February 2017 Running Challenge

BeeerRunner

February Running Challenge:

2/1 10 miles
2/2 2.2 miles
2/3 Rest day
2/4 10 mile pace run
2/5 20 mile run
2/6 5 mile very slow run
2/7 2 mile run with Spotty
2/8 8 mile run: 1 w/u with Spotty, 6 pace, 1 c/d
2/9 4 mile run
2/10 2 mile walk with Spotty and Runner’s yoga
2/11 4 mile pace run
2/12 15 mile run
2/13 4.15 mile run
2/14: XT Day: 30 minutes stationary bike and 15 minutes stairmill
2/15: 6 mile pace run
2/16: 4 easy miles
2/17: Rest Day
2/18: Hot 4 mile run...84 F!
2/19: 8.5 mile run
2/20: 3 mile pace run
2/21: 3 mile easy run

Goal: 112.8 of 135

Upcoming Races:

Cowtown Marathon (Full) Feb 26 (Registered)
XTERRA ATX Trail Run (21K) Apr 23 (Tentative)
XTERRA Rock Dallas Trail Run (HM at night) May 27 (Tentative)
XTERRA Jurassic Trail Run (HM at night) Jul 8 (Tentative)
La Sportiva Vail Half Marathon: Jul 22 (Tentative)

Did a run before work for the 1st time in ages. The weather was nice, and it just felt good to do an easy run.

greenolivetree

Ran 5 miles after work. Did I feel fast? No. Did I feel strong? Yes. It was a hilly run. I ran a new route, still close to home but streets I normally avoid. I think that made the run a little more enjoyable. The weather was nice, 66F and overcast with a nice wind. Spring is here! I saw several trees blooming with flowers.

OSUbuckeye906

2/1: 2.2 miles walk, 6.3 miles bike
2/2: Rest/PT
2/3: 45 mins elliptical
2/4: 10 miles bike
2/5: 67 mins elliptical
2/6: 9 miles bike
2/7: 40 mins elliptical
2/8: Rest
2/9: 1.4 miles walk, 30 mins elliptical
2/10: PT, 9.8 miles bike
2/11: 1.9 miles walk/jog
2/12: Rest
2/13: 5.5 miles bike, 1.4 miles walk/jog
2/14: 60 mins elliptical
2/15: PT, 10 miles bike
2/16: Rest
2/17: 2.6 miles run/walk
2/18: 3.1 miles hike/walk
2/19: 2.5 miles run/walk
2/20: 10 miles bike
2/21: 2.8 miles run/walk

TOTAL: 16/22 workout days

Today was a running day! It was in the low 60s and overcast when I left work today, which meant the rain held off and I could run on the Olentangy Trail on the way home instead of heading to the gym for a treadmill run. I was tempted to up my intervals to 5 minutes since I know my PT will probably give me the go-ahead to do that tomorrow anyway, but I don't want to rush things. Instead I added an extra interval and slightly decreased my rest/walking intervals. Baby steps. I managed to get in 2.8 miles in 31:30. Workout included 5 x 4 mins run/1 min walk intervals with a few minutes of walking warm up/cool down on each end. My pace for my intervals were too fast (9:34, 9:17, 9:27, 9:40, 9:41). I was a little tired before my run and didn't think I'd even have much fuel in the tank to go fast even if I had wanted to, so I kept surprising myself when I would glance at my pace. I've always had a hard time judging my pace just by feel and I was starting to get better at it before my injury, so I guess I need to retrain myself. I didn't feel any pain but my left calf and foot felt pretty tight...the side of my foot ached almost like my shoes were tied too tight. I stopped after the first interval to retie it but it didn't help. I think it may have had something to do with the way the path was sloped along with a bunch of tight turns on that particular stretch of the path. After some stretching and time with the massage stick, the tightness is gone.

It will be interesting to see what my PT says I should plan to do going forward. After my appointment tomorrow, I have my gait analysis (with someone else) next week and then I have just one more follow-up visit two weeks after that (3 weeks out). I'm hoping that my PT thinks I've progressed enough to keep returning to running and just keep that one visit scheduled to touch base and hopefully graduate from physical therapy or at least schedule visits a lot less frequently. I'm not sure if he'll have a concrete plan in mind for me to increase my running, but if not I have a little spreadsheet I came up with to increase my mileage that I'll run by him. If he approves, I'll plan to use that as a guide for mileage while also using the Couch to 5k as a guide for increasing running intervals.

