July 2023 Monthly Running Challenge

tarun_yadavA

Morning everyone!
Happy 4th July, you guys!
Got in an easy 6K... Eighth consecutive run for me

@polskagirl01 hope you're enjoying being home (and enjoying all the stuff you can't get back in Europe!)
@chris_in_cal In my humble opinion Sir...
In Feb I ran a full 26.2M marathon (God that feels so long ago now!!). Between Feb 1st and a few days post marathon, I'd actually put on about 6 Lbs.
I don't think training for a longish race (at pace) and losing weight are compatible IMO.

It took me all of March (31/31 runs, 172 miles - all at 08:45ish pace) to get back into the zone/175 Lbs.

Either lose some of that 100 Lbs first then think about long races; or maybe drop lower the frequencies of runs to maybe a couple of times a week... So you don't lose it... And focus 5/7 on losing weight (calorie deficit, bike/Elliptical, dumbbells etc)

tarun_yadavA

(get that today's the 3rd... But read/heard you guys all do long weekends and stuff!)

eleanorhawkins

As per Strava comments with @tarun_yadavA I said I'd start the convo up in here on running form tips. I remember reading a lot of them in here in the old days, many from @PastorVincent (God I miss him still), and I found them very useful so thought we should drag them back out for newer members.
Help me out here, folks!
The one I vaguely remember was something about imagining you had headlamps on your hip points and nipples, I guess to avoid hip drop and torso twisting while keeping a nice straight posture...
Anyone remember more correctly and/or share any others?

eleanorhawkins

Meanwhile in me and running news...
I ran my moonlight race on Saturday night. It was hot and humid, bloody hard work because I ended up racing it even though I didn't intend to (surprise, surprise lol) but great fun and very pretty. The first half of the route is nothing to write home about, just along a road around the edge of the outskirts of a small town, but then it heads uphill for a couple of kilometres and runs through the forest for the second half. There is one stretch that burned last summer in the horrific wildfire that hit our mountain, which is still heartbreaking to see even though green stuff is starting to grow again. Eerily beautiful in the dark with an almost full moon in the sky and a snake of headlamps in the distance ahead and behind you.
I had avoided that particular race in the past because the small print gives a cutoff time of 90 minutes and I didn't think I could manage the 14km the details make it in that time. I'd run the route a couple of times last month to see and done it in around 1h45 each time, but I also looked up last year's results and saw had finishers around the 2 hour mark despite the supposed cutoff so I wasn't worried.
Well, it turns out if I push hard enough, ignore screaming hip flexors, only stop once to pick up the water bottle I dropped and once more to refill it, then really let rip on the last couple of km back down into town (almost smashing into a brick wall at the bottom of a steep downhill stretch with a sharp turn at the end) and manage a sprint finish, I can do it in 1:30:09 according to the official results.
I wasn't as sore as I expected yesterday, but stuck to stretching and half an hour on the bike to move my legs a bit, and went for a 45 min recovery run this morning.
We've been focusing on base training for a few weeks now and I can see the results. Whereas in the past my HR would end up spiking no matter how slowly I tried to go and I would be gasping and have to take frequent walk breaks, today I did the 45 minutes all in zone 3 with no walking at all until around minute 40, when I slowed to a walk for a couple of seconds as a dog came running towards me and I couldn't see a human with it.
Oh, and I just signed up for another race. First Saturday in August, mountains and darkness are involved. All of this is intended as training in case I end up doing one of the overnight stints of the ultra relay in November.

quilteryoyo

Thanks @tarun_yadavA ! Great faster, longer run today. I'm glad the new ortho inserts seem to be the key. And form. As for the junk food - sounds like you were just carb loading for today.

@Teresa502 I don't know how you ran 4 miles after your legs were already jelly! You are amazing. I hope you can dodge the storms today - we have already had one heavy shower and more in the forecast.

Great run @SummerSkier . Is that your cat in a robot of sorts? Cute and interesting.

@chris_in_cal I don't know what your eating habits are, and it doesn't really matter. I just know that, unlike what we would want it to be, the quote "You can't outrun your fork." is a true statement. I am stuck at about 10 pounds over where I want to be too and keep fluctuating a couple of pounds around that number. I always think that with the extra activity I have in the summer I should lose, but I never do. Hang in there. Hopefully it will start dropping off soon, for both of us. (Looks like @SummerSkier stole my line. Or maybe I stole hers.)

Nice run @kgirlhart and glad it was a little cooler for you. I have the same work schedule - heading in for 6 hours today and off tomorrow.

You are doing great @polskagirl01 . Hang in there. Love your relaxing view.

Gotta go get ready for work. I'll try to catch up with the rest of the thread later.

AlphaHowls

@tarun_yadavA wrote: »

Back straight, don't arch, chest puffed...
So today's run I took @tarun_yadavA with me in my head.

