February 2023 Monthly Running Challenge

tarun_yadavA

Thanks @Scott6255 @quilteryoyo 😊

eleanorhawkins

Hi all, great work all round this month!
My race was this morning (I know, kinda weird on a Tuesday but it's a holiday here today) and it sucked. I slept badly and am still sore from last week's long faster run. Short version: I finished but I'm exhausted and angry with the organisers. Long version in spoiler for those who don't need to read a grumpy tired hangry perimenopausal rant LOL

Ok, so this is a very local race. Like the easy trails I often run. There's been a HM version for 6 years now, with a generous cutoff time of 3h30. No really technical parts, only a couple of hills in the middle. A couple of years open they started a mountain bike version and that has been super successful, and sadly they clearly only really care about the bikes now. The 30km run was a new addition this year. We had intended to be away this week, but my husband had to work so we cancelled our trip, and as I was aiming to do 18 or 20 miles around this time as part of my unorthodox marathon training, I thought hell why not just sign up and use it as a training run with aid stations. So far so good. Better still, with just 6 women signed up I should have been in for at least 3rd in my age group just by finishing. I had messaged the organisers a few times to ask what the cutoff time would be, because the rules they posted were just a copy/paste of the ones for the HM with the distance changed to 30k. Actually ended up being 31k, too! They never answered, but we all assumed they just forgot to change it. Nope! Some smart person decided it's perfectly acceptable to expect us all to hit paces that not even major marathons expect from back of the pack runners. Both races started together, and I deliberately set out near the back. We were going slightly faster than the minimum pace required to hit that cutoff (so pretty quick for me). 4km in, along comes the sweeper with his broom, runs alongside me. "How are you doing?" "Ok. I don't want to push it today." "Right. What time are you aiming for?" "4 hours or so" "I'm the sweeper for the long route and cutoff is 3h30 so I'm gonna have to pass you, you're out." What??? I was still on pace for under 3h30 at that point, in fact for the first (flat) 10 km! So yeah, I got angry. All common sense went out the window, I was just so focused on how unfair it was and how mad I was, so I kept forgetting to eat or drink. To make matters worse, there were 13km between the 2nd and 3rd water stations, and when I got to the 3rd they had packed up and left! I was letting poor volunteers along the way know how ridiculous the pace thing was, and when a first aid guy on a bike came alongside me and said I was running well but didn't look happy I explained why, and he went ahead, found the sweeper and ordered him to wait for me! We ran the last 5 or 6 km together, he apologised and claimed he thought I was doing the HM. Anyway, he encouraged me to keep going, gave me a magnesium gel when I said my legs hurt then pulled back to let me finish on my own. I even passed a few stragglers in the last km. Luckily they hadn't closed the finish line, and I finished just short of 3h43. I will regret that tomorrow but the good news is I have a shiny new 30km PB.
Final annoying thing. I got my medal, grabbed some water. They were doing the awards. Guy said "we have a name of the 3rd place female 45-49 category, she missed cutoff but just got in" Omg! Then he said someone else's name. Usually they do first 3 overall, then first 3 in each age group. Nope, not for the 30k. And there were 4 of us in my group. The woman who came 3rd beat me by... wait for it, this is annoying, 58 seconds!!!!
So, I actually raced too much, got an awesome time for me. But the race itself sucked. Won't be doing it again in a hurry. I'm going to hurt, and coach is going to be mad at me. Should have had more to eat and drink, recovery will be ugly I think. Physio booked for the morning! Is it bedtime yet?
Apologies for all the typos, I'm on a tablet with a crap keyboard and my brain and everything else hurts 🤣

chris_in_cal

chris_in_cal wrote: »

I just found the: Garmin Connect <Reports> -- <Progress Summary> tab on the webpage.

I am liking this feature on GC. I've never tracked distance/month (until finding this thread.) This Garmin report shows that back in 2019 I had two 100 mile months (09/19 and 11/19,) prepping for a half marathon. Who knew?

martaindale

@eleanorhawkins I just did the math on the pace you would have needed to meet the 3.5 hr cutoff and you are 100% right, that pace is stupid. For those of us using imperial system, it's a 10:54 min/mile pace given the 31k distance and 11:29 min/mile for 30k. On trails no less!
Your shiny new PR is definitely one to be proud of!! It's too bad your local race has become a bike event. It's so nice to have a convenient local.

