April 2018 Monthly Running Challenge
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@Elise4270 Congrats on the minute! Let us know how that goes.1
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Decided to wait until after work before running, plus I donated blood last night and would like to wait 24 hours. I was pretty wobbly afterwards for a solid 2 hours, which also happened the last time I donated (18 months ago?) but had never happened previously. I had chalked it up to low carb but I eat carbs now so maybe it's just the way my body works now.
Maybe your iron is a bit low? High enough to donate, but on the low side?
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Congrats to Skip @skippygirlsmom - you must be the proudest parent ever!!!
Am off to Lithuania today for a dance festival so will be missing my runs. I reckon six hours of workshops plus evening parties until 4am will make up for the lack of running.
Fitted in some intervals this morning before heading to the airport.3 -
fitoverfortymom wrote: »Duck_Puddle wrote: »Duck_Puddle wrote: »The sisu in this group is just incredible.
I had to Google, and "sisu" is now my word of the year. Thanks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu
"Sisu is a Finnish concept and cultural construct that is described through a combination of various English terms including stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience,[1][2] and hardiness[3][4] and is held by Finns themselves to express their national character. It is generally considered not to have a literal equivalent in English. Sisu is a grim, gritty, white-knuckle form of courage that is typically presented in situations where success is against the odds. It expresses itself in taking action against the odds and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity".
I had never heard the word either until I heard a runner say it a year or two ago. It’s just perfect for so much.
How is it pronounced?
Siihhhsooo or Seeesooo? Or something else?
It's a great word.
"Seesoo".
Here's the Finnish, two-time Formula 1 racing champion Mika Häkkinen pronouncing it, and explaining how it relates to his sport:
https://youtu.be/2bmqdnx5R1U?t=4m22s
I like the air vents in my car all facing the same way. is that Finnish?
uhhhhh.... ....NO!
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skippygirlsmom wrote: »Yeah @Elise4270 great news.
So this happened at our house last night. Skip signed her National Letter of Intent to run XC and T&F at Shorter University. We are so excited and better yet the scholarship was quite a bit more than expected. Proud momma right here.
Yaaaaay! Skip!!!!0 -
Date Miles today - Miles for April
4/1 10 miles - 10
4/2 REST DAY
4/3 6.2 miles - 16.2
4/4 REST DAY
4/5 4.5 miles - 20.7
4/6 REST DAY
4/7 13.1 miles - 33.8
4/8 REST DAY
4/9 REST DAY
4/10 7 miles - 40.8
4/11 REST DAY
4/12 7 miles - 47.8
4/13 REST DAY
4/14 REST DAY/BAD WEATHER
4/15 10 miles - 57.8
4/16 REST DAY
4/17 8 miles - 65.8
Races this year
Oak Barrel Half Marathon - 4/7/18 -- 1:47:24
Upcoming races:
None at the moment
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PastorVincent wrote: »Decided to wait until after work before running, plus I donated blood last night and would like to wait 24 hours. I was pretty wobbly afterwards for a solid 2 hours, which also happened the last time I donated (18 months ago?) but had never happened previously. I had chalked it up to low carb but I eat carbs now so maybe it's just the way my body works now.
Maybe your iron is a bit low? High enough to donate, but on the low side?
Could be. My ferritin levels were a bit low last year so I was supplementing iron at my doctor's suggestion most of last year, but my most recent test was better so I'd stopped. Maybe I'll go back on the iron pills. I likely won't donate again until after my last October race anyway so I have time to decide.0 -
April Goal: 110 miles
4/1: 6.2 miles
4/3: 4.6 miles
4/4: 4.0 miles (intervals)
4/5: 4.2 miles
4/8: 11.5 miles
4/10: 4.3 miles (tempo?)
