August 2021 Monthly Running Challenge
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8-1 7k measy (between moderate and easy)
8-2 rest
8-3 7k measy
8-4 7k easy
8-5 rest
8-6 7k measy
8-7 7k moderate
8-8 7k measy
8-9 rest
8-10 4k easy
August Total: 46k
August Goal: 150k
Cloudy, low 70s F, and very humid this morning. Dumped 2 inches of rain out of my rain gauge this morning. Just wasn't feeling it today.
When you pop in here claiming your December 2021 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?
PUT THE FUN BACK IN THE RUN!
Return to a good running weight of 175 lbs (second attempt)
2021 Races:
6/26 Direction Up 5k, Solon, OH 31:48 chip; 31:59 Garmin; 53d overall; 2d male 65 and over
7/17 Run of the Ox 5k, Mantua, OH 32:19 Garmin; 44th overall; 3d place male 60 and over
9/18 5k Run and Roll, Aurora, OH6 -
6.2 miles this morning. Note to self...Speedwork in August in Texas (or anywhere in North America apparently these days) is a bad idea. Doesn't help that I overcooked my speed sessions by :30/mi or more. I just can't sense pace. It's either way fast or way slow.
But I got it done and lived. So I guess that's a win.
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@Scott6255 that's why I gave up on speed work for August. When the lows are 90° it's nearly impossible (for me) to get excited about & properly execute speed work.
5 miles in the rain today. Ok, a light sprinkle. Felt like I needed more sleep.
62/1924 -
Monthly Question
Who do you wish you could be at the Olympics?
I have not followed the Olympics, past or present.
If you could just wake up one day with world-class skills in an Olympic sport, what would it be?
I consider myself to be world class in a category all to myself...we call it crazy.
Have you ever come close to being world caliber at anything?
I think in the words of my father, "If you cannot dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t."
1)How do you find motivation and discipline?
I do not find motivation. I build the habits I want, work on the discipline to get me one more mile. Practice, evaluate, refocus, readjust, left, right, rinse repeat.
What is your reward?
I get to eat what I want as long as I watch the numbers.
I can endure long distances
I stay out of jail/trouble, less negative behaviors.
I get to be that woman who runs ALL THE TIME!
2)How do you manage stress?
I run
I count calories (order out of chaos), keep control of what "I" can control.
I pray
Bible study
How does your body react to stress?
Panic/anxiety attacks when triggered, physical symptoms: IBS, gout, joints, stomach, headaches, hair loss, brittle nails, poor sleep, mind runs, nightmares, obsessive thoughts/intrusive, restless legs5 -
Forced myself to run 9k last night, struggled through it. Forced myself to go meet the girls at the track tonight, found out I'm not the only one whose pace has slowed and fatigue has risen this summer. So in a way, it was very encouraging.
Got some emails from race directors and am starting to gather the required gear for Saturday. Friday night there's a country-wide bike race (Tour de Pologne) coming into the town where I'll be picking up my race packet! The first stage started yesterday in the city where I used to live. Hopefully I can talk family into going to cheer the competitors on.
July Goal 100 miles (stretch goal 185k)
"40 weeks of 40K" - 32 Weeks DONE! / 12 weeks left to complete the challenge
Upcoming races:
August 14: Bieg Zbóju 25km (mountain trail, 1400m elevation)
September 18 - Bytomski HM (Silesian HM Crown #2/4)
October 10 - Żywiec Lake HM (SHMC #3/4)8 -
8/2 – 6.01
8/3 – 5.01
8/5 – 3.01
8/6 – 6.22
8/8 – 6.01
8/8 – 3.39 biking
8/10 – 6.01 Happy 60th birthday to me
32.27 of 70 miles
Skip said thank you for all the nice comments.