Laurz9191

@eleanorhawkins That sounds like such a frustrating race. I think you did absolutely awesome though and you finished even though very early it became clear it wasn’t going to be the race you thought it would. I am really impressed! And you did meet nice people along the way like the first aid guy. I hope you have a speedy recovery!

@quilteryoyo You are so dedicated and consistent. Awesome job always finding time and ways to squeeze your runs and walks in!

I was supposed to do a 90 minute run today, but I was feeling good and had cut my long run last week short because I was feeling bad, so I decided to do a HM distance. I listened to an audiobook the whole time. It wasn’t that interesting but it kept my mind occupied. I have consistently been improving my time, so that’s nice. I have been honestly pretty rungry ever since I finished. I had to rush to the day care afterwards to get the kids, but am glad I still could fit in in.

I am quite over my goal for February, but don’t anticipate running as far next month .

February total:
230.6km/200km

SummerSkier

Meanwhile @AlphaHowls ran 154 miles today...

(ducking and running to March thread)

😎😳😇🤷‍♀️🤣

shanaber

@eleanorhawkins - That race was absurd! I would have been really angry too! I have been burned so many times at races with the aid/fuel stations that I never assume any longer that they will a) be there or b) have anything other than maybe water if that. I had one race that advertised a post race buffet breakfast and there was about an hour long line for it and when we got to it there were only bananas left and we weren't even the back of the pack.
You did a great job keeping it together and finishing it with an amazing 30K (31K) PR! I hope you recover better than you think you will. Can you provide feedback to the organizers? I certainly would if it is possible.

@SummerSkier - I would totally believe that if anyone could do 154 miles in a day, @AlphaHowls could! 😁

So much great running this month with so many meeting and exceeding their goals! Sadly I while I did hit 40 miles I am well short of my 75 mile goal.

polskagirl01

@eleanorhawkins I'm sorry to hear about the race fiasco. Those paces are even more ridiculous when you consider the elevation. They shouldn't offer a 30k option if they aren't going to actually organize it. But it does seem like running mad might've helped you to that new PB! Congratulations, and I hope your recovery isn't as bad as you expect!

Teresa502

Congratulations to everyone who met their February goals! If you didn’t meet yours, you are in good company - I didn’t either! Instead of running the 4 miles today that I needed to make 100 this month, I did a cross training workout before work, walked 2.2 miles at lunch and washed and cleaned the inside of my car after work. Here’s to March!

Thanks for setting up the March thread @shanaber!

@eleanorhawkins - how frustrating you must have felt but it powered you to a PR! And what are the odds that 4 of the 6 women were in your age group! I hope you aren’t too sore tomorrow.

AlphaHowls

@SummerSkier wrote: »

Meanwhile @AlphaHowls ran 154 miles today...

(ducking and running to March thread)

😎😳😇🤷‍♀️🤣

bahahahahhaha I did not realize the decimal blipped off!

kgirlhart

February Goal: 90 Miles

2/3: 5.27 miles
2/4: 5.26 miles
2/5: 13.15 miles
2/6: 5.02 miles
2/9: 5.52 miles
2/10: 6.02 miles
2/12: 10.10 miles
2/13: 5.51 miles
2/15: 6.02 miles
2/16: 5.12 miles
2/19: 10.26 miles
2/20: 5.51 miles
2/21: 6.02 miles
2/23: 6.02 miles
2/26: 10.05 miles
2/28: 5.27 miles

110.12/90 miles completed for February

The weather was pretty nice this morning. It was clear and about 50°F with just a light wind. I wore shorts and a t-shirt with sleeves and gloves. I took the sleeves and gloves off about halfway through, but ended up putting the gloves back on. I left the sleeves off though and I was pretty comfortable. I ran 5.25 miles. That closes out February for me with 110 miles. I guess that the weather and the short month and the stomach bug at the first of the month didn't affect my mileage like I thought it might. 🙃

@mari33a That is an awesome picture! I would love to see the Northern Lights.

@Martaindale Hope it stays nice for your Half this weekend.

@Eleanorhawkins I knew you had a race coming up but didn't realize it was on a weekday. I hate that it was so disappointing, but that PR is definitely something to be proud of.

@shanaber Thanks for setting us up for March. I'll see you all over in that thread!

Scott6255

@eleanorhawkins - such a tough, frustrating race, but you showed how strong you are, both physically and mentally to still get a PR! Awesome job!

