January 2020 Monthly Running Challenge
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emmamcgarity wrote: »@Avidkeo we do chocolate bunnies and eggs too. And marshmallow peeps. Just for fun I’m including a picture of the cake I made for Easter this year. (Sprinkled with jelly beans!)
Yum!
We don't get peeps here.3 -
Yay @emmamcgarity glad you are feeling stronger! Injuries suck!
6 miles for me this afternoon. Injury recovery ongoing, and another pain-free run 😁. Speed picking up a little bit, but was just taking it easy and concentrating on pushing off with my big toe rather than the outside toes. Listened to a podcast and I think the guy diagnosed my shin splints due to stress of the calf muscle stretching too far because of constantly pushing off on the outside of my foot. Since I get shin splints so often, I know it has to be a form issue. Hopefully I finally found a fix 🤞
I'm battling shinsplints atm. I actually think it's my walking shoes. I usually wear my just retired running shoes for work, because they still have plenty of life, just not running life. Well I've been getting posterior shin splints on and off the last couple of weeks. I've tried the massage and scraping technique which helps for a few days, but then the pain comes back. Perfectly fine when running, just sore when walking.
Then yesterday I wore one of my current running shoes for walking, and the pain is less. So yeah I'm pretty sure it's shoes.
Going to get some new shoes in a couple of weeks. I'll probably just retire one of my running shoes early, and get a new pair of running. Then I have a fresh pair, and a pair about half way through their life.8 -
Early evening 5k, strange to have so many people out and about. I passed a group of teenagers hanging about - weird how my form and speed improved going by them. I would have never have gone out at such a busy time just a few months ago.
Run was meant to be 1st thing this morning but the youngest wanted to go and I am not sure they are aware there is a 6am. Anyway they didnt go at all in the end and I now have a limited recovery time before tomorrow mornings run with the new recruit which I should be extending to 14k. Consider me daunted...
Jan Goal:
1. Ttl 130km...............................10km
2. Long run10 miles...................Not yet
3. 17 runs....................................2
4. Help someone start C25K.....1/1 (2.6k)
5. Strength training x14.............2
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3.5/1.5 Walk/run intervals complete. It was sunny out and harder to see my watch. So I accidentally ran 2 minutes instead of 1.5 on a couple segments but all went well. I still have a bit of tightness in the upper hamstring but improving each day. I did a Leslie Sansone 15 minute walk aerobic video as a warm up before stretching and going for the run. I do think the lateral movement is helping me with hip and core strength. It also made a nice warm up. My next few runs add a half minute to each of the run segments then the 4th week resumes with 30 minute runs. Once there the plan dictates starting at 30% of my preinjury mileage adding 10% each week then resume as normal. I’m trying to hold myself back and stick with this plan, but that means I’m not attending Parkrun or seeing my other runner friends at events. I’m going to contemplate if I think I could discipline myself to stay on plan if I met up with a group. I really don’t want to get injured again. Next week’s Parkrun might be the safest bet, even if I end up walking it or volunteering.9
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@emmamcgarity Glad you're doing better and getting some miles in! I'm curious, is your recovery plan dictated by your doctor, or did you find it on-line, or just making it up as you go? It sounds like a very sound plan either way.
@Scott6255 Glad you had another pain-free run and may have figured out your shin splint issue!
Today was supposed to have been an off day, but I know I will have a hard time getting anything in on Monday, so I decided to go for a 2 mile treadmill walk. TV program today was Pit Bulls and Parolees.
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas,
My workout let me see,
Eleven rescued Pit Bulls,
Ten alien spacecraft,
Nine minutes running,
Eight hours with family,
Seven thoughts of quitting,
Six children sleeping,
Five hills to run,
Four falling leaves,
Three black cows,
Two tractor tracks,
And a sweet bouncing boxer puppy.
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emmamcgarity wrote: »@Avidkeo we do chocolate bunnies and eggs too. And marshmallow peeps. Just for fun I’m including a picture of the cake I made for Easter this year. (Sprinkled with jelly beans!)
