May 2016 Running Challenge
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Did my first half. The time isn't impressive, but the fact that I actually DID the half IS impressive. Chip time of 3:36:41. I got in under the 4 hour cutoff and that makes me pretty happy. My body isn't happy at all. I'm going to HURT even more tomorrow and I'm going to love every minute!
woohoo!!!! Awesome!!! Great time.2 -
skippygirlsmom wrote: »50 of 100 miles
@skippygirlsmom Way to be dead on track for your monthly goal!_nikkiwolf_ wrote: »@Orphia Wow, the photos are so cool! Foregive my cluelessness - but that's a wallaby, isn't it? Or something else? And a 15 km PB the day after climbing a mountain, great job!
@_nikkiwolf_ Thanks! You're spot on - it is a wallaby.
Saw another wallaby along the creek in town this morning. Amazing, the things you see when you're not on the couch.
@Virkati Many congrats for doing your first half! I hope to do one soon.
@9voice9 Wow, three events in one day!
Absolutely awesome. 
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got a few more in this weekend
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May Goal: Run just a scootch more than last month...
5/1 deep mucking of the chicken coop and environs
5/2 4.0
5/3 life day
5/4 7.54
5/5 snorkel 3.5hours
5/6 3.21
5/7 4.05
5/8 rest
5/9 4.05
5/10 meh
5/11 4.54
5/12 3.26
5/13 6.05
5/14 rest
5/15 4.02
Total 40.72
Upcoming races:
6/26 SHEPower Virtual 1/2 marathon
11/13 Las Vegas Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon
Ticker is my goal for 2016 and accumulation to date:
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Bonked on my run tonight as my stomach wasn't cooperating from overeating at dinner, and my hips were pretty sore from spending 4 hours on the bike and pool earlier in the day. Going to get some rest tonight, then try a longer run again tomorrow once I'm back in the cooler north.
5/1 - 26.2 miles (Pittsburgh Marathon - 3:08:25, ran as bib #666 in full devil costume, got a BQ)
5/5 - 6 miles
5/9 - 15 miles
5/10 - 6 miles
5/11 - 3 miles
5/12 - 2 miles
5/13 - 4.5 miles
5/14 - 6 miles
5/15 - 3 miles
Total: 71.5 miles
Goal: 180 miles
Remaining: 108.5 miles
Next Races:
Ironman 70.3 Augusta - September
Chicago Marathon - October
Ironman Florida - November
@virkati - congrads on the half and nice seeing you back on the boards.
@WhatMeRunning - Hilly races definitely make things tougher. If you are looking for some HR guidance for a half, my max HR is 189, and my HR by mile for my HM PR was: 165, 168, 169, 170, 169, 167, 169, 170, 172, 172, 174, 174, 176, 179. Still, weather was perfect for that race.
@elise4270 - Definitely becoming a fan of red shoes.
@kristinegift - Racing 2 that close together (with all of the other stuff on the table) probably isn't super wise. Good luck finishing up school and starting the next chapter of your life!2 -
Ok, finally all caught up
@WhatMeRunning I’m glad your calf calmed down an that it was just a case of the tapering crazies! Well done on an awesome PR, that’s an AMAZING jump!!
@5BeautifulDays I’m glad to hear your operation went well, fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
@MobyCarp That’s bad news about your injury, but well done for going and volunteering anyway! I don’t think I could have done that, I think I would have been too busy sulking.
@MNLittleFinn Thanks, I definitely do have my groove back although I think being in a funk for a couple of weeks has broken the habit because I do have to talk myself into running, rather than it just being automatic like it was.
@skippygirlsmom Well done on the AG win, and congrats to Skip for smashing the race!
@kristinegift Your current mood towards running seems completely natural, given all you have going on in your life. It seems that all the things you’re doing require you to throw your whole mind into it and it’s no wonder something has had to give. I’m sure you’ve made the right decision not to try and BQ this side of the summer
@PoppetsMaster Well done on your race, that trail looks awesome!
@Virkati Well done on running your first HM!
As for my running, did a short 'long' run today. I had intended on it being a 10km but I got lost on the trails across the heath. But anyway, I enjoyed it and even did a 'fast finish' mile at 10km race pace.
