November 2019 Monthly Running Challenge
Replies
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Intended to do a long eight miles, took a wrong turn and ended up doin 10.75 miles, 2:11 min slow run.
Beautiful warm sunny day, so no complaints.11 -
@martaindale very cool you and your husband did the Disney HM!! So jealous. Some kind of Disney race is on my bucket list. I'm sure it was fun. Even though you pushed the pace for your husband, I know he appreciated it. Hope your knees feel better soon!
@kristymn I thought I congratulated you on your race and AG place, but I don't see it posted. So CONGRATS!!!3 -
Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
11/01/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/02/19 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
11/03/19 :::: 3.1 :::: 3.1
I went to the rock climbing gym today to get my belay certification test completed. We climbed a little bit after that and my arms were definitely hurting from yesterday's race. Afterwards I went to the regular gym to sit in the sauna and get a short run in. They have a new NordicTrack commercial treadmill with a fancy video screen that lets you pick workouts. The incline and the speed adjust along with the video (you can override that). I had a hard time finding something that was just an easy paced run - I really wanted to just have some pretty scenery and set my own pace. I finally found a "recovery run" where you ran along with a trainer by some waterfalls in Croatia. That was pretty cool, but it was funny because the path they were running on was so tourist-packed that the trainer was walking a ton and it felt like I needed to push my way through a crowd even though my treadmill was just going along at a constant pace. The changing incline is kind of interesting and I like the idea of running views, but it was overall not that satisfying for what I was looking for. I also kept knocking off the magnetic emergency stop and losing all my settings.
Both yesterday during my race and today while running I thought of MobyCarp. He was such an important part of this community who we could all learn from and a great supporter of all. Here's to your memory, Kevin, on the day you would have run the NYC marathon. I'm sure you would have done us proud.
I so apologize for not responding to everyone's great race reports. I read and liked but am too far behind to get it all into a post. I don't want to start mentioning and leave anyone out. Fabulous job though, everyone.
And thanks so much for the nice words on my Spartan race.
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November Goal: 80 Miles
11/3: 11.02 miles
11.02/80 miles completed
I ran 11 miles in honor of @MobyCarp this morning. It was a beautiful day for a long run and it was a wonderful run. The sun was shining. It started out a little cool at about 45°F and ended at about 57°F. I wore shorts and a t-shirt with sleeves and gloves. I started out kind of chilly and then about halfway through I had to take off the sleeves and gloves. Sometimes it is hard when the run starts out that much cooler than it ends, but I feel like I was dressed well for it. I did tie my sleeves to my flipbelt and that was good. I changed my route a little from what I've been running so it was kind of nice to not run the same run I always run. I know there have been lots of good runs, but I haven't had a chance to read all the post yet. I am going to go back and read them soon.
2019 races:
2/2/19: Catch the Groundhog Half Marathon - PR 2:15:17
5/18/19: Run for 57th AHC Half Marathon - Cancelled due to weather
10/5/19: Old Rip 5K - PR 27:27, 1st AG
11/9/19: Wags and Whiskers 5K
2020 races:
5/16/20: Run for 57th AHC Half Marathon9 -
Hello!!new and really excited to join the group! I did my first 5k a month or so ago and I loved it so much, why not sign up for a marathon? My first marathon will be the Chicago marathon Oct 11 2020! I hope to run 50 miles for November! Let the games begin!18
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10 miles today. My first double-digit since the broken leg! The doggo went with for the first 1.85 miles (I was going to take her to the park to get at least 2 miles but she wanted to go home). I went back out and walk/ran the rest of it. It was hot out. I started much too late and I ran out of water with a little less than 2 miles left. I forgot sunscreen so I got a little red. I did find a gu from the last long run I had in June so I had that at least. It was me being woefully unprepared but wanting to get those damn 10 miles.
13.3/???15 -
Today I ran 7 miles for @MobyCarp which is my longest run to date. I took an easy pace and tried not to look at my watch as much as possible. I often like to listen to podcasts while I run (mostly health/fitness) and found myself listening to an encouraging podcaster tell me I was worth the time to invest in myself. I was new to the running challenge thread when @MobyCarp passed away so suddenly. But I found him to be very encouraging and someone who looked on the positive side of life.
