Goodbye, July (and good riddance)
July 31, 2007From a running standpoint, this past month was fairly demoralizing. I suppose my problems can be attributed to lingering fatigue from Western States, which hasn’t made them any less irritating, but I’ve tried to remain patient. Some highlights and lowlights from my training log:
7/11: “Urban jungle time trial” (with backpack, on the way home from work) from Capitol Hill (East Roanoke Street & 10th Avenue East) to Beacon Hill (14th Avenue South & 15th Avenue South) in my slowest time ever (22:36), presumably because of the 95-degree heat.
7/14: 2 x 3200m with 600m jog in between. Times: 10:22, 10:41. A fine workout … if I were STILL A FRESHMAN IN COLLEGE. This is my current fitness level? Perhaps I should rethink my scheduled participation in the World Cup 100K on September 8th.
7/17: Displaying limited patience, tried the same workout I did three days ago. Improved from “unbelievably disastrous” to “really horrible” (10:14, 10:23).
7/20: 20 miles (8 laps) at Seward Park at what must now be considered “wildly, irrationally optimistic 100K race pace” (6:15 per mile). Wanted to do 25 miles at this pace but was working really hard toward the end and stopped early in hopes of avoiding major muscle damage.
7/23: Tempo run (with backpack, on the way home from work) along Lake Washington from Denny Blaine Park to South Orcas Street in 31:56. The good news: this was only 3 seconds slower than my time from six months ago, when I was very fit. The bad news: I became nauseated shortly after the run and remained so for the next two days. A case of food poisoning? Or am I so out of shape now that running fast makes me physically ill?
7/27: Ran a hard (but not all-out) mile in 5:14 around the Montlake Fill on the UW campus. A decent time, actually, for this particular loop. Some cautious optimism may be warranted.
7/28: Swept the first 28 miles of the White River 50 course. Fell 3 times. As if I needed further evidence that I’m not much of a trail runner….
7/31: Same workout as on 7/11, only this time in a new record of 20:57. Hallelujah! I’m looking forward to August.
My Track Record 
I really enjoy your blog!
Looks like things are on the upswing Greg! Here's to a great August and beyond! 🙂
go Greg, rooting for you!
Greg — The last July run sounds REALLY encouraging. Glad it went so well. It does sound like you have recovered. Now you've gotten through that rough patch, you should see continual improvements again. Make sure you have your competition schedule and goals set and you'll focus better on your training (and maybe family –more pictures of Phil, Liz, and you please). Good luck!! — Bob