2nd May - 3.06 miles
3-4th May - poorlysick
5th May - 2.40 miles
8th May - 13.1 miles Hackney Half 2:05:24
12th May - 3.27 miles
14th May - 3.11 miles
15th may - 5.08 miles
MTD - 30.02/70 miles
Upcoming races:
2nd Oct - Tonbridge Half Marathon
30th Oct - River Thames Half Marathon
9th April 2017 - Brighton Marathon1 -
<<ETA: Way too long! For a reasonable length report just read the mileage notes>>
Sorry I'm late with my race report. After the race, I had some beers, laid down on the sofa to watch some baseball and rest, then have been doing dad & husband stuff (including building a trebuchet for my son's science experiment!).
If you follow me on Strava you know my results. While I'm very pleased how it all turned out I'm a little disappointed I didn't make my goal of a sub 4 hour first marathon. My "official" time was 4:09:29 but there was no chip timer at the start so my actual time was several second less than that.
That's the short version. The long-*kitten* version is below. I know many won't read it because it's too long, but I love reading detailed race reports so I'm going to write one.
Lead up
As you know, I was struck with an Achilles strain 5 weeks prior to the race. After 3 weeks of rest (and a few test runs) I was finally able to run pain free, up to 9 miles. Of course, 26 miles at race pace is completely different. While I did get in two 20 mile runs before that, the first one was only supposed to be 18 so they came early. The injury forced me to miss a 25K trail race and another 20 mile run. In total I missed 55 miles of planned running.
All that considered, I was torn between going for my original 4 hr goal time and risking an Achilles blowup, or taking it easy just trying to make it to the finish without incident. I always knew the answer in my heart though. Go for it. Not knowing for sure where my fitness level was, however, I did decide to make my HR the guiding factor in my level of effort, rather than pace, and hope that pace would be where it needed to be.
Day before
I took the day off from work the day before the race so I could sleep in. After packing, running some errands, and working a few hours from home, I made a last minute check of the weather and realize that the windchill will be just 19F at race start. I grabbed my running tights and a couple of long sleeved shirts and added them to the pile.
I finally loaded up and headed out for the 90 minute drive to St. Joseph, MN. Once there I went to packet pickup (they put a smiley face on my bib, indicating that this was my first marathon), joined their spaghetti dinner (and made the mistake of sitting by non social people when I was in the mood to chat), then decided to check out the location of the bus pickup at the end of the trail to make sure I could find it the next morning. I hadn't been able to fit in a planned 2 mile run earlier that day, and I had just eaten, so I opted for a four mile walk on the trail I'd be running the next day. That done I bought some juice for the next morning, checked into my room and went to bed both nervous and excited about the next day.
Morning of:
Alarm goes off at 4am. I'm feeling like I hadn't slept much overnight but my Fitbit tells me I had nearly 6 hours. Perhaps but it didn't feel like a good sleep. I eat my bagel and banana, and drink some juice and two cups of coffee. Shower (even though I'll be sweaty shortly), put bandaids on my nipples, Trail Toes on my toes and other chaffy bits, HR monitor on my chest, clothes on my body, then fill up my drop bag. I double and triple check everything, certain I'm missing something but I'm not. One last attempt to...ah...take care of some business with only partial success. I make the bus pickup area by 5:45.
The race start is at a small town high school. We are allowed to gather in the gymnasium before the race for stretching and final prep, packet pickup, bathrooms, water, etc. This is an AWESOME feature for a race! NO standing around out side in the windy cold, shivering. I went to the bathroom to try to take care of business again but the line to the one stall is too long and I'm not willing to wait. I should have looked for another bathroom or waited.
Pre-race announcements, a shout out to first timers (yay me!), the national anthem, and we're directed to head outside, drop off our drop bags and head to the start line. Oh *kitten*!!! It's about to happen!
The Race:
I mentioned above that I decided to let my HR be my guide for my pace. From Daniels tables, my HM stats from a race 6 months ago, and data from key runs since then, I set 158 BPM as my goal, hoping this would bring me in at 4:00 (avg pace of 9:09). I found the 4:00 pacer and hung around him. I wasn't planning on using him, but I wanted to know where he was for reference on the course.