I spent much of this journey looking at how the sun was shining and my neighborhood seemed alive. Our neighborhood is one that was intentionally flooded after Hurricane Harvey to save more populated areas of the city from ruin. Everyone has been been rebuilding from the damage over the past few years. Some of the homes closer to the creek looked deserted until recently. As I ran past one of these lots (the home gone with bulldozers in place where the lot has now been elevated), I saw a man with a young boy evaluating the progress. He seemed to have hope of what is yet to come. I reflected on the grieving that has happened as we saw our homes destroyed and were left to find a path forward to rebuild. Back in February when I first started running I can remember seeing several of the homes near the creek dark and vacant. I’m encouraged to see life coming back to the area. Halloween decorations and a large inflatable turkey in my neighbors yards. Sprinklers watering the lawns and gardens. Neighbors out walking dogs. Life. I breathed it all in and was thankful for the time to reflect.16 -
Commitments for November:
1) Run at least 36 miles
2) Walk at least 36 miles
3) Finish the last 2 weeks of Active's C25K program
4) Finish the first 2 weeks of Active's 5K to 10K program
Date......Walk......Run
11/01.....6.11.......2.21
11/02.....2.72.......0.00
11/03.....4.20.......2.58
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...Did my race registration and bag drop, then had about an hour to kill. I ended up walking about 4km around the marina where the race was starting. I should've taken a later shuttle, but I hate the feeling of being rushed so I'm always early to everything!...
...The next 9km were a loop around an estuary. I run this loop all the time as it's really close to home so I know it well. I started passing a few people. At one point it sounded like there was an actual zombie behind me. A girl was making this horrible gurgle/cough weird noise every few minutes, I'm not sure what that was about, but I sped up a bit and left her behind! I started picking off people, the "sports bra girl", the "backpack guy" (he looked like he was carrying a daypack on holiday), the "bad BO guy" - seriously. I could smell this guy from about 20 metres away and it took me about 4km to be able to finally pass him. So gross.
Now we're around the estuary and have to re-cross the same road and go back over the little foot bridge. Then it's up and over the harbour bridge. By this stage it's about 25°C and people are struggling. We have a long straight to run for about 6km that has no shade. At this point the 11km runners are starting to merge with us, so I'm now being passed by these fresh looking gazelles that glide past me as I slog along. At this point I happen to glance up and see my mum on the side of the road! I hadn't expected anyone to come out to see me at this race so that was a nice surprise....
...Unfortunately the end is over about 200m of soft sand! I don't know if the race director is a runner, but I can't see how anyone can think that's a good idea?
After the finish I was knackered! My mum was there at the end too! So we went and got a nice cold drink and a huge icecream sundae....
Thanks for the vivid descriptions. I felt like I was there.
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@PastorVincent and Mrs. Pastorvincent - Congratulations on a great race and PRs!!
@katharmonic - Happy Birthday and Congratulations on a tough Spartan race! I have no doubt you will conquer that rope climb!
@RunsOnEspresso - we have some broken glass on our sidewalks (another reason I run with Hobbes on the street) but not much trash. I have been known to pick up dog💩 when we are out because people let their dogs go on the sidewalk and trail and don't clean it up. It is one of my pet peeves and I always have extra bags just in case. They even have dispensers along the trail so there is really no excuse for people not to clean up after their dogs.
@marisap2010 - great picture. Looks like an awesome place to run.
@noblsheep - would definitely like to see that process write up
@rheddmobile - love that picture of you with the cardinal!!
@kirstymn - congratulations on your HM and great race report! Oh and an AG place! Awesome! I also can't imagine a race finishing on soft sand like that.
@hamsterwheel6 - what a gorgeous place!
@polskagirl01 - Happy Birthday! I like your tradition. It is always good to reflect back on those who have passed and had an influence on our lives.
@eleanorhawkins - Congratulations on your HM! It was so great of you to help that lady who was struggling. Do you know if she was able to finish?
