After several months of slow, but steady gains in mileage I took a noticeable jump in July – as planned – finishing with 205 miles (172 in June). I continued my trend of increasing elevation, after setting a new high in June of 7,604’ I clipped 8K in July (8,068’). The first one was the plan and the second was a bi-product of focusing more workouts on hills, but I had some pleasant surprises too - gaining strength despite the focus on mileage and a lot more quality runs too. Expecting to maintain consistency in the weight room and increase miles, I had no aspirations for many quality workouts – just volume. But I kept feeling well enough before and during runs to audible on the fly - no tempo/HMP runs, but several vO2’s and impromptu progression’s. Notably, Monday 7/17’s run – I looked down about 2 miles in and saw 7 flat then looked down part way through mile 3 and saw 6’s, so I adjusted on the fly – finishing with miles of 6:43/6:26/5:58/5:43* for an 8.8 mile run in one hour even (6:45 net). While this was a great workout I was actually more encouraged by what I did with the rest of the week as it showed my recovery is getting better and better. I noted my net pacing (8:05) just for s’s and g’s, but given what I did this month there really isn’t anything to read into it – 6 double stroller runs, 5 hybrids, and 1 long one in the mini Duck-like woods. If anything I should be happy I’m that close to 8!
For August? The shift to quality begins next week. This may be my last week of 3 strength training workouts, but race week withstanding I will ensure I maintain at least 2x per week. I want to ensure 200 miles remains the new normal, but whether I’m at 200.1 or 230 means far less to me than nailing key workouts. I have a couple of benchmarks set and if I hit them unless weather dictates otherwise I’m going to get ready for a half mid-September. I’m confident that I’ll best last year’s 1:25+, but don’t really have a good guess by how much. I think that’s a good thing though. I perform better when I just go instead of thinking.
I almost don't trust my watch my HR was so low. 
