November 2018 Monthly Running Challenge
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10K on trails, and that's goal for me for November! Now all I have to do is a couple of easy runs next week and then run St Jude 5k on the 1st of December.
Today could not have been more beautiful. 60 degrees and everything was golden. We were stopped by a small child who showed us his leaf collection.
I'm hoping the weather is nice for St Jude. For reasons I don't understand the 5k starts at 7 am. For the past couple of weeks the temperature at 7 has been below freezing - but it's supposed to be warmer on the 1st. And also raining. Maybe. 50% chance of rain right now, which means they haven't a clue what it's going to do.
I'm running the 5k at St Jude, rather than a longer distance, because it's the first race we ever ran (not counting a previous race which we walked) and we were hoping to compare our time now to our time then. But they have changed the course, so now I'm wishing we had picked up the 10K instead, for a couple of reasons. Last year the 5k started about an hour after the marathon and the 5k runners ran part of the course with the marathoners and half marathoners. This year the 5k and 10k are OVER before the longer distances even start. My guess is the more serious runners complained about having to navigate a slew of selfie-taking walkers, so the 5k got shunted into "who gets up this early" time slot. It's very disappointing though, because half the fun of this race was all the spectators and patients cheering as we passed through the St Jude Hospital Campus, and I'm assuming they are not going to wake up child cancer patients to cheer at the crack of dawn!
The other annoying thing is that parking and getting to this race is pretty much impossible. Last year I was crying and worrying that I might pass out from low blood sugar after THREE HOURS trapped in the car while police turned us away from every through road. We literally only escaped after the marathon ended and they lifted the road blocks. They must have gotten some complaints about this as well, because this year they sent a special mail explaining how to escape the cordon around the entire downtown area. Between the hours of 6:45 am and noon, there is ONE small road which you can use to get in and out, and if you missed the email, you might as well just lie down in the middle of the road, because you ain't going nowhere. If you are running the 5k, pick the wrong parking lot, and park at 6 am, before the cordon goes up, you can easily end up in a situation in which your car will not be allowed to exit the parking lot for five hours after your race is over. It's not a good situation and I feel like other cities which run major marathons must handle this better, because this is sort of insane. Also, they don't feed you, and there is no afterparty, unless you buy a special thousand dollar bracelet for the VIP pizza party. So we are bringing a cooler with food and drinks in case we get trapped for the whole day again, so at least this time I won't be in danger of fainting from lack of food.5 -
It was absolutely perfect weather here today!! Upper 60's, sunny, very slight breeze...amazing!
Got a quick run in before heading out to dinner with my family. My pace was about 30sec faster than usual, I think because the weather was so nice. I felt a little winded toward the end, but overall it was a pretty easy run.
This year I have been the best I have ever been about keeping up a regular running schedule and I am steadily working through my 10k trainer. It's really paying off as I am seeing myself running further and on my short run days my pace is slowly creeping down. I've always been a slow and steady kind of runner, so it's still a little wierd seeing my speed pick up! It is super motivating!!
I probably won't make goal for November, but it's going to be close!
Upcoming Races:
Rodeo Run 10k (my first) - 2/23/2019
Run Houston! Minute Maid Park 10k - 3/23/2019
10 for Texas - 10 miler - 10/2019
Wine and Dine half marathon (my first) - 11/3/2019
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Treadmill’d it today. The weather was decent but I was lazy and by the time I worked up the motivation to run it was dark out, so I did it to myself. Did 4.4 miles total, but I walked the first mile so I’m only counting 3.4!
This is TMI but I forgot my sports bra and was subjected to running in a regular bra. Let me just say, my nipples are on fire 😭😭😭
It looks like I may actually make my goal this month!
