Just call me Rocky

Managed three runs over the weekend with distances of 11, 10, and 8 miles to bring me to 100 miles for the week in 9 runs. Overall, it was a good week with a couple of good hard workouts and two runs of 17 miles. Things got really hot over the wekeend in the Chicagoland area, so the goal was pretty much just survival over the weekend. I was hoping to do a marathon paced workout on Sunday, but with getting to bed at 3AM the night before and extremely high temps, it didn't happen. I settled for a nice relaxed run instead and lived to run another day.

Did 7 miles today and just decided that was enough. The temps were supposed to hit 100 today and it felt every bit that hot when I hit the pavement for my midday run. Again, I wanted to do a tempo run, but it just didn't happen. Things are supposed to cool off by midweek so I guess I'll just survive these next few days and then try for some faster stuff near the end of the week.

I finally registered for the Chicago Distance Classic, which is two weeks away. I don't really know what to expect as far as a goal goes. Right now half marathon PR is 1:17:07, so I think I should be able to better that without too much trouble, but August weather in Chicago is always a wildcard, so who knows. I'm thinking if it isn't too hot I'll shoot for something in the 1:15's. I actually really like running half marathons. They are just long enough where you can't go too hard in the early miles, but they aren't so long that you have a real danger of bonking either. It's a pretty fun distance. I'm looking forward to the fitness check.

With today's whopping 7 miles, I managed to log 441 miles in July, by far a career high. Last month was my first time over 400 miles, so I am definitely in unchartered territory. What I'm most pleased with though is that it seems that I'm just now starting to really be able to get some good hard miles in there. That definitely wasn't always the case. For most of the year, I've just been surviving these 100 miles weeks. I kind of felt like a boxer who was backed in a corner and just absorbing body blows every day. I wasn't going down, but I wasn't exactly winning the fight either. These last two weeks, I feel like I'm finally the one landing the punches. I like it…although I'm not too sure I like that whole boxing analogy. Hopefully, you understand where I'm coming from.

The past week:

Mon: 10 miles with 4 @ 5:35 pace
Tues: 17 Miles
Wed AM: 10 Miles
Wed PM: 7 Miles
Thurs: 10 Miles with 5 X 1 mile with .2 recovery in 5:23, 5:18, 5:19, 5:20, 5:23
Fri: 17 Miles
Sat: 11 miles
Sunday AM: 10 Miles
Sunday PM: 8 Miles

100 Miles in 9 Runs