JANUARY 2024 Monthly Running Challenge

yirara

No running tonight I suppose. Spent over 9hrs in my car yesterday for a 1h doctor consult. I'm wasted! Well, actually: I don't feel as exhausted after getting drunk. It was just so exhausting and stressful with all the traffic jams due to train strikes and people driving like idiots. Phew.

Laurz9191

@yirara Glad you made it back safe. It sounds very stressful. Big booooo from me for the constant train striking here in Germany!!!

@Scott6255 I know how you feel.

I was also sooooo excited to get outside to run today that I couldn't stop , at least not until I had run 22.6 km. I even got my second best HM time, which suprised me. It was not close to my actual PR, which I got in an actual HM race, but it beat my HM time at the marathon I did in September by all of 2 seconds. And I wasn't even racing today, but listening to a very moving and interesting audiobook. I love runs like today's. No rain, no snow, just outside, at peace, running.

So far 187.3/200km for January.

Mari33a

02/01 3.52 miles
03/01 3.56 miles
04/01 3.50 miles
06/01 4.03 miles
10/01 3.53 miles
11/01 3.52 miles
12/01 3.53 miles
14/01 3.68 miles
17/01 3.53 miles
20/01 3.62 miles
24/01 3.56 miles
25/01 3.72 miles

Total 43.30/50 miles


The weather is strange today windy and sunny and warm, then clouds over and feels stormy again. I got my run done in the sunny spell. It's my birthday today so going to a seafood restaurant later. I'm happy to say I weigh 31.3 lbs lighter than last year.

@Scott6255 - Ur VO2 max is really impressive at 63! Mine has been at 44 for a while now but did start at 36 so not all bad

@SummerSkier - Sorry the weather is making you feel so low. At least January is nearly over.

Laurz9191

@Mari33a Happy Birthday! And, wow 31.3 pounds! That’s a huge difference! Congratulations! My VO2 max has also been at 44 for quite some time. @Scott6255 63 is amazing!

Teresa502

Loved reading about your quilting history @polskagirl01 and those quilts are absolutely gorgeous! My mom quilted when I was growing up and I spent many a winter’s day cutting out pieces for her to quilt. She sewed a lot of our clothes when we were younger and would use the scraps of material to create quilts. Years later it was kind of fun to see a particular piece of material and remember the clothing article that was in that pattern.

Happy Birthday @Mari33a! And congratulations on that weight loss! I hope you enjoy your special birthday meal.

Scott6255

Happy birthday @Mari33a! That weight loss is very impressive!

7 miles today. Planned on doing a recovery run after yesterday's speedy-ish workout...but stupid brain wouldn't let me 🙄 Oh, I just saw this was my fastest 7 miles ever. Previous PR was 10 years ago!
Oh well, that is probably it for this week. Have to drive to Little Rock Arkansas tomorrow (at 3am)! to go to a funeral, and will probably be there all weekend with no chance to get away for a run.

quilteryoyo

Jan 1 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 2 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 2.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 3 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 4 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 5 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 6 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 7 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 8 - Walked 3.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 9 - Walked 1.50 miles - Ran 2.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 10 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 11 - Walked 4.10 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - driveway laps - actually a slow wog
Jan 12 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 13 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 14 - Walked 1.50 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 15 - Walked 1.50 miles - Ran 2.50 miles - treadmill - Speed Play
Jan 16 - Walked 1.50 miles - Ran 3.00 miles - treadmill - Foundation run
Jan 17 - Walked 3.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 18 - Walked 1.50 miles - Ran 2.30 miles - treadmill - intervals
Jan 19 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 3.00 miles - treadmill - recovery run
Jan 20 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 6.00 miles - treadmill - Long Run 1
Jan 21 - Walked 4.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill - cross training
Jan 22 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 3.00 miles - treadmill - Speed Play
Jan 23 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill - Cross train - shoveled some too
Jan 24 - Walked 3.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
Jan 25 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 1.50 miles - treadmill - intervals

71.90/85.00 mile goal

I got started late this morning, so had to cut the planned workout short. I walked a total of one mile for warm up and cool down and ran 5 min at 4.5 mph, 2 X (30 sec/90 sec at 6.5, 6.6, 7.0/4.0 mph), 2:33 min at 4.5 mph. My avg pace was 13:02 min/mile. My avg HR was 125 with a max of 140.

The latest on my cousin in the spoiler.

