May 2016 Running Challenge
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Superb race report for a great experience, lenny.0
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5/26 - And another! I am starting to get concerned that I will have to miss the HM I have scheduled for June 4. Anyone have advice for making sure I can do it without killing myself if I miss any more days?
@karllundy the number one thing you can do is get well. Get your sleep, take your meds if needed, and stay hydrated. Your illness is the greatest threat to your race at this point.
Beyond that, I wouldn't worry. There is very little loss of fitness for the first 10 days of no activity. Your last run was May 21st so that takes you to May 31st. After 2 weeks of no activity you'll lose just 6% of your fitness. If you can get in one or two decent runs between now and June 4th, I think you'll not see any appreciable loss of performance.
As far as your structural systems...bones & muscle...they take longer than fitness to build up in training and also take longer to degrade. No worries there.
You can read more about the this and the studies behind it here:
https://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/losing-running-fitness/
and here:
https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/how-long-does-it-take-to-lose-your-running-fitness/
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At track and field....ironically my least favorite day of the school year....probably because I can't race....lol this old short dude would whoop all the kids in the 800m...and the 6th graders are the same size as me so that's no excuse!
@skippygirlsmom you got his! You'll make your goal!1 -
May 1 - 17 km run.
May 3 - Light parkour 2 km run.
May 5 - 8 km slow & gym.
May 6 - 7.5 km slow & yoga.
May 7 - skipped bike ride.
May 8 - 19.2 km mixed. 6 km hike.
May 9 - Rest
May 10 - 8.3 km tempo
May 11-18 - Rest & lost runs. Zero point zero.
May 19 - 8.1 km fast. Two PRs HR175
May 20 - 8.3 km tempo. HR163
May 21 - 30 km Mountain Bike. No run.
May 22 - 12 km moderate, a little walking. HR149
May 23 - Rest
May 24 - 8.5 km slow HR134
May 25 - 10.5 km HR149
May 26 - Brick workout 21.7 km bike, ice cream, 8.1 km run.
Total 117.1 km goal 120 km.
Ice cream in between the bike and run was probably a mistake. Big mistake.
Finally got the road bike out, trying to find some trails here, the problem being that one is expected to ride the sidewalk / path when those are designated for bikes so I need to find places where paths either don't exist or they are set up wide enough for speed. Charging down a path at 30 kph is stupid if there are casual users on the paths.
Average speed was 26 kph which was fine, given this was new areas and a lot of tentative riding.
Saw a bike accident also at an intersection and was prepared to help out but the guy was walking it off and had 3-4 people already there. When I rode back an ambulance had arrived. Stay safe people. Also saw a few rabbits, a falcon and a little dead mole. I did not throw beads or dress the roadkill.
Decided that since it was hot, why not grab an ice cream before the run and stopped at the gas station. Tasty but a terrible idea. My run was already rough coming off the bike but the ice cream made me want to quit for the first 2 km. My stomach settled and I did get the planned 8 km. It's warm and humid here (23°C / 73°F) and feels hotter but there are thunderstorms for later & Im going to German/English language thing later so no chance to run in the evening.
Today's thought: This training stuff is going to kick my butt.2 -
@7lenny7.... good report.... I love the trailrunning/ultra community...0
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@MNLittleFinn... lmao @ you being old... I have a daughter older than you and gf who is younger... lol...0
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@7Lenny7-That sounds like an awesome race. Congrats on the PR!
@karllundy-You will be fine! A little story to (hopefully) ease your worries. I ran the Charleston marathon in January of 2015. It was only me second full and the first that I was running solo and was hoping for a sub 4, which was a far cry from the 5 hours I did with my friend 2 whole years prior. 3 and a half weeks before the race I came down with a major illness. I was practically crippled and could not walk or even pick things up (all of this turned out to be related to the immunosuppressant that I take for a different condition, but that's another story). Anyway, I missed a whole week of running and I was completely freaked out. I was supposed to be hitting my last strong week before my taper and I couldn't even stand up. At the advice of the experienced folks on this site, I just tried to trust in my training up to that point, entered into my taper as normal after I recovered and ran my race as planned. The race went perfectly and I got a huge sub-4 PR. In retrospect, despite the toll it took on my body, I think that extra week of downtime actually gave my legs some much needed rest.3 -
EvgeniZyntx wrote: »
Ice cream in between the bike and run was probably a mistake. Big mistake.