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
11/24: 3.4 miles
Cumulative for November: 43/50 miles9 -
The fires in California are very much in the news here with so many families losing everything. I cried when I read this story of how the running community came out and supported one HS runner whose family lost everything and he missed the race where he could qualify for the State level competition. https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a25245922/runner-second-chance-camp-fire/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_rnw&utm_medium=email&date=112418&utm_campaign=RNW 2018-11-24 -- New Day 16&utm_term=New Day 161
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I thought about running today but my right foot is still twinging at times. So I went shopping for new trail shoes instead.
These have an 8mm drop, so pretty much right between the two pairs of road shoes I alternate between. The tread isn't as aggressive as my Peregrine Ice+ but these will be great for most of what I'll be running with them.
Taking running day by day right now. Since I had some sensation today I won't attempt until Tuesday. Starting to get stir-crazy though.7 -
Run With The Wind Half Marathon in Ararat Wind Farm.
Ran it as easy as the tough elevation would allow.
Official Time 2:35:38
683 metres elevation (2241 ft). Maybe 100 metres of it was flat, the rest hills.
Gradient-adjusted pace: 6:36 / km or 10:37 / mi
36th of 40 entrants, 19th of 21 females.
Out and back course, 2 laps.
Rocky gravel trail!
The runners were very friendly. As well as the HM, there were 5 km and 10 km runners, so it was nice to see them all on your way out/back. Lots of high-fives from friends, and plenty of encouragement from strangers.
Took lots of photos!
I'll spoiler the rest.
Really pleased I did this event! Wasn't aiming to smash it. I just entered for the location and its photo opportunities.
A really tough but rewarding course.
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I'll make a better post later.
Turkey trot complete. 1000s of people. No pr but my friends ran their first 8k. This was my first race and first 8k a few years back too.
I'm on day 3 of my streak. Doing the rw streak. Snowstorm in the forecast for tomorrow.
My friend finishing
Cinnamon rolls instead of medals
Yesterday's mile we techless. Today i did it in my trot shirt
Dogs for dogs sake
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@Orphia Great pictures and race!
@mbaker566 your friend does not look happy. I assume he wishes the race was a lot longer? Also... PUPPIES! 1 -
No run today, tomorrow I should be able to return to running. Soon I will need to start planning out my training for my 50k. Going to be tough with the new job and new schedule, but, eh, something will work out I am sure.
Still need to figure out what happened with my back too, but I have some ideas to try...3 -
been a bit mia while visiting family. have injured my hip, its sore when i sit cross legged or in awkward positions, and while i walk. odly not sore when i run. we go home tomorrow. not sure if i should run - planning on 10k - or rest...plane is at 12:30 so i have time.2
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@Orphia awesome pics!!
Im thinking of saving for a hydration pack... what would you all recommend. no trails, just road running.
I would recommend a Wunjo sports pack: https://wunjosports.com/collections/all
I personally run with their X5, but you might only want the X2 (which is only $26!!). They are an excellent pack that is far more reasonably priced than most.1 -
Great job on your HM @Orphia - cool place to run!
Nice job on the Turkey Trot @mbaker566. Love the doggos in their sweaters.2 -
11-1 Rest
11-2 7k intervals
11-3 7k easy
11-4 10.5k slow
11-5 7k recovery
11-6 Rest
11-7 7k intervals
11-8 7k easy
11-9 Rest
11-10 7k
11-11 10.5k slow
11-12 7k recovery
11-13 Rest
11-14 7k intervals
11-15 7k recovery
11-16 Rest
11-17 7k easy
11-18 10.5k slow
11-19 7k recovery
11-20 Rest
11-21 7k intervals
11-22 7k easy
11-23 Rest
11-24 7k easy
11-25 7k slow
November total: 136.5k
November goal: 150k
Today was supposed to be a 10.5k day slow, but my legs told me they weren't running 10.5k today. We compromised on 7k slow before we started, so I could avoid guilt for not running what I would normally run.
Looking at my recent times, I saw that I had really been running harder than I should have, and the bill for that came due today. Continuing my education.
