The February 2016 Running Challenge

Orphia · February 2016

Feb 1 - 4.1 km
Feb 6 - 5.2 km
Feb 8 - 5.3 km
Feb 10 - 4.1 km

Total 18.4 km
Goal 45 km

Race: 8.6 km "Farm to Pub" February 27

But my back went out this morning!

Stupid thing used to do it all the time, but it had been fine for at least 2 years.

Did too much bending down this morning (that'll teach me to shave my legs in the shower!) and it gave up when I leaned down to write something on a table at work.

Spoke to the physio, and I'm doing everything they say (walking, anti-inflammatories, heat pack). That's what's helped in the past.

Becky_44 · February 2016

Nevermind, I found them. Helps to search them by exactly what they are.

Some of you have talked about an app or something for walk/Run intervals that chimes after each min or whatever you set it for. I looked, but didn't really find any, could somebody point me in the right direction. I'm wondering if I would do better consistently if I keep it at 1 min intervals, and just increase intervals.

_nikkiwolf_ · February 2016

Stoshew71 wrote: »

I made a Running Book wish list. I already have Daniel's Running Formula book and Maffetone's 1:59 book. I also have The Runner's World Big Book of Marathon & HM Training. So obviously they won't be on my wish list.

Born To Run – Chris McDougall - ISBN-13: 978-0307279187
Advanced Marathoning – Pete Pfitzinger - ISBN-13: 978-0736074605
Lore of Running – Tim Noakes - ISBN-13: 978-0873229593
80/20 Running – Matt Fitzgerald - ISBN-13: 978-0451470881
How Bad Do You Want It – Matt Fitzgerald - ISBN-13: 978-1937715410
Build Your Running Body – Pete Magill - ISBN-13: 978-1615191024
Explosive Running – Michael Yessis - ISBN-13: 978-0809298990
Big Book of Endurance Training & Racing – Phil Maffetone - ISBN-13: 978-1616080655
You (Only Faster) – Greg McMillan - ISBN-13: 978-1620304426
16 Weeks to a Faster Marathon – Jeff Gaudette - ISBN-13: 978-1475035841
Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide – Hal Higdon - ISBN-13: 978-1609612245
Running to the Top – Arthur Lydiard - ISBN-13: 978-1841263359
Running The Lydiard Way - ISBN-13: 978-0890370964

Anyone else read & have any book suggestions to share with the group?

I should post this in the group so we can have a reference later on.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332797/running-books

If you are interested in marathon training, you could also look on that list, maybe you want to add some of the books discussed there: http://fellrnr.com/wiki/A_Comparison_of_Marathon_Training_Plans

A running book I have read and liked:
Non-runner's Marathon Trainer- David A Whitsett ISBN-13: 978-1570281822
(--> I read it without any intention of following that training plan. But I liked the way it's sturcured: but every week of training, there's first a description of that weeks training, then it focusses on one piece/topic of running advice, like discussion on stretches, mental techniques, nutrition, and thinks like that), and has comments from people who followed the programme about how their experience with what they leaned that week.

My all-time favourite running book will always be the book that started me running in the first place, but I just had a look - it wasn't translated to English, so adding it to the list wouldn't make much sense.

runner_girl83 · February 2016

Becky_44 wrote: »

Some of you have talked about an app or something for walk/Run intervals that chimes after each min or whatever you set it for. I looked, but didn't really find any, could somebody point me in the right direction. I'm wondering if I would do better consistently if I keep it at 1 min intervals, and just increase intervals.

I use my Garmin watch (set intervals for run/walk on it to whatever time frame you want)... But since starting parkrun, I have found that I can't hear the beeps amongst all the other runners, so now I use runkeeper (phone app) and put my intervals (run 4 mins, walk 1 min) into the "custom workout - intervals" section... Tried it out tonight and it worked really well. The GPS on the app was really off tonight tho (runkeeper is usually pretty good!) .. I trust my Garmin watch more for distance!

Speaking of which... I went at a comfortable pace - Paid close attention to my form and made more effort to bend my knees to they kept from locking up.. Bit uncomfortable but I know I need to pull my form back into shape! Here are my splits. Pretty happy since I did 4:1 Galloway method for the run too..... Now off to foam roll like a mofo lol

WhatMeRunning · February 2016

Unwelcome rest day today. And tomorrow. And easy runs only this weekend. Next week though...man, I'm telling you what...next week...I'm am TOTALLY going to... ....hopefully do better.

Becky_44 wrote: »

Some of you have talked about an app or something for walk/Run intervals that chimes after each min or whatever you set it for. I looked, but didn't really find any, could somebody point me in the right direction. I'm wondering if I would do better consistently if I keep it at 1 min intervals, and just increase intervals.

I use Endomondo, but I also have purchased the subscription, so I'm not 100% sure if the intervals feature is available on the free version or not. This is actually one of the primary draws of Endomondo for me as I also use (and prefer) Strava.

