September 2019 Monthly Running Challenge
Replies
-
September goal: try to keep up
9/1 3.30
9/2 2.00
9/3 rest
9/4 4.70
9/5 rest
9/6 3.12
9/7 Travel to> O'ahu CME conference<travel from: passed Diamond Head on my way home, and as the sun set, felt like I was flying thru a bowl of hot buttered popcorn:9/8 3.00
Total : 16.12
@Elise4270 1. you can't "fail" the GRE 2. I know you don't like hugs....but sometimes you need one....like now.
@MNLittleFinn ....wow...
Upcoming races:
Revel Kulia Half Marathon 1/18/20
Ticker is my goal for 2019 and progress to date:
12 -
September Goal: 160km
02/9: 5.11
03/9: 8.11
04/9: 6.73
06/9: 8.46
07/9: 14.06
09/9: 6.15
Total KM run: 48.62
@MNLittleFinn WOW! What a mind blowing achievement. Congratulations!
@ContraryMaryMary Congrats on the half marathon AG place
@autumnblade75 I love the costume! I keep trying to convince someone to dress up and run a race with me in costume, but so far I haven't had any takers. I got beaten by a banana in my last race3 -
Thanks, all, for the comments about the squid costume. Yeah, I figure it's a PR for a squid 5k. In addition to the rain weight and the heat in there (seriously, that thing is like a sleeping bag!) the tentacles hanging behind me started slapping around my ankles by the third mile, and I was arguing with myself about how *next time* I was going to have to suspend those with fishing line, too (vs. *What* next time!?!) They were fine dry, but a tripping hazard, wet. And I appreciate the self-seeding support, too. I did pass some walkers in that first mile, and wondered what they had been thinking to choose that corral.
Still no luck getting the stupid video to upload. My husband was standing next to someone faster than me by the finisher's chute who was talking to his group about the lady running in a squid costume - he was thrilled to tell the guy "hey, that's my wife!" and so I got a larger cheering section than usual. It's the audio that amuses me. Anyway, I figured you guys might also appreciate my Steve Irwin impersonation. This is the bronze alligator that I stubbed my toe on.12 -
9-1 4k recovery
9-2 7k easy
9-3 6k easy
9-4 rest
9-5 7k moderate
9-6 rest
9-7 7k moderate
9-8 7k easy
9-9 rest
September Total: 38k
September Goal: 135k
January Total: 131k
February Total: 159.5k
March Total: 183k
April Total: 126k
May Total: 128k
June Total: 161.5k
July Total: 151k
August Total: 133k
Monthly average: 146.6k
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. Golf instead of running.
2019 Races:
4-13 Shine the Light 5K - 31:12 chip time; First Place male 65 and older
6-30 Strides for Starfish 5K - 31:34 chip time; 31/77 overall; second male 65 and older (no official category)
7-27 Solon Home Days 5K - 31:11 chip time; 95/141 overall; 4/6 age group (male)
8-31 Race for Freedom 5k - 31:39 chip time; 32:00 Garmin time; Third Place male 60 and older
9-14 Gift of Life 5k - off the schedule; insufficient recovery time
10-13 Haunted Hustle 5k3 -
Plan called for 6-7 Easy miles, but felt really good so just ran my normal 8 miles route. Was about 40-50 seconds faster than my target pace, but was consciously telling myself to take it easy and slow each mile. HR was only 117, and it did feel easy, so I guess that is what matters. Hoping I can keep this going.
12 -
rheddmobile wrote: »T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »@Elise4270 Not a flower. That bison really had an open wound there, but I'm not sure where it came from.
They were galloping around like maniacs and bonking heads the other day when we were there, seems to be the season for disputes. I know cows have a 9 month gestation and give birth in the spring, are buffalo the same way?
