November 2018 Monthly Running Challenge
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I RAN A 5K!
I was going to wait until next week... but RunKeeper convinced me to attempt a 5k today.
I was going to walk the dogs "real quick" (maybe a mile) because it was raining, take them home and run alone.
The dogs and I headed out for our walk and... it wasn't raining. So I figured, what the heck, and started the 5k workout on RunKeeper. A few minutes later... rain. Of course. Oh well, let's do this!
We slowed to a walk a couple times in the first half, once because we were going too fast and once because my toes were a little tingly. There were a couple places where my girl was very intent on chasing a squirrel, which either forced some fancy footwork or a little upper arm strength. In the last mile, we had to stop and finally just turned around completely rather than continue to fight her instincts.
Overall, it went well.
Total distance was 3.39m (5.5k), time of 45:28. The 5k itself was approx. 40 minutes. I'll take it.
November total: 19.92/28 miles
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate!21 -
@Machafin W00T! Congrats on the PR!!0
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@zeesparrow Yay! Well done!2
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Happy Thanksgiving! I survived my parkrun turkey trot, but it was oh so cold. Temperature was 15 deg F which was brought even lower than that thanks to the wind-chill. Felt very sorry for the poor guy visiting from the UK who obviously didn't get the memo about how cold it gets in New England. Today was not the day to be wearing shorts.6
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Re: Hot Chocolate run. I am a 3 year legacy (despite not running it last year because I am dumb). I have signed up every year except like 2015 since it started in AZ. I also have preferred corral and need to keep my 11:30 or faster pace this year lol
I already got my jacket and it's probably the nicest one yet. (I pay like $15 for packet mailing). They've gotten better every year. Race is crowded AF. The area I'm at traffic backs up. I always get there for 5k time because otherwise you get stuck in traffic.7 -
Today my sister posted her 5K results on FB, with a comment that she did not marry into a family that runs 5Ks but her birth family has turned into one. Maybe a little; it's mostly just that one sister and me. Another sister has run as far as a half marathon before deciding she doesn't like races, and we have one sister who has never been a runner at all.6 -
Race day!
Despite the very low temperatures this morning, I managed to drag myself out of my warm and comfy bed at an ungodly hour to be awake on a holiday. I bundled up quite a bit, with 5 layers on my upper torso, two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, and some gloves. Waiting for the race to start was awful. I came about half an hour early and there was no place indoors to wait and my car was about a half mile walk from the starting line, which sucked in 15 degree weather with a feel like temperature of -5F. But then the race started and the adrenaline kicked in and I found that I wasn’t uncomfortable at all, I wasn’t too warm or too cold. I ended up taking my gloves off about a mile in but other than that it was great. And the best part? I PR’d! Yay!
Attaching a pic of me looking like a ninja just because
11/2: 4.1 miles
11/3: 3.3 miles
11/5: 2.4 miles
11/7: 5.1 miles
11/10: 6.5 miles!!!
11/14: 3.5 miles
11/16: 3.3 miles
11/17: 5.2 miles
11/21: 3.1 miles
11/22: 3.1 miles
Cumulative for November: 39.6/50 miles
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November Running Totals (miles)
11/1 – 7.58 warmup, speed work, cool down
11/2 – rest day
11/3 – 12.08 paced run
11/4 – 9.43 warmup, 6K XC race, cool down
11/5 – rest day
11/6 – 10.10 commute, warmup, speed work, cool down
11/7 – 6.30 easy
11/8 – 7.42 warmup, tempo intervals
11/9 – rest day
11/10 – 9.20 paced run
11/11 – 14.21 warmup/commute, Syracuse Half Marathon
11/12 – rest day
11/13 – extra rest day
11/14 – extra rest day
11/15 – 3.13 easy
11/16 – 5.03 MP
11/17 – 14.09 paced run
11/18 – 1.20 aborted pre-race warmup
11/19 – scheduled rest day
11/20 – extra rest day
11/21 – extra rest day
11/22 – 8.30 wamup + slow 10K race
November running total to date – 106.07
Nominal November mileage goal: 160 miles
Real Goals: Avoid injury. Run well in the Pete Glavin XC series. Have fun at the Syracuse Half and Race with Grace 10K. Build base toward the start of Boston training.