Oh I like this, such a cute and colorful cake...my little boy's birthday is right after Easter and I may have to do this...I screenshot it! I'm in central Texas, so I'm sure we have jelly beans here too then.1 -
I'm back!
Managed the 9k fun run but it was more challenging that I thought it would be. Went out too fast to start with, and there were a couple of hills, one in particular that really kicked my butt. I was tempted to quit at 4.5k (it was 2x4.5k loops) but knew I'd be so disappointed with myself if I did, so I kept going. I just took it a little slower and allowed myself a couple of walks whr. I needed it.
Completed with a time of 55mins.
at the finish line!17 -
@Avidkeo Way to stick with it and get it done. I think that is a great time.
Forgot to update my ticker earlier.
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@Avidkeo great job!1
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This is my "light introduction week"
Reminder: The goal is BQ in the Spring of 2021 and PR at Pittsburgh in May 2020
DAY :: PLAN :: ACTUAL
Monday :: REST :: REST
Tuesday :: Easy 8 Miles :: Easy 10 Miles
Wednesday :: REST :: REST
Thursday :: Easy 9 Miles :: Easy 10 Miles
Friday :: REST :: REST
Saturday :: Easy 11 Miles :: Easy 11 Miles
Sunday :: Recovery 5 Miles :: TBD
Not sure about tomorrow have meetings. Might have to do dreadmill, and if I do that it will be exactly 5 and not one step farther 13 -
Jan 1 2.5 kms (treadmill)
Jan 2 2.5 kms (treadmill)
Jan 4 2.5 kms (jogged fully instead of walking in between, so yay. And not treadmill)9 -
Morning all!
So today is a 9k fun run I signed up for a couple of days ago. Its a cup free event which is cool. I've got my hydration pack ready (just easier that way) and a couple of jelly beans. Kinda sux you can't get them all year round. But kiwis love lollies (candy) so I guess it makes sense we would have them all the time. Easter here is all about chocolate. Hollow eggs, marshmallow eggs, cream eggs.... Mmmmm mmm chocolate!
I feel like I gained 10 pounds just looking at those pictures!4 -
First run of the year today. After five days rest (and an awful lot of fueling 😝) I was expecting this run to be great. It wasn’t. Ran with my club and the pace, while only moderate, was too fast for my still injured legs. I’ll go for another, slower run tomorrow and see how they cope.
In other news, the Aussie bush fires have turned Auckland yellow this afternoon. It’s a weird and surreal feeling. Makes the whole disaster feel that much closer.
The view from my bedroom window just now (4pm):
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ContraryMaryMary wrote: »First run of the year today. After five days rest (and an awful lot of fueling 😝) I was expecting this run to be great. It wasn’t. Ran with my club and the pace, while only moderate, was too fast for my still injured legs. I’ll go for another, slower run tomorrow and see how they cope.
In other news, the Aussie bush fires have turned Auckland yellow this afternoon. It’s a weird and surreal feeling. Makes the whole disaster feel that much closer.
The view from my bedroom window just now (4pm):
Wow. Been seeing pics on the news. Still clear down here fortunately.
Hope @orphia is OK. Im pretty sure Melbourne is in the clear atm
ETA wow love your Windows! So cool!4 -
ContraryMaryMary wrote: »First run of the year today. After five days rest (and an awful lot of fueling 😝) I was expecting this run to be great. It wasn’t. Ran with my club and the pace, while only moderate, was too fast for my still injured legs. I’ll go for another, slower run tomorrow and see how they cope.
In other news, the Aussie bush fires have turned Auckland yellow this afternoon. It’s a weird and surreal feeling. Makes the whole disaster feel that much closer.
The view from my bedroom window just now (4pm):
Wow. Been seeing pics on the news. Still clear down here fortunately.
Hope @orphia is OK. Im pretty sure Melbourne is in the clear atm
ETA wow love your Windows! So cool!
Sadly, photos from my Melbourne friends show a city blanketed in smoke. I doubt there’s much running going on over there at the moment (except for the running away from fires sort!)4 -
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@LoveyChar you are so so so sweet!
I got in 14.08 miles today!