Yes, but I'm not sure if there is any difference when this far south. If anything, I would assume a later "mating" season.
https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/americanbison.htm0 -
Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
09/01/19 :::: 11.5 :::: 11.5
09/02/19 :::: 5.5 :::: 17.0
09/03/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 20.0
09/04/19 :::: 6.7 :::: 26.7
09/05/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 26.7
09/06/19 :::: 4.7 :::: 31.5
09/07/19 :::: 13.1 :::: 44.6
09/08/19 :::: 5.2 :::: 49.8
09/09/19 :::: 5.0 :::: 54.8
A rare Monday morning run for me. Usually I run Monday afternoons before strength training but tonight I have an extra mace training workout class (for the next 4 weeks) right after so didn't think I wanted to tack on a third hour to that. A friend was looking for a running buddy today anyway so I half-heartedly offered up that I could run this morning, thinking she'd say no, and she took me up on it. It was a beautiful morning so I'm glad we both made the effort to get it done and over with. I'm always so happy when I actually make myself do morning runs on weekdays because then it's out of the way and I don't have to think about it, but getting myself there is tough.
Have a good Monday, everyone!6 -
@katharmonic thanks. English usage, reading and such I will score below 150. I did study but gave up when I couldn’t make any improvements. I sat with dh to help me, he couldn’t explain why, just knew the right answers because it made sense. Math I might do okay if I refresh some formulas. Writing? Nah... I’ll score a 2 or 3. Language is not my thing apparently. I took the TEAS for nursing school and made a 100% on the math. It was super easy math though. Won’t be doing that on the gre. I’ve taken it, but it’s been 100,000 years ago.
@Elise4270 you know about this website? https://magoosh.com/gre/gre-practice-test/
Let's you do practice tests for free and has tips. I recommend it to my undergrad students - haven't heard feedback from them but any kind of practice seems to help. I hear what you're saying though - I would much rather take the math parts (with some refreshing) again than the verbal or written.3 -
katharmonic wrote: »@katharmonic thanks. English usage, reading and such I will score below 150. I did study but gave up when I couldn’t make any improvements. I sat with dh to help me, he couldn’t explain why, just knew the right answers because it made sense. Math I might do okay if I refresh some formulas. Writing? Nah... I’ll score a 2 or 3. Language is not my thing apparently. I took the TEAS for nursing school and made a 100% on the math. It was super easy math though. Won’t be doing that on the gre. I’ve taken it, but it’s been 100,000 years ago.
@Elise4270 you know about this website? https://magoosh.com/gre/gre-practice-test/
Let's you do practice tests for free and has tips. I recommend it to my undergrad students - haven't heard feedback from them but any kind of practice seems to help. I hear what you're saying though - I would much rather take the math parts (with some refreshing) again than the verbal or written.
Ya that's the one I was using. I studied, and retook that TEAS, and did worse on the language. But aced the math and science. I like magoosh. My brain isn't picking up any of it though.3 -
September goal 100 miles
Biked to the dirt track only to discover that a 5th(ish)-grade boys' gym class had invaded. They were struggling and I wasn't interested in joining them, so I went over to the school track instead. No soccer practice today, there were two other adults (1 runner & 1 nordic-walker) using it, and no one yelled at us for using it during school hours, so it doesn't seem to have been an issue.
This past week I have consistently gotten Strava "segment PR's" on a number of my runs and bike rides - WITHOUT TRYING. We're talking some segments that I've done 20+ times over the past several years. I'm crediting training all summer in Pennsylvania (more hills and higher elevation), and plan to enjoy and try to make the most of it while it lasts.8 -
Hi all. Thanks for all the encouragement. Official time was 36:01:57. That was about 6 hours off of my goal pace. I was doing well until about 56 miles in when my light died and that slowed me down. Feet started to go at around 60 miles, and I really couldn't run after that. Other than my feet feeling pounded to hell, and some nasty chafing, I'm feeling pretty good today. Going to take a while to process this one, and get a RR out.21
-
Not allowed to run till at least the weekend. Dr orders.