OSUbuckeye906

@dkabambe Though hard, it sounds like you had a great run...and looks like you found a great new path as well!

@lporter229 Glad you had a nice vacation and that your hamstring is doing much better after some rest!

@snowyne Hope you feel better soon!

@skippygirlsmom So sorry to hear about the additional damage but at least now you and your doctor know the whole scope of what you are dealing with. I'm guessing since you haven't seen the doctor since then that you don't know how that will affect recovery yet?

@7lenny7 Wow, WTG on all the slushy, muddy, wet mileage...even if exhausting. You sure all the splashing and fun wasn't due to the goody bag you found? Thanks for the good laugh while recounting your slide/fall

lporter229 wrote: »

I can spend hours running. Why does it seem so hard to find 10 minutes to stretch???

@lporter229 I have always felt this way as well. Now that I'm starting to return to running, I've been forcing myself to stretch before and after my run/walks. Since I can't do too much yet, it sometimes feels like I stretch longer than I'm actually exercising.

MobyCarp

February Running Totals (miles)
2/1 – 7.00 easy
2/2 – 2.63 easy shakedown run
2/3 – travel day, didn't get a run in
2/4 – 7.99 warm up on road + 8K cross country
2/5 – travel day, didn't get a run in
2/6 – travel day
2/7 – 9.26 warm up, speed work, cool down
2/8 – 7.02 group run
2/9 – 12.03 MP intervals
2/10 – rest day
2/11 – 18.63 paced run + solo miles
2/12 – 11.48 easy 90 minutes
2/13 – rest day
2/14 – 12.25 warm up, speed work, cool down
2/15 – 6.62 group run
2/16 – 10.05 easy with hills
2/17 – rest day
2/18 – 22.17 paced run + solo miles
2/19 – 12.97 easy 100 minutes with hills
2/20 – rest day
2/21 – 10.47 warm up, speed work, cool down

February total to date – 150.57

Nominal Challenge Goal – 225 miles
Real Goals: Survive travel to and from Bend. Train well toward Boston. Avoid injury.

Today's notes – Mondays are busy. I have volunteer work from 2 to 5, and I meet my daughter for dinner at 6. Mornings I want to sleep in and be leisurely about breakfast; when I've got a run in, it has felt like I really needed a few more hours of recovery after a tough weekend. So . . . I had time to run at 10 AM on Monday. I didn't do it. I deliberately took Monday as a rest day, mostly for my mental health and not to feel rushed. But there was also the "training sore" effect of running 35 miles between Saturday and Sunday.

Well, the upshot of taking Monday as a rest day was that I was feeling pretty good going into Tuesday speed work. Easy 2 mile warm up, then the assignment (as modified by Coach on the whiteboard) was 2 x 2 miles at T pace with 2 minutes recovery, then rest 5 minutes, then 2 x 400 at R pace with 2 minutes recovery, plus a 2 to 3 mile cool down.

On the indoor track, I will run a bit faster than on the road with the same level of effort. So I was targeting a 6:32 mile for T pace, or 56 seconds per lap in Lane 6 at 7 laps per mile. The first mile came in at 6:19, way too fast. Then next mile was a more reasonable 6:24. 2 minutes of easy jog, then I managed to bring the next 2 miles of T in at 6:25 and 6:30. This was not getting more tired, it was getting more precise at hitting the target pace.

5 minutes of standing around is an awfully long time, so I got a drink at the water fountain and threw in an easy lap before setting off on the 400s. My target was 42-43 seconds per 200m lap, and I figured I'd have to work pretty hard to bring the 400s in at 86 seconds. To my surprise, they came in at 85 seconds and 84 seconds. I didn't know I had an 84 second 400 in me. Still felt pretty good, and I want 2 rest days this week, so I took the 3 miles of cool down. 2 rest days mean I need to run a bit further on the days I run; but that's okay by me.

I won't hit my nominal mileage goal for February. I missed too many running miles due to travel to and from Bend. But I'm feeling pretty good right now. I hit the peak mileage target last week on 5 days running, and I'll hit this week's cut back goal on 5 days running. I'll probably lose miles versus the marathon plan on travel to and from Virginia Beach, but I'll deal with that. I've seen that missing most of a weekend's running due to travel isn't the end of the world and doesn't destroy the marathon training plan.

