December 2015 Running Challenge

candacefausset wrote: »

I have completely slacked on catching up on posts but the app sucks for navigating the forums. Anyway, little mileage update just so I can keep track. I promise I will be able to interact more after the Holiday...

Previous progress toward goal- 13.8/20

12/21- 1.6
12/22- 1.2
12/24- 3.1

Current progress toward goal- 19.7/20

I feel confident, with two more run days before the end of the month, that I will hit my goal. Excited to be able to say I traveled over 20 miles by foot in a month. I know it would be small potatoes to many of you here but I also know many of you started with small goals too. Yay!

Yup, a potato is a potato no matter how small! I love the end of the month! And the beginning of a new goal!

December goal 65 miles


12/1 5.00
12/2 4.11
12/3 snorkel 3 hours
12/4 4.37
12/5 7.31
12/6 3.15
12/7 got home from work. Sat. Never got back up.
12/8 3.43. Stopped the car on a side road and ran. Knew if I went home....see above.
12/9 3.52
12/10 ZAPPA Tribute concert!
12/11 3.25
12/12 3.5
12/13 3.18
12/14 rest
12/15 8.16
12/16 3.07
12/17 4.00
12/18 rest
12/19 3.25
12/20 3.50
12/21 couldn't. just couldn't
12/22 3.78
12/23 3.38
12/24 4.00 Mele Kalikimaka!


Total 73.96

Upcoming races:
3/20 Big Island International 1/2 marathon
11/13/16 Las Vegas Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon

Ticker is my goal for 2015 and accumulation to date:

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I treated myself to 12.2 slow easy miles Thursday morning. The first 4 with Kody, then the last 8.2 solo. The night before we had a inch of wet, slushy snow which froze up over night so the running was a bit challenging. I ended up running on the grass or down the center of the road for much of the run to avoid the ice. With the slipping and sliding I'm a bit more sore then would be expected. I was overdressed when I ran with the wind and a bit underdressed running against the wind. My gloves were too light regardless and my hands were numb when I got home.

While running back to the house to take Kody home we ran right by a cop who had his car pulled over. Not a big deal except that I didn't have a leash for Kody and I half expected him to stop and talk to me. Nope, he smiled, waved and went back to doing whatever it was he was doing.

Over 2000 calories burned during the run, which came in handy when I stuffed myself at our evening meal. I didn't even try to itemize everything on my food diary so just logged it as 1750 calories, then didn't even bother with the beer and single malt scotch I had when we got home.

My goal this winter is 25 to 30 miles per week but I'm probably going to hit 35+ this week. Now that I'm getting those long runs back up I'm starting to thing I should just make all my runs at least 8 miles. As long as I'm out, might as well get some big miles in to make sure I'm ready for marathon training in February.

Hitting my goal won't be a problem this month. Just 17 miles to go! I may knock that out this weekend.

@5BeautifulDays, had to chuckle reading about your slow dog, lol! Kody can be a bit challenging too. Today I went through three poop bags and sometimes go through 4. He doesn't chase squirrels any more but does like to stop to pee a lot, which is part of the reason I don't have him on a leash.
@candacefausset, your mileage is fantastic! You have reason to be proud.




Upcoming races (registered & tentative)

03/12/2016 - Get Lucky Half Marathon - St. Paul, MN
04/16/2016 - Trail Mix 25K - Lake Rebecca Park
05/14/2016 - Lake Wobegon Marathon - Holdingford, MN
06/25/2016 - Circle of Life Half Marathon - Lake City, MN
07/04/2016 - Red Wing July 4th 10K - Red Wing, MN
07/20/2016 - Torchlight 5K - Minneapolis

01/12 - 13.2 miles
02/12 - 13.6 miles
03/12 - 10.3 km
04/12 - 13.6 miles
05/12 - 10.4 km
06/12 - 20.8 miles
07/12 - 10.3 km
08/12 - 13.4 miles
09/12 - 13.6 miles
10/12 - 10.4 km
11/12 - 13.7 miles
12/12 - 10.4 km
13/12 - 21.1 miles
14/12 - 10.3 km
15/12 - 13.5 miles
16/12 - 13.6 miles
17/12 - 10.4 km
18/12 - 13.8 miles
19/12 - 10.4 km
20/12 - 21.2 miles
21/12 - 10.4 km
22/12 - 13.6 miles
23/12 - 13.6 miles
24/12 - 10.4 km
25/12 - 13.8 miles

tot 470/500

merry xmas!

lovely run this morning, lovely xmas lunch

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
12/21 - 3.98 (1.38 + 2.6 lunch). First day of splitting miles. On the treadmill by 5:30am off by 6.
**Biggest win of the month...I actually got UP and hit the treadmill! Seriously HUGE win for me!!!**
12/22 - 1.57 SECOND day of getting up early and hitting the treadmill! It was more of a struggle this morning than yesterday, but I did it. Apparently I really want to hit the goal this month lol.
12/23 - Migraine
12/24 - Family day.
12/25 - 5.13 (?) Treadmill shut off within seconds of me stepping off so I'm positive it was over 5 miles but not how much more.

