January 2017 Running Challenge

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  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    @7lenny7 gotcha on the track. On the treadmill I never wear the kill switch because I pull it out all the time.
    @louubelle16 yeah for you!!!! Glad you are happy!
  • ddmom0811
    ddmom0811 Posts: 1,881 Member
    @patrikc333 & @RunsOnEspresso - The stuff the doctor gave me is by Bausch + Lomb - it's called: Ipratropium Bromide Nasal Solution 6%
    In US only available via prescription, so kind of a pain. But it is great.
  • snowyne
    snowyne Posts: 268 Member
    ddmom0811 wrote: »
    @patrikc333 & @RunsOnEspresso - The stuff the doctor gave me is by Bausch + Lomb - it's called: Ipratropium Bromide Nasal Solution 6%
    In US only available via prescription, so kind of a pain. But it is great.

    Thank you so much for sharing this info! I need to ask my dr. about it. Going to aim for 90 miles in January. New runner here...slow but I get it done!!!
  • OSUbuckeye906
    OSUbuckeye906 Posts: 315 Member
    edited January 2017
    1/1: rest day
    1/2: 5 miles
    1/3: 3 miles

    TOTAL: 8/130 (goal subject to change)

    Ran 3 miles on the "indoor track" at the gym in 26:31 (8:51 pace) tonight. I say "indoor track" because it's a very small two lane track that goes around the cardio and weight machines, which provides lots of near collisions with people crossing the track. The track is 1/17th of a mile...so 51 laps around. I lost track of laps after awhile so I had to take note of my time, count out 17 laps to figure out pace, pause the time for a lap to do some quick math to figure out I had run 2.3 miles and needed to run 0.7 more. Because the track is so small, the turns are just about as long as the straightaways so my left achilles and right knee are a bit tight from the constant turning in the same direction (there are designated days for direction and there were too many people using the track to attempt breaking it and rotating directions). To be honest, I think it was still better than the dreadmill.

    Edited to correct some horrible grammatical mistakes in my post-run hangry state.
  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
    @OSUbuckeye906 I wish I had an indoor track, even one that short. I'm on thr TM if I'm not outside. It gets boring fast. Great run!
  • greenolivetree
    greenolivetree Posts: 1,282 Member
    No run today. It's cold, windy, dreary. I don't feel like myself. I'm tired. Fitbit says I got a terrible night's sleep (hubby says I punched him in the gut, but actually it was my elbow :* ). Had a nasty first day back at work. I don't even feel like any exercise at all even besides running. Every winter I am getting worse and worse at coping with the lack of daylight and the cloudy gray days. I'm out in a heartbeat if it's freezing but sunny :#
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    Date Miles today - Miles for January
    1/1 REST DAY
    1/2 9 miles - 9
    1/3 10 miles - 19


    exercise.png

    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 << 44:57 PR
    Firecracker Chase 10.2 miler 6/25 << 1:20:22 1 in AG & 15 OA
    Huntsville Half Marathon - 11/12 << 1:35:55 2 in AG & 25 OA
    Rocket City Marathon - 12/10 << 2:44:41
    Kentucky Derby Marathon - 4/29

    I was on the road and drove up to Ft. Knox today. So I am finally posting my mileage that I ran this morning now. I will be out pretty much this week up here. Back on the road Thursday to Ft. Campbell for a couple of days.

  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    @bmelb1 - I would choose an indoor track over a treadmill any day. Today it rained all day long. I could have run outside in the rain, but the assignment was speed work. The indoor track was actually quite pleasant for both the 2 mile warmup and the 6.5 miles of tempo intervals. I would have gone nuts on a treadmill. However, the fact that you like the treadmill may change this picture for your case.

