December 2015 Running Challenge

@runner_girl83 Congrats on the decision to run a HM, wow. Nobody will judge you for walking a few minutes in between - wth would they? There's eaven the Jeff-Galloway method for run-walk-running this distance, so why should there be anything wrong with it?
Also congrats on finding a nice running shoe store, sorry your happiness about the shoes was so short-lived.
One of my two most actively used pairs of shoes are actually Brooks Pureflow, along with my Saucony Guides. Although when I bought the latter to replace my old Sauconys, the guy in the shop informed me that the Brooks were very neutral and with less heel drop vs the very stabilised Sauconys, so they couldn't both be right for me. Since I like them both a lot and never had any problems, I've just ignored that "advice" until now - but I guess there's a reason there are so many different running shoes around, too bad they weren't the shoes for you, after you were so excited after buying them.

@kristinegift I love the ugly-swaeter-party idea and the photo to go along with it! Thanks a lot for sharing.
@Stoshew71 your running group's sweaters aren't as cool, but they look like a really nice group anyway.

@juliet3455 Makes me freeze just reading about it! I don't believe I've been in -21C cold weather, not ever. Although @MobyCarp 's selfie looks nearly as cold as I imagine -21C to feel...
Though I'm almost sure I'd prefere that over @Orphia 's 30C - anything much warmer than 20C stops being fun to run in for me. If all my runs were between 5°C-10°C, I'd be perfectly haooy ;-)

@ddmom0811 setting the alarm at 4am would kill me! Though I have to admit a fair share of my runs happen between 10pm and midnight - it's when I have time, and its nice and quiet outside, with hardly any cars. Still, it's something which I would hardly ever admit to anyone in "real life", they'd all panic at the very idea...

@Ohhim I seem to remember you telling about the cult run thing last year, or wasn't that you? In any case, 40:13 ist a great time for a 10k, congrats on the 2nd AG place!

--

Thanks to everyone who commented on my lunchbreak-running question. Seems "stuff the running clothes in a plastic bag" will be my way to go in the new year (last workday for this year was yesterday ). Tough I might still look around for a way to hang at least the towel up to dry for a bit - that hopefully wouldn't bother people too much...

Since lately (apart from that one lunch break) a lot of my runs seem to take place in fog & darkness, I decided to make full use of that atmosphere and downloaded the "Zombies, run!"-App. Somehow that app gave my only 4.4km for the run, while my watch calls it something closer to 4.9km (wonky phone GPS maybe?). Still, I'm happy to report that I survived the helicopter crash and have safely reached Abel township :-p

12/2 - 3 miles at 4:15am, I am tired but glad I got out as it is supposed to be a rain/snow mix tomorrow. Good start to the month.
12/5 - 3 miles. Getting faster but still working on cutting out the walk breaks.
12/7 - 1.5 miles. I tried my hilly park run and it was too much. My piriformis was complaining on the first down hill so I made it one loop instead of my planned 2 and quit. I gave it a good stretch and a cold shower when I got home and it is good today.
12/9 - 2.5 miles. Very stiff and sore. Never got into a good rhythm or loosened up after a session the day before with my trainer.
12/12 - 3 miles. Had an unleashed dog come running out to "protect" her owner as Neeko and I were going past. Luckily her owner was right there and she didn't go into attack mode, just ran out and barked at us. Only thing that got me really mad was her owner saw us coming and did nothing until she started out the drive and across the street. Luckily Neeko didn't really react and listened when I told him to stay and sit as he has a tendency to fixate and go into protect mode himself or it could have gone really badly.
12/14 - 2 miles. It was a beautiful 62 degrees out. Ran in shorts and a t-shirt which was wonderful until... I started chafing. Never had that problem before but I am hoping for Bodyglide in my stocking this year. Which means I am running to the store to buy some for myself and putting it there LOL.
12/19 - 1 mile. Ran a fast mile today and it started to snow as I was going down the driveway. Tried out new winter running tights and they were wonderful except they were short and cause about 3" of ankle to show so now I need to find a good pair of long socks. Tomorrow is my Santa Hussle 5k. Can't wait! There are 1700 runners signed up and another 700 for the half marathon. Told son if I do the half next year he needs to sign up as a volunteer/elf and he agreed frighteningly fast. So guess what I'm working towards LOL.

16 down 9 to go.

