Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Jumpin' July

July is over! Less than 5 months til Christmas! :)

I didn't really have big expectations going into July. It kinda felt like it was more of a filler month between my June races and the ET Full Moon Midnight 51K. I hadn't actually planned any races for the month so it seemed like it would just be training, training, and more training. And it mostly was (which is not a bad thing except that I want the points for the RIF Extreme Racer contest) but I did get some racing in (Yay!) and I ended up having a stellar month. :)

Here are the dry facts:

  • Running: 300.1 miles
  • Riding: 478 miles
  • Races: 1 5K, 1 Half

What the facts don't say is how happy I am with how each of those went. I feel like I made great strides in my 100 training this month, almost like I turned some corner. I can't really say what triggered the change. I was resigned to a lot of slow running and while there was some, for the most part my avg pace picked up to where I am close to what I was in December. Overall I felt more fluid and lighter on my feet.

Part of it might be that I have been much more diligent this month with my ab, leg, and arm work so I'm getting stronger all around. And also I've been doing surges & strides on my easy days. I had been slacking on that stuff for the beginning of the year and it really makes a difference! I have to make time for it even when the mileage gets up there.

One thing I was bad about this month was sleeping properly. Too many night distractions and late nights. And while last week wasn't my best week emotionally, one positive side effect was that I slept. A lot. I think the extra rest last week helped with recovery and energy during my long runs. I am really going to work on doing better with this in August. I have a feeling I'm going to need it. :)

My biggest victory in July though was my diet. I am proud that I didn't overeat or binge at all. In fact, I wasn't tempted and I had some trigger days in there. I saw a post on a blog where someone said that you couldn't dabble with addiction. That once you are addicted to something, there's no going back if you want to kick the habit for good. I don't believe that's true because I had a food addiction, obviously, or I wouldn't have weighed over 300 lbs most of my life. Anyway, it's not like I can give up food, right? I think... I hope... I've reached a point where gaining the weight back is no longer in the cards.

Some things you just have to learn to control so they don't control you.

So that's a recap of my month. I hope July was good for you too and that we all have a wonderful August!

1 comment:

  1. WOW, Lisa! That's an awesome mileage month! Even better how happy it made you! Love hearing that! Now that it's August...that means we are SO MUCH closer to meeting you at Disneyland Half!! We fly out on August 31st to CA!

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