October Running Wrap-Up: Another high-mileage month and a birthday run

Posted on by Vanessa Junkin (She Runs by the Seashore)
View of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at sunrise with the bay in the foreground of the photo. Text reads "October" and "150."

I had a successful month of running in October as I get closer to the Philadelphia Marathon, which is now only 10 days away.

  1. I ran 150 miles. My 150-mile month was my highest-mileage month since September 2019.
  2. I ran my fast 1600 in 8:45. This was my second-slowest 1600-meter run for speed of the year, but it was not too long after the Pemberton 24 and it was still within my normal range.
  3. I ran three races. These were the GPS Half Marathon, the Run Happy Fest virtual events and the Bay Bridge Run.
  4. I ran 31 kilometers for my 31st birthday. I took off work for my 31st birthday, and since I’ve been marathon training and had the bridge run the following weekend, I decided to run 31 kilometers (a little over 19 miles) on my actual birthday, Oct. 27. Since I was by myself, I also did a “31” scavenger hunt and looked for the number “31” on signs and in numbers on homes. I turned my watch to kilometers for this run, which took any pressure off, since I wasn’t completely sure what pace I was running. (I was not aiming for this to be a fast run, and it was not.)
  5. I ran in a few different locations. In addition to the race locations, I did the birthday run in Ocean City, some long runs at Trap Pond with my friend Diana (and one with Diana and Tim) and a run at Loch Raven Reservoir.
  6. I kept up my morning yoga routine. I’ve gotten into a habit of going to yoga on Wednesday mornings at Soul Yoga Studio. I did sleep in a little bit on my birthday, so I skipped that one, but I did go three times in October.

I definitely feel like I got stronger during this month of marathon training. Onto the rest of November!