June 2022 Monthly Running Challenge
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Wrote a post but it didn’t post - didn’t even save as draft. Copied the text but when I went to paste it, it wasn’t there 😫5
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Right, I’ll try again.
Very wet here - has been raining for three weeks straight. Today was forecasted thunderstorms and wind so headed into the forest with a couple of friends. Kept things slow as one friend is recovering from and injury and also it was quite slippery underfoot in places, although we avoided most of the mud. Early morning light, heavy cloud and trees may visibility not great either. However, I had a blissful couple of hours running and hiking, then afterwards spent a few hours planting trees along our driveway - very at one with nature today.8 -
Wow. That's a lot of rain @ContraryMaryMary ! I'm glad you were able to get out for a nice, long run and then plant trees. Sounds like a wonderful day. My biggest issue with MFP lately is that I will have a post written and then it will all of a sudden go to the sign-in page and I lose it. I don't know if part of that is my internet issues or not, but it is frustrating. Obviously, I don't need to sign in. I was already on the site.1
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@quilteryoyo Totally get the feeling of it not feeling like a vacation when staying with family. The B&B sounds lovely!
@scott6255 Way to go! A HM in the heat of the summer is hard work!
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June total: 49.9/117 miles
6/1: 4.1 mile
6/2: 3 miles
6/3: 3.2 miles
6/4: 8.2 miles
6/5: 3.2 miles
6/6: 5 miles
6/8: 5 miles
6/9: 3.1 miles
6/10: 4 miles
6/11: 6 miles
6/12: 5.1 miles
I’m back in Houston as of last night. For my last hill country run yesterday, I went down to the lake trail. I was able to make it all the way to the end which turned out to be the entrance to a park with a lot of additional trails my family had hiked at before. The back part of the trail is pretty newly cut, and is basically a bush-hogged path through a field along the lake. Harder to run on than the more established first couple of miles but very quiet. I saw my first couple of horses and 2 wild turkeys.
This morning was a rude welcome back to heat and humidity. It was 80F with a feels like of 88F at 7 am. Blech! I froze my hydration pack last night and kept the pace nice and slow. I ran the neighborhood trail because it stays shady late into the morning. Managed to run a consistent pace and while the heat was definitely a factor, being able to stay in some shade and such a flat route helped a lot. On a Sunday morning with horrible weather, there aren’t many people out. Shocking, I know. I did see 1 small copperhead and 1 medium sized turtle (about 6 inches long or so) on the trail through the woods. I didn’t take my phone so no pics. I really should start carrying it when I am using my vest.6 -
eleanorhawkins wrote: »RunsOnEspresso wrote: »I'm the odd ball that doesn't like the Cascadias. I want to so bad. I once even wore brand new shoes for a 30k race over my cascadias 😆
Lol, yeah, one of my worries is not having tried them. Maybe I'll see some in the uk in a shop to try on. When I went to have my gait analysis for shoes the first pair he handed me were Glycerins. Too expensive, but the memory of that spongy feel has stuck!
Having said that, the trail shoes I use now (after disastrously thinking I'd be ok in cheap Decathlon ones) are Hoka Speedgoats and anything else is bound to feel thin-soled...
Still dark here, having breakfast and then I'm off for some mohntain therapy 😁
In the interest of full disclosure... I like the cheap Decathlon trail shoes as well. I have the men's version because they were on sale.1 -
01.06. 5.52km at 8:09min/km
02.06. 3.00km at 7:46min/km
08.06. 3.02km at 8:08min/km
10.06. 3.23km at 8:03min/km 10x pace repeats
11.06. 4.00km in 8:17min/km
12.06. 2.10km in 7:37min/km
20.87/60km, 3.1km behind target.
I have those days where I start fairly quick, don't manage to slow down despite trying several times, and then decide to do a very short, fairly fast run. I'm sure it's good for something
This was one of those. That's fine though. Had fun. 5 -
@polskagirl01 I found my decathlon ones in the boot of my car when I cleared it out to sell it. Maybe I'll give them another go some time and see whether they're any better now I'm more used to trails, but I'm not sure... they were the ones that messed up my first toenail badly. Then again, now I have no normal toenails left so that wouldn't matter lol.polskagirl01 wrote: »eleanorhawkins wrote: »RunsOnEspresso wrote: »I'm the odd ball that doesn't like the Cascadias. I want to so bad. I once even wore brand new shoes for a 30k race over my cascadias 😆
Lol, yeah, one of my worries is not having tried them. Maybe I'll see some in the uk in a shop to try on. When I went to have my gait analysis for shoes the first pair he handed me were Glycerins. Too expensive, but the memory of that spongy feel has stuck!