Ok, who's doing this marathon with me?

https://vimeo.com/94518116

Or this one:
https://vimeo.com/147896197

7lenny7 wrote: »

Ok, who's doing this marathon with me?

https://vimeo.com/94518116

Or this one:
https://vimeo.com/147896197

Not me... But I'm more than happy to cheer on from sunny Australia!

Dec 2 - 4.3 km
Dec 5 - 5 km (First ever 5 km without stopping!)
Dec 7 - 4.5 km
Dec 9 - 4.4 km
Dec 12 - 5 km
Dec 14 - 5.5 km
Dec 16 - 4.3 km
Dec 19 - 5 km
Dec 20 - 0.5 km up a steep hill

Total: 38.5 km
Goal: 70 km

I also swam 2 km today, and have walked 14 km, which is about my usual walking distancce.

I counted my walking in the last challenge, but this time I'm just focusing on running.

I don't know if I will make it to my 70 km goal, but it was my first time at estimating, so it's all useful data.

I do love data!

runner_girl83 wrote: »

I've heard the Zombies, Run! app is really good. Do you just run where you want but have hoards of zombies appear?

@runner_girl83 from what I've seen so far, you can chose between different types of run:

"Mission" is like story-telling mode, where you hear the story unfold, that's what I did yesterday. It's a bit like an audiobook, only that it's short bits of story. I don't know how all of them are, but the one yesterday was like you get comm messages from the township, where for example they ask you to run to the old hospital and gather supplies, warn you that there's a swarm of zombies lurking in the parking lot, ... Between these messages, it can play music from a chosen playlist on your phone.
You can just listen to the story for entertainment, or switch on the "chase" feature - then it can happen that you get informed the zombies are chasing you, and you have to increase your pace for 1 minute by 20% to escape.

You can run anywhere you want, you set the length of the mission (30/60 min) beforehand, and after that it goes to "Abel radio" mode, where you here your music along with a "radio show" run buy two guys from the town.
Oh, and maybe good to know: you don't have to mess around with your phone at any time, you'll get everything you need to know from listening.

Then there is "airdrop", which I haven't tried yet. Apparently, that involves you pick a point on the real world map and running there to "retrieve supplies", but the story around those missions is set at the same time as season 2, so I might wait with that until I've completed season 1 to avoid any spoilers (I think there is one season for every version of the app released).

Another run type I haven't tried are "supply" missions - there the story doesn't develop, but you gather supplies based on time(distance?) you spend running and can use them for developing your base (a bit like sim city, but you need to have defense towers to fend of zombies ^^).


Yeah, so most things I actually haven't tested yet, but so far it seems to be fun. :-)

ETA: there's actually a much better description here: http://www.joystickchik.com/2014/08/16/zombies-run-review/

I can't listen to anything when I run. I run in the early morning dark on hilly, winding country back-roads, so I have to be on eternal vigilance for coyotes, bears and rednecks in pick-ups who think they are on NASCAR tracks...

Date      Miles      MTD
------    -----    -----
Dec 01      4.3      4.3
Dec 05      8.1     12.4
Dec 06      8.1     20.5
Dec 07      3.5T    24.0
Dec 09      6.3T    30.3
Dec 10      3.4T    33.7
Dec 12      8.2     41.9
Dec 13      4.3     46.2
Dec 15      5.4T    51.6
Dec 16      5.1     56.7
Dec 19      8.2     64.9
Dec 20      5.3     70.2

2/12 2k
3/12 1k
5/12 7k
6/12 7k
7/12 2k
14/12 2k
15/12 5k
19/12 7k walk (sore throat)
20/12 7k (5 walk 2 jog sore throat)

DATE...............MILES...............TOTAL
12/1....................6.00....................6.00
12/2....................5.00..................11.00
12/3....................6.25..................17.25
12/4...................REST.................17.25
12/5....................14.00.................31.25
12/6...................REST.................31.25
12/7......................3.75.................35.00
12/8......................7.50.................42.50
12/9......................4.00.................46.50
12/10.................REST.................46.50
12/11....................5.25.................51.75
12/12....................5.50.................57.25
12/13..................12.50.................69.75
12/14.................REST.................69.75
12/15.....................6.25................76.00
12/16.....................4.00................80.00
12/17.....................4.25................84.25
12/18.................REST.................84.25
12/19...................14.00................98.25 (Cold one... 21F, windchill 12F)
12/20.....................6.00..............104.25

kimlight2 wrote: »

12/20 - 3 miles. Had a great 5k and set a PR. It was freezing but well worth it.