Mile 1 and 2:
The gun goes off and we start. Typical race start jockeying for position, going around slow folks, getting passed by fast folks. The route takes us around the parking lot, onto the road, down a big hill, a short length of gravel road, a sharp u-turn onto the paved trail, all in the first half mile. From there on out, there's only 1 turn. I'm trying hard not to go too fast at the start and am checking my GPS frequently. The 4:00 pacer goes out too fast, I think and I let him go, staying with my plan. At the first water stop at 1.7 miles, I ditch one of two pair of gloves I'm wearing. For the first two miles my HR is right at 158 and my splits are 8:55 and 8:56. A perfect start! Well other than the fact that I have to pee.
Miles 3 - 5
We had been protected from the 16 mph wind (gusts to 24) by trees up til now. When we hit an open spot, that wind had some bite. A guy next to me makes some comment about it and we start chatting. He's done 20 marathons and is attempting to do 12 this year, this being his first. I enjoy our conversation but after a mile or so, I realize that running with him is slowing me down. I slowly increase the pace and he tries to keep up. At the 5.5 mile water stop I gulp down a Gatorade and I come out of the pit stop ahead of him and keep my pace up so we're not running together. I kind of felt like an *kitten* doing that, but he knew I had a goal in mind. Splits were 9:08, 9:10 and 9:15, HR at 157 to 158. Temps were wonderfully cool
Miles 6 - 15
I'm running very strong at this point. Except for a poor water stop on my part at mile 7, all my splits are faster than 9:09 and my HR is averaging 157. The scenery is beautiful, the groups start settling down, I slowly catch up to the 4:00 pacer and the temps remain cool. By the end of mile 14 my overall average pace is 9:02 which should get me in at 3:57:35, taking into account the overrun (which ended up being just 0.1 mile for me on this course). Damn this felt great! Well except for one more thing...that unfinished business from before. Several times I considered stopping at one of the port-a-potties, or even in the woods if I had to. It came close to emergency several times but would eventually subside before I had to take action. I don't now if this ever slowed me down, but it was certainly and uncomfortable bloaty feeling. I don't know about you folks but running makes me fart more than normal and this feeling was making me afraid to fart, further compounding the discomfort. I know, in normal circles this is TMI, but we're not normal, we're runners.
Mile 16
This is when I first started feeling my Achilles. Not really pain so much as a niggle of impending pain, if that makes sense. I must have spent the mile thinking about it, and figuring out what to do about it. I decided my Achilles isn't going to make the distinction between 9:02 and 9:30 or even 10:30 at this point, so I was just going to keep going with it and keep my HR pegged at 158 but wiht a bit of concern on my mind. SPlit for this mile was 9:13. We're now running into the sun and I'm getting warm
Mile 17
I speed things back up this mile but as I do, the Achilles awakens. I'm down to 9:07 but it becomes more of a mental game with the pain slowly increasing.
Miles 18 - 20
The success of pushing through on mile 17 doesn't continue and my pace slowly creeps up each mile as the pain gets worse. My HR decreases as I am unable to keep up the effort. Though the running becomes easier fitness-wise, it's harder pain-wise. My heart keeps trying to draw up the strength to push through the pain but my mind keeps telling me that there are more races to come. I have an internal battle about what to do. In spite of my slowing pace I think I can make another push to get back into the sub-4 zone as my overall pace is still 9:07, right on the edge. Splits are 9:17, 9:26 and 9:38 and my HR is 152, 151, 151. The 4:00 pacer starts getting away from me. The sun is getting to be a real pain in the *kitten*. I have my shades on, but really wish I had my North Face hat for the visor. I had opted for a buff to keep my ears warm at the start. I should have brought both.
Miles 21 -26.2
Nope. I can't. I may have been able to push past the Achilles pain but at Mile 21 my right quad lit on fire. I can only guess that it was due to some sort of stride change made to deal with the Achilles pain as we had virtually no hills and this had never happened to me in the 20 mile training runs (which had a 9:36 average pace). With my quad and Achilles both against me now, I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to break 4:00. I pushed as hard as the pain would allow. At one point I could feel my right hamstring starting to quiver with each contraction and it bound up finally. I stopped, stretched it out, and it never bugged me again. Several times my calves would start to quiver on the pushoff, but they never cramped up. To make matters worse, my unfinished business started bothering me again. I think the fear of the pain of sitting down, and of not being able to get back up, kept me from doing anything about it. I was taking it mile by mile now. Don't think about the 5 miles to the finish but the 1 mile to the next mile marker. My pace crept up from 10:04 at mile 21 to 11:05 at mile 25 and my HR dropped from 146 to 142. Somewhere in there I decided that 4:10 was my new goal and at Mile 26, with that new goal in jeopardy, I actually sped up my pace by 14 seconds. I wanted to sprint in at the finish but there was absolutely no sprint in me. I crossed the line at 4:09:29.