It was 85F when I got off work today (this is still February)!! I should have run this morning, but I just couldn't get up. So did 6 miles on the treadmill to finish the month. Even for a short month this was the highest mileage month ever!
See you all tomorrow on the March thread

ScienceofTeaching

I missed my February goal by .72 miles. I guess I should have run today instead of doing a barre workout... But it was wet and gloomy outside, so I think doing anything after work was a victory.
Even though I didn't meet my goal, I'm still proud of myself for being way more active than I've been in a long time. Hopefully I'll do better in March!

Congrats to everyone who met their goals!

quilteryoyo

You're doing great @martaindale ! Fingers crossed that the weather is as good as they are predicting on Saturday.

First off @eleanorhawkins Congrats on a PB for a 30K. That's an awesome time. I would be mad about the entire situation too. I'm glad they let you finish and get your medal. Sucks about the age group placement. I hope you recover quicker than you are expecting. Big hugs to you.

Awesome running @Laurz9191 !

Another nice run @kgirlhart !

Excellent mileage this month @Scott6255 . Congrats on your highest mileage ever!

You did great @ScienceofTeaching ! Less than a mile from your goal....close enough.

Congrats on all who met/exceeded their Feb goals and to those who got out there and did what you could! You are all awesome in my book.


My run today was supposed to be intervals of 8x(2min hard/2 min easy). It was nice out, like 68F (20C) and sunny, so ran driveway laps. Since I knew I would be unable to do the 2 min hard without running the hills, I decided to do fartleks instead and run faster on the flatter part and downhill. I walked half mile for warm up, ran 3.5 miles in 48:53 min, and walked 1.00 mile for cool down. I did fartleks on the first and third miles and went slow on the 2nd and last half mile. My splits paces were: 13:18, 14:48, 13:28, and 14:42. I'm okay with that. My avg HR was 147 with a max of 160 bpm. That took me to 93.00 miles running/fast walking miles for Feb. I also traversed 3 miles while playing tennis.

eleanorhawkins

Thanks everyone. I've only crawled as far as the coffee maker so far, and Garmin is screaming at me about intense activity, high stress levels, poor sleep, yada yada yada, and I do feel sore and tired but there's no stabbing pain in my legs, so hopefully the mini-taper worked. I'm seeing my physio in a couple of hours anyway and will rest for a few days.
@shanaber oh yes, the poor things are hearing my protests. My trail club is part of the huge local sports club, they have sections for all sorts of things, and it is organised by some part of that. So yeah, they know me. When I went down to pick up my number the woman, who I'd never seen before, handed it to me before I could even open my mouth. And I'll often be encouraged or greeted by cyclists when I'm out for a run, who I think are from the triathlon club and I probably have on Strava or something. Also, we have a media/PR student who does social media and keeps sending race reports and photos to the local paper. We're pretty well known locally within the running/sports community. I'm pretty sure that's actually why the sweeper waited for me and tried to convince me he misheard and thought I was doing the other race. There were probably walkie-talkies blowing up all over the place with volunteers going "oh *kitten*, guys, we pissed the grumpy perimenopausal trail runner off BIG TIME"
I never rely entirely on aid stations for the same reason, but had been hoping to refill my water bottles. It was ok because it was windy and pretty cold some of the way, if it was a hot day then dehydration could have been a problem because of that.
@polskagirl01 lol yeah, the guys have sometimes threatened to pay my husband to start a fight the day before a race because I'm faster when I'm mad.
@Teresa502 apparently all the women in their mid-40s in southern Spain had midlife crises and took up trail running. We are by far the largest female group, to the point that at many races there may be 50 of us and 2 or 3 in their 30s. I hope they all become grandmothers soon and find something else to do with their time hahaha.

quilteryoyo

eleanorhawkins wrote: »

There were probably walkie-talkies blowing up all over the place with volunteers going "oh *kitten*, guys, we pissed the grumpy perimenopausal trail runner off BIG TIME"
I hope they all become grandmothers soon and find something else to do with their time hahaha.

Hahaha. I love your attitude and reputations. I hope you recover quickly.

shanaber

@eleanorhawkins - love that you are well known 😁 I suspect there were others who were upset by the way it was organized but often times people are just afraid to say anything or complain. In that respect you are speaking for all of them too. Hopefully the organizers will realize their mistake and fix it for any future races!
Also really glad you aren't having any serious pains in your legs other than the tired soreness you would expect! Just shows what great shape you are in!