March 2020 Monthly Running Challenge

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  • PastorVincent
    PastorVincent Posts: 6,668 Member
    Avidkeo wrote: »
    So since I keep being a downer, here is a positive post - welll comparatively lol.

    I have been on a baking binge the last few days. I made a rocky road slice that was nice, but needs some improvement (my slice pan is too big) and today I made hot Cross buns. I haven't made bread in ages (years) but wanted to try my dough hook on my mixer. Tested the yeast, and it still seemed to have life so went ahead.

    I'm calling these a cross over easter/Christmas buns, because the fruit I used is from a fruit mince pie mix cause I didn't have any mixed peel. So has glaze cherries as well as the usual fruit mix.

    I was really worried after the first rise. I gave it 2 hrs instead of the hr called for in the recipe. Then I seperate the buns into smaller portions than the recipe called for (16 instead of 10).

    Ill put the progress in the spoiler, but OMG so good! They came out perfectly. Light, not stodgy, tasty. Yay!
    Guh they are out of order. Cannot be bothered fixing. I think you get the idea!
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    wwhs89yan2wt.jpg
    d27utwofsdss.jpg

    So what else can I make...

    We need an "drooling" response for these posts!
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    @Teresa502 yes my running skirt is the target brand. They had several different colors but I chose black because I generally like neutrals. I only bought one since I wasn’t sure I would like it. Now that I’ve used it a while I plan to get more. It has 2 regular pockets and one zippered pocket. The pockets are part of the skirt instead of the short underneath.
  • PastorVincent
    PastorVincent Posts: 6,668 Member
    My monthly goals for March were: 1) to try not to get sick or injured AGAIN, 2) to have my best month of the year in all four of my tracked fitness categories, and 3) to aim for an arbitrary goal of 37 miles, to commemorate turning 37 this month.

    Given the turmoil of the last couple of weeks, I’m actually feeling kind of good about where I am on those. I’ve been having some obnoxious knee pain this month, but fingers crossed have avoided major injury or illness.

    If I can manage another couple of runs the in the next four days I’ll hit my highest month of the year so far for vigorous cardio (although 37 miles ran is NOT going to be happening) - I’ve already at highest month for lifting thanks to a couple of home gym workouts, and while I’m not going to top January in moderate cardio or flexibility/mobility, I’ve topped February in the first and have a shot to do the same in the second.

    I’ve got two virtual races sitting in my back pocket right now and am tempted by a third - I vastly prefer in person, but so it goes. I don’t think I’m going to set any goals for April - I’ll just keep trying to get myself out there as much as I can. Well, maybe I'll make a goal to finally run those virtual races - my trophy case needs updating!

    Sorry, you have had such a rough go at it, but it does sound like you are turning it around. :)
  • bearly63
    bearly63 Posts: 734 Member
    As for the skort discussion... you might think your legs are bad in them, but ugh, mine? Children would run and cry at the horror!

    honestly that would not surprise me to see that in Austin. They keep it weird here for sure.

    I ran the Cap 10K years ago and will never forget running next to a topless women. Thank god she was not well endowed because that would have just plain hurt.

    We also have a "naked" cyclist in Austin....just don't get it. And I complain on longer rides, while wearing cycling shorts and have an extra padded seat. :#
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    That C word
    u1kvfthwyfj8.png

    https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
    Is it just wishful thinking or does it look like we might be tapering off finally? Prob wishful. But I notice Spain’s reported number of cases are down, I suppose that could be due deaths... ugh how sad.

    It’s nice today. I’m conflicted; walk or study. Exam tomorrow so should be a brain rest day, but that’s all I’ve done for 2 weeks, uh and eat and play zombie games with all the other reindeer. We are having our labs and classes via Zoom starting tomorrow Ugh. Feels this is no bueno. 8am from home. How? Why?
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
    edited March 2020
    Avidkeo wrote: »
    Hey all.

