So on June 1st I set a few goals for the month. One was to run 200 miles for the first time in a month as I kicked off training for the Chicago Marathon in October, the other was to lose at least 5 pounds, with a goal of going from 188 to 183 by the end of the month (I have a goal race weight of 160 in Chicago). The final goal was to run my last long run of the month a pace faster then 8:29, which is how I started the month off with my first long run.
Well, for goal number 1, I finished the month off with my highest weekly total ever at over 67 miles, and also had my highest monthly mileage ever with over 263 miles. Surprisingly, my legs aren't sore at all, and feel better then months where I have run much less. I am into the fourth week of the Hanson's Marathon training advanced plan (I have added some mileage to the base plan) and am loving it. The speed work feels great, and besides some overheating issues on a few longer runs everything has gone well. My mileage goal for July will be a whole 1 mile higher, at 264. Let's see if June was luck or if I have more in me. For weight loss for the month I was able to go from 188 to under 175, at 174.4. I changed up a few things in the beginning of June to jump start some weight loss. Obviously, I am running more, so this was a huge factor. Secondly, I completely changed up my cross training. I decreased the weights and upped the reps on all exercises. I have always lifted to increase muscle mass, but I have incorporated some new workouts and my #1 goal now is to get leaner and train my muscles for endurance. So far it seems to be working well. Finally, there has been a pretty big change to the diet. Cut down on eating out, junk food, red meat, and other crap and increased lean chicken, fruits, vegetables, while also controlling portions. It wasn't too easy the first 1-2 weeks, but I am pretty used to it now, and I may even be enjoying it. For July I my goal is to cut another 5 lbs, which would put me under 170 for the first time in 5-6 years, at 169. Finally, the long run pace. The main goal of this was to see if I could see any noticeable improvement in the first few weeks of speed work (interval and tempo runs) that are prescribed by the Hanson's training method. On 6/1/14, I ran 16.26 on the trail by my house at a pace of 8:29. This was before doing any speed work and in moderate temperatures. On 6/29/14, in temperatures that were about 20 degrees warmer (in the 80s) and much higher humidity ran 15.33 miles at an 8:09 pace. In the middle of the month, I also put in a 15+ mile run at a little over a 7:00 pace, something I had never done before, but I have a lot more work to do before I am confident I can keep that a consistent pace. I won't be setting a pace goal for July, as the training plan calls for me to slow my lower runs down a little bit as I get into the heavier mileage weeks, so I am going to follow that. All of this is great, but in reality, it doesn't mean much. The overall goal is to run a better race in October In Chicago then I did in May in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was the first race where I felt truly disappointed after the finish, and knew I didn't run the race I trained for. The only way to fix that to work harder. Hope everyone's goals for June and 2014 are going well. There is not finish line. Mike
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AuthorEvery day, every minute, every mile. Make them yours, no one else is going to do it for you. "There is no finish line." Archives
April 2015
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