October 2018 Monthly Running Challenge

workaholic_nurse

@amymoreorless Good luck with your half tomorrow!

Avidkeo

@amymoreorless and @ContraryMaryMary good luck to you both for tomorrow! Anyone else have a Race this weekend?

RunRachelleRun

Avidkeo wrote: »

@amymoreorless and @ContraryMaryMary good luck to you both for tomorrow! Anyone else have a Race this weekend?

Yep! @katharmonic and @workaholic_nurse Good luck, everyone!

7lenny7

@rheddmobile one thing some ultra runners do when they know they'll be dealing with wet feet for a long time is to slather their entire foot with vasoline.

@shanaber congrats to you and Hobbes!! Very cool!

Good luck to the racers tomorrow!

shanaber

Thanks all for the congrats on Hobbes! I am still pretty amazed! Unfortunately with his surgery he probably won't maintain it as he is missing out on all of the fall trials but hopefully he will be back in full form soon!

@AprilRN10 - Ouch that sounds painful! I'm sorry I don't have any experience with chafing. I have only had 1 chafing incident and that was with my HRM strap. I put moleskin on the strap where it was rubbing and fixed the problem. I hope you are able to found a good solution!

@katharmonic, @workaholic_nurse, @amymoreorless, @ContraryMaryMary and anyone else racing this weekend - have an awesome race and more than anything have fun!!

@7lenny7 - how did the surgery go? Will you be able to work from home while your foot is healing since you won't be able to drive (unless you learn to drive with the other foot )?

shanaber

I made it to the gym for another 13 miles/50 minutes of cycling. Did 15 mins of warm up, squats and lunges with 20lb weight that someone conveniently left in the free workout room and followed up with some stretching. Hopefully I will sleep well tonight. I am tired and super sore from my weight training last night. Planning on a long walk tomorrow. Hobbes is getting antsy and I need to get out in the fresh air a bit - a long walk will do us both some good!

zeesparrow

@amymoreorless - OMG the "I Love You" Barney song! What memories..... the good ol' days...... lol

7lenny7

I guess you can call this my surgery report.

After finding out Wednesday that I'd have surgery on Thursday, it was a mad scramble Wednesday night to get things in order, such as getting rooms ready for someone on crutches, cleaning up the garage of camping and sailing gear, and getting the shovels and snowblower ready for my son to use when it snows. Since my foot was pain free I very nearly went on a final run. Ultimately I didn't. I had forgotten to clear it with the doc and it wasn't worth the risk of making things worse.

Thursday morning was a scramble to get things at work in order and get things to work on from home this weekend.

The entire surgical experience went really, really well. Every single person I dealt with from my first visit through my dismissal was very kind and caring. It was as enjoyable as an experience like that can be.

I opted to get the least amount of anesthesia as I could, a spinal block, but I still don't remember a thing.

The tendon ruptured high in my ankle. Rather than dig around for the upper end, the surgeon attached the lower end still attached to my second toe to the intact tendon of my third toe. The surgeon took a couple of photos and I can't believe what a small incision he made to do the work. They wrapped it all up in a blue cast.

My wife brought me home and has been so wonderful taking care of me. Getting me food and drink, pillows, blankets meds, and most importantly... the remotes!

There was some sharp pain yesterday evening and this morning but it's already quite a bit better now. In my sleep I apparently flex my foot in a way which stretches the tendon and the pain jolts me awake.

I'm supposed to take it easy for 3 days and keep my foot up higher than my heart so I've been vegging out on the couch watching Norsemen and Ozarks on Netflix. Kody's been my constant companion.

I hate crutches but am getting better with them. I'm not supposed to put any weight at all on the cast, which makes it tricky. I get at least 4 weeks with the cast then hopefully go to a boot for 2 weeks.

I'll be depending on my wife to get me to work and either her or my son to get me home. I'll also work from home as much as I can. I'm considering getting one of those little knee scooters for getting around work.

1 day down, 83 more to go until I can run. I've already got January 17th marked on my calendar.