    Well lock down starts tonight. We are still allowed to run outside, so not as bad as other countries, but I am not allowed to venture away from home. d 14.5k on Saturday.

    I just want to run. I want to spend all my free time running, to help with this.
    The only thing open is the supermarket and petrol station.
    We are really shut off.

    So than you all for being here and listening to this ramble.

    @Avidkeo Any Ranble is a good Ramble.
    Can you run from Home to Work ( Work to Home ) and call it your way of commuting to/from the Hospital?
    Be glad that NZ Gov't took the step of going into lock down. Any place that was slow implementing it ie New York/New Jersey/Montreal all have high case loads and can expect the Hospitals to be overwhelmed based on Europe's experience.
    Here is a link to a video that shows the effect Covid has on the lungs, I hope it works for you in NZ,

    All these pictures of runners in shorts, here is a short FB video clip from one of our local club leaders. No shorts in our part of the world yet.
  • simcon1
    simcon1 Posts: 209 Member
    Hi everyone! I haven’t been around for a while—was trying to deal with plantar fasciitis in the fall plus fitting in running with travel.. I started training for the Vancouver HM in May, now cancelled of course, but running is going ok! Will jump in for April, and have been thinking of you all from here in Seattle where things have been weird for a while now. See you on the April thread!
  • quilteryoyo
    quilteryoyo Posts: 6,464 Member
    @shanaber If those are the long shorts, I'd hate to see the short ones. :lol: They are cute though and look really comfortable.

    WTG @brittanystebbins95 ! Glad you are enjoying running.

    @TheMrWobbly WOW! You were quick in getting those spaces cleaned up and usable. Looks great!

    Great run @Scott6255 !

    @bearly63 I can't imagine running without a bra! Why would you want to do that? Or bike naked? I guess different strokes for different folks.

    @Elise4270 I vote for a walk.

    @kgirlhart Hummingbirds are so cool! Great run. I'm looking forward to being able to run 10 miles. Not really there yet, but almost.
  • Scott6255
    Scott6255 Posts: 2,555 Member
    @TheMrWobbly that is an incredible transformation!! And fast! That would have taken me a week or more! AND it looks great!!!!
  • bearly63
    bearly63 Posts: 734 Member
    @TheMrWobbly That looks fantastic. And a good choice of beer for this time :D

    @Elise4270 I just had that exact convo with my daughter who has been studying 12 hours a day for the MCATs. I told her to take a brain rest day and go for a run. She said that her Zoom classes for the end of her degree start tomorrow so she needed to keep at it. They have a senior design project that requires 3D printers. She has no idea how they are going to wrap up that class. It's so weird. What are you studying?



  • katharmonic
    katharmonic Posts: 5,720 Member
    Nice - and fast - work @TheMrWobbly! Great setup!

    Great running, everyone!

    Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
    03/01/20 :::: 4.1 :::: 4.1
    03/02/20 :::: 3.9 :::: 8.0
    03/03/20 :::: 3.0 :::: 11.0
    03/04/20 :::: 3.3 :::: 14.3
    03/05/20 :::: 5.0 :::: 19.4
    03/06/20 :::: 3.2 :::: 22.5
    03/07/20 :::: 2.3 :::: 24.8
    03/08/20 :::: 1.3 :::: 26.1
    03/09/20 :::: 4.3 :::: 30.5
    03/10/20 :::: 2.0 :::: 32.5
    03/11/20 :::: 1.5 :::: 34.0
    03/12/20 :::: 1.5 :::: 35.5
    03/13/20 :::: 1.5 :::: 37.1
    03/14/20 :::: 3.2 :::: 40.3
    03/15/20 :::: 7.0 :::: 47.3
    03/16/20 :::: 2.2 :::: 49.5
    03/17/20 :::: 3.9 :::: 53.4
    03/18/20 :::: 4.1 :::: 57.5
    03/19/20 :::: 2.7 :::: 60.2
    03/20/20 :::: 1.6 :::: 61.8
    03/21/20 :::: 9.0 :::: 70.8
    03/22/20 :::: 2.7 :::: 73.5
    03/23/20 :::: 2.3 :::: 75.8
    03/24/20 :::: 3.0 :::: 78.8
    03/25/20 :::: 3.1 :::: 82.0
    03/26/20 :::: 2.1 :::: 84.1
    03/27/20 :::: 2.1 :::: 86.2
    03/28/20 :::: 8.0 :::: 94.2
    03/29/20 :::: 4.7 :::: 98.9