Merry Christmas to everyone that celebrates!

Hope everyone had/is having a great day! My family put in and bought me the Fitbit Charge HR for Christmas, while my sister (very supportive of my running) bought me this book Runner's World Training Journal I am over the moon! I've only managed to read through a few of the tips though so far it looks really helpful and the best part.. I can fill it in after each run and I can see where I can improve or try out some of the tips in the book to see if they help I feel very spoilt!

@runner_girl83 sound like good presents. I bought my wife a fitbit charge hr for her birthday in the beginning of december and that was interesting: in a couple of days she/we discovered that her resting heart rate is actually very high between 100 and 120. nothing particularly dangerous in the tests and we don't know the specific reason yet, but dr. is on her case now about exercise !!!

Happy holidays everyone. i had a great celebration. My life though has been so hectic in the past few weeks that my running and following up with this running challenge and the people here have been very hard. Am trying to get things under control during this winter break! We'll see.

To add insult to injury, i had some trouble with my achilles tendon. dr. does not think it's that serious, but suggests rest, cross training, and stretching. having these pains can be really depressing, especially since running is becoming a very important part of my life recently!

Goal – 100 km’s
01 – 5.76 km walk
02 – 2.34 km run
03 – 4.37 km walk – stage 2 melanoma
04 – 3.05 km walk
05 – 4.08 km walk
06 – 2.07 km walk
07 – 2.01 km walk
08 – 2.98 km walk
09 – 8.96 km run
10 – 2.19 km walk
11 – 2.11 km walk
12 – 5.13 km run
13 – 5.22 km walk
14 – 9.00 km run
15 – 2.20 km walk
16 – 10.04 km run
17 – 2.18 km walk
18 – 4.64 km walk
19 – 6.45 km run – return of the shin splints!!
20 – 7.30 km walk
20 – 4.10 km walk
21 – 7.50 km run – new kicks : blue nikes
22 – 5.70 km walk
23 – 2.47 km walk
24 – 10.04 km run – 9:05 pace
25 – 2.22 km walk
26 – 7.29 km run – legs slow today

Total – 131.40 km

Legs didn’t want to run today. Shins are sore so I’ll massage them and roll them out (they always feel instantly better after a massage!) Feel a bit dehydrated.. It has been warm here and I have been pretty slack with drinking enough water – Think this is affecting the shins a fair bit too! Meant to be running 8k tomorrow morning though I will push it back until Monday if I feel the shins complaining.

Thinking of joining a running group.. I see a group around the lake some weekends and like that some of them walk and some run – All different levels of fitness! I think I could benefit from running with others at times!


2016 Races
- 6th March – International Women’s Day 10k (South Bank)
- 20th March – Twilight Running Festival 10k (St Lucia)
- 17th July – Jetty 2 Jetty HM (Redcliffe)
- 31st July – River Run 10k (Brisbane)
- 7th August – Brisbane HM (Brisbane)
- 22nd October – Run For Life 10k (Springfield)

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.
12/20 - 3 miles. Had a great 5k and set a PR. It was freezing but well worth it.
12/23 - 3 miles. Did an easy 3 miles on the treadmill at work today. Wish I could have gone outside but there isn't a really safe place to run here where I won't get hit by a car. Oh well, it should be warm for a few more days so I will make up for it.
12/25 - 2 mile. Was exhausted this morning after 2 days of 5 hours of sleep or less but needed to clear my head before starting the day. Plenty of time left in the month to surpass my goal.

24 down 1 to go.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone celebrating today! I hope you all had a wonderful time with family and friends. It's still warm here in North Carolina. I'm not going to complain, as at least it's not raining like it is so many places in the southeast. I'm sure we'll get more of that soon though.

Wasn't planning on running today but was so worn out with getting Christmas stuff ready that I skipped Tuesday and Wednesday and I needed at least one day in out of the last 4 to stay within a reasonable distance to my goal. 6 days to get'er done!

12/2 4 miles
12/6 6 miles
12/10 6 miles
12/11 3.5 miles
12/17 5 miles
12/18 3.5 miles
12/20 3.5 miles
12/21 3.5 miles
12/25 3.5 miles

Now I need to find me some pie...