April 2023 Monthly Running Challenge
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Hello everyone! I haven’t had a chance to post these past few days.
On Friday, while we were blissfully still on vacation
, I got in 7.61 hard earned kilometres! I really don’t know if I have what it takes to be a mountain runner, but I got it done. The first half of my run was down to the bottom of a mountain, the second half was running back up to the top. I felt both were hard work! Repect to @eleanorhawkins and all the regular mountain runners! This run rounded up my mountain running experience, since we sadly returned home yesterday. I could easily have stayed in the another week or two!
@quilteryoyo We were not in Tennessee, unfortunately, but rather to the closest mountain range nearby, called the Harz mountains. It is only a 1 hour drive away, so really very easy and uncomplicated to get to. I am sure we will go back soon.
Yesterday I took a rest day and today I went on a 9.2 km run on mostly flat ground. I did include our big “hill” in the run too, in memory of running in the mountains. It was so much shorter and easier than actually running up a mountain. There were a lot of people out taking Easter walks with their families. We took a long Easter walk with our family later on this afternoon. It was half a run/sprint for me, because I had to spot my completely fearless 3 year old on a strider bike to make sure he survived the day. I kind of wish he didn’t enjoy going full speed on the downhills as much as he does!
So far for April, I have 49.6/175km.
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April Goal: 110 Miles
4/2: 11.03 miles
4/4: 6.02 miles
4/5: 5.25 miles
4/6: 5.51 miles
4/9: 11.02 miles
38.83/110 miles completed for April
Congratulations on the birth of your first grandchild @mari33a!
We got together with my family yesterday to celebrate Easter. I was a little disappointed that my kids weren't able to make it and we were missing a couple of nephews, but I think we still had 23 for lunch. It was a great day, but I was pretty tired this morning. I ran 11 miles today but it was hard to settle into the run. It felt cooler than I expected this morning but it was humid. By the end of the run it was getting warm, but it wasn't so humid and it actually felt better and it ended up being a good run. I saw the kids at one of the churches having an Easter egg hunt. I saw a high school classmates who was home for Easter. And I saw one of my nephews stopping for gas as he was heading back to Dallas.
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April 1 – 3.33 miles
April 3 – 4.04 miles
April 4 – 5.50 miles
April 5 – 5.10 miles
April 10 – 5.32 miles
Total 23.29/95.00
I spent the weekend hiking in the cold rain/sleet. It was great to be back in the woods but would have been more enjoyable with better weather. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend.
Me and my hiking friend Olga
Near Max Patch, NC
We saw lots of wildflowers blooming including hillsides covered with these trilliums in red, white, pink and yellow.
@tarun_yadavA - You picked the wrong time to leave London! https://foodandwine.com/subway-cadbury-creme-egg-sandwich-7376928
Welcome @mustb60!
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Nice pictures of your hike @Teresa502!
We had a good time in Austin (thanks for keeping the rain away @SummerSkier
Got in 8 miles this morning in near perfect weather (57F, 3mph wind).
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Nice running @SummerSkier . I'm sure @Scott6255 is waving back somewhere in the city. I hope you have better weather today.
@katharmonic It sounds like you are doing great with your recovery. You are being so active. I love waterfalls. You'll be back to training with your friends in no time. I hope you had a lovely Easter too.
@mustb60 Gradual is the way to go. Great job on your first run in a while.
Great running @Laurz9191 . It is amazing how much easier flat routes seem after running mountains/hills.
@kgirlhart Nice running and love that you had such a big family gathering for Easter.
@Teresa502 I'm sure it was a tough weekend for hiking, but love the pictures. Trillium are such interesting flowers. How is your friend that had the accident/fell? I can't remember exactly what happened, but don't recall if you told us if she was better and back to running or not.
Nice morning run @Scott6255 .
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quilteryoyo wrote: »
@Teresa502 I'm sure it was a tough weekend for hiking, but love the pictures. Trillium are such interesting flowers. How is your friend that had the accident/fell? I can't remember exactly what happened, but don't recall if you told us if she was better and back to running or not.