    @OSUbuckeye906 - Even on a standard 200 m indoor track, there is the hazard of clueless traffic. Ideally, I'd like to run distances stated in miles in Lane 6, at 7 laps to the mile, instead of Lane 1 at 8 laps to the mile. Today, part of Lanes 5 and 6 were taken up by some booths set up for a non-athletic event later, and a chair and table poked into Lane 1 on one of the curves. Other obstacles were there early, but got cleared by the time I finished my warmup. Traffic wasn't terrible; there were several groups of walkers, but only one of them cluelessly hogged Lanes 1 and 2 on the curves when I was trying to run timed 800 or 1600 intervals. A maintenance guy stopped in Lane 1 as I was approaching, but I was able to dodge him. And this was on a standard track that is used by a real college track team, so you would think the faculty and maintenance people would have been told some of the conventions for sharing the track with runners. Oh, well. I regarded it as just the kind of random thing that could show up in a race, and dealt with it as part of the environment. And yes, it was *much* better than a dreadmill!
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    @MobyCarp it's great to see you're recovered!

    It's been really cool reading your training reports. It's getting me more excited to start structured marathon training..... too bad I have 4 weeks to go....LOL, I might be over the weekly mileage I put on the questionnaire by then....oh well, a cut back to begin training???

    Thanks for being an inspiration!

    There are worse things than a cutback to start training. Ideally, you want to be totally healthy and well rested with a solid base to start the structured program. Then the program pushes you gradually, and you don't realize how beat up you are till you get into taper and the aches begin to fade. After a few training cycles, you'll learn to notice as you are getting beat up and adjust the program on the fly.
  • michable
    michable Posts: 312 Member
    I'm going to try for 100 km this month. I haven't done much running over the last 6 months, because life has been pretty busy, but hoping to keep my motivation up by dropping in here again. Great to see so many familiar faces still here!

    01/01: rest
    02/01: rest
    03/01: rest
    04/01: 5.3 km

    Total: 5.3/100 km

  • KeepRunningFatboy
    KeepRunningFatboy Posts: 3,055 Member
    01.01.17 - 15 m. LR
    01.02.17 - 10 m.
    01.03.17 - 9.1 m. 6 M + 5K.
  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
    MobyCarp wrote: »
    There are worse things than a cutback to start training. Ideally, you want to be totally healthy and well rested with a solid base to start the structured program. Then the program pushes you gradually, and you don't realize how beat up you are till you get into taper and the aches begin to fade. After a few training cycles, you'll learn to notice as you are getting beat up and adjust the program on the fly.

    That's what I'm hoping for, be in good shape for training to begin, and have a good build up. Other than recovery from races, I havent run less than 30 miles since mid august, so I'm feeling fairlt confident that I'll be in good shape. One thing I read when I was looking at getting the plan is that it will probably be a cut back, slightly, from my normal weekly mileage, but ramp up pretty quickly over the first 2-3 weeks, then steady, slower gains after that.
  • 9voice9
    9voice9 Posts: 693 Member
    Does anyone have experience with the combination of jetlag and no running for about a week? I'm feeling like my runs are just killing me - and I can't explain what it is. It's not breathing, and it's not soreness, but I can't push much more than 4 miles at a time. We flew out to Japan on Sunday 25-Dec (~13 hours), spent a week doing touristy stuff, but not eating as much or as many meals, I got a couple of short runs in but no more, and then we flew back on 01-Jan (again ~13 hours). Went to bed Sunday night around 11, slept till after noon, went to bed more-or-less on-time last night, and am just wiped out in my running.

    Could I have lost that much "fitness" in a week? or am I just still feeling the effects of those flights?

    I'm a little bit concerned because I have a half coming up in a week and a half - am I gonna be over this whatever by then?
  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    edited January 2017
    My best running a track story involves Skip. She was running the 1600 at a meet and a guy about 6' and 300 lbs ran across the track and ran right into her. The meet was at night and she was so little (it was a few years ago) and he never saw her. Knocked her right off her feet. One of the moms had to hold me back from jumping over the fence and grabbing him by the throat. Can you imagine a guy that size hitting my poor 75 lb 4' 10" kid? I take a ton of pictures at our meets and I'm so so careful when I go across the track.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    kathrinep wrote: »

    I have a question for more experienced runners though... What is the best way to deal with, or stretches to do before/after a run for tight calves, shin pain, arch aches, and hip joint pain? These are my biggest struggles and without these I would feel like I'm flying! I know a lot of it is that I need to get my weight down. I'm currently around 220 and my goal is to get down to 170 at least. I do a lot of calf raises/stretches prior and after running, but I often still have to stop a couple times during a run to loosen them up further. The back of my neck also gets quite tight during a run... Maybe my posture isn't correct? I try to keep my arms bent but relaxed and shoulders back.

