Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Travel Mile Suck

So this week, two posts have made me think about my yearly and weekly mileage numbers. 

First, Mike posted about his 1525 miles for the first six months of the year, and inspired me to look at my current YTD number (almost 800, which is not unusual when I don't have a spring marathon, but I'd have thought it would be higher to reflect that marathon training started about 6 weeks ago). 

And then second, Bella posted about her challenge to do 150 miles over the summer, and since she directly asked, I decided to tally up my exact miles from last week (45.7, but why that's not good below). 

A combination of those two posts and my responses, and I just realized in black and white why my summer miles aren't adding up as usual.

Week of June 8: trip to Philly for work for several days
Week of June 15: houseguest for the week
Week of June 22: trip to Pittsburgh for family wedding for 5 days
Week of June 29 (this week): trip to Milwaukee for family visit for 5 days
Week of July 6: trip to Baton Rouge for work for a couple days
Week of July 13: trip to Philly for work for several days

Not having a full 4 days in a row in the office makes it hard for me to do my running commute, and it's showing since I'm just not getting in my usual miles. My running commute usually adds 18 or so effortless miles to any basic running week.

Last week totaled up at 45.7. Which is fine. EXCEPT that included two "long" runs since I ran on Saturday instead of Sunday due to wedding fun. That means that my week would have otherwise been in the low 30s, which for me does not a marathon PR make.

Anyway, maybe I can ramp it up big time in August? Oh wait, I see work trips on the horizon then too. Boo.

I think I'm writing this so that I can attempt to convince myself to just buckle the f- down (that's for you Mike, similar to slow the f- down).  Even when I'm on the road, I need to start getting more miles in, and when I'm home, even if I can't get in my preferred 5 running commutes, I need to just do a single roundtrip day. 

Here's to a solid second half of the year, better late than never! 

8 comments:

  1. I think it's fantastic that you manage to run with ALL the trips you have. I literally go on vacation mode when I travel. Eating is never crazy but I definitely am lighter on the exercise (hoping to exercise through walking a lot).

    Good luck with your second half of the year and safe travels!

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  2. Running commute sounds like a fun way to get miles in, although I'd be such a sweaty wreck when I got to work, I'd need an hour to cool off before suitable for human interaction.

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    1. I'm about the same. I usually come up to my office to boot up my computer and maybe look over an email or two, then I grab my garment bag and makeup bag and head down to the gym, shower, dry my hair, get dressed, and about 45 mins later, I'm presentable, at my desk and ready to go!

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    2. Yes, I too would grab my makeup bag and get ready. :-)

      Happy Independence Day! I nominated you for Very Inspiring Blogger Award. No pressure to participate, but I just wanted to let you know I enjoy reading your stuff.

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  3. I would also love to be able to do the Running Commute - and would do it if they had showers at this facility!

    Running while traveling is definitely a challenge - it is one thing when it is a quick trip and you have some control over your time (or can go with minimal sleep like I did in Houston). But with multiple trips like that it gets more and more challenging! Good luck buckling the F down! :)

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  4. Yes, running commutes are a great idea. I used to either walk or bike home (and take the bus to work) but stopped doing that when we got our dog & I needed to get home earlier to let him out. Wonder if I could make it happen now. This also inspires me to look at my yearly mileage.

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  5. A running commute would be so interesting and dangerous for me! My run to work would be at 10:30p.m. and though I only work a few miles away I would have to run over a bridge into another town which has a very high crime rate. The route I normally drive to work is through a rather shady area at night.

    I am praying I can get my mileage up to par with marathon training mileage by the end of this month. This injury through my whole life upside down.

    I also think it is awesome that you don't let work travel stop your training. Running in different places is such a nice change of pace. I'm so bored with my local routes.

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  6. Sounds like a good plan. I start my marathon training next month…eek! I’ll be going from 2-3 runs per week to 4 runs per week. I can’t wait for cooler weather. It’s so much easier to motivate myself to run when it’s cooler out. I pretty much dread running in the heat…however last year I didn’t have a problem with it. Not sure what is different this year.

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