Hi @quilteryoyo - The lady in my pictures is the friend who fell that one morning and busted her nose. Later that same week, she tore a calf muscle while running. Her nose healed fine and so did her calf muscle. She is having some trouble with her back and piriformis but is doing PT for it. She is back to run/walking and did great with the hiking this weekend.4 -
April 1 – 3.33 miles
April 3 – 4.04 miles
April 4 – 5.50 miles
April 5 – 5.10 miles
April 10 – 5.32 miles
Total 23.29/95.00
I spent the weekend hiking in the cold rain/sleet. It was great to be back in the woods but would have been more enjoyable with better weather. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend.
Me and my hiking friend Olga
Near Max Patch, NC
We saw lots of wildflowers blooming including hillsides covered with these trilliums in red, white, pink and yellow.
@tarun_yadavA - You picked the wrong time to leave London! https://foodandwine.com/subway-cadbury-creme-egg-sandwich-7376928
Welcome @mustb60!
Thank you 🙏😊0 -
quilteryoyo wrote: »Nice running @SummerSkier . I'm sure @Scott6255 is waving back somewhere in the city. I hope you have better weather today.
@katharmonic It sounds like you are doing great with your recovery. You are being so active. I love waterfalls. You'll be back to training with your friends in no time. I hope you had a lovely Easter too.
@mustb60 Gradual is the way to go. Great job on your first run in a while.
Great running @Laurz9191 . It is amazing how much easier flat routes seem after running mountains/hills.
@kgirlhart Nice running and love that you had such a big family gathering for Easter.
@Teresa502 I'm sure it was a tough weekend for hiking, but love the pictures. Trillium are such interesting flowers. How is your friend that had the accident/fell? I can't remember exactly what happened, but don't recall if you told us if she was better and back to running or not.
Nice morning run @Scott6255 .
I agree! I am happy to announce that I am running more regularly. So good so far! It's interesting to read everyone's post and pretty de-stressing! ❤️ Seems everyone had a great Easter!
April Run
30 KM
Done 3km/30 km
09/04/23 1 km Run
10/04/23 2 km Run5 -
Hi everyone! Today I only managed to get a short run in (4.5km). I was hoping to finish/continue it later on in the day, but couldn’t. We’ll see if I can sneak some exercise in tomorrow. I have a lot going on at the moment.
April kilometres so far 54.1km/175km
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@Teresa502 hahaha
Top 2 desserts so far have been the Cheesecake factory trip, and then this individual portion 'Tres Leches' cake from Whole foods
Been absolutely calorie carnage here. Badly need to reset next week5 -
@Teresa502 So glad that your friend is doing great and healed well. You both looked great in the pictures.
The internet was out yesterday until it was time for me to be off of the computer, so I just didn't log on. I did get a 2 mile treadmill walk in after church and before lunch with mom.
Today I was scheduled to work 12-3, so I got up early enough to get in a short, faster, run before making a couple of phone calls and getting ready to leave. I walked a total of 1.0 mile for warm up and cool down and then did a run/walk of 3 x (3/1 min at 6.0/3.8 mph), 1/3/1 min at 3.8/5.5/3.8 mph, then 6:09 min at 5.0 mph. That made 2.00 miles in 23:09 min for an average pace of 11:35 min/mile. Avg HR was 139, with a max of 153 bpm.
I'm thinking about signing up for a 5K and seeing if I can PR in a couple of months. There is one here on 29 April, but I'm scheduled to play league tennis that day. I can't do both. Plus, I think I'll need a bit longer than 4 weeks. My current PR is 33:42 a 10:52 min/mile avg pace. Any advice as to how to get faster would be appreciated.
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tarun_yadavA wrote: »@Teresa502 hahaha
Top 2 desserts so far have been the Cheesecake factory trip, and then this individual portion 'Tres Leches' cake from Whole foods
Been absolutely calorie carnage here. Badly need to reset next week
Vacation this week - back on track next! It’s called balance! :-)3 -
@quilteryoyo there are a tonne of training plans out there for faster 5ks. Maybe even try one of the Garmin ones. You're going to have to be prepared to do plenty of speedwork though. I would say you'll want at least 8 weeks.
Life's a bit crazy here as usual, but I'm reading, liking and hugging!6 -
Lots of Easter egg damage done over the weekend!
