September 2019 Monthly Running Challenge
Replies
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hamsterwheel6 wrote: »Congrats @MegaMooseEsq! Great perseverance, and will be inspiring for me on my first HM this Saturday. I'm a bit nervous actually. I have a time goal in mind based on my training runs (anything under 2:30), but I'm not sure why I don't feel like I can do it. I'm actually hoping to just finish at this point.
Although I'm excited by the race and venue itself - It's a Marine Corps Half at Camp LeJeune, NC...most of it is run on the base itself, so looking forward to that experience!
That sounds like a very cool race! Trying to figure out a time goal for your first race at a given distance is very hard to do. Using your training long run paces, as you've done, is probably the best way to go. That should ensure you can comfortably finish the race and allow you to focus on the moment and the experience. Have an awesome time!
@MegaMooseEsq I was actually thinking about your interest in pacing the Loopet Loppet last year and was planning on asking if you were interested until I saw the Blue Ox race on your schedule. YES the offer still stands! My son won't be around to pace this year. We can have pacers after 1:00PM as I recall. For reference, last year my loop paces after that time were 16:00/mile, 15:20, 18:00 and 20:00. yeah, I was hiking those last two. The race this year is on Sunday, October 13th. We can coordinate closer to the date. Cool!!
Sounds great! I've never run that particular trail but will plan on heading up there sometime in the next couple of weeks to scout it out.0 -
Yeah, @PastorVincent just do you, don't worry about embarrassing the slower runners. As long as you aren't yelling any snide remarks at them as you walk past, but of course I know you wouldn't do that.
I had someone get really pissy with me towards the end of the 10k race I ran in June because I passed him on my run intervals then he passed me on my walk intervals (I do Galloway run-walk-run). Basically we played leapfrog for around a mile and he wasn't impressed 😂
I'm a slow runner so can understand the possible frustration of being passed by a walker. @PastorVincent how about you do a kind of power / speed walk wiggle while you pass them to make them think you're one of those pro speedwalkers and avoid discouraging them?4 -
hamsterwheel6 wrote: »Congrats @MegaMooseEsq! Great perseverance, and will be inspiring for me on my first HM this Saturday. I'm a bit nervous actually. I have a time goal in mind based on my training runs (anything under 2:30), but I'm not sure why I don't feel like I can do it. I'm actually hoping to just finish at this point.
Although I'm excited by the race and venue itself - It's a Marine Corps Half at Camp LeJeune, NC...most of it is run on the base itself, so looking forward to that experience!
That sounds like a very cool race! Trying to figure out a time goal for your first race at a given distance is very hard to do. Using your training long run paces, as you've done, is probably the best way to go. That should ensure you can comfortably finish the race and allow you to focus on the moment and the experience. Have an awesome time!
Thanks @7lenny7 ! I must remember that, it's my first, and just to enjoy it. The next one?! can be more stressful, LOL.
I'm pretty stoked about being on base - the hardest part though will be the 'hero mile'2 -
September Miles - 13.88/?, walk 3.97
09/02 - 0.88; walk 2.69
09/04 - 3.67
09/06 - 1.54; walk 0.5
09/08 - 4.91
09/10 - 2.88; walk 0.78
Sunday and today were easy runs on the schedule. I'm looking forward to my first speed work tomorrow!
@mbaker566 Wow lady! That sounds horrific and looks so painful. Thank you for saving the dog at the expense of your own skin. I hope you heal quickly. Were any dogs hurt?
@MegaMooseEsq Congrats on your half! I haven't read the report yet (poking my head in here from work) but will definitely go back and read it later.
@PastorVincent Is it embarrassing for them to have someone pass them walking? Probably. I don't think it's rude of you though, unless you're going to make fun (and I'm sure no one here would do that).
.... still have more to catch up on but I need to get back to work. Run on, friends!2 -
eleanorhawkins wrote: »Yeah, @PastorVincent just do you, don't worry about embarrassing the slower runners. As long as you aren't yelling any snide remarks at them as you walk past, but of course I know you wouldn't do that.