7lenny7

ContraryMaryMary

All ready to ‘Run the City’ in the morning (I’m doing the half). Hoping the rain stops - it’s not that I mind running in the rain, I actually like it, but the loitering for an hour-and-a-half prior is much more pleasant if it’s dry. Not looking forward to my alarm going off at 4:15am!!!

Orphia

Just read most of the last 300 posts. You guys are so lovely and give me so much desire to keep running!

PastorVincent wrote: »

eleanorhawkins wrote: »

Avidkeo wrote: »

Love it! And I definitely noticed a difference with some gently loosening exercises.

It will be interesting to see what the experts say. I can imagine @PastorVincent, Mr do what I say not as I do. Cause he'd do the 20k both weekends

Can't wait to see what @PastorVincent has to say, but yes he'd probably do the 20k both DAYS both weekends in a string vest in freezing temperatures barefoot and chase them up with icecream but tell you to do it now then taper :-D

Do I want to know what a string vest is? Probably not!

Y'all are nuts.

I think of The Goodies when anyone mentions string vests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-lyA2id5aY



@7lenny7 Really happy the surgery went so well. Love the photos of you and your foot with Kody.

@ContraryMaryMary Good luck for your half!!

@polskagirl01 Thanks heaps for doing the Miles for Dennis Strava account.

Here's the final list.

GMT - Hour - Runner
2000 0 (2001-2100 GMT) - @Orphia 42.2 km
2100 1 - Orphia
2130 1.5 - Orphia
2200 2 - Orphia
2230 2.5 - Orphia
2300 3 - Orphia
2330 3.5 - Orphia
2400 4 - Orphia
0030 4.5 - Orphia
0100 5 – Orphia, @garygse
0130 5.5 - garygse
0200 6 - @bubblegum2fitness 2.5 miles
0230 6.5 - @HonuNui 7.2 miles
0300 7 - HonuNui
0330 7.5 - HonuNui
0400 8 - HonuNui
0430 8.5 - HonuNui
0500 9 - @juliet3455 21.2 km
0530 9.5 - juliet3455
0600 10 - juliet3455
0630 10.5 - juliet3455
0700 11 - juliet3455
0730 11.5 - juliet3455
0800 12 - @_nikkiwolf_ 16.47 km
0830 12.5 - _nikkiwolf_
0900 13 - _nikkiwolf_
0930 13.5 - _nikkiwolf
1000 14 - @workaholic_nurse 5.57 miles
1030 14.5 – workaholic_nurse
1100 15 - @girlinahat 5.5 miles, workaholic_nurse
1130 15.5 - girlinahat, @Teresa502 5.55 miles
1200 16 - girlinahat, @Scott6255, @Tramboman 10.5 km, Teresa502
1230 16.5 - girlinahat, Scott6255, Tramboman
1300 17 – Scott6255, @kevaasen, Tramboman
1330 17.5 – @Elise4270, @kgirlhart , Scott6255, kevaasen
1400 18 – Elise4270, kgirlhart
1430 18.5 – Elise4270
1500 19 – @OSUbuckeye906
1530 19.5 – OSUbuckeye906
1600 20 - @RunRachelleRun 1.94 miles
1630 20.5 - @Marissaxzxzxz 5.05 miles (4-5 pm GMT), kevaasen
1700 21 - Marissaxzxzxz
1730 21.5 - @Avidkeo 3 km
1800 22 - Avidkeo, @rusgolden
1830 22.5 – rusgolden, @MobyCarp 8 miles
1900 23 - @bubblegum2fitness 3 miles, @Butterchop 6.2 miles, MobyCarp
1930 23.5 - bubblegum2fitness, Butterchop, @ctlaws44, MobyCarp
2000 24 - @biketheworld, ctlaws44
2030 24.5 – biketheworld
2100 25 - @MegaMooseEsq 10.4 miles, @sarahthes
2130 25.5 – MegaMooseEsq, sarahthes, @katharmonic 2.8 miles
2200 26 – MegaMooseEsq, katharmonic
2230 26.5 - MegaMooseEsq

I'm including @juliet3455 because I like exceptions to the rule.

Still haven't had a reply from @marisap2010 on what time/day GMT her 2.14 miles for Dennis was.

I'm also nearly finished writing the post / blog post.

Orphia

Oct 02 – 07.0 km
Oct 03 – 07.1 km fartleks
Oct 05 – 16.0 km fast finish
Oct 08 – 05.0 km
Oct 10 – 04.6 km with 2 sprints
Oct 14 – 43.3 km Melbourne Marathon 24 Hour Relay Run for Dennis
Oct 17 – 02.7 km
Oct 19 – 03.1 km
Oct 24 – 04.0 km
Oct 26 – 05.5 km
Oct 27 – 07.2 km

My back seized up a week ago, which was 7 days after my marathon. I'd been really hyper and hadn't slept much, and I think it was to do with that.

Lots of walking made it better! My back goes out less often than it used to, and instead of taking a month to heal via resting when I was inactive, it gets better in a few days from being active.

Today I did parkrun then ran home, and felt really good. I'm glad I had a proper rest after the marathon, and look forward to building distance again.

Avidkeo

Soooo... I hope its OK I post this...

I work as a radiographer, in a tiny rural hospital and this week has sucked. We've had 3 patients with new cancers on their xrays, and I'm the first one to see them. This is a very small community, 6500 so every diagnosis affects a lot of people. We also lost 2 friends at the beginning of the year to cancer. Both only in their 50s.

For the HM I am doing in 3 weeks, there is an option to fundraise, called d "step out for cancer" . I wasn't going to, because back in May I raised funds for Alzheimer's and jumped out of a plane. But I just had a friend ask if I was fundraising, and on top of the crap week with diagnosis, I decided I'm going to. I'm setting a really small target, and if you wanted to donate. I would be grateful. Please of course do not feel you have to.

https://kerikerihalfmarathon2018.everydayhero.com/nz/kims-kerikeri-challenge

Ok back to regular schedule. Thanks for listening.

eleanorhawkins

Avidkeo wrote: »

And baaaccckkk!

I broke out my hydration belt. I got it a few months ago but hated it. But to run 20k, regular hydration would be necessary. I put gatorade in one bottle and water in the other. Oh it turns out I had the belt the wrong way around the first time I used it (I didn't know haha). Much more comfortable the right way around. I don't hate it now. Its still annoying at the beginning when full but gets better as the run went on.

I was pretty good at keeping slow for the first 9ish k but wasn't really able to increase my speed a lot for the last half. Doesn't matter, I did it, 20k done. And I know I'll be able to do the half in 3 weeks because I definitely had enough to keep going today if I wanted to. And I know my pre race routine works. No issues of any kind. Now couching it, sore legs and feet haha.

Awesome! That will put your mind at ease for the the big day :-D
Good luck to everyone racing this weekend.

noblsheep

Just back from my 30k trail race! Bling first. Race report later.



It's in the shape of a sword and it's huge! The story of why it's shaped this way for the interested:

According to legend, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye were a husband-wife swordsmith duo living in a feudal period of ancient China. The King ordered Gan Jiang to make an incomparable sword. He took three years to make two of the same, and gave only one to the King. The King ordered him killed. Years later, his son took the other sword and killed the king (there is a really long story for that too involving suicides and assasins and boiling heads, but let's not go there now).

The location that they made these legendary swords is supposed to be at Mogan Mountain, which got its name from the names of the two swordsmiths. The legend is so famous in China, people make video game characters from them.

PastorVincent

@7lenny7 Glad to hear your surgery went well!
@noblsheep Cool bling!

noblsheep

Race report for the Mogan Ultra 30km today.