Well today is my 60th birthday so to celebrate I ran 6.0 miles this morning LOL Skip came with me and we passed a house with this out front. I decided it was meant for me ha ha
I missed part of the monthly questions:
Who do you wish you could be at the Olympics? Sydney McLaughlin, always grace under pressure, fantastic athlete, respect and love for those who came before her and truly enjoys what she does.
If you could just wake up one day with world-class skills in an Olympic sport, what would it be? I’d be a pole vaulter, I love the idea of flying up into the air and when done right it’s so graceful and beautiful to watch.
Have you ever come close to being world caliber at anything? So back in my day I was a 190 average bowler. I actually trained with a professional back in high school. My high game is a 279.
@AlphaHowls I love your answers.
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11 mile hilly trail run, average pace of 10:37 min per mile and 1,592 feet of elevation.
August cumulative:
25.2/100 miles
3,146/10,000 feet of elevation9 -
Happy Birthday @skippygirlsmom 🎂🎉1
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Happy birthday @skippygirlsmom 🎉🍰0
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1
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Happy 6.0 @skippygirlsmom 🎂🎈🎉0
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Happy Birthday @skippygirlsmom! That sign was definitely meant for you! Also you can't be 60 - not possible at all!1
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Happy birthday @skippygirlsmom !
Re: monthly questions. My motivation is keeping my diabetes under control. I was lucky in a way that almost immediately after my diagnosis, my vision went all wonky due to blood sugar fluctuations, which is a common short-term effect of rapidly lowering blood glucose when it’s been very elevated for a long time. Not being able to see for four months really brought it home to me that diabetes is the most common cause of blindness in the US, the most common cause of amputation, one of the most common causes of kidney failure, heart failure, and stroke, and that the majority of diabetes have a loss of sensation due to neuropathy in their extremities within 8 years. In other words, this S word be real! It’s funny what I am willing to do to keep from going blind. I feel like many diabetics think of it as just a number that they can’t really control that won’t really affect them. I knew differently from the beginning because of what happened to my vision.
It’s a common saying that discipline is more lasting than motivation, but I feel like that depends on the motivation. Very undisciplined people somehow manage to feed their children every day, get up and go to work, and so on, because they have the motivation of not wanting their children to be taken by CPS or lose their jobs.
Having said that, my trick for discipline is to never accept “I don’t feel like it today,” as an excuse without asking myself, “Do you foresee a time reasonably soon when you will feel like it more than you do right now?” For example, it was stupid hot today and we were under a heat alert. But we are supposed to be under an unbroken heat alert until the end of next Thursday, so saying it’s too hot today means admitting I don’t plan to run at all this week. It’s either the heat or the treadmill, and I prefer the heat. I am tired from caretaking for my mother, but that doesn’t have an end in sight, so skipping runs from it isn’t an option, I need to figure out how to make the life I have right now work. This also means that being sick, being injured, and so on, are good reasons to take a break. In those cases the answer is yes, someday I will no longer be sick or injured, and I should wait until that time.
What is my reward? Well, I get to eat almost like a person without diabetes, when I have run a lot. And also I like my body, I like seeing the outdoors, I like feeling like a sporty and athletic person, I like competing. I also reward myself with non-food treats such as a nice manicure.
I manage stress by interacting with nature, such as feeding birds, watching the baby raccoons playing in my yard. Someone on this forum had a challenge once to start each day with thankfulness and I have kept it up ever since - no matter how cramped my schedule is or how bad the weather is, I go outside and give thanks for the beautiful day given to me, and look around for things to appreciate. I also pray, read, and do art. If things get bad I go to my husband and demand a hug!
My body doesn’t handle stress at all well. First my blood sugar shoots straight up thanks to the blocking action of cortisol on insulin. It’s very obvious - for example if I have had a fight with my husband, my normal breakfast which usually has my bg back below 100 within an hour will put me in the danger zone. I also have lupus and extended stress will lead to a flare, the first sign being petichiae on my feet due to vasculitis, followed by the world’s worst headache.5 -
Yeehaw it’s stupid hot again! Memphis is under a heat advisory from Sunday to Thursday night. Usually we have heat advisories which go from 10 am to 8 pm everyday, but this one is unbroken, including the nights. Last night the heat index never dropped below 90 all night. It was uncanny to step outside into what is usually the cool gray light right before dawn and feel like you just opened the oven door.