Post Race
I heard them announce my name and city, and that this was my first time marathon. The cheer got a little louder at the mention of this being my first. I was handed my ribbon by a bright smiling young girl, while another gal handed me a yellow rose, given to all first time finishers. An older volunteer wrapped a foil blanket around me. I appreciated the thought but I was hot and took it off. I was directed to a tent where I picked up my drop bag and finishers shirt.
I made it over to a tree and tried to stretch my quads but as soon as I tried to lift my foot up my ham string cramped up big time. Changing positions quickly I stretched that out and decided to just lay down and try to stretch. I must have looked like I was struggling because a volunteer rushed over to see if she could help me. After repeatedly telling her I was fine, which I'm not sure she believed, she asked if she could get me more water or some food. They were serving pizza so I let her get me two slices of sausage, which was awesome!
Next order of business was to finally finish taking care of business! I was shocked that the stall was free and camped out in there for a while until I could tell someone else was waiting to use it. WHAT A RELIEF!! I sure felt sorry for the next guy though.
It was then that I realized with surprise that I was not tired. Not even a little it. I had had visions of me collapsing in an exhausted heap at the end, but I felt, fitness wise, that I could keep going all day. I finally figured it out, that the pain that was causing me to slow down, dropped me from race pace to long slow distance training pace as evidenced by my declining heart rate. Thought I didn't the 4:00 finish, I was consoled by the fact that my fitness level was definitely there. I just need to do a better job avoiding injury.
I filled my face with pizza, cookies and bananas. I had a growler of beer in the truck but skipped that and went to a local brewery instead. Had the sampler flight of 4 of the beers and left to drive home. A big group had arrived and filled up both sides of the steps so I had no hand rail to grab onto. Not wanting to bother folks to moves I walked down the middle and found myself muttering "*kitten*", "*kitten*", "*kitten*" progressively louder with each stop and got some pretty interesting stares. I didn't bother to explain.
Getting out of my truck took some doing as sitting still for 90 minutes did my quads no favors. This morning getting out of bed was a hell of a trick. I couldn't even begin to stand up without pain making me drop right back down, but I finally finagled my way into an upright position. Walking around all day has helped but a recovery run was totally out of the question. The way I feel right now, I don't see me running again until next weekend, and only if my Achilles is completely ok. My quad pain (which is quite a bit greater than my Achilles pain right now) doesn't concern me at all, but my Achilles pain does. I'll lay up as long as it takes to solve that issue.
The Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon (paved) is a fantastic marathon for a first timer, or any one looking for scenic, fast course (it's on a very flat rails-to-trail trail). The field is limited to 450 runners and this year they only had 365. It was GREAT to be able to park just a half block away from the finish and let them bus you to the start.
The race is put on by a local running club and there is only the marathon, not multiple distances. What these guys do they do VERY well. If you need lots of people cheering you on, this is not the race for you. Most of the course in out in the country but there are many crossings where people watch and cheer and where the trail goes through the four towns you see many folks but that's it. I'm torn between wanting to do it again next year vs. wanting to do something else, such as a different marathon or an ultra trail marathon.
Lessons Learned - It was my first marathon, you know I learned a lot
Lesson 1: Don't get injured. Take rest and recovery seriously. You're not a better run for running longer than the planned miles, or for skipping rest days. Don't jeopardize long term goals for short term pleasure.
Lesson 2: Get more sleep. I average barely over 6 hours a night most nights. This is not good. Not for running, not for my health. I had every intention of getting at least an average of 7 hours of sleep for the two weeks prior but didn't even do that. I only had 1 night of sleep over 8 hours in the month before the race.
