Runs:

Sunday, August 16

7 miles.  12:35 per mile.  Strides: 155 per min.  Heart rate: 135 bpm.  Temps: 70s-80s deg F, humid.

My legs were very achy after yesterday’s long (13.1 mile) run, and also achy this morning before starting this run.  Once I got going, the legs felt much better.

This wasn’t a fast run, but no problems making it to 7 miles, and I’m feeling good after.

Monday, August 17

7.1 miles. 11:33 per mile.  Strides: 159 per min.  Heart rate: 145 bpm.  Temps: 70s-80s deg F, breezy.

This was a slightly hilly (370 ft. gain) at an easy pace.  I had to be back at a specific time to leave for a doctor’s appointment (not mine this time), which apparently lit a fire under me and got me up to a reasonable pace. 

It has been awhile since my legs have felt this good on a run.

Tuesday, August 18 – Tempo run

8.1 miles total.  Temps: 70s deg F, rainy.

Warm up: 0.8 miles.  12:32 per mile.  Strides: 157.  Heart rate: 113 bpm. 

Tempo run: 6.2 miles.  10:26 per mile.  Strides: 163 per min.  Heart rate: 150 bpm. 

Cool down: 1 mile.  11:45 per mile.  Strides: 158 per min.  Heart rate: 132 bpm. 

A Tempo run!  The last time I did any sort of “speedwork” was June 11^th, over two months ago.  Recovering from surgery and hot summer temperatures make speedwork hard, but it was time to at least try.  I set the “Tempo” speed between 10:15 and 10:30 per mile because I’m still not trying to stress my heart out more than is necessary, but I ended up doing the last 0.7 miles of the Tempo run at 9:10 per mile, with mile 6 at 9:40 total, so I probably could have set the speed a little faster. 

My June 5^th tempo pace was 9:47/mile for 5 miles… so there is room for improvement, but this was a good start.

I felt energized and peaceful after finishing this run, and not all revved up and like my heart is still racing like after many interval runs.  Good effort.

Wednesday, August 19 – Run and bike

8 miles.  12:01 per mile.  Strides: 158 per min.  Heart rate: 140 bpm.  Temps: 60s-70s deg F, sunny.

This was a hilly (503 ft. gain) easy paced run.  For the first time since July 8^th surgery, I actually ran up all the hills, even the steep ones.  I had planned to do 7 miles, but I also really wanted to incorporate a very steep hill and did not plan my mileage that well, so I did 8.  This run felt very good.

Bike ride:  8.4 miles.  9.4 miles per hour.  Heart rate: 132.

I went for another bike ride, this time immediately after the run.  I’m working on “technique” for going up hills, and realized I may have been shifting in the wrong direction two weeks ago.  My legs seemed to be working much harder during this bike ride, but last time was a few hours after my  run, not immediately after.  Anyway, biking is fun!

Thursday, August 20

7.1 miles.  12:03 per mile.  Strides: 158 per min.  Heart rate: 139 bpm.  Temps: 70s-80s deg F, sunny.

This was actually 2 runs combined (4.45 miles + 2.65 miles).  Plans changed in the middle of this run and I ended up heading 40 minutes down south to visit family, so the runs were probably about an hour apart.

I could have just stopped at 4.4 miles, if I weren’t trying to do 7 miles every day in August, but here we are. 

These runs were at an easy pace.

Friday, August 21 – Long run

13.1 miles.  12:35 per mile.  Strides: 157 per min.  Heart rate: 145 bpm.  Temps: 70s-80s deg F, sunny.

This was an easy paced, hilly (536 ft gain) long run.  This went much better than the last several 12-13 mile runs in the last month.  My legs were achy by about 9 miles, and I consumed two bottles of water and 2.7 servings of electrolytes, as well as some fruit snack chews, I started to feel nauseous towards the end and very thirsty when I got home. 

This wasn’t fast, but at least I’m feeling better on long runs.

Saturday, August 22

7.5 miles.  12:25 per mile.  Strides: 156 per min.   Heart rate: 134 bpm.  Temps: 70s-80s deg F, sunny.

This was an easy paced run at the local bike trail (I really needed some variety).  This run was fine.  I was not feeling fast at all, but also not sore from yesterday’s long run, so overall feeling pretty good.

Running wrap-up

1.)  A tempo run, a long run, a bike ride, lots of hilly runs.  Overall, this was a pretty good running week, and I feel like I’m getting back to my pre-surgery fitness levels.

2.)  If you can’t tell, I’m still really enjoying running and happy to get back into different “workouts”  (i.e. tempo runs, interval runs, hill repeats, fartlek runs).

3.)  My weight is about the same as last week. 

Am I going to start counting calories again?  Am I going to just keep running and hope that some will come off on its own?  I’m not sure.  I kept track of calories from August 19- August 24, and I was way under in calories consumed versus burned every day, meaning I’m burning more than I am eating and at a calorie deficit most days, even without trying to cut calories.

I don’t think it is healthy for me to obsess over every calorie I eat, so for right now I’m just going to keep running, keep eating fairly healthy foods, and limit my donut intake to once every 2-3 weeks when I find myself in the grocery store near the donuts, and check-in on calories every so often, but not every day.

My “goal” is to be about 8 pounds lighter than I am now, so it is not out of reach and not something I need to bust my tooshie to do quickly.

Total walking + running miles this week (August 16 – August 22): 66.8 miles (down 3.32 from last week)

Total walking + running miles this year (2020):  2,187.65 miles

Total steps this week (August 16 – August 22): 127,630 steps (down 120 from last week)

Total steps this year (2020):  3,834,558 steps

Average steps per day (August 16 – August 22): 18,232 steps (down 18 from last week)

Average steps per day (2020): 16,317 steps

Total running miles this week (August 16 – August 22): 58.09 miles (up 0.53 from last week)

Average running mileage per week (2020): 48.95 miles

Total running miles this year (2020): 1,643.41 miles

Average running speed this week (not including hill repeats) (August 16 – August 22): 12:03/mile. (29 sec  faster per mile than last week)

Average running speed this year (2020): 11:53 per mile

Average resting heart rate this week (August 16 – August 22): 62 bpm (up 1 bpm from last week)

Average resting heart rate this year (2020): 61 bpm

Elevation gain this week (August 16 – August 22): 2,274 ft. (up 106 ft. from last week)

Elevation gain this year (2020): 66,084 ft.

Average elevation gain per week (2020): 1,968 ft.

Current thyroid medication: 137.5 mcg/day levothyroxine + 5 mcg x 2 times a day liothyronine. Started on Aug. 11, 2020.

Weight, weight fluctuate

Weight: 159.2 lb (up 0.2 lb from last week).

Weight January 1, 2020: 151.0 lb

Weight change since Jan 1, 2020: +8.2 lb

Previous week:  August 9 – August 15, 2020

Next week:  August 23 – August 29, 2020