@Orphia Great half and photos!! Glad you had enough left to leap across the finish line!5 -
Happy late Thanksgiving. It's been way too long since I posted and need to get back to the challenge, I've missed you all. I've been running on and off, but taking care of Skip has taken over the past couple of months. Since you all have been her virtual family I wanted to let you know what is happening with her. First thank you to those of you who have been there to give me advice and help me help her.
As most of you know Skip went to college in August on a running scholarship. She was so excited and the first few weeks were wonderful. She was getting along fairly well with her dorm mates (after a bit of a rocky start with her actual room mate) and things seemed good. She was busy with school, running and generally all the things you expect at college. After a few weeks she started to seem like something was wrong, she was having problems with her team mates, some of it of her own making and some not. She had started to drink, she swears one time and got drunk, and some other behaviors that I didn't appreciate, behaviors that were just not her. She started to lie to me about the littlest things and her grades started to drop. Seems the boys on the team started to treat their dorm room like their own and just stayed there whenever they wanted, against school rules. She told them they couldn't stay there every night (they would sleep in the living room on the futon I supplied) or with their girlfriends in the other bedroom. It ended in a big fight and the boys stealing the futon when she wasn't in the room. At this point I had heard enough and listened to Skip cry enough about how she was being bullied. For the record I only believe 50% of what she tells me and that was bad enough. I called campus security, that blew up into a whole thing with the Coach. The Head Coach (this is what Skip was told) told the team to ice Skip out, don't talk to her and isolate her from the team. She talked to him over the weekend and he swears that is not what he said he told them to stay in their own damn dorm room where they belong. Who knows. It's been months of he said she said.
Anyway...at a meet in October a mom told me something else about Skip that sent me into orbit. I dragged her home from the meet telling the Assistant Coach that I wasn't sure she would be back. It was the most horrible weekend of my life, and trust me it was hers too. I drove her back to school that Sunday with a promise to me she would get her *kitten* together. She tried, she really tried, she stop hanging out with the team (the issue is really the freshman) and started going back to church, joined a local youth group, starting hanging out with others outside the team. Well evidently this pissed some of the team off and they decided to make her life a living hell. This I know is the truth a team member told me that herself, so I didn't hear it from Skip. They would steal her food off her plate in the cafe when she got up for a drink, tell her practice changed to another place and then tell Coach they had no idea where she was, they would let her sleep through her alarm, etc etc. One even pushed her. No matter how she tried to separate herself from it she couldn't. It got to the point that one girl's mom reached out to me that her daughter was afraid Skip couldn't take much more and would harm herself. The worst phone call I have ever received in my life.
I drove to the school and spent the day with her and she said she could make it to Christmas break but she couldn't go back next semester. Okay I was fine with that. Again she tired to separate herself. At this point she did manage to get her grades up, she spoke to her professors and they helped her out, she dropped one class at the teachers recommendation so it wouldn't pull down her GPA. She started seeing a counselor at school and would spend a night or day a week at her friend's dorm room to get out of hers. Yes I realize she should have moved dorms but she refused to let them force her out, afterall she still had to be with these people. I was very proud of how she was doing, she was setting new PRs at meets and seemed okay, though she looked awful from being afraid to sleep at night.
She made it to regionals and I went to Florida to see her run. No matter what she said or did a couple girls on the team were just out to get her. The coach and I had an argument because I felt he was allowing this to continue instead of putting a stop to it. They all went back to school and Sunday night she calls me that the room mates are livid at her and she doesn't know why, she has had enough she's scared and physically getting sick from it. I sent her to a hotel for the next 3 days, this was this past week. The assistant coach sent her a text that accused her of telling me that he was making sexual advances at the girls on the team, she never told me that and she was really upset that he would accuse her of that or that someone would tell him something so awful. Then I found out that the Coach (supposedly) told one of the girls that Skip said her mom tried to poison her (they went there for lunch while at regionals). Skip would never ever said something so awful about someone's parent, she called me hysterical (that is why she ended up in a hotel). That was it, they finally broke her. She wanted to come home now.