Having said that, the trail shoes I use now (after disastrously thinking I'd be ok in cheap Decathlon ones) are Hoka Speedgoats and anything else is bound to feel thin-soled...
Still dark here, having breakfast and then I'm off for some mohntain therapy 😁
In the interest of full disclosure... I like the cheap Decathlon trail shoes as well. I have the men's version because they were on sale.
So yesterday and the mountains. It started out really, really badly. The trails all start from an old quarry. There's parking up there and a cemented road, but our van has a small engine and struggles enough getting up to the village, so I parked at the football pitch and set out along what is meant to be a shortcut up to the quarry. Well, I don't know what shortcut people take, but it certainly wasn't the way I went. Steep, every time I thought I found a track it lasted maybe 3 metres. Loose rocks, nasty spiky plants. My right knee was scratched and bleeding within minutes. I eventually found a path and got to a point where it crossed the road. I should have just taken the road from there, but no, being stupid I thought I was on the right path. Needless to say, it disappeared again almost immediately. I kept scrambling across rocks and through spiky stuff to what I thought were paths, but no. My watch was telling me the trail was to my left, so I fought my way in that direction and in the end I saw the road. Maybe 7 metres below me. Down an almost vertical cliff. By that time I was getting scared. Although I knew I was close enough to yell for help if a car went past, it was early and there was nobody about. I crawled along the edge back downhill looking for somewhere to get down. When I reached a less vertical slope I decided to sit down and scramble down on my backside, but before I could get into a sitting position my feet went out from under me and all I could do was throw myself onto my back and wait until I hit the bottow. Needless to say, I am covered in scratched from the plants and from the slide. (Also, my husband doesn't know this part, or that I was alone. When he asked about the scratches I just said I had a fight with a bush. Trying to avoid him seeing the bruises coming out now :-/)
So there I was standing on the road, shaking like a leaf, covered in dirt and blood. God knows how I didn't rip or break anything except some skin. It took me 51 minutes to cover just under a mile.
Any person in their right mind would have gone home then, right? So yeah, I went and ran 22km over the mountains. Mainly on nice wide trails, apart from one part that was singletrack to get to the top. That part has rocks and loose sand, and I came down it pretty slowly because my legs were still shaky. Otherwise, I mainly power hiked the ups and jogged the rest. 3 hours 24. It was beautiful up there. Hundreds of butterflies and lizards. Loads of cyclists towards the end.
I didn't think about work or husbands or teenagers all morning. When can I go again? Lol
Sorry for the loooong post, should have done a spoiler thing but can't work them on this device!9 -
June Goal: 100 Miles
6/1: 5.51 miles
6/2: 5.04 miles
6/5: 7.10 miles
6/7: 5.51 miles
6/8: 6.01 miles
6/8: 6.32 miles
6/11: 10.02 miles
45.51/100 miles completed for June
I had a good run today. I managed to get up early and get out the door at 6:40. I suppose I "beat the heat" as much as possible. It was 82°F feels like 83° F when I started and 88°F feels like 91°F at the end. But that was the coolest part of the day. And since I got out before the sun was fully up there was plenty of shade. The last two miles were pretty tough, but the first 8 weren't bad so all inalla nice 10 miles. I just took plenty of water breaks in the shade. I saw a jackrabbit in the cemetery. And a really pretty century plant. Then I stopped by to see Lilly (Sunny) the donkey and took her some carrots. I just took it slow and tried to stay in the shade as much as possible . I stopped several times and took some pictures too. My average pace was 11:44 and my run time was 1:57:28, but I was out for 2:16:40.
It looks like there is no relief from the heat for a while.
OMG @eleanorhawkins I am glad you are ok!
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@eleanorhawkins ouch! An important lesson to learn is "don't try to make up shortcuts in the mountains". I'm glad you're (mostly?) OK.
Hopefully you've just got scratches, but pay attention over the next few days and make sure nothing is hurting and affecting your gait. If you keep running on that, it could lead to additional injury. Otherwise, keep on running 😃4 -
Just a short comment as it's hard to type right now. My running is going to take a forced break. For what I'm guessing is 2 to 4 weeks. Thursday I smashed the tip of my left middle finger while in my shop. Split it open and shattered the bone in the tip of my finger. Thankfully I'm right handed.
I was able to drive myself the 15 minutes to the emergency room and try got me in right away in spite of being busy. The doctor there sewed it back up as best she could as a temporary measure and I have an appointment with the hand surgeon tomorrow.
My best guess is that they'll remove the finger tip bone completely since there's not much left of it. I don't care what it looks like when it's done, I just hope I get full functionality after it heals.