4/11: 5.1 miles
4/12: 5.5 miles
4/15: 9.0 miles
4/17: 4.5 miles
58.9/110 miles completed
I had a really good run this morning. I have been feeling pretty sluggish lately, and while I am still one of the slower runners in this group, I had a decent (for me) time this morning. But more importantly, I enjoyed the run. The weather was good and I felt good. I did swallow a bug, but I managed to cough him out again. When I was almost home I saw a puppy (who I am pretty sure was not supposed to be out) chasing a cat. I was hoping he wouldn't bother me, and he didn't really. He did join me though and ran along side me. I almost tripped on him once and I think I kind of stepped on him a little but he just kept running with me. He even followed me home and up on the porch. I'm pretty sure he would have come inside with me if I had let him. I'm hoping he made it home safely. And I got home in time to do my yoga this morning too so that made me really happy. I can do it at lunch, but I really like starting the day with yoga. I was glad to run this am too because the forecast says it will be 98F this afternoon. It was around 90f yesterday when I took the dogs to the park and that was pretty hot. But then it is supposed to be cool again the rest of the week with the highs in the 70's and maybe even the 60's. I am planning to run in the morning tomorrow too, but since it is my birthday I am taking the day off work so I can sleep in a bit and then get a run in and do my yoga. Who knows, maybe I'll swing by the bakery on the way home from the run and get donuts. You only turn 50 once.
@skippygirlsmom Congrats to you and Skip!
@elise4270 Yay!!! I'm so glad you are cleared to start running.
@Orphia Great video. I also had to google sisu after @duck_puddle used it and I thought it was a perfect word for runners.
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I'm still here. I want to process everything (rehash? obsess?) in my mind before typing up my RR. And I need to catch up. I think I'm 13 pages behind right now. I have mixed emotions right now. It's like the stages of grief here. Sadness, anger, regret, brief glimmers of acceptance...The logical side of me knows without a doubt I did the right thing, given the multitude of circumstances I was faced with, some within my control, many not. The emotional side of me is struggling. For my own I sanity I need to get past this soon.
The support I'm getting from you all here and on Strava is wonderful and very helpful. THANK YOU!!!
I think it would be easier had there been a single clear reason for quitting, be it acute injury, hitting the cutoff, or intolerable conditions. While many did quit because of the conditions, I actually LOVED the conditions. Except for the high winds (I heard reports of 75mph gusts), this is what I train in, what I love, and what I embrace!! Mud, snow, slush, ice...hell the temperature was just about perfect. In all my reasons, the conditions were not one of them. In fact, the conditions were so incredibly wonderful (for me) that it was one of the reasons I put on the "keep going" side of the equation.
My endgame is to use this to help build my self discipline. I'm going to frame this bib and put it on my bedroom wall as a constant reminder that nothing is a given and it takes every single small brick to build the entire wall.
The Superior Spring 50K (May 19th) can't come fast enough.
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@7lenny7 You toed the line and got in 2 laps on some gnarly conditions at a race that is sure to go down in legend. You got nothing to be disappointed with. You came, volunteered and then ran. You are awesome. Keep being awesome.8
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@kgirlhart welcome to 50 I just turned 50 in November.2
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Thanks @cburke8909!0
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cburke8909 wrote: »@kgirlhart welcome to 50 I just turned 50 in November.
Hitting your 50s means you’re now the youngest in your age-group. At least that’s how I saw it. Especially when I started placing.5 -
@skippygirlsmom - Congratulations to you and the Skippy Girl!! Scholarships are a wonderful thing!
@7lenny7 - I love the pictures! Take what @MNLittleFinn said to heart! You are awesome!
@kgirlhart - Happy 50th tomorrow! Definitely enjoy those donuts!!1 -
MNLittleFinn wrote: »@7lenny7 You toed the line and got in 2 laps on some gnarly conditions at a race that is sure to go down in legend. You got nothing to be disappointed with. You came, volunteered and then ran. You are awesome. Keep being awesome.
This.1 -
MNLittleFinn wrote: »@7lenny7 You toed the line and got in 2 laps on some gnarly conditions at a race that is sure to go down in legend. You got nothing to be disappointed with. You came, volunteered and then ran. You are awesome. Keep being awesome.
There are 54 pages of people here that think you are awesome!10 -
lporter229 wrote: »MNLittleFinn wrote: »@7lenny7 You toed the line and got in 2 laps on some gnarly conditions at a race that is sure to go down in legend. You got nothing to be disappointed with. You came, volunteered and then ran. You are awesome. Keep being awesome.
There are 54 pages of people here that think you are awesome!
Give it a little bit and it will be 55! 2 -
Starting off this week with 6.07 km on my usual loop. I pushed myself for a faster pace today and ended up with 5:42 min per km.