I had someone get really pissy with me towards the end of the 10k race I ran in June because I passed him on my run intervals then he passed me on my walk intervals (I do Galloway run-walk-run). Basically we played leapfrog for around a mile and he wasn't impressed 😂
I'm a slow runner so can understand the possible frustration of being passed by a walker. @PastorVincent how about you do a kind of power / speed walk wiggle while you pass them to make them think you're one of those pro speedwalkers and avoid discouraging them?
Sorry, I ain't got much worth wiggling...
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MegaMooseEsq wrote: »hamsterwheel6 wrote: »Congrats @MegaMooseEsq! Great perseverance, and will be inspiring for me on my first HM this Saturday. I'm a bit nervous actually. I have a time goal in mind based on my training runs (anything under 2:30), but I'm not sure why I don't feel like I can do it. I'm actually hoping to just finish at this point.
Although I'm excited by the race and venue itself - It's a Marine Corps Half at Camp LeJeune, NC...most of it is run on the base itself, so looking forward to that experience!
That sounds like a very cool race! Trying to figure out a time goal for your first race at a given distance is very hard to do. Using your training long run paces, as you've done, is probably the best way to go. That should ensure you can comfortably finish the race and allow you to focus on the moment and the experience. Have an awesome time!
@MegaMooseEsq I was actually thinking about your interest in pacing the Loopet Loppet last year and was planning on asking if you were interested until I saw the Blue Ox race on your schedule. YES the offer still stands! My son won't be around to pace this year. We can have pacers after 1:00PM as I recall. For reference, last year my loop paces after that time were 16:00/mile, 15:20, 18:00 and 20:00. yeah, I was hiking those last two. The race this year is on Sunday, October 13th. We can coordinate closer to the date. Cool!!
Sounds great! I've never run that particular trail but will plan on heading up there sometime in the next couple of weeks to scout it out.
It's a multiuse trail so you'll likely find mountain bikers on it as well. For that reason I wear bright shirts when running on it and I'll yield to them. If the trail is wet, it's likely to be closed so muddy tire and footprints don't become solid bumps. For race day, only racers and pacers will be allowed on it. The race page I linked has a map of the route. It starts at "The Trailhead". If I find a chance to run it before the race I'll let you know!0 -
PastorVincent wrote: »So here is a question... when I walk at lunch, I walk between 14 and 15 mins/mile pace. This means sometimes I come upon runners that I am walking slightly faster than.
Do you think it is embarrassing for them / rude for me to pass them? Should I slow down a bit and let them pull away?
I walk fast, so I've strolled past fitness-walkers before... and run past cyclists. Just try to not be too dramatic about it!0 -
Had two days off running, Sunday on purpose, Monday as I was just being lazy... Nearly missed out tonight as well but forced myself to go out for 5k after dinner. Loved it actually, although wasted fifteen minutes at the beginning trying to convince my favourite street dog to come back to my house; I want to adopt him so badly but he is not having any of it! I see him most mornings, he is my inspiration to get up and out in the morning, as if I leave it later he has gone. He keeps a very strict schedule for a street dog!
@MegaMooseEsq I loved reading your race report, and as someone whose greatest distance has been a 10k, finishing a HM in any time is pretty impressive to me!
@PastorVincent I am slow and don't mind anyone passing me, at any speed. As long as they don't say anything... I find even if they say something positive it comes across as patronising, especially if they yell it as they speed past. NOt during a race or event, then it's totally welcome, but if I'm just out for a regular run I find it super obnoxious of people to comment.
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Yeah, @PastorVincent just do you, don't worry about embarrassing the slower runners. As long as you aren't yelling any snide remarks at them as you walk past, but of course I know you wouldn't do that.
He doesn't even want to say ANYTHING to them!0 -
@zeesparrow they both had bites and scratches. The foster had a hole in her cheek.3
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polskagirl01 wrote: »Yeah, @PastorVincent just do you, don't worry about embarrassing the slower runners. As long as you aren't yelling any snide remarks at them as you walk past, but of course I know you wouldn't do that.
