October 2015 Running Challenge

@snha I'm glad your wife enjoyed that video. It was funny. Oh, I'm fine. I literally slid, popped up, and was running again. I also laughed at myself because I didn't have a clue how it happened. I see you've already met your goal for the month. Way to go!
@Stoshew71 20?!? That's amazing! The humidity was high here too.
@kareF Congratulations on your PR! Awesome time!
@ACSL3 I'm not really sore. I have a bruise on my arm.
@HealthyFocused715 I'm good. I'm also clumsy.
@skippygirlsmom Congratulations to Skip! I don't see how she was to perform after eating anything fried.

Date      Miles      MTD
------    -----    -----
Oct 03      6.0      6.0
Oct 04     11.2     17.2
Oct 06      4.3     21.5
Oct 08      6.3     27.8
Oct 10      8.3     36.1
Oct 11      6.0     42.1
Oct 14      4.3     46.4
Oct 15      5.1     51.5
Oct 18     10.0     61.5
Oct 20      5.2     66.7
Oct 24     11.3     78.0
Oct 25      5.0     83.0

Took it easy today, hopefully to recover a little from the long run yesterday.

@kareF Thanks for the kind words. Nice job on the PR!

10/3 2.91
10/4 5.16 (8.07)
10/5 3.21 (11.28)
10/7 3.12 (14.4)
10/8 3.29 (17.69)
10/9 3.00 (20.69) power walking on the treadmill after PiYo
10/10 rest day
10/11 12miles on the bike with the hubby. Been over a year since I have gotten on my road bike. Not counting these easy miles for my total. I'll do my long run in the morning. Time for some football.
10/12 a few miles on the bike running errands.
10/13 3.52 (24.22)
10/15 3.78 (28)
I'll be out of town until late Sunday. I might find some time to run, but not going to kill myself trying. Back at it on Monday. Have a great weekend to you all and run run run.
10/19 5.98 (34) - far too many beer calories consumed this weekend. I felt it today.
10/22 5.29 (39.29)
10/23 3.08 (42.37) procrastination put me out the door mid-morning and 77F. I over heat quickly, such an uncomfortable run today. But it always feels good in the end.
10/24 rest day
10/25 3.03 (45.4) Dionysus 5K this morning. Improved 2 mins in 36 days. Bone Marrow Transplant can't stop me. Next 5K in 27 days.

@dharwood68 great job on cutting time on your 5K Without being too personal "bone marrow transplant"??
@kristinegift great 16 miler glad you are feeling good
@juliet3455 awesome place to run looks so pretty

I was away for business travel and got stuck Thursday in Dallas for hours sitting on the plane on the tarmac in the storm... I thought somewhere in that time frame I had posted my running but apparently I did not. I am also pages and pages behind in all the updates and I must say I have been missing what has been going on with everyone! I will go back tonight or this afternoon and get caught up on what everyone has been doing though. It looks like pretty much everyone is killing their goals! Great job!!

I ran on Friday morning and it felt so wonderful to be running outside even if it was on only a couple of hours of sleep. I rested yesterday and ran my long run this morning. I went out for 8 and it just felt so great I kept going and hit 13.2. Even managed to keep it at a nice and even pace, just over my HM PR pace.

Date.......Miles......Total
10/01.......8.45........8.45 - +Strength Training
10/02.......0.00........8.45
10/03.......6.12......14.57
10/04.......4.47......19.04
10/05.......5.39......24.43 - + Agility
10/06.......4.70......29.13 - + Strength Training
10/07.......0.00......29.13
10/08.......5.12......34.25
10/09.......7.57......41.82
10/10.....10.90......52.72 - Early long run
10/11.......0.00......52.72 - Dog beach Sunday, a little walking, a little running. Hot even on the beach
10/12.......6.29......59.01 - + Agility
10/13.......6.16......65.17 - + Strength Training
10/14.......0.00......65.17
10/15.......4.40......69.57 - + Strength Training
10/16.......4.19......73.76
10/17.......9.10......82.86
10/18.......0.00......82.86 - Dog beach Sunday, a little walking, a little running
10/19.......6.79......89.65
10/20.......3.65......93.30 - Dreadmill run at the hotel gym
10/21.......0.00......93.30
10/22.......4.65......97.95 - Dreadmill run at the hotel gym
10/23.......5.42....103.37 - Home and running outside again!
10/24.......0.00....103.37
10/25.....13.20... 116.57

@Somebody_Loved FANTASTIC job on your first 5k!!! And of course a PR!

You are absolutely correct. You can run 5k anytime, but it's a completely different experience running it in a race. The other runners, the people cheering - it's a great experience!!

And nice job treating yourself afterward!!

@Somebody_Loved

Congrats!!!!!

Somebody_Loved wrote: »

I've noticed my Fitbit mileage always underestimates how far I go. I might need to go into my settings and adjust stride length. It consistently says I've gone .5 -1 mile less than I have (thus affecting what it says my pace is) so if I can't seem to fix it I'll start using Map My Run or something similar.

Congratulations!!!! And fantastic time!!! So proud of you!

I find fitbit underestimates my distance too by about 30-50 mtrs.

I use Runkeeper on my phone though it's sometimes out too, but it's usually a lot more accurate than fitbit.

When I ran my 10 on Saturday, I stopped Runkeeper as i crossed the finish line and it said I had run 9.73k, while fitbit charge said 9.42k.

My friend running the same race said her fitbit app on her phone hit 10k a few mtrs in front of the finish line.

I don't think any device measuring distance is exact though I find Runkeeper is close enough

01/10 - 10.3km
02/10 - 13.1 miles
03/10 - 10.3km
04/10 - 22.1 miles
05/10 - 10.3km
06/10 - 13.1 miles
07/10 - 13.3 miles
08/10 - 10.3km
09/10 - 13.2 miles
10/10 - 10.3km
11/10 - 22.2 miles
12/10 - 10.3km
13/10 - 13.1 miles
14/10 - 13.3 miles
15/10 - 10.3 km
16/10 - 12.3 km
17/10 - 12.3 km
18/10 - 26.2 miles - Amsterdam Marathon
19/10 - 12.3 km
20/10 - 13.1 miles
21/10 - 13.4 miles
22/10 - 10.3km
23/10 - 13.4 miles
24/10 - 10.3km
25/10 = 22.3 miles

tot 473/500km

hope you all enjoyed a wonderful week end

saturday for me one of the worst run in the last couple of months, leg still annoying me, tired, foot pain, side pain, slow, wtf ! but I think it's normal with the week mileage following a proper marathon last sunday (I feel sad, it's already gone and I did enjoy it and enjoyed a long week end with my partner), especially from a mental point of view

I don't think I'll be able to do my speed work on the 10k days anymore, it's too dark end I'm more tired from the HMs of the week - but nevermind, I think I'm more a distance runner than a speed one - in my head I'm starting to think at a 50km, I think my body could do it right now, but not my mind.

I slept more on Saturday, but this caused more tiredness in my opinion, and yesterday evening I was dead and fearing today's 22 miles

22 miles that were interesting this morning. without the challenge of training for a race it was not easy to go out for a long run, but I did it and I'm really happy. leg improved, don't really know what to say, it gets bad than better than bad again and so on. as usual I struggled for the first 8-10k, then my mind cleared up and I enjoyed a sunny and quiet day running in the middle of hundreds leaves - it's autumn! (I met a doberman puppy that was so beautiful that even a man-with-no-feelings-and-a-stone-instead-of-the-heart like me melted!).

I really hope I'll be at least at 80% tomorrow, I rested quite a lot this week end, let's see how I wake up

@gabbo34 @kstar_lee - Thank you!!

@kareF - Thank you so much!! I've heard good things about Runkeeper, too. I'll give that a try and see if it's any more accurate.

@ewrook - Congrats on hitting your target!

@patrikc333 - Glad you ended up enjoying your run! I have loved running infinitely more now that's it autumn than when it was summer. So beautiful with all the leaves and much better temperature (puppies don't hurt, either).

@skippygirlsmom - Thank you! That's a really good idea - I'll start looking into where the fees of upcoming races are going. I still can't wrap my head around paying X amount of money just to run - I'd much rather that money go to a run PLUS a good cause.

Also, the overuse of exclamation points I'm using today is quite indicative of how much fun I had this morning. I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

10/5 3.5 miles
10/6 4.0 miles
10/8 3.0 miles
10/11 3.75 miles
10/12 4.5 miles
10/14 3.25 miles
10/15 1.5 miles
10/19 5 miles (mistakenly put 10/16 in my original posting)
10/20 5 miles
10/25 4 miles for a total of 37.5 miles out of a goal of 42.
Boy I feel like such a slacker this month. I've gotten decent runs in and will get my miles, but I feel like I could have done so much more if I could just motivate myself better. But at least this challenge has kept me headed towards my goal!

October goal 75 miles

10/1 big fat...REST day
10/2 3.15
10/3 4
10/4 7.55
10/5 rest
10/6 4
10/7 4.14
10/8 snorkel 3 hours
10/9 rest
10/10 6.17
10/11 lazy
10/12 3.25
10/13 5.68
10/14 3.33
10/15 rest
10/16 storm
10/17 3.26
10/18 deeply unmotivated....and too busy watching football..
10/19 7.15
10/20 snorkel 3 hours
10/21 3.35
10/22 life day
10/23 8.12
10/24 Halloween Party!


10/25 3.54

@ all those who ran thier first races and/or PR's: congrats and welcome to your new addiction!

Total 65.69

Ticker is my goal for 2015 and accumulation to date:

October Running Challenge 2015 - 90km

01/10 - 00.0 - 00.0
02/10 - 00.0 - 00.0
03/10 - 03.0 - 03.0
04/10 - 03.0 - 03.0
05/10 - 00.0 - 06.0
06/10 - 02.0 - 08.0
07/10 - 03.5 - 11.5
08/10 - 00.0 - 11.5
09/11 - 00.0 - 11.5
10/10 - 05.0 - 16.5 (00:39)
11/10 - 07.5 - 24.0
12/10 - 00.0 - 24.0
13/10 - 00.0 - 24.0
14/10 - 10.0 - 34.0 (1:26)
15/10 - 05.0 - 39.0 (0:37)
16/10 - 00.0 - 39.0
17/10 - 10.0 - 49.0 (1:19)
18/10 - 00.0 - 49.0
19/10 - 04.8 - 53.8
20/10 - 02.0 - 55.8
21/10 - 08.0 - 63.8
22/10 - 00.0 - 63.8
23/10 - 00.0 - 63.8
24/10 - 10.0 - 73.8 - Run For Life Race (1:06)
25/10 - 00.0 - 73.8
26/10 - 05.0 - 78.8

01/10 - 10.3km
02/10 - 13.1 miles
03/10 - 10.3km
04/10 - 22.1 miles
05/10 - 10.3km
06/10 - 13.1 miles
07/10 - 13.3 miles
08/10 - 10.3km
09/10 - 13.2 miles
10/10 - 10.3km
11/10 - 22.2 miles
12/10 - 10.3km
13/10 - 13.1 miles
14/10 - 13.3 miles
15/10 - 10.3 km
16/10 - 12.3 km
17/10 - 12.3 km
18/10 - 26.2 miles - Amsterdam Marathon
19/10 - 12.3 km
20/10 - 13.1 miles
21/10 - 13.4 miles
22/10 - 10.3km
23/10 - 13.4 miles
24/10 - 10.3km
25/10 - 22.3 miles
26/10 - 10.3km

tot 483/500km

as decided yesterday, didn't push today, but I was very very slow - where is my standard pace? I'm annoyed.

Even if I decided to focus more on the distance than on the pace, and I cannot pretend to run 80+ miles per week at top form, the fact of being slower bothers me, I see it as a weakness and a first sign of something changing - I know it's not the case, but I wish I could control my thoughts and have only positives!

I felt quite energetic on the + side, so relax in the week end seemed to have paid off a little bit, and with the time change it was also quite bright towards the end of the run, that is another +

let's see tomorrow HM how it goes, I'll try to rest as much as I can today as well

must never forget the feeling of achievement at the end of a run, it's the real motivation

Date: 4/10 Length: 12km Duration: 1:12:50 Total: 19.1 km of 100 km
Date: 6/10 Length: 8.2km Duration: 0.50:02 Total:27.3 km of 100 km
Date: 7/10 Length: 8.6km Duration: 0.55:23 Total:35.9 km of 100 km
Date: 11/10 Length: 8.1km Duration: 0.42:45 Total:44 km of 100 km
Date: 13/10 Length: 8km Duration: 0.47:56 Total:52 km of 100 km
Date: 15/10 Length: 8km Duration: 0.42:49 Total:60 km of 100 km
Date: 17/10 Length: 10km Duration: 0.53:44 Total:70 km of 100 km
Date: 21/10 Length: 12km Duration: 1.07:02 Total:82 km of 100 km
Date: 24/10 Length: 5.95kmDuration: 0.38:45 Total:87.95 km of 100 km
Date: 25/10 Length: 21.50km Duration: 2.06:02 Total:109.45 km of 100 km

Couple of good runs this weekend. The first was a short run on Saturday where I felt strong and happy but it barely touched the sides so I was hungry for more. I noted that my plan called for a long run at an easy pace of 16km the next day. The longest distance I have run until this weekend is 15km back in May or June time I think. I had put distance on hold after that time to train for my first duathlon which I did back at the end of September (and which was awesome.)

So I hatched a plan.

In hindsight it was a bit of a stupid, shambles of a plan. So nothing new for me then...

"Well, 21km is only 5km more than 16km" I thought and "I can knock out a 5km easily. How hard can it be?" Famous last words.

On Sunday morning I had scrapped the idea. We had been out to dinner the night before so I hadn't had much sleep and I had drunk a few too many glasses of Prosecco. Come the afternoon I had only eaten a large slice of chocolate cake, a brownie and half a left over wrap from my daughter's lunch. Not the best long run prep in the world then.

However, come the time of the run I found myself putting a gel in my running belt as well as my MP3 player. I never tend to run with either as my runs aren't all that long usually. In the back of my mind I knew I was going to give it a crack although I didn't admit it to myself directly.

I decided to run not worrying about what my watch told me but rather run by effort. It was a pleasant affair for quite some time and 8km had flown by before I knew it. The next time I checked my watch I was at 12km (it is spooky that was regular runs are both these distances and my body seemed to be able to sense it automatically.) At 16km I had the gel but this was psychological more than anything else as I knew a hill was coming (bloody stalking hills.) I kept the pace nice and steady at an effort of around 7 in my estimation.

At 19km everything started to hurt. A lot. But then, as if it was destined, "Break on Through" by the Doors came on my playlist. I'm pretty sure I shouted "yes" and punched the air. What a nutter...

I made the distance and popped into my local shop to buy a Dr Pepper and Snickers for myself and some sweets to share with the kids. "What happened to you?" said my wife as I stumbled through the door."Well" I said. I demolished the delicious roast chicken dinner she had made that night and had numerous servings of her world famous cauliflower cheese too. Happy days.

I am walking like a cowboy today...