We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
April 2019 Monthly Running Challenge
Replies
-
girlinahat wrote: »@Elise4270 sorry, but I really DO want to hug you, like walk right up to you and envelop you in a hug. Problem is, at 5 foot tall my nose would be slap bang in the middle of your chest most likely and we’d all be in this embarrassing mess. Anyhoo, all I could do since you wouldn’t let me virtually hug you was click that you’re inspiring. Which you are.
@amirahdaboss glad to hear it is is whiplash, even knowing how rough that can be. @workaholic_nurse hope you are recovering well too.
No idea on April goals. Just run, enjoy running, run three times a week.
An’ I know he’s busy with stuff, but hey, @Stoshew71 let us know you’re still kicking around someday.
Aww... alright. Y’all can hug me... just feels a little pitiful. I’m a grown up. Sorta. Physically I am. I’m 5’5”, you’re not that much shorter.. I don’t think...
I saw Stan had a few runs on Strava. I wanted to say “hey get your butt back to the group”. But I understand he’s probably (hopefully), enjoying some needed Stan time.
ETA size shirt you wear? I found a running shirt just for you. Long or short sleeve?8 -
Welcome @vmichelle580 ! Don’t y’all just LOVE seeing newbies here, especially their first posts? Don’t let the crazies scare you off. This thread is a little familiar. Settle in! Cinch up those shoes! Ask questions!
Oooh questions!!!
Anyone have a monthly question?4 -
I'll go ahead and pose a group question.
It may have been asked before, but at least not recently that I know of. As I have admitted recently, I am addicted to carbs.
So in that vein, I am wondering...
How many of you have Keto or low-carb lifestyle? How has it benefited (or harmed) your running / day-to-day life?3 -
Well it was SNOWING (again) so I set up a time lapse (again) hoping to catch a nice snow storm but it was a dud of a storm (again) but this time I used my Go Pro Hero 5 session which is much simpler than my Canon T5 set up at least.
3 -
I'll go ahead and pose a group question.
It may have been asked before, but at least not recently that I know of. As I have admitted recently, I am addicted to carbs. So in that vein, I am wondering...
How many of you have Keto or low-carb lifestyle? How has it benefited (or harmed) your running / day-to-day life?
Oooh hot topic!
Follow up question: can a carbaholic fully give up addictive carbs?
Scott for me a high fat diet works. I like fat. I am a fat eater, its a natural choice for me. So I stick to natural carbs, unlimited. I can eat beans, oranges, bananas, anything as long as its real food.
How has it effect my running? Well, i really had to understand and embrace fruit (carbs) in the beginning. I do/did allow GU for long runs, or circled back for an orange. Or had maybe oatmeal before to fuel activity. Maybe Gatorade. I needed to be intentional with my carb consumption.
I aim for a fat addapted diet. Its hit and miss. I still like Ben and Jerry's and pizza occasionally. My goal is to minimize the processed foods and not succumb to high carb/no nutrition foods.
The benefits for me: controlled cravings and i dont get hungry if i have to wait until 2pm for food. Very nice perk when I'm unable to grab lunch.
And i can think about my choices, rather than becoming overly hungry and eating an entire box of cookies, all the cheese, the pop tarts, that ice cream...
My weight fluctuates less.
I think i do better mentally, blood sugar isnt up and down. I have a better mood. 6 weeks in, i had a coworker ask what id done differently. I shrugged. I'm just eating better.
It eliminates most of the possibility that i eat soy and get a migraine. Its hidden in so many processed foods. So its given me a tool to get a hold of that.
I lost 2% body fat (DXA) in 1 year , (6 months on new plan), gained some muscle, weight unchanged.
We cook at home more. Buy better foods.
I seem to have “outgrown” my IBS-D (unless I have too much vitamin C.
Draw back: uh i can go all day and not be hungry, if work is demanding, i find i am less able to think at the end of the day. But that may be true of any diet choice.
It can take months before your body addapts.
ETA and you may not like your food choices. My dh tries to eat like I do, he was just grossed out by the grass fed fatty cuts I bought. He’s a junk eater. Will bring home 5 boxes of cookies because he couldn’t decide on one, no way he can give up the sugared pb in the middle of the night either.
Neutral: my cholesterol is up from ~150 to ~170. My good cholesterol is unchanged, barely low. Bad cholesterol (ldl ,right?) Is also up, and triglycerides. If one is already a little high here, might not be as free as i am with the butter and stick to nuts and avocado.
Personally, yall eat what ya want- no hate here. Just please be mindful about the elimination of an entire food group. (Unless its processed "food"). 😘
Maybe find a balance and eliminate that junk food? We have a small group you can check in with to help keep you on track. No one diet, just how can we help you stay on track?
You read Matt Fitzgerald's racing weight?
ETA- i have a copy. I can mail it to you if ya want.5 -
I'll go ahead and pose a group question.
It may have been asked before, but at least not recently that I know of. As I have admitted recently, I am addicted to carbs. So in that vein, I am wondering...
How many of you have Keto or low-carb lifestyle? How has it benefited (or harmed) your running / day-to-day life?
Monthly question: I’m a special case, because I’m a type 2 diabetic, which means I have limited tolerance for carbs, and I’m also on metformin, which prevents the liver from releasing too much stored sugar. So not only can I not eat too many or my blood glucose will go high, I’m at greater than usual risk of my blood glucose dropping too low if I don’t eat enough.
I don’t do keto or low carb, but I do “lowish” carb, about 150 net g per day on a non-run day usually, by doing what is called eating to the meter. In other words, I take my blood sugar after meals and novel situations such as new exercise, pay attention to how different meals affect me, and adjust accordingly so that my sugar stays within range. In practice, this means I eat a good breakfast a couple of hours before running, an orange about fifteen minutes before running, and a couple of Clif Bloks per hour if my run is significantly longer than an hour. This keeps me on an even keel. After running, my insulin resistance is improved for about 24 hours, which means I can eat more carbs than usual. On a rest day, I have problems eating more than 45 g per meal, while after a long run, I can eat more than double that and be back to normal fasting glucose levels within two hours.
Going keto would be an option for me, if my diabetes advances and I have problems in the future, but at the moment my goal is to enjoy as many carbs as I can while remaining within the blood sugar goals of a normal, non-diabetic person. So far so good, my most recent a1c was 4.9. I even had pizza recently, which has always been a problem for me, and my levels stayed fine.
As far as being carb addicted is concerned, when I was diagnosed I cut out a bunch of quick digesting refined carbs such as candy, Coke, and white bread. Testing revealed that they knock my blood levels around, and the resulting insulin fluctuations cause cravings for me. Instead of having tiny portions and trying not to want more, I just avoid these foods. However, I can manage tons of French fries, which is good because I love them. I definitely run for fries. The one food I really miss that I haven’t found a way to eat even after a long run is Karo pecan pie - 70g net carbs a slice of pure heaven, and substitutes don’t cut it.7 -
Plan has me down for 123km. I think I'll go with 100km and see what happens. (I did the same thing last month and ended up with an epic fail but still.)
April looks to be a month-long exercise in the management of chaos, and I seem to be doing quite badly so far.8 -
Last month I went for 60 and ended up with 70.This month is the last month of HM training, a trail race, and two work trips across the country. So it’s going to be a lot and I just need to hang on for the ride... I’m in for 70!6
-
Hey all. Had an awesome start to the month, 7k done. Aiming for 150k this month whoot whoot.
Re: monthly question. I'm pretty anti diet. I kinda go with the calories in/calories out philosophy. I've lost about 50lb in the last 2 years just by eating less and moving more - an aside, that answer ticks off a lot of people who want to know my 'secret'.
Things like Keto etc are just another way to reduce calories. Frankly I think you do you. If Keto works for you, yay! That's awesome. But no, it's not a wonder diet that will cure society.8 -
Re: monthly question. I'm pretty anti diet. I kinda go with the calories in/calories out philosophy. I've lost about 50lb in the last 2 years just by eating less and moving more - an aside, that answer ticks off a lot of people who want to know my 'secret'.
Things like Keto etc are just another way to reduce calories. Frankly I think you do you. If Keto works for you, yay! That's awesome. But no, it's not a wonder diet that will cure society.
This is also me almost entirely. I couldn't restrict carbs if I tried, I pretty much run for carbs! If I don't get a lot of carbs I'm a miserable grumpy *kitten*.
My main nutritional Achilles heel is crisps, I did have to rule those out completely as I'm incapable of self-control when it comes to then. My favourite dinner after a bad day at work (which was pretty much every day) was a cheese sandwich (read half a baguette) and half to three quarters of a family pack of crisps. Then I told people I didn't know why I was fat cause I really didn't eat very much :-O
Now I will sometimes (maybe a couple of times a year) allow myself an individual pack when I need a treat and I can fit it in my calories.
9 -
0401-5k total-5k, goal-100k
First run of the month done. Took forever to warm up. Felt great once that happened, but by then I was almost done.
Glutes are still sore from the mountains on Saturday.
Re: Keto. I'm doing a kinda-low-carb diet, which means I don't actively include so-called staple food in my prepped meals. Anyone who ever lived in Eastern Asia can tell you that here, it's not a normal thing to do. So my colleagues give me Looks. But I've found it helps greatly with post lunch drowsiness, and I'm not trying to eat everything in sight by 5pm. That said, I still get plenty of carbs through stuff like potatoes and fruit, and dare I say it hasn't impacted my running much. The runger tends to be very much carb-directed though.
Edit: A colleague just walked by with layer pancakes with sugar and sesame butter. Now the smell is trying to kill me.10 -
Hello everyone, happy April!
I'm setting a small mileage goal for the month as I know the time I'll be free to go for a run will be patchy (new nephew, mum still healing from an ankle fracture, best friends wedding where I am a bridesmaid annnnd overtime at work is from about now until the end of May). SO my actual goal for April will just be to run a total of at least 5 miles a week which means I am aiming for at least 20 miles for the month. This means even if I can only fit my runs in on the treadmill while at the gym, I can hit my goal!I'll go ahead and pose a group question.
It may have been asked before, but at least not recently that I know of. As I have admitted recently, I am addicted to carbs. So in that vein, I am wondering...
How many of you have Keto or low-carb lifestyle? How has it benefited (or harmed) your running / day-to-day life?
I do not, but that's because I also have an addiction to carbs! I also find I feel fuller on carbs and protein so I don't see the point of reducing the amount of carbs I eat. I can only imagine how much of a grump I'd be if I had to reduce the amount of bread I ate...9 -
March Totals: 214.2 km run, 34.7 km biked or hiked
Goals: Run 100+ miles DONE!
Stay healthy & keep up with marathon training plan DONE!
April Goals: same as last month. 6 weeks to marathon!!!
4/1 - 5.7 km dirt track (5x700@5kP w/350 recovery)
Played it safe and quit early. Aches & pains weren't bad enough to stop today, but I felt it might've been enough to stop this week's 20-miler if I pushed it today. I want to run that marathon in May more than I wanted to check off this week's speedwork.
The snail is me attempting to avoid injury by sneaking past the hungry chicks.17 -
eleanorhawkins wrote: »
Re: monthly question. I'm pretty anti diet. I kinda go with the calories in/calories out philosophy. I've lost about 50lb in the last 2 years just by eating less and moving more - an aside, that answer ticks off a lot of people who want to know my 'secret'.
Things like Keto etc are just another way to reduce calories. Frankly I think you do you. If Keto works for you, yay! That's awesome. But no, it's not a wonder diet that will cure society.
This is also me almost entirely. I couldn't restrict carbs if I tried, I pretty much run for carbs! If I don't get a lot of carbs I'm a miserable grumpy *kitten*.
