November 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

Avidkeo

Been a foodie weekend. My mum has come for a visit so we've tried out some of the local cafes. Been lovely. I also did Parkrun yesterday, and extended it out to a long run of 6.4k.

Today has been a lot of not much. Not going to make my step goal. Sigh. So mych for my 40 day streak! I might possibly get a walk in once the kids are in bed. Will see.

kristawatkins52

So I am joining really late this month. I haven't been running for almost 6 months and just sporadically since then. My goal for this year is to train, and complete, at least a 5k, maybe a 10k by the new year. My goal for th rest of this month is to complete the first week of c25k and get in about 12 km of walk/run. I also will be running with my dogs who haven't gotten much exercise lately, so starting slow will be good for them too

username301

After switching yesterdays long run to a 5k, today I forgot I was meant to be doing a long run with short 16/1 intervals until I was 20mins in.

So long run 11km, 20.30/1 intervals done.

I have also checked RW race time predictor and my 10k pace more or less matches the prediction they give when I input my 5k time. Which is oddly satisfying.

November goals (all ish)
1. 15 runs.......................12
3. 100km........................82km
4. Long 10km.................11km
5. 100% Morning runs...8/12

samthepanda

Not a great run today as calf felt tight, but still better done than not done. Monthly total won't be massive but at least I'm back in.

PastorVincent

kristawatkins52 wrote: »

So I am joining really late this month. I haven't been running for almost 6 months and just sporadically since then. My goal for this year is to train, and complete, at least a 5k, maybe a 10k by the new year. My goal for th rest of this month is to complete the first week of c25k and get in about 12 km of walk/run. I also will be running with my dogs who haven't gotten much exercise lately, so starting slow will be good for them too

Welcome!

I would suggest that if you are just starting couch to 5k, that wanting to complete a 10k by the end of this year is likely too much. Follow the c25k plan and see where you end up would be my suggestion.

katharmonic

Teresa502 wrote: »

@katharmonic – your running streak is getting right up there with @AlphaHowls! Good luck with your Spartan – hope it’s a fun one!

You are sweet, and I will take any comparison to @AlphaHowls (dew claws up!) even if I'm nowhere near her level. My little streak is broken now but I had a great race, thanks! Report below!


Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
11/01/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/02/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/03/19 :::: 3.1 :::: 3.1
11/04/19 :::: 3.3 :::: 6.5
11/05/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 6.5
11/06/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 6.5
11/07/19 :::: 2.5 :::: 9.0
11/08/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 12.0
11/09/19 :::: 4.5 :::: 16.5
11/10/19 :::: 13.3 :::: 29.8
11/11/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 32.8
11/12/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 35.8
11/13/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 38.9
11/14/19 :::: 1.7 :::: 40.6
11/15/19 :::: 2.5 :::: 43.1
11/16/19 :::: 8.4 :::: 51.5
11/17/19 :::: 3.3 :::: 54.8
11/18/19 :::: 3.1 :::: 57.9
11/19/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 60.9
11/20/19 :::: 2.1 :::: 63.0
11/21/19 :::: 3.8 :::: 66.8
11/22/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 66.8
11/23/19 :::: 3.5 :::: 70.3

Long Island Spartan Sprint (3.5 miles) report:

Yesterday (Saturday) was my 7th Spartan race this year (and ever, I just started this year). A few weeks ago I did the Super (8+ miles) in New Jersey and I was pretty humbled and defeated. Going into yesterday's race my goals were not to do so many freaking burpees and to finally get the rope climb, for which I was 0/6. I have been practicing and doing those pull-ups and I was determined.

We were really fortunate with the day we had. It was sunny and about 45 degrees, so after much debate I wore my short sleeve shirt with compression sleeves so I could remove them (which I didn't end up doing but could have). The really lucky part was that it was just cold enough air and water temps that they closed the water obstacles and we didn't have to submerge in cold muddy water. When we were in the registration line we noticed that the people who had already finished were not wet, so I asked a couple and they gave me that info - which was kind of a game-changer. It was totally possible they could open it up as it was warming up, so I tried not to get too excited.

