The February 2016 Running Challenge

Virkati

Just checking in. I've been struggling the last two months but I'm almost me again. I feel like having the muscle injury messed with my head more than my body. And now that my body is allowed to do things again, I'm having to get my head on straight. Which doesn't really make sense to me, because the only thing I was focused on was getting to run again. And now that I can...I can't seem to make myself actually get out there and do it. Wtf. So anyway, I'm still here even if I'm not really here.

WhatMeRunning

@Virkati - I had some similar feelings starting back up with a running plan after getting fully rested up from my series of fulls last fall. I wound up deciding to only do short distances, and work on strength and speed. The running actually kind of sucked at a few of the early points but once a little bit of rhythm came on I started running regularly again. At this point it is pretty obvious I have changed my training plan and race plans back to long distances. I guess it is kind of like a smoking hot wild and dangerous romance or something. Once you're caught up in it nothing seems better, even if it takes a toll on you. Once you have some time away though you start to wonder what the hell you were thinking, but will probably go back to it again if you get another taste of it.

Ran 5 miles this morning at an easy effort. The "effort feel" was the same as yesterday (and so was the average HR) but my pace today was 32 seconds per mile faster than yesterday, which is actually somewhat near my target HM pace. So if I am lucky I may blow well past my target HM PR goal of 2:30 (fingers crossed). Speedwork intervals tomorrow!

2/1 - 4 miles
2/2 - 4.3 miles
2/4 - 4 miles
2/6 - 11.1 miles
2/8 - 9.5 miles
2/10 - 4.5 miles
2/12 - 5.3 miles
2/14 - 9.2 miles
2/15 - 4 miles
2/16 - 4 miles
2/17 - 4.3 miles
2/18 - 4 miles
2/20 - 10 miles
2/21 - 4 miles
2/22 - 5 miles

87.2 of 100 miles



Upcoming races:
4/9 - Rock the Parkway half marathon (Kansas City, MO)
4/16 - Garmin Wickedly Fast half marathon (Olathe, KS)
4/23 - Race for Hope half marathon (North Kansas City, MO)
5/1 - Buffalo Bell Stampede half marathon (Leavenworth, KS)
5/14 - Running with the Cows half marathon (Bucyrus, KS)
6/2 - Hospital Hill 5k 7pm PRE-RUN (Kansas City, MO)
6/3 - Hospital Hill half marathon 7am RE-RUN (Kansas City, MO)
10/15 - Kansas City half marathon Marathon 26.2 (Kansas City, MO)
11/5 - Jenks half marathon (Jenks, OK)
11/6 - Kansas half marathon (Lawrence, KS)
11/12 - Longview half marathon (Kansas City, MO)
11/13 - Gobbler Grind half marathon (Overland Park, KS)
11/19 - White River half marathon (Cotter, AR)
11/20 - Pilgrim Pacer half marathon (Lenexa, KS)

jagpie42

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9voice9

shanaber wrote: »

It was a beautiful morning for a HM! I had a great run (not a PR or even close) but my legs were tired so I decided to just have fun, enjoy the beautiful scenery (vineyards and hot air balloons) and cheer on all the other runners.

Your pics were beautiful!

9voice9

kristinegift wrote: »

@9voice9 I must have missed it... what was your surgery? Hope the healing is going well!

I'm having a re-repair done on the hernia I had fixed last year, prior to getting hit by a car (which apparently tore up the previous fix). The surgery will be on Wednesday, so the rest of the month is pretty much shot (except MAYBE a little walking).

TheMobileMom

Update - 20 miles to go. If all goes according to plan (no snow/ice/sick kids), I will make it. Started mixing outdoor runs/with treadmill for Historic Half training. 12 weeks until race day as of last Sunday! Run. Run. Run.