Today we set a new record in stupid running, the local station when we hit the road showed 100 degrees and 128 F heat index. That is up from our last week’s running record of 122. Last week it was just us running and some dudes who work at Fleet Feet. Today, we passed one of the Fleet Feet dudes and he was walking. We passed one other runner - a tiny woman who looked like she was maybe in her 60s wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt, just chugging along. We have seen her before, this is a thing she does. She looked… fine? I have no idea what her secret is, since I looked like I had just jumped in a swimming pool.
Good news, my husband didn’t have any signs of heat exhaustion today. We ran 5k very very slowly, and walked an extra mile.
This was supposed to have been a speedwork day. As they say, man plans and God laughs! 😂7 -
@Scott6255 Yeah, I give up on speed work during the summer too. I’m not getting a good workout trying to do speed work in this. Existing outside is a workout in this.
@rheddmobile Those temps are nuts. I’m glad you guys took it easier today and your husband made it.
@skippygirlsmom Happy Birthday!!
I am enjoying reading everyone’s responses to the monthly questions. It seems that several of us use routines/discipline more than motivation to keep moving forward.4 -
Happy birthday @skippygirlsmom!! How wonderful someone put out a display for you.
Congrats on your 6.0 for 60, which you make look very good.
I have no real answers on the Olympic athlete monthly question. It never occurred to me until a few years ago that I could be any kind of athlete, so just anyone saying that word to describe me is a gold medal feeling to me. I would try so many sports if I had it to do over. I saw some stories about rock climbing as a new Olympic sport and that would be so cool to pursue if I could go back in time.
@swenson19d it's good to see you. I'm sorry you are struggling. Did you end up having another surgery recently? You have been so strong through all of your medical issues, I can only imagine how difficult it is to find any motivation with all the pain and issues and loss that you've dealt with. Kudos to you for seeking out help.
1) How do you find motivation and discipline? What is your reward?
I have had a hard time with running motivation lately for sure. It just hasn't felt good and I don't have any kind of racing or competitive spirit in me right now. Much of it is that I have been pursuing a hiking goal that takes up my time and energy resources in a major way. So I do have motivation and discipline, just not or this right now. I guess what I find motivating is accomplishing something new that I thought was a reach for me. Like running at all when I started, then running a half, and then a full - which I still can hardly believe I did. And then running Spartan races, and now hiking the 46 high peaks. Just saying to myself, you did this hard thing (and I admit, to other people too) is a reward. And the friendships I've built in pursuing these things is a huge part of both the motivation and reward. I wouldn't have done any of it without the shared experiences, encouragement and companionship.
2) How do you manage stress? How does your body react to stress?
Oh boy, this is so much a part of why I do any of this. Work stress tends to consume me if I am by myself and if I don't leave it completely for a while every day through a run, walk, hike, etc. I have to walk away. One of the biggest indicators I get is that hot, throbbing feeling in my temples and I know that I need to find a way to relieve the pressure. Hiking has been huge for me this way - being unreachable for hours at a time and then getting to that summit and seeing the vast expanse of incredible natural beauty has such a way of making the stress go away. But running with my friends on a regular basis is the thing that probably keeps me most sane and not living in my own head all the time.