Leading up to the race I knew that a couple of people on my team were planning to race it for time and the rest to just run it together as a team, and I hadn't committed one way or the other. I was leaning towards racing for time as this was probably the flattest course I had come across and why not. I decided that morning to just go for it and I lined up in the front with my other teammates. They took off quickly and I didn't expect to see them again, so I was running alone.

The course was not totally flat, there were certainly some steep but short climbs up and down gullies, and the trail through the woods required watching the footing, but overall I was able to run pretty much the whole time between obstacles. The order of obstacles was loaded up with the strength things toward the beginning - bucket carry, plate drag, sandbag carry, atlas stone carry - all of which are not terrible but tiring. I passed one of my teammates at the bucket carry and she seemed to be struggling a bit with being winded but said she was fine and I kept going. When I got to the mud obstacles I was ecstatic to see they were indeed closed and I ran past them with a smile on my face. After that was a series that someone had called "burpee row", with the rings, rope climb and spear throw.

I got the rings, and ran up to my nemesis rope climb. I stood at the rope and closed my eyes for a second and said to myself "you've got this" and then wrapped my leg around in the s-hook that I had been practicing and hoisted myself up. I had a couple of moments where I lost my foothold but I hung on for dear life and got it back and then I reached up as far as I could to ring that bell at the top. OMG, so happy! I almost burned my hands going back down too fast, and then I landed at the bottom and yelled "YES!!!" and threw up my hands and forced strangers to high five me.

The spear throw was next and I came close, but missed it. I was still elated about the rope climb so I wasn't too upset, I just tried to knock out the burpees and keep moving. The 30 burpees certainly took a lot out of me but I was on the home stretch at that point with only 5 obstacles left, 4 of which were right at the finish area. As I ran across a tricky little bridge to the finish area I saw my trainer/teammate who had finished waiting and he seemed surprised to see me as the next person on the team to finish. I was too! I finished the last 4, and ran across the finish line (which was a bit disappointing because no fire jump this time - they have a fire ban I guess). I got my medal and my snacks and shirt and noted my time on my watch was about 57 minutes. My last two sprints were about 1 hour 45 minutes but very different courses, so I was happy with it but not sure how to judge whether it was a good time or not for the day.

I went over to meet my teammate and wait for the rest of our team. The woman I passed before finished next and then the rest of the group was all together after that. We got a team picture and lots of group hugs, etc, then my trainer wanted to check his time so we went over to the results tent. He got 2nd in his age group and 9th place overall in the open heat (out of like 2300, not competitive - you have to run the age group or elite heats to podium/win prize money). I typed in my bib number and the results popped up - I was in 1st place in my age group!!! I was stunned and thrilled. Three weeks ago I came in dead last in my age group, today I was first! Looking up the results, if I had run the actual age group competitive heat, I would have come in second and been on the podium!

I'm still smiling from the whole thing. I kind of feel like I should pull a George Costanza and end on a high note, but I have another race in two weeks. In the meantime I am enjoying the feeling of having conquered the rope climb and my first ever "win".

I don't have any photos of the event yet, but I have to share the screenshot of results.

Tramboman

@Katharmonic Great job!!! Well run.

Tramboman

11-1 7k slow
11-2 7k slow
11-3 8k for @MobyCarp
11-4 7k easy
11-5 yoga
11-6 7k slow
11-7 7k easy/yoga
11-8 rest
11-9 7k easy
11-10 7k slow/yoga
11-11 7k easy/resistance bands
11-12 rest/yoga
11-13 7k slow/resistance bands
11-14 7k slow/yoga
11-15 rest/resistance bands
11-16 7k easy/yoga
11-17 7k easy
11-18 7k moderate + resistance bands
11-19 running rest + yoga
11-20 7k moderate + resistance bands
11-21 7k easy + yoga
11-22 rest
11-23 7k slow + yoga
11-24 7k slow

November Total: 127k
November 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
September Total: 135k
October Total: 115k

2019 Total through October: 1,423k / 882.26m

Monthly average: 142.3k

Next year when you pop in here claiming your December 2019 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?
Run at least 4 5k races. Completed 8-31
Get under 30:00 and a PR for 5k. Nope...
Average at least 135k per month, which would put me over 1,000 miles for the year.