7/1 18.58 miles, Running Partner A, plus kitten
7/2 17.29 miles, County Line and back
7/3 17.37 miles, 1890 days on the run, 1072 days HM+ Streak

tarun_yadavA

AlphaHowls wrote: »

@tarun_yadavA wrote: »

Back straight, don't arch, chest puffed...
So today's run I took @tarun_yadavA with me in my head.

7/1 18.58 miles, Running Partner A, plus kitten
7/2 17.29 miles, County Line and back
7/3 17.37 miles, 1890 days on the run, 1072 days HM+ Streak

@AlphaHowls hahaha! love it
@eleanorhawkins headlights on the nips - it will be in my head tomorrow now! haha

chris_in_cal

tarun_yadavA wrote: »

@chris_in_cal In my humble opinion Sir...

I completely agree. For this year I planned to enjoy running along side dropping a hundred pounds.

It's easy to get lulled into thinking more running is what I need, but I can't outrun the fork (as some sage poster mentioned).

For fitness, fun, and mental health I can continue running and diversify into other activities.
For weight loss address the fork.

Okay....I'm breaking out my yoga mat, and consistently logging my food into the MFP diary.

chris_in_cal

chris_in_cal wrote: »

July Running Goal: 16 runs, 60 miles

Just for fun, I'm putting in my "Fork" status in my monthly running goal.
I'm calling July 1, 2023 as --- 0.0 lbs lost.

Scott6255

Great job on your night race @eleanorhawkins!

SummerSkier

@eleanorhawkins you absolutely SLAYED that moonlight race. 👏👏🌟👏👏 Congratulations. AND still able to run the next day.

@Scott6255 I am curious if you have been able to stop taking the Naproxin daily? My lower back/hip/whatever still aches quite a bit altho I can manage without anything. I have found that 1/2 an excedrin migraine 2x a day seems to put it to sleep. Not that I want to do that forever but it is nice to have some relief. 🥺✅

@chris_in_cal you are doing amazing with your ramp in running so I have no doubt if you put your mind to it you can drop a few pounds this month. Just remember slow and steady will win the race and then you can be in maintenance and go up and down 5 pounds every once in a while.

@AlphaHowls and @tarun_yadavA another posture "hack" that a friend told me about is to turn your palms up for a few strides. Amazingly this rolls your shoulders back and helps you posture. My parents both had the dreaded dowager humps in their 80's and I am determined to fight it as long as I can.

@polskagirl01 glad you are recovering from the long trip and sorry you are missing the blooming roses at home. It sounds encouraging to me that the bike is calling to you. 💖🌟💖

I am trying to check in here daily and at least until work cranks back up again on Wed get an hour of something done in the mornings. I did not take any meds at all or ice overnight and I was really gimpy this morning. sigh. But I thought at least I could get out and do a mile or so before it got hot. The more I jogged/walked the first half mile that looser things got (versus more crippling!) so after about 10 minutes I restarted my watch and did a 5K run. Then I cooled down again with some jogging and walking to get about 4 plus miles in. I don't think it was the 10K yesterday which made me so sore but rather weaning off the excedrin yesterday. I know things are improving but I am so dang impatient for "this" to be over with.

@quilteryoyo you have to be kind of a sci fi geek to get the photo of the cat in the machine. 😂😂😂 I was just following along with the current "cat" theme.

I have a strava account linked but I don't use it as my main fitness tracker. Just my fitbit and apple watch.
Which even after almost a year or more fitbit still inflates my mileage and pace.

martaindale

July total: 15.3/100 miles

7/1: 5.2 miles
7/2: 4.1 miles
7/3: 6 miles

Another hot morning. Found some sprinklers about halfway through.

Re: form checks. A big one for me is relaxing my face, shoulders, arms, hands. When I first started running and I would get tired I would catch myself tensing up my shoulders and kind of grimacing my face. All of that uses energy. Relaxing actually makes running feel easier.
I also do a version of @tarun_yadavA mantra but mine is more like head high, shoulders back, chest out. One thing that I found helps my posture a lot was concentrating more on keeping a little bit of tone in my abs rather than just focusing on my shoulders, etc. That helped a lot with getting my upper body to be in a better posture as well.

Laurz9191

Hello everyone! I had a nice 8.2 km run this morning followed by a nice 3.6km kid/training/race practice run with my friend’s daughter this evening. My son has unfortunately had a headache all day so he didn’t feel up to joining us. Hopefully he will feel ok to race on Wednesday. The weather has been very pleasant here these past few days and I am trying to make the most of it .

So far, so good for July - 23.4km/150km.

Zaxa2021

7/1: 3 miles
7/2: 3 miles

Total: 6/60 miles completed.

My goal for July is 60 miles, with more focus on speed. I was getting pretty comfortable with the speed I've been running on the treadmill, so for my first couple of runs this month, I have been playing with speeds to see what I can do. I was happy to find that I was able to cut a minute and half off of my 3 mile run, without it being too challenging. I'm excited to see what I'll be able to accomplish this month.

quilteryoyo

So glad you are able to do consecutive runs again @tarun_yadavA !

eleanorhawkins wrote: »

Oh, and I just signed up for another race. First Saturday in August, mountains and darkness are involved. All of this is intended as training in case I end up doing one of the overnight stints of the ultra relay in November.