2/22 3.05 mi
2/20 5.27 mi
2/18 3.29 mi
2/17 4.00 mi
2/16 3.39 mi
2/11 4.40 mi
2/10 3.47 mi
2/9 3.00 mi

skippygirlsmom

@_nikkiwolf_ you are right I need to make sure my running stuff is on top. After the plane trip I'll need to run. Great job in the distance PR
@honunui sunscreen - check! I looked at underwater cameras and I don't go underwater enough to make it worth buying (unless you count my pool ha ha). We are going to just buy a disposable with the hope it'll be okay.
@ddmom0811 and @calli1616 thanks great minds pack alike
@kristinegift We leave on Thursday for a week. We wanted to see Race this weekend and never had a chance. The Jesse Owens museum is here locally, as a matter of fact XC runs the Jesse Owens Classic there each year. The local news interviewed one of the ladies form the museum and she said the facts of his life were true as shown in the movie. We saw Unbroken a few months back about Louis Zamperini who was a Olympic runner, the movie was more about his time in a POW camp, but he completed in the same Olympics as Jesse Owens and it's mentioned in Unbroken. Maybe we'll wait for it to come out to see it.
@shanaber love the pictures, what an awesome race venue
@ohhim super 15K time!!!!
@runner_girl83 yeah for painfree running - the water dragons I can do without
@orphia love the wallaby picture, I get to see like dogs and cats on my runs
@stoshew71 nice shirt (I got orange) I recognize the faces behind you
@obro70 I hope your sister is okay

skippygirlsmom

2/1 - 0
2/2 - 4 miles outside
2/3 - 0
2/4 - 2.75 miles outside
2/5 - 0
2/6 - 4.75 miles treadmill
2/7-10 - 0
2/11 - 4 miles treadmill
2/12 - 0
2/13 - 3.2 (5K race) with 1 mile warm up
2/14 - 15 - 0
2/16 - 4 miles outside
2/17- 0
2/18 -0
2/19 - 2.5 with Macy
2/20 - 4 miles - no real pain
2/21 - 2.5 miles - ouch from the first mile

I thought I ran 2 days in a row, I completely forgot I did a sniff and run with Macy on Friday. So that's better I got in 2 pain free (basically) days before a day with pain. Slowly but surly getting better. Though I'm starting to see my HM not happening in April, at least not a full 13.1 of running.

32.7 out of 80 miles

Stoshew71

Stoshew71 wrote: »

On another word, just got done posting my new blog about training plans.

http://therunningstan.blogspot.com/2016/02/my-gripes-on-training-plans.html

I am just wondering if anyone read my training plan blog. I am curious on feedback. I made some slight modifications just earlier on it.


@skippygirlsmom Have fun in Hawaii. Did A make it back to go as well? And yes, those 2 faces should be very recognizable. :-)
Sorry your progress is not going as fast as you like it to be.

Stoshew71

I missed this one...

Orphia wrote: »

I've never run 8.6 km before (my furthest is 7 km), but I do at least 2 weekly walks of 10 km.
Any tips on planning runs leading up to next Saturday's event?

Take any new mileage very easy. An extra 1km and half shouldn't be too much of a problem.

@9voice9 Hope the surgery goes well and a speedy recovery.
Good luck @TheMobileMom
Thanks for checking in @Virkati and hope things get better for you.
Hope your sister is OK @cbro70
get well @MorningGhost14
Take it easy @AdrianChr92
Get some rest @moyer566
Nice mileage @kristinegift
@_nikkiwolf_ Congrats on your distance PB. Now work that weekly mileage up.
@snha I don't have a suggestion on a particular plan but if you read my blog, maybe that will help you in deciding which one is good or help you modify an existing plan.
@4leighbee Good luck getting back into the swing of things


I know I am not caught up, but wanted to make an attempt. Great job everyone.

7lenny7

@ohhim, awesome time on the 15k!
@vandinem great job on the weight loss!
@ariceroni spectacular time on the 5k!
@shanaber, how could one not have a great time at that race with such beautiful scenery! thanks for posting the pix.
@Calli1616 congrats on the PR!
@_nikkiwolf_ , distance PR's are awesome, congrats!
@cbro70, sorry to hear about your sister. Hope all ends well.
@Virkati, I know how that feels. I didn't have a layoff that long, but when you get back to it, you wonder if you really can run like you did before. I suggest going out for a run with no preset goals. Just run however at whatever pace you like, for whatever distance.
@Stoshew71 I haven't read your latest blog post yet but I saved it to my "Pocket" for reading soon.
@HonuNui that sounds scary! I pray your son recovers completely!

skippygirlsmom

Stoshew71 wrote: »

@skippygirlsmom Have fun in Hawaii. Did A make it back to go as well? And yes, those 2 faces should be very recognizable. :-)
Sorry your progress is not going as fast as you like it to be.

Thanks @stoshew71 slow and steady and I'll run another day, it's frustrating but all good. Yes he is home, but is going overseas again right after we get back for another job. This time until July to start and then it's a 3 year assignment after that, with some options to come back in a year or something like that.

7lenny7

Saturday morning I got out for 8.3 miles. It was a fantastic run! I managed a 9:30 pace with a HR of only 140. I have NEVER managed pace that fast and still be in the easy run HR range. Pretty stoked about that. Kody went with me and he was pretty tired by the time we got home. I really wanted to keep going (my plan called for 13 miles) but with my recent knee tendon pain, I'm forcing myself to easy back in.

Saturday afternoon I got in another 1.3 miles in during a "hash run" with a local Hash House Harrier group, at a 2.3 beer/mile pace. Hash House Harriers are a drinking group with a running problem. A hash run is a sort of game whereby one person, the hare, marks a trail and every one else tries to follow it to the end by running, walking or stumbling. The trail is usually marked with flour or chalk, has false trails and blind trails, with beer stops at the beginning, middle, and end. In this case the hash was a small group who got together to celebrate my neighbors birthday, and it was a short one. This was only 3 hash run ever. A great time, but I had hoped for more running.

Sunday evening during my son's soccer practice I ran 5.4 tough miles. Completely different than Saturday's run, this one was at a pace of 9:41 with a 147 HR. Not a lot higher but out of my easy range so faster than I should have run it, but I had to get back in time for the end of practice. Must be the lack of sleep.

I felt bad after posting a picture of Kody when he found out he wasn't going on a run with me, so here's a picture of him just before he did go run with me on Saturday. I'll have to take a video next time, to really capture his excitement. This picture doesn't quite capture it.



Once again I won't hit my goal. No way I can run 55 miles in a week at this stage.

JohnONE29

Before...


After...

7lenny7

WOW! That's awesome, @JohnONE29!

kristinegift

Wow @JohnONE29 it took me a second to realize those pictures were of the same person! Looking good!

Elise4270

@JohnONE29 Awesome progress! Very nice!

Calli1616

Wow @JohnONE29 - that is fantastic! And you look so relaxed and happy crossing that finish line in the second photo! Congrats!

Stoshew71

Big kudos @JohnONE29

karllundy

2/1 - Rest day. Semi-planned.
2/2 - Snow Day
2/3 - 4 miles on treadmill
2/4 - 5.1 miles on treadmill (Trek class). Sore knee this morning...hoping it is from shoveling and not running related. Didn't get worse when I ran, so I am going to cautiously push through.
2/5 - 4 miles on treadmill
2/6 - Life day...too busy to squeeze in a run :-(
2/7 - 5.4 windy miles, but warm for Feb.
2/8 - Another life day. Wife's mother in hospital not well, so she is out of town...gotta get kids to school, etc.
2/9 - 4 miles on treadmill. Convinced all three kids to go to the Y with me after dinner.
2/10 - 2/14 - Nothing.
2/15 - Again, 0.
2/16 - 4 miles on treadmill, hotter than blazes in the gym!
2/17 - Another life day.
2/18 - 4.1 wet, squishy, windy, springy miles...it was fun!
2/19 - 4 miles on a teeny, tiny indoor track (76 laps)
2/20 - Spin class with my Y friends...raising funds
2/21 - 4.3 miles, nice and comfortable