Run the Year Team: Five for Nineteen - Completed 9-28

Cloudy and low 30s F today. Yesterday's knee stiffness turned into a left knee pain during the first kilometer, but faded shortly thereafter. Maybe yoga is loosening me up too much.

2020 goals:

Continue a 5k regimen.
Train better.


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
10-13 Haunted Hustle 5k - 31:22 chip time; 47/74 overall; First Place male 60 and older

PastorVincent

@Katharmonic Yay!! Well done!!

Scott6255

@Katharmonic Congrats on ringing that bell!! 💪 And for the 1st place AG win!!

shanaber

Race Report – USA Women’s Palm Desert HM. Clear and cool 51F at start and 70F at finish.

This race is a remake if you will, of the Nike Women’s race from several years ago. There was a lottery to get in and I entered it with a bunch of women in my local Oiselle Volée group. Ended up they didn’t have as much interest as they expected so no lottery really needed but it did eventually sell out.
The race was held in Palm Desert and was advertised as a ‘luxury experience’, Ha! More on that later.
My first indication that this weekend may not go as planned was our hotel was cancelled about 1.5 weeks before the race. It was a new Marriot that was supposed to open in late summer. They sent an email telling us they were not ready and we would need to find another location. When we looked most all of the hotels were full or the rooms were $400 or more! Fortunately, we have pretty high status with Marriott (all my work travel paying off!) so after a few phone calls we were able to secure a room at a cost comparable to what we previously had.
Friday, we headed out to Palm Desert for packet pickup which was oddly held right in the middle of an open air multilevel mall. There were no signs but we found the few vendor tents but no packets and no one to ask (vendors didn't know). I finally asked another runner and she laughed and said ‘oh it is upstairs. I had to wander around to find it.’ To get there we had to go through a store and up their escalator (I am sure they loved having all these runners wandering through their store to go up or down!) as the only other way to access the other levels were way at either end of the mall.
The race offered a free spaghetti dinner for the runners and you could add on family members for $10. With my frequently iffy GI I really didn’t want free pasta made for 3000+ so we headed out to dinner and had a really nice meal. It ended up being a really good decision as I heard from several runners later that they ran out of food and were trying to bring in enough pizza to make up for it. I had my ‘Hug a Runner’ t-shirt on and a table of 4 ladies saw me and came over to chat and see if I was running the race too. They had lots of questions about the race start and shuttles that the organizer hadn’t really given great information on. We had driven to the start and the race route earlier so I was able to help a little. They invited me to meet up with them during the race and while we tried it just didn’t work out.
I was able to meet early with the Oiselle Volée group for a prerace picture and to cheer on a couple of women running the full marathon (there were only ~200 entered in the full). Then after a quick trip to the porta pots it was time to get ready to run. Note we went to where they had a few set up beyond bag check and there was really no line. The ones at the start had huge lines and my new restaurant friends were still waiting in line when the HM started.
I placed myself towards the back of the start not wanting to go out too fast. They didn’t have corrals but had markers by pace that really didn’t do much. I should have stayed in the middle and ended up darting around many walkers and groups of walkers. There were lots of groups doing run/walk intervals and my only complaint was a good number of them spread across the lane and you had to force your way between them. This was true for at least the first 4 miles. My plan was to take a short walk break every mile and that included the water stations and porta pots which were placed about every 2 miles. It was a good thing my stomach behaved this race as there were huge lines for the bathrooms along the course, not that I was going for any kind of PR but I wouldn’t have wanted to waste 30 mins waiting.
The first 9 miles went wonderfully. I was keeping to plan, didn’t go out too fast and had passed the 3 hour and the 2:45 pacers and was right where I wanted to be cruising along. I was hoping to finish right around 2:45 or maybe a bit faster. Toward the end of mile 9 my knee started to complain loudly and hurt even when I slowed to walk. It was my 2nd slowest mile. I continued to try to run some, until my knee complained and then I would walk again. By mile 11 I was just walking and then it started to hurt even when I walked. Because my knee hurt I wasn’t walking or running normally and my calves and glutes started to hurt/cramp. I was in tears and really just wanted to quit. I thought of @somum walking her entire HM on an injured ankle and figured I could finish the last couple of miles. I met another lady who was having calf issues and walking so we walked the last mile together to the finish line. While we were walking mile 13 the 2:45 pacer came blasting by followed just a bit later by the 3:00 hour pacer. Given that my time with walking was a minute under 3:00 their pacing efforts must have been pretty far off.
Once over the finish lines we were directed to get in line for our ‘medals’ a Tiffany’s necklace, the real reason I finished the race! It was a huge long line, the sun was beating down and all I really wanted was some water and a banana or something/anything to eat. There was nothing.
We were supposed to have a buffet breakfast with mimosas. There were showers if you wanted to take one before eating and massages available. So after I got my medal and shirt I was able to find someone handing out water and wandered off to look for food. There was another huge line by the postrace porta pots and showers and I thought people were waiting for that. Nope, that was the line to get to the buffet breakfast winding through the park. I waited in line for a while until another runner came by who had finally gotten to the food. All they had were bagels (no toaster) salami and cheese and fruit salad. Not even any of the usual postrace foods and certainly not a buffet breakfast in my mind. The line for mimosas was equally long, not that I wanted one without some food in my stomach anyways and there was only one person giving massages so again a very long wait.
While I was still on the course about 2 hours in, my husband was trying to get near to the finish area parking (there was still plenty of parking available) but was stuck in terrible traffic. While running we passed so many lines of cars waiting to turn one way or the other and unable to get where they needed to go. The drivers were frustrated and honking and the police were giving them tickets when they would start honking. There were signs alerting people that the race was going to occur and to make alternate plans I guess many of them didn't notice or figured it couldn't mean they would be inconvienenced. My husband eventually texted me and asked me to get on a shuttle to one of the hotels and he would pick me up there. So, I went looking for the shuttles. No one knew where the shuttles were picking up, no one. These were provided by the race so you would think someone would know. One person even suggested I call one of the hotels. I met so many other runners looking for the shuttles. Many had planes to catch and checkout times to meet. It wasn’t like you could call an Uber either because they wouldn’t have been able to get through. I texted my husband and found a place to sit figuring he would eventually be able to get over to where I was. Once he picked me up (he had been stuck in traffic for over 2 hours and was not happy) we had to drive around and around trying to get back to the hotel because even though the race was over they still had all the streets blocked off. I still hadn’t eaten anything (now over 2 hours postrace) but knew we had to get to the hotel so I could shower and meet our late check out time.
I heard later that they ran out of the food at the ‘buffet’ breakfast, ran out of coffee and most importantly ran out of water (running in the dry desert even if it is only 70F you still need water after the race). Essentially this race was just a 💩 show. Hopefully they will get better but I would never recommend this race to anyone. I have done other USA Endurance races and they have been pretty well run but this was definitely not.
Pictures from the start and course and swag under the split.