2017 races:
January 1, 2017 Freezeroo #2 (Resolution Run 7.5 mile) (Mendon, NY) Finished in 50:45
January 7, 2017 Winter Warrior Half Marathon (Gates, NY) Finished in 1:32:40
January 14, 2017 Freezeroo #3 (Pineway Ponds Park 5 mile) (Spencerport, NY) Finished in 33:42
January 28, 2017 Freezeroo #4 (Hearnish 5 mile) (Victor, NY) short course, finished 4.88 miles in 32:50
February 4, 2017 USATF Cross Country National Championship Masters 8K (Bend, OR) Finished in 35:39, team won the 60+ Men's cross country championship
February 11, 2017 Freezeroo #5 (Valentines Run "In Memory of Tom Brannon" 8 Mile) (Greece, NY) sat out due to training schedule
February 25, 2017 Freezeroo #6 (White House Challenge 4.4 mile) (Webster, NY)
March 11, 2017 Johnny's Runnin' of the Green 5 mile (Rochester, NY)
March 18, 2017 USATF Masters 8K Championship (Virginia Beach, VA)
April 17, 2017 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA)

cchen2015

2/1/17----7.2miles
2/2/17----7.8miles
2/3/17----7.7miles
2/4/17----8.7miles
2/5/17----5.1miles
2/6/17----6.5miles
2/7/17----9.1miles
2/8/17----6.75miles
2/9/17----7.8miles
2/10/17----5.3miles
2/11/17----10.2miles
2/12/17----6.5miles
2/13/17----7.3miles
2/14/17----7.6miles
2/15/17----7.5miles
2/16/17----6.4miles
2/17/17----6.9miles
2/18/17----6.1miles
2/19/17----5miles
2/20/17----10.7miles
2/21/17----7.2miles

new goal 200miles for Feb...these logs are walking/running combined.

HonuNui

February goal: Lose 3 pounds

2/1: rest
2/2 3.16
2/3 3.60
2/4 busy
2/5 really busy
2/6 exhausted from being busy
2/7 4.02
2/8 snorkel 3.5 hours
2/9 4.10
2/10 3.45
2/11 rest
2/12 2.10 + core/strength training
2/13 3.45
2/14 rest
2/15 3.60
2/16 3.26
2/17 rest
2/18 2.05 + strength/core training
2/19 8.20 Hike
2/20 rest
2/21 3.35

Total: 44.34

@RespectTheKitty : I have said this before, but I gave up on bras years ago: I wear shape wear (like spanx): tho I am not overly endowed, I am a c cup, and I never have any chafing or rubbing....and plenty of support.
@OSUbuckeye906 No egg-smell, DH has emphysema, so we specifically picked a day when the trade winds were briskly blowing the smoke away from us.
@7lenny7 The road to the flow is a well maintained, well packed gravel road, mostly flat: literally a "run in the park" (Volcanoes National Park) for you! And there are now surface flows that you can walk to within 1/2 mile of the road (yes, you can walk as close to them as you like..er...dare....). And let's see, upcoming is the Big Island International Marathon in March, the Kona International in June and the Volcano Marathon in August....make it a bucket list and destination run!

Ticker is my goal for 2017 and total to date:

Orphia

skippygirlsmom wrote: »

Hey all, I've been reading and liking posts!

So went yesterday for the MRI on the hip, they also did an angiogram while I was there. Just got a call from the orthopedic's office. Besides the impingment from the bone spur in the hip, I have also torn my labrum and my IT band. I've never even heard of anyone tearing their IT band. So they are trying to making me an appointment at either local doctor at another practice or at Vanderbilt in Nashville for the next step. No matter what it will still require surgery, just more than they thought at first.

She said before you ask Dr. Thommason said you can run if you can stand the pain, but you run the risk of tearing it more. So it would make him happier if you don't run until we get you to the next appointment. I said okay, she said he also said to tell you you have high tolerance for pain if you've been running with this. ha ha!

@skippygirlsmom I'm echoing all the best wishes for your injuries. What a kittenload!

Did they have any comments on the angiogram?

Orphia

I've got the "Farm to Pub" on Saturday, which is 16.4 km.

I gather that's 10 miles, but down here that's not even noticed. But I think Strava notes 10 mile PBs if you do one.

I don't think in those terms and need some reference.

What's your best time for 10 miles?

potatowhoruns

Haven't managed to update in a while but still trying to keep on running. Got a 10K race on Sunday which I am excited for.