She went to all her professors asked if she could take her finals now. She could not, but they all told her go home, finish up the semester here with me and then come back for the 3 days of finals. One teacher even told her not to come back for his final, that he drops one bad grade every semester and would drop her final grade still giving her a high B in his class. He was so sweet, she said prayed with her and even got teary eyed to think people could be bulling her so badly that it came to this.
So Thanksgiving day I went out there packed her all up and brought her home. Thursday night was the first time I've slept more than 3 hours in months. She emailed the head coach and the athletic director thanking them for the opportunity and explaining for her mental health she couldn't stay there. We have applied for a waiver with the NCAA so she can run somewhere else, the school will approve it so hopefully she won't get a penalty. For the next semester she plans to go to community college and has started looking at 4 year schools again, she cannot talk to coaches, but her high school coach can and is eager to find her another school to run at. Besides all of this, if you can imagine there is more, the assistant coach has offered to buy Skip alcohol and basically has beat her down in texts to her personally and to members of the team (I have all the texts). One of Skip's team mates was her saving grace (along with a couple older team mates) and I won't do anything to jeopardize their senior track season, however, the school has not heard the end of me. I sent what a thought was a smart well adjusted 18 year old to their school and got a broken child in return who just keeps crying. In defense of the school itself, they have done everything to help her, I think that is what upsets her most, she loves the school. It's the way the running program is handling that is insane. The more I talk to people and the more I see and the more I investigate things, there is a lot of not so good happening with that program.
Anyway, I'm sorry for the long post, and probably it's more than you all ever needed to know about mine or Skip's personal life. But you all have always been such great supporters of my girl I wanted to let you know. On a side note she did have a great season, once she decided to get her crap together and I'm very proud of her. A local coach even talked to her and said "tell me why we didn't recruit you" ha ha. It will take time for me to trust her, but we are working on that. Many of things she did I expected from a college freshman away from home for the first time, however, the lying to me is not acceptable and she knows that.
If you are the praying kind, please say a pray for my girl, I know more *kitten* will hit the fan when the kids get back to school today. All the furniture, curtains etc in the dorm belonged to her so it's all gone from the room. The futon she insisted we throw away because who knows what was done on it yuck! She is waiting to block everyone on social media until they get there, she feels better handling it that way.
TL:DR Skip screwed up, got bullied, left school and is home.
Thanks.
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@skippygirlsmom I was just thinking of you yesterday and wondering how Skip was doing. I can't even express my thoughts right now but they involve a whole string of *kittens.* Now that Skip is well clear of that program I hope you will follow up with the Dean of Students, the RA, whoever the boss of the RA is, and other people at the school, because it doesn't sound to me as though the school did everything they could to help her - at least not at the highest level - if this sort of nonsense is allowed to continue until some future girl does kill herself they will have lawsuits, and surely they don't want that.
Will definitely pray for you and Skippy! Enjoy your rest, you have earned some peace.5 -
Yesterday I got to run 6.31 miles in the Mustache Run 10K. It was the first time I’d run more than five miles in a month so I was a little worried, but it turned out just fine. My official time (1:04:56) was even a little faster than my last 10K, making it a PR, which surprises me a little bit given the weather and how I’ve gotten out of shape, but I definitely ran a faster front half and I suppose that adds up.
This particular run I picked partially because of the timing, partially because it looked like a fun and well organized race, and partially because I appreciate the cause: raising awareness and funds for prostate cancer and men's health. My husband has had two colonoscopies in the past four years that came up with numerous pre-cancerous polyps, and if it weren't for some freak (and apparently unrelated) abdominal pain several years ago that led to the first colonoscopy, he could easily be dead of cancer right now. So I run because he can't... because he's a lazy so-and-so.
With five races under my belt, we are starting to get into a comfortable routine. Up an hour before we need to leave the house, get to the venue 30-45 minutes in advance, he drops me off to register while he goes to find parking, then a little awkward chatting and people watching before I head to the start and he goes to find a place to take a starting line picture/video. Then he goes to a coffee shop for an hour or so of work (or in this case, reading books on interior design) before meeting me at the finish line.
It was a little warmer than expected, around 40 when we left at 7:30, and very humid. My lower layers worked out well, but I ended up a little too warm on my top half - I’d have been fine with a short-sleeved shirt under my windbreaker and the official event hat, while amusing, was much too warm for running. My hands never really warmed up - usually that’s one of the first places to get warm but I think maybe the wet cold was getting to me.
The race started and ended at the same place as my very first race back on the Fourth of July - just across the river from downtown, along the riverfront and across the Stone Arch Bridge, a railroad turned pedestrian bridge which I think is the second oldest remaining bridge crossing the Mississippi. Today’s route added a few miles with an out-and-back downstream from the bridge, which was mostly downhill on the way out and mostly uphill on the way back. Apparently I haven’t lost all of my juice, though, because I was able to get through it without too much trouble.
I started a little faster than I’d planned - around 10:30/mile - but settled into it and decided to just let it ride out. After the hill I accelerated and started picking people off and put in a mile at 9’35”, which is pretty zippy for me but not nearly as fast as I finished the last 10K. There were a lot of walkers at this point, which was a bit of a drag.
I think I should continue to push my early pace bit by bit and see how that does me - my first 10K I gradually increased from miles 1-5 before opening up for the last mile and change. This time I ran a pretty steady pace over 1-4, with a slower 5 because of the hill, and a moderately fast last mile. I’d be curious to see what my time would look like with an easy first mile or two, then more juice for miles 3-5 before the closing sprint. Maybe I’ll find out in two weeks, assuming that the weather doesn’t throw a huge wrench in the works. Ice on the ground doesn’t really lend itself to speed-work.
Starting photo!
Why I run: SHINY AND AMUSING MEDALS!
NOVEMBER MILES:
11/1 Th - 0:40:01 - 3.76
11/2 Fr - rest
11/3 Sa - 0:30:46 - 2.93
11/4 Su - rest
11/5 Mo - 0:55:43 - 5.07
11/6 Tu - rest
11/7 We - 0:43:29 - 3.70
11/8 Th - rest
11/9 Fr - 0:42:05 - 3.63
11/10 Sa
11/11 Su
11/12 Mo - 0:41:59 - 3.72
11/13 Tu
11/14 We - 0:54:52 - 5.07
11/15 Th
11/16 Fr
11/17 Sa
11/18 Su
11/19 Mo - 0:42:54 - 3.70
11/20 Tu
11/21 We
11/22 Th - 0:36:15 - 3.25
11/23 Fr
11/24 Sa - 1:05:24 - 6.31
November Total: 41.14/75 miles
2018 Races!
July 4: Red, White and Boom! 5K Chip time: 0:32:20
August 25: Glo Run Night Race 5K Chip time: 0:30:40
September 8: Helen Gold 10K DNS - trip postponed
September 9: City of Lakes Half Marathon Net time: 2:28:25
October 6: Twin Cities Marathon Weekend 10K Chip time: 1:05:14
October 21: Mankato Half Marathon Chip time: 2:29:25
November 24: Mustache Run 10K Chip time: 1:04:56
December 8: Reindeer Run 10K + 5K15 -
@skippygirlsmom I too have been thinking about you and skip. I'm so sorry to hear she's had such a rough start to college. Personally I'd go scorched earth on the school. The actual school may be fine but they allowed their run program to be run like that. They knew what was going on and ignored it. I feel so angry for both of you. Biggest hugs.1
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@skippygirlsmom: That is appalling - I am so sorry to hear about it both for you and for Skip.0
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