He doesn't even want to say ANYTHING to them!
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So on yesterday's lunch walk I turned the other direction down the "trail" and saw some stuff...I really do not know what this is, but it is colorful!
Random pics:
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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
11/9: 13.05
Total KM run: 61.67
I was supposed to run 8k yesterday but I was feeling bleh. I just couldn't work up any motivation to do anything. I think it was because the weather has just been so dreary lately. Constant rain, cold and wind. I didn't feel like running on the treadmill again so I let myself veg. I got chinese takeaway on the way home from work and relaxed. The weather forecast is for sunny skies for the next week so I told myself I'd make the run up today.
Well my alarm went off at 5am this morning and while it was still pitch black, it was clear skies and only a light wind! I got myself up and happily out the door. It was a chilly 6°C and after the first mile I felt like I'd over dressed with a long sleeve tech shirt and light jacket, but in the last 30 minutes the temperature dropped so I was glad to have the extra layer.
I was scheduled to run 5 so adding in the 8 I missed yesterday I ended up running 13. All in all it was a good run
I'm about 3 pages behind on posts
Hopefully I'll have some more time to catch up tonight.
@mbaker566 OUCH! Sorry you got hurt, wishing you a speedy recovery x
@MegaMouseEsq WTG on your half!!8 -
2.1 miles yesterday, 4.8 today. I thought that would make an even number of miles in the ticker, but I was mistaken. Or I screwed up somewhere. No idea.
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Belated Race Report
Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon
July 13, 2019
Duluth, MN to Carlton MN (90% trails, 5% roads, 5% paved trails)
I signed for this race with the idea that it would motivate me to keep my mileage up through the summer. That didn't work. I averaged under 10 miles per week for the 8 weeks prior, with very little of that on trails or hills. Not a plan for success. Consequently, I just hoped to finish within the 9 hour cutoff.
I drove up the night before and camped at Jay Cooke State Park, near the finish line. I took the day off and arrived there early so I could relax that evening with other racers I knew who were camping in the park. Though this isn't the campsite I stayed at that night, this is my new race camping setup...a tent that sets up in the bed of my pickup and a cot that just fits inside. I first used this at the Superior Spring 50K and it worked wonderfully! The cot is very comfortable and I have enough room to move around, sit up and get ready in the morning. It's easy to set up and quick to take down.
After setting up, I found my friends camping nearby and we shot the breeze and had a beer or two before heading off to an early night's sleep. Before going to bed I set up my running gear within easy reach and made sure my coffee thermos next to my cot so I could put the caffeine to work as soon as possible the next morning.
My alarm went off at 4:00 AM, I drank my coffee and ate my bagels. Changed into my running clothes, put the bag of running gear I'd need on the passenger seat (GPS, HR strap, hydration vest, etc) and took down my tent, all in the dark and quietly as possible to keep from waking the campground. I don't think it mattered, though, as there were dozens of others getting up and ready for the same race. Non-racing campers must have wondered what the heck was going on.
The caffeine kicked in so I went to the restroom, then back to my truck and on the road to the finish line to park and get on the shuttle buses. While I don't like getting up earlier to catch a shuttle, I do enjoy the nervous energy and excitement on the buses as you do your final prep and talk to others.
The start was right outside the Duluth Zoo. The shuttle dropped us off, I found my bib and spent the rest of the time talking to people I knew, which turned out to be quite a few. The trail running community here is just like family and the longer your in it, the more people you know (duh!) and I ended up talking to so much I almost didn't have time for final prep of applying nipple bandaids and lubing up my feet, crotch and butt cheeks (sounds appealing, right? FAR more appealing than chafing!)
The race starts and we climb up a rocky ravine and onto an old broken up paved path. My HR wasn't registering after a half mile so I stopped and restarted my GPS hoping to get it going, but it was not to be. I use my heart rate as great means to know how hard I should push myself but I wasn't going to get it this day, and as it turned out, it didn't matter.