    Very open to feedback! Glad to be in this journey with you all! Feel free to add me.

    Dynamic stretching before running. Static stretching after a run. Feel free to google or youtube what those 2 terms mean.


    As far as post workout stretching, I like to use yoga for runners to target specific areas.

    For shins and calves:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc3haRNn-5I


    For hips and hamstrings:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmzfot_6HcE



    As far as the back of your neck getting tight, I am suspecting that you are tightening too much in your upper body as you run. You want to have your neck, shoulders, and arms to be relaxed when you run. Imagine as you run that you are trying to hold raw eggs in your hands (prevents you from making fists), keep your arms loose and at a 45 degree angle. Keep your shoulders relaxed (do not allow them to hunch up) and keep your head level looking about 30-50 feet ahead of you.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    edited January 2017
    7lenny7 wrote: »
    @7lenny7 I plan on doing nearly all of my long runs unfuelled, it's more just practicing eating while running if/when I take fuel. for runs out to 14 miles, I haven't taken any fuel with me and have actually run fasted for most of them. big thing for me will be proper fueling BEFORE the race, that's been my downfall before, not having enough fuel to start.

    There's a limit to how much glycogen your body can store (typically estimated at 1.5 to 2 hours worth at marathon pace). Clearly 2 hours of glycogen is not enough. Because of that, I feel that proper fueling DURING the race is critical for peak performance.

    While there are certainly gains to be made by glycogen-depleted long runs (improved glycogen storage and increased fat utilization), there's a limit to how much can be gained by doing so, and too many long runs in the fasted state will impair your performance and limit your fitness gains.

    Running fully fueled allows for better performance and quicker recovery. Personally, I alternate between glycogen depleted and glycogen loaded in the middle of the training cycle then within 3 to 4 weeks of the race, I'd go only glycogen-loaded because by then you should have increased your fat burning ability sufficiently and you won't lose it in that amount of time.

    I highly recommend this article by Runners Connect for a more thorough discussion.

    Lenny, while I agree with most of what you written and Runners Connect is one of my favorite go to websites, I kinda take issue with both of you guys.

    Specifically: "typically estimated at 1.5 to 2 hours worth at marathon pace" or "marathon intensity" as the article stated.

    Obviously, your specific "marathon pace" should take into account your ability to conserve glycogen and utilize fat for fuel.

    There's still a lot that science has to learn on how all things work. But what we do know is that in order for the body to utilize fat for fuel, the mitochondria in your muscle cell will need oxygen. If the mitochondria is lacking oxygen, then that muscle cell is forced to use glucose and will burn it only through anaerobic means (glycolysis) and instead of pyruvate being the output to the aerobic system (Krebs Cycle and ETC) lactate and hydrogen ions will be the output which contribute to fatigue. The body will prefer to use glucose for energy because using glucose is a simpler process than fatty acids. However, the brain will eventually make a decision (for reasons we still don't fully understand) to utilize more fat for fuel. In order to do so, the brain will tell your body to release specific enzymes that promotes the breakdown of fat into fatty acids and those enzymes that influence the muscles to prefer fat over glucose (despite it being a more complex process). One major reason is to preserve carbs for the brain since the brain relies solely on carb burning.

    For those of us that haven't trained for marathons, we don't normally force our body to prefer fat over glucose especially in high performance scenarios such as running. We tend to eat high carb diets and feed ourselves with carbs when our brain signals hunger. So our enzyme production becomes diminished. The only exception is when we go to bed and sleep 8 or more hours where our bodies will undergo a fast and burn fat while we sleep. So as the article explains, running our long runs (especially fasted) teaches our body to rely more on fat for fuel. And when it comes to marathons, this is crucial because our bodies does have a limit as to how much glycogen we can store. And it's impossible to refuel enough while on the run. So we have to teach our body through fasted long runs (or very long runs of 90 minutes or more) to rely more on fat. (sorry most of that was for the benefit of other readers). The issue I have is 2 hours at marathon pace. This is a tricky phrasing. Because what exactly is your marathon pace? Or marathon intensity? If you can run a marathon in 4 hours, then your marathon pace 9:09/mile. You tell me that after this particular runner ran a 9:09 pace for 2 hours, he/she ran out of glycogen? I don't think neither you nor the article meant that.

