February Running Challenge

Just over half way through the month, and just under halfway to goal Going to have to push it that little bit more in the next couple of weeks!

1/2 - 3.77
3/2 - 3.67
4/2 - 3.81
7/2 - 7.64
9/2 - 3.66
13/2 - 3.90
14/2 - 7.76

I always forget to post my runs. My pace has been suffering lately, and I"m not sure why. I'm going to be taking it easy this week, with mostly short runs (3 miles or less) and at least a day between runs. Not sure what's going on with me unless my body just can't handle to training tempo I've got going? Feeling pretty discouraged right now, and not sure I'm going to be able to run my half at the end of March with the way training has been going. I feel like my body wants me to take training down a notch, but I also feel like I may not be able to do the race if I do. I think the smart thing would be to listen to my legs and just miss the race if I'm not ready. Question for experienced runners: I have heard that as long as you have successfully run 10 miles on a long run prior to a half marathon that you'll be okay. That it may not be a great run, but you'll be able to finish. Is that true? Again, feeling pretty discouraged. So, whining over, runs for Feb so far:

I didn't hit my 65 for January, so I"m going for 65 again. Fingers crossed!
Date..........Run..............Total............Pace
01FEB15 - 07.04 miles/07.04 miles/11:05
03FEB15 - 03.01 miles/10.05 miles/12:04
05FEB15 - 02.14 miles/12.19 miles/10:42
06FEB15 - 02.01 miles/14.20 miles/10:39
08FEB15 - 07.02 miles/21.22 miles/11:26
10FEB15 - 03.27 miles/24.49 miles/11:04
11FEB15 - 04.06 miles/28.55 miles/11:21
13FEB15 - 02.02 miles/30.57 miles/11:46
14FEB15 - 08.26 miles/38.83 miles/12:24

@skippygirlsmom - glad you got to increase and hope he figures out the hamstrings!
@fabnine - you should definitely be a running/life coach! So inspiring to all of us!
@sonicdeathMonkey80 - congrats to you and your GF! Amazing times!
@stoshew71 - awesome pics!

Haven't been able to check in for a couple days and was catching up this morning and was definitely ROFL at the undies! Hope the new ones worked out well! My mind definitely wanders when I see the stray undies. Now I can just imagine it was a runner innocently tossing them.

Headed out for a long bike ride this morning. I rode 34 yesterday and did the foam roller before and after and not hurting! So I hope to get at least 3 runs in during the week - wanting to get up to 5 3x a week for now. But I think I will increase very slowly to get there, over the next two weeks. Running a 10K with my daughter on 3/14.
Hope y'all don't care I post my biking in here too. I saw there is a run/bike challenge group, but I'm too addicted to you all to switch over.

Feb 1 - 27 mile bike ride.
Feb 2 - 3 miles
Feb 3 - strength training
Feb 4 - 4 miles -
Feb 5 - rest
Feb 6 - 3.3 + strength training
Feb 7 - 34 mile bike ride
Feb 8 - sore from biking, so only did a 5 mile walk, not on ticker
Feb 9 - 4 miles!
Feb 10 - Strength training
Feb 11 - 4.5 miles
Feb 12 - 4.52
Feb 13- rest -trainer cancelled.
Feb 14 - 34 mile bike ride. Still the slowest one in the group but improving!
Feb 15 - biking ... tbd

2/1 - 7.1
2/2 - Rest
2/3 - Rest
2/4 - 3.6
2/5 - 4.1 (a cold 29* over lunch when I ran. But the forecast this weekend is mid 70s!)
2/6 - 3.8 (34* warmer than yesterday's run!)
2/7 - Rest
2/8 - 7.5
2/9 - Rest
2/10 - Rest
2/11 - 2.0 (limited time to run)
2/12 - 5.0 (rare day on the treadmill today. went to the office gym to lift after work)
2/13 - 3.1
2/14 - Rest
2/15 - 9.6

I'll probably get the stink eye from those of you up north, but it was perfect conditions for a long run today. 52*, overcast, light winds...just one of those days where you just want to keep going.

I forgot about the short month when I set my target. I'll be out of town this weekend and won't be able to get my long run in. I'll need to extend some weekday runs to make my goal.

@Elise4270 : Just read up on the posts I missed in the last couple of days and had to laugh at your undie story. I've actually trashed some a couple of them after coming home when they had been driving me absolutely insane during a run. Never thought of getting rid of them right in the park, now that's an idea to keep in mind for the future

@Stoshew71 : looks like a great place to go running, thanks for sharing the pictures!

@HonuNui Wow, a whale?! Not sure I want to thank you for sharing that picture, because now I am *really* jealous . I signed up for whale watching tours on vacations twice in my live. One (in Norway) was cancelled on the day of the tour due to bad weather, the other one (in Iceland) took place, lasted three hours after which I was toroughly frozen, and apparently I must have blinked in the one fraction of a second the skipper insisted a whale might have been visible in the distance. Spotting one from the beach during your run is just awesome. The closest I came to something like that might be the large fright ships on the river I see during my long runs, but that isn't quite the same

@jessupbrady 7°F is 25 degrees below freezing, add 30-35mph winds and stop you in your tracks gusts to 55 mph and that's brutal. You can dress every part of yourself for those temps but your face and your lungs. You can certainly wear a buff or a balaclava over your face, but then the moisture in your breath just freezes and then you're wearing an ice mask. Your lungs get no relief from clothing it can be just plain painful to breathe in the freezing air. Running in the cold is a real challenge. I was regularly running 6-13 miles last fall to total 200+ miles a month. Lately I'm sneaking by with 3-6 mile runs and fitting a longer run as the weather allows. The cold weather has shortened my runs by half, and I don't have the added difficulty of being used to warmer weather. Heck, I didn't even last a whole 3 miles today, it's windy & cold out there! I don't think there are any shortcuts here, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and run when you are able.

@davis_em I hope someone with racing experience will answer your question, because I don't race. I do know that when I could run 10 miles comfortably I could run much farther than that, it just wasn't pretty. Why your pace is suffering, that is a problem I understand. You need a rest. If you can't take a week off (I streak run so I wouldn't.) back off in both the mileage and intensity of your training for a week or two. You'll likely come back from that rest stronger and faster than before.

@ddmom0811 I like seeing your riding miles & strength training posts. It paints a picture of how active you still are even on non run days.
_Date___ Miles
Feb 1 ___17.3 __long first run to start February off right
Feb 2 ___ 3.5 __8°F another snowstorm
Feb 3 ___ 5.2 __5°F
Feb 4 ___ 3.1 __24:41 no where near a record but happy with it just the same.
Feb 5 ___ 1.4 __streak high winds and snow
Feb 6 ___ 3.1 __
Feb 7 ___ 6.2 __ snowing again
Feb 8 ___ 11.4 __12°F & more snow
Feb 9 ___ 3.5 __ even more snow
Feb 10 __ 8.1 __28°F here's that heat wave
Feb 11 __ 3.6 __and a fun hike up Monadnock
Feb 12 __ 6.1 __snowing again
Feb 13 __ 3.1 __ 0°F when I started out -1°F 26 minutes later when I finished.
Feb 14 __ 5.4 --11°F light snow
Feb 15 __ 2.7 __ 11°F blowing snow 35mph wind gusts
Month total= 83.6miles __66.4remaining



Current Streak: 175days = 1104.5miles

2/1 - 2/6 no running
2/7 - 2.1 miles
2/8 - 2.1 miles
2/9 - PT day so I didn't run
2/10 - 2.1 miles (amount allowed by PT)
2/11 - 2.5 miles
2/12 - 2.0 miles
2/13 - PT - rest day
2/14 - 3.5 miles (PT upped me to one 2 mi and one 3 mile run over the weekend)
2/15 - 2.1 miles

16.4 miles out of 40




@HonuNui‌ Wow! What a cool picture of the whale. I need to start taking something I can take pictures with, I know you all would be jealous of the guy around the corners dog or the stop sign on the corner LOL I'll have to go run at the greenway, there are horses there

Date.......Miles.......Total
02/01.... 4.60....... 4.60 - Trail run with hill repeats
02/02.... 5.75......10.35
02/03.... 0.00......10.35 - Strength training
02/04.... 6.00......16.35 - Sore from ^ so 6 miles easy
02/05.... 3.92......20.27 - Intervals + Strength training
02/06.... 9.14......29.41 - Long run for the week
02/07.... 0.00......29.41 - Rest
02/08.... 2.06......31.47 - Dog Beach!
02/09.... 5.53......37.00
02/10.... 6.64......43.64 - + Strength training
02/11.... 0.00......43.64
02/12.... 6.83......50.47 - + Strength training
02/13.... 5.52......55.99
02/14...11.69......67.68 - hot morning for a long run. Already 80 when we returned home
02/15.... 0.00......67.68 - Rest
Between the long run yesterday and being up way too late for a concert last night I am taking an unplanned rest day. May go for a little hike or a long walk later.

Pictures from my -27F run this morning...

@LoneWolfRunner - I sure do miss that weather (every chance I get......)
@nikkiwolf - didn't actually see it during my run: DH and I HAD signed up for a whalewatching sunset cruise....cancelled due to high seas. So we just wandered up the coast and sat on a big log....and watched. This photo is actually grabbed from a video. See the spout, turn on the video and hope he surfaces! (he did.....)
@shanaber - sat there for 3/4 of an hour waiting, finger on the video button!

@LoneWolfRunner I love the long rows in those snowy fields; is that corn? And that hazy sky of dawn in the mist; that must have been an almost spiritual experience.
Now I need to try my luck at sharing pictures. Not that I have anything so evoking.

An Iced 1790s colonial after today's snow.

My yard there's a jungle gym or two, a play house & patio set out there honest. I can just barely see the top of a chair behind that drift that should be the table.

In the distance that's Monadnock before this storm. The stone cairn in the foreground marks the trail. I'm currently infatuated with cairns. High winds keep the peak pretty clear of snow. If you zoom in you can just make out the upright crag at the left of the peak in the distance it's the same one I'm standing above in the picture of me in pink in my profile.
This is near the peak of Monadnock looking back down at the Pumpelli Trail. The 3 cairns in the lower left of the frame mark the trail. Did I mention I adore cairns? The cloud cover up north obscured the great view you'd usually see from here.

2/1--- 10.1 miles, trail
2/2--- 6 miles, trail
2/3--- 5.2 miles, street
2/4--- 5.8 miles, trail
2/5--- Rest
2/6--- 6.4 miles, trail
2/7--- Rest
2/8--- 13.5 miles, trail
2/9--- 6.2 miles, trail
2/10-- 6.1 miles, trail
2/11-- 7.5 miles, trail
2/12-- Rest
2/13-- 7 miles, trail
2/14-- Rest
2/15-- 7.3 miles, trail

81 miles done/ 130 goal

Cut my run short tonight for the first time in a very long time due to soreness to the left of my left knee. With a half-marathon coming up next weekend, given I'm not worried about my fitness coming off of a marathon 4 weeks back, I decided to cut things short at the 10 mile mark to avoid any damage.

I think I'll just focus on cycling & swimming for the week, to avoid developing a chronic IT band problem, or just pace a buddy for the half-marathon next weekend.

2/1 - 2 miles
2/3 - 4 miles
2/4 - 7 miles
2/5 - 4 miles
2/7 - 7 miles
2/8 - 14 miles
2/10 - 4 miles
2/11 - 7 miles
2/13 - 4 miles
2/14 - 7 miles
2/15 - 10.25 miles

Total: 70.25 miles
Goal: 120 miles
Remaining: 49.75 miles

February Goal 75 miles

2/1: hostess to 30 people at my house for some big tv thing. I won't call it rest day!
2/2: rest from being hostess to 30 people.....
2/3: 3.61 run and 1 hour of snorkel in rough water
2/4: snorkel 2 hours
2/5: 6.17
2/6 rest
2/7 4.52
2/8 3.35
2/9 2.15
2/10 rest
2/11 4.4
2/12 rest
2/13 bike
2/14 3.32
2/15 4.79


Total: 32.31 miles

I'm really enjoying all the pics!


(Ticker is my goal for 2015 and accumulation to date)


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wow that was a lot to catch up on! I love seeing all the photos, it's like I'm vacationing from the comfort of my own home! Seriously if any of you are ever in the area I would love to show you these trails…. @Shanaber and @RunningMischka

@Stoshew71 nice to see where you are running, reminds of the woods from when I was a kid

@Fabnine gorgeous photos! And I miss all that colonial architecture. California is great, but it can't compete with the amount of amazing old architecture that is everywhere in New England. And all those small old crooked streets that lead to little town centers. And barns….

@Sonicdeathmonkey80 wow Mr. and Miss Speedy! Congrats! I've never heard of a sweetheart race before. Sounds very cute.

@Honunui super cool- Terrific pic

@Lonewolfrunner I'm sure you are done with the temps and snow, but those are beautiful images. They look like paintings, they are so still in their perfection.

ok downton abbey is starting have a good night, all