I woke up completely unmotivated to do anything today. I was exhausted from all the activities with the kids over their holiday break, not limited to holidays. We had dr appointments for each kid, work, therapies for the kids, simple errands like groceries to feed the kids, ice skating, movies, new year’s party at the art museum, a friend’s wedding out of state - so much going on. I think I also felt overwhelmed by the housework I need to do. Eventually, I had enough coffee to get myself moving around and went to the running store (1 mile from my house - so grateful) and I got a myriad of fuel and one pair of socks. The guy was so incredibly helpful. He can run eight miles in an hour which to me, is freaking amazing. That reassured me that he knew what he was talking about.
I got I think 3 gels - 2 GU and 1 kind in a gray packet that was $1.00+ more expensive which I bought because it’s a locally owned store, I am an easy sell on running stuff, and he said the magic words “this is what the pros are using.” HAHAHAHA WHY YES I DO WANT TO BE JUST LIKE SCOTT JUREK! I also got the clif blocks.
I also mentioned I needed to come back soon for road running shoes but I’m waiting because I have a new pair of salomons on the way and I can’t spend ALL the money on running. I was going to check out and he glanced at my feet - I was wearing chucks with my leggings because those are for lifting. He looked skeptical and asked, “you have shoes ON THE WAY?” I had to clarify - my shoes are in the car for the trail and yes, I know better at least than to run in chucks ....
I went to the gym first per the usual and felt pretty excited and motivated until five minutes in on the treadmill and I was firstly thinking, “this is going to suck for three miles,” and secondly and most importantly “i should not have worn a fleece lined pullover to the gym.” I was sweating MY FACE OFF. It was awful. Rookie mistake. And I did know better, I just didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. So i withdrew my initial plan of 3 miles inside then lift then the trail for the remaining 11. I did the lifting, stopped at home to let the dog out and change tops, and hit the trail.
My new plan was to do day one of the 10K trainer right off the bat and be done with it, then just enjoy the remaining miles.
I ran up that huge hill again - they’re working on the trails here and they made it steeper so it was very challenging but that usually gets me pretty happy about being there.
Well as you might guess based on my history, it took the first three miles to even feel like I can do anything at all ever in my life. I’d run for two and a half minutes and feel so BLEH and it felt like so much work and my shins started hurting a half mile in. I was really annoyed by this. It ALWAYS annoys me. I tried the clif bloks and a Nuun tablet and I definitely noticed less leg pain/cramping. I ran a little longer after that without stopping.
I got to the downtown area again after struggling so much and ate a GU. First of all the consistency is the weirdest thing. Like watered down melted gummy bears with not enough sugar. But! I got going pretty well back down the path and finished four ten minute running segments with only one minute walking intervals, which I was scoffing at earlier this week but that was certainly arrogant of me. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be!
After that I worked on stride a little bit because I listened to something recently about stride length and cadence and as it happens, I have a very short stride (knew that) but I have no idea how to get my heart rate down while running outside and I think that’s why I struggle so much. I’m working too hard. I don’t know how I could be much slower?
And after that it was a push to get done before dark. I did a few out and back loops - the trail was getting less populated and I kept seeing people I thought looked strange so I was running out of places to run to. Just a lot of out and back and back and forth.
I was mostly walking by this point. I ran a few short segments but I was done. My legs and feet hurt so bad and I just wanted my fourteen miles. I resolved to save the rest of my energy for the last mile so I could hopefully beat the dark.
On mile 13, I went out a half mile and didn’t even run all of that - i saw a doe and her fawn grazing! They weren’t even afraid of me! I ran past on the trail and turned around and they were just staring at me still. They crossed the path where I had just been and it was pretty neat!
but the sun was setting quick so I ran all the way back to my car with a finish of 14:08 miles!!!!!
Worst pace today was twenty minutes. Best pace was 12:01.
Overall my pace was awful and I can’t run a full marathon in the allotted time if I am running twenty or even seventeen minute miles. Upcoming weekend is 15 mile long run, so I’ll have a lot of opportunity to get it together.
Also I think I like the GU gel best so far. i felt a difference pretty noticeably and fast. And the nuun tabs seem to have had enough salt to help with cramping.