Nicely done!

shanaber wrote: »

I must say I will not miss the heat and humidity though. I have no idea how all of you manage it. Even after getting used to it a bit it feels like we are breathing water.

And the beach we ran to after the rainforest

Beautiful photos! And that's a good description of humidity.. I am definitely struggling to run in summer at the moment

@shanaber : we need a like button! Funny about the :"breathing water." At coffee hour today, those of us who have lived in the desert were opining how we prefer Hawaii so that we "can drink our air."

December Running Totals (miles)
12/1- 6.58 (warmup, speed work, cool down)
12/2- extra rest day
12/3- 6.40 easy
12/4- 8.12 easy
12/5-15.00 long slow run
12/6-9.15 easy with hills
12/7- planned rest day
12/8- 8.29 easy
12/9- 6.00 easy
12/10- unscheduled rest day (plan was 6 miles)
12/11- 6.04 easy (instead of planned rest day)
12/12- 16.00 long slow run
12/13- 10.05 easy
12/14- 6.07 easy
12/15- 8.21 hills
12/16- scheduled rest day
12/17- 8.18 easy with fast finish
12/18- 15.77 (3.45 warmup; 3.13 Reindeer Run 5K in 20:16, 1st M 55-59; 9.19 easy)
12/19- 7.87 easy

Total- 137.73
Goal- none stated

Today's notes: 39° felt nice and warm after yesterday's 27° for the 5K. With one thing and another, didn't get started till a bit before 4 PM; so I put on the reflective harness and lights. Turned on the red blinkers after perhaps 20 minutes, the headlamp a couple minutes later. By 4:30, I could see the light from my headlamp on the pavement when there was no oncoming traffic; and I really needed it by the time I got home. Didn't worry much about the pace, but it stayed naturally pretty easy. I forget whether tomorrow or Tuesday is the shortest day of the year, but this should be the shortest Sunday of the year. Now I start getting more daylight for these Sunday runs that I start later than intended.

Upcoming races:
Jan. 1, 2016 Resolution Run 7.5 mile (Mendon, NY)
Jan. 9, 2016 Winter Warrior Half Marathon (Rochester, NY)
April 18, 2016 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA)

12/1 - 0 blah day
12/2 - 6.24 (2.66 lunch run + 3.58 dreadmill walk) Felt like an upside down turtle trying to make it thru quicksand. Felt super slow, sluggish, just awful. Later on the t-mill actually felt pretty good.
12/3 - 2.83 Work lunch run...felt good. Not great. Seems like if I take more than 2 days off I lose something, like endurance or lung capacity, something.
12/4 - 2.88 Lunch walk. It was gorgeous outside!
12/5 - 5.25 Walked to neighborhood Walmart for greek yogurt and coffee creamer. Then drove back to get everything I forgot lol
12/6 - Rest day. Letting the knee calm down.
12/7 - Not feeling it.
12/8 - Getting lazy.
12/9 - 3.26 Lunch run. Beautiful day!
12/10 - 3.29 Lunch run...gorgeous day!
12/11 - 2.92 Fast walk at lunch. I dressed for the weather report. Shoulda known better! It was another drop dead GORGEOUS day. Tomorrow volunteering at Santa Stampede and will try to run the route when it's all over
12/12 - Volunteered at Santa Stampede. Mad respect for the ones running while it snows and accumulates on their lashes and nose hairs! I called it a rest day and stayed inside & cuddled with my cat.
12/13 - 5.48 Day was too beautiful to let it go to waste. I did an exceptionally slow run for a solid 4.5 miles, but it was basically an accident. Was really only heading out for a walk but then I let myself do what my body wanted. The only reason I stopped is because I hadn't brought hydration with me and didn't want to have another bad "after run" experience.
12/14 - 2.87 Treadmill. I didn't get my lunch break so I couldn't go out and love the sunshine and warm temps. We're supposed to get a lot of snow tomorrow. If I can tolerate the cold, I'll be running at lunch!
12/15 - Lost my grip on my goals
12/16 - Same as above
12/17 - Same as above
12/18 - Same as above
12/19 - Started getting my head back on straight.
12/20 - 6.39 Apartment treadmill. I'M BAAAACK!! And it's still possible for me to hit this month's goal which REALLY helped keep me going today