The latter may have been on the Rich Roll show. Also, NYTās The Daily did a two-piece podcast on the history of Roe v. Wade that was pretty illuminating and something I found especially timely, given the upcoming confirmation hearings of Judge Kavanaugh and his potential to seriously threaten the longevity of the ruling. Ali on the Run also had a series of short podcasts with returning guests Ali Kieffer and Sarah Sellers that I liked, too.
Reading: I was on a reading tear in June, and once I finished my books in July, I hit a bit of a rough patch. I finished Michael Pollanās How to Change Your Mind which was worthwhile but weird as hell (Iāll never look at a mushroom the same); I wish heād tour extensively about this book because Iād love to hear him live. Madeline Albrightās Fascism: A Warning was a must-read for anyone remotely interested in policy, international relations, politics, and the like. You get little glimpses of her life story, too, which I knew nothing about. Iāve since started The Handmaidās Tale (my obligatory fiction read of the year, apparently) and am so far kinda eh toward it. I had heard such great things about the book and the TV series that I think Iāve come into it with unrealistic expectations. (And Iām one of those people who refuses to read the book AND watch the show; Iām either one or the other.) What have you been reading lately thatās worth picking up? Lifeās too short to read stuff that we donāt find captivating.
Watching: I took my last couple days of tapering seriously and caught up on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (eh) and finally got around to watching The Greatest Showman, which Iām pretty sure has completely rocked my seven year oldās universe forevermore. (The soundtrack is basically in our DNA now, too). I started La la land but havenāt yet finished it and also got around to seeing Wonder Woman, which I left with conflicted feelings. I saw Incredibles 2 and Hotel Transylvania 3 with the kids and my nephews in the past couple months as well, and my kids have been obsessed with the ābad guy musicā from the latter. I continue to be 1000 years behind on the latest and greatest in viewing entertainment, but I welcome suggestions. Ā Maybe Iāll get to them in the next decade.
Anticipating: The last week and a half of summer before both kids start school. I feel like weāve had a great summer with all the travel weāve been able to do and the quality time weāve gotten to share with family and at home. The beginning of the year is always controlled chaos with all the different hats I get to wear, but itās also a lot of fun. Thereās nothing like new starts, right? Enter into the equation starting marathon training as well, and I look forward to how well Iāll be sleeping at night.
Dreading: Nothing especially comes to mind; I mean, I could probably think of something, but nothing leaps out right away, luckily. Iāve got some non-invasive medical follow-up stuff coming up in the next few months related to the prolific GI issues I had last year, but Iām not anticipating much there. (famous last words?) Oh, and itās a ways off still, but my 35th birthday present to myself is ā¦ drumroll ā¦ a baseline mammogram. Hoo-ray. Thank you, insurance.
And now, we August.