Today's notes – The doctor's instructions were to run the 10K easy, and be prepared to walk if the hamstring complained. The forecast was for temperature in the low teens with 10-13 mph NW wind. It was going to be a dance of run fast enough to stay warm, but not so hard as to irritate the hamstring.
Got out to run my warmup, not so much to actually warm up as to test my clothing in the actual weather. I've run in colder weather, but this morning it was 12º F (-11º C), which is a good 15 degrees F colder than I've run in so far this season. I was concerned about not being acclimated to the conditions.
Well, my hamstring didn't hurt; but it clearly wasn't right. I thought about scratching myself from the race. Got back to the parking lot at 1.85 miles, and ran OCD to fill out a 2 mile warmup; and the hamstring felt just a little better. I reasoned that 2 miles was right around where it was starting to warm up. Knowing that this might be a dumb decision, I decided to start the race. I resolved to keep it easy, and run the slowest 10K race of my life.
We stand around far too long in the cold for various pre-race speeches, then we start running. I see that initially, a pace of 8:15 per mile is about what I need for the hamstring. It's kind of interesting to see lots of runners pass me on a gentle downhill, then fall behind me on a gentle uphill. About a mile in, the hamstring warms up and I can run something closer to a true easy pace. Spend some time running 7:55 to 7:50, and making myself slow down when I see 7:30 pace.
Get to the turn a bit after 2 miles, and I'm no longer running directly into the north wind. My pace picks up naturally, gravitating toward marathon pace. I make myself slow down several more times before I give in to just running about 7:30 per mile. About 4.5 miles in, I pass my sports doc. I know I'm faster than him when I'm healthy, but I thought he was faster than my easy pace. Told him I'd been good for the first 4 miles, now now so compliant. At that point, I was running 7:24 per mile.
In the last mile, I see a tall guy that I'm gaining on. I know who that is, and he's in my age group. With less than a half mile to go, I start to put on a push to catch him; and the hamstring tells me that's a bad idea. So I let him go, and just finish at whatever pace the hamstring is happy with. I do a modest pickup to perhaps T level of effort for the finish chute, just because I don't want to be passed.
I end up finishing in 47:49, my slowest 10K ever. More importantly, my hamstring feels as good after the race as it did before the race. I was shocked to find I picked up second in my age group; first was the guy I didn't catch, 10 seconds faster than me. We were both behind, Charlie, who wasn't eligible for the age group because he took the 1st Senior (60+) award. But I would have been behind Charlie in any event; he ran a routine-for-him 10K that was more than a minute faster than my PR.
The medal, which will go into a box at the end of the year:
I'm out of space on my current year medal rack. I've doubled up on the last two spaces:
Miscellaneous observations: There aren't any truly major hills at RWG, but there are some that can be challenging if you push for a fast time. It was amazing how much easier the hills in the last half of the race are when running easy/MP instead of 10K race pace.
According to Garmin, my mile splits were 8:10, 7:52, 7:38, 7:31, 7:24, 7:26, and a 7:12 pace for the tag end after 6 miles. None of that is as fast as a threshold run for me. I'm familiar with passing people who are breathing hard because they went out too fast; it was kind of surreal to be breathing easy and passing people in the last half of the race who were breathing hard because they were running a 10K the way it's supposed to be run.
12º F feels a whole lot better when I'm running (even running easy) than when I'm walking or standing around.
I think I managed the race very well for the goal of keeping the hamstring from getting irritated. A couple years ago, I might not have been able to do this. Now, I am helped by the experience of managing the first half of a marathon to survive the second half well. It's not that different to manage a 10K to be slow.
