The February 2016 Running Challenge

Ohhim

Ended up breaking in a new set of shoes today (noosa tri 10s) as my DS trainers started cutting into my ankles, had about 400 miles on them (including a marathon), and I liked their sole style which is shared with the noosas.

2/1 - 4 miles (up/down part of Park City mountain through 2 feet of powder)
2/2 - 5.5 miles
2/3 - 1 miles (pre lifting warmup)
2/4 - 10 miles (7 mile tempo run + 3 recovery)
2/5 - 5 miles
2/6 - 10 miles
2/8 - 9 miles
2/9 - 12 miles (w. 3x15 min @ 7:15/mile pace w. 90 sec recovery)
2/10 - 5 miles
2/11 - 12 miles (8 miles speedwork + 4 mile late recovery run)
2/12 - 1 mile (pre lifting warmup)
2/13 - 10 miles
2/15 - 4 miles
2/16 - 5 miles (threshold run w. 3 @ 7 pace in middle)

Total: 93.5 miles
Goal: 180 miles
Remaining: 86.5 miles

Upcoming Races:
15K - Gasparilla - Feb 20
Half Ironman - Florida 70.3 - Apr 10
Marathon - Pittsburgh - May 1
Half Ironman - Augusta 70.3 - Sep 25
Marathon - Chicago - Oct 9 (if accepted)
Ironman - Florida - Nov 5

@ddmom0811 - The Friday morning ride group is just triathletes on aero TT bikes, so that helps us pull off the extra speed over a typical a-group ride. I definitely couldn't average 26 on my normal road bike, and out of the 20 or so miles, only about 15 of them are at full speed of which I pulled up front for about 1.5 (as we had a 10 person paceline). Still, I was much happier riding with the snowbirds in my building at 9mph on at my condo's Tuesday morning social cruiser ride.

@Elise4270 - Early on, most of my really big speed gains just came from building up my mileage and losing enough weight to drop my BMI from 38 to 23. I was finishing in the top 5% of races without speedwork from just focusing on total distance & weight (while running most of my miles 3-4 minutes/mile slower than my half marathon pace). Still, to get that last little push that has gotten me onto the podium at small races, and into the top 1% at the LV half and Disney full marathon, speedwork (about 20% of my mileage) has come in handy. I'm not sure what your goals are, but lots of comfortable long slow distance, and watching the diet can get you pretty far.

Orphia

Stoshew71 wrote: »

karllundy wrote: »

Stoshew71 wrote: »

Elise4270 wrote: »

@Stoshew71 and anyone else that has insight. I have a training question:

I love having my regular runs up to 7+ miles. I know every other week I need a long run. But I've added a group run 3 out of 4 weeks, which is at a faster pace for me, probably wouldn't be inaccurate to say about race pace.

Should I abandon my long run? Or use it the one week I can't make the group until I get conditioned? What are my option here? I think I'm in a good spot, taking it up a notch, but don't want to over do it.

I'm shooting for 25-28 miles a week this month, March is scheduled for 150, ~34 miles a week (will prob add lots of walking in the transition). I'm considering adding a day (5 days) and splitting the mileage where a 7 miles run is now 2, 4-5 mile runs easy pace. (Speed work is hit and miss with my hip, not pushing it.)

Thanks. I am here -->7miles x 3days plus group run 6-8 miles, increased pace.

Before group run... 6*3, and 1 long run (last one was 11 miles, adding 2 miles every other week). Be 13 or 15 this week.. Per HM training.

I have more questions than answers. :-)

What are your goals? Why a long run every other week? How much more increased pace is this group run?

Here is what I shoot for for my goals.
2 quality workouts plus a long run with the rest of my runs being easy or recovery paced.
Goal is to have only 20% of my weekly mileage be in the faster than easy pace range.

A quality workout would be a medium long run (10 miles that takes me ~90 minutes) a tempo paced run, an intense hill workout, or if I did any kind of speed workout. I used to do way too many medium long runs during the week just because i was trying to hard to fit in my weekly mileage early in the morning. I have been doing a better job lately breaking that up into multiple runs per day which I find much more successful to manage and recover from.