Still can’t wait for the new shoes to get here. My feet hurt so bad. My left knee hurts. My hip hurts. Even my back was hurting.
Also by the time I finished I had just enough time to go home, change tops again (i was soaked and FREEZING) let the dog out, and go get my kids from their dad. I knew I needed food so I grabbed a boiled egg. Now I can say I’ve cracked an egg while driving at night 11 -
@ContraryMaryMary I am so sorry. I cannot even begin to imagine the horror and anxiety you are feeling.
To everyone that completed a run or hit a fitness goal today, nice job on getting it done! I got my GU delivered today. I ordered 24, so it's a good thing I like it! I went on a 5.25 mile run and I took one with me even though I probably did not need it then. If I feel up to it after the run tomorrow, we're going to the sports store and I'll pick up other options there. I just want to get the 18 tomorrow. Walk some, run some, whatever I can do...
@Camaramandy648 My pace is nothing to be proud of either. I'm working on increasing my speed. Nice job on getting it done! You have time, not much but you still have it... April will be here before you know it.
I am in crunch time now and this sounds awful but I want to lose 5 pounds. I can feel every extra pound I carry when I'm running. I was about 103-105 before Christmas and now I'm 110ish with plenty of fat to spare. Even if it's just a number, that number isn't working. I was running faster and lighter and felt better before Christmas. Some of it's probably water and a few pounds of fat linger. I'm cutting out most of the sweets, the culprit, as much as it's going to make miserable and irritable in these next 6 weeks.
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Just found this group and I could use some help with accountability, so here goes!
Just starting back up with running after having done a couple of triathlons about 10 years ago. The running seems to have been correlated with lower back pain that has been with me ever since (likely due to tight hip flexors). I hated the running part so I wasn't sad to give it up, but I've always wanted to like running, so I decided to try again recently. Found the None 2 Run program and decided to give it another go.
Unfortunately, I was really dumb on the first run and didn't stretch out beforehand and ended up with some really weird hip pain. I ran a few more times after that, but decided to give myself some time to heal. I've now decided it's time to try again, but the spectre of that hip pain has me a bit anxious.
Anyway, my goal for January is to stretch every day and to stick with the None 2 Run plan, so interval running 3 times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. With a slightly longer term goal of running a 5k in my neighborhood at the end of March.
Hopefully having this group to report to will helpe keep going!15 -
Saturday night was the Buffaglo run at Shelby Farms, an untimed fun run through the Christmas lights on the last night before they come down.
I have mixed feelings about this run. On the one hand the organizers are nitwits and it’s always cold, usually colder than any day two weeks in either direction. On the other hand, I just really dig the run itself. I run Shelby Farms in the daylight so often, but it’s not open after dark, so there’s something magical about being there at night, like being a little kid allowed to stay up past bedtime. Even without the Christmas lights, running past a moonlit pasture full of dimly glowing shapes of horses moving silently except for an occasional stomp or snort, hearing the breathing and footfalls of the people running near, or the click of a dog’s toenails, is almost a religious experience. Every year by the time I’m done with packet pickup and waiting for the start, I am swearing that I will remember next year how bad the organizing was and not get suckered into running it again, and every year, all that falls away within a few minutes of actually running.
So, the bad first. Packet pickup was staffed by a total of two people, one for pre-registered and one for race day registration. No pre-race day pickup, so several thousand people are trying to get through. The mechanism for registering is a single, non-dedicated, non-touchscreen, ancient laptop running their website. Girl volunteer says, “If you have a phone you can register online and just show it to me!” Guy behind us says, “Website says online registration is closed.” Yes, she explains, but it isn’t really so if you hand her your phone she can enter a code and unlock it and then you can register. So that was stupid. After half an hour we did get registered. We were third in line. There were about two hundred people behind us when we left. No bibs or anything and they were out of shirts so only the very honest people were in line - many turned around, walked away, and just ran the race.