@zeesparrow - Nice run! I love my AfterShokz! Also they have great customer service and warranty process. I got mine in June and the physically broke where the part that goes over your ear connects to the back band. I submitted the warranty form on Wednesday and my new headphones should be here tomorrow.
@martaindale - So great that you and your husband were able to run the Wine and Dine together! It is one I looked at but I am not sure how I would do with the time change so we would have to go several days in advance. I did run the Disneyland inaugural Star Wars HM and it was crazy but a blast. I did not go into it planning to hit any time but just to have fun. What I thought was amazing was during the race the lines for pictures with Star Wars characters were longer than the lines for the bathrooms!
@kgirlhart - we have twin tickers again
@HonuNui - Awesome 'wogging' in the airport! Hope you have a great trip!
@durhammfp, @TheMrWobbly and others who didn't know @MobyCarp. He was, as you can tell, a very special runner to this group and we miss him greatly. He and I were very close in age and had been running about the same amount of time but that is where the comparisons end, he was in a different class. He was very fast, definitely an elite runner who more often than not won the races he ran or won his age group. He was also one of the most insightful and helpful people I have known even though I never had a chance to meet him IRL. He always had such good advice, for all of us and for himself as well. His race reports were detailed and honest looking at what went right, what went wrong and what he wanted or felt he needed to work on. I know I miss his sage words and think of him often when I am just running my day to day workouts or prepping for and running in a race.12 -
Today was my first run of November (I know... but I spent yesterday mostly traveling and packet pickup and such - Fri. was a pack / early bed / rest day normally anyway). I ran the Marshall University Marathon in Huntington, WV today (and counted as the NYC virtual marathon).
Here is a race report (will try to be brief, but no promises):
Day before (in short, no bueno):I had gone to bed early on Fri. and got up early Sat. to drive and pick up packet before going to bed early again in order to wake early on Sun. (today). All went very smoothly up until I was in the hotel and about to sleep. I started having some extremely intense calf cramps in both legs, as well as some moderately intense foot cramps (right). The calf cramps were so bad that I was quite literally screaming in pain despite that I have a fairly high pain tolerance. I tried to get up and go get some of my salt pills. I had only packed so many for the race, but I needed them stat! I couldn't barely stand and had to hold on to furniture or the wall to stay upright as I made my way to where I had the salt sticks capsules. I took a couple of them and eventually the cramps subsided. They left muscle pain, though.
I knew that between the muscle pain and the risk for continued cramps, it was a real possibility that I would DNS or DNF the next morning. I have exactly zero DNS's and DNF's combined, and I'm not about to start now.
Normally, I do not eat anything after lunch the day before a marathon. When I do, I get runner's stomach and it hurts my time badly. But in this circumstance, I needed to do something and was at a real risk of not just being slow(er), but not finishing. The bigger issue needed to be resolved and would require a multi-part approach that included eating. So I went to CVS and got magnesium citrate, powerade zeros, and some salty beef pepperoni dried snack meat (kinda like jerky) to replenish electrolytes (underlying cause of cramps). I also got some biofreeze to help with the residual muscle pain I was still experiencing. Then I went to McDonald's and got a couple of beef patties and doused them in salt (10 salt packs total). This was the plan and it had to work.
Race day morning / before race:I got up super early as planned, despite not getting a whole lot of sleep. I had woken multiple times for blood sugar alarms (as always) and bathroom (not always, but the magnesium citrate likely is the key reason). I had my normal coffee in the hotel room... some sadistic housekeeper had restocked with 3 decaf packs and only 1 regular pack. So I brewed the regular twice and dumped most of the 2nd cup out anyway because it was just too thin. I showered, took medicines (including loperamide to counter-act the magnesium), dressed, packed, loaded the car, checked out and grabbed a water and more coffee from the hotel lobby on my way out, and headed to the race. I was super early as normal and got a good parking spot where I could wait in a warm car. It was 30's F and my plan had always been to wear throw-away clothes until starting. While everyone else flowed into the area, I went in to the bathroom a few times and otherwise waited in the car. I did spend some time talking to people when I was out to the restroom and for the Marathon Maniacs and 50 States group photos... then back to the car until about 10 min. before start. I only threw away my gloves and hat because it was up to 36F by the time I left the car and I just decided to leave my throwaway clothes there for next weekend instead.
