February 2019 Monthly Running Challenge
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8k trail race at Nesbit Park (Stanky Creek) today! Race #3 in the Memphis Runners' Track Club Winter off-road series.
I have to admit today's race made me a little apprehensive! My husband and I had been out to Stanky Creek to practice on the trails there four times, and three out of the four, one of us face-planted. I even fell IN the CREEK! This course is pretty small potatoes to real trail runners, but is a lot more technical than our usual trails, the most technical course in the series. Slightly more than five miles (it's officially listed as '8+ K') of dirt bike trails, single wide, hilly, wet, crossing several little streams. The thing that's brutal though is the large stepped roots of ancient oak trees, five unrelenting miles of leaping up and down stairs, where any mistake might catch your foot under a root and pitch you headfirst into a nearby tree. And when we get tired, we make lots of mistakes!
The weather was chilly (about 45 F) and spitting rain, but thankfully didn't start to pour until after the race was over. However, it had been pouring for two days previously, and the track was soup, with the creek itself about ankle deep.
The course starts on roads before turning into the woods. We decided to pursue our usual tactic of seeding ourself at the back of the second corral (aka the fast older people corral), running hard on the road, and then relaxing in the woods where passing is more difficult. We knew that we couldn't run the first half mile as hard as we ran it in the previous race, or we would run out of steam. We also knew that we were seeding ourselves somewhat ambitiously - the second corral is 8-10 minute pace, and from our practice efforts it seemed we would be lucky to break 11. But looking around at mostly familiar faces from the two previous races, it appeared others were also seeding themselves optimistically. And when we started, the pace of the people nearby was about what we had planned for.
This is the first race I have run in my Altra Timps. The first two races in the series, I ran in my Salomon Speedcross 4's, which are fast on roads, and have intense traction, with lugs almost like cleats. The Salomons have been great, but they have a substantial drop, which makes them uncomfortable for running hills, and the zero drop Timps, while not as grippy in wet conditions, are my magical mountain goat ballerina shoes when it comes to bouncing up and down hills. I made the call that the ascents and descents were more critical than the mud.
It turned out to be a good call. Except for one very gluey turn near the end, where my soles got completely clotted with solid mud and everyone was skating around like pigs on ice, the Timps had plenty of traction, and they glided beautifully up and down hills.
I had been worried that we would end up with a lot of people trying to pass us when we hit the woods. I have a knee with no ACL, and although I race with a knee brace, I negotiate obstacles slowly, so as not to land on it crooked and dislocate it. But as it turned out, during the first half of the race, we were handling the rough terrain at about the same pace as the people in front of us. During the second half of the race, a handful of very fast young guys who had mistakenly seeded themselves in the third corral scrambled by us, but mostly we were where we needed to be. This was largely because I was feeling confident and attacked the terrain without hesitating. There was only one place, an unexpectedly washed out mud slide down into the creek, where I hesitated, and I feel okay about that since several people who didn't hesitate there ended up sliding down the hill on parts other than their feet! Highlighting the danger, we saw one young woman get carried out by EMTs with an injured leg. I didn't hear what had happened to her.
About mile four my husband's exercise induced asthma started bothering him, the aforementioned young guys cut between us, and we got separated. Later he mostly caught up and finished fifteen seconds behind me.
The final big obstacle is the leap down and across Stanky itself, and from there it's a straight shot, wet but otherwise not tricky, back to the road. At the time my husband and I crossed it, there were ropes strung across the creek, but no one manning them because everyone was just running up and down the incline. Later when we went back to take a picture, the slower people were crossing, and there were volunteers holding the ropes while runners held on to them to cross. One nice thing about this series is that it makes an effort to be all-inclusive - there were expert trail runners, small children, people at all levels of fitness and experience, and an 81 year old woman, who was running the race on her birthday!
My time was 53:14, which was a 10:38 pace. My husband and I both gave this one our all, so whatever happened as far as results, we were happy with ourselves. Going into this race, I was tied for fourth in my Age Group in the series, with the three women ahead of me all being much faster and more experienced runners. I knew that the only way for me to beat any of them was if they didn't show up. Well... one of them didn't show up! So I placed third in AG, and fifth grandmaster, which moves me into 3rd in AG in the series, and gets me a second GM point.
The woman I was tied with DNS, which is a little disappointing because I was looking forward to seeing who would win this time. However, I know from previous years' results that two years ago she ran this same course, with a pace of... exactly 10:38! Holy cow we are evenly matched.
The final race in the series is a 10k at Shelby Farms 2 weeks from now. If the woman leading my AG finishes the 10k, she has enough points to win, regardless of what anyone else does. The second pace person could still beat her if she doesn't show. Both are far enough ahead of me that I can't make enough points to beat either of them. I am a single point ahead of the woman who was previously third. If she beats me, and if she shows up she will, she will push me back to fourth. Unless I DNS for some reason or someone runs very differently than their previous paces, the people behind me are not likely to move up.
Some pictures:Me on the final straight run home:
Me and Stanky after the race!
My husband's and my shoes, after the race:
Stanky crossing:
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I was not feeling it tonight. I delayed my long run this week because I had a party Friday night. So, I was supposed to do it today. I went climbing yesterday and did some really hard routes and I am pretty sore today. And I had a headache all day. Just feeling lazy. But, my first 10k is in 2 weeks and I had already missed a long run last week because I was sick.
So, I made a deal with myself to do at least 4 miles, the bridge and back. Once I got there, I told myself that the end of the road wasn't that far, so I decided to do that. Then, by the time I was back to my street, I was only 10 minutes short on the run my plan called for. I managed to talk myself into adding on this loop to finish out the full 55 minutes.
So, there. I did my stupid long run. And it ended up being a good run. I did 5.7 miles in 55 minutes for a pace of about 9:35 overall. Really good for me at that distance. I feel like my runs have gotten easier since I upped my calories.
2/1: 1.4 miles
2/2: 3.5 miles
2/3: 3.3 miles
2/4: 1.5 miles
2/6: 3.4 miles
Feb total: 13.1 miles
Feb goal: 40 miles
2019 Races:
Piney Woods Trailfest 5k - 2/2/2019 29.23
Rodeo Run 10k - 2/23/2019 registered
Run Houston! Minute Maid Park 10k - 3/23/2019 registered
Brazos Bend 50 10k - 4/6/2019 registered
Galveston Island Wine Festival Champagne Fun Run 5k - 4/27/2019
El Chupacabra de Houston 10k (night trail run) - 8/2019
TWRC Run WIld Run Free 5k - 9/2019
10 for Texas 10 Miler - 10/2019 registration opens Jan 2019
Wine and Dine half marathon - 11/3/2019
Run the Year 2019 - Team Five for Nineteen
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@garygse Beautifully done! Hooray for Pike! So cool to have another BQ runner on the challenge.
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Fantastic race @garygse. Very inspiring, and really shows that good training works. Awesome work.4
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JulieS3103 wrote: »Congrats @greyparks206 @garygse You both had awesome races!!
For my race report -
Today was the Steve Cullen 8k race, it was 10F with no wind so I was super excited about that. Last year I finished in 55:43 and I knew I could run it faster this year but I didn't really have a specific goal in mind. I was a little nervous about ice but they did a great job salting so I never slipped once. The course is really nice that you get to see other racers when you turn around at 3 points and I had friends racing as well so I know I run faster when I get to see friends out there. I was looking at my time every now and then and I realized I was going to get my 5K PR by a few seconds and I still had 2 miles to go. I still felt pretty good at this point so I covered up my Garmin and just kept going. I did get a side cramp in mile 4 but it wasn't too bad. The finish is on a hill so that was tough but I finished in 48:56!! I'm so excited and it was a great race to start off 2019 with.
Awesome job2 -
@garygse - great race report! I think we should all make a toast or salute to Pike or whoever we have who comes to help us get through! I had one in a HM I was ready to DNF and an old friend showed up just at that moment and helped me get to the finish. Neither of us knew the other was a runner and I was amazed she saw and recognized me. It is unlikely I would have finished without her.
@HonuNui - DH taped it for me and I watched it this evening after I got home. There were some fast dogs there. I wish I could go to the Agility Nationals in Oklahoma in March to see the dogs run there. Hmmm.... maybe a road trip to visit @elise4270!
@rheddmobile - loved the race report and congratulations on a great trail race! Also loved the pictures!8 -
Massive well done to everyone who raced this weekend and thank you for all your fantastic reports - so inspiring! You've made me want to sign up for a few more races this year.
Just a treadmill run for me today. Also think my miles will drop this week thanks to life getting in the way, although hoping I can fit in a longish run on my day off on Friday but this will depend on not staying out too late with a friend the night before!
01Feb - 1.85 miles (treadmill)
03Feb - 3.85 miles (outside)
04Feb - 1.8 miles (treadmill)
07Feb - 1.85 miles (treadmill)
08Feb - 2 miles (treadmill)
09Feb - 6.8 miles (outside)
11Feb - 2 miles (treadmill)
Total to date: 20.15 miles of 405 -
Well my 100 mile challenge is.... Going anyway!
I've now done 10 days straight and the legs are really starting to feel tired now! I was going to plan a break into this week but I'd forgotten about the Fortnite competition I'm bringing my son to on Saturday, so no long run on Saturday which means I have to keep going this week...
I'm using "first day to 5k" program on www.podrunner.com
2nd - 10.44km (w4, w3, w2)
3rd - 10.31km (w4, w3, w2)
4th - 1.84 km (short due to leggings being too big!)
5th - 3.84km (w4)
6th - 4.08km (w4)
7th - 4.11km (w4)
8th - 4.18km (w4)
9th - 11.12km (w4, w3, w2)
10th - 11.18km (w5-1, w4, we)
11th - 4.08km (w5 d1)
Total so far - 65.17 km/ 161.93km (40%)
https://www.facebook.com/donate/2069247306698727/?fundraiser_source=external_url
Planning on a 10km on 11th may, trying to aim for <75 mins. (Best so far was 1 18 so 3 mins off is doable right?)9 -
@rheddmobile well done! Sounds like you just need to trip someone at the next race and you got this in the bag!
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PastorVincent wrote: »Today's plan was to do a "2 hour run" - but instead I worked on tax prep paperwork for 4 hours. That should count I think! And it turns out that I can not finish as I had planned cause I am missing documents. Yay! Now to spend all those wonderful hours calling/emailing/begging people to send documents so that I can pay the government off for another year...
(I really have no problem paying taxes, just wish it was not so flipping complicated to do! I mean could you imagine if McDonalds made you fill out 500 forms and what not before they allowed you to give them money? Crazy!)
Ever since I read about the Scandinavian system of sending pre-filled tax returns the clunkiness of the US tax system has really chapped my kitten. And then I found out how much money TurboTax has put into lobbying against streamlining tax filing and let’s just say I definitely don’t give them money anymore.
If running pants came with back pockets, I would totally try the hand-warmer thing.2 -
@garygse - I got teary reading your report! Love Pike!
@7lenny7 - Beautiful pics! Poor Kody getting full of those little things. Whatever they are called - I call them velcro balls.
@shanaber - you definitely need a road trip with Hobbes! Congrats!
Thanks for the congrats everybody! I didn't eat or drink enough Saturday afternoon/evening after the duathlon. Wait, I did drink enough but not of a proper rehydration drink. And I mixed wine with Fireball shots. So I paid for it Sunday. A regular old-fashioned hangover. I'm too old for this nonsense. Oh well, it was fun on Saturday night. l
2/1 - Rest Day
2/2 - 37 miles cycling
2/3 - 48 miles cycling
2/4 - 4.5 miles + strength training - upper body
2/5 - 5 miles! + strength training - glutes/abs
2/6 - 4.5 miles
2/7 - strength training - upper body
2/8 - rest day
2/9 - Duathlon - 5k, 20K bike, 2.5K - that was tough!
2/10 - rest
2/11 - 4 miles
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@garygse loved your race report - so inspiring and I am so happy for you.
@rheddmobile loved your report too! Great job - looks so fun, but tough! Good luck finishing up the series!
@martaindale I love this: "So, there. I did my stupid long run." I need that t-shirt. I can so relate to the thought process and bargaining with yourself. You did it! And nice pace.
Here we go with another week, friends. I feel like I don't know how this one is going to go at all, so I'm just going to try to coffee up and kick *kitten* to the best of my ability.6 -
2/8 - 2 miles
2/9 - 3 miles
Was a bit cold yesterday, but made the warm hot chocolate afterwards all the more worth it 😋6 -
I am late to the party but finally made it. I am now 11 weeks away from my 1/2 marathon in Scotland. My goal this month is to run 100 miles. It will be the first time I have accomplished that. Yesterday, I had my longest single run ever at 5 miles. I averaged 14.13 minute pace which is pretty good considering I normally average about 15.30 minutes on the road. This weekend is my first 6 mile run. I'm going to extend it to 6.2 so that I can officially earn my VRC Acadia medal I've also gotten much better at treadmill running. I am still ridiculously slow but can run for miles instead of minutes.
I wish I could catch up with everyone and personally tell each of you how awesome you are but I have a riveting paper on the Transportation and Warehousing of rice in the Walmart China Supply Chain waiting to be completed.
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2-1 7k easy
2-2 7k easy
2-3 Rest
2-4 7k easy
2-5 Rest
2-6 7k slow
2-7 7k intervals
2-8 Rest
2-9 7k slow
2-10 12k slow
2-11 7k recovery
February Total: 61k
February Goal: 100k
Next year when you pop in here claiming your December 2019 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?
Run at least 4 5k races.
Get under 30:00 and a PR for 5k.
Average at least 135k per month, which would put me over 1,000 miles for the year.
Run the Year Team: Five for Nineteen
Sloppy, snowy, slushy, icy this morning with the temperature right at 32 degrees F.
@shanaber If we do have a turtle race, I'll be glad to represent the 65 - 70 age group. I can rock slow almost as well as I rock rest.7 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »PastorVincent wrote: »Today's plan was to do a "2 hour run" - but instead I worked on tax prep paperwork for 4 hours. That should count I think! And it turns out that I can not finish as I had planned cause I am missing documents. Yay! Now to spend all those wonderful hours calling/emailing/begging people to send documents so that I can pay the government off for another year...
(I really have no problem paying taxes, just wish it was not so flipping complicated to do! I mean could you imagine if McDonalds made you fill out 500 forms and what not before they allowed you to give them money? Crazy!)
Ever since I read about the Scandinavian system of sending pre-filled tax returns the clunkiness of the US tax system has really chapped my kitten. And then I found out how much money TurboTax has put into lobbying against streamlining tax filing and let’s just say I definitely don’t give them money anymore.
If running pants came with back pockets, I would totally try the hand-warmer thing.
if you get a cycling shirt, it might cover your bum and many of them come with a back pocket(s)1 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »PastorVincent wrote: »Today's plan was to do a "2 hour run" - but instead I worked on tax prep paperwork for 4 hours. That should count I think! And it turns out that I can not finish as I had planned cause I am missing documents. Yay! Now to spend all those wonderful hours calling/emailing/begging people to send documents so that I can pay the government off for another year...
(I really have no problem paying taxes, just wish it was not so flipping complicated to do! I mean could you imagine if McDonalds made you fill out 500 forms and what not before they allowed you to give them money? Crazy!)
Ever since I read about the Scandinavian system of sending pre-filled tax returns the clunkiness of the US tax system has really chapped my kitten. And then I found out how much money TurboTax has put into lobbying against streamlining tax filing and let’s just say I definitely don’t give them money anymore.
If running pants came with back pockets, I would totally try the hand-warmer thing.
if you get a cycling shirt, it might cover your bum and many of them come with a back pocket(s)
I have heard that cycling shirts are longer, but I didn't know about the pockets! I'm pretty short so most shirts are long enough for some rear coverage, though it's taken some trial and error to figure out what to tuck into what for comfort and so on. Honestly, I think the thing I miss the most about running in the summer is not having to think so much about my clothes.1 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »PastorVincent wrote: »Today's plan was to do a "2 hour run" - but instead I worked on tax prep paperwork for 4 hours. That should count I think! And it turns out that I can not finish as I had planned cause I am missing documents. Yay! Now to spend all those wonderful hours calling/emailing/begging people to send documents so that I can pay the government off for another year...
(I really have no problem paying taxes, just wish it was not so flipping complicated to do! I mean could you imagine if McDonalds made you fill out 500 forms and what not before they allowed you to give them money? Crazy!)
Ever since I read about the Scandinavian system of sending pre-filled tax returns the clunkiness of the US tax system has really chapped my kitten. And then I found out how much money TurboTax has put into lobbying against streamlining tax filing and let’s just say I definitely don’t give them money anymore.
If running pants came with back pockets, I would totally try the hand-warmer thing.
if you get a cycling shirt, it might cover your bum and many of them come with a back pocket(s)
I have heard that cycling shirts are longer, but I didn't know about the pockets! I'm pretty short so most shirts are long enough for some rear coverage, though it's taken some trial and error to figure out what to tuck into what for comfort and so on. Honestly, I think the thing I miss the most about running in the summer is not having to think so much about my clothes.
I have two words for you that will solve the pocket issue: Duct Tape.5 -
PastorVincent wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »PastorVincent wrote: »Today's plan was to do a "2 hour run" - but instead I worked on tax prep paperwork for 4 hours. That should count I think! And it turns out that I can not finish as I had planned cause I am missing documents. Yay! Now to spend all those wonderful hours calling/emailing/begging people to send documents so that I can pay the government off for another year...
(I really have no problem paying taxes, just wish it was not so flipping complicated to do! I mean could you imagine if McDonalds made you fill out 500 forms and what not before they allowed you to give them money? Crazy!)
Ever since I read about the Scandinavian system of sending pre-filled tax returns the clunkiness of the US tax system has really chapped my kitten. And then I found out how much money TurboTax has put into lobbying against streamlining tax filing and let’s just say I definitely don’t give them money anymore.
If running pants came with back pockets, I would totally try the hand-warmer thing.
if you get a cycling shirt, it might cover your bum and many of them come with a back pocket(s)
I have heard that cycling shirts are longer, but I didn't know about the pockets! I'm pretty short so most shirts are long enough for some rear coverage, though it's taken some trial and error to figure out what to tuck into what for comfort and so on. Honestly, I think the thing I miss the most about running in the summer is not having to think so much about my clothes.
I have two words for you that will solve the pocket issue: Duct Tape.
might i suggest velcro instead
@MegaMooseEsq here's an example
example 2
ooh zippers0 -
PastorVincent wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »MegaMooseEsq wrote: »PastorVincent wrote: »Today's plan was to do a "2 hour run" - but instead I worked on tax prep paperwork for 4 hours. That should count I think! And it turns out that I can not finish as I had planned cause I am missing documents. Yay! Now to spend all those wonderful hours calling/emailing/begging people to send documents so that I can pay the government off for another year...
(I really have no problem paying taxes, just wish it was not so flipping complicated to do! I mean could you imagine if McDonalds made you fill out 500 forms and what not before they allowed you to give them money? Crazy!)
Ever since I read about the Scandinavian system of sending pre-filled tax returns the clunkiness of the US tax system has really chapped my kitten. And then I found out how much money TurboTax has put into lobbying against streamlining tax filing and let’s just say I definitely don’t give them money anymore.
If running pants came with back pockets, I would totally try the hand-warmer thing.
if you get a cycling shirt, it might cover your bum and many of them come with a back pocket(s)
I have heard that cycling shirts are longer, but I didn't know about the pockets! I'm pretty short so most shirts are long enough for some rear coverage, though it's taken some trial and error to figure out what to tuck into what for comfort and so on. Honestly, I think the thing I miss the most about running in the summer is not having to think so much about my clothes.
I have two words for you that will solve the pocket issue: Duct Tape.
Eeeehhhh, I feel like the removal of said duct tape could be an issue. That said, I did remember that two of my shorts have large side pockets - not quite perfect placement, but maybe worth a shot!1
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