December 2022 Monthly Running Challenge
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@Fit2btied2016 in the toolbar above the box you type in there is a button for spoiler brackets (in a dropdown menu, it's the icon before the smiley one on my screen at least)
Re: your hip... do you stretch after your runs? I have to do 10-minute walks before and after ALL my runs to warm up and cool down, then around 10 minutes of stretching and if I have the time I put my legs up a wall for another 10 minutes or so. SO annoying and takes so much time, but anything to keep me mobile (my legs hate me lol).2 -
Good morning all.
How's everyone doing?
Nearly recovered other than the odd cough...
Got a run in after 3days of lounging in bed watching Office re-runs and Christmas movies!
@Fit2btied2016 @SummerSkier @quilteryoyo thanks for checking-in on me 😊7 -
I have to tell you all about something that happened this morning that reminded me why I love runners. Even the speedy ones that I always feel look down at me for being slow and old and taking too many walk breaks.
It's raining today and I didn't want to go do my scheduled painfully long intervals on the trail by the river as it can be dangerous down there (like a couple of people usually get swept away and drown every year) so I went to the road the fast road runners like to use for intervals. It's about a mile long, flat and not too busy.
So anyway, there I was toiling away in the drizzle when it turned into a storm. I like running in the rain but thunder and lightning not so much, but I was 2 down 2 to go and thought I'd just keep going. I hadn't seen anyone else out there (guess I'm in the really crazy minority!). Finally, I was nearing the end of the last interval, and when everything in me was screaming at me to just quit I looked at my watch and saw I had just over a minute left, so I yelled out loud "Come on woman, you can last one more minute!!!"
I hadn't heard that there was a guy coming up behind me and was about to pass me. For context, I run so slow that the fast guys overtake me like racecars even while I'm going as fast as my little legs can go!
So... he comes up beside me... looks at his watch, falls into pace with me and holds next to me for a minute, then as soon as my watch beeped he sped off ahead. Never said a word. I probably wouldn't have stopped because I'm a stubborn *kitten*, but that silly little thing, having someone 'supporting' me, made such a difference to how hard that last minute was!
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That's awesome @eleanorhawkins!2
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Hello Everyone,
Thanks for the tips about the bugs and the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, at the time of my post, said Christmas tree was already in the living room sans bug spray and believe it or not, I don’t have any bug spray (although we do have bugs in Germany just not that many pesky ones). I’ll keep you updated if we do happen to have an infestation.
And, what is in my opinion much worse!, right after putting the tree up, my daughter and I came down with what is most likely the flu. So we are 3 for 5 on being sick and I’ve been bed ridden since Monday, drinking lots of tea, and dreaming of being healthy and out running and not feeling like crap. So it looks like zero kilometres for me this week. Fingers crossed I’ll be out running again soon.
I guess Deutsche bugs are more civil than American bugs (lived in Berlin for 4 years, but I am not a jelly roll).
Hope you and your daughter are feeling better soon.4 -
That's awesome @eleanorhawkins!
I agree!
Talking to yourself is fine; but when you start answering yourself, ....4 -
That's awesome @eleanorhawkins!
I agree!
Talking to yourself is fine; but when you start answering yourself, ....
I've even been known to argue with myself...4 -
Thanks @Fit2btied2016 . It's hard to catch up when you are pages behind. I usually just give up and start at "today." BTW, in case you didn't know, I chose to run the T-Minus 10 mile race because when I was in the AF I worked on Cape Canaveral for 4 years and thought it would be nice to go back and be able to run on base again. You are doing great with your running. Sorry to hear that your hip is bothering you though. Like @eleanorhawkins said, try stretching and walking a warm up if you don't already. I always walk to warm up and cool down too. I look forward to seeing a picture of the puppy. What bred is it?
@Laurz9191 Glad you don't have a bug infestation. So sorry to hear that you and your family are so sick. I hope you get well quickly!
@tarun_yadavA Glad to see you felt like getting out for a run today. Be careful in that ice. Loved your comment above the run stats.
I have a friend who lives near London. She said her daughter and grandson got caught in that snow/ice storm on the road and had to spend the night in their car. Thankfully, they were okay and the little one thought it was great fun.
@eleanorhawkins I love that story. So sweet it made me cry. You are awesome.
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Hey all.
First time posting here! But everyone IRL is sick of hearing about my runs, and you all seem so supportive.
In terms of a goal: I'm aiming to complete 2500km this year - on 2355km - so 145km to go over the next 17 days.