The start in the early morning light


Desert sunrise


HM start


Pictures from the course




Swag - Lululemon shirt, folded to show the cute back. Nice bag, Multicolor buff, Tiffany necklace. Not shown we also got a beach towel

shanaber

Congratulations @katharmonic! 1st in your age group and completing that rope climb to ring the bell! Woohoo!!

rheddmobile

@shanaber Oh gosh, it sounds like you had a heck of a time! Good job finishing despite knee pain. At least the scenery was beautiful! And the swag is top notch, now you have a “medal” you can wear not just on race day! And I have total shirt envy, that looks like a great fitted shirt.

Your report about the traffic issues reminds me of my first time doing the St Jude Marathon weekend 5k. Memphis does this every year and you’d think they would learn by now what 40k extra people downtown plus closed roads means and how to handle it, but that year it took me over 4 hrs to make a 20 minute drive, there was no food after the race unless you bought the $500 VIP package, and I was literally crying from low blood sugar! It’s a great race and last year was better (for one thing they had food, for another they changed the route so it was actually possible for cars to get out of the race area) but I still primarily think of the whole event with dread because of the traffic. I’m not running it this year because they are doing road work on Front street and I can’t even imagine what it will be like down there. As for shuttles, Memphis doesn’t grok shuttles - we had symphony tickets down on Front street a couple of weeks ago, so booked a shuttle, and ended up carpooling with the symphony board vp after no shuttle showed up. With thirty people waiting!