After a while started running straight across on a large, steep grassy hill. It finally occurred to me that we were on the local ski hill, Spirit Mountain, which provided a great view of the St. Louis River below.
I started off this race feeling much better than I thought I would. Knowing it couldn't last to the end, I went with it and ran when I could, hiking fast when I couldn't. Other than Spirit Mountain, the scenery in the first few miles was not as nice as I expected, but after the first aid station that changed and I was treat to beautiful single track, rugged trails, wide vistas, steep scrambling slopes, splashing through rivers and streams, and a fun time.
At one point I was traversing a difficult, jagged boulder field when a black wasp decided to sting my calf! Without thinking I took my water bottle and slammed it down on my leg and looked down in time to see that I actually killed the wasp, the little *kitten*. It was luck that the incident didn't cause me to lose my balance and fall. It would have been an easy thing to break a leg in those boulders. I happen to mention the sting to someone at the next aid station and they made sure I was ok before letting me continue. They must have flagged my bib number because at the next aid station they pulled me aside and asked how I was doing with the sting. I was pretty impressed with that!
At the halfway point, I could feel I was running out of gas. The cool morning had given way to the heat and humidity of the day. It would reach nearly 80F by the end of my race. As I recall I was also getting pain in the muscles on the front of the shin...wth?!?! Never had that happen before...due to my lack of training I'm sure. There was no reason to push this and being my first trail marathon, it's a PR if I finish, so I went into power hike mode. Occasionally I'd feel up to running, but only the flats or downhills, and only in the shade. Even though I was slowing down and had resigned to hiking it out, my attitude actually improved and I was just smiling ear to ear, happy to be out there.
At the 15 mile aid station I ended up stopping for 12 minutes just chat with some friends who were there, including @MNLittleFinn who was there volunteering at the aid station. Was a great surprise! I later regretted that I forgot to get a photo of us. Also there was a good friend who thought he was done with ultras because of a knee issue until he got selected to run the Western States 100 mile Race and I had to get updated on how that went.
Back on my merry way, I continued the beautiful hike, running every now and again. As I got closer to the end I ended up hiking with a few other old guys like me and had some great conversations. Of course, went we got to the trail section along the St. Louis River I had to stop for more photos:
At some point around the 22 mile mark I did the impossible and did some math in my head (I'm an engineer but when I run I struggle with simple addition for some reason) and figured out that I might be able to break the 7 hour mark if I pick up the pace. Though it hurt, that's what I did. I was able to make good progress and thought I had it made until I hit another very tough technical section that required picking my way through more boulders and making some painful climbs. 7 hours was not going to happen. I backed off.
The last half mile of the route was on a paved bike trail. When I hit that I decided to push to the finish, going from a 15:00 pace to a 9:00 to 10:00 pace. When I finally got close enough to see the time clock, I saw that I actually did have a chance at 7 hours had I not backed off earlier, but nope. Didn't happen. I finished in 7:00:48
The race done I collected my finishers medal, a locally hand made ceramic medal which was pretty cool. I found some friends who were set up near the finish to cheer on those coming across the line and someone handed me a Michelob Ultra. Now I do not like that "beer", but in that moment, with sore muscles all over, a calf swollen from the wasp sting, and crystallized salt caking my face, that beer was beautiful!!
Normally I wouldn't be happy with that time. After all, I've finished a few 50K races in less time than that, but given training and injury recovery, I got out everything I put into it, finished the race, and other than an itchy, swollen wasp sting, I was fine, and I was very happy.
This is a race I think I'll do every year. It's very well run, great volunteers, beautiful course, and because of the timing we likely wouldn't be sailing that weekend.