Course was advertised as being 30km long. Turns out it's a bit more than that... probably 34km. I'm not quite sure because I used this race to try out the UltraTrac function on the Forerunner 645. It's supposed to be far more efficient battery-wise, but not as accurate in tracking GPS. Well, check and check. Charged the watch last night and then ran for 8+hours. More than 60% battery left. It could easily go for 10 more hours, but I ended up having about 2km less than runners beside me using the regular mode.

The course mainly involved three major climbs and descents. The first was quite muddy and aggresive - it had been raining this week and the trail would run into streams or even turn into streams. Had to scramble at times. I was having a lot of doubts about this race, feeling I had not trained well for it, and I must say this part was difficult.

Going down, we were running through bamboo forest - I know it sounds all Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but it was brutal. I destroyed my quads on that downhill - there was a section of stone slabs that were too big for one step each and too small for two. Lots of striding and braking.

After CP1, we headed for the second climb. It was the tallest, but looking back probably the easiest. Not very steep and the footing was rather good, considering. On this ascent, I noticably started feeling better. I had asked myself: why are you doing this? And in the way that thoughts float around for a while before you think them during running, it came to me after a while - I am doing this for the peace and quiet. I have no one to fight against here but me.

Breezed through the aid station. A lot of guys were sitting there eating cup ramen. I envy anyone who can eat cup ramen and run 10 minutes later without puking. There was a 3km section of paved road after the aid station, which I ran through, and wrecked my quads some more. Then we ran through a wide dirt path through the bamboo forest, the kind that construction vehicles drive through. It was a steep decline and I just let it rip there. That was a ton of fun.

The decline after that was awful. Rock after rock on a very steep and long slope downwards. Took forever. Everybody was passing me. My knees hurt. But all things come to an end if one keeps moving, and eventually we came out into a clearing and to CP2.

Ate stuff and kept going. The final climb was ardous and difficult. I mean, of course trail running is going to be challenging, but by this point it was bordering on annoying. I noticed people around me going into zombie shuffle mode but I actually was feeling OK. Helped some confused tourists. Picked up a fellow runner who had had a pretty bad tumble (she had a bloody nose and a busted lip and who knows what else).

The last aid station was inside a huge and really expensive hotel, who had made us brownies and water chestnut cakes. They were exquisite. Gave me the energy to pick up my pace for a few km. After the sugar rush wore off, it was another rather long and ardous hike to the finish. I ran the last 500 meters or so, and it didn't kill me. Finished race in just over 8 hours.

Pics

I didn't take any pictures of the unpaved parts as my hands were full and I was trying not to fall off a cliff to my death. But you get the gist of things.

Post-race check up revealed no blisters or chaffing (yay for KT tape and Bodyglide!), but my legs are pretty sore and I'm sure my arms and shoulders will hurt tomorrow, as I was using my poles to pretty much pull myself up and down every single slope.

Learnings:
1. KT tape and Bodyglide are awesome.
2. Lots of spry-looking people were slower than me on the inclines, and then passed me like the wind on the downhill. Are there any sports that go uphill only?
3. Poles are super useful - up to a point. They also have the potential to make you very very slow.
4. Train better before trying this again.

1027-34k total-53.4k, goal-100k

Upcoming races:
20181118 Shanghai Marathon (maybe)

PastorVincent

@noblsheep Great report!

Downhill running is harder than uphill in many ways. The real secret is to just let yourself fall under control. You can go a lot faster than you think. Hold your arms up and take short strides. It takes practice but you can move pretty quickly and use very little energy. It is mostly concentration and ground awareness.

RunsOnEspresso

@amymoreorless My cousins 2 year old LOVES baby shark. There is also a monkey version he found when told no more baby shark.

@Orphia I did run for Dennis too but I don't remember if I posted. Starting from the 15th until recently I haven't kept up with the thread. If it's too late to be included I'm ok with that.

Tramboman

@noblsheep Well done!!!
@7lenny7 Glad everything went well. You really rocked that hospital bootie!
Good luck to all who are racing this weekend.
7k easy today; no issues. Light rain, no breeze, and cool temperatures certainly helped. 138.5k for the month.