June 2020 Training Summary
Running duration = 6:59 hours
Running mileage = 42.9 miles
Average Pace = 9:47 min/mile (about 3.25 min/mile slower than estimated LT)
Average HR = 132 (67% HRR)
Indoor Cycling duration = 21:35 hours
Indoor Cycling mileage = 346 miles
Indoor Cycling average power = 161 watts
Indoor Cycling average Normalized Power = 169 watts
Strength = 4:50 hours
Total Training Time = 33:25 hours
Well as good as May was with a new mile PR, June wasn't what I was hoping for. I was hoping to get in a few more mile time trial attempts to see if I could lower the PR even further. But the nagging issue I was having with my upper left leg/back wasn't resolving with the PT exercises. In fact, it got worse. So the PT and I decided that I should take one week off from running and then return very slowly. I decided to take two weeks instead of one. The good news is that the issue did mostly resolve during this time off and we've narrowed it down to core weakness and hamstring hypomobility.
When I returned to running, I used that as an opportunity to run with my daughter and wife. We ran a few times during the month using 30/30 run/walk intervals. The first time we did it, my daughter shot off like crazy fast (sub-8) and within a few minutes of 30/30 was paying for it dearly with a side cramp. So we instilled in her the mindset of train slow to race fast and she's mostly bought into it. So now we go nice and easy. Our run is around an 11 min/mile and average pace around a 14-15 min/mile. So the 30/30 is working out well for her since she ran the kid's mile in Jan 2020 in 17:10 and agrees that this has been much easier. We've been doing somewhere between 1-1.5 miles every once in a while.
For me, I'm enjoying the downtime in training and getting ready to ramp things back up. June 2020 represented the least amount of training I've done in a month (33 hours) since last June 2019. I'm training towards the Madison HM/M in November. It probably won't happen, but if it doesn't then I'll just do a time trial instead. If the fitness is in a good place, then I'll go for the M. If not, then I'll go with the HM. I detailed the training plan in my journal (
link). I'm always trying to learn from my past and continue to grow as a runner. And I feel this next training plan is just another step in honing in on me perfecting my craft.