@skippygirlsmom - sorry to hear about the injury - wishing you a speedy recovery!

dkabambe

@Orphia 10miles is actually 16.1km so that's a strange distance - they could have built the pub 300m closer
I've only ever run 10miles in long slow training runs, but you can use the Daniel's formula to scale up your 10K time to get a time for 16.4km as follows:

Race Time = ((Race Dist / Reference Dist) ^ 1.06 ) * Reference Time
i.e. 16.4km Time = ((16.4/10)^1.06) * 10K Time
So, 16.4km Time = 1.69 * 10K Time

I find if you run those sorts of distances regularly it scales up well, but if not it can tend to think you'll run quicker. For example it scales quite well between my 1mile, 5K and 10K times but at HM or longer it gives me a time faster than I can currently run probably because I'm not used to those distances yet.

Mari33a

01/02 3.06 miles
08/02 3.16 miles
09/02 3.51 miles
10/02 3.14 miles
17/02 3.55 miles
18/02 4 miles
22/02 3.56 miles - got rained on for most of run but I still really enjoyed it! I knew if I didn't get out today I may not run at all this week with 2moro definitely not possible. Fingers crossed for Friday and Saturday

MNLittleFinn

@greenolivetree nice to see you got a run in there! Great job!
@OSUbuckeye906 I hope you get full clearance from PT! You've been doing a great job keeping things going while waiting to get back to full running again!
@MobyCarp Great Run. I've said this a lot, but ti's true, you're workout write ups are awesome, they always give me a lot of info to think about
@cchen2015 great goal! You're totally doing awesome
@HonuNui great consistency. I love seeing the crosstraining you do, and your pictures are always amazing
@potatowhoruns Good luck on Sunday!
@Marissaxzxzxz Nice run, it's great when a rainy run is an enjoyable run.

garygse

@7lenny7 Congrats on the PRs, and thanks for the good chuckle with the horse crap that you mostly avoided!

--

Today was another long run, but this time I decided to pick up the pace a little. I guess all the 80/20 running with the slow long distance runs are paying dividends...I managed to set a new HM PR. Garmin clocked me in at 1:54:45, beating my previous best by over 3 minutes. This is a real confidence booster, leaving me wondering what kind of PR I can do in the April HM race when I'm actually giving it my all!

03 - 2.24 miles
04 - 9.30
06 - 11.67
07 - 7.25
08 - 12.43
09 - 7.61
10 - 16.13
11 - 5.60
13 - 13.46
14 - 6.83
15 - 13.40
16 - 6.64
17 - 17.01
19 - 5.63
21 - 10.92
22 - 13.35

Total: 159.47 / 125

Elise4270

HonuNui wrote: »

@7lenny7 The road to the flow is a well maintained, well packed gravel road, mostly flat: literally a "run in the park" (Volcanoes National Park) for you! And there are now surface flows that you can walk to within 1/2 mile of the road (yes, you can walk as close to them as you like..er...dare....). And let's see, upcoming is the Big Island International Marathon in March, the Kona International in June and the Volcano Marathon in August....make it a bucket list and destination run!

Wow! MFP MRC destination run anyone?!!!

MNLittleFinn

2/1- 8.1
2/2- REST
2/3- 4.23
2/4- 14.11
2/5- 3.16
2/6- 6.16
2/7- REST
2/8- 8.09
2/9- REST
2/10- 4.04
2.11- 14.01
2/12- 3.04
2/13- 6.06
2/14- 3.16
2/15- 8.15
2/16- REST
2/17- 4.66
2/18- 15.04
2/19- 4.03
2/20- 6.06
2/21- 3.66
2/22- 8.15

Total: 123.91

Monthly goals:
Mileage goal: 150
Real Goal: Stay healthy enough to get into the swing of real marathon training.

Today's notes: For this training cycle, Wednesdays are speed days. I'm always looking forward to them because a) it's fun to run faster and b) Thursday is my rest day, so I know I'll have plenty of time to recover.

Today's assignment was 3 miles easy, then 2x1 mile at Tempo and 3 mile cool down at E.

I was feeling really good today, and my paces reflected that. Splits for miles 1-3 were 9:43, 9:38, 9:30 for an average of 9:37.

I ran the first Tempo interval in 8:19, which is faster than I'm supposed to (by 1 second...LOL) despite it being a net uphill section.

The 90 second recovery seemed to take forever, but I think that's just because I like to keep moving.

The second Tempo Interval was more controlled than the first, mainly because I had to focus more going downhill, and there were a lot more cars coming at me, so I was slowing down somewhat as the high beams got me in the face. Still ran a 8:22 and was happy with that.

