July Update and The Falls 60K Prep

The end of July is here and what a great month it's been. Texas heat is doing it's thing and as of today we've had 31 straight days over 100 degrees. This week is promising to be one of the hottest weeks I've experienced in my 25 years of living in North Texas.

For July I didn't really have any specific distance goals but did end up running a total of 270.82 miles where as I ran 230.97 in June. I'm really happy to have added another 40 miles without any trouble. I had the Lake 60K this month as well as a trip to Pittsburgh where it was difficult to find much time to run. The first week in July I logged 51.88, then 60.91, 63.47, 54.20, and 66.47 this past week while traveling. 

I've been slowly increasing my distance (in hopes of keeping away the injury monster) and am really looking forward to some pretty big numbers (for me anyways) in the month of August. First goal is to log around an average of 70 miles a week. Towards the end of August and the first 1-2 weeks in September I'd like to log around 70-80 miles and hit that taper hard in mid September. 

I've been experimenting with the new nutrition plan and everything has gone great so far. The true test will be next Saturday night when I do another night time 60K in the Texas heat! I also got some new MT101s which I cannot wait to really break in at the 60K. 

Courtney and I had a great time on the trip to Pittsburgh last week. It was nice getting a few days off from work and not having anything to worry about. I did get to run 3 out of the 4 days which was fantastic. We stayed a mile from Carnegie Mellon University and right behind the campus is Schinley Park which was super hilly compared to what we have here in North Texas! 

 

 Above: Carnegie Mellon University

Above: Downtown Pittsburgh

I of course wondered off the beaten path and found some great little single track that winded up and down the hills. It was absolutely gorgeous. 

The trail dropped down a pretty steep ravine down into this little valley where a stream ran. I couldn't help but try to find all the climbing possible. Once I found as much climbing as I could I made a loop of it and ran that every time I got the chance. On the last day I was running quickly through the trees and flying down a steep section when all the sudden to my left I could see a deer. I stopped not 6 feet from the deer and we just stared each other down. I wasn't too sure what to do cause normally deer will run at any sound, but this guy just stared at me then got back to eating without backing away. I had my phone with me so I pulled it out and took a video. The video is on Courtneys phone so as soon as I get that uploaded to youtube I will share! It was incredible seeing a deer that close to downtown Pittsburgh. 

The ladies of course had to do a bit of shopping while we were there. At one point we were in an Italian market and I found two containers of Nutella (MY FAVORITE!) for $70 a piece!!

Let's just say buying them actually crossed my mind :) Even though we had a great time it's always nice to be back in the great state of Texas. I'm hoping to get in a few ten milers this week and maybe an easy 8 and total up about 65 miles this week. It's always tough to get mileage the week before and after a race.

Hopefully I'll have some good results in regards to the 60K this weekend. I'm again hoping for a top 5 finish, but above all that my nutrition will be spot on and just give me that much more confidence that I can finish 100.

Lastly I've been wanting to create a local running group for awhile now and finally took the initiative. I have some friends out in Arizona that have a running group called WMRC (Wed Morning Run Club) so I've decided to create the WMTR (Wednesday Morning Trail Run) at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano. If you're interested or just want to check it out I've created a Facebook Page HERE to check out.

I hope everyone has a great week and stays safe with the heat outside! Hydrate, Salt, Hydrate, and SALT! :)

I've been addicted to this video all week so I'll leave you with it.

_Jacob_