Lesson 3: Come up with a better carbo-loading plan. My engineering mind was pleased as punch to find the science and math behind figuring out your carbo needs before a marathon. Based on what I read I needed 600 to 900 grams of carbs per day, starting 2 to 3 days prior to the race, and that carbs should make up 80 to 90% of your total calorie intake in that time. I did that starting 3 days back and consumed 762g, 761g, and 888g. While I feel like I had plenty of glycogen stored up, All that food you eat has to be eliminated and that was one of my problems in the race. To put it bluntly, I was full of *kitten*. That third day I did make a much larger percentage of my carbs in liquid form, mainly Gatorade, but clearly I need to change things next time. I think next time around I start just two days prior and I'll drink even more liquid carbs, particularly the day before the race.
Lesson 4: My honey water worked great as a race-time nutrition source. I mixed up about 170grams of honey, about two tablespoons of molasses (for potassim) with however much water it took to fill up a 350ml soft flask and used that during the race instead of gels. Running out of energy was not an issue. The diluted honey was easily sipped through the bite valve and none of the stickiness leaked out. Very clean, very easy to take.
Lesson 5: Learn to drink on the run. I stopped at most water stops because I wanted to get two glasses of gatorade each time (part of my calculations of how many calories I needed to consume during the race). I'd grab the glass handed to me, step out of the way, stop to drink it, then grab another one and not start running until it too was done. Based on my total time vs. moving time in Garmin Connect, that cost me over 2 minutes.
Lesson 6: Trail Toes, a body lubricant, is kick *kitten*!! I lubricated not just my toes but all my chaffy bits and the places that often bothered me were never an issue. I'll never buy body glide again. It's only Trail Toes from here on out. Fantastic stuff! Highly recommended!
Statistics:
Because this post isn't very long, I'll include my statistics. That third column is the cumulative average pace (cumulative time divided by cumulative distance)
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I almost forgot the photos. The first is me with my finishers shirt, medal and the rose for being a first time finisher. The second one show the shirt, medal, bib (with smiley face), gloves and string bag that served as a drop bag. Plenty of swag for this $60 race!
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Holy crap, I knew I had a long race report, but didn't realize it was THAT long. Sorry. I also wanted to comment on many other folks but dang...it's nearly 2am and I need sleep (one of the lessons). Will have to do so later.
@Virkati, I'm very excited about your first HM!!! That is fantastic!
@WhatMeRunning @skippygirlsmom, @9voice9 way to go on your races!! @PoppetsMaster way to go on yours and I *love* your report. Polar opposite of mine.0 -
@7lenny7 Congrats and thanks for the fantastic report!
It was cold and rainy this morning, but I decided to go for my run anyway. My HR was a lot better today (probably because there was no way for me to get very hot...) with most of my run spent in cardio rather than peak zone (according to my fitbit). Let's see how this develops once the weather changes...1 -
@7lenny7 Awesome hi-carb sauce! Loved your race report.
Honey water? That sounds excellent. I also find it hard to drink when running (let alone eat), and avoid it if possible, but I'm probably going to get thirsty and low on energy on runs as I move from 16 km to longer distances.0 -
@7lenny7 - Loved the race report. Congrats on finishing and for sharing the details. Even the TMI parts were enlightening and as you said, we're not normal here, so it was all good. The honey water is very intriguing to me. Do you think the molasses is important to the mix? I have local honey every day for allergies and would like to start using it in my water bottle when biking. But I don't like molasses. I guess I can try it both ways and see how it does.
I completely understand the sleep issue. I have my goal of 7 hours sleep but it seems like I rarely get it. When school is out I can easily get 8-9 hours a night, my resting HR goes way down and my runs are awesome. But that's only during spring break, Christmas break and the summer. The rest of the year it's 5-6, and occasionally 7 hours sleep. I probably got even less when my kids were still at home.
5/1 - 35 mile cycling
5/2 - 5 miles
5/3 - 3.5 miles
5/4 - 5 miles - intervals, sort of.
5/5 - 25 miles cycling in a brutal wind
5/6 - 5 miles + strength training
5/7 - 34 miles cycling
5/8 - 36 miles cycling
5/9 - 5 miles + strength training
5/10 - 5 miles - fartleks
5/11 - 25 miles cycling
5/12 - 5 miles
5/13 - 4 miles
5/14 - 34 miles cycling
5/15 - 27 miles cycling
5/16 - rest from cardio, but strength training
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5/1: 26.2 miles (26.5 according to Garmin!)