    I woke up to pouring rain, and was happy to roll over and go back to sleep. The forecast did not look great for the whole day but fortunately things improved and I went out for run around 1:00. It was 50 degrees and a little damp and humid but not bad running weather at all. I ran along the canal and it was fairly crowded, but the paved trail is wide and people were fairly spaced out and moving over for each other. I started slowly with my sore calves complaining but gradually picked up the pace. Finished at around a 10 min mile for the last 1.5 miles, which is fast for me on regular daily run.

    Also took the dog for a very muddy hike through the woods. She's now zonked out on the floor - I think I managed this weekend the very rare achievement of actually properly tiring her out. I'm thinking of joining her, but maybe not on the floor.
  • PastorVincent
    PastorVincent Posts: 6,668 Member
    Avidkeo wrote: »
    Morning all.

    Went out for my 5k this morning. Toyed with the idea of going longer, but the truth is that I would be running distance for the wrong reasons - I had a major binge last night after a conversation with hubby about our change of plans. So yeah definitely stress eating. My desire for running was to counter some of the food. But instead I'm doing the healthier option, stick to plan, recognise that was a stress eat (a lot of those atm) and carry on. So just 5k run per plan.

    It's Monday here, I'm going to prepare my new space. Move all the things down I will need - crafts, laptop, charging cables etc. Clean it up, make it a bit nicer. Then work at 3pm. When I get home, I'm officially isolating. I think it will be good for hubby. He hasn't been sleeping. He is so worried about him and the kids getting it. And he doesn't do medical things at the best of times.

    I'm taking all the time to hug my kids as much as I can. Spend some quality time with them. Though that usually only lasts about 30 mins before they drive me nuts haha. Kids.

    I will stop being so melodramatic, I promise. But this is cutting me up and I can't really vent anywhere else.

    So sorry you are facing this. :( Rant away.
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    edited March 2020
    bearly63 wrote: »
    @TheMrWobbly That looks fantastic. And a good choice of beer for this time :D

    @Elise4270 I just had that exact convo with my daughter who has been studying 12 hours a day for the MCATs. I told her to take a brain rest day and go for a run. She said that her Zoom classes for the end of her degree start tomorrow so she needed to keep at it. They have a senior design project that requires 3D printers. She has no idea how they are going to wrap up that class. It's so weird. What are you studying?

    I am in my first semester of five for a BSN (bachelors of nursing) program. I have a BS in chemistry and with a lengthy battle with hip ailments, I've taken the chance to pursue something more my liking (was not accepted to PA school that would have started this summer- bet they wish they had me now haha!). I started out pre-med ages ago, then just stuck to chem since I didn't think it'd ever really work out. Which was good. I got divorced in my last year of the BS with 3 kids, 6,6, and 10yo. no way med school would have worked. I tried to make graduate school work and it didn't, at all.

    I can't believe she's only studying 12 hours a day! haha! It is easy to lose that much time in these courses. Best of luck to her on the MCAT. My brain checks out after 3 hours (sometimes 3 minutes), so a 7.5 hour test would leave me drooling dumb.
  • bearly63
    bearly63 Posts: 734 Member
    @Elise4270 wow....that is impressive! School and 3 kiddos. Amazing! tbh I have without coming out and saying, tried to talk her out of med school because the health care industry in the US is a disaster. She will have her undergrad in BME and tried the industry route but really doesn't care about business. She likes the science side of things and of course wants to "help people and give back". I suggested nursing and or PA (which is harder to get into I hear). We will support her whatever she goes but it will be a crap shoot if she gets in. It's hard to have a 4.0 in engineering. And she needs clinical shadowing experience and right now, its all shut down.

