July was a BIG month of mileage. And it sort of made sense, since I was theoretically training for the Fargo Marathon. But…
Another one bites the dust!
The Fargo Marathon is officially cancelled.
Fargo was a backup plan; my original plans for 2020 looked like this:
- Atlanta Marathon March 2020 (this will be my only marathon this year!)
- Bhutan Marathon May 2020
- Patagonia Marathon September 2020
- New Hampshire Marathon November 2020
When Bhutan was cancelled, I signed up for the Fargo Marathon, which was originally scheduled for May. But then Fargo was postponed until August 29th. An August marathon sounded like it could be rough, but I figured why not train for it and give it a go.
Then this week, Fargo was cancelled as well. I was a little surprised, only because they had advertised that they were confident they would be the first domestic marathon post-pandemic.
But we’re not really “post-pandemic”, are we?
We’re really in the thick of it. And things don’t really seem to be getting any better. I don’t know exactly how things are in Fargo, but in Minneapolis, we’re dialing things backwards- indoor bars have closed as cases are on the rise. Masks are mandatory across the state.
So…what now? I have no idea. I think I have to accept the fact that there will not be any marathons in 2020 (other than Atlanta.) I’m truly running now just for the love of running!
And RUN, I did this month- and I loved it!
I stuck with my goal of running more miles in a month than I ever had before. My previous highest number was from October 2019, which was when I was in the heart of training for the Indianapolis Marathon. That month, I ran 294 miles.
So my goal for July was 300 miles.
July 1-5: 47.8 miles
July 6-12: 66.2 miles
July 13-19: 80.2 miles
July 20-26: 65.7 miles
July 27-31: 47.4 miles
TOTAL: 307.3 miles
Yowsa. That’s a lot of miles. But it was a fun challenge and my body held up pretty well.
Here’s how this week went:
Monday: We were still at the cabin. I did 7.2 miles before working from the cabin, 9:20 min/mile average. Beautiful morning in Northern Wisconsin!
Tuesday: 11 miles before work, 9:35 min/mile average. 9 with friends, 2 with Ruth the vizsla pup
Wednesday: 10 easy miles before work, 9:25 min/mile average. Virtual 1:1 with Discover Strength after work
Thursday: 8.5 miles easy miles before work, 9:20 min/mile average
Friday: 11 easy miles before work, 9:20 min/mile average. And that run got me to my 307 miles!
That’s a wrap!
My two primary running friends, Christie and Julie, also did July challenges. Christie ran more miles than she ever had before in a month, like me, and Julie did a running streak of at least 2 miles every day for the whole month.
This is a group of gals who LOVE to run! Glad I have them!
Discover Strength virtual 1:1 over lunch
Saturday: Complete rest!
I hadn’t had a rest day in 31 days, so it felt great to sleep in on a Saturday. It was weird not to have a long run though! It’s such a part of what I do on the weekend….I was a little lost! I took the dogs for a long walk while Dustin did his long run.
Sunday: Back to running! Dustin and I ran 4 miles with Ruth the vizsla pup. I felt great after having a full rest day on Saturday. The weather was pleasant- upper 60’s and sunshine! 8:45 min/mile average.
Summary: About 52 miles of running, 2 virtual strength training sessions with Discover Strength
For the month of August, my coach is going to start adding workouts back onto the plan; July’s high mileage was doable because every run was easy- no set pace, just miles. But I’m ready to add some speed back again, even with no races on the agenda for quite some time! I’ll just keep working on my fitness, running for the love of running, until eventually races happen again.
Speaking of running, I actually wrote a post outside of the weekly recaps this week! Check out this homage to my running club– a goodbye to the Calhoun Beach Running Club!
I’m linking up with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner . Check it out below:
That’s a lot of miles! Well done!
Thanks Allison!
Wow! Congrats on an epic mileage month. Especially in the heat!! Our Covid numbers are creeping up as well and I expect bars to close again. IMO they never should have been allowed to open indoor service. Isn’t it crazy how everything ground to a halt after the Atlanta Marathon?
It really is crazy…Atlanta/Olympic Trials and then the world shut down!
Just reading the title of your post made me tired, lol. Congratulations on such an awesome achievement – that’s a lot of miles!!! I’m glad you were able to sleep in on Saturday – well deserved!!
Although I wasn’t surprised, I was still so bummed for you when I saw the cancellation announcement for the Fargo Marathon 🙁 It doesn’t seem like any of the larger races will take place this year.
I enjoyed the extra sleep on Saturday!
Fargo isn’t even that big, but I think their decision still makes sense. What a strange year!
I’m so sorry about Fargo. Not surprised, but sorry. Here in upstate NY, we’re still not too bad — we never were — but things are on a very slight uptick.
As long as you’re loving running, go for it! Congrats on a 300+ mile month.
This will not go on forever. Truly, it won’t!