I went to the hospital to see my cousin and talk to a couple of the doctors. The news is not good at all. He has stage 4 cancer and, with his other issues, is not a candidate for any intervention (not that he would be anyway, is my guess). The cancer has grown into the chest wall, is also in his liver, and adrenal gland and probably other places. They think he has some pneumonia, so are treating him for that currently. He is very lethargic and was awake only about a minute total the entire hour I was there. But, he did know who I was and responded appropriately.

The plan is to see how the antibiotics work over the weekend and then we will probably start him on hospice and, if he gets strong enough, move him to a nursing home.

I had to make the decisions about medical intervention if anything happens - I said no to everything and let nature take it's course. That's hard, even when you know in your heart it is the right thing to do.

When I got home, I called his estranged son to let him know what was going on and give him the opportunity to come see his dad before it is too late....which I am glad he has decided to do. I'm emotionally exhausted.

quilteryoyo

I hate it when that happens @kgirlhart . Great run though and glad everything else went well.

You are doing great @SummerSkier !

Glad you are taking it a bit easy with your knee @tarun_yadavA .

I'm glad you made it to the doctor and back all in one piece @yirara . Traffic can be so stressful, especially when you aren't in it every day.

Glad you had such a good run today @Laurz9191 ! Congrats on the HM time. Hearing about those give people like me hope.

@Mari33a Happy Birthday and congrats on the weight loss. That's awesome! Enjoy your seafood dinner.

Congrats on your fastest 7 miles ever @Scott6255 ! That's fantastic and especially since your fastest before was 10 years ago! That is awesome and proves that you can get faster as you get older. Sorry for your loss and hope you have safe travels to the funeral and back home.

martaindale

So many hugs @quilteryoyo. That’s a lot of tough decisions in one day.

Happy birthday @Mari33a and congrats on the weight loss! Enjoy a fun evening.

Impressive VO2 max @Scott6255. Mine hangs out around 43 despite quite a bit of improvement in fitness.

kgirlhart

January Goal: 125 miles

1/1: 3.26 miles
1/2: 6.02 miles
1/3: 6.26 miles
1/4: 6.10 miles
1/7: 10.02 miles
1/9: 6.04 miles
1/10: 6.02 miles
1/11: 6.26 miles
1/12: 3.25 miles
1/13: 13.15 miles
1/16: 2.51 miles
1/17: 6.05 miles
1/18: 6.26 miles
1/19: 6.02 miles
1/21: 10.02 miles
1/22: 3.52 miles
1/23: 6.11 miles
1/24: 6.50 miles
1/25: 6.02 miles

119.39/125 miles

I ran 6 uneventful miles this morning. It was 47°F and a little misty, but not raining and not too cold. I'm planning to take a rest day tomorrow. It is supposed to be rainy anyway, but it looks like we may have some nice weather this weekend.

Happy Birthday @mari33a! And congrats on the weight loss!

@quilteryoyo I am so sorry the news was so bad. Sending hugs and prayers your way.

That is an impressive VO2 max @scott6255. I had mine up around 47 fo a while, but after having covid for Christmas, it has gone down to 45 and seems to want to stay there.

tarun_yadavA

Happy birthday @Mari33a

@quilteryoyo - so so sorry to hear about your cousin. 😥
Hope you are ok 🙏🏽

tarun_yadavA

Morning all
Got in 4.36 (at 10"11).
Taking it easy with distances and pace.
Cant remember if I put myself down for 130 or 135... but just crossed 130 with today's run with five days left to go

Laurz9191

Good morning everyone!

Awesome run @Scott6255 ! Sorry to hear about the funeral!

@quilteryoyo Sending lots of hugs your way! It must have been tough to make those decisions.

@polskagirl01 You are so talented! Those quilts look beautiful!

Today I went for an easy run to let my body recover from yesterday’s long run. 11.3 km. 198.6/200km for the month. I will reach my goal this month.

daria0919

Happy Birthday @Mari33a!

Will catch up on posts eventually….

Just to get caught up on my miles:
Did 2+ on treadmill yesterday and walked 1.2 miles to a restaurant for dinner (and back).
Got a 2 mile walk this morning before the rain sets in again.