5/2: Marathon recovery day
5/3: More marathon recovery
5/4: 3.5 miles with Pacers Wed squad
5/5: 3.5 miles with Thursday crew
5/6: Rest day
5/7: 6.2 miles with Saturday RAP crew
5/8: 10 miles solo
5/9: 4 miles with Monday coffee crew
5/10: Rest
5/11: Lazy day
5/12: 4.5 miles (am), 7.3 miles with Thursday crew (pm)
5/13: Rest day
5/14: Lazy day
5/15: 2 miles + 10 miles
5/16: 4 miles with Joe to Go crew
Small running crew for the Joe to Go run this morning... and chilly! It was less than 40*F to start! I was a bit "meh" to start, but I was feeling pretty good by the second half of the run. But I was definitely ready to be done at 4 miles. It was good though to get a run in to wake up my brain so I can study all day for my LAST FINAL (probably) EVER!
Upcoming Races:
6/11: Pacers Princeton Halfway Half (Princeton, NJ)
7/4: a fourth of july race somewhere!
11/20: Philadelphia Marathon
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Great race recap @7lenny7 !0
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I have been a huge, getting-fat slacker over the past couple months. I don't know what my issue is. That being said, I really, really need to get my rear in gear this week - I have a 10K trail run in less than three weeks.
Funny little kind-of-running-related story:
Saturday afternoon, as I was sitting on my butt in front of the TV, my male cat came over, and plopped himself on my lap. His right ear looked like it was wet. I took my thumb and rubbed it, and it was not wet, but actually coated in some sort of sticky substance that smelled sweet and almost a little fruity. I had absolutely no idea what it could have possibly been, but I noticed it was on his right cheek, too. I got a wet paper towel and wiped his ear and face off, which he was not at all happy about. I was still very confused as to what was all over his head. A little while later, I decided to clean up the house a little, when I noticed a fruit-flavored Honey Stinger gel in front of the couch. The darned cat had one tiny hole punctured in the back of the thing. All I can figure is that he stole it from somewhere (I'm not sure where it was - either on the kitchen counter or in a gym bag/backpack somewhere) and was playing with it when he ended up putting a hole in the packaging and decided to rub his face all over the honey that oozed out.
I rinsed off the Honey Stinger, inspected it, and realized it didn't lose much of its contents, and it was only a very small puncture on the "a" in "Nutrition Facts," so I dried it off, cut a small square of clear packing tape, and covered the hole. Judge me if you'd like, but I am totally consuming this thing the next time I need a gel. Damn cat. 5 -
May
1-0
2-stretching
3-stretching-knee is still sore
4-yoga tonight/foam rolled
5-nothing yet
6-nothing
7-13.36mi great race. super hard for me. but I did it and completed it. and now I've finished a half marathon race
8-nothing
9-nothing
10-nothing-recovery takes too long
11-yoga
12-nothing
13-yoga
14=nothing
15=nothing
16-nothing yet.....
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 12-Great Pi Run 5k 32:17
May 7-Door County Half Marathon 2:51:11
May 28-29-Global 5k Run Virtual
May 28-Top Gun Run 5k Virtual
June 11-Rock n Sole 1/4 Marathon?
June 19th through Sunday, July 10th SHE Power Virtual Half (got my gear-good stuff)
July 20-Cream Puff 5k?
July 30-National Watermelon Day 5k?
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Background for my question: My doctor (and me, TBH) is unhappy with the fact that my weight has been creeping up the last few visits.
Quick sidenote: in late '06, I'd gotten up to 260#, and had gotten disgusted with myself, so I started changing my eating and doing the treadmill. Ran my first 5K in 03/2008. Since then, I've gotten down to (at the lowest) 193 last year, but now I'm hovering around 195. I'd like to get down to 175 (which puts me on the high end of a "normal" BMI for my height).
I'm trying to be more intentional with eating (and cutting out snacks!), and keeping up with the 35-40 miles per week running. The question is this: for those here who've lost weight while or because of running, or otherwise, did you do a regular "cheat" or no-track day? Did you do it weekly, or less often? How would I best coordinate that with my running: put it on my long-run day, since I know I'll have a bonus of calories burnt, to offset the extra calories I'm likely to eat, or put it on Sunday (which happens to be my rest day) because I tend to only eat 2 meals that day anyway?
@9voice9
no cheat days. just count regular calories.
i suppose my cheat days are my long run days.
sometimes, i will switch dinner for a glass of wine and ice cream....but that's not cheating because it fits in my calorie allotment
@Virkati congrats on your half.
