June Miles

Happy last day of June!  This month just seemed to fly by.  Gearing up for the Shoreline half marathon in mid-July my training for June hit some high mileage.  I managed to make all of my long runs within 5 seconds per mile of the target time.  My intervals and tempo runs were a little all over the place with most being faster than the target time.  Early on I had the Mendon Mauler and that beat me up pretty good but also let me know that I could hang in there when it got tough (those hills were brutal).
Without further adieu here is the breakdown of my June miles:
1st week:  43 miles
2nd week:  36 1/2 miles
3rd week:  35 1/2 miles
4th week:  43 miles
extra days:  14 miles
Grand total for 30 days of June:  172 miles!

July will be a significantly lower mileage month as I will taper a bit for the half marathon then have an easy week before beginning my abbreviated training cycle for a September half marathon.

Mendon Mauler

Wow, this month is flying by and I am terrible at keeping up with blogging.  With the nice weather I am outside quite a bit doing yard work and what not.  Anyways, a few weeks ago (June 7 to be exact) I partook in the Mendon Mauler.  It was a 12 mile trail race...and you had to do all 3 loops or get a DNF.  Those that opted for the 4 or 8 mile race could switch between the distances if they so choose.

The start had us across a field with grass that was knee tall.  We were fortunate in that there had been no rain for about a week or it would have been a swampy mess.  The trails would have been a disaster zone for me too since there were nothing but hills to be found on the course.  You were either going up or going down a hill the entire time!

Once across the field were were in single trek into the trails.  Most of the trails were wide enough to pass but a few sections were single trek.  I named one of the hills "Death Hill."  It was a steep downhill with lots of loose rocks.  While being given race instructions (follow the little pink trail marker flags...) we were told about the hill and to, "aim for the big tree or your face will meet dirt."  Not a lie either.  I'm not sure if anyone "met dirt" on the hill but I know I was clinging from one tree to another as I slid down that hill 3 times!

 I wore my Purple Haze SparkleSkirt and received many compliments.  One guy was near me for most of the second loop and started to call me Sparkles.  After trying to keep up with me he said, "go get 'em Sparkles," and stopped at the water cooler.  They placed a table with water and Fluid replacement beverage in the woods.  It was a cup free race meaning you had to provide a way to get water from the jug into your mouth.  Lucky for me this was easy with my ginormous pockets.  Many other people were using hand held water bottles and I was glad to have both hands free for Death Hill.

After each loop I handed my parents my water bottle and picked up my old one filled with powerade.  They were great about this since the Fluid was a pink color and not a flavor I could stomach.  So every 2 miles I was going through 7 oz. of drink (water or powerade).  I was still thirsty after finishing too!

 After the third loop you turned to cross the road and this was the line to the finish.  I'm not in the photo but wanted you to see what it looked like.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day out for a run.  My legs were trashed and I was very proud of my race.  I finished in 2 hours and 15 minutes and some change.  A little shy of my goal of under 2:15 but I will take it considering I made the goal with no clue about the challenges of the course.  I was the 5th female and 3rd in my age group.

 That long stretch to the finish is where I really closed the gap on this girl who was part of the 8 mile race.  They started a half hour after we did.  I enjoyed a hot dog and some pretzels before watching the kids fun run 400m race with my mom and dad.  I am so thankful that both of my parents got up super early and stood around waiting for a long time between loops to see me.  They are an amazing support crew and the race was low key and fun.  Trail running is growing on me but I just need to find a pair of trail shoes that fit like my road shoes.

May Running by the numbers

May was a pretty solid month of training for me as I prepare for a July half marathon.  Not sure how that will go since it is kind of weather dependent.  Early in May we went for a Caribbean cruise and I didn't record any miles for that week but just ran a total of an hour and a half (so let's guess 9 miles since it wasn't break neck speed or anything).  Once we returned from our cruise I jumped right back into my training plan and racked up a total of 111 miles in 3 weeks.  If you add in the estimated cruise miles I am at 120 miles for 4 weeks with an average of 30 miles per week.
My workouts are about on pace for the most part.  I struggled with my track workout and tempo week 4 of May but am fighting a cold so I will take being about 20 seconds or less per mile slow for the week on all the runs.  Getting better and looking forward to the Mendon Mauler trail run that I have coming up this weekend.

Corporate Challenge 2014

My mom and I volunteered for the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge again this year (I think this is about year 5 or 6 now).  The event is one of the largest, if not the largest, in our area every year.  The race directors, Dave and Ellen (owners of Fleet Feet here), do an amazing job with helping to organize and offer up a successful race for the Chase Corporation.

 There are about 4,000 people that participate in the event plus many others who come to support the runners.  The run is held on the RIT college campus (which is great since they have the space).  People can take a shuttle bus over from MCC (another college near by) as well to help with the flow of traffic.

 This is just some of the masses headed over to the start.  As you can tell the sky was overcast and it was actually quite cool out (about 60).  Great finish times were posted as a result of the conditions.  Other years it has been torrential downpours with lightning almost immediately after the majority of runners finished.  There have been years of crazy humidity and heat with many requiring medical attention.

I love volunteering for this event and my assigned position for this race.  My mom and I are finish line spotters.  That means that we get to hang out at the finish and grab one of the top finishers and escort them to the media tent.  After that we help to "push" people through the finish chute to keep the flow of traffic moving towards the bananas, water and MVP drink (Wegman's brand of electrolyte replacement beverage).  We cheer, encourage them to keep walking and not wait for friends to finish.  High fives are free!   As much as I love running I do have to say that it is nice to volunteer at races and give back to the community.