Crazy busy life lately…. but still trying to get something in walking wise. Am at Virginia Beach for a bridge tournament this weekend. Love bridge, but hate all the sitting.

martaindale

Jan total: 82.2 miles
YTD: 82.2/1200 miles

1/1: 8 miles
1/3: 7.3 miles
1/4: 6 miles
1/5: 4.5 miles
1/6: 8 miles
1/9: 5 miles
1/11: 6.1 miles
1/13: 3.2 miles
1/14: 13.2 miles - La HM
1/18: 4.2 miles
1/20: 3.6 miles
1/22: 4.2 miles
1/24: 5.9 miles
1/26: 3 miles

Squeezed a short run in before work. It was super foggy this morning but cool at about 50F. It's so nice to be able to run outside without getting totally drenched in sweat.

yirara

01.01 6°C 3.2km 27min 8:20/km 8 stride repeats
03.01 9°C 4.6km 40min 8:41/km slow
04.01 3°C 5.1km 43min 8:25/km slow-ish
05.01 7°C 2.1km 17min 8:03/km fast
07.01 -2°C 4.2km 34min 8:12/km 1min intervals x 9
08.01 -4°C 5.4km 45min 8:18/km slow run
09.01 -7°C 5.0km 40min 8:04/km target pace intervals
10.01 -6°C 3.0km 24min 7:57/km
12.01 1°C 5.5km 45min 8:14/km slow run
14.01 2°C 5.0km 40min 8:05/km progression run
16.01 0°C 3.9km 31min 7:58/km 10 stride repeats
17.01 -1°C 6.5km 54min 8:18/km long easy run
18.01 0°C 4.5km 36min 8:03/km target pace intervals
19.01 0°C 4.0km 31min 7:51/km just random fast stuff
20.01 0°C 5.2km 41min 7:57/km slow run
22.01 7°C 4.6km 37min 8:00/km progression run
23.01 5°C 5.1km 40min 7:53/km run and storm
26.01 6°C 6.1km 50min 8:16/km slow

82.83km/80.5km

Yay, got my running goal for January! Had a rather nice run despite the strong wind. What made this one a nice one was that I for the first time managed to breathe slowly for the whole run since picking up running again. The previous 'best' was 4km slow breathing. And now: if I manage to run my 10k in the end at this pace I'll be happy. Tiny meh: was uncertain whether to do a shorter or my long slow run today. Chose the shorter one, should have chosen the long one

polskagirl01

@quilteryoyo I'm so sorry about your cousin. I hope he and his son can have some good time together. The whole situation sounds really hard.

My bigger cold-water immersion tub arrived today. It's definitely an improvement. Husband made me a level platform, and I made a cover for the tub. The sun went down before I remembered I hadn't taken a picture yet. I'm thinking I need to improve my cover with straps in 2 places to keep it in place, but it's currently raining, so tomorrow I'll see how it did with rain weighing it down. It's been muddy and wet out. Snow all melted 😕

I cut out sugar (no added or processed sugar in anything, except for a reasonable portion of cake at church on Sundays) about 2+ weeks ago, because I'd been eating cookies and candy literally all day every day since the beginning of December, and wanted to reset that habit. I've gotten past the craving stage, but not a thing has changed in my weight or how I feel. Oh well. I'm sure it's still healthier. I'm definitely eating better quality "fuel". Now for my body to start using it properly!

chris_in_cal

polskagirl01 wrote: »

I cut out sugar...about 2+ weeks ago...I've gotten past the craving stage, but not a thing has changed in my weight or how I feel.

I am on Day 26 of "Dry January," I haven't lost an ounce... I am not a huge drinker to begin with, but I'd love a gold star (drop some weight) for my efforts.

tarun_yadavA

chris_in_cal wrote: »

polskagirl01 wrote: »

I cut out sugar...about 2+ weeks ago...I've gotten past the craving stage, but not a thing has changed in my weight or how I feel.

I am on Day 26 of "Dry January," I haven't lost an ounce... I am not a huge drinker to begin with, but I'd love a gold star (drop some weight) for my efforts.

@chris_in_cal well done on 26 days of Dry January!
Same here. 26 days Dry!

Btw... a 12 Fl Oz (350 ml) bottle of Michelob Ultra has 90 calories. A similar sized serving of Tropicana Orange Juice is nearly double.

If you're not a big drinker to begin with... Maybe asking the wrong question RE: Weight loss

SummerSkier

Drizzly foggy Friday Four Miler

I was happy it cleared up yesterday so I could get some photos of the full moon rising but back to grey and overcast today. It better clear up for my tennis on Sunday!

I can't lose weight unless my overall calories are below a certain level. No matter how much I exercise or what the cals are made up of. It's a sad truth. Wish we could all get gold stars for things like no smoking or no drinking or no sugar but the stars we get for that stuff are even BETTER than the ones for losing weight.