That brings me to 76.4 with just 23.6 left to go!3 -
@skippygirlsmom – Congratulations to you both! She is as cute as a button!
@Elise4270 – Hooray for getting the release to start back running!
@sarahthes – When my iron levels were low, my doctor instructed me to take pre-natal vitamins. If you check the labels, you will notice they contain much more iron than other multi-vitamins (at least here in the U.S.). In case you don’t want to return to straight iron pills, you might try the pre-natal vitamins for an added iron boost.
@kgirlhart – Hope you have a wonderful birthday tomorrow. One of my running friends turns 50 on Sunday. Enjoy the donuts!!
@7lenny7 – That “do-over” button would sure come in handy at times wouldn’t it? Love the pictures!
I will run a little less than half a mile in bootcamp this evening, but it’s basically a cross-training day for me today. I did some upper body work before work and went to a healthy back class at lunch (which felt so good). Bootcamp after work.
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@girlinahat I’m Lithuanian I’m so jealous!!
@lporter229 you are so sweet.
Thank you all for the congratulations and kind words. I’m so proud of the way she handled the whole recruiting process. I just sat back and let her go.2 -
Here's the midnight start of the 50M Zumbro race. What you hear in the beginning is the RD telling folks how to take the shortcut back to the start if they decide to call it quits after reach the first aid station. In the pre-race meeting he stressed that there would be no shame in a DNF that morning, while also telling us that emergency services would be slow in coming if something happened. He did hire guy with a plow to plow the road into the site, and was in contact with the state DOT to let them know about the event and get them to salt the roads earlier than normal, but it was still going to be a nasty drive in, and out, since the road was a steep, windy decline into the valley where this was held.
https://www.facebook.com/100010817418834/videos/563686084001967/UzpfSTEyOTc1OTE1MzA6MTAyMTE1MzYyMTM3ODMxMTQ/4 -
04/01/18 - 8 Miles - 9:59 Pace
04/02/18 - Rest
04/03/18 - 10 miles - 9:27 Pace
04/04/18 - 10 miles @ 4% grade and 7:43 pace
04/05/18 - 0
04/06/18 - 0
04/07/18 - 11.7 miles - 2 races and a bit more
04/08/18 - 0
04/09/18 - 0
04/10/18 - 12.1 miles @ 9:27 pace
04/11/18 - 12.1 miles @ 9:00 pace
04/12/18 - 11 miles @ 9:00 pace
04/13/18 - 10 miles @ 9:04 pace
04/14/18 - 21 miles @ 9:55 pace
04/15/18 - Rest
04/16/18 - 0
04/17/18 - 8 miles @ 7MPH and 4.5% grade
Big Hairy Audacious Goal: Sub 4 hours in Pittsburgh 2018!
Official Marathon PR: 4:11:28
Next Races (more as I find them):
05/06/18 - Pittsburgh Marathon - aiming for sub four hours.
05/12/18 - Glacier Ridge 50k Trail Ultra (I must hate myself)
2020 - Disney World Dopey! (if can raise funds)
Was hailing, and in the 20's, so jumped on dreadmill. This is my last hard week of training before Marathon. One more long run at best...8 -
@ddmom0811 This morning was a little less stiff...like my wooden legs now had joints. I guess this time I ran like Pinocchio.
@Elise4270 That was a terrific pun...almost as good as the news that you can now run a little!
@skippygirlsmom That's fantastic, congrats Skip!
@kgirlhart Happy Birthday for tomorrow!!!
@7lenny7 Ditto what @MNLittleFinn said...you're awesome, and nothing short of.
Legs still felt a bit stiff this morning, and it took me several miles before they even began to remotely feel like they were loosening up. I met with the running group and ran the usual five with them on top of my solo miles, but in all honesty, today I was actually glad to get the run over with!
02 - 15.39
03 - 13.55
04 - 15.21
05 - 13.38
06 - 31.56
09 - 15.28
10 - 8.50
11 - 8.36
12 - 8.52
14 - 13.11
16 - 15.24
17 - 13.51
Total: 171.61 / 280 miles7 -
April Running Totals (miles)
4/1 – 6.21 easy
4/2 – rest day
4/3 – 6.35 easy to MP
4/4 – unscheduled rest day – wind storm
4/5 – 8.39 easy with snow showers
4/6 – 4.01 easy
4/7 – 12.01 paced run
4/8 – 7.84 easy 60 minutes
4/9 – rest day
4/10 – 5.34 easy with hills
4/11 – 5.61 group run
4/12 – 6.17 warmup + easy workout
4/13 – rest day
4/14 – travel day
4/15 – 2.14 shakedown run
4/16 – 26.45 Boston Marathon with bad tangents
4/17 – travel day
April running total to date – 90.52
Nominal April mileage goal: 130 miles
Real goals: Arrive at Hopkinton healthy. Get to Boyleston Street under my own power. Recover well.
Today's notes – Musings the day after running Boston:
The weather was as forecast, wind from 11 to 25 mph in my face, temperature from the high 30s to mid 40s, rain from showers to steady. The temperature and the wind would not have been significant factors without the rain. It was wet.
One of the smarter things I did this year was buy a premium package that included a charter bus to the start line. The differences between the charter bus and the BAA buses were, I had to leave an hour earlier; and I could stay on the dry, warm bus until time for my wave to leave. That saved me 2 hours of waiting around outside in the wind and rain. Worth. Every. Penny.
BAA advice was to wear old shoes that you could discard, then change into dry shoes for running. That makes no sense for most runners, because there will be no dry place in Athletes' Village to change shoes and your race shoes will be wet anyway. I thought maybe I could wear old shoe to walk into Athletes' Village and grab some coffee and a banana; but when the rain turned out to be steady I realized all I would see in Atheletes' Village would be a bunch of runner butts as people tried to crowd into the tent where the food was. So I wore my Darn Tough wool socks and the shoes I would run in.
Marathon Tours gave me a discardable poncho that I wore from the bus to the staging area; then I discarded it. I was prepared to run in what I was wearing, but not prepared to stand around in the rain for a long time. An awful lot of runners started running in plastic bags or cheap ponchos; I don't understand. They're going to be wet anyway, and I don't get why someone would choose to run 16 miles (about as late as I saw something like this) in a plastic bag. But here you have it:
The early part of the race went to plan. Took gels at 5.5 and 11 miles. Realized just after I past the port-a-pot group at mile 12 that I should have stopped; saw the next small clump at 12.4 miles. Was looking for the green flag, and saw a runner come out of one with no one between me and there. That was an easy decision. Had to take my gloves off, so I took a second S-cap. Then it took a while to put my soaked gloves back on, but I clearly needed them for warmth. I would not remove my gloves again until I was back in my hotel.
Got a gel from a volunteer along the way, took it maybe around mile 14. Wellesley was a mental challenge, but I'd seen it. Slowed down deliberately to rest for Newton getting through Wellesley, then ran the drop at Lower Newton Falls fast, but more importantly so as not to make my quads hurt. Worked hard not to challenge the hills in Newton, ended up challenging Heartbreak toward the end.
And I could keep running. By this time, I had another gel from a volunteer in my glove, but I never had the mental energy to deal with manipulating it. So I ran the rest of the race with a gel in my glove that I should have taken somewhere between 20 and 24 miles. Got up Heartbreak on pride, to keep running further than I did last year. Got to mile 23 on pride, to keep running further than I did in 2016. Somewhere in there, I realized that if I slowed to a walk I was dead. I would be very unlikely to start running again, and might not be physically capable of completing the course walking in that weather if I had to go more than a mile.
So I ran to be able to keep running. I ran on mental toughness. I ran looking for the landmarks I saw on my shakedown run the day before. It had been a good call to take the T out a mile along Beacon Street; looking for where I had been made Beacon Street less of an eternity than it had been in past years.
Got to Kenmore and the Citgo sign. The last mile is very familiar. I'm passing people. I know I'm slowing down, but I'm passing more people than I have. WTF? Get down Commonwealth Ave on guts and pride. See the underpass, know that Hereford Street isn't very far past it. As the shirt says, right on Hereford Street and left on Boyleston.
It looked like an awful long way from turning onto Boyleston to the finish line. I had no finish line kick at all. I heard my sister call my name, but didn't see her. I ran to keep running to the finish. I had no idea how many runners were around me. Until I saw the pictures, I assumed I should not have caught up to any white bibs (wave 2), let alone red bibs (wave 1):
I got there, stopped, and both calves threatened to cramp up. Concentrated on not falling down, then stopped the watch. The watch said 3:29 and change, so I knew I'd beat 3:30 officially.
It was a slow, painful blur to go find a medal. I stopped for one shot from the professional photographer, knowing that I was not going to take the time to pose for a designed backdrop:
Then it was another slow, painful blur to go find the heat shield. God bless the young, smiling, cheerful volunteer who patiently dressed me in the heat shield/rain poncho that I could not put on myself. Long, slow walk to find the closest door to the inside, the more slow, painful walk to get to my own hotel. Got a hot shower, got dry clothes, began to feel fairly normal, and only then realized that I had almost certainly been suffering from hypothermia just a hair from being bad enough to require someone else to do stuff for me. I mean, more than just put a raincoat on me.
While walking back to the hotel, I thought this might be a good time to declare victory and stop trying to run marathons. Three hours later, with a good hot meal in me and my calves recovered enough to let me walk a moderate pace and go up and down short flights of stairs while carrying nothing, I was already thinking about Boston 2019. I beat my qualifying target by over 20 minutes, so I can register on the first day. This morning my sister told me if I run Boston next year, she'll run the BAA 5K again. So I have enough notice now to get another night in the hotel next year and see her run.
Today I am still recovering, but I feel better than I did the day after Boston either of the last two years. I have started 5 marathons, and yesterday I completed one where I really managed the race well. And I affirm that I am a marathon runner. That's part of who I am.
2018 races:
February 17, 2018 Freezeroo #5 (Valentines Run "In Memory of Tom Brannon" 8 Mile) (Greece, NY) finished in 54:48
February 24, 2018 Freezeroo #6 (White House Challenge 4.4 mile) (Webster, NY) finished in 28:46
March 17, 2018 USATF Masters 8K (Shamrock 8K, Virginia Beach, VA) finished in 31:55
March 24, 2018 Spring Forward 15K (Mendon, NY) ran at MP, finished in 1:10:47
April 16, 2018 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA) finished in 3:28:43
April 29, 2018 USATF Masters 10K (James Joyce Ramble, Dedham, MA)
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I didn’t run last week (a business trip threw all my plans out of whack), but now I’m back.
Took advantage of an hour waiting for my son to get out of an appointment and hit the Y. 3 miles at close to race pace. Race is in 2 weeks.
12/40
Edit: Great race report, mobycarp! The struggle is real. And worth it. 2 -
I’m in awe of our resident Boston runners. I can’t imagine running any marathon, never mind one in those weather conditions!
Trying to take it easy a little this week so I’ll have fresh legs for my 5k on Saturday. I did a slow 2 miles today. Hoping to go a little further tomorrow and Thursday and rest on Friday; we’ll see how I feel. It was a really rough day at work, and that took all the enthusiasm out of me.
April goal: 40 miles
Today: 2.0 miles
Total: 21.0 miles4 -
Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
04/01/18 :::: 5.3 :::: 5.3
04/02/18 :::: 3.6 :::: 8.9
04/03/18 :::: 4.8 :::: 13.7
04/04/18 :::: 1.5 :::: 15.2
04/05/18 :::: 3.1 :::: 18.3
04/06/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 18.3
04/07/18 :::: 10.2 :::: 28.5
04/08/18 :::: 3.5 :::: 32.0
04/09/18 :::: 3.1 :::: 35.2
04/10/18 :::: 3.7 :::: 38.8
04/11/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 38.8
04/12/18 :::: 3.5 :::: 42.3
04/13/18 :::: 3.4 :::: 45.8
04/14/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 45.8
04/15/18 :::: 8.0 :::: 53.8
04/16/18 :::: 2.5 :::: 56.3
04/17/18 :::: 4.0 :::: 60.2
OMG, snowing again. Got the run in with some flurries but now it's starting to stick on the ground and on the trees, and we are once again a winter wonderland. Boo. It's not supposed to be more than an inch or so but really. It's January 106th.
Happy 50th birthday tomorrow @kgirlhart!! Hope you have an awesome birthday. I turn 50 this year too, all the cool kids are doing it.
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