Your first option 7 miles x3 plus a group run 6-8 miles faster pace. To me, that is just 4x 7 milers with one of them being a faster paced. That's 25% faster paced and that is lumping 1 quality workout per week. To me that is not a good option. Long runs are bread and butter workouts. I believe you need one each week. (90 minutes minimum -2.5 hours maximum for easy paced running non-stop or at least very short breaks to get the maximum benefit). The next important workout in my opinion is a tempo or lactate threshold run. There are different ways to do it but the most popular is a 20 minute run at Lacate Threshold. but there are also 1 mile or 2 mile cruise intervals at LT, or 40-60 minute runs just a tad bit slower than LT. Then you got other choices for your second quality workout. A medium long run, hills, VO2 max short intervals, neuromuscular repeats or another tempo workout.

The idea is to spread your more quality workouts around between your weekly mileage. So if I was planning a 25 mile week, this is what I would do.

Right off the bat segregate my long run. So long run maxes out at 33% of the weekly mileage. 8 miles for 25 mile week or 9 miles for a 28 mile week. If you are looking to do a long run of 13 eventually, then you need to build up to 39 weekly miles.

So back to a 25 mile week. 8 miles set aside for my long run. Boom. leaves me with 17 miles left to play with.
I have 2 quality workouts plus the remainder to add easy paced and recovery runs.

20% of a 25 mile week is 5 miles. So I have 5 miles to plan 2 quality workouts.

I could do 2x 2.5 mile tempo runs (plus warm-up and cool down).
So if I do 1 mile warm-up and 1 mile cool down, each tempo run is 4.5 miles. 9 miles planned.
I have 8 miles to play with for easy runs are recovery.

So this may be how I would plan my week.

Mon Cross Train
Tue 4.5 miles (1 mi w/u, 2.5 LTP, 1 mi c/d) (Quality Day)
Wed 4 mile recovery paced
Thu 4.5 miles (1 mi w/u, 2.5 LTP, 1 mi c/d) (Quality Day)
Fri REST or Cross Train
Sat 8 mile Long Run
Sun 4 mile recovery paced

---

25 miles 80% is easy paced or recovery & only 20% is faster than easy pace.
2 quality workouts plus a long run.


^^^^ This is just an idea, not suggesting you actually do this. But just trying to explain how you plan a weekly workout. If you are trying to build up mileage for HM training, then it would be ideal to build up to 39 weekly miles (100% easy paced or slower as you are building). Base building or mileage building is an entire quality week. The 2 quality workout/week rules should come into play only after the mileage is already built.

I was actually going to write a blog about my complaints against some of the HM and Marathon Plans that are out there. Many of them break so many rules and set a lot of people up to failure and injury in my opinion. While the plans are better than "winging" it, they are still not so safe.

@Stoshew71 - Is this gonna be a blog post? This is right where I need to be. Good info I want to be able to find.

Not this next time around. My next blog post is actually going to be my gripes against many of the plans out there and the people that follow them. Although, some key things about the right way to do things will be addressed.

Woo hoo, looking forward to reading that!

I've been so confused trying to find a decent novice 10 km plan (after C25K) that lets me fit in aiming for a PB at parkrun on Saturdays.

Orphia

Feb 1 - 4.1 km
Feb 6 - 5.2 km
Feb 8 - 5.3 km
Feb 10 - 4.1 km
Feb 11 – Hurt my back
Feb 15 – 6 km
Feb 17 – 4.1 km

Total 28.5 km
Goal 45 km

Upcoming:
Willaura Farm to Pub 8.6 km – Saturday Feb 27

Running feels amazing at the best of times, but having a successful run after an injury is just bliss.

runner_girl83

93km for the month done!

annekka

February goal—None first 1/2 on February 7…just going to try for as many miles as possible in February

2/2—5.2 ish km—the groundhog wouldn’t see his shadow if he existed here
2/4–3.2 km
2/7—21.09 km—Condura skyway marathon. Didn’t get the time I wanted as I had to walk a lot due to the heat and humidity and hills. Gee…I thought I was trained and ready.
2/17—4.78 km

MobyCarp

@Elise - Injury recovery changes the picture. If you're still needing to baby that knee a little, I think you should run everything easy between now and March 20. Yes, do the long runs; but cut them short if the knee asks you to.

I ran my second half after recovering from a stress fracture. I ran everything easy, and got up to a distance of 10 miles a week before the half. I finished the half, and it remains the slowest half I ever ran; but at least I salvaged a half out of the non-refundable entry fee I paid for the associated marathon.

Top priority is taking care of that knee and letting it heal. You can't get to the finish line if you don't get to the start line.

ddmom0811

AdrianChr92 wrote: »

I was attacked by hordes of flying spiders and saw 2 deer with white butts.