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Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
08/01/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
08/02/21 :::: 3.0 :::: 3.0
08/03/21 :::: 1.8 :::: 4.8
08/04/21 :::: 5.5 :::: 10.3
08/05/21 :::: 3.1 :::: 13.4
08/06/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 13.4
08/07/21 :::: 5.0 :::: 18.4
08/08/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 18.4
08/09/21 :::: 2.6 :::: 20.9
08/10/21 :::: 3.2 :::: 24.1
Another hot day here too, but I hesitate to compare to 128 degree heat indices. I was short on time so I skipped yoga this morning and forced myself out for a morning run to get it done while it was slightly less hot. I was still sweating buckets after taking my shower after that (anyone remember George on Seinfeld saying his shower "didn't take" and he was still sweating - this is what I always think of and say, lol). I was glad to get it done in the am because it was so very muggy and hot after work. I walked Stella in the woods for shade but we were both too hot.
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Nice improvement @julieannegannon !
@Tramboman I'll take some of that rain if you want to send it my way. Hope you "feel" better tomorrow.
Nice run @Scott6255 . I have a hard time judging pace too, so I totally understand.
@polskagirl01 Glad you were encouraged by the fact that others are struggling too. Good luck on your race and I hope your family will cheer on the bikers.
@skippygirlsmom Happy Birthday! I believe that sign was for you too!
Nice run @sweetdaisy13 !
@rheddmobile I thought it was hot here today. Nothing like that. Glad there were no signs of heat exhaustion today. I don't know how anyone could run in pants and long sleeves in that...maybe they have some sort of cooling properties?
Glad you were able to get your run in early @katharmonic !
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1 Aug - 0.00 Run 1.0 Walk - driveway laps, barely beat the heavy downpour
2 Aug - 3.30 Run 1.0 Walk - Tempo run - 2 hours mowing the lawn
3 Aug - 2.50 Run 1.0 Walk - Recovery Run on the driveway - Weed eat at mom's in the afternoon
4 Aug - 6.20 Run 1.0 Walk - Birthday run on the driveway - played singles tennis earlier
5 Aug - 2.50 Run 1.0 Walk - Long Interval Run on the driveway
6 Aug - 0.00 Run 1.0 Walk - Driveway walk this evening - doubles tennis this morning
7 Aug - 10.0 Run 1.0 Walk - Long Run with Speed Play
8 Aug - 0.00 Run 1.0 Walk - Driveway walk to keep the streak going
9 Aug - 2.75 Run 1.0 Walk - Tempo Run - driveway laps
10 Aug - 2.50 Run 1.0 Walk - Recovery Run - driveway laps
29.75/100 miles running 10.0/31 miles walking
Worked 8 - 5 again today, so did my run after work. I decided to run on the driveway again, even though the temp was 88°F with a feel like of 94°F. Since it was a recovery run, I figured I could just walk a bit more to keep my HR down. My plan says that the recovery run should be in Zone 1, but we all know that isn't going to happen with hills, so I try to keep it out of Zone 3. Today, I succeeded, with only one second being in above my zone 2 limit.
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katharmonic wrote: »
@swenson19d it's good to see you. I'm sorry you are struggling. Did you end up having another surgery recently? You have been so strong through all of your medical issues, I can only imagine how difficult it is to find any motivation with all the pain and issues and loss that you've dealt with. Kudos to you for seeking out help.
Hmm, I don't know if I've had another surgery since the last one updated here, perhaps. The rod (femoral de-rotation) was redone because my femur rotated back to twisted... but before that I had the labrum repaired, femoral head and acetabulum reshaped (FAI). So maybe. I've had 5 so it kinda runs <-- 😀 together. Last surgery was 7-1-20 almost a month after losing Alex. I have to see the psychologist to manage chronic pain and they are helping me with grief. I am still taking violin lessons and going to school for that bachelor in nursing. I probably will find something in administration or psychology with a masters, something I can lay flat now and again LOL! Dh and I meet a group from his work for dinner, 2-3 hours out socializing and I can barely stand without painful cramps in my rodded leg. Any wah... haha! y'all run for me!
It's nice checking in here and seeing everyone!
@skippygirlsmom Happy birthday! I think you should have run 4.5 miles 😉9
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