August was my highest mileage month yet. I finished with 169 miles! Yeah! 

The past 7 days included two speed workouts as well as a 12-mile LR. 
​(Speed workouts as follows)
​2 mi w/u
3x 3 min @ 9:02 (w/2 min recovery)
4x 2 min @ 9:02 (w/1 min recovery)
​5x 1 min @ 9:02 (w/1 min recovery)
2 mi c/d

The ribs are still pretty painful from last week's 20-miler. Not sure what that's about. It's not worse, but it ain't better I can tell ya. 
​
​I tried getting out this morning for another speed workout and it just wasn't happening. My body is sore and tired. After a mile of run/walking, I decided to bag it and turned around for home. Hubby and I are headed to his mom's for the holiday weekend where I plan to just rest. This was a cutback week anyway so now is a good time. I'll come back strong for next week (here's hoping). 

Yes, yes I did. The plan called for a bunched run of 10/10; two runs within twelve hours of each other. The desired impact is to run on fatigued legs; accumulated fatigue. Better simulates running the later part of the marathon in addition to offering a little reprieve between runs. It's designed to lower the risk of injury. 

​(On a side note...
​And speaking of... I just peeked at my marathon plan. Looking at overall mileage between last month and now, I've made quite a jump in mileage. I ran about 125 miles in July. August is projecting 167 miles. This goes beyond the 10% rule for sure. I need to cut back a week or I could be looking at some trouble in the near future (as if I don't have enough to worry about with the back!). )

​So today's double run was an even 10 and 10. I got out early enough to run through the park, get some laps on the track, then head to the gym (one block from work) and shower/change. Overall pace of Run #1: 11:15. Run #2 was entirely at the gym. Say again? I ran 10 miles on a treadmill​??? Yes, yes I did. Overall pace 11:27, with the final 2 miles at MP 10:17. Done and done.

​After finishing, barely recovering and showering...I hopped over to my local spa for a massage. It definitely helped - and I considered adding another 30 minutes - to ease into full recovery. Sitting here a few hours later though, I am SORE. Can't wait till I wake up tomorrow. That'll be awesome. 

​What I can't seem to figure out is why the area around my lower right ribs is tender. It feels like a combination of I took a hard punch/I lifted some serious weights just on that side (I didn't for either). I imagine this will only feel more intense tomorrow. *Gulp*

​After last Sunday's LR on the NYC Greenway, I took two days off; Monday & Tuesday. Did a lot of walking on Monday as hubby and I took our two nephews to the park for some solar eclipse watching. It was a treat! 

​The next time I ran was on Wednesday and it was SWAMPY out! It had been unrelentingly hot & humid on Tuesday and the soupy air had yet to move out. So I ran an easy 8.13 miles on the treadmill at the gym (11:37 snail pace). 

​Yesterday, I got adventurous and ran over the Queensborough Bridge (Mile 16 of the NYC Marathon), through LIC into and through Queensborough Park, then over the Roosevelt Island Bridge onto Roosevelt Island. That was a total 7.68 mile 10:56 pace trot (the weather cooled considerably and gave me a nice bump in pace!).

At some during my training, I always get bored of the same old scene. I'd been giving thought to how I might change up my scenery and came up with a LR on Manhattan's Greenway. 

​Admittedly, I've never run the Greenway before! Many years ago when I was still road biking, I had biked the path. But I was excited to try out a new route. 

​I treated Sunday like I was getting up for a race, nice and early. Headed into the city and did a warm up run/walk over past West Street. I took a north-bound start and headed past the Intrepid: 

​

After making it up to about 59th Street, I turned it around and went all the way south. Like, south past the ferry terminals for Staten Island and Governor's Island.