I'm with @skippygirlsmom - I would die. I didn't even know flying spiders was a possibility. We have flying roaches here but you never see a pack of them. And if I see one flying, I completely panic and run for my bottle of hairspray.

Elise4270 wrote: »

@MobyCarp All good advice. Ultimately I'd like to be able to run a fast HM at 12 pounds lighter, (win the lottery, be 20 years younger, gain an additional 30-40 IQ points... And eat better).

LOL!

@Ohhim - the 9mph group sounds much less stressful than the pace lines. I've ridden the same 34 miles with my group for a year and I barely know what we ride by, always looking at wheel in front of me.

I'm not guessing on the @kristinegift / @Stoshew71 mileage.

kristinegift

2/1: 6 miles with Joe to Go crew
2/2: 5 miles
2/3: 7.5 miles
2/4: 8.2 miles (am), 6 miles (pm) with the Thursday crew
2/5: Rest day (hallelujah!)
2/6: 9.5 miles with the Saturday crew
2/7: 18 miles LR
2/8: 6.1 miles with Joe to Go crew
2/9: Rest day
2/10: 7 miles speedwork (am), 10 miles (pm)
2/11: 6 miles (am), 6 miles (pm) with the Thursday crew
2/12: Rest day!
2/13: 14 miles with Saturday crew
2/14: 7 miles
2/15: Rest/lazy day
2/16: 5 miles
2/17: 5 miles (am)

First run of the day, done! Got way less sleep last night than I wanted; I have this spider bite (maybe)/allergic reaction to it on my forearm, and it's itchy as hell, so much so that it kept waking me up (didn't get a chance to pick up any antihistamines yesterday). So due to major tiredness, my first mile or two were real sluggish, but I was feeling like my regular self by the last mile!



Upcoming races:
4/3: Caesar Rodney Half Marathon
5/1: New Jersey Marathon

devinslead10

MorningGhost14 wrote: »

These now have 712 miles on them. They are my favorite road shoes... Merrell Road Glove 1, Size 9. Merrell no longer makes them and I have been hunting all over the Internet for them without success. I am very sad. I can probably squeeze another couple hundred miles out of them with the help of Shoe-Goo, but if any of you shoe divas run across some for sale let me know. I will pay good money for them.

WHAT ARE THOSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

mbaker566

1-personal training episode. so sore
2-nothing, not feeling well
3-slept in. still not feeling great
4-see above, and then transmission cracked
5-car hunting
6-car hunting
7-4.75 miles. I added hills to my treadmill work out. oh the suck
8-nothing
9-i was on the way to the gym. because it was icy i didn't want to run outside. so icy, i hit a parked jeep with my 2 day all new to me car. no gym for me
10-yoga tonight. a little sore from the accident, but i'm really concerned about the race this weekend. I've not been able to train like I'd like to due to flares and accidents. I'm not sure how I'll do
11-no run. fell asleep by 7pm
12-slept like a rock thru my alarms
13-8k race day. freezing 1F. but i did get a PB and after not finding any particularly friendly people, i did find a few to chat and run with.
15-went to the gym and did a 10k virtual run. it was hard physically but I was proud I did it
16-rest
17-yoga tonight





RACES:
Jan 16-Frosty 5k-33:43:123 (gun time-don't have chip time)
Feb 13-Steve Cullen Run 8k chip time: 53:37
Feb 15 Puppy Love Virtual Run 10k runkeeper time: 1:13:20
?Mar 14-Great Pi Run?
?Jun 11-Rock n Sole 5 or 8k? honeymoon might interfere
June 19th through Sunday, July 10th SHE Power Virtual Half

3dogsrunning

Hey all, I haven't been keeping up. It's been a bad month. I've been struggling with my training plan then I switched up my training this month to get ready for a physical test for a job I wanted to apply for. I just found out I can't apply so I'm pretty bummed.
I'm going to take a few days to re-organize and figure out what my goals from here are so I'm out for the rest of the month. I'm still going to run but I'm not going to follow any training plan. I might even leave my Garmin home. I'll be back in March.

instantmartian

02/02 8.00 mi
02/04 3.65 mi
02/07 6.43 mi
02/10 3.10 mi – Helping Homeless Animals Find “Rosier” Outcomes Virtual 5K
2/13 10.03 mi
2/16 3.00 mi
TOTAL 34.21 mi
GOAL 50.00 mi

