July Roundup!

I did it! I trained consistently throughout the entire month of July! This is a milestone for me - I mentioned in a previous post that I have not trained for an entire month since March 2009...it has been 27 months! I'm back at it and in full swing. I am going to breakdown my training for the month of July, make a few comments about it, and divulge a little about where I see my training going in the future.

Weekly Breakdown:

Week 1: July 1 - July 8
7/1: 3.2 miles [0:29:54]
7/2: Bike Ride 20 miles
7/3: 3 miles
7/4: Bike Ride 19.5 miles
7/5: 3 miles
7/6: Day Off 
7/7: 3.2 miles [0:27:25]
7/8: 3.2 miles

Total - 7/1 - 7/8: 15.6 miles

Week 2: July 9 - July 15
7/9: 4 miles [0:38:00]
7/10: 3 miles [0:30:12] & Bike Ride 21 miles
7/11: Day Off
7/12: 3.2 miles [0:26:21]
7/13: 3.8 miles [0:35:16]
7/14: 3.2 miles
7/15: 3 miles

Total - 7/9 - 7/15: 20.2 miles

Week 3: July 16 - July 22
7/16: 5 miles [0:46:53]
7/17: Day Off
7/18: 3.2 miles [0:27:32]
7/19: 4 miles [0:37:00]
7/20: 3.2 miles [0:30:03]
7/21: 4 miles [0:34:30]
7/22: Day Off

Total - 7/16 - 7/22: 19.4 miles

Week 4: July 23 - July 29
7/23: 4 miles [0:40:00]
7/24: 3 miles
7/25: 4 miles [0:33:53]
7/26: 3.8 miles [0:33:30]
7/27: Day Off
7/28: 3.2 miles [0:26:31]
7/29: Day Off

Total - 7/23 - 7/29: 18 miles

Start of Week 5: July 30 - July 31
7/30: 6.6 miles [0:57:16]
7/31: 3 miles

Total - 7/30 - 7/31: 9.6 miles
July Milage: 82.8 miles

All in all, I am pleased with the month. I had some quick runs, good miles, and I feel like I got myself in the habit of running. I will count it a success. I did have 2 days off that I was not supposed to have off, but I am not bothered by this. Had I ran on those 2 days, I would be closer to the 90 mile range. I do want to try to have only 1 day off each week, but 2 is ok if it is unavoidable. I am happy that I did not have to have 2 consecutive days off and I will continue to make that a goal.

I completed 12 strength/core workouts during the month of July. These are just abs, pushups, light weights,   lunges, and other quick exercises done during the day. I have a strength/core workout planned everyday except off days. I will make it a goal going forward to complete this small workout more often.

Lastly, I will note that I can feel myself becoming more efficient. I can run faster and feel better. I can tell that running is becoming more natural for my body. I can tell that I want to go running. The more I train, the more efficient I will become. The more efficient I become, the faster I will be able to run :)

So going forward, I will just be slowly upping my miles. I will add in some tempo work and some fartlek runs. I will be changing the pace some and trying to run in different places/courses. I want to add more strength/core workouts. I will continue to ride infrequently and focus more on running. As for blogging, I have enjoyed it so far, so I will continue. I will try to blog about my day's training and whatever other random thoughts I might have.

1 month down, many more to go!

Not as important, but something I do not want to leave out: I started my training weighing 154.6 lbs. I weighed myself this morning and was 151.0 lbs. :) I am not focused on losing any weight, but with good diet and exercise lifestyle changes, shedding weight is almost inevitable. I will keep you posted!