@Elise4270 sorry about the pup
@ddmom0811 i have the SHE race kit and it is pretty awesome. They shipped them super early. i have 2 virtuals before this one and i still haven't gotten their kits
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Wow @9voice9 that is incredible doing 25k worth of distance over 3 efforts in one day!!
Great race report @7lenny7! Your lessons learned seem all too familiar. I think it is natural for someone with the determination to do a marathon for the first time to accidentally push too hard during training because of that determination. The rest/sleep requirements are unfathomable until you have experienced it first hand. My family (and many others) thinks I am crazy for forcing a 7/8pm bedtime (at least for myself) but they have no idea how important getting a full nights sleep every night is (for me 8-9 hours has proven best data-wise). In my opinion if you can plan the time/effort for health then you must do that equally for sleep as it is key to health and if you think logically about it the reason you workout is to rest otherwise there is no point in working out. If I were you I would take the rest of the month off, walking only. Congrats on making it and in a good time considering what all you were up against!2 -
Hey I'm brand new on my fitness pal and need to get some mates on here I order to get motivated anyone fancy being the one to help thanks 2
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My goal this month is 100 miles of focused running or walking. I have 48.4 in to date. I just took running back up recently (a month ago). I am also looking for some running motivation! Keep up the great work everyone!3
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well.....This is interesting....I was checking the website for the HM I have on 7 weeks, and they not longer have the course map posted....course change coming maybe?0
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Run4Me2Day wrote: »My goal this month is 100 miles of focused running or walking. I have 48.4 in to date. I just took running back up recently (a month ago). I am also looking for some running motivation! Keep up the great work everyone!
Wow! Killer mileage for a month, way to go1 -
Date Miles today. Miles for May
5/1 REST DAY
5/2 6.2 miles - 6.2 << Taper and cutback week. 5K race Wednesday morning
5/3 6.2 miles - 12.4
5/4 4.4 miles - 16.8 << PEO-AVN 5K Fun Run (was only 2.9 miles; plus 1.5 w/u)
5/4 3.1 miles - 19.9 << got some extra miles squeezed in
5/5 7.5 miles - 27.4
5/6 4 miles - 31.4
5/7 REST DAY << Sick +daughter's birthday party
5/8 REST DAY
5/9 9 miles - 40.4 << Madkin Mountain (634 ft elev gain)
5/9 4 miles - 44.4 << Daily Double
5/10 8.3 miles - 52.7
5/10 4 miles 56.7 << Daily Double
5/11 6.2 miles - 62.9
5/12 9 miles - 71.9
5/13 6.4 miles - 78.3
5/14 17 miles - 95.3
5/15 REST DAY
5/16 8 miles - 103.3
Upcoming races:
UAH 8K - 3/6 <<< 34:33 3 in AG
Oak Barrel HM - 4/2 <<<< 1:38:00 3 in AG
Bridge Street HM - 4/10 <<< 1:36:33 3 in AG
PEO-AVN Team Day 5K - 5/4 <<< 19:10 (2.9 mi) 1 in AG 5 OA
Cotton Row Run 10K - 5/30
Firecracker Chase 10.2 miler 6/25
2 -
Ugh! So far behind here. Sorry I haven't been very supportive this month. Life has gotten very busy. Will try to catch up soon!
5/1 - Rest day after HM to finish April. Another ugly, rainy day.
5/2 - 4.25 miles.
5/3 - 3.1 miles. Quick 5k while my daughter had soccer practice.
5/4 - 4.53 miles. Cool, pleasant morning run. Mostly base pace, but last mile tempo.
5/5 - 4.95 miles on treadmill (Trek class).
5/6 - 4.47 miles. Base pace.
5/7 - 4.84 miles, Market to Market Relay Leg 4
- 4.01 miles, Market to Market Relay Leg 11
5/8 - Planned rest day
5/9 - Unplanned rest day
5/10 - 5.17 miles
5/11 - Misty, foggy 5.01 miles
5/12 - 4.31 miles.
5/13 - 3.1 miles on treadmill, plus weights/abs
5/14 - 6 miles. Abbreviated 10k. Ran first 5k with my daughter...her 1st! Then 2nd loop in what would have been a 5k PR. Had so much fun!