    Nurses rock! They are the warriors (nothing against Docs) 💪💪
  • quilteryoyo
    quilteryoyo Posts: 6,464 Member
    @katharmonic I've been known to curl up on the floor in the sun before. Feels nice when it's cool.

    Avidkeo wrote: »
    Morning all.

    Went out for my 5k this morning. Toyed with the idea of going longer, but the truth is that I would be running distance for the wrong reasons - I had a major binge last night after a conversation with hubby about our change of plans. So yeah definitely stress eating. My desire for running was to counter some of the food. But instead I'm doing the healthier option, stick to plan, recognise that was a stress eat (a lot of those atm) and carry on. So just 5k run per plan.

    It's Monday here, I'm going to prepare my new space. Move all the things down I will need - crafts, laptop, charging cables etc. Clean it up, make it a bit nicer. Then work at 3pm. When I get home, I'm officially isolating. I think it will be good for hubby. He hasn't been sleeping. He is so worried about him and the kids getting it. And he doesn't do medical things at the best of times.

    I'm taking all the time to hug my kids as much as I can. Spend some quality time with them. Though that usually only lasts about 30 mins before they drive me nuts haha. Kids.

    I will stop being so melodramatic, I promise. But this is cutting me up and I can't really vent anywhere else.

    So sorry you are facing this. :( Rant away.
    ^^^^ THIS!

    Today's "doing nothing" went better than last week. It was very nice outside, so I sat out and listened to/watched nature for a while. I did take a couple of walks too. One was a stroll in the neighbor's field and the other was a fast, intentional, 2 mile walk doing laps on the driveway. (I don't count my walks unless they are faster than 3 mph. Did these at 3.6 mph.) I've got two days to get those last miles. I think I'll make it, if nothing unforeseen happens.

    exercise.png


  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    bearly63 wrote: »
    @Elise4270 wow....that is impressive! School and 3 kiddos. Amazing! tbh I have without coming out and saying, tried to talk her out of med school because the health care industry in the US is a disaster. She will have her undergrad in BME and tried the industry route but really doesn't care about business. She likes the science side of things and of course wants to "help people and give back". I suggested nursing and or PA (which is harder to get into I hear). We will support her whatever she goes but it will be a crap shoot if she gets in. It's hard to have a 4.0 in engineering. And she needs clinical shadowing experience and right now, its all shut down.

    Nurses rock! They are the warriors (nothing against Docs) 💪💪

    That was one aspect about passing up (the potential of) med school. I talked to my PCP and he was so unhappy with the crap, I thought no way I could truly help people with the state of US healthcare. He's great btw, opened an income based community clinic that's grown, includes an optometrist and dental. So, he made it work, loves his job and his patients, old enough to retire but won't (thank goodness). My DD wants to go to med school, freshman currently, and interviewed him for a class paper, she was shocked- said no way ever she'd be an MD/DO. But she wants to be a pathologist or maybe mycologist... still time to figure it out. When she was little she wanted to be a forensic pathologist, at like 13. haha! so maybe if we survive this she can support me, after i pay for her school of course. @shanaber 's dd is a doc. She might have parental advice to add.

    I may take it to a masters. Nursing was not my first choice, and forgive me nurses, but you know the stereotype is that they aren't educated and wipe butt. It took me a bit to get over, well once I was accepted I never thought of it that way again. The program is brutal. RN's kill it ya'll. Nothing wrong with wiping butt, I look forward to it. It's basic care and a critical aspect human dignity. I'm down. I worked in a long-term care as an aid when i was 19, i did the doodie work. I've had some great medical care and the goal is to give back, hoping surgical and maybe doctors without borders someday.

    enough about me... I was looking at old classes and found my dentist in the BSN class of '95. So, nothing wrong with going the nursing route then med school, lots of experience to be had and an income (if you could work through med school).
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    @Avidkeo My heart goes out to you. Definitely vent here all you need.
  • dreamer12151
    dreamer12151 Posts: 1,031 Member
    @Avidkeo My heart goes out to you, and I can see your situation from both sides. I am the daughter of a nurse, and, even though the situations aren't exactly the same, I remember many times when my mum was working night shift and a blizzard blew through and she had to stay at the hospital. Or some other situation happening and the hospital needing her so she had to be there. True, my brother and I were a bit older, but still.