Rest day tomorrow, both as a normally scheduled rest day and per doctor's order for the day after the race. Then I'll make a decision on whether I'll try to pace 11 or 12 miles on Saturday.
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) finished in 41:33
May 20, 2018 Lilac 10K (Rochester, NY) finished in 42:21
May 26, 2018 Sunset House 5K (Rochester, NY) finished in 20:12
June 3, 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon (Ann Arbor, MI) finished in 1:34:42
June 9, 2018 Ontario Summit Trail Half Marathon (Naples, NY) DNS - injury
June 17, 2018 Medved 5K to Cure ALS (Rochester, NY) short course, 18:04 for ~2.9 miles
June 30, 2018 Charlie's Old Goat Trail Run 5 mile (Victor, NY) 4.89 miles by Garmin, 43:15
July 14, 2018 Shoreline Half Marathon (Hamlin, NY) finished in 1:45:54
July 28, 2018 Battle at Bristol 10K (Naples, NY) survived in 1:28:33
August 1, 2018 IEXC 5K #1 (Rochester, NY) finished in 22:17
August 8, 2018 IEXC 5K #2 (Rochester, NY) finished in 22:10
August 15, 2018 Pound the Ground 10K (Mendon, NY) finished in 43:11
August 22, 2018 IEXC 5K #3 (Rochester, NY) finished in 21:59
August 29, 2018 IEXC 5K #4 (Rochester NY) finished in 22:00
August 29, 2018 IEXC TDP 1 mile (Rochester, NY) finished in 6:07
August 29, 2018 IEXC TDP 400m (Rochester, NY) finished in 1:14
September 2, 2018 Oak Tree Half Marathon (Geneseo, NY) finished in 1:36:41
September 9, 2018 Pete Glavin XC #1 5K (Newark, NY) 2.9 miles finished in 20:50.9
September 23, 2018 USATF Masters XC 5K (Buffalo, NY) finished in 20:03
September 30, 2018 Wineglass Marathon (Bath, NY to Corning, NY) finished in 3:18:02, PR with negative splits
October 7, 2018 Pete Glavin XC #2 6K (Akron Falls, NY) finished in 24:41
October 13, 2018 Finish Strong 15K (Hilton, NY) finished in 1:03:27
October 21, 2018 Pete Glavin XC #3 6K (Mendon, NY) finished in 24:17
November 4, 2018 Pete Glavin XC #4 6K (Trumansburg, NY) finished in 22:48
November 11, 2018 Syracuse Half Marathon (Syracuse, NY) finished in 1:40:21
November 18, 2018 Pete Glavin XC #5 8K (Syracuse, NY) DNS - injury
November 22, 2018 Race with Grace 10K (Hilton, NY) finished in 47:49
December 15, 2018 Freezeroo #1 (Don Curran Memorial 5K) (Gates, NY)
2019 Races:
January 1, 2019 Freezeroo #2 (Resolution Run 7.5 mile) (Mendon, NY)
January 5, 2019 Winter Warrior Half Marathon (Gates, NY)
January 12, 2019 Freezeroo #3 (Pineway Ponds 5 Mile) (Spencerport, NY)
January 26, 2019 Freezeroo #4 (Hearnish 5 mile) (Victory, NY)
February 9, 2019 Freezeroo #5 (Tom Brannon 8 mile) (Greece, NY)
February 23, 2019 Freezeroo #6 (White House Challenge 4.4 mile) (Webster, NY)
April 15, 2019 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA to Boston, MA)
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@MobyCarp @amirahdaboss Well done to you both!!!!1
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Whose streakin'?
I wanna do it. But think three days is where i falter. So. I declare that I'm streakin' and plan on making it past 3 days.
Its the perfect time to recommit to the" better me" goals.
How does a streak work. Simply run every day? What's the shortest distance you count, like 2k/1 mile?
Its a mile per day from Thanksgiving to new years. But i say set your own steak goal if you need to.
Set my own steak goal, ok then; I will. It is barbecue season here after all.