Hopefully the organizers at your race will get it together next time!

PastorVincent

@shanaber Yuck. Glad you got your necklace, but man, I dunno that I would return to that race.

katharmonic

@shanaber that sounds awful. I floated the idea of that race to some of my friends as a destination race and I'm glad they didn't take to the idea given how much money we would have spent on it and the disaster you describe. Not exactly the luxury race experience as advertised. Sorry it wasn't a better race. It looks like a beautiful day in your photos.

Thank you so much @Tramboman, @PastorVincent, @shanaber , and @Scott6255! I still keep checking my results and thinking there might have been a mistake.


Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
11/01/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/02/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/03/19 :::: 3.1 :::: 3.1
11/04/19 :::: 3.3 :::: 6.5
11/05/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 6.5
11/06/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 6.5
11/07/19 :::: 2.5 :::: 9.0
11/08/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 12.0
11/09/19 :::: 4.5 :::: 16.5
11/10/19 :::: 13.3 :::: 29.8
11/11/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 32.8
11/12/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 35.8
11/13/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 38.9
11/14/19 :::: 1.7 :::: 40.6
11/15/19 :::: 2.5 :::: 43.1
11/16/19 :::: 8.4 :::: 51.5
11/17/19 :::: 3.3 :::: 54.8
11/18/19 :::: 3.1 :::: 57.9
11/19/19 :::: 3.0 :::: 60.9
11/20/19 :::: 2.1 :::: 63.0
11/21/19 :::: 3.8 :::: 66.8
11/22/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 66.8
11/23/19 :::: 3.5 :::: 70.3
11/24/19 :::: 3.2 :::: 73.5

I slept in and then went out for a run late this morning, trying to take it pretty easy after yesterday's race. It felt rough for the first half and better in the second half. The temps were good and I ran around my neighborhood route so I wouldn't have to spend too much extra time on it. Then I went rock climbing which was good. I think the climbing definitely helped in the Spartan race so would like to keep working on it. Today was fun but I was tired out pretty quickly, especially my forearms and grip.

Tramboman

Good race, @shanaber !!!

rheddmobile

@katharmonic You rang the bell!!!! And first place AG!!!!!

Calf problem seems to have resolved - @PastorVincent The inflammation from leaked synovial fluid was pretty bad when it first happened and for sure tore my muscle up on that side. It’s still half an inch smaller than my other calf. But so far subsequent problems with leaked fluid haven’t been nearly as serious, I had a couple of minor problems last winter then nothing until this last time. And it didn’t swell, it was just sore, so it can’t have been much. Hopefully if I baby the knee a little it will behave. Doctors don’t want to mess with it except as a last resort because the rupture is right at the location of the large nerve cluster to my lower leg, so any surgery would be very risky.

We got 10k in yesterday at Shelby Farms. The weather was supposed to be clear and when we headed out the radar showed zero rain with a less than 10% chance of rain, WHILE IT WAS POURING RAIN. Since my rain jacket had the hood stolen I wasn’t looking forward to running in 42 degrees and raining with a 15 mph wind. But the rain stopped just as we got there, yay! And the wind wasn’t as bad away from the lake, also yay!

I’m still a little bit sick, I think. Had to take a walk break after two miles because my body was just not getting it. But then it inexplicably lightened up and the rest of the run was fine.

We walked back a different way than usual, past the playground, and all the deer were crossing the little stream by the playground. We counted nine in one group, three in another group, then another three. They let us get quite close with no. fence between us, presumably because they felt they outnumbered us! Also heard owls calling.

Calf today seems fine.

Teresa502

@katharmonic – Congratulations on conquering that Spartan! You are awesome!

@shanaber – What a race! I’m so sorry about your knee and the crappy organization. On a positive note, nice swag and I loved the pictures of the palm trees!

mbaker566

My knee was very sore today after my race so i walked the three miles i was supposed to run. It's feeling ok now so hopefully I'll be running tomorrow.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

10.15 miles yesterday in Memphis, 12.13 miles today here. I'm not going to reach goal this month, but I'm going to blame the tendonitis.