Decided that since it was hot, why not grab an ice cream before the run and stopped at the gas station. Tasty but a terrible idea. My run was already rough coming off the bike but the ice cream made me want to quit for the first 2 km. My stomach settled and I did get the planned 8 km. It's warm and humid here (23°C / 73°F) and feels hotter but there are thunderstorms for later & Im going to German/English language thing later so no chance to run in the evening.
LOL Did you see my post yesterday? I ran 4 miles, ate ice cream from sonic, then biked 5. You just did it backwards
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@lporter299 - Wow! Thanks for the encouraging story! OK, I am feeling better about things now. But, I still want to run.3
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Someone may have mentioned this already, but check out compression shirts. I was pretty weird about them at first, I didn't want to run in anything showing off all my manly curves. But I never run in looser fitting shirts any more. The person who recommended compression shirts to me (in these threads) told me they wished someone had given him that advice at the beginning. I agree, I wish someone had told me in the beginning too.MNLittleFinn wrote: »...chafing nipples suck....first time that's happened to me.....it's going to be a long day now.1 -
Same happened with me. Also with medical tape, had the strips come off between miles 8-10 every time. For me compressions shirts was the only solution, and I have run fulls with no body glide, tape, anything, no issues at all.@MNLittleFinn My husband tried the nip guards. They are a bit expensive and do fall off. He's found round Band-Aids to work fine. But they can sweat off too. Seriously, idk why you guys would run in a shirt in the heat. Someone once suggested cheap deodorant. Good luck.1 -
@WhatMeRunning... compression shirts are what fixed it for me too... I always wear one for every run...0
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Good article from UltraRunning magazine on running in the heat...
https://www.ultrarunning.com/featured/heat-stress/0 -
WhatMeRunning wrote: »
Someone may have mentioned this already, but check out compression shirts. I was pretty weird about them at first, I didn't want to run in anything showing off all my manly curves. But I never run in looser fitting shirts any more. The person who recommended compression shirts to me (in these threads) told me they wished someone had given him that advice at the beginning. I agree, I wish someone had told me in the beginning too.MNLittleFinn wrote: »...chafing nipples suck....first time that's happened to me.....it's going to be a long day now.
I wear compression half the time. They were in the wash today. Saturday for my long run I'll be wearing compression0 -
I use duct tape. Very cheap. I'd advise you to trim the hair in the nip area though lol.
Will have to try out compression.1 -
Great race report @7lenny7! Sounds like a good time!
@karllundy, I agree with all of the others, you should be OK as long as you rest to get over it.0 -
I fully expected to have a tough run after the hilly run yesterday, but I woke up feeling really good actually. I wasn't really feeling stiff when I started running either so I veered off early for a known hilly 6 mile route figuring I would do a hilly recovery run. I've never done that before. It went great! My effort I was maintaining was verified by my HR even on the hills, keeping it at recovery levels the whole way with no issues. It was a pleasant run. Even when the storms hit and the hail came down! I was a little worried about the hail at first, thinking....OUCH! But I realized after running about a quarter mile and not feeling anything yet that I apparently presented a smallish target for things falling from the sky. Of course, that is when it came down even harder and I started to feel a few. The first one bounced off the tip of my thumb and surprised me more than any sort of discomfort. Another one hit my wrist which was the worst one, but it was just a short lived stinger is all. One popped me right on the crown of my head and I said "Ouch" out loud, but it didn't really hurt that much. Of course, this was pea to marble sized hail, nothing too severe.
A guy in a truck slowed down along the road I was on and offered to give me a ride to escape the madness but I told him thanks and I was doing just fine. He said "Ooookay" and drove off a little befuddled I think. That was about the time the hail let up but the rain REALLY came down. Everything was a puddle, and the areas that normally puddle up were small ponds to splash through. One puddle was over my ankles even! 
The only time I got worried was on the last mile when a bolt of lightning hit very close by. The flash was just a tiny brief moment before the huge boom and my HR shot up into tempo range for a couple seconds! Luckily I was at the bottom of a hill and there were high hills and trees all around so I kept going. A few more soon after hit nearby too but that first one was the closest! Within a minute the lightning was clearly moving further away, so I was able to continue on with much less worry as I started climbing uphill to my home street.