My goal is two eye fillet steaks a week for the months of December, January and February!!14 -
Today I got to run 3.25 miles around one of my usual lakes, but from a brand new starting point - my new house! Everything has been chaos around here but I DO plan on sitting down after dinner tonight and reading up on how everyone’s week went. Mine has been a doozy, for sure, and no way am I hitting my fitness goals this month, but that is okay.
I started the month wanting to do a 10K training program, but instead I’ll be going into the race on Saturday not having run more than five miles at a time since my half one month ago. I don’t think there’s a PR in my future, but that’s okay too. In the last four weeks I bought a house (doing most of the financial side of things myself and having changed banks three weeks before close), moved, and checked my mother into the hospital with heart failure. A lot of that was just the last week: we closed a week ago yesterday, spent most of the day Friday in the ER with mom before she was admitted, movers came Tuesday, and mom was released yesterday, which was also my first full 24 hours in the new house. Whew!
Never having owned a house, the whole thing is weirder than I expected. I get really excited about certain things, then really irritated at other things. I worry about having taken on so much more debt, but love the idea of slowly making this place into exactly what my husband and I want. And it’s been fun watching how excited he is about color-coordinating bathrooms and planning which rooms to redesign once the money frees up. As I was perfectly happy living in a rental with thrift store and alley rescued furniture, I’m glad one of us cares about that kind of thing.
Mom is doing okay - the doctors think her heart failure (primarily caused by atrial fibrillation probably caused by sleep apnea probably caused by inactivity, obesity, and smoking) is largely reversible with medication and lifestyle changes. Easier said than done, of course, but given how much mom really hated being in the hospital, I’m hoping staying out of it will be enough to get her going. And she REALLY hates having to take medication, so I’m encouraging her to see diet and exercise as a way to at least cut some of those back. And once again, I’m reminded of what my future could look like if I don’t take care of myself.
So yes, not as much running this month as I’d planned or would prefer, but I’m still going strong. My butt is still cold, sadly - the butt-coat has not been the solution I hoped for - but I’m making progress on the rest of my layers. I’ve only ran twice in the last week, with a four-day gap that felt like an eternity, maybe my longest stretch without running since April? My running cave (basement suite w/shower and walk-in closet) needs unpacking but shows promise. And Saturday I will add another medal to the rack, even if the rack is still bolted to the wall of the old house and the medals are in a box.7 -
ContraryMaryMary wrote: »Whose streakin'?
I wanna do it. But think three days is where i falter. So. I declare that I'm streakin' and plan on making it past 3 days.
Its the perfect time to recommit to the" better me" goals.
How does a streak work. Simply run every day? What's the shortest distance you count, like 2k/1 mile?
Its a mile per day from Thanksgiving to new years. But i say set your own steak goal if you need to.
Set my own steak goal, ok then; I will. It is barbecue season here after all.
My goal is two eye fillet steaks a week for the months of December, January and February!!
