Sum sum summertime

It has been the hottest, most humid summer since I've moved to North Carolina (this was confirmed by the Weather Service - I am not exaggerating!) and despite having to work extra hard to rehydrate, I am absolutely loving Ironman training at this point.  I may be singing a different tune once I start getting closer to 20 hour weeks, but to say "so far, so good" would be an understatement.   

Even with a few days off around the Utah Valley Half Marathon and a mostly restful 4th of July weekend trip to Atlanta, I've been steadily adding more miles and reaching new milestones each week, and July marked my first-ever 600 mile month.  With all of the training, I've come to have an all new perspective on workouts... 2000 yards in the pool or 50 miles on the bike no longer seem "long" and the idea of a 4 hour brick is not particularly daunting.  It's kind of crazy to think about that, but it really is amazing how your body and mind can adapt given proper training.

June totals:
Swim: 11.7 miles
Bike: 382.3 miles (average speed 17.6 mph)
Run: 100.9 miles (average pace 8:01)
ElliptiGo: 10 miles

Total time: 46:05:44
Total miles: 504.82
Total calories: 26,914

July totals:
Swim: 15.8 miles
Bike: 451.3 miles (average speed 18.5 mph)
Run: 118.6 miles (average pace 8:13)
ElliptiGo: 18 miles

Total time: 57:19:06
Total miles: 603.68
Total calories: 32,929

I was curious to see how this compared to last year, when I was gearing up for Powerman Zofingen.  Despite dropping my number of days per week on the bike from 4 to 3 in most weeks, I ended up with about 50 more miles each month, and an average speed over 3 miles per hour faster than what I was averaging in 2014.  It may not sound like much, but it makes a huge difference - compared to the same two month period last year, I spent over 4 hours less time riding my bike, but covered over 100 more miles. 

Other highlights from the million-degree days of summer... 

Peachtree Road Race
Ran the race as a tempo run in rainy conditions.
Not the day I'd envisioned because of the weather,
but fun nonetheless.
43:56 - 29/3418 Female 35-39

One of the largest races in the world - nearly 55,000 finishers.
I took this photo after finishing the race, walking about a mile to MARTA, 
taking the train back to Buckhead, and walking back to our hotel 
near the start line, where 4 or 5 more waves had yet to even start!

Lil Uno One Mile Open Water Swim - Jordan Lake
My first swim-only event (followed by a run in the crazy mid-day heat)
35:14 - 4/20 Female 35-39

Made it out to few open water swim practices in Jordan Lake

T-minus 12 weeks and counting!!