Overall a great run!
5/1 - 13.1 miles
5/2 - 6 miles
5/3 - 6 miles
5/4 - 9 miles
5/5 - 6 miles
5/6 - Rest
5/7 - 10.5 miles
5/8 - 10.5 miles
5/9 - 6 miles
5/10 - 6 miles
5/11 - 10 miles
5/12 - 6 miles
5/13 - Rest
5/14 - 13.1 miles
5/15 - 4 miles
5/16 - 6 miles
5/17 - 6 miles
5/18 - 6 miles
5/19 - 6 miles
5/20 - Rest
5/21 - 6 miles
5/22 - 6 miles
5/23 - 12 miles
5/24 - 6 miles
5/25 - 12 miles
5/26 - 6 miles
178.2/200 miles
2016 races (this list is subject to change at the posters whim):
4/9 - Rock the Parkway half marathon (Kansas City, MO) 2:30:17.6 new PR
4/16 - Garmin Wickedly Fast half marathon (Olathe, KS) 2:28:39.52 new PR
4/23 - Heroes for Hope half marathon (North Kansas City, MO) 2:19:14 but was only 12.5 miles
5/1 - Buffalo Bell Stampede half marathon (Leavenworth, KS) 2:25:06
5/14 - Running with the Cows half marathon (Bucyrus, KS) 2:17:38.4 new PR
6/2 - Hospital Hill 5k 7pm PRE-RUN (Kansas City, MO)
6/3 - Hospital Hill half marathon 7am RE-RUN (Kansas City, MO)
7/23 - Psycho Summer Run Toto Run 50k (Kansas City, KS)
9/25 - Broadway Bridge half marathon (Kansas City, MO)
10/15 - Kansas City 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)
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@_nikkiwolf_ - I saw your Strava run yesterday with the crazy climb! Your slopes far exceed mine! I had to go 12 miles along the hilliest 12 miles I have yet strung together starting from my house to get my 1400 feet yesterday. The only reason I'm giving you any elevation challenge is just because I'm a bit worried about that hilly 50k I signed up for that supposedly has almost 7000 feet of elevation gain!
So I've been doing lots of hills over the last week. I could use the mountains you live by right now for sure! 3 -
Almost an hour this morning of strength training, then about noon a 3 mile run. 82 feels like 87 with 69% humidity. I decided to do 3 one mile out and backs, leaving a water bottle and my enduracool towel in my driveway. Full sun but wore a hat. First mile wasn't bad. Second decent. Third I was thinking about how stupid I was gonna look calling 911 for help. Ha. Pace per Garmin was 10:03. But per Strava with my water breaks cut out I ran 9:55/9:20/9:05. Mad at myself now. I really thought I was running slower. I just felt so hot and felt in slow motion. I guess I'm gonna have to set my watch to buzz if I'm running too fast in the heat....before I kill myself.4
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Another 5 k. Curent plan for the next 2 weeks has me running 5k almost every day), exception is I do 6k on Wednesdays and long run on sunday. That's until I graduate to more mileage.
Today's focus was form. Upper body form. I made some research these days, watched some videos of athletes and made a few mental notes for today's run, since I have a habit to keep shoulders tight and arms too high when running. So first cue was "shoulders wide". Not shoulders back since I find that doesn't work so well, but wide. I kept thinking I have the widest shoulders and kept them like that whenever they got tight. Second was shoulder rotation. Until now I tried to keep my shoulders pretty stationary and this may be a reason why I worked higher than needed.
http://speedendurance.com/2012/08/09/shoulder-rotation-secret-to-longer-stride-faster-running/
The short story is they should act like a counterbalance to hip rotation and so you don't waste muscle power keeping you going from balancing left and right. Of course it depends on the speed you are running at. Problem was to rotate only shoulders and not get hip along on the ride since that messed up the whole form. Basically let them move naturally
And the last one was arms low. Not too low, but around belly button low. I'm used to keep them up high like nipple high.