Hahaha! Love it! Mmmm.... I wanna steak. Ribeye be alright. The beef industry must have altered my post
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2---2.24 intervals
3---5.24 walk with DD
4---5.49 walk with DD
6---2.29 intervals
11---2.0 tm
15---2.05 tm
18--2.0 tm
22---1.01 run
22---4.45 walk
26.8/65 miles
7.1 miles cycling
Upcoming Maybe Races
December 1st Dinosaur Valley Endurance Run. 5 Mile Glen Rose TX
January 5 BIRR Ultra relay. 50k. Hawaii. For @KeepRunningFatboy
March 31, 2019 A2A Undecided distance. Ardmore OK
April 28, 2019 OKC Memorial Marathon (half)4 -
Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
11/01/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/02/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/03/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/04/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/05/18 :::: 3.0 :::: 3.0
11/06/18 :::: 3.2 :::: 6.2
11/07/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 6.2
11/08/18 :::: 3.0 :::: 9.2
11/09/18 :::: 3.0 :::: 12.2
11/10/18 :::: 5.5 :::: 17.7
11/11/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 17.7
11/12/18 :::: 1.2 :::: 18.9
11/13/18 :::: 1.4 :::: 20.3
11/14/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 20.3
11/15/18 :::: 4.6 :::: 24.9
11/16/18 :::: 0.0 :::: 24.9
11/17/18 :::: 5.3 :::: 30.2
11/18/18 :::: 4.5 :::: 34.7
11/19/18 :::: 4.5 :::: 39.2
11/20/18 :::: 3.9 :::: 43.2
11/21/18 :::: 4.2 :::: 47.4
11/22/18 :::: 5.1 :::: 52.4
As promised, the Turkey Trot was super cold this morning. About 10 degrees F with a below 0 wind chill. The "race" was very lowkey and not officially timed, with no bibs. One of my friends only wanted to do the 4k but we quickly shamed her into doing the 8k (same route twice) so we could all earn more pie. The wind was tough on one the outbound part of the course but the sun was out and it wasn't as bad as I feared. We almost finished last, which had a prize of a pumpkin pie, because most people ran or walked the 4k only - or really ran it rather than the nice conversational trot that we had going on. But my friend with me did win a pumpkin pie for being the oldest female finisher (who stuck around anyway). She can't eat gluten so I took the pie with me to my gathering, where it did not get eaten so I still have a whole pie. Please don't ask me over the next few days if I actually ate that pie all by myself because the answer may be yes.
Happy Thanksgiving to all those who observe it, and happy Friday to all tomorrow!
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Ok, the family has left, food has been put away and kitchen cleaned.
I am proud of my 5k today. I shaved 0:45 off each mile from the race 2 weeks ago. This makes me happy.
I am really trying to focus on my form and not just finishing. My oldest daughter, who is in the military, suggested that I focus on lengthening my strides and paying close attention to how much time neither foot was on the ground.
The stride thing made perfect sense, but my time off the ground.... that seemed bizarre to me initially, but once I was seeing it in action it made sense, too
The course today was much hillier than the last. The ups was easier to focus on strides. The downs I focused on both. It really felt good to feel the longer strides and floating down the hills.
47 ran/ 50 committed. I’ll hit my Nov goal tomorrow. 100 for December!!11 -
@MobyCarp @amirahdaboss @katharmonic Well done in your events!
@Beka3695 Great job on that pace improvement!1 -
Hope everyone who celebrates it had a Happy Thanksgiving!
I got double bling at my Turkey Trot, 3rd out of 56 in AG! Plus a PR! 27:03, previous best 28:17!
Man, it was crazy out there. A couple of days ago I was chatting with another runner who warned me that this Turkey Trot was very big and very crowded - hardly enough room to breathe, she said. I looked online at previous year's finishers to figure out how I wanted to run it - if there was no real chance for a placing I could just hang back and stay out of the scrimmage, but if I had a reasonable chance for the podium I wanted to go for it. And it was hard to say, depending on who showed up I could either win my AG or end up not even in the top dozen. So of course we decided to go for it.
The start line was set up confusingly and everyone lined up on the wrong side. The announcer had bad equipment and wasn't really audible, so it took some time for everyone to get the word about where they were supposed to be. Race started ten minutes after official start time, which gives you an idea of what a mess it was. Everyone pressed through the gate to the correct side and 2000 people all standing on top of each other. You couldn't flap your elbows and my husband remarked that if people didn't stop stepping on his shoes he was going to lose his temper. We fought to stay as close to the starting line as possible because I didn't want to deal with walkers, which put us a couple hundred people back. Then everyone moved out at top speed, first onto unpaved dirt road, then down a ditch, and onto a paved barely double wide track. It was wild! My husband and I went single file and I told him I was just going to pass as many people as I could as fast as I could and try to stay with me. At one point a little girl ran past me acting the fool - running backwards and weaving back and forth in front of other runners - I expected to see her fall and get flattened at any moment but then here comes her dad, who is a big, tall, athletic looking serious runner - who pushed me off the trail! I don't think he even noticed he did it, he was too concerned with his kid. I put a foot off the trail and wrenched my ankle pretty good but kept running and fortunately it seems to be okay. There was also a lady in front of us flinging her arms about wildly trying to keep other runners off of her. I said, "I'm passing crazy elbows lady, by whatever means necessary, try to pass when you can," and just ran like hell on a downhill, dodged her, and squeezed through. Somehow my husband managed to keep up with me. After about half a mile we had passed most of the trouble spots and people had mostly sorted themselves and settled into running, but that first half mile was an experience.