This might have been the most painful experience of my life. I rarely take any of the painkillers thru give you after things like this but I've sure been taking them this time. It has been over 24 hours since my last one though so I think I'm done with them.
Of course one of my primary thoughts going to the emergency room was to wonder how long this would keep me from running, LOL! I do expect I'll start walking first, then running pavement before getting back to the trails. My big race in September will likely involve half power hiking so hiking as training won't be a bad thing. I'll also look for strength work I can do with this too. I might be up to walking tonight. Up til today any movement at all seemed to cause pain.
NON - gory photos to follow.8 -
The xray and the bandage
That metal piece kept falling off so I ditched it.
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OMG @7lenny7. I hit my hand really hard with a hammer yesterday while bashing in a stake for a tree, it was so painful I assumed I’d broken a bone but no, I’m fine. I’d hate to think how much more painful your injury was. Heal quickly!
And @eleanorhawkins, super scary. I’m glad you’re mostly ok. Lesson learnt?2 -
@quilteryoyo that Florida plan sounds lovely. What part of Florida? It's always hard to mix vacation and family visits for me and I have to say I had a much better time this last time when I stayed in a hotel.
@eleanorhawkins you are so tough to scrabble through that "shortcut" and then power through a long run. For fun? LOL.
@7lenny7 ouch ouch ouch OMG ouch ouch ouch. Hugs to you and I hope it heals very quickly at least enough to allow you to continue training. Ouch.
Sorry for the continued heat everyone. @kgirlhart nice pics. Sunny looks happy to have made friends with you now.
Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
06/01/22 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
06/02/22 :::: 2.3 :::: 2.3
06/03/22 :::: 0.0 :::: 2.3
06/04/22 :::: 7.3 :::: 9.6
06/05/22 :::: 1.9 :::: 11.5
06/06/22 :::: 2.7 :::: 14.2
06/07/22 :::: 1.9 :::: 16.1
06/08/22 :::: 4.2 :::: 20.4
06/09/22 :::: 2.1 :::: 22.4
06/10/22 :::: 0.0 :::: 22.4
06/11/22 :::: 3.9 :::: 26.3
06/12/22 :::: 3.5 :::: 29.9
I have survived a return to Spartan racing! I'm sore and tired but happy that I could still do it (mostly), and complete two races in a row.
Friday night I drove to my AirBnB near Bethel, NY, which is the site of the original 1969 Woodstock Festival. The famously muddy Woodstock...foreshadowing. My boyfriend could not go last minute because of work, which bummed me out but I went on my own and enjoyed staying in the very nice but quirky little house for the weekend. It was very mid-century modern and had an awesome hot tub on a deck that had somewhat of a lake view (through trees). The hot tub was amazing and believe me I got my money's worth on that alone. The house also curiously had quite a collection of quirky art - including many ceramic Siamese cats and quite a bit of taxidermy. There was a bear standing in one corner. Very odd but not as creepy as it sounds (although I was happy not to be able to see that bear at night while I slept).
The races were both Sprints - which are 5k (ish) with 20 obstacles. Saturday morning we had a big team of over 20 people from my gym. The weather turned out to be fantastic, low 70s but the rain moved out of the forecast and it was sunny. Running with that many people is a challenge and we ended up splitting up into groups. It was slow going helping a lot of our first-time racers who have never done anything remotely like this. Eventually I gave up trying to help and wait for people and I ended up losing most of the group and just working my way through on my own or with one other woman I knew, for a good chunk of it. That was fine with me. It was SO MUDDY. The sucking deep kind of mud. Many people were losing their shoes to it and I made sure to keep mine as tight as possible.
I didn't know how I would do after so long and not training very specifically for this. I managed to do the rope climb which I was really worried about, and the monkey bars. I missed the spear throw which did not surprise me. I had a hard time on the slip wall which I haven't had a problem with in the past. It's a metal incline with a rope to pull yourself up and it is immediately following the rolling mud and dunk wall. On purpose. So you are soaking wet and covered with mud and have to run up this slippery wall and climb over. The top part freaked me out this time and I could get an arm or leg over the top without feeling like I was going to slip and fall all the way down. And fall hard. I had to ask two guys (strangers) at the top to help me over and they were very kind to grab me and haul me over. As it was I still slipped with one leg over and the other not, and ended up straining my hamstring a little. Following that was the rings and I totally slipped off those as I had no grip left. And then we climbed the cargo net a-frame, jumped the fire and were done. My time was 1 hour 57 minutes.