Exactly! I figure if I feel good and am still loving it, it’s not hurting anyone to run more miles 🙂
That’s an amazing amount of miles! I’m so sorry your marathon was canceled. What a year, right? Our numbers are inching back up here in Illinois. Now everyone is debating about returning to school. I’m just amazed at the people who think kids should be back in school. My feeling is that we should wait for the vaccine. Stay tuned…
The school debate is a hot topic here (and everywhere I’m sure!) I found out I’ll be working from home until 2021, so I can’t imagine what the stress for parents figuring out what to do with all this… 🙁
Firstly, 300+ miles for the month! That is EPIC!! Congrats!! I’m so sorry that Fargo was cancelled. We’re also dialling backwards here – back in a proper lockdown (no leaving the house) while they do contact tracing on a new batch of cases that’s emerged. So I think we can rule out racing for 2020. But your statement – “run for the love of running” – that resonates with me. I think that has to be our focus now. I’m still setting challenges for myself, but just knowing they are all personal challenges and racing will return when it does… Read more »
No leaving the house! WOW…I remember you had that before, but that’s intense.
Yes, we keep running for the love of running. I love your positive attitude Shathiso!
WOWSERS. That’s amazing/insane/awesome. Probably a little of all. I wondered how much of an increase this was for you. So glad your body and your love of running held up.
Yeah, the post pandemic messaging is making me a little frustrated. We’re never going to get there if we don’t try to behave, and it worries me a lot. NYRR has cancelled everything for 2020 which wasn’t surprising, but was just sad.
Yes, it wasn’t too much of an increase.
Totally agree with you…maybe it’s the introvert/homebody in me, but this is not that hard!
I hope NYRR manages through this. I saw they had some layoffs 🙁
yeah NYRR and poor NYC Runs.. They’re trying so hard and it’s why I hate to see the anger on social. No one asked for this mess.
Wow that’s a crazy impressive number of miles! You are a running machine! No I don’t think there will be any in person races for quite a while. Congrats again and thanks for linking up
Thanks Deborah!
So first of all, congrats on all of the miles! You didn’t just beat 294, you beat it by quite a bit. I have 4 races that are still on the calendar, but realistically they aren’t going to happen in person, and that’s fine and probably for the best. Isn’t it so weird not to run on Saturday???
Running on Saturdays is just what I do! It was weird not to, but probably good for me 🙂
Very well done on those miles!!! I switched my Saturday and Sunday runs around this weekend, and I’m totally whooped. I seldom ever do long runs on Sunday, and this was “only” eight miles. I probably didn’t fuel enough, but really don’t need much for eight miles usually.Oh well…we can do hard things, right?
Make sure you’re taking care of yourself and fueling Kim! It’s so important!
Even a day change on things can throw the body for a loop!
Nice work on 300 miles! That’s awesome! Also where are your super cute black shorts from? Have been looking from in this style! So cute!
They are Oiselle!
Dang, that’s a lot of miles!! Congrats! Fun that you have friends going for a goal too. Keep up what you are doing because it’s really working for you with all of those miles!
Thanks Lisa! Having friends for company helps tremendously!
Great job on your July mileage!! That is impressive!!
Honestly, I am not surprised that the race was cancelled. I was very surprised to see them advertising that they were planning to hold the race. It is still sad because I know people trained and planned to run the race. I still think all races will be cancelled for the rest of the year.
My only race this year was the Atlanta Half Marathon. I enjoyed spectating the Trials the day before than the actual race. 🙂
Haha, I definitely enjoyed the trials more than the race too! But had I known the Atlanta marathon would be my only marathon, I might have cherished it a bit more!
Congrats on a truly epic month of running! You sure picked a doozy of a month for it. I was sorry to read about the club closing to outside participants and hope that CBRC can successfully reformulate.
Thanks Eric~ yes, July was a challenging month weather-wise, but I managed through!
I hope to see the CBRC back in some new form soon!
THREE HUNDRED MILES my god. That’s literally just over what I ran in May + June + July. You’re amazing, and I’m glad you have those running friends to do this with too – well done to them on their achievements.
Haha, my friend said 300 miles was her goal in high school cross country for the summer. At this rate, I’d need to replace my running shoes quite frequently!
You had an amazing month! I’m sorry that another race has been canceled. I hate this for all of us.
It sounds like you made so many good memories in your running club. While farewells are bittersweet, it sounds like you will be moving on to more great things.
Thanks Jenn! Yes, lots of memories over the years. Good times were had, all thanks to running!
Wow on 300 miles! That is amazing! Bummer on Fargo, but it had to happen — or not happen. I know what you mean about feeling odd on rest days — that’s why I rarely taken a day 100% off. Even doing ^something^ helps my mood. I’m sure your dogs love all the running too.
I don’t mind a complete rest day every once in awhile, but I suppose I always be walking the dogs 🙂 No rest for the dog parents, haha!
[…] no marathons on the horizon and my 300+ mile month behind me, I took a little bit of a step back this week, but still got in some good runs and […]
[…] month ever in July, with 309 miles, including an 80-mile week! Read more about that experience HERE. Without a race to keep me going, I ran, ran, and ran some […]