    Now what I will buy is that out of those 4 hours of running at marathon pace or marathon intensity, 1.5-2 of those hours worth of running was powered by glycogen.

    I would rather say that your body can store only a certain amount of glycogen. According to Wikipedia, 100–120 g in an adult in the liver and 1–2% of the muscle mass. "The amount of glycogen stored in the body—especially within the muscles, liver, and red blood cells mostly depends on physical training, basal metabolic rate, and eating habits."

    Also, the faster you run closer to your lactate threshold, the more you are forcing your body to burn glucose faster (thus go through your glycogen store faster).


    Sorry to nit pick, but that one kinda hit me hard. LOL
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    edited January 2017
    @Stoshew71 nerd :heart: .

    Haha!

    A few months ago was toying with my carb demand. I found that on days that I walked 2-2.5 hours I burned all the glycogen my body could store on 100- 120 g carbs/day, of course, trying to force it it burn fat.

    I noticed that I get ravenous about 90 minutes in to a run (back when I was running, even walking now if I haven't eaten).

    No real point to my contribution here, only to further the "nerd war". :wink:

    I do agree with the option of allowing your body to learn to utilize fat as energy. The same thing happens when one cuts carbs, your body adapts. I think I read something about losing the ability to tolerate carbs after a prolonged low carb diet... I think that was a real thing.
  • Run4theluvofit
    Run4theluvofit Posts: 42 Member
    edited January 2017
    1/1 Rest
    1/2 1.6
    1/3 2.7

    Goal 4.3/45 miles
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    Did my first run of 2017 today. It was around 20F and very windy (wind chill probably single digits). Ran roads near where I live, so took a chance and went out with just a heavier UA Cold Gear turtleneck over a short sleeve synthetic shirt, Nike jogging pants, wool socks, wool hat, thin synthetic gloves, and heavier gloves over that. Also, I brought the backpack I mentioned last month with water and some extra stuff. I found the core covering to be acceptable, but my face was getting blown by cold wind. I had brought some stuff to cover my face, but it wasn't bad enough to be worth stopping to take that out of the backpack. As it turned out, I should have been more worried about my hands. It wasn't a particularly long run, but the skin on my hands was so dry afterwards that one of them was bleeding. Probably should have put lotion on them first.

    Anyway, goal this month is same as last month - 35 miles. Trying to grow / build up, but 35 was tough last month and I don't really want to increase just yet.

    If I made a ticker this month, I can't get to it... so here is a January ticker:

    exercise.png
  • HonuNui
    HonuNui Posts: 1,464 Member
    January goal: Get up. Move.

    1/1: rest
    1/2 3.55
    1/3 4.21

    Total: 7.76

    Ticker is my goal for 2017 and total to date:

    exercise.png
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    01 Jan – 5 km parkrun course PB
    04 Jan – 8 km

    Goal: a 3 hour Long Slow Run in January
  • shanaber
    shanaber Posts: 6,423 Member
    Date........Miles........Total
    01/01......0.00........0.00
    01/02......4.58........4.58 - + Agility
    01/03......4.28........8.86 - + Strength Training

    exercise.png

    My completed and upcoming Races - Let me know if you will be running too!
    02/05/17 - Surf City Half Marathon
    07/23/17 - San Francisco 1st Half Marathon
  • k80flec
    k80flec Posts: 1,623 Member
    Recently someone shared a post on 'dynamic warm-up' which I intended to go back to view. I can't find it, Aaaaarrrrggh.
    Could you re-post it, whoever you are. I seem to think it was @skippysmom.