"Shoulders wide" is great for relaxation. It relaxes the upper back much better if you just try to keep them back. It was like an instant tension release every time I did it. Of course habit is hard to break and I tighten up after a few steps but I kept at it.
Shoulder rotation made my steps a lot more quieter for some reason and keeping arms low whenever I felt they were up helped with relaxation.
At the end of the run, heart rate was 146 average, down from 152 usually, and my legs feel a little bit better than usual. So this was a great success in my books.
Second highlight of the run is that I didn't listen to music. I listen to podcasts. This is new to me, listening to a guy talking for 30 min. It was strange but I liked it a lot. Found this podcast called "You are not so smart" where they talk about all kinds of subjects. First episode was about attention and pattern recognition and all that. For example an experienced doctor is less likely to diagnose a rare disease in someone than a med student, just because the older doctor is looking for patterns and is used to them, while a new doctor doesn't have this. And apparently there are doctors trained to look for these rare diseases, something like a real life Dr. House. They also talked about selective attention. Great podcast, I recommended, makes you smarter. Oh and watch says my VO2Max is now up one point to 48. Yey I guess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo
Edit: This is bugging me out a lot
..Date.....Distance
May 01 - rest
May 02 - 4.1 km
May 03 - rest
May 04 - rest
May 05 - 5 km
May 06 - rest
May 07 - 4.1 km
May 08 - 5.8 km
May 09 - 4.1 km
May 10 - rest
May 11 - 5 km
May 12 - 4.1 km
May 13 - rests
May 14 - 7.5 km split in 2 parts but it still counts
May 15 - 5.7 km
May 16 - rest
May 17 - 5+1.4 km
May 18 - 6 km
May 19 - 5.8 km
May 20 - rest
May 21 - 7.2 km
May 22 - 10 km
May 23 - rest
May 24 - 5.6 km
May 25 - 6 km
May 26 - 5 km
03/04: Bucharest 10k and Family run 48:28
16/04: Color Run Bucharest
17/04: Forest Run 5k 22:05
04/06: Happy Run 5k (Goal 21:40)3 -
@Orphia Well done on the 10km PR! You'll be sub-60 in no time.
@Elise4270 I like the sound of your mantras, I may steal that idea next time I race.
@7lenny7 Great race report, and well done on the PR!
Thanks for all the gross nipple-related images too. Didn't need that whilst finishing my dinner!
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
17th May - 3.23 miles
19th May - 3.64 miles
20th May - 5.26 miles
24th May - 7.51 miles
26th May - 3.16 miles
MTD - 52.82/70 miles
Upcoming races:
2nd Oct - Tonbridge Half Marathon
30th Oct - River Thames Half Marathon
9th April 2017 - Brighton Marathon4 -
My mileage goal has me tempted to be dumb and run a short (junk miles recovery) 2 miler tonight...after This morning's Tempo Intervals, I was feeling like I could have done another one mile interval, but stopped so I'd stay within the time limit, so maybe it's not TOO dumb an idea...0
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@7lenny7 - love the race report. The video of the lady finishing is very sweet. I love that they all cheered for her.
A friend in my biking group was hit a few weeks ago. She rides alone in the mornings on the roads and she was at a stop light and was going straight. A truck was making a right turn and didn't see her. He didn't get a ticket because she had pulled up next to him. He ran over her ankle and she had to get it totally reconstructed. It will be a long time before she can ride again. But she has been riding over 10 years on the roads.EvgeniZyntx wrote: »
Finally got the road bike out, trying to find some trails here, the problem being that one is expected to ride the sidewalk / path when those are designated for bikes so I need to find places where paths either don't exist or they are set up wide enough for speed. Charging down a path at 30 kph is stupid if there are casual users on the paths.
Average speed was 26 kph which was fine, given this was new areas and a lot of tentative riding.
Saw a bike accident also at an intersection and was prepared to help out but the guy was walking it off and had 3-4 people already there. When I rode back an ambulance had arrived. Stay safe people. Also saw a few rabbits, a falcon and a little dead mole. I did not throw beads or dress the roadkill.