Actual race:Because of the cold, I started out fast. I knew it would warm up later and that would slow me. I often bank time in the beginning even when it isn't cold... but especially when it is cold. I happened to pass by Marathon Maniac #1 and founder Steven Yee. In addition, I met and talked with a lot of other runners on the course and was genuinely enjoying it. BG's were high at the start, as planned and expected, and things were going well at first. As I approached the half-way mark, I had some stomach cramping, but not the normal nausea / diarrhea that I normally experience when eating the night before a race. It was manageable.
As I continued to go quickly into the 2nd half, I kept trying to predict my finish time. I knew I was on pace for a PR (needed better than 4:44:57 for that), which was unexpected. I knew the cold would make me fast, but didn't realize it would be that good. I was starting to wear out and it was getting warmer and warmer (ending temp. was mid-50's). I took a breath often in the 2nd half, including to pet a couple dogs that the shelter had brought out to cheer us on. As I walked more and more, I was trying to determine what I could end up with. At one point, I was going back and forth with myself between 4:20-4:30. Then I ended up with calf cramps at around mile 20. These were mild and not anywhere near the intensity as Sat., but enough to slow me a bit further. I took more salt stick pills over a couple miles and ran out by mile 22-ish. The last 10K included quite a bit of walking and as I got into the last 5K, I adjusted my goal to PR with a finish at around 4:40.
When coming back into campus, they handed us a rose to carry and place at the memorial fountain for the plan crash victims. Then we continued on to the football stadium to finish and were handed a football if we wanted to carry around the stadium. Finish area was a loop around the stadium - enter, take football, go down field in corral/chute setup with flags on the sides, turn right to go sideways across field, turn right again to come back to other end of field and finish. When I get the finisher photo, I'll be carrying that football.
My final chip time was 4:40:14 - a new PR!
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12 Miles (well 11.97) for @MobyCarp today. It was a tough run. The first few miles weren't too bad. I did have to loop home for the bathroom and go again once I got up to the trail but then felt really good for a while. It was really dry but not too warm initially. I did plan and had my hydration vest with me. Somewhere after mile 4 I started having stomach cramps and was heading back towards the bathroom again which was good. This happened again around mile 7 and I also had to stop at one point because I felt so sick. I changed my route yet again to go back to the bathroom. At this point I seriously was considering just heading home but I really wanted the 12 miles on my plan. I kept thinking about @mobycarp and I am pretty sure he would have advised me to take it easy and come back and run it another day but of course I am stubborn and off I went again. This part of the run actually felt great. I did walk a bit just in case but was fine until I got to mile 10 and the exit off the trail to head home. I actually needed to sit down. I was sure I was going to be sitting one way or another if I didn't. The last 2 miles were a mixture of running and walking. I just wanted to get home. Once home I took a shower and a good soak in an epsom bath and felt better. I am still nauseated but feeling a bit better. I need to figure this out. It has really been a problem the last week or so and I don't know if it is something I am eating or what. I have a HM in a couple of weeks and I need to be able to get these long runs done without all this stopping and issues.
Date........Miles.......Total
11/01......0.00........0.00
11/02......3.46........3.46
11/03....11.97......15.43
2019 Planned and Completed Races
02/03/19 - Surf City Half Marathon - Deferred to 2020
05/11/19 - Santa Barbara Wine Country HM - Complete
09/15/19 - Jack and Jill Downhill HM - Boise - HM #25 Complete
11/23/19 - USA Women's HM
02/02/20 - Surf City Half Marathon14 -
@T1DCarnivoreRunner - Congratulations! I am amazed you were able to run after those cramps. I have had them exactly once and I could barely walk for almost a week my calf was so sore! Fantastic run and a PR too!1
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November Goal: 285km
01/11: 3.26
03/11: 21.15
04/11: 6.52
Total KM run: 30.93
Very slow recovery run this morning. I was a little surprised at how sore and stiff my muscles are after yesterday.