02/04 3.26 miles
03/04 3.24 miles
05/04 3.26 miles
07/04 3.26 miles
08/04 3.27 miles
Total 16.29/40miles
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Got 7 miles in this morning with more great weather (55F 2mph wind). Last night tried out some Saucony Kinvara 13 shoes on the treadmill. Got them from Amazon just before we left for Austin last week. I chose the Try Before You Buy option, so had 7 days to try them before I make a decision to keep or send back. Not a perfect way to try them, but if I went outside with them I wouldn't be able to get my money back. I think I will keep them, but not 100% sure. They were half price, so I probably will. 7
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April total: 33.4/115 miles
4/1: 6 miles
4/3: 4 miles
4/5: 5.1 miles
4/6: 3.1 miles
4/8: 8 miles
4/9: 4.1 miles
4/11: 3.1 miles
Back at work today after a lovely weekend in the hill country. I love this time of year out there with all the wildflowers blooming. The bluebonnets seem to be on their way out. I didn't see as many of those this trip, but there was plenty of other color around.
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@martaindale love the flowers. Not seeing a whole lot yet here but noticed the trillium are starting to emerge from the ground along the trails. I always love spotting the first blooms of those in the spring. I did see a few dandelions out though.
@quilteryoyo good goal to set a 5k PR. I agree there are a ton of plans out there and probably an 8 week plan at least would be best. Here's a Hal Higdon example https://www.halhigdon.com/training-programs/5k-training/intermediate-5k/. My coach was always of the philosophy that you run longer to run faster. His advice would be 1 day a week you run fast (speedwork), 1 day a week you run long (gradually building this), and the rest of the days short and easy.
Good walks yesterday and today, a little over 3 miles each. 70 degrees today which is so nice. Stella tried to catch several snakes on our walk today. They were everywhere! Little things, but still made me jump every time.
I wanted to share the race report of a friend of mine who I'm sure I've mentioned on here before. She is 70 years old and working on a marathon in every state. She's currently at 46 states. She's amazing and is probably the sole reason I stayed with running when I started, and am still a (currently sidelined) runner.
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Thanks for sharing your friend's race report @katharmonic. It was a good read.
But snakes everywhere on your walk? That sounds nightmarish!2 -
quilteryoyo wrote: »Any advice as to how to get faster would be appreciated.
Coaching coaching coaching.
In person, a book, Garmin Connect, etc.
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April Goal: 110 Miles
4/2: 11.03 miles
4/4: 6.02 miles
4/5: 5.25 miles
4/6: 5.51 miles
4/9: 11.02 miles
4/12: 5.25 miles
44.08/110 miles completed for April
I ran 5.5 miles today. It was a nice morning. The weather was nice, 55°F and not windy. I did see a possum, but it was mostly an uneventful run. 4 -
I was able to run 11km yesterday while my oldest was at soccer practice. It was a really windy run in parts. I was happy to be able to squeeze a run in.
@katharmonic I also enjoyed reading the race report of your friend.
@quilteryoyo The main things I’ve found that helps increase overall speed is doing speed work (which it sounds like you do quite often), getting enough rest between speed work workouts to avoid overuse injuries, plenty of sleep, strength training, and trying making sure that your form is as efficient as possible (with the last point I have the most problems myself, because without a coach or actually filming myself, it is kind of hard to tell where I could improve my running form).
April kms so far 65.1/175km.4 -
April 1 – 3.33 miles
April 3 – 4.04 miles
April 4 – 5.50 miles
April 5 – 5.10 miles
April 10 – 5.32 miles
April 12 – 5.01 miles
Total 28.30/95.00
Met a friend for 5 miles this morning. There were supposed to be four of us meeting but by the time I got there we had dwindled down to two. One wasn’t feeling well and the other overslept. The temp was 44F but it seemed a little colder. I was dressed pretty good so the only thing that got cold were my hands. Didn’t think I would need gloves.
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Got some speed work in this morning - vo2 max intervals. It was really hard to keep the pace, but on all except for one which involved running slightly uphill into wind I did, so I felt it was a successful workout.
I ran a total of 8km.
April kilometres 73.2km/175.8 -
I got sunburnt. Time for me to dig out the long sleeves, and goop up before I run mid-day.
April Running Goal: 12 runs, 25 miles- April 2 - 2.49 miles
- April 4 - 3.58 miles
- April 6 - 3.68 miles
- April 9 - 2.76 miles
- April 11- 2.92 miles
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Wow @chris_in_cal sunburn in mid April...it's not going to be a fun summer I'm afraid. Hope it isn't too bad.
