The January 2016 Running Challenge

We actually have some accumulated snow out here over the last week. Treated roads are cleared but I decided against running on only treated roads for the long run today. I was slower due to the snow but still got the distance I was shooting for (let's not talk about the time). I also diverted off through some fields that led toward a local park to change things up (better footing there, but harder work). At one point in the park I decided to go off onto a mountain bike trail for a couple miles for a little more variety. By the time I got home I felt like I had put in a tough long run and once I cooled down my calves were screaming bloody murder for a while. But all is well now. Besides, those legs have more miles waiting for them tomorrow.

1/1 - 2.25 miles
1/3 - 4.1 miles
1/5 - 6.5 miles
1/7 - 4 miles
1/9 - 4 miles
1/12 - 3.25 miles
1/14 - 4.6 miles
1/16 - 11.5 miles
1/18 - 2.1 miles
1/20 - 3.1 miles
1/23 - 12.6 miles

58 of 50 miles



Upcoming races:
4/9 - Rock the Parkway half marathon (Kansas City, MO)
4/16 - Garmin half marathon (Olathe, KS)
4/30 - BattleFrog 8k obstacle course run (Kansas City, MO)
5/14 - Running with the Cows half marathon (Bucyrus, KS)

12 miles on the road!

Today the snow missed me. It was in the mid 20's, light breeze, blue skies, rolling hills and I felt strong. It has been a while since I pounded 18 miles with such confidence. I love running.

1/1 5 @ 10:36 on the treadmill
1/2 4.75 @ 10:42 on the park trail (20.75/20 miles for the week)

1/3 5.25 @ 11:14 (5.0 @ 10:51, .25 walking) on the trails near my house. It was a beautiful, blustery day!
1/4 10 @ 12:00 on the treadmill. While running from Indominus Rex.
1/5 3 @ 11:14 on the treadmill and strength training
1/6 Rest Day and feeling fairly sore from yesterday's PT (and maybe Monday's run?)
1/7 4.75 @ 11:53 on the park trail.
1/8 3.5 @ 10:07 (3 at 9:48 and .5 at 12:00) plus strength training
1/9 3.5 @ 12:22 (3 at 11:26, plus .5 at a walk) loping around the neighborhood with St. Woolos the Barbarian, aka The Poopinest Dog in the East, aka Woogie the Worst Running Partner Ever. It's a good thing he's cute!
(30/30 for the week)

1/10 Rest Day/Family Day
1/11 10.75 at 11:46 around the park trails. My heart was light, but my legs felt every centimeter of the last two miles. "Gently rolling terrain" feels a lot like "stinking big hills" after 100 minutes or so...
1/12 3.25 @ 11:27 on the treadmill. Plus strength training.
1/13 Rest Day due to dental work...revising the weekly goal down a little, since I won't have quite as much time on my "regular" rest day to make up for this one.
1/14 5.0 @ 12:47 around the lake trail with my dog, who may be toking behind my back--pokey puppy was slow, paranoid (that stroller--it tried to eat me! those loud lady joggers!--they tried to eat me! that nice old man with a cane!--he tried to beat me from 12 feet away!), and generally disinterested in actually *running*.
1/15 6.0 @ 11:00 (and .25 at a walk) on the treadmill...I didn't feel up to strength training since my head was hurting this morning (running seems to make headaches better, but not lifting; it's weird)
1/16 Rest Day
(25/25 for the week)

1/17 Rest Day
1/18 5.25 (8K race) at the lake @ 11:14 for the run part. A balmy 17F and 20 mph winds. Brrr. I've never run in conditions like that. I started out fearing hypothermia and wound up sweating *through* my stupid muppet-fur jacket. I was the last person in who didn't walk part of the way, but it wasn't a bad showing for a trail run for me. Certainly not a PR, but my asthma doesn't like these low temps and I didn't want to push it.
1/19 3.25 @ 10:44 on the treadmill and strength training
1/20 12.5 @ 11:45 on the treadmill. Sucker Punch. Bra chafe. Dying. Need painkillers. And food. Lots of food.
1/21 Rest day. Not on purpose, but I couldn't bear to put on a sports bra and feared putting out someone's eyes otherwise. Surprisingly, though, my legs feel great. I'm hoping to get 4 miles in tomorrow before the snow comes.
1/22 2.5 miles @ 13:00 around the neighborhood with the pokey little puppy ahead of the snowzilla storm...gonna tune up the tready in the basement for the rest of the storm and the ensuing days of being trapped with my darling husband, 5 wonderful children, this dumb dog that is already selecting books from the shelf to eat them, and more junk food than you can shake a stick at.
1/23 Approximately 3.25 @ some indeterminate speed near 5 mph on the prehistoric treadmill in my basement. Estimate based on perceived exertion and time. We have more than 2 feet of snow, so the old-mill will be my best buddy for a few days, I think.
(26.75/25 for the week)

Upcoming Races:
February 14: Run Your Heart Out 5K, Fairfax, VA
February 21: Disney Princess HM, Orlando, FL
(Can't do my March races because I need to have surgery March 4. ).