@ContraryMaryMary @PastorVincent @Tramboman @emmamcgarity @zeesparrow @martaindale @Scott6255 @durhammfp @shanaber THANK YOU ALL for your kind words about my race
@katharmonic Happy birthday! What an amazing list of accomplishments you've had this past year. You should be so proud of yourself!
@eleanorhawkins Awesome job! That sweeper cop sounds pretty frustrating though! That was very kind of you to stay with the struggling lady.
@martaindale That sounds like a super fun race! I hope your knees feel better soon and it's nothing serious
@T1DCarnivoreRunner Congrats on the marathon PR!!1 -
@emmamcgarity you are awesome! Great report too! Stairs are a great substitute for hill training. Some like to use a high incline on a treadmill but I don't recommend that because you don't get the downhill training, and that's important. There are other ideas here: https://relentlessforwardcommotion.com/vertical-training-for-flatland-runners-what-to-do-when-you-dont-have-hills/
@RunsOnEspresso I do home that ankle mends quickly.
@rheddmobile cool story about the bird. Nice job!
@kirstymn awesome work out there! The ship passengers would have made me scream, and the sand at the end...that's just cruel! What a beautiful place to run though.
@dory_42 welcome!
@katharmonic I hope you know that you're pretty much a beast.
@eleanorhawkins that is so awesome of you to help out that gal. That's better than a PR any day.
@martaindale congrats on your first HM! Sounds like you two had a wonderful time.
@chris_in_cal is that you in that photo of the NYC marathon?
@T1DCarnivoreRunner way to get that PR! Those cramps the day before must have been quite a concern.
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Saturday I ran 38 trail miles in 8 hours for @MobyCarp but since my race ended just when the official time for the @MobyCarp runs started, we'll call it a warm up. It would have been very interesting to hear how MobyCarp would have treated a fixed time race or even a long trail race. I know he ran cross-country but does anyone remember if he ran any trail races? I vaguely recall he did that once but I can't be sure.
I hope to type up a race report tomorrow. Until then, I'll leave you with this:
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@shanaber I checked the results online... she was the last on the list of finishers, with a time of 2:52 something, so although they did actually let her finish even though she missed the cutoff. We also found each other on Strava afterwards :-)
Too many to remember all the names but great weekend of racing and running everyone! I think Kevin will be proud, wherever he is.
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Monday morning beachfront run done. 4km in 30 minutes with 8 min run, 2 min walk, 8 run, 2 walk, 10 run. (Plus 500m or so of running before I realised my watch hadn't started.) Nearly at running for 30 minutes. Lungs not happy (too much wheat recently which triggers my asthma, plus being unfit) but I kept it under control without my pump. This will probably be my only run for the week due to rehab sessions and gym sessions (to do my rehab exercises and some core work) in mornings and jiu jitsu class in evenings - even if it is only for technique. Plus, I am on standby for seal watch at all times and may need to change my plans to go and help keep visitors away form our elephant seal and puppy (first time in 70 years one was born on the South African coast!!!!) Luckily the wind kept away today, as we have had howling gales recently!
Obligatory post run photo...
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@T1DCarnivoreRunner well done!2
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@shanaber @kirstymn @7lenny7 @PastorVincent Thank you! I credit my strong response as the reason I recovered so quickly and so strongly. The cold temperatures at the start were a huge boost too. I have been feeling especially down about speed recently, so this was a huge pick up a week before my first double weekend. I may boost electrolyte consumption significantly this week.5
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Someone got a shot of me in the race...
This was right at the start, I was soooooooo cold from standing around. At this point, I was still wondering if I . had underdressed.
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katharmonic wrote: »I went to the rock climbing gym today to get my belay certification test completed.
Yay! I really love sport climbing! The longer routes feeling the accomplishment of finishing a 60ft climb. At least at my gym, having your top rope certification really opens up your options for routes. The cool stuff never seemed to be on the auto belays.2 -
Just dropping in to say I got in 11.26km over the weekend, back in the UK for a 100th birthday party. Two runs, both with hills which I am NOT used to
Some amazing race reports everyone, I'll come back and comment later. Aim for November: 110km.11 -
Happy Birthday @katharmonic and @polskagirl01!