I hobbled back to my AirBnB and spent the rest of the day recovering - including a couple of hot tub sessions. I was very much not excited about the plan to do it again the next day. But I refused to back out so got up this morning for round 2. This time we had a small team of 7. 3 of us had done it the previous day, and 3 were first timers. But they were all pretty experienced trail runners and did fantastic, and we ran nearly the whole time (slowly, but mostly running). I was definitely dragging and didn't want to say how sore I felt and how much I was struggling to keep up. Surprisingly I made it through and the obstacles went about the same. I barely made the rope climb but did it. I missed the spear throw and the rings again. And had the same trouble with the slip wall but my teammate hauled me over. We finished in 1 hour 21 minutes. Which put me at 11 of 26 for my age group in the open heat, so I felt good about that!
I had asked for a late checkout and it was the best thing ever to go back and take a shower and sit in the hot tub for a little while and recover before driving back home. I am bruised all over and sore but happy that I made it through. Hopefully I will get some race pictures in the next couple of days and if they aren't too awful I'll share some.7 -
Congratulations on your Spartans @katharmonic!0
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@7lenny7 ARGH! Gentle hugs, hope they can fix it as quickly and satisfactorily as possible.
Thanks @kgirlhart @polskagirl01 @ContraryMaryMary @katharmonic as far as I can tell I'm fine apart from the superficial cuts and bruises. My left leg did start making a funny clicking sound on the way up the last hill, but was fine on the way down so I put it down to normal reaction to the distance and elevation. Muscles are slightly sore today so hill repeats are off, will go for a recovery plod and see what happens. Funniest thing was at around 8.30 am a guy passed me on a bike and he yelled "you're brave to be out here on your own!" All I could do was laugh.
@katharmonic well done, Spartan! Those races really impress me 🙂2 -
@eleanorhawkins YIKES! Amazing that you got in a long run after that! You're a beast! Hope your injuries aren't too bad.
@7lenny7 OUCH! Dang that sounds soooo painful 😖 I hope it heals well and you have full function.
@katharmonic way to go finishing TWO Spartan races 2 days in a row. Those sound really really tough. But nice that you had a comfy place to relax afterwards.0 -
Hi again all. Reporting back, I went for a (very) slow shake-out run and there seems to be no permanent damage done to anything. Legs were sore and stiff but no worse than after any other 22km run with loads of elevation. I even went up a little hill to see if the clicking was still there but nope, all gone.
Also, I just want to clear something up before anyone goes calling my husband and telling him to lock me up (LOL).
My experience on Saturday was entirely my fault, and I was never in any real danger that I didn't put myself in by being a little bit dumb and overeager. I was never more than 1 mile from the road, in fact, the place I started the nasty part I've dubbed the 'hike and slide fail' was right behind a military barracks. I was carrying a whistle, I could have just sat down on a rock above the road and blown the *kitten* out of that thing until someone heard me. Or called for help, my phone had a signal there.
However, I had been planning the adventure for days and was so eager to get up there and enjoy it that I didn't do that, but chose to push on and find a way to get down.
So yes, lessons were there. Have I learned them? I hope so. However, in the same situation, I can't say I wouldn't do the same again rather than miss the run I was looking forward to. But next time, I'll turn around when I think I've lost the path or stick to the road in the first place.
Once I picked myself up off the floor, I did think about walking back to the car and going home. But I walked for a while and decided there was no serious harm done.
I did, however, discover a flaw in all my emergency gear. I was carrying an emergency blanket (crazy in this heat but hey I have it, it fits in my pack and you never know, right?), the aforementioned whistle and phone, bandaids, a tiny tube of wound glue, alcohol swabs, tissues, vaseline, a bandage and a buff. But of course, because my water was in the bladder in my vest rather than a bottle, I couldn't actually get any of it out to wash my scratches and grazes off. I just realised this morning that I could have taken the whole bladder out and opened it to get to the water. D'oh!3 -
@eleanorhawkins and @7lenny7 I'm so sorry that both of you were hurt but glad that it wasn't worse for either of you.
@katharmonic Great job on your Spartan races!
I've been so busy and tired for the last week that I haven't posted. I did all of my runs last week except one, which I ended up doing this morning instead since today was supposed to be a rest day. My long run yesterday was 9 miles.
I had been doing my HR zones according to the age formula (220-age=Max heart rate) but have felt for a few weeks that it was off, so I actually sat down yesterday and calculated my lactate threshold and redid my zones, which shifted up my lower zones a little bit, so I think I'll be a little more accurate and productive now.
Some exciting news - Savannah decided not to bring back the Rock n Roll Marathon, so my city (Macon) is currently bidding to get it. The Rock n Roll committee has met with our tourism board and mayor once already, and I was asked to participate in the filming of a video today that will be presented to them next month when they come for their site visit. I'm pretty excited and really hope we get the race. Macon has a ton of music history, so it really would be a fitting place for the race.8