Apparently when we pull up to a light we are supposed to get behind the cars. It's a little scary. I don't ride my bike alone on streets. Not that riding in a group is safe either. I think in Florida whenever they build a new road, they have to make a bike lane, but there are many roads without them. Most cars hate us... and honestly, before I started riding on roads I was scared to death whenever I would pass a cyclist. I didn't hate them but I was worried for them. Now, I'm out there. We have a few good trails that we pick up where we can but mainly we are a road cycling group.
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OK, why the heck did I wait so long to get these?
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greenolivetree wrote: »EvgeniZyntx wrote: »
Ice cream in between the bike and run was probably a mistake. Big mistake.
Decided that since it was hot, why not grab an ice cream before the run and stopped at the gas station. Tasty but a terrible idea. My run was already rough coming off the bike but the ice cream made me want to quit for the first 2 km. My stomach settled and I did get the planned 8 km. It's warm and humid here (23°C / 73°F) and feels hotter but there are thunderstorms for later & Im going to German/English language thing later so no chance to run in the evening.
LOL Did you see my post yesterday? I ran 4 miles, ate ice cream from sonic, then biked 5. You just did it backwards
Next time I'll try to do it right!2 -
Hmmm. Would my towel fit in that pocket? I'm thinking yes.2
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Brand? Link?0
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Oh, sorry. I suppose that was a bit of a tease.greenolivetree wrote: »Brand? Link?
I have big hands, and I am a big guy, so I need lots of water. Thus the 20 oz version (x2), which has rather large pockets too. I'm not sure I want my phone in there since I can use that pocket as padding on a fall. But my phone easily fits and I could see putting Nuun or even some powdered electrolyte drink crap in there, maybe a pack of Oreo's and a Hot Pocket. And it has a divider to keep keys, etc seperate in the pocket, plus a key fob clip to attach to your keychain to keep your keys from sliding out of the pocket...so those keys aren't going anywhere. Lid can accomodate putting ice in the bottle. Adjustable straps, thumb lock so the bottle won't come off your hands, little loops on the side to attach gel packs, flashlights, swiss army knives, whatever. Plus my fingers are free to work with my Garmin or whatever. Just a win-win for me personally in every way.
http://www.amphipod.com/products/hydration/bottles-handhelds/handhelds/hydraform-ergo-lite-ultra-20oz
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Sorry about your friend. Wishing her a speedy recovery.@7lenny7 - love the race report. The video of the lady finishing is very sweet. I love that they all cheered for her.
A friend in my biking group was hit a few weeks ago. She rides alone in the mornings on the roads and she was at a stop light and was going straight. A truck was making a right turn and didn't see her. He didn't get a ticket because she had pulled up next to him. He ran over her ankle and she had to get it totally reconstructed. It will be a long time before she can ride again. But she has been riding over 10 years on the roads.EvgeniZyntx wrote: »
Finally got the road bike out, trying to find some trails here, the problem being that one is expected to ride the sidewalk / path when those are designated for bikes so I need to find places where paths either don't exist or they are set up wide enough for speed. Charging down a path at 30 kph is stupid if there are casual users on the paths.
Average speed was 26 kph which was fine, given this was new areas and a lot of tentative riding.
Saw a bike accident also at an intersection and was prepared to help out but the guy was walking it off and had 3-4 people already there. When I rode back an ambulance had arrived. Stay safe people. Also saw a few rabbits, a falcon and a little dead mole. I did not throw beads or dress the roadkill.
Apparently when we pull up to a light we are supposed to get behind the cars. It's a little scary. I don't ride my bike alone on streets. Not that riding in a group is safe either. I think in Florida whenever they build a new road, they have to make a bike lane, but there are many roads without them. Most cars hate us... and honestly, before I started riding on roads I was scared to death whenever I would pass a cyclist. I didn't hate them but I was worried for them. Now, I'm out there. We have a few good trails that we pick up where we can but mainly we are a road cycling group.
I ride in Europe mostly now and struggle with the "most cars hate us" thinking. I know that car vs bike thing in the US is a big struggle (I learned to ride in the US and still belong to a policy group) but here, everyone rides - it could be your grandmother on a bike, so most cars show some attention and respect. I hope mentalities in the US evolve - I see signs that they do as health activities become more mainstream.
Still, accidents happen - I've been in 4 of different ones with cars. My daughters in 1, my ex in 2 (one with me on the tandem).0
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