5/15 - 9.02 miles. Gorgeous afternoon!
5/16 - Planned rest day.
3 -
@7lenny7 - Great race report & recap and congrads on a great race time and first marathon! Sounds like a fantastic course and reasonably well executed race plan. Usually the cup of coffee is enough for me to get my stomach clear, but maybe some metamucil the prior night with dinner could help. Fighting through the late race aches/pains/bonks is always tough, but congrads on holding things together and not blowing up (as I've seen that happen way too often to friends). Also, definitely a fan of more detailed race reports! I still never get enough sleep the night before a marathon (even at this point), but usually compensate with adequate sleep 2 nights prior which seems to do the trick.3
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01-May: 3.7 (week 1 day 1)
02-May: 1.3 (was ill this week, which explains my slow)
06-May: 5.4
08-May: 2.6 (day 2)
09-May: 1.3
10-May: 1.3
11-May: 1.3
12-May: 3.5 (day 3)
13-May: 2.6
15-May: 3.5 (week 2, day 1)
16-May: 4 (day 2)
Today I finished day 2 of the 2nd week of the C25k app. Total 27.9 km (approx 5.53 running?--I need to find a better app to track distance, both my polar HRM & the free version of C25K lack this tool). My goal is 25 m/40 k (really had no clue how high to set it).
4 -
instantmartian wrote: »Funny little kind-of-running-related story:
Saturday afternoon, as I was sitting on my butt in front of the TV, my male cat came over, and plopped himself on my lap. His right ear looked like it was wet. I took my thumb and rubbed it, and it was not wet, but actually coated in some sort of sticky substance that smelled sweet and almost a little fruity. I had absolutely no idea what it could have possibly been, but I noticed it was on his right cheek, too. I got a wet paper towel and wiped his ear and face off, which he was not at all happy about. I was still very confused as to what was all over his head. A little while later, I decided to clean up the house a little, when I noticed a fruit-flavored Honey Stinger gel in front of the couch. The darned cat had one tiny hole punctured in the back of the thing. All I can figure is that he stole it from somewhere (I'm not sure where it was - either on the kitchen counter or in a gym bag/backpack somewhere) and was playing with it when he ended up putting a hole in the packaging and decided to rub his face all over the honey that oozed out. I rinsed off the Honey Stinger, inspected it, and realized it didn't lose much of its contents, and it was only a very small puncture on the "a" in "Nutrition Facts," so I dried it off, cut a small square of clear packing tape, and covered the hole. Judge me if you'd like, but I am totally consuming this thing the next time I need a gel. Damn cat.
I sure got a chuckle out of this cat story, @instantmartian. (I'm a crazy cat lady.) Good luck with your motivation dip and getting back on track for your upcoming 10K. I went through that earlier this year and once I got it back, I twisted my ankle very badly running after the bus. After two months of doing little exercise, but walking and some strength training, I had zero motivation and no interest in my usual cardio routine (Les Mills Combat). So I decided to start running again. Sorry for rambling on about myself. How long have you been running for?1 -
@Elise4270 - We adopted a pekingese several years ago that, it turned out, had heartworms (yes, they are mosquito-borne). She was probably around 14 years old when we adopted her. We did go ahead with treatment, and she was cured of the heartworms and lived another 1 1/2 years with us.
Treatment for her consisted of one injection, followed by one month of confinement rest (they cannot be active for a month after an injection, as activity can cause chunks of dead heartworm to break off and enter their bloodstream/cause a heart attack). That was followed by one more injection and another month of rest. During the treatment time, the vet had us put her on an ivermectin heartworm preventative (to kill the larvae and prevent reinfestation)--we used Iverhart, as it is deemed safe to use with an existing heartworm diagnosis (some other brands are not).
It ended up costing us about $1000 to get rid of the heartworms. She did suffer from occasional seizures for the rest of her life after undergoing treatment. I attribute that to the stress of the treatment combined with her advanced age, but that's just my guess. Overall, I say it was totally worth it. She had a great year and a half to finish off her life!
Going through treatment was heartbreaking--having to confine her away from the other dogs so that she didn't get too riled up, listening to her hack up chunks of heartworms. It's definitely a tough decision on whether to proceed with treatment.
Hopefully this helps you make a more informed decision. Good luck with your pup!3
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