Inclement weather here has meant solid ice and packed snow on the pavements, which always makes things more difficult/risky. Due to do a night run of 18k tonight - may end up on the treadmill, but I'd probably rather risk it than spend so long on the treadmill.
Here's a pic from near the start of my run on Sunday in the Pentland Hills, near Edinburgh. Route was over the hills and looping back on the flat(ish).
@Fit2btied2016 I read you report on your first non-stop 5k and I loved it! It is an amazing feeling to realise that you can actually do it.
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Welcome @autobahn66! I think our loved ones being sick of us talking running is the reason many of us are here! Plus it's a great support system and everyone inspires me so! If I'm feeling lazy, I just come here and read about everyone's runs and that gets me out the door.
Beautiful picture but it looks so cold! I had the pleasure of visiting Scotland last year but it was in late May/early June - no snow on the ground! Be careful out there!1 -
eleanorhawkins wrote: »That's awesome @eleanorhawkins!
I agree!
Talking to yourself is fine; but when you start answering yourself, ....
I've even been known to argue with myself...
...and I bet you win every one!!!!4 -
Good to have you here, @autobahn66!1
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Welcome @autobahn66 ! Beautiful picture of your running spot! Looks like you are doing great at reaching your goal. Like the others, we love this site for the support and everyone wants to hear about your running!
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I went down and did a treadmill session late morning. I'm calling it a recovery run. I walked a total of 1.10 miles for warm up and cool down and then ran/walked 2 miles doing 3/2 minutes at 4.5/3.8 mph. So, 3.1 miles total today.
Ok, you asked for it, so here is my blow by blow race report. It is a little long, but then again, so was the race.
You all know the day started WAY TOO EARLY for me. I got out of bed at 3:30 and ate a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit I had gotten from McDonald’s the day before. Yeah, I know, the breakfast of champions. Right?
I followed my plan and got out the door and in the car at 5:00 am.
I thought they were crazy wanting us to get to the Space Force Station gate starting at 4:30, but once I got there, I know why they did. They really need to work on their parking logistics for next year. I got parked at about 5:20, mingled and took a few pictures because it wasn’t obvious where I needed to go to catch the shuttle (bus) to the starting area.
It was really dark. I needed this picture later. Read on to see why.
I ate a banana I had taken with me at 5:30 and then followed some folks to the security check and buses. That was at least a half a mile hike. (Cool thing was that we drove on and parked on the skid strip where the shuttle landed.)
The buses were filling up pretty quickly. Once they dropped us off it was another full mile hike to the starting area. This was really annoying as there was no reason that I could see that would have prevented the buses from dropping us off right at the starting area. Anyway, once there I mingled and talked to some people, but there was nowhere to really sit and relax, so wound up standing around until the race started.
The corrals weren’t obvious so I wound up starting about mid-pack. I talked to a nice lady who was sort of in the same boat as me – not sure where to start and was going to run/walk.
People ahead of me.
People behind me.
Me before I got all sweaty.
The highlight of the pre-race wait was getting to see a couple of robotic dogs that the Space Force brought over. I’m not sure if they did part of the race or not, but they were pretty cool to see.
It was a chilly start at 64°F, cloudy (fog), and 100% humidity. Once the fog cleared and the sun was beaming down, it got hot pretty quickly and I longed for a cloud to give us some relief. Didn’t happen.
Both of my calves were really tight and felt like they were going to cramp up at the start of the race. I’m sure that was due to being chilly and I only walked about a 2 min warm up – from my starting place to the actual start line. When they still felt that way after my first walk break, I was worried that I was going to be a DNF before reaching mile one! Fortunately, after about 10 minutes they eased off and I didn’t have any more issues. I guess they just needed to warm up.
They had some neat signs for each mile marker. I thought of @AlphaHowls when I saw the first one!
Mile one.
Mile five.
Mile eight.
I was surprised at how many of the participants were either walking the whole way or doing some sort of run/walk. My guess is that it was over half of the field. I managed to maintain running 3 minutes and then walking 2 minutes for the first five miles. After that, I started running 2, walking three. Then at about the 7 mile point I was down to running one and walking 2. Then it was whatever I could manage. Looking back, I think it was more of a mental issue than a physical one, but not sure I would have agreed with that at the time. LOL I always tried to run at least one minute and found that after a couple minutes’ walk those runs felt really effortless.
I did walk through the water stations. I had a sip of Gatorade once, but it did NOT sit well with my tummy, so water it was the rest of the way. I only had one honey stinger at about the 7 mile point. I did okay, but I do need to do better with fueling during a run.
