The January 2016 Running Challenge

7lenny7 wrote: »

I'm lovin' ASICS right now. I had 300 miles on a pair of Gel Nimbus ... They said on the RMA form that running shoes are expected to only last 300 to 500 miles.

I just got a notice today that the replacement shoes are on their way. Thank you ASICS!

I typically get 500-600 on the higher end asics models such as the nimbus or Kayanos. That was good of them to get you another pair!

Virkati wrote: »

@Elise4270 It sucks. But I know it will work out somehow. I will look into the payment plan option. Honestly never even thought of that. I know a guy who may be able to help me do the stuff the bike needs to keep it on the road safely so I'll be talking to him asap. And I'm going to start scouring Craigslist and the second hand bike shops. Denver is such a cycling mecca that surely I can find something!

I was too emotional at first to recognize that there are options and alternatives. I'm realizing that January, historically, is a difficult month for me and that I should really just let myself coast thru it and keep my head down until Feb. Then I seem to get back on my feet and find my way again. Soooo, only a few more days!

So good to hear! I've had my fingers cross for you (still do).

1/20 5.0 miles. Had a busy weekend with J's hockey tournament and I have been really tired the last couple of days. Had a good but slow run with some major chafing where you really don't want to chaff but had the park to myself for 1.5 miles which made up for everything. Piriformis is a little sore so I think I need to stay at this distance for a little while.


1/30 3.0 miles My piriformis was bothering me after the last run so I took a week off. Had a session with my trainer and found out why, I have a crazy muscle imbalance that I need to correct. She had me do these weird weighted kicks where I am on all 4's in front of this machine and press the weight up and back one leg at a time. I can do 40 lbs with my left leg but only 20 with my right and even that was a struggle. After today's run i had pain radiating down my leg the rest of the day and had to lift my leg to get out of my truck after JJ's hockey game. This is so frustrating, one step forward and 10 back. I will take another week or two off and cut back miles again and get back in the gym to fix the issue for good I hope.

32.0 down 8 to go

_nikkiwolf_ wrote: »

Ah, I just realised I almost forgot this question

michable wrote: »

@_nikkiwolf_ : I would love to hear how the flip belt and water bottle combo go.

@michable I tested the combo during my long run today: The flipbelt is great! The water bottle was a complete fail:
- can't put it against the back as the product sales pictures suggest you should do, because my big a** means it doesn't hang down flat, but rather is tilted forward so that the upper part pokes me into the back and chafes (to be fair to the bottle, it might still work for someone who's more slender than me)
- can't put it to the front, or my legs hit against it as I run and slowly kick it out of the belt
- can't put it to the sides, because then my arm brushes against it while I run, and that was extremely irritating
In the end I settled for having it halfway between back and side and putting it in ~45° tilted sideways, if that description makes sense. That way, it annoyed me the least, but since it wasn't properly put through the belt, it fell out every few minutes.
By the time I passed a trashbin around 90 minutes into my run, I was so fed up with the thing that I happily tossed it. I had a moment of feeling guilty about it when I came home - after all, it was new and I had just bought it. On the other hand, I can't see myself using the bloody annoying thing ever again, so R.I.P. weird belt bottle!

Ditto!!! I could have written this post!! Mines going in the bin too!

January goal 70 miles


1/1 3.69
1/2 4.15
1/3 3.12
1/4 rest
1/5 3.31
1/6 5.59
1/7 rest
1/8 3.00
1/9 heavy duty yard work
1/10 3.27
1/11 3.38
1/12 snorkel 3 hours
1/13 6.39
1/14 rest
1/15 3.12 (and some more heavy duty yard work)
1/16 4.25
1/17 3.05
1/18 rest
1/19 3.00
1/20 5.51
1/21 rest
1/22 3.20
1/23 the last of eight long work days and I just came home and sat......
1/24 6.25. On the treadmill. On the lanai. Overlooking the ocean. Watching football. Life is good....
1/25 2.76
1/26 snorkel 2.5 hours
1/27 3.25
1/28 9.02
1/29 rest
1/30 3.16

Total 82.47

Upcoming races:
3/20 Big Island International 1/2 marathon
6/26 SHEPower Virtual 1/2 marathon
11/13 Las Vegas Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon

Ticker is my goal for 2016 and accumulation to date:

GBrady43068 wrote: »

JohnONE29 wrote: »

17 miles today. Super day in Ohio USA for a long run.

It sure was. Loving this low 50s.

@_nikkiwolf_ - Loved your description of the flipbelt and bottle! I would have tossed it too! Also your pictures are fantastic!
@Elise4270 and @runner_girl83 - love the shorts! My favorites are tight shorts too but I go for Nike or UnderArmour. They are the only ones I have found that don't ride up. I don't like the way loose shorts feel flapping around when I run.
@virkati - maybe you can find a bike on Craig's list or one that someone is selling that isn't full price of a new one? Swimming is great exercise and I am pretty sure you need to learn how soon... before the triathlon! My daughter is a slow runner, ok cyclist and very fast swimmer - she does VERY well in triathlons because most everyone else dies on the swim portion!

No run for me today. Went to Hollywood with my husband to see Star Wars at the El Capitan theater. It was fun but traffic was terrible. Hours in the car!! Tomorrow I am on a plane for Dallas so more sitting. I may have to get in a run on the hotel treadmill just because I am tired of sitting!!

@_nikkiwolf_ thanks for reporting back on the flip belt and bottle. I will definitely pass on the bottle! And those pictures are gorgeous! The grass is so green! We have a lot of brown lawns around right now. It's pretty dry.

As for my running belt and hydration options, I am thinking I will need 2 belts for different purposes - one running belt (a flip belt probably) for shorter distances to carry my phone / music player, and a nathan hydration belt with 2 or 4 bottles for my long runs.

I wanted to ask the group about fueling during races. I am planning on getting some energy gels (eg GU) to practice with on my long runs. I have tried a few different things for fueling during my HMs, e.g. jelly beans and jelly babies (they don’t seem to get soft enough, so still require a lot of chewing while running, which is quite difficult I have found, as you seem to need to breathe as well). The time I tried a GU during a race was a bit of a fail - I had to stop at the water stop for about a minute or two to get it down (it wasn’t very nice). I am hoping that a nicer flavour may go down more easily.

What do you use for fuel during races? And how do you eat it on the run? Or do you just use energy drinks?

January done, 31 days, 44hrs, 350 miles - <phew>

@kimlight2 - Those sound like donkey kicks which I have done without weights to help with form and ITB pain. In the end the all of the exercises did help but took a couple weeks efore I started noticing the difference. I'm guessing that when doing them with weights you may need to have recovery time instead of running on them so soon. Yuor trainer may be able to advise on that better than I can though.

michable wrote: »

I wanted to ask the group about fueling during races. I am planning on getting some energy gels (eg GU) to practice with on my long runs. I have tried a few different things for fueling during my HMs, e.g. jelly beans and jelly babies (they don’t seem to get soft enough, so still require a lot of chewing while running, which is quite difficult I have found, as you seem to need to breathe as well). The time I tried a GU during a race was a bit of a fail - I had to stop at the water stop for about a minute or two to get it down (it wasn’t very nice). I am hoping that a nicer flavor may go down more easily.

What do you use for fuel during races? And how do you eat it on the run? Or do you just use energy drinks?

I use GU personally but it sounds like this may not be the best choice for you based on your experience. People who disagree with GU usually ahve problems with texture, or it making them thirsty, etc.

It's really a personal thing. Everyone winds up finding their preference based on many things. I had the same problem with the sport beans in that they just took too long to chew and the volume required to get to the same amount of calories as a GU was just a bit much in my opinion.

You may try some sort of sport chews like GU Chomps or even those Gatorade Chews. I started out preferring the GU Chomps about a year ago, but when I switched to full marathon training I moved to the GU packets because they took up so much less room in my pockets to have enough to get me through a full. So in the end the GU usage was a personal call. I could tolerate it and the storage was right.

You may also try those Honey Stinger Waffles. They do not have any electrolytes which is really the only reason I haven't used them. But you could get electrolytes from something else (pills or tablets are available).

Sometimes I will use energy drinks when the bottle I'm carrying will store enough to last me my entire run. As for race day, I do not like using energy drinks because the serving sizes in those cups are small and I do not like having to request multiple cups. Even if I add up a cup or two at every stop it is usually not enough (for me but I am a big boy and require over 200 calories refueling per hour by my body weight which is about double most people). So for me energy drinks are not a great option.

@michable I agree with @WhatMeRunning . I like sport beans (vitiman B, electrolytes). I like the GU too, but I always stopped and had some water with it (race use only). Sports drinks might be ideal, like he said.I buy powder so I can mix it as I like. My husband likes VFuel gel better than GU.

If you have a running store near you, they usually carry a variety and you might be able to try a few things. You could always make your own, or do raisins, jolly ranchers, honey packets, ect... I like sprees pre run.. But in the heat I'm more concerned with electrolyte replacement than carbs. Which is why I do sport beans, and G2. I bought some NUUN tabs, but haven't tried them yet. I know @skippygirlsmom has had some experience with them.

Good luck! Finding run fuel is like a runners milestone! Be sure to update us on what works for you.

2/1 - 5k
3/1 - 7k
5/1 - 1k walk
6/1 - 3k
7/1 - 2.5k
9/1 - 7k
10/1 - 5k intervals
12/1 - 2k walk
13/1 - 1k
14/1 - 5k
16/1 - 7k
17/1 - 5k
18/1 - 1k
21/1 - 6k
23/1 - 8k
24/1 -6k
25/1 - 1k fastest ever
26/1 - 2k not as fast as 1k but fastish
27/1 - 4k
30/1 - 7k
31/1 - 6.5k


92/80

Outside today - defo better mentally if a bit harder physically. Don't know whether to join in for February as I have a couple of social things planned that means I will only get in about 6 runs in the first 2 weeks and then am away on holiday for 2 weeks - I PLAN on trying to get 2 short runs in each week I am away but I don't have a great track record and won't have data so can't measure the distances on any I do. (Also wouldn't be able to keep up with all the posts on hotel wifi). I also have to choose between continuing outside in very humid heat or withdraw to the air conditioned gym. How much harder is running on sand?

whatang wrote: »

dominichoran wrote: »

January done, 31 days, 44hrs, 350 miles - <phew>

Holy moly!

6.8 miles today, finishing off at 88 for the month. First time I've done 10k at sub 9 minute miles. Nice way to round off the month.

@dominichoran - Holy moly is right! That is a lot of running!!
@whatang - Congrats on the fast 10k!! That is awesome!
@michable - I use ShotBloks (Clif) and gummy bears. I have found not chewing them but sucking on them and letting them dissolve works best for me and doesn't upset my stomach. I cannot tolerate gels and GUs, they make me so very thirsty.

Congratulations everyone to a fantastic month!! See you next month!!

No running for me as I am off to the airport but here are my totals for the month (made my goal earlier this week) and year to date. I wanted to go with 1600 for the year but with everything going on I don't think it will be manageable so I am setting it to 1400 with 1600 as my stretch goal

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
1/24 6 miles. 3.5 with my neighborhood group and 2.5 by myself! Okay, now I am over my monthly run, I did decide from the very beginning to make up for the lost miles in December, so, that’s good!
1/28 5.64
1/29 4.07
1/31 5.64 — Completed the miles for January and made up for not finishing up the December miles. All despite the fact that I have been so busy! Yes!

91.07/70

Amandajs232 wrote: »

won't have data so can't measure the distances on any I do.

What do you use for tracking your runs? When I've been away somewhere without data I've downloaded the maps for the area I'll be in for off line use in Google maps, often before travelling. The running Apps on my phone seem to work fine with that.