The January 2016 Running Challenge

In for 25

Still determining what my goal race will be but I signed up to start an "official" half marathon training program with a goal of under 2 hours time with the RunKeeper program set to begin on 01/03 (it's the Gaudette program if I remember trainer's name right). I will not make goal for December but I'm close enough that I feel confident in upping goal to 70 for January.

I'm also going to shoot for 720 miles in 2016 overall. I may adjust that upward later in the year because I see my training program says it should end up with me doing around 45 miles a WEEK at some point.

Winter means

• Colder Weather
• Less Sunlight
• Fewer RUNS

January
In it for 50

!

Year Totals - 2016 (Goal:600miles)

im new to all of this, but i want to do it. I have bad knees so i may be walking alot, but i will do something. Thanks for the add

Hello all! I am a newbie here. I am planning on trying to run a half marathon in May so I am looking to join groups like this for inspiration, motivation and advice. I wasn't really sure as far as what to set my goal at, so I'm going to try for 100 miles.

Wish me luck!

GBrady43068 wrote: »

@becky_44: I would say that depends what "it didn't go well" means. Depending on pace, each 10 minute run interval could be anywhere from 1.25 miles down to around .3 . Can you give an idea of about how many miles you went and at what pace? That might give a better idea whether you should repeat part of the C25K or just go with the C210K and maybe make it a slower pace on the jogging intervals and build back up pacewise.

Thanks for responding! I already run as slow as about a 15 min mile so I don't want to slow it up more. I ran 5 mins then walked 5 mins then ran another 5 min, but my lower legs were too tight to get back into another run. The tightness is why I had to stop and walk. I think this happens from fluid built up, and though I'm usually extra careful about sodium, it was Christmas. I also have tendons tightening up too, especially my Achilles so I try to watch foods that cause inflammation. (We suspect I have RA, but hasn't been confirmed yet.)

Becky_44 wrote: »

GBrady43068 wrote: »

@becky_44: I would say that depends what "it didn't go well" means. Depending on pace, each 10 minute run interval could be anywhere from 1.25 miles down to around .3 . Can you give an idea of about how many miles you went and at what pace? That might give a better idea whether you should repeat part of the C25K or just go with the C210K and maybe make it a slower pace on the jogging intervals and build back up pacewise.

Thanks for responding! I already run as slow as about a 15 min mile so I don't want to slow it up more. I ran 5 mins then walked 5 mins then ran another 5 min, but my lower legs were too tight to get back into another run. The tightness is why I had to stop and walk. I think this happens from fluid built up, and though I'm usually extra careful about sodium, it was Christmas. I also have tendons tightening up too, especially my Achilles so I try to watch foods that cause inflammation. (We suspect I have RA, but hasn't been confirmed yet.)

Honestly, I'd probably go back to the beginning of C25K. The first few weeks should be pretty easy on you, but that will help your pace improve and help prevent soreness or injury. If you don't feel like Week 1 is cutting it for you once you've done the first day, consider jumping ahead to Week 2. Listen to your body--it will tell you what to do--but you're better off starting with too little than too much, in my opinion.

I had a mild to moderate case of extensor tendonitis after my full marathons this fall. In my case I loosened my laces to provide relief, especially my daily non-running shoes. I still lace my running shoes the same jsut not as tight. For my non-running shoes I went with the "ladder lacing" technique described in the link below. I noticed quite a difference from those lacing changes. I also took a couple weeks off of running, but did some walking. I found I had to limit my walking distance a little at first as I would start noticing it if I went too far.

http://www.foot-pain-explored.com/extensor-tendonitis.html
http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/how-to-lace-your-running-shoes/

Hope it clears up quickly!

MorningGhost14 wrote: »

Some of the marathon training plans you are following seem to be calling for crazy high mileage. I am doing a 50k plan and my highest month will only get to 195 miles and only two weeks that get to 50 miles... Doing 245-250 miles a month is intense...

@MorningGhost14 - Yes, it is intense. No, I don't know whether I can do it. I'll find out by trying. But one of my buddies went through this training schedule for Wineglass 2015, and it resulted in improving his time from Wineglass 2014 by almost 10 minutes. That improved his seeding for Boston 2016 and qualified him for Boston 2017 by 16 minutes and change.

I also have the advantage of having a plan written by my coach. If it starts looking like I can't hack it, I can go to him for modifications. Plan A is to not need the modifications; but if push comes to shove, avoiding the couch is more important than being the fastest runner I can be on Patriot Day. I've already made the modification of scaling the mileage down to the base I achieved before formal training instead of the nominal base the program asks for; but that's a standard adjustment, included in the instructions for the plan.

I'm more worried about being generally crunched for time and getting enough sleep than I am by the mileage. It helps to be an empty nester who can work from home 3 days a week.

Edited to add: January might look a bit high because it has 5 Saturdays, and thus 5 long runs. Throw in Resolution Run tomorrow plus the warmup before that race, and January gets about 22 of the 46 miles I run this week, plus 4 full weeks of training and an extra Sunday where the plan says 8-14 miles. That's one reason I don't think in terms of miles per month; the way the calendar falls can skew the result.