Hahahaha This doesn't surprise me. Congratulations on your race results! Sounds like you did great!

You are doing great @SummerSkier !

Great running @martaindale ! Glad you can find sprinklers to run through.

Great run @Laurz9191 . It's good to see that you are having pleasant weather. I hope your son feels better soon.

Nice running and goal @Zaxa2021 !

quilteryoyo

July 1: Walk 1.00 mile Run 2.00 miles - treadmill
July 2: Walk 2.00 miles - treadmill
July 3: Walk 2.00 miles Run 1.50 miles - treadmill

8.50/80 mile goal

I didn't post yesterday. Just my 2 mile treadmill walk after church and a nap for my rest day.

Today, I was supposed to work from 11-5, but when I went in, they really didn't need me. Since I had driven into town, I did work for 3 hours....I got to be in the baby room and put the itty bitty 6 week old to sleep. I love little baby cuddles.

After I got home, I did a treadmill session. I was tired and lazy, so decided on the quarter mile intervals. I did 6 x (3.8/5.0 mph) and then half mile at 3.8 mph for cool down. So, I'm counting it as 1.5 miles ran and 2.0 miles walked.

Scott6255

@Zaxa2021 that's an amazing improvement for your 3 mile run! Great job.
@SummerSkier yes, I have been able to stay off of the daily Naproxen, and my other addiction of slathering IcyHot on my calves has dwindled to almost nothing too I still feel some twinges of pain when I start off, but it is getting less and less. I have cheated a couple times with the Naproxen before a Saturday long run, but trying hard not to do that.

Got in a 10K on the treadmill after work.

polskagirl01

tarun_yadavA wrote: »

@polskagirl01 hope you're enjoying being home (and enjoying all the stuff you can't get back in Europe!)

Ugggh, yes. It started with pretzel bites dipped in cheese sauce, then progressed to Poptarts, English muffins (cinnamon-sugar raisin, of course)... then to cake and brownies at the lake... not to mention the homemade cheeseburgers my Dad just made... I've been here almost a week though, so it's probably time to back off on all of the junk. I have NO chance of outrunning my fork!

eleanorhawkins wrote: »

As per Strava comments with @tarun_yadavA I said I'd start the convo up in here on running form tips. I remember reading a lot of them in here in the old days, many from @PastorVincent (God I miss him still), and I found them very useful so thought we should drag them back out for newer members.
Help me out here, folks!
The one I vaguely remember was something about imagining you had headlamps on your hip points and nipples, I guess to avoid hip drop and torso twisting while keeping a nice straight posture...
Anyone remember more correctly and/or share any others?

Yes, I remember that with the headlamps, "hips and nips" to help avoid the twisting some people do. Also imagining a string coming out of your head, pulling you upwards (for straight posture), and a slight lean forwards - from your ankles - to help propel you forward. Apparently running barefoot can give you a feel for some of what you should be doing. I've also heard that messing too much with your gait can be detrimental, and that some of our bodies just look funny when we're running, but it can still be efficient for us (see Camille Herron - you can't argue form with someone when they're winning).

Great race, @eleanorhawkins ! Sounds awesome. I love night races. You're really doing great.

I had a lake day today, which means I sat around and my kids played in the water. Even the boat ride consisted of me laying down in the back. So I think that means it was a success. I'm feeling *slightly* better today, so hopefully have turned the corner on this particular crash.

kgirlhart

July Goal: 115 Miles

7/1: 1.26 miles
7/2: 11.11 miles
7/3: 6.25 miles

18.62/115 miles completed for July

I ran 6.25 miles this morning. Tomorrow will be a holiday, so I decided to have my rest day then instead of today so I can sleep in. I'll get a mile in sometime tomorrow, but not at 5:30 in the morning. It was pleasant enough this morning at about 75°F. I enjoyed the run and felt pretty good. It was an uneventful run, but nice.

Great job on your night race @eleanorhawkins !

tarun_yadavA

Good morning everyone!
Got in a pacier 6K today
(Can't seem to upload today! ... Oh well. For those on Strava - I'm sure you'll see it there!)

@polskagirl01 - ooooh yum. How's Poland for Pretzels? (Realise it's a very German thing!)
But yes. Going to America (from Europe) is calorific carnage. I'm back there in 2weeks. God help me! Thank God I'm running again is all 🙏
(Will almost certainly squeeze in a trip to the Cheesecake factory again!)

@eleanorhawkins thinking of nipples and headlights throughout today's run. Laughing. Such old school guy code for 'its cold' and/or 'shes not wearing a Bra' 🤣😂
(Sorry ladies!)

@chris_in_cal how accurate is your logging of calories btw? Both - eating and exercising.