They also had some great photographers on the course who captured these:
ETA: I have to add my pickle juice testimonial. After the race I had a 2.5 hour drive home. After the early morning and long run, I was tired and decided to pull over at a rest stop to take a nap. After I parked I tilted my seat back and something I did set off a cramp in one of my hamstrings. As I struggled to sit back up and stretch it out, my abdominal muscles start cramping, then quads, then my other hamstring. If I tried to stretch one set out, it would just make the other set worse. I was just a twitchy mess!! I finally struggled to get out of my truck and I must have been quite the sight. I remembered I had a small bottle of pickle juice in my running gear and with alternating cramping and stretching, managed to get it out. It had been sitting in my truck all day and my first sip was a hot, salty, briny nasty taste! The pain was horrible though, so I slammed the rest of the bottle and tried not to gag.
It worked. A minute later I was catching my breath, cramp free. That's the second time I've used pickle juice to successfully stop cramping fits. The stuff works!
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@7lenny7 incredible photos and great fun! Awesome race report, and loving the camping set up!1
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Great report @7lenny7 - looks like a beautiful place to race! But next time try not angering the wasp...1
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I wasnt going to run today after some hip pain yesterday and 26,000 steps. The pain however went as quickly as it arrived, so today was a gentle 5k.
A quick look at my garmin suggests that my gps is cutting out a few metres either side of one road. Given I do two laps I might just be doing an extra 20-25 metres each run.
Goals September:
13 Runs................................5 run
71km....................................27km
5km PB.................................Done 1 & 7 Sep
6km PB.................................Done 1 & 7 Sep
7km.......................................x
Child to do 5km...................Done 5 Sep
Child to do r/w of 10/1m....x
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Great race reports @MegaMooseEsq and @7lenny7!1
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I didn't mean to fail to acknowledge your race report @MegaMooseEsq! It was a great report, I just missed it under the spoiler. Great job persevering through all that and your not-so-ideal training!2
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I didn't mean to fail to acknowledge your race report @MegaMooseEsq! It was a great report, I just missed it under the spoiler. Great job persevering through all that and your not-so-ideal training!
No worries - my feelings weren't hurt. Although I did put "RACE REPORT" in all caps before the tag. 0 -
@mbaker566 Oh NO!!! That looks very painful and would have been scary. I'm not sure I could have done it. Hope it isn't too bad today and that you heal quickly.
@MNLittleFinn Amazing run!
@MegaMooseEsq Congratulations on your HM! Great race report!
@PastorVincent Nice picture. Glad to know that technique works. The things you learn on a running site! 0 -
7 miles tonight...3 with Kody, 4 solo. It was pretty warm for a dog run so halfway through I started walking. Getting bored with that I decided to run slowly and made a game of trying to get my HR as low as possible while still running. I got it to 129, which gave me a pace 1:45 slower per mile than usual. The curious thing though about the experiment is that the slowest I found I could run was up to 2 minutes faster pace than when I first started running in 2015. How can I not run as slow as I did back then? Not that I really want to, but I just found it odd.
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@mbaker566 - oh, that looks painful. So sorry about the fight, you are brave and a good person to put yourself in there to save the dogs. Hope you all heal up quickly.
@MegaMooseEsq congratulations on your HM!
@7lenny7 enjoyed your race report. Beautiful photos.
Sorry if I missed anyone between this and my last post.
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 :::: 5.7 :::: 55.5
09/10/19 :::: 5.6 :::: 61.1
Long tempo night at marathon/HM group. This meant 45 minutes for those like myself training for HM and 50 min for those training for a full. I hate the long tempo, as coach says you are supposed to. The mental part of it was very tough and I was not super happy with my pace, but felt like I pushed the whole time.
I'm heading to Princeton, NJ tomorrow for a few days. The hotel and conference center has trails around it, so I'm hoping to get some runnning in . Of course its supposed to be 90 degrees tomorrow when I arrive there. Not looking forward to that little return to summer.7 -
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5.27 miles tonight. Was supposed to be intervals, but struggled to get my HR as high as I wanted. Ended up with just a couple intervals after about 2-3 miles of "warm-up" (i.e. trying to get HR higher, but struggling to keep pace up). I was later able to push harder, so clearly my problem was all mental. Maybe I should try again for intervals tomorrow.
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