    Thank you in advance :)
  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
    1/1: 5 miles
    1/2: 2.4 miles
    1/3: Busy day
    1/4: 4.5 miles

    So I extended the Runners World Holiday Run Streak by one day to 40 days... and then I was so busy yesterday that I was like, "I'm done streaking!" I got back to my house after traveling around midnight, got to bed around 1 am, got up at 7 to shower and go to work, then after work I had to go and get my plates for my new car from the dealership which is 15 miles away but takes 30-40 minutes to get to. After that I had to go to the grocery store because I was basically out of food. By the time I got home, it was 6:30, dark outside, still misting/raining, and I needed to prep my work lunches... so the run was out.

    But I've got to say; I ran 40 days in a row without a problem. I take ONE DAY OFF after 40 consecutive days, and it's my worst run in over a month. My legs felt so dead! Oh well. Lifting + another run this evening!

    exercise.png

    Winter/Spring 2017 Races:
    1/8: NYCRUNS Cocoa Classic 10 mile
    2/18: FebApple Frozen 50 - 10 mile (trail)
    3/12: E. Murray Todd HM
    3/18: Looney Leprechaun 10k (trail)
    3/26: Philly Love Run HM
    5/14: Delaware Marathon Running Festival HM
    5/21 or 5/28: Cleveland or Vermont City Marathons (maybe)
    7/1: Finger Lakes Fifties 50k (trail)
  • ddmom0811
    ddmom0811 Posts: 1,881 Member
    edited January 2017
    @kristinegift - WTG 40 days! I just remembered that I didn't have a rest day before I started my streak so I need to check how many days I streaked! I enjoyed it. But now back to the real world!
  • Joanna2012B
    Joanna2012B Posts: 1,448 Member
    7lenny7 wrote: »
    01/01 -
    01/02 8.0 Miles - The side streets were glazed with ice so I elected to go to a local high school and run on the indoor track.

    qcgni24c9n0q.jpeg


    That was a good call. I ran New Years day only to slip on some ice and land on my knee. It is a pretty shade of black, blue, purple this morning and still throbbing!! :/
  • patrikc333
    patrikc333 Posts: 436 Member
    The good: both clip shoes for the first time, no problems

    The bad: had to cut my ride, foggy and -3c, I was ok and legs felt really good but when I saw the road started to be icy I thought best was to come back home

    The annoying: need a gp certificate here for running events, I think it'll be easier to get a place in NY than finding a clinic that does it, but without that no registration so no races. Damned bourocracy

    Tomorrow and Friday will be running days, - 8c forecasted! starting to get used to my new nb shoes
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    edited January 2017
    Elise4270 wrote: »
    @Stoshew71 nerd :heart: .

    Haha!

    A few months ago was toying with my carb demand. I found that on days that I walked 2-2.5 hours I burned all the glycogen my body could store on 100- 120 g carbs/day, of course, trying to force it it burn fat.

    I noticed that I get ravenous about 90 minutes in to a run (back when I was running, even walking now if I haven't eaten).

    No real point to my contribution here, only to further the "nerd war". :wink:

    I do agree with the option of allowing your body to learn to utilize fat as energy. The same thing happens when one cuts carbs, your body adapts. I think I read something about losing the ability to tolerate carbs after a prolonged low carb diet... I think that was a real thing.

    Hahahaha Takes one to know one? ...isn't that what you said?

    The point of all of this is that you need to teach your body to fuel a different way if you plan on running (or walking) long distances or huge amounts of time. And you can control two things, the amount of time you run, and how much you eat (or don't eat) before and during a run.

    One more point if I can bring up here, and you made a very good point by mentioning walking for 2 hours. The point of the long run is getting time on your feet, not speed work. On your long runs, it's important to run at that comfortable conversational pace. Go too fast on your long run, and you miss out on that very important aspect of the long run which is to teach your body to use fat for fuel. Run too fast that you go into your lactate threshold and beyond, and you keep forcing your body to use carbs. The idea is to go a slow enough pace that your body is able to use fat for fuel. And the point you made is that you can even walk for 2 hours on a fast and still get that same effect.
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