Got in the middle of a dog fight. If i didn't, I'm positive a dog would have died. Foster dog is back at the rescue pending behavior evaluation.
Now I'll have a few nifty scars (17...14 punctures, 3 lacerations)
Injury photos21 -
@mbaker566 Oh no! That must have been awful! Hope you are feeling better soon.1
-
@mbaker566 Oh your poor face! Gosh, that must have been a serious fight! I’m sorry you got hurt but glad there are courageous people like you to take on the job of fostering dogs. Just wanted you to know I think highly of you, and hope you recover soon!1
-
Got out on the Shelby Farms Greenline late morning, trying to swap to a morning running schedule and it was one of those runs that you just feel every step. 5 miles. It wasn’t that hot according to the thermometer - about 90 - but it felt hot. Also we are under an Orange Ozone advisory, which says people should not do prolonged outdoor activity and people with asthma should avoid the outdoors period. My husband who has exercise induced asthma did have problems, he kept coughing. We’ve had a few of these Ozone alerts recently and I’m hoping they stop soon. The sky was a funky color, absolutely cloudless but not bright blue, sort of yellowish.6
-
1
-
@mbaker566 ouch! Hope you have a speedy recovery!1
-
OUCH, @mbaker566!!!! You are a brave soul. Not many people would get in the middle of a dog fight. You have a beautiful soul!!!!!1
-
I survived my first half marathon of 2019! It was a bit of a bear, but I made it. 36 hours later I'm still in a bit of a post-race daze, but I'll try and get a real race report up in the next day or two. Rest day today for sure. Strength training tomorrow but I'll likely take it easy.12
-
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »I survived my first half marathon of 2019! It was a bit of a bear, but I made it. 36 hours later I'm still in a bit of a post-race daze, but I'll try and get a real race report up in the next day or two. Rest day today for sure. Strength training tomorrow but I'll likely take it easy.
Awesome! That post race daze can last a while. Congrats on the finish.3 -
@mbaker566 Ouch! I have been caught in a dog fight before and had some pretty nasty leg punctures. I hope you heal quickly!
@MegaMooseEsq Congrats on your half!
@MNLittleFinn I can't even imagine that run! You're awesome!
Today was a strength training day for me. I joined the local chapter of She Runs This Town, and we started an 8 week challenge today, so that should add some additional motivation for my runs.4 -
@mbaker566 Oh *puppy*! Dang girl you are brave! I hope it heals quickly! Ouch!1
-
@MegaMooseEsq Congrats on your HM!0
-
@mbaker566 Oh man. Talk about beast mode! Hope you heal quickly.1
-
Thank you for the well wishes. The painkillers are helping me not be squirrelly. I was going to take speed demon for a trail run this morning. That's going to have to wait for a few days.
She got scraped up too so she needs rest as well.7 -
Someone told me that you can press your lens against a window and shot through the window without getting any glare, so I tried that this morning. I want to get a good sunrise one morning, but the window does not open. Well, what do you know, it actually worked!
10 -
RACE REPORT! Watch out, because this one is LOOOOOONG.On Sunday I got to run 13.41 miles in the Sioux Falls Half Marathon. This race had been on the books for a while - my friend Bart (his wife went to college with my husband) had suggested running this together several months ago and I thought that sounded like a lot of fun.
My original race plan for the year had this as my second half marathon of the year after Beat the Blerch in Seattle at the beginning of August. As those of you who have been reading along know, this year did not go according to plan.
I took three weeks off of running in February due to getting fed up with running on packed down snow.
I took a week off at the end of March after developing pain in my left hip and hamstring.
I took two weeks off in May due to knee and hip pain.
I took a week off in June due to shin splints.
I took two weeks off in July due to shin and hamstring pain, excessive heat, and mental health issues
.
Instead of running a 10K or longer race every month this year, I DNSed two races, downgraded 3 10Ks to 5Ks, and ran the Beat the Blerch 10K instead of the half.
Between October 2018 and July 2019 I also bought a house and re-gained 20 pounds.