Nice speedwork @Laurz9191! I agree with your suggestions to @quilteryoyo regarding training to get faster.
I got in 7 miles this morning. It was on the slow side, but I just wasn't feeling it today. 5 -
April Goal: 110 Miles
4/2: 11.03 miles
4/4: 6.02 miles
4/5: 5.25 miles
4/6: 5.51 miles
4/9: 11.02 miles
4/11: 5.25 miles
4/12: 5.26 miles
49.34/110 miles completed for April
Today's run was another 5.25 miles with really nice weather. 52°F with no wind. It was basically the same run as yesterday, but I didn't see any critters today. Even though it was practically identical to yesterday's run, it more enjoyable. I don't know why, but I just felt better. I was faster too. Yesterday my average pace was 11:56 and today it was 11:09. 8 -
April 1 – 3.33 miles
April 3 – 4.04 miles
April 4 – 5.50 miles
April 5 – 5.10 miles
April 10 – 5.32 miles
April 12 – 5.01 miles
April 13 – 5.51 miles
Total 33.81/95.00
Another nice morning for a run with the temp at 45F.
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April total: 36.5/115 miles
4/1: 6 miles
4/3: 4 miles
4/5: 5.1 miles
4/6: 3.1 miles
4/8: 8 miles
4/9: 4.1 miles
4/11: 3.1 miles
4/13: 3.1 miles
Another quick run before work this morning. It has been very pleasant this week in the early morning (mid 50's). There are more people than ever out exercising at 530-6am in my neighborhood. I used to rarely see anyone, but now there are 4-5 people I see almost every morning.
I went to pilates on tuesday. It was a good class and my body was tired that evening, but I wasn't sore the next day. Yay! That means I've been going enough that my body is adjusting some. I think I'm going to shoot for another class tonight.10 -
Who flipped the switch to summer? It has be 80+ degrees here in upstate NY the last two days. I don't mind except that there is not enough shade in the woods as the leaves aren't out yet. Stella and I were hot on our walks. There were a few creeks to cool off in for yesterday's walk but today was too hot for Stella's liking and I wouldn't let her drink out of this boggy gross area. Anyway, we did probably 5 miles yesterday and maybe 3 today.
Good news! I got my two remaining drains out yesterday and it is a huge relief. I feel so free. I went to Target and bought a couple of new sports bras to try and a tank top, which I immediately put to use on our walk today. I so enjoyed being able to sleep a little more on my side and have a shower unencumbered by tubes.
Also - I put a deposit on a new car. I have to wait until at least the end of the month for it to be delivered but it's decided and I am getting excited. Not for the car payment but upgrading a full decade in car model years is going to be amazing.
@martaindale I have always wanted to try pilates classes. Maybe I'll do that when I get cleared to fully work out again.7 -
Thanks everyone for the advice. It is greatly appreciated.
@Scott6255 I hope the shoes work out for you. Half price is great. Shoe porn?
Beautiful flowers @martaindale ! No wonder you enjoy the hill country so much.
Those are some great walks @katharmonic . Thanks for the links. I'll check them out when I have a little more time. Just trying to catch up now. You are doing so good with your recovery. I would not like the snakes being everywhere. What kind are they? Tippy would bark, but as far as I know, she has never caught one. Yeah for getting out the other drain tubes! I know you must feel so much better. Also, yeah for the new bras, shirt, and car!
@Laurz9191 It's great that you get in running while your son is at soccer practice. Great use of your time.
@chris_in_cal Great running. I hope your sunburn isn't too bad!
I haven't posted in a couple of days due to internet issues, again, and just being busy. I have kept up the running and walking. I played league tennis on Tuesday night and my partner and I won! We were excited.
This morning, I got up and did a short treadmill run before heading out for my follow up cardiology appointment. I walked 1 mile total for warm up and cool down and ran 1.5 miles in 17:10 min for an average pace of 11:21 min/mile. I did a run walk at 5.5/3.8 mph for 7/1/4/1/4:01 min. My Avg HR was 133 with a max of 149.
The cardiologist said, "Everything looks great. Keep running. Come back next year."
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