My main nutritional Achilles heel is crisps, I did have to rule those out completely as I'm incapable of self-control when it comes to then. My favourite dinner after a bad day at work (which was pretty much every day) was a cheese sandwich (read half a baguette) and half to three quarters of a family pack of crisps. Then I told people I didn't know why I was fat cause I really didn't eat very much :-O
Now I will sometimes (maybe a couple of times a year) allow myself an individual pack when I need a treat and I can fit it in my calories.
Great point here @eleanorhawkins ! Ive also found that certain food behaviors were why I fought the weight up and down. For me it was nachos. Everyday, nachos. Then I’d lie to mfp because “no way that had that many calories “. And pizza, and I gave up my 5 pie November .
So excellent share. Some of us may benefit from just taming a few foods rather than something so drastic. Unless you have a health condition. I know @midwesterner85 also uses low/no carb to control blood sugar. I commend the dedication you guys make with this. @rheddmobile guess I never caught that you were also in a similar boat. I just have to watch certain food for migraines and gi upset.
I’m not against keto/low carb at all. It can be a good way to start a change. Just be careful. I think of the dirty keto diet now when I hear keto. That can’t be good.
ETA here’s the nutritional runners support group if anyone needs/wants support. Or just want so support others. Or creep. We accept everyone.6 -
What out for April Fool's jokes today. I'm trying to think of one for my students. A few years ago I got a joke over on a class and they were freaking out. I told them that there was a miscalculation on school days because we thought exam days (1/2 days) counted as full days and they don't. That the school is now one day short for the state required days and that we were going to be making up a day of school on a Saturday. I acted furious about it, like I did not want to teach on a Saturday, this is outrageous, etc. I don't know why they believed me but they were so mad. It was first period and they were probably still asleep - LOL. One boy said "well, I am going to be sick that day" in an angry voice. When they asked me "what Saturday is it?", I said it will be on April 1st. Then someone said "but, that's today" and then they realized it was a joke.
Anyway on to April goals.
70 miles. I did 78 in March but I expect to be cycling more so that cuts into it.
I hate not running on the 1st but the 68 miles on bike yesterday did me in.
April 1 - nothing yet
0/7014 -
Hahaha! @ddmom0811 that’s spectacular!
Monthly question #2
Share an April fools encounter you had!
Me? Every year in grade school I’d say, “tomorrow’s my birthday” no one ever believed me. Tomorrow is my birthday. I’m not a great prankster.11 -
4-1 Rest
April Total: 0k
April Goal: 150k
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
Scheduled rest day today. Thought about putting 50k for today, followed by "April Fool," but I didn't.
2019 Races:
4-13 Shine the Light 5K (Registered)
6-1 Freedom 5K (Will be off the schedule due to another commitment)
6-30 Strides for Starfish 5K9 -
New but in. I'm not sure what I can achieve as a goal so I'm setting it for 40 miles in April with a stretch of 50, which seems reasonable? I'm not a daily runner, and of course today it's iced over and snowy out! 😆
I think I did this correctly.
11 -
Hi, I've been running ages but it's been a long time since I set a specific goal. So I'm in for 60, if that's alright10
-
For those that were following it... Barkley won again. No finishers at this year’s race. Brutal race!7
-
3 -
PastorVincent wrote: »For those that were following it... Barkley won again. No finishers at this year’s race. Brutal race!
News finally starting to report...
https://runningmagazine.ca/trail-running/barkley-marathons-2019-ends-with-no-finishers/2 -
So, I am still alive. Just really in an antisocial funk. And so haven’t been posting. The first half of March was pretty rough weather wise. Like, to the point that my glimmer of hope/access to a treadmill was cut off due to weather. I realize my access to a treadmill in this town is sketchy at best, but I still decided it was pretty rough when the weather is so bad you “can’t” run on a treadmill.
After the 20th I actually was consistent, but pretty short mileage still, and so didn’t even reach my little goal. I am still upping my goal for April from 30 miles to 40 miles because I’m either going to at least get to that darned treadmill, or the weather might actually turn so a person could *gasp* run outside. And maybe if I’m running more, I will push off my antisocial ness enough to actually come say hi.