Congratulations @eleanorhawkins! It was very nice of you to run with that lady when she was struggling.
@martaindale Congratulations on your first HM! I laughed at the "unprecedented show of love" ... sounds like something my husband and I would say. I hope your knees are ok.
@shanaber That's good to know about aftershokz customer service and warranty.
Wow @T1DCarnivoreRunner those cramps sound horrible! Congratulations on your marathon PR, especially with all the struggles you experienced. Amazing!
@7lenny7 Eight. Hours. !!! Wow.
Today is a rest day for me and I need it. I would likely need it just because of my long run anyway, but I spent over an hour tearing out carpet on the stairs. I have about 5 more hours of work to get it all up. Such hard work! AND we found a water leak behind the washing machine. My husband got it stopped - at least enough for us to get our laundry done for the week. We're probably going to end up moving our RODI unit so we can connect the washer directly again. That was good for a few years but the Y-connector rusted through. Ugh. The worst part of it is that it looks like the water damage extends to the subfloor. At least we found it now. We were just about ready to schedule our new flooring install - would have been really frustrating to discover this mess in the middle of that!6 -
katharmonic wrote: »I went to the rock climbing gym today to get my belay certification test completed. We climbed a little bit after that and my arms were definitely hurting from yesterday's race.
Congrats!!1 -
Congratulations @T1DCarnivoreRunner on your big PR! That's fantastic, especially given the cramps you suffered. You are amazing with your strength and perseverance. Well done.
Congratulations on your race @7lenny7! That photo looks so cool! I don't know how you do it - thanks for the kind words but YOU are the beast!
@martaindale - this gym doesn't have auto-belays at all (which I didn't even know was a thing!), but they do have some staff belay opportunities. I'm excited to do this more over the winter. Congrats on your HM as well!!!
Happy birthday @polskagirl01 - I missed if it was today or already happened, but best wishes regardless!
Thanks @PastorVincent. Liked your race photo - a running ninja! A cold running ninja.
Thanks for the birthday wishes!
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PastorVincent wrote: »@Camaramandy648 love the pictures - looks like a great place to hike/run to me. Not sure about that rhino though...
Haha it was SO much fun!0 -
Gahhh I tried to post this from my phone this morning but it was before coffee so OF COURSE it didn't post....
Can we talk safety gear for running?
I'm female and run alone, both at night and on trails. I'm getting some feedback from loved ones that I need to stop being an idiot and find some measures of protection should anything unfortunate arise - attackers, wildlife, predators, getting hit by a car, falling....... (naturally, I fell asleep last night thinking about getting mauled by a mountain lion)....
I've seen the run angel wristlet, but what about like if I need to actually DEFEND myself? Thoughts? Ideas? What do you all use?0 -
Happy Birthday @katharmonic and @polskagirl01!
@T1DCarnivoreRunner I cringed at the description of your cramps! You are a beast to get a PR, let alone finish a marathon by overcoming that!@durhammfp, @TheMrWobbly and others who didn't know @MobyCarp. He was, as you can tell, a very special runner to this group and we miss him greatly. He and I were very close in age and had been running about the same amount of time but that is where the comparisons end, he was in a different class. He was very fast, definitely an elite runner who more often than not won the races he ran or won his age group. He was also one of the most insightful and helpful people I have known even though I never had a chance to meet him IRL. He always had such good advice, for all of us and for himself as well. His race reports were detailed and honest looking at what went right, what went wrong and what he wanted or felt he needed to work on. I know I miss his sage words and think of him often when I am just running my day to day workouts or prepping for and running in a race.
This is a accurate, wonderful, and heartfelt description of @MobyCarp and his influence on the group. Thanks for putting this down in words for everyone to read.
6.2 miles this morning Pretty good run. I don't think I have run in the early morning in a couple weeks, so felt a little weird. Kinda slow to start, but ended up negative splitting each mile as I got into it. This is one of the biggest milage weeks of the plan, so hopefully I can get through it. 20 miler coming on Saturday 😮
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