August...even tho it's September!!

August is gone.......and September is here already. I had a busy running month in August. My coach and I finally have a cadence with training. Every week I send a schedule with my work/personal commitments and he sends me back a training plan for the week. I think we have both learned to be flexible to find the right combination.  It has worked well for the past 5 weeks. 

Altogether this past month I ran a total of 66 miles! And I way surpassed my goal this month to run 50 miles in 30 days. I am getting close to my previous all time high mileage of 75 miles. And that was about a year ago. I feel like I am definitely in a better place with my running.  I practice stretching pretty religiously; almost always before or if not, then afterward. This month was full of weather issues; an earthquake, awful heat and humidity; oh and a hurricane with torrents of rain!  It is amazing how I got 66 miles in; but I did.

I also realized that I cannot run and do yoga in one day. It took a toll on my body when I did that in August. Lesson learned! Rest day are for rest and/or yoga not to add in a long run! I can't believe I'm looking forward to some nice fall days to run. After our horrendous winter of tons and tons of snow I thought summer would be refreshing.  I only ran 2 races this summer. One in July......I had to actually wallk for a few minutes it was so hot......and one August 13th.  Sprint for the Sands Point Preserve 5k. This was a trail/paved path race. My first race with trails. It was definitely challenging! I ran on paved paths, sand, dirt, grass, rocks, dirt paths with roots and lots and lots of uphills...funny there seemed to be very few downhills!!  Not my best 5k time but satisfied with it since it was a new terrain to contend with during a race. Time: 33:55.6  My coach said to find something different to run...and this was it.  I did enjoy it alot especially because the vista was so beautiful looking either out on the Long Island Sound or at the beautiful grounds of the 'castle' at the preserve.  With all that said, August shaped up as a pretty good running month as well as an interesting one. Hopefully, all that training will help with making my 10k race tomorrow an enjoyable one! I'm looking forward to it! 

Now, I am officially ready to begin week #6. My 19th year of teaching has begun and my 3rd year of running.  I can truly say I am a runner; a runner for life. No matter how fast or slow, how long or how short I will always be lacing up my running shoes and going out for a run. I love it. It is a wonderful feeling of freedom. Oh! and besides yoga...it's a wonderful way to "take out the trash." I'm truly lucky to have my son as my coach. Adam...you're the best!

Stay tuned for my September running updates!!