Monday May 25^th –Memorial Day! A day off work. A Monday that you don’t cringe at 😊 Can’t think of anything better!! And, it’s my running rest day. No running whatsoever. It’s my only day off so I truly need it and look forward to it. I did get out for a 12-mile bike ride and stopped over to see my parents and go on a walk with mom. We walked 2.25 miles together and it was lovely!!

Tuesday May 26^th—Coach scheduled me for inclines on the treadmill. I usually run hills outside, but she made this set schedule of which incline to do at 30 seconds each, so I went with it. There were 4 sets of inclines that were 90 seconds each at different inclines. The hardest were at 8, 9 and 12. Holy moly! I almost fell off🤣. And then had to repeat. You ran 2 mins easy in between sets. This was fun and made the 5 miles go by very quickly. I then did some strength training but ran out of time to get outside for my bike ride. I ended up getting out around 6pm for my ride and did 12 miles. Overall, it was a good day of training for me. I must admit though, this was the first day in a long time that I was not motivated to run. Ever since the pandemic and staying home I have been all out, guns blazing, ready to go! I guess it’s only normal to have days like this. I fought thru it and did my run. That’s all that matters!

Wednesday May 27^th—On the schedule today was to run 6 miles easy. I opted for treadmill today. Some days I just drink too much coffee before I need to head out and then think… where will I go to the bathroom? Is that too much info?!

I ended up running 8 miles because I was enjoying the run so much. Because I kept the miles easy it was okay to add on a few extra.  I had hoped to get up early enough to knock my ride out too but no such luck. My bed is just so comfy these days. Anyone else have this issue?  This was also the first day that I was going to work at my office for the first time in 11 weeks. I only went in from 10-3ish. It was amazing and much needed.  I had some quiet time to focus and make calls to prospects without a kid interrupting.  My daughter cried before I left, and my son could care less.  Too funny how opposite they are. I got my ride in later around 6pm but only made it 5.3 miles.  I was tired and figured there was no point in pushing myself.

Thursday May 28^th—Today was tempo day! Tempo is hard. It’s that uncomfortable pace that you have to push yourself to and hold for some time in order to get faster. It’s especially hard for me on the treadmill. The track is still locked and not open or that would be my ideal place for tempo. So, treadmill it was. Good news was that I got my new pair of Hoka Carbon X in the mail the day before. Love running in new shoes and I’m a huge fan of these ones. This is my fourth pair of this kind!! I ran 1 mile warm up, 5 miles that ranged from 7:42 pace down to 7:24, then 1 mile cool down. This was hard but I got thru it! And now I am that much stronger. This was also another day that I ran out of time for my ride before work, so it was done after work. I got in 12 miles!

Friday May 29^th—This morning I was feeling pretty beat up today. Like, run ragged basically. Luckily my run scheduled was only 4 miles easy so I did that and then had time to jump on my bike and got in 11 miles all before work.  That is the best feeling ever. My legs are so much fresher when I can ride early in the day.  If you comes to working out later in the day after work the motivation to get back out is super hard. I’m pretty self-motivated but some days it’s just super hard.

Saturday May 30^th—After feeling pretty beat up from the feet up yesterday I was pretty sure that this run would suck. On the schedule was a 13-mile progression run that was supposed to end up fast miles and my last mile was to be sub 7:45. Yikes! How the heck was I going to do that? First, it was hot. And I didn’t get out till 10am. Sometimes the way you think can really mess with your mindset. I had to change that thinking and do it fast! I decided the most logical thing would be to start inside on my treadmill and tackle the first half at a slower pace. Then get out for the last 6.5 miles. My handheld water holder hopefully would be enough (It’s 16oz and so I put 2 Nuun tabs in there instead of 1 to make it strong). I use Nuun for most of my runs. If you have not heard of them, check them out (nuunlife.com). They are also sold at place like target or Dicks Sporting Goods. It ended up being enough but I had to ration it out. I was craving freezers full of ice around mile 4 on🤣. I’m happy to say that my last two miles were 7:36 and 7:27!! I had done what I needed to do. Splitting up the run helped me for sure.

As for biking, I decided to skip for today and get out on Sunday. Again, no need to push myself more than necessary in hot weather. If you are in it for the long run, you must listen to your body and make the best choice for that particular day.

Sunday May 31^st– Last day of the month!  I feel like March and April were years long and May just sort of flew by.  I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way.  On the schedule today was 5 easy miles and some biking. I decided that today would be the first day that I rode first, then ran.  Running has always been my number 1 thing. So, I always put it first.  However, I know that if I want to do some real brick training that I need to ride then run.  Happy to say that I did it and it went great! 12 miles on the bike, then a quick outfit change and new water bottle and out for 5 easy miles.  My heartrate stayed pretty low for my run, which is always want I’m aiming for when running easy.  Some days though, depending on my stress level it goes higher than I want it to, regardless of whether the running effort felt easy or hard.  Do you pay attention to your HR ever?  I only have my watch taking it, I did not buy the chest strap yet. 

My weekly totals were 43 miles running and 65 miles biking!

My monthly totals were 186.50 running and 223 miles biking! It was a great month of training for me overall.