I can’t really complain about the shirts - they had the usual “race day signup not guaranteed a shirt” disclaimer - but I heard volunteer number two explaining to a preregistered person that they were out of all but small shirts. They had light-up flashing glasses but not for us latecomers. We got one glow stick - not two - plus free hot chocolate, which to me as a diabetic is like a free kick in the teeth. However, here’s where I get the last laugh, because what they really had was vouchers for one free hot chocolate per runner. Last year they had a serve yourself sort of setup where you could get a cup and pour your own hot chocolate from a water cooler arrangement. It worked well and made sense so of course they stopped that. This year, spoiler alert, when we left well after the race, there was a line of two thousand shivering people waiting for half a cup of pre-mixed hot chocolate to be individually made and handed to them.
Next, the start. Now, the first year we ran this it was called the Starry Nights 4K and according to my gps was 3.14 miles or slightly over 5k. Last year it was the Buffaglo 5k and was 3.41 miles. This year, apparently they gave up completely - instead of being advertised as any particular distance, it was just “the Buffaglo Run.” It has always been a fun run with no official awards, but the first year we ran it, there were timing chips, and last year there was a start/finish gate with a timer. My husband and I took a turn around the grounds and noticed the start gate was strangely absent. We went and asked, along with some other people, where the heck the start was, and were told, Oh, we’re just sort of lining up in front of the crosswalk. No big blow up starting gate, just some lines on the road. No DJ playing fun music while people waited to start like last year, just a chick with a megaphone. They really did not put much effort into this one!
So off we went. And it was great. At this point the light displays are not new to us, but it’s still pretty groovy, but what’s grooviest is being out there with all the various people of the park bounding along at night. My husband and I are both coming off a couple weeks of illness and didn’t plan to run it hard, but we ran the first mile pretty hard anyway because it was so chilly. We started at the front and not too many people passed us. I got the idea there were a lot of walkers. The crowd comfortably thinned out and let us run in peace.
The course is hillier than what we’re used to, but we hung in and ran what would have been on pace to be a 30 minute 5k when it ended abruptly at 2.45. There was a tall athletic woman who ran in right in front of us who was laughing and saying she would have run a lot harder if she had known it was only 2.45. Anyway, my husband and I didn’t miss a beat - “Again?” I said, and we just kept running and did a second lap, passing a bunch of the late starting walkers. We walked some to look at the lights, and sprinted some downhills for fun, and passed a bunch of doggies plus one very small boy who was in tears because his dad was making fun of him for saying there was an owl when none of the lights were in the shape of an owl. There was totally an owl - actually two Great Horned Owls hooted to each other, right where he started telling his dad there was an owl. We passed a white horse. I could smell deer in the woods but we didn’t see them. A swift running lady asked us if we had passed a guy who was supposed to be having cardiovascular trouble and we had not seen him.
We passed the finish for the second time and sprinted another tenth to hit five miles, then walked back to our car. Previous years of no options for diabetics have taught me how to deal with this race - a giant thermos of delicious hot coffee with foamed milk, vanilla, and cacao powder. After a glance at the endless line for hot chocolate, my husband said he wasn’t interested, so we took a brief walk by the lake and then went out for Mexican food.
And that would be the end of that, except for one incident at the Mexican place. We were seated and eating corn dip when a large party walked in, with about a seven year old girl flushed, wrapped in a blanket, sniffling and shivering. The child slumped down in a chair nearly touching mine, and her mom says to another child in the party, and I quote, “Oh, you shouldn’t sit right next to her, she’s so sick, you don’t want what she has!”
Past insecure me would have silently fumed. Current, runner, thin person me leaped up and went immediately to the back room, telling my husband to get us another table. The back room is divided from the front room by a large window, so I was able to watch the party continue, and the poor little girl ended up lying flat across two chairs. WHO DOES THAT? I took a photo of the mom just so I would have a permanent record of The Worst Person. And the stinger? All these idiots were wearing Buffaglo t-shirts! I sure hope they didn’t drag that sick child two and a half miles. Although leaving her to shiver while the rest of them did it is almost worse.
Anyway! Between the idiots and the lights this experience just about evened out I think. The idiots try harder but the lights and the moonlit wilderness are still stronger. I was wearing a light up flashing crown, and I asked my husband how I looked and he said, “Like an exasperated Las Vegas Statue of Liberty.” That seems about right!
My best attempt to hide my RBF!11
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