The last 3 miles were FAST, at least faster than my normal E pace. Splits were 9:36, 9:22, 9:06

I decided to push it a little that last mile, and kept the pace at just faster than what I look at as Goal Half Marathon Pace, just to keep it interesting.

I feel surprisingly good right now, so I'm hoping that's a sign that I'm adapting well to the training.

My training plan lays things out in 2 week groups, so I have identical schedules for 2 weeks then a new schedule. Cutback weeks are on every 5th or 7th week.

Oh yeah, forgot. I wore SHORTS today. I guess when it's 33, shorts + smartwool compression sleeves are all it really takes.

karllundy

2/1 - 3.4 'mill miles and a quick weight session. The scale was ugly today.
2/2 - 4.1 treadmill miles.
2/3 - Rest day.
2/4 - 2.3 'mill miles and then Bodypump class
2/5 - Super Bowl = no run AND way overeating.
2/6 - 4.01 miles.
2/7 - 4.25 miles.
2/8 - Shoveled in lieu of running. I hate snow.
2/9 - 5.3 treadmill miles. Trek class with a lot of "tempo".
2/10 - 3.4 treadmill miles, then upper body weights.
2/11 - 4.33 miles. Red Flannel Run. Was supposed to be a 5 mile course! Someone sure missed on that. I was very happy with my pace and would have finished the 5 in under 40:00, so I was a little disappointed with that.
2/12 - 2.3 treadmill miles and Bodypump class.
2/13 - 4.1 miles.
2/14 - Impromptu rest day. Woke up with significant pain in both feet and some discomfort in my right hip. Not sure what's going on, but thought it best to rest a bit.
2/15 - 4.47 miles. (I think it was more like 4.62...GPS waited a block or so to start, weird).
2/16 - 5.17 treadmill miles. Trek class.
2/17 - 4.25 miles.
2/18 - 5.75 miles. Longest run in a while, starting to stretch out. Felt good!
2/19 - Rest Day.
2/20 - 4.51 miles. 58° F at 4:45 a.m. in February? Yes, please!
2/21 - 4.47 miles.
2/22 - 4.52 miles. Again, nearly 50°! I could get used to this!

Stoshew71

Date Miles today - Miles for February
2/1 5 miles - 5
2/2 10miles - 15
2/3 5 miles - 20
2/4 18 miles - 38
2/5 REST DAY
2/6 10 miles - 48
2/7 10 miles - 58
2/7 5 miles - 63 << Daily Double and leg workout in the gym
2/8 5 miles - 68
2/9 7.5 miles - 75.5
2/10 REST DAY
2/11 14 miles - 89.5
2/12 REST DAY
2/13 7 miles - 96.5
2/14 7.5 miles - 104
2/15 4 miles - 108
2/16 7.5 miles - 115.5
2/17 REST DAY
2/18 13.1 -128.6
2/19 REST DAY
2/20 10 miles - 138.6
2/21 10 miles - 148.6
2/21 5 miles - 153.6 << Daily Double
2/22 4 miles - 157.6



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
Elkmont Hound Dog Half (unofficial) - 1/21 << 1:46:48 2 OA
Elkmont Hound Dog Half (rescheduled) - 2/18 << 1:41:04 1 in AG & 24 OA
Kentucky Derby Marathon - 4/29

I did a leg workout last night (increasing some of my exercises to 5 sets) and a short 5 mile run. This morning I did a short 4 mile recovery run.

Stoshew71

7lenny7 wrote: »

@Stoshew71 nice improvement over the unofficial half!

Thanks buddy. I think a little rest helped with that too. I did a half @$$ job at tapering the first time around. This time I had no choice but to cut everything back for a week and a half and I think I was better prepared.

snowyne

2/1 - 4.3
2/2 - rest
2/3 - 3.1
2/4 - 5.0
2/5 - 4.6
2/6 - 3.1
2/7 - 3.1
2/8 - 6.0
2/9 - rest
2/10 - 5.0
2/11 - 5.0
2/12 - 4.0
2/13 - 3.5
2/14 - 5.5
2/15 - 5.0
2/16 - 3.1
2/17 - rest
2/18 - 4.0
2/19 - 4.0
2/20 - rest (sick)
2/21 - rest (sick)
2/22 - rest (sick)
Feb total: 68.3/100mi.

Still fighting some chest cold virus & feel like something the cat dragged in (despite getting lots of rest). Haven't been sick like this in a long time. No fever, just feeling creaky & chilly. If I don't improve by tomorrow, the it's off to the Dr.! I miss running...