    And I also see it from your point of view. I was a law enforcement dispatcher for 25 years. I also raised 2 sons during this time. In Florida, there were hurricanes and tropical storms we had to be on stand bys and call ins for. The sheriff's office was to be our 1st responsibility (according to them), and family 2nd. In times of emergency and crisis we had to be ready to basically live at the comm center until that crisis was over, and just hope our family and loved ones were ok until the citizens of the county were taken care of first. It wasn't easy but I did it.

    While the situations I faced and this one are vastly different, the emotions are very similar, and knowing how I felt - from both sides - I can imagine how you must be feeling and what is going through your mind. If you need to vent, vent away! I send you and your family - and anyone else going though this - love and healing thoughts and energies.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    @Avidkeo feel free to rant as needed. You’re in an incredibly difficult situation
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    @Avidkeo My heart goes out to you.
    @TheMrWobbly Wow, will you come over and do my house? I gotta ask though, where did all the stuff end up?

    I squeaked through and made my nominal goal of 50 miles, with 3.5 miles today totaling 50.9 for the month! Imagine, when I set this goal I was worried about getting injured and missing the opportunity to run during the beautiful spring weather. Now I just pray every day we will all stay alive, and some of us aren’t even allowed to run outside! Oh for those days when a simple sports injury seemed important.

    Today we ran down by the homeless encampment which is under the overpass across the Nonconnah. Didn’t see any homeless although lots of stuff is still there, so I hope they have been offered appropriate shelter. We heard deer back in the woods. The dogwoods are in full bloom! To me dogwoods are the flower of Easter, so seeing them raised my spirits.

    We tried to do a little speedwork. Our usual speedwork is one fast mile plus intervals. Fast should mean under 9 minutes, hopefully well under, but we have been slow lately anyway and haven’t found a good place to open up in our neighborhood with the broken sidewalks, frequent crossings, and crazy traffic. We ended up going down a bike lane on a fairly major road, which was at least recently paved and mostly flat. First half mile good, about 8:30 pace, then we had to turn onto a side road with broken asphalt, traffic, and also hard uphill the whole way. It was the long hill that did us in. Mile pace ended up 9:15. That is still better than the 11:30 miles we’ve been running on the sidewalks, so, better. Then we did what I’m going to call fartleking for the rest of the way - basically any time the conditions allowed we tried to run fast, and then practiced recovering at a slower pace. Sprinted our last interval, we hit 6:30 pace over the last quarter mile which is about as fast as we ever get. We were racing each other, hauling butt down the middle of a suburban lane, which also was somewhat downhill, so really running hard. Passed a group of ladies who were conversing at their mailbox at a safe distance from each other and one of them yelled, “Wow! I’m really impressed!”

    So, pretty good run, starting to figure this running our neighborhood stuff out.

    I’m concerned that people are getting bored with not being social. We passed a LOT of people socializing too closely with their neighbors, including a number of elderly ladies in bathrobes who clearly stepped out to check the mail or take the trash to the curb and ended up catching up with neighbors. Stay away from each other, people! This ain’t over!

    In other news, am I crazy that I’m happy to have a family of raccoons living in the ceiling of my backyard storeroom? They got in there last year and we patched the hole up, but we heard kits chittering and found a new hole under the eaves, so they seem to be back. They didn’t do any damage last year (except the hole they got in through) and it seems sort of pleasant having company.