Elise4270 wrote: »

Stoshew71 wrote: »

skippygirlsmom wrote: »

Stoshew71 wrote: »

5BeautifulDays wrote: »

ceciliaslater wrote: »

Have you tried an anti-chafe balm? I use Body Glide, and it works really well, both for prevention and for protecting and comforting existing chafed areas.

runner_girl83 wrote: »

And Vaseline/ Petroleum Jelly (not sure what you call it over there!) Its all I use and its cheap

On my list! I've been using vaseline (ouch! it stings!) but need to get something preventative, so I'm going to try the body glide.

A good cheap alternative for anti-chaffing is underarm deoderant. Just go to the dollar store and rub on the cheap stuff (after you buy it - offcourse lol).

It would be even cheaper if you took it off the shelf used it and put it back --- just sayin'

Remind me to not shop at Dollar Stores in your neck of the woods.

Ya, dont buy the deoderant that has the inner cap removed. I've also hear ChapStick works in a pinch.

See @stoshew71 simple ha ha

1/1 5.6 miles—street run given the snow and ice on sidewalks. excellent run at 25 F.
1/2 elliptical day, no run
1/3 10.2 — excellent run, slow pace 11:45. But pain in the heels and achilles afterwards. got better with ice treatment!
1/4 elliptical day, no run
1/5 rest day
1/6 6.5 — ran in 28 degree weather. starting to feel 30 degree weather might be pushing it too warm for comfort. My heels, which bothered me after my last run (stretched, iced, and rested) held up quite nicely during today’s run. i guess i should just recognize that every time i push myself a bit more on distance or on speed, i should expect some pain if not planned well enough and if not done in a gradual way.
1/7 3.64 — the run was okay at 10:30 per mile, but the roads were slippery because of some freezing rain. icing helps a great deal with the pain. I still have some pain in my achilles, but doing much better everyday. I took it easy though.
1/9 6.11 —nice group run while snowing lightly!
1/10 crosstraining—elliptical
1/11 4.31 — 6 degree weather @10:50
1/12 crosstraining—elliptical
1/13 5.08
1/14 3.14 — have to say, those compression socks rock! first time user, wow! Did s half hour of elliptical too!
1/15 cross training—elliptical training for 90 minutes. That was good!
1/16 6.08 —
1/17 4.32 — coldest miles ever. It was 0 degrees and -20 with windchill. I forgot who mentioned this a couple of days ago, but it is really true: most of what we think we’re unable to do (not everything of course and I recognize different people have different abilities), but most of what we think we cannot do has to do with the mental games we play in our own heads. I would have never imagined walking, let alone running, in a windchill weather like this one!
1/18 — rest day.
1/19 6.3 — nice run, in new shoes, in the dark and cold. Ah, so relaxing. I do think I am becoming a runner because I came home without a plan to run, work was really busy, but I just could not sit still before I running. I not only missed it, but actually needed it to relax!
1/20 4.22 — nice easy run (11 minute/mile), cold but bearable, and clear sidewalks. it was a really good run.
1/21—rest
1/22 4.20 — great run in the cold and snow! beautiful.
1/23 cross training—elliptical for today

69.72/70

Tomorrow morning will be too cold for my usual bike ride so hoping to do a long run. And... I won't have to get up early since it won't get hot here tomorrow. The media acts like it's a blizzard in Orlando.

Jan 1 -41 mile bike ride
Jan 2 - 34 mile bike ride
Jan 3 - rest day
Jan 4 - rest day
Jan 5 - 5.25 miles
Jan 6 - 3.3 miles
Jan 7-11 - Sick 5 sick days.
Jan 12 - 4.1 miles — finally!!! Felt so great.
Jan 13 - strength training + 1 mile on treadmill
Jan 14 - 5.2 miles
Jan 15 - 5.1 miles; trainer cancelled
Jan 16 - 4.2 miles
Jan 17 - 6.02 miles
Jan 18 - Rest Day
Jan 19 - 7.4
Jan 20 - strength training
Jan 21 - 5.02 miles
jan 22 - strength training
Jan 23 - 4.5 miles - nice run in cool temps for Florida






2/7 HM Daytona Beach

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the congratulations. If you're wondering (you're not but I'll tell anyway) I went to my favorite mexican place and had a huge combination platter. It was fantastic.

My legs were tight all day today but somehow loosened up late tonight. I was feeling like a slug for not working out today so I decided to head out for a quick 4 mile run in the city. It went great! All 4 miles in the 7.5 minute range. Must've been the 3 cookies I had at lunch.

Looking forward to finishing up this January goal and setting something a little higher for February.

1-2: 3 miles
1-4: 3 miles
1-6: 3 miles
1-7: 3 miles - 25 minutes of stairs
1-8: 4 miles
1-10: 3 miles - 30 minutes of stairs
1-12: 3.5 miles
1-13: 3.5 miles
1-14: 3.7 miles
1-15: 5 miles
1-17: 3.5 miles
1-18: 3 miles
1-19: 3.1 miles
1-22: 6.3 miles
1-23: 4 miles

Goal: 55.9 of 70

Elise4270 wrote: »

MobyCarp wrote: »

GBrady43068 wrote: »

Should I be concerned that my thought process on the somewhat slick roadways this morning when I skidded a bit was “Don’t fall and break your face because then you won’t be able to run anymore!” rather than “Don’t fall and break your face because it’s no fun to fall and break your face!”?

@GBrady43068 - That sounds like a normal runner's thought process to me! My number one running goal is to avoid injury, because couch time sucks.

Crap, I always think "if you get hurt, you won't have to go to work and your coworkers will have to do some friggin' work"....

And I can sleep late and eat in bed....

Definitely wish we had a like button! ^^^^ This made me laugh because it is SO true!

January 2016
02/1 – 13.02 – 1:50:10
03/1 – rest
04/1 – 5.06 – pram
05/1 – rest
06/1 – 5.01
07/1 – 6.01 – 34:46
08/1 – rest
09/1 – 10.02 – New Yr 10K – 1:11:58
10/1 – rest
11/1 – 5.01 – pram
12/1 – rest
13/1 – 7.02
14/1 – 5.05 – shins very tender
15/1 – rest
16/1 – 5.07 – in the rain
17/1 – rest
18/1 – rest
19/1 – 4.00 – pram
20/1 – rest
21/1 – 4.06 – 24:53 – Day 11 HM Training
22/1 – rest
23/1 – 10.51 – 1:16:55
24/1 - 5.00 - 32:40

TOT: 84.84 km / 90 km

Thinking I'm going to smash this months goal out of the ball park



Quick 5k. Still warm though- 28°c
Wanted another sub-30 but just happy to do 5k the day after my long run!

Signing up for Run Downunder this week- you enter each run and the distances get you around Oz or a map! You get small prizes at each town and a finishers medal!

Unfortunately I had to be in work yesterday in the early hours, but took the chance to scope out work's local ParkRun, and went along to that. Passed my goal for the month! Definitely going to aim higher next month.

1/1 - 3.36
2/1 - 3.08
5/1 - 3.08
8/1 - 3.25
9/1 - 3.08
10/1 - 4.66
12/1 - 3.56
14/1 - 3.65
19/1 - 2.90
20/1 - 3.48
23/1 - 3.65

Total - 37.76/35

Another one of those newbies...getting set up for hopefully completing a goal of 142km next month. I've been running since 2012 and ran my first half marathon that year. I've run a few since then but haven't properly trained since that first one. Hoping this group will help me be accountable and stick to the plan. I'm currently registered for 'A1A Half' in Fort Lauderdale in February and then 'Around the Bay 30K' in Hamilton On, in April.

First time using these tickers so hope it works!

Cheers,
Dawn

Date      Miles      MTD
------    -----    -----
Jan 01      6.5      6.5
Jan 02      5.1     11.6
Jan 03      5.6     17.2
Jan 05      3.3T    20.5
Jan 07      3.4T    23.9
Jan 09      8.2     32.1
Jan 10      6.2T    38.3
Jan 13      4.2T    42.5
Jan 15      8.2     50.7
Jan 18     11.3     62.0
Jan 20      4.1T    66.1
Jan 21      4.4T    70.5
Jan 23      8.2     78.7
Jan 24      4.9T    83.6

Caught the edge of the East Coast storm last night, so the sidewalks are impassible. Off to the treadmill at the health club. Not how I like to spend my Running time on the weekend!

5BeautifulDays wrote: »

runner_girl83 wrote: »

Signing up for Run Downunder this week- you enter each run and the distances get you around Oz or a map! You get small prizes at each town and a finishers medal!

That sounds like a really fun and motivating "race"! I am a sucker for little bits of motivational rewards like stickers and such. I always try to have a challenge going on Map My Run so I can try to keep myself in the top 10% and earn the little badges.

kateparry84 wrote: »

I'd planned to do 4 miles today, my furthest ever run, but I barely managed to do 2. I've learned a valuable lesson, do not run when you are ill! Headache, sinus pain, blocked nose and general feeling of being hit by a bus and yet bizarrely I thought a good run would sort me out! Lesson learned, going to rest for a few days until I'm better.

I find that I can run with sinus pain, and it actually helps to get the blood flowing and unblock stuff--but the trick is to be nice and slow and not tax your lungs, because obviously you're not getting full oxygen if you're having difficulty breathing. Not that rest is a bad thing--just another perspective on running with a head full of yuck. Now, if I have a fever or nausea...yeah. Not running.

I found this to. Running is better than a decongestant.