Despite all the dodging about our first split was 8:30, which is really, really fast for us. For comparison our fastest 5k pace previously was I think 9:17, and that was on a flat course, while this was hills, and my best single mile is barely under 8.
So once we were in the clear (still three and four people abreast on a double width trail) all we had to do was keep going. This is where our hillwork paid off, as several people unfamiliar with this trail could be heard gasping and cursing at the hills. Our second and third splits were slower but still in the low 9s, as we followed a strategy of passing people who pooped out on the uphill and just rolling down hill as fast and easy as possible. My husband said he started feeling like his heart was going to explode but said, it's just one tenth of a mile, you can do anything for a tenth of a mile... unfortunately a right angle turn on the finishing stretch kept us from getting any real finishing kick, but we made it in going WOOO because we could tell we had a PR.
Husband got himself a cinnamon bun while I got our results - he placed quite well also, 12 out 40 something - and then we tromped back to the car for our water bottles and MY cinnamon bun - I knew I couldn't eat theirs so I brought a 10 net carb 200 calorie cinnamon cranberry pecan muffin made with almond flour! Yay! Then we went for a walk around the lake wearing our bling. It was fun having two medals clanking together! The petting zoo for the Christmas village was setting up so I got to pet a goat, a donkey, a kangaroo, and a camel!
I feel like today had a lot of victories to it, my muffin turned out great, my diabetic safe pie was well received, my mom even complimented my salad (which had pecans, Granny Smith apples, and goat cheese) and by the time I got home my blood glucose was back under 100!
Check out the backdrop of porta potties at the photo booth!
I like the turkey made out of shoes.
Yes there were lots of turkey costumes!
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@rheddmobile Congratulations on your finish and personal record!!!0
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@amirahdaboss WTG with the PR! Especially in the cold. Love your outfit.
@MobyCarp I can't believe that pace is your "easy run." Glad you listened to your body and didn't aggravate your hamstring.
@katharmonic Good for you for doing the 8K. I'm in awe of all of you who are running in those temperatures.
@Beka3695 Congratulations on shaving off almost a minute from your time just 2 weeks ago!
@rheddmobile Congratulations on the double win!
I ordered a Garmin Forerunner 235 today! Got $50 off for an early Black Friday deal. Can't wait until it gets here. Hopefully, it will help motivate me to get off of my "you know what" and keep to my running schedule.9 -
Ok, the family has left, food has been put away and kitchen cleaned.
I am proud of my 5k today. I shaved 0:45 off each mile from the race 2 weeks ago. This makes me happy.
I am really trying to focus on my form and not just finishing. My oldest daughter, who is in the military, suggested that I focus on lengthening my strides and paying close attention to how much time neither foot was on the ground.
The stride thing made perfect sense, but my time off the ground.... that seemed bizarre to me initially, but once I was seeing it in action it made sense, too
The course today was much hillier than the last. The ups was easier to focus on strides. The downs I focused on both. It really felt good to feel the longer strides and floating down the hills.
47 ran/ 50 committed. I’ll hit my Nov goal tomorrow. 100 for December!!
This is fab. Just one word of caution - if you're trying to lengthen your stride, just ensure the extra length comes from pushing off and your feet stretching behind you, rather than stretching your feet forwards as you stride. You want to ensure your feet still land under your hips otherwise you're risking injury (spoken by someone who's been there!).10
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