I loved the corridor of flags that we ran through – don’t recall the mile that was.Toward the end there were pockets of Space Force folks cheering us. It was much needed by that time. One of the groups was handing out Oreo cookies. I wanted one so bad, as they are my favorite cookie. But, all of you were in my head saying, “Don’t do anything new on race day.” Since I’ve never eaten an Oreo when running, I decided against getting one. I need to add that to my fueling trials so I’ll know if I can get one next time it’s offered.
Corridor of flags.
Tennessee flag.
I think at about mile 7 we passed by Mission Control building. You were allowed to go in, but I didn't want to "waste" the time. Also people were going up to the top and taking pictures. I started to do that, but wasn't sure how my legs would handle the stairs, so opted out of that.
At mile 8, I was ready to be done. I saw a flag ahead that I was sure was the 9 mile marker. Nope. It was an aid station flag. So disappointing! I said something to someone who was running beside me and they said their friend had just said the same thing. I guess we were all wishful thinking.
The lighthouse to the left is at the end of the race, so knew it was getting close.
One of the launch structure we ran by, with the sun beaming down. You can just feel how hot it was by looking at the picture.
I walked a little more than I had to once the end was in sight because I wanted to have a strong finish, which I did. I was happily surprised that the finish line announcer read everyone’s name and where they were from as they approached the finish line. I thought that was a nice touch.
The end is in sight.
Sweaty selfie.
Once I finished, I slowly walked to the hanger and got some pictures and then had a banana and got in line to take the “ringing the bell” picture. That was not what I had expected, but I’ve never run a race with a bell before. I was expecting it to be at the finish line and something you rang as you ran by. I guess that would be a hazard if lots of people were finishing close together.I walked around the vendors and collected some free stuff, then got in a very long line for the bus to take me back to the parking area. They neglected to tell us that they dropped us off at the opposite end of the cars from where we were picked up. And, being tired and hot, it took me a while to realize that. I thought I had lost the car. That’s not a good feeling when you are that tired. I had to look at the pictures I had taken when I parked to try to figure out where I was. After another mile walk, I was headed back to the hotel.
Item in the hanger museum.
Another museum piece.
Me ringing the bell, in case you missed it earlier.
Overall, it was a good experience and I do love the excitement of a larger race. As I said earlier, Gamin clocked me in at 10.11 miles in 2h14m28s for an average pace of 13:18 minutes/mile. My splits were: 12:34, 12:33, 12:34, 13:09, 12:59, 13:48, 13:35, 14:04, 13:56, 13:59, and 11:54 for the last 1min and 16 seconds. My best pace was 8:02 min/mile at the end.
According to the website today, I finished in a time of 2:14:44 with an average pace of 13:29 min/mile. I placed 1260 out of 1808 overall, 534 out of 887 females and 23rd out of 48 in my age group.
Almost forgot the race bling.
Not really a fan of the shirt.
Rest of the bling.
I do like the medal. It's really heavy.
Lessons learned:
I may need to invest in a running hat.
Take money in case I want to buy something from the vendors at the finish.
After going through security check, make sure your vest is on correctly. (I had put it on wrong side out and didn’t realize it until I started to go for my honey stinger and there were no pockets. LOL)
Do a better job at remembering where the car is parked.
Test Oreos as fuel.
Do a better warm up, especially if it is cool at the start and I’ve been standing around for a while.
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Fit2btied2016 wrote: »I really hope that your injuries will be behind you for good, and that your Dopey Challenge comes to fruition. Holy Guacamole though, that is quite the set-up for a Challenge! My goodness, are you going to be able to walk after all that? We might have to hire Cinderalla's carriage to come and get you or something, ha, ha...
I really hope I can walk. From what I hear, stairs are the biggest problem and several people have recommended going down stairs backwards to get off the busses. If you can arrange Cinderella’s carriage for me, that would much appreciated!I agree!
Talking to yourself is fine; but when you start answering yourself, ....
Well, I’m in trouble. Since I don’t listen to music or anything, I mostly just talk to myself while I run. I mean, I talk quietly so people can’t really hear me. Does that make it better or worse? My mom used to say that sometimes talking to yourself is the only way to get a good conversation.
Welcome @autobahn66. You’re so close to your goal!! That picture is beautiful.
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@quilteryoyo You did great on your race. The prerace logistics seem difficult. The sort of thing they should fix if they do this race again.2
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