Upcoming Races:
02/21 - Disney Princess Half Marathon
04/02 - Philadelphia Hot Chocolate 15K
04/09 - Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K
04/16 – River Horse 6K
05/01 - Blue Cross Broad Street Run (10 miles)
09/18 - Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon

smilelaughlove17

kristinegift

My friend sent me this Buzzfeed "article" today: 15 Charts That’ll Only Mean Something To People Who Love Running. It includes gems such as these:



and

sleepigrl

2/3 - 3 miles
2/6 - 4 miles - first ever beach run!
2/10 - 2 miles (actually, this was a brisk walk but I'm gonna count it!)
2/11 - 3.5 miles
2/14 - 2 miles
2/15 - 2 mile walk with the little dog (not counting this below)
2/16 - 2 miles

16.5 miles/ 30 mile goal for February

AdrianChr92

@ddmom0811 now now they don't have wings.

But in this period there are spiders who weave webs and get carried by the wind on their webs. There are hundreds of them and their webs are almost invisible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai3gTAwssxQ
https://youtu.be/jESKFHRU_Hc?t=4m30s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballooning_(spider)

Pic related

mbaker566

i got a spider web in my once, that sucker burned

cbro70

Good morning running friends, another good run this morning. It feels so good to be getting back in shape. I still have a way to go to hit my goal, but I know I will make it. Hope everyone has a fantastic day.


Next race: 5K Shake your Shamrock March 5th

instantmartian

karllundy wrote: »

@instantmartian - Cake lady is so preferable to the death breath / poo sandwich eaters I always seem to be next to.

Yes, she certainly is! Thankfully, it's been a long time since I've run next to someone who smelled like poo/butt/BO. (Watch this happen on my treadmill run on Thursday, now.)

skippygirlsmom wrote: »

@instantmartian yo-yo man - you are just killing me I want to run on the treadmill next to you so we can talk about everyone ha ha I ran last week on the TM that had a TV screen, just like home I was flipping on all the commercials. The gym I go to has a bunch of TVs across the front of the gym and I think there are 7 or 8 channels you can watch.

I would LOVE to have someone to talk to about all the thoughts that run through my head at the gym. As it is, now, I keep most of it to myself, post some of it on Facebook because I feel others just need to know some of these things (though, in reality, I'm sure no one cares), and some I accidentally (maybe not) blurt out loud.

AdrianChr92 wrote: »

I was attacked by hordes of flying spiders and saw 2 deer with white butts.

Spiders don't typically bother me, but hordes of flying spiders might be a different story. Yuck! Deer with white butts, however, are cool!

5BeautifulDays wrote: »

instantmartian wrote: »

Cake lady is definitely a much better option to the person who used to come to my gym a few years ago - he smelled like tacos and would always plant himself on the treadmill next to me. Again, I like tacos, just not when I'm running. Then there is the guy who walks at a super-slow pace, but he walks to the front of the treadmill, then stops walking until it takes him to the back of the treadmill, then he walks to the front, and then stops until he's at the back, then forward, then back. I call him "yo-yo man." I had to keep myself from yelling at him a few times.

I have a guy my friend calls "Fred Flinstone". He actually looks a little like Fred, but most importantly, he puts the incline at some ridiculous angle, grabs onto the bars and stomps while shaking his sweaty head back and forth like some sort of wildebeest.

There really are a lot of characters at the gym--most of them I just really respect their dedication, but some really do give you pause, lol.

Fred Flintstone - that's a good one! Yo-yo Man actually looks a bit like Barney, now that I think of it.

I do, honestly, have a level of respect for everyone who takes the time to get themselves to the gym, even if they're on a stationary bike in jeans and work boots. They're there, and actually doing something, which is a lot more than most people could say. Still, I am and have always been a people watcher, and a critical one at that. I am not perfect, and I am sure I say things, do things, and look ways that people will and do judge me for, but I'm okay with that - everyone is entitled to their own opinions, especially if they're silent ones. I seriously cannot help but to silently judge people, though, especially when they do/say/wear weird things.

instantmartian

cbro70 wrote: »

Good morning running friends, another good run this morning. It feels so good to be getting back in shape. I still have a way to go to hit my goal, but I know I will make it. Hope everyone has a fantastic day.


Next race: 5K Shake your Shamrock March 5th

I think you will find that all of us have a way to go to hit our goals. My running goals are constantly changing or as soon as I hit one, I'm working towards the next. Best of luck to you, and congratulations on getting back into shape!