So no, I wasn’t where I expected to be training-wise going into this weekend, but I was feeling pretty confident. I ran 10 miles last weekend with my dad and felt good after, and found out a few days before the race that Bart was actually planning to run *with* me, as opposed to both of us running the same race at our own speeds.
We drove to Sioux Falls on Friday night, arriving a bit before 10. We were staying with Bart and his wife Marie, who is a friend of my husband’s from college, and their three small children. We stay with them often when in Sioux Falls, which is where my husband went to college and his parents and sister now live.
Marie is one of my favorite people and also a bit of a night owl, so we stayed up drinking wine and admiring their 5-month-old until 2 in the morning. I then stayed up reading until 4, just to get the weekend off on the right foot.
On Saturday we visited the in-laws and then stopped off at packet pickup. I wasn’t sure what to expect, having only been to the expo for the Twin Cities Marathon, which is a substantially larger affair (10K people finished the TCM 10 Mile last year, compared to a little over 1200 in the Sioux Falls Half). The expo was very similar, just a lot smaller and quieter, which made it easy to get in and out quickly. They also did not ask for the requested release form to pick up someone else’s packet, which meant I didn’t have to call my husband in from the car to pretend to be Bart.
Saturday night a dozen of us went to an Indian restaurant to celebrate another friend’s first job as a high school teacher. I stuck to tea and somehow managed not to overeat too badly. It occurred to me later that maybe eating Indian food for the first time in over a decade might not have been a good idea the night before a race, but my iron GI system was up for the challenge.
Most of the group came back to Bart and Marie’s afterwards for homemade cheesecake and wine. I had two glasses of wine and a piece of amazing caramel apple cheesecake and excused myself around 10:30.
I did not sleep well. About par for the course.
I woke up around 4:45 and snoozed until 5:15, when I got up, drank some coffee, ate a small breakfast, and managed to post here three times on accident somehow. At 6:15 my husband drove Bart and I to the arena where the race was starting and then went to pick up his mom so they could see us off at 7.
The race started and ended inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center, basically a large sports/event center. I’d never had a race start like this and it was a LOT of fun. The race starts were staggered: the marathon started at 6:30, the half and 10K at 7:00, and the 5K at 10:15 so people could do a back-to-back if they were so inclined. The racers start on the arena floor while the spectators are up in the stands, so it was just a great environment.
My last two halves I ran with a 2:30 pacer, so my plan this time was to find a pacer at that speed or a little slower. The pace groups weren’t posted in advance but thankfully there was a 2:45 group that we were able to join up with right away.
It rained pretty hard between 5:30 at 6 and again between 6:30 and 7:00, so the race was delayed about 10 minutes. Luckily the rest of the morning was misty to a very light rain, not too windy, temps in the high 50s. Excellent running weather, but it was still very nice to be able to start and end indoors.
The first 9-10 miles went by pretty easily. Bart and I chatted with the pacer, and I was able to keep my breathing and heart rate pretty low. My shins were stiff on and off, but having good company kept the miles flying by.
The route itself was mostly flat (it’s South Dakota) and quite nice, going through several nice parks along the bank of the Sioux River, and right through the historic downtown. I was hugely impressed by the cheering sections, too - even in the grey drizzling people really turned out, including one man with a small boy who managed to get to four different places on the course, and some teenage girls downtown who were screaming so loud I joked that they were working harder than we were.
Somewhere after mile 10, though, things started to get tough. I started counting my inhales and exhales, my glutes went from stiff to sore to painful, and my knees and shins decided to get in on the fun too. I started walking on the few very slight uphill portions, but we managed to catch up with the pacer each time.
I pretty much just stared at the back of the pacer’s shirt for a mile or two, counting my breath, then about a mile from the finish I started to think I was going to barf. It wasn’t a GI thing so much as an exhausted, painful kind of thing, if that makes sense. I decided I’d rather walk across the finish line then risk losing my cookies, so we waved on our pacer and walked for a half a mile or so.