In other news @hoshaugh73 did I see bridges to brews on your race list on your March post? My best friend / running buddy talked me into going to Portland with her to see my family when she is there for a conference. Once she knew I was captive, she then signed us up for a race. So, I too will be running (wogging, maybe even walking if I don’t meet above goals) bridges to brews! (This May be the closest I come to an mrc’r in real life!)14 -
I agree with @Avidkeo. Calories in/calories out is the only way I have found to control my weight - of which I haven't done a very good job lately, but I'm working on it. I too am a carbohydrate addict @Scott6255. I tried the Atkins diet back in the day. It worked for me, but I found it wasn't a lifestyle I could live with. So, I now go with the idea of moderation and don't cut out any entire food group. Now that I know I really need to do better at controlling my blood pressure (due to the aneurysm) I'm trying to eat less salty things. I understand that may be an issue as I up my running distances and it gets hotter. I'll just have to add in some Gatorade or allow more sodium on those days.
@eleanorhawkins Are "crisps" the same thing we call potato chips here in the USA? If so, I have the same addiction and do have to not allow them in the house or they are gone in a flash.
@ddmom0811 HAHAHA! That's the best April Fools joke ever!
@Elise4270 I was never big into April Fools jokes, but every year my dad would say, "Look at those 5 white horses coming down the road." (Yes, we live in a rural area where that would be possible.) Of course, after the first year we knew it was a joke, but it was our "tradition" that we carried on for years.7 -
@quilteryoyo yes!1
-
I'm in for 80 miles! Last month I beat my 75 mile goal by 1.75 miles, not much, but I was on vacation for a week and didn't track.
Happy running everyone!10 -
@eleanorhawkins They have been my downfall for my entire life. I can make a meal out of a huge bag of chips and a bowl of dip. Crispy, carby, and salty. My three favorite things in one!
7 -
Hoping April will be kinder to me than march was! Was hit with a viral infection which has completely knocked the stuffing out of me, I've been so tired and slow towards the end of the month!
Plan was to do Kungsholmen runt in Stockholm in may but I'll have to see how quick I fully recover. I'm on week 3 of a plan and I should be on week 5!
In for 80km anyway and we'll see how I go. Still planning to try to get a spot in the Dublin marathon....8 -
Hi, just about to get started on getting fit again and need some inspiration to get me going. I would rather count minutes run rather than miles covered at least to begin with. I there a challenge for that?
In any case I am signing up for 150 minutes of running in my first month. Now that I have said it, I will have to do it 13 -
@scott6255 good question.
In general I avoid any diet which has a name. I try to minimize refined carbs, highly processed foods, and calorie dense foods". I don't completely avoid them, but I try to minimize cereal, crackers, sugars, sodas, juice, cookies, chips, fries, beer, etc. I try to increase veggies, fruits (other than high sugar fruits like pineapple, kiwi, mango, bananas, oranges) and meat. I have no interest in keto or LCHF, but the effect of my strategy has been to lower my carb consumption and increase my fat and protein consumption, but not nearly to the extent of the Keto/LCHF dogmas.
I still have pain in my Achilles today, particularly my left, which has never given me a bit of trouble before. My Saturday run was clearly too much for me. I'll avoid running until I have at least one day with no pain. Hopefully I'll be back at it this weekend though I may have to rethink my back to back long runs planned for the weekend. Thankfully I have enough time before my race to get this sorted out as long as I'm smart about it.
@ContraryMaryMary I know calf raises are something all runners should do on a routine basis, but like most things runners should do, I don't do them very often. I did try a couple of them and after I felt a sharp pain, I quit. No more of that for a while.13
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 394.3K Introduce Yourself
- 44K Getting Started
- 260.4K Health and Weight Loss
- 176.1K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.7K Fitness and Exercise
- 440 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 16 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.7K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions