July running recap: The Tour de Salisbury, and a few other things

Posted on by Vanessa Junkin (She Runs by the Seashore)
View of ripply water with a sunrise sky in the background. Text in pink reads "July 95.08."

Much of July was spent completing the Tour de Salisbury. I also made more of an effort to work on strength training. Here’s how the month went…

  1. I ran 95.08 miles. After a lower-for-me mileage month in June, including 12 days off, I took one more day off at the beginning of July and then eased back into running. My plantar fasciitis isn’t completely gone, but it has improved. I ran 95.08 miles in July.
  2. I ran my fast 1600 in 8:54. I was happy to get my time back into the 8s. This was my fastest 1600-meter run since March.
  3. I ran 10 of the 12 Tour de Salisbury legs. Because I ran Grandma’s Marathon in June and then took off some time, I was left with 10 legs of the Tour de Salisbury to run in July. I was able to complete them all, working on these courses on the weekends and running them at a comfortable pace. I actually ran 11 legs in July, because I ran Pemberton twice. Read my recap of the event here.
  4. I didn’t do any other races. While I didn’t “race” the Tour de Salisbury, I did complete that challenge. I didn’t participate in any other races during the month.
  5. I started training for the Atlantic City Marathon. I’ll be running the Atlantic City Marathon on Oct. 23. I got a free entry through BibRave. if you’d like to join me, save 15% with code “BIBRAVE22.”
  6. I participated in a pride run/walk. A group of friends got together to support the LGBTQ community with a pride run/walk before a drag show, and we collectively raised $250 for a local organization, Salisbury PFLAG!
  7. I dealt with the heat. July was especially hot and humid. Even when I got up for sunrise runs, it was still so warm! It was a difficult month for weather.
  8. I took four yoga classes. I took four yoga classes in July, including my first Yoga for Runners class taught by my friend Nicole.
  9. I did five DribbleUp classes. I have been using the DribbleUp app and a six-pound strength ball to work on my strength training. The classes are short, but I can feel them!

Now that we’re almost halfway through August, I’m looking forward to the rest of the month. I think even the small amount of strength training I am doing is having a positive impact on my running.