Once the door to the arena was in sight I started running again, and I managed to cross the finish line at a run. I saw Marie at the finish line along with my husband and mother-in-law, and I actually started crying a little.
Bart and I at the finish line!
After we got water and our medals, I wandered off to a quiet corner and actually did cry a bit. I’ve never cried after a race, but for some reason I just got hit by this overwhelming wave of emotion: happiness and relief that I finished on my feet, sadness over losing @MobyCarp, and a little bit of frustration at how many setbacks I had to deal with this year. Mostly, though, I felt incredibly fortunate that, in spite of all the physical pain and mental health struggles, I was able to do this once again.
Once I pulled myself together I found my cheering section and headed out. I was pretty cold at this point, and thankfully we didn’t have far to walk to the car. Back home I had a fabulously long, hot shower, ate bacon and a cinnamon roll with friends and family, and then took a two and a half hour nap.
My knees, shins, and glutes were all quite unhappy after the race, but thankfully the shin and knee pain faded and was gone by today, although my glutes are still sore and my quads are now so tight that going downstairs is a bit of a struggle. I probably should have done some stretching before/after my nap, and again before/after the four hour drive home that took closer to five-and-a-half hours because my husband and I were both having a hard time staying alert. So it goes. As soon as I post this novel I’m going to roll my quads and do a Yoga For Sore Legs video, and hopefully most of the remaining aches and pains will be gone tomorrow.
I decided to count yesterday as a distance PR, as my second half came in .02 miles shorter, and my watch died within sight of the finish line for my first half so I don’t have an official distance for that one. It was absolutely my slowest half, but I really can’t be upset about that. I finished! 111 out of 113 in the F35-39 group, and honestly I'm a little bummed I got so close to being DFL and yet so far (#113 finished almost 20 minutes after I did). I just checked and Bart did manage to come in last in his age group, so that's the sign of a real friend.
Looking back at my records, I realized that I ran my very first half exactly one year ago - a pretty neat coincidence. Even more of a coincidence, my total miles run for 2018 before that half was 247.08, while my total miles for this year is 246.21. Of course, last year I’d run almost 70 more miles in the three months prior to my half, which is doubtless why I was able to finish 19 minutes faster. So it goes.
Since I have to wrap this up somehow, I just want to thank all of you for being such an amazing support group. I can’t imagine having done this without you.
September Total: 18.27 miles
September Goals: Run 70 miles, lift minimum 2x/week, 15 minutes/day of moderate cardio, 15 minutes/day of mobility.
2019 Races! (bold registered)
January 26: Securian 10K, St. Paul, MN Chip time: 1:05:07
February 16: Half Fast 10K DNS - weather
March 23: Hot Dash 5K, Mpls, MN Chip time: 0:28:39 (*PR!)
May 19: Women Run the Cities 5K, Mpls, MN Chip time: 0:33:02
June 8: PHRC Pensieve 10K (virtual)
June 12: ESTRS French 5K, Plymouth, MN DNS - injury
June 29 Lift Bridge 5K, Bayport MN Chip time: 0:32:51
August 3: Beat the Blerch 10K, Carnation, WA
September 2: MDRA Victory Labor Day 5K, Mpls, MN Chip time: 0:33:04
September 8: Sioux Falls Half Marathon, Sioux Falls, SD Chip time: 2:47:13 (in memory of @MobyCarp)
October 5: TCM 10K, St. Paul, MN
October 6: TCM 10Mi, Minneapolis to St. Paul, MN
October 12: Bemidji Blue Ox 26K, Bemidji, MN
November 28: Turkey Trot St. Paul 10K, St. Paul, MN
December 14: Reindeer Run 10K, Mpls, MN15 -
Way to go on your half @MegaMooseEsq! And great race report!0
-
Great job @MegaMooseEsq0
-
Way to go on your half @MegaMooseEsq! And great race report!
This!0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions