November 2020 Monthly Running Challenge

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  • marisap2010
    marisap2010 Posts: 909 Member
    Great job, @ContraryMaryMary!
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    Congrats @ContraryMaryMary ! I know you were disappointed after your previous half, but you used it as a learning experience, made a plan, and carried it through!
  • Scott6255
    Scott6255 Posts: 2,555 Member
    Fantastic race @ContraryMaryMary! Congrats on all your PBs and AG place. Redemption is sweet!
  • katharmonic
    katharmonic Posts: 5,720 Member
    Awesome job @ContraryMaryMary !!!! Congratulations on a fantastic PR and your age group place. Loved reading your report, you managed your race so well and I think we all can relate to the battles of the watch and getting in your own head. Well done! You look great in your photos, so strong. So happy for you!
  • quilteryoyo
    quilteryoyo Posts: 6,467 Member
    @skippygirlsmom Good for you for volunteering for the XC meet. Those times are amazing! Was the meet sanctioned, so that the National record for the girl is official? I sure hope so. I love the idea of that charity race. I need to look into that for a local thing. Wonder how much work is involved?

  • Tramboman
    Tramboman Posts: 2,482 Member
    11-1 7k treadmill
    11-2 rest + resistance bands
    11-3 7k slow + yoga
    11-4 7k easy + resistance bands
    11-5 7k easy + yoga
    11-6 7k moderate + resistance bands
    11-7 7k moderate + yoga
    11-8 7k moderate
    11-9 rest
    11-10 7k slow + yoga
    11-11 7k easy + resistance bands
    11-12 7k easy + yoga
    11-13 7k easy + resistance bands
    11-14 7k easy + yoga
    11-15 7k treadmill
    11-16 7k slow + resistance bands
    11-17 rest + yoga
    11-18 7k easy + resistance bands
    11-19 7k easy + yoga
    11-20 7k easy + resistance bands
    11-21 7k almost moderate + yoga
    11-22 7k easy
    11-23 7k slow

    November Total: 140k
    November Goal: 170k

    January Total: 161k
    February Total: 167k
    March Total: 181k
    April Total: 191k
    May Total: 200k
    June Total: 156k
    July Total: 180k
    August Total: 172k
    September Total: 176k
    October Total: 189k

    2020 Total through October: 1773k / 177k per month

    Cloudy and mid 30s F today, with a few stray snowflakes to keep me company. Felt like a slow day, so I made it one.
    Congratulations on a GREAT half, @ContraryMaryMary !!

    When you pop in here claiming your December 2020 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?

    Return to a good running weight of 175 lbs
    Run at least 4 5k races
    Get a 5k PR
    Average at least 138k per month, to meet my Run the Year pledge of 1,020 miles - Completed 10-11
    Stretch goal: If I can average 169k per month, I can run 2020k in 2020
    Run the Year Team: Pavement Pounders -- Completed 9-29

    2020 races:

    9-8 to 9-13 "Virtual Boston with Vincent" Time goal 5:15:00; actual time 4:47:01
  • quilteryoyo
    quilteryoyo Posts: 6,467 Member
    Congratulations of all of those PB's and AG placement @ContraryMaryMary ! You had an awesome race. The guy with the music was very inconsiderate. I love that you didn't push him in the ditch because it would have cost you time. :lol:
  • Camaramandy648
    Camaramandy648 Posts: 711 Member
    ContraryMaryMary wrote: »
    Well, I finally did it. I finally ran a 1:45 half marathon. It was the Kerikeri Half on Saturday, a course with a reputation for giving PBs. It's a point-to-point event through the countryside, beautifully bovine and sunshiny and lovely. What makes it fast is that it's predominantly downhill.

    In a bid to get over myself and to prevent overthinking, and at my coach's recommendation, I changed the settings on my watch to only give me 7km intervals - the course divides pretty nicely into three parts. The first 7km is uphill - steadily up with two distinct 'hills', for the second 7km you're descending pretty quickly, then the final 7km is a gentle downhill with a few small ups to the finish line in town.

    My plan was to start at a steady clip and focus on getting through the uphills, then to run fast on the steep downhills, maximising the use of gravity without actually having to work too hard, then for the final third, to keep pushing until I reached the end.

    I woke feeling great. The body was completely niggle-free and feeling loose and relaxed. I enjoyed a gentle 2km jog to the shuttle bus in the early morning cool, arriving at the start line with time for a coffee and to enjoy the atmosphere.

    The weather was mostly helpful - fairly cool at the start (about 15 degrees Celsius), but with high humidity. When the sun came out it got quite hot quite quickly but fortunately the humidity burned off so the heat wasn't too much of a hinderance. I did have a drink at every water stop (every 3km) when normally during a half I'd only take on water with my gels (twice).

    I executed my plan as intended, managing to ignore my watch for most of it - my coach actually suggested I run without one but, as you know, if it doesn't go on Strava, did it even happen? I'm glad I did have it though, as I only managed to pass the 1:50 pacer at the 12km mark but was reassured by my watch that he was running too fast rather than me going too slow.

    It also took about 12km to shake the utter knob who was running while wearing a speaker so we alllll could enjoy his taste in music. I had a strong urge to push him into a ditch but though it might add a few seconds to my time so restrained myself. What kind of a tool does something that selfish though? I was lucky that I wasn't trying to listen to music of my own as his was very loud, and I found it took away from the rural remoteness and quiet beauty of the run.

    The downhills were tougher than I remembered - it's hard running fast downhill while staying in control, maintaining a good technique and resisting the urge to brake. When I did hit the few small climbs later in the race, my quads quickly told me how hard they'd been working.

    The final few kilometres were a real mental challenge, fortunately, I had my eye on the prize so kept pushing. I knew that my husband and children would be at the 19km mark (outside the house we were staying in) to cheer me on, and then it was just a quick trot through town to the finish line. Just to make things interesting the last 200 metres were on spongy grass (how could they do that to beaten up legs?) but with the finish line in sight, this was no time to slow down.

    I came in at 1:45:04 and was stoked. The course was a smidge long too, so my Garmin recorded a new half marathon PB of 1:44:10, which I am over the moon about. I actually got new PBs for 5km and 10kms, 1 mile, 5 miles and 10 miles too.

    I also managed second in my age group, which was an unexpected bonus - however, the woman who beat me ran a very impressive 1:30!

    Today, the body feels great, although the quads keep reminding me about the brutal downhill running every time I go up or down stairs.

    Pics:
    zql3tbvv2b2c.jpeg
    Coffee at the start line.

    4ggasl8wj9js.jpg
    For some unknown reason, the photographer positioned himself at the top of the hill at 7km - hard to look fast or composed at that point!

    l7n447ameku2.jpg
    The final 200m were on lush green grass - an absolute killer on the legs.

    9ybtxd08sj4j.jpeg
    Finisher's bling. One very happy runner.
    [/quote

    @ContraryMaryMary i LOVE this! GOOD WORK! WAY TO GO! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! I AM OVER THE MOON FOR YOU!
  • Teresa502
    Teresa502 Posts: 1,859 Member
    skippygirlsmom wrote: »

    Didn’t run on Saturday, Skip and I were at the RunningLane XC Championships from 6:15 am until around 2:00 pm volunteering. This is one of our local Race Directors and friends who put this meet on. When the high school XC Nationals were cancelled they threw this meet together in 6 weeks. There were entries from all over the country, from CA to NY to TX to IL all came to Alabama for this. What a day of racing, 32 boys finished in UNDER 15 minutes for a 5K and the girl who won set a new NATIONAL record of 14:58, she was freaking flying and what a nice girl. What an amazing day, over 1,000 runners.

    The girl who won the 5K, Jenna Hutchins, is actually from my area. She's been the recipient of many of our local track club awards. I've never talked to her but she seems very humble in the local paper interviews. What amazing times for all those kids!

    Glad Skip is back home with you for a few weeks.
  • Teresa502
    Teresa502 Posts: 1,859 Member
    11/3 – 5.03 miles
    11/4 – 4.08 miles
    11/5 – 4.06 miles
    11/7 – 6.25 miles – Roan Mountain 10K
    11/8 – 4.60 miles
    11/9 – 5.07 miles
    11/11 – 6.22 miles – Ekiden challenge
    11/12 – 5.08 miles
    11/14 – 12.05 miles
    11/16 – 5.32 miles
    11/18 – 5.39 miles
    11/20 – 5.19 miles
    11/21 – 3.14 miles – YWCA Turkey Trot - Virtual
    11/21 - 8.96 miles
    11/23 – 4.01 miles
    84.42 of 120 miles

    I woke to the sound of the wind howling and it was still raining a little so I wimped out and after doing a stretch video, hopped on the treadmill for 4 miles plus 1 mile warm up/cool down. The sun is shining now but its still a chilly 39F.

    Love your new picture @kgirlhart!

    Happy Birthday @AlphaHowls! How many miles did you run to celebrate?

    Congratulations @ContraryMaryMary! Wow – 1:44 – that’s awesome! Running without a watch though – what a crazy suggestion! Why do those photographers always have to be at the top of the hill? Same thing happened on my last 10k. You, however, look fantastic!

  • Camaramandy648
    Camaramandy648 Posts: 711 Member
    Good morning, everybody!

    @Teresa502 excellent! It sounds like you had such a nice run!

    @rheddmobile yep, I feel the body slow to start a lot. Every day. Can't get the engine to turn over, sometimes. Then once it's going, I can't let off the gas.

    @skippygirlsmom sounds like your run was really nice too. I love reading your writing about your daughter. The love shines through the screen.

    @RunsOnEspresso yeahhh!!!!!! Adventuring! You did it!

    @quilteryoyo hahahahahahha "So you don't get lost." Oh, man.

    @Scott6255 The weather was so weird compared to what I am used to!

    @Tramboman Thank you!

    I did end up getting a PR in a 10K race - 1hr, 4 minutes. It was kinda tough because I don't know my way around so I just kept making the decision to keep going the one direction I chose. Turns out, I think I actually parked my car at the wrong end of the trailhead, but it turned out okay because there was a porta-potty.

    It was very surreal - as in, I couldn't believe I just went to TX so I could run a race just because I wanted to, because I said I was going to. But I did do it! I ran through a lot of different parks - I didn't realize it wasn't all one thing. I can't remember the names of them all, but it was interesting. The sun was out and it was HOT compared to my mid 30s and mid 50s mornings. It was beautiful, though. I definitely prefer the sun to the cold.

    There was one section that I ran through which sounded like there must be a shooting range nearby. Just shot after shot after shot - it was actually a little scary when I first realized what I was hearing, but then the consistency of the firing made me feel like, "Okay, it's just that some idiot put a shooting range next to a trail/ park." At first, I was frozen, but then I thought, "Okay but what would you DO if it was ACTUALLY a bad situation?" Pfft just keep running. So I kept running.

    It kind of felt like I was out there forever, which I credit to the heat and the humidity. Trail running in TX must be next level, @Scott6255! I thought we had it bad in Arkansas. Pffftttt no.

    @quilteryoyo I basically knew where I was the whole time, but the way back, suddenly nothing looked familiar again and I couldn't find my car. Took a couple miles to figure out I was never lost, I just kept feeling like I was.

    Anyway, I can't figure out where to upload my results. And today is NOT a rest day like I thought, so it looks like I'm running tonight. That's good- -after driving so much all weekend, I am ready to return to normal. I missed my kids so much - being farther away makes me miss them way more. We watched the latest Jumanji last night. 100% recommend. SO funny.

    And this week is Thanksgiving! What the heck?! Already?! How did this happen?!
  • Teresa502
    Teresa502 Posts: 1,859 Member
    Camaramandy648 wrote: »
    I did end up getting a PR in a 10K race - 1hr, 4 minutes.

    Congratulations!!! I'm so proud of you for getting out of your comfort zone, driving to Texas, and running in a place you knew nothing about! You rocked it!
  • Scott6255
    Scott6255 Posts: 2,555 Member
    That's great that you got a 10K PR @Camaramandy648! Those were really tough conditions to do that in. If you were in Irving and heard a gun range nearby, that narrows it down to about a dozen :D
  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    11/1 – 5 miles
    11/2 – 10K Monday
    11/3 – 3 miles with Champ
    11/4 – rest day
    11/5 – 10K
    11/6 – 1.6 miles
    11/7 – 9.25 Cathedral Caverns 15K trail race
    11/8 – 4 miles – with Champ light recovery
    11/9 – 3 miles – more recovery quads are screaming
    11/10 – 5 miles
    11/11 – 7 miles
    11/12 – 3 miles with Champ
    11/13 – 7 miles
    11/14 – 2 miles
    11/15 – 6 miles
    11/16 – 10K Monday
    11/17 – 3 miles
    11/18 – 6 miles
    11/19 – 3 miles of sniff and run with Champ
    11/20 – 8 5 with Skip 3 alone
    11/21 – 0 worked at National XC meet all day
    11/22 – 10K with Skip
    11/23 – 8 miles

    107 (111.08) of 120 miles

    @ContraryMaryMary congrats that is fantastic
    @quilteryoyo yes it was a sanctioned meet so her time will hold for a National title. The charity thing is simple, he puts it on runsignup I think it is, says it’s donation only and then he marks a course with arrows or if it’s trail with streamers. You have 10 days to run and post your results. He’s gotten local places to give free stuff and he picks names out of a hat, I won a gift card to a running store. Last “race” chick fila gave us all free food gift cards, this time around they are giving us medals. If you donate $15 you get a t-shirt, the usual donation is $5.00.
    @Teresa502 yep she’s a TN girl, very sweet.
    Thank you @Camaramandy648 she’s a great kid. Sounds like Texas was fun great job on the PR.


    Races:
    115.1 of 250 miles Yuletide Madness
    Mother’s Day Virtual 5K – done
    Retro Run Virtual 5K – done
    Rona on the Run - Virtual for St. Jude benefit - done
    Keep Moving Huntsville - at least one mile a day 1 - 31 May - done
    The Big Run - June 3 - done
    NEGU virtual run - June - Team NEGU helping support kids with cancer - done
    Big Foot Wild Thangs Trail Race 5K/10K – June 20 on the trails…all together like a real race - done
    Run 4 on the 4th – Virtual 4 miles on 4th of July - done
    ISS Virtual 5K in July – done
    Jackalope Trail Run 4 miler – done
    Flora-Bama 600K - Virtual race from Huntsville AL to the Florida Alabama state line in Orange Beach – done
    Scooby Doo Virtual 10K - done
    Skunk Ape 5 miler August 1 trail race in person – done
    Pirate Challenge – 10 weeks mile challenge June – August – done
    Chupacabra 10K/HM – August 22 - done
    Running of the Bulls Virtual 5K – 9/14 – 30/2020 - done
    The Pinhoti Trail Challenge 335 miles virtual – 1 Sept to 31 Dec – done
    PinkPumpkin 10K – completed 10/30
    2020 Liberty Road Challenge WWII soldiers journey from St. Mere Eglisde to Bastogne, Belgium – charity virtual run for the WII museum in New Orleans 716 miles team event 4 July – September – our team has finished
    Space Race 400K Challenge 12 weeks running 248.5 miles to the ISS – August to November – done
    Bridge Street HM Virtual – 10/24 – 11/7/2020 – virtual done
    Halloween 5K virtual with Fleet Feet – 10/31/2020 - done
    Yuletide Madness Oct 31 – Dec 31 2020
    Oak Barrel Half Marathon – October – running virtual - done
    Cathedral Caverns 15K trail race – in person - done
    Turkey Trot 5K - virtual - done

  • quilteryoyo
    quilteryoyo Posts: 6,467 Member
    @Camaramandy648 Great 10K pace! Congratulations. I'm also glad you didn't get lost and had a good run.

    @Teresa502 and @skippygirlsmom Where is the girl from in TN? I haven't been listening to the news lately, so missed it if it was on there. That's awesome. So glad it was sanctioned, so holds up.

    @skippygirlsmom I might think about doing something similar for a charity race here. I would work during CoVID times for sure.

  • katharmonic
    katharmonic Posts: 5,720 Member
    Congratulations @Camaramandy648 on your 10k PR and for completing your adventure!

    @skippygirlsmom those are some incredible times. Under 15 minute 5k, wow! I truly can't imagine running pretty much twice as fast as my fastest time, so amazing for those kids - especially the girl with the national record. Again, wow.

    And that charity race is such a great idea. I may float that to our running coach as a thing that could be done here especially now to keep running enthusiasm going through the winter/pandemic times.
  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    @quilteryoyo she goes to Science Hill in Johnson City, TN.

    https://tn.milesplit.com/athletes/7296995-jenna-hutchins/stats
  • Teresa502
    Teresa502 Posts: 1,859 Member
    edited November 2020
    quilteryoyo wrote: »

    @Teresa502 and @skippygirlsmom Where is the girl from in TN? I haven't been listening to the news lately, so missed it if it was on there. That's awesome. So glad it was sanctioned, so holds up.

    She goes to Science Hill High School in Johnson City. The article in Sunday's paper states she ran it in 15:58:42 - still impressive either way!
    https://timesnews.net/sports/hutchins-runs-into-the-history-books-in-alabama/article_bfa448cc-2c40-11eb-ba53-2b908935a456.html
  • martaindale
    martaindale Posts: 2,313 Member
    @ContraryMaryMary Congrats on your PR!! Blazing fast!

    I am not great at running downhill. I don't run many hills period just because it's flat here. On the rare occasion when I do, I always feel like I'm on the verge of losing control. I'm sure there's some technique there that I just don't know.

    @Camaramandy648 Great job on your 10k PR! Like @Scott6255 said, gunshots in earshot around a trail in my area could be from any number of gun ranges.
  • quilteryoyo
    quilteryoyo Posts: 6,467 Member
    @skippygirlsmom and @Teresa502 I was wondering if that was where she went to school. They seem to have some really good athletes there. She is amazing and sounds really humble and sweet. I'm so happy for her.
  • Camaramandy648
    Camaramandy648 Posts: 711 Member
    Hahahaha @quilteryoyo nope, I didn't get lost too bad, just the car did. :)

    @Teresa502 @Scott6255 @skippygirlsmom @katharmonic @martaindale and everybody else - thank you for your support and kind words! It actually means more than you know - I couldn't tell anybody about it except the kids' dad and had to take so many precautions, etc. It's the things we do when nobody is looking that really count though.

    Turns out today is not a rest day - I should have been up and running at 4. HA! Yeah right! I was driving allll day yesterday!

    I'll get the run in this evening. Meh.
  • martaindale
    martaindale Posts: 2,313 Member
    Happy 50th @AlphaHowls

    Way to go! @mybumwobbles Sometimes it's surprising what we are capable of!

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