If the intervals are available in the free version it is as simple as selecting the workout type (Default is Basic workout) and choosing Intervals. They have some presets but I prefer creating custom ones. You can choose each interval duration based on time or distance, and even alternate between them. For example, the 3x1600m tempo interval program I used yesterday is a custom creation. It has an 800m warmup at low intensity, then 1600m at medium intensity, then 5 minutes at low intensity, doing the 1600m part 3 times, with an 800m cooldown at low intensity at the end. It makes a beeping noise at each interval and announces the time/distance and intensity level for that interval as each one starts.

kristinegift · February 2016

2/1: 6 miles with Joe to Go crew
2/2: 5 miles
2/3: 7.5 miles
2/4: 8.2 miles (am), 6 miles (pm) with the Thursday crew
2/5: Rest day (hallelujah!)
2/6: 9.5 miles with the Saturday crew
2/7: 18 miles LR
2/8: 6.1 miles with Joe to Go crew
2/9: Rest day
2/10: 7 miles speedwork (am), 10 miles (pm)
2/11: 6 miles (am)

Nice and slow this morning... but heavy legs + 20 degree temps (and 10 mph winds!) did not keep me from freezing my butt off! However, I did get to try out my new shoes that were delivered yesterday! They're Saucony Breakthrus; they just came out with Breakthru 2s, so some of the originals were on sale on Amazon for 50% off. Saucony promotes them as a shoe on a continuum between Kinvaras (what I used to wear all the time) and Rides (what I wear now), so I thought I'd give them a go. They're a bit firmer than my Rides, but I think they'll be a good short race/speed work shoe.

See picture below of how pretty the new shoes are (and the big goodies haul I got with my $20 of reward points from my running store last night!).

Upcoming races:
4/3: Caesar Rodney Half Marathon
5/1: New Jersey Marathon

xxx_Pink_Princess_xxx · February 2016

Sports massage tonight - wish me luck

mbaker566 · February 2016

I'm going for 75 again. and try to get back up to 13 miles on weekend runs

1-personal training episode. so sore
2-nothing, not feeling well
3-slept in. still not feeling great
4-see above, and then transmission cracked
5-car hunting
6-car hunting
7-4.75 miles. I added hills to my treadmill work out. oh the suck
8-nothing
9-i was on the way to the gym. because it was icy i didn't want to run outside. so icy, i hit a parked jeep with my 2 day all new to me car.

no gym for me
10-yoga tonight. a little sore from the accident, but i'm really concerned about the race this weekend. I've not been able to train like I'd like to due to flares and accidents. I'm not sure how I'll do
11-no run this morning, run this afternoon. neck is still a little sore from the accident

RACES:
Jan 16-Frosty 5k-33:43:123 (gun time-don't have chip time)
Feb 13-Steve Cullen Run
Feb 13-21 Puppy Love Virtual Run 10k
?Mar 14-Great Pi Run?
?Jun 11-Rock n Sole 5 or 8k? honeymoon might interfere
June 19th through Sunday, July 10th SHE Power Virtual Half

Elise4270 · February 2016

@MobyCarp I ran, slow, did a lot of walking. But, woke up with a stiff knee today. I think the run set me back a day. I did not pack running gear for my reg scheduled run today. I'll do massage, heat, rest and urgent care prescribed a hinge brace (which I thought was overkill), so I may hunt it down today.

Thanks for the advice!

instantmartian · February 2016

kateparry84 wrote: »

5.3 miles today, 24 out of 60. My furthest distance and also my fastest pace, average 11.57 minute mile, I've finally got under 12

Congrats! That is definitely something to be proud of!

instantmartian · February 2016

5BeautifulDays wrote: »

ddmom0811 wrote: »

@5BeautifulDays - It probably will be cold at the Princess run. I wore a Nike very thin jacket and on top of that a sweatshirt and gloves. Mile 1 the sweatshirt came off. I was willing to just throw it to the side but decided to wrap it around my waist until I saw homeless people to give it to but never saw any. Mile 5 the gloves and jacket came off. I wasn't willing to lose the Nike jacket or gloves so I put gloves in pockets with zipper and wrapped that around my waist. It didn't bother me at all running and in fact was nice to have that sleeve to pull up to wipe the face. Because it had been raining the two jackets were wet so no good to warm up. February in Orlando is bizarre - it is going into the 30s tonight but will be in the 80s in a couple days probably. You probably will be cold afterward but a hot shower/bath will fix it.

I was looking at the historical temps for February--they are really wide differences! It looks like the historical averages are in the high-40s/low 50s for overnights; that's not too bad. I don't mind running above freezing, but I'll definitely want a jacket to wear before the running starts. It sounds like there is a lot of standing around waiting beforehand.

I've been watching the extended Disney World forecast like a hawk for the past few weeks. I know it's still way early, but Accuweather's current forecast for 2/21 is a high of 80 and a low of 54. That makes me think, as of right now, it'll be somewhere in the mid to upper 50s at the start of race, which would be a tad chilly in my book, but definitely not freezing, but should warm up nicely (into the mid 60s, is my guess) after the sun comes out. The only downside is that, currently, it has wind gusts of 20 mph for that day. I could definitely do without the wind.

My fingers are crossed that it stays about where it is now, just that the wind doesn't happen!

instantmartian · February 2016

02/02 8.00 mi
02/04 3.65 mi
02/07 6.43 mi
02/10 3.10 mi
TOTAL 21.18 mi
GOAL 50.00 mi

Upcoming Races:
02/21 - Disney Princess Half Marathon
04/02 - Philadelphia Hot Chocolate 15K
04/09 - Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K
05/01 - Blue Cross Broad Street Run (10 miles)
09/18 - Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon

AdrianChr92 · February 2016

This sucks. I got the flu. Cold hands, sneezing, pain behind eyes, cough and sweating. I hate being bed bound

lporter229 · February 2016

2/1-3 slow miles + lots of yoga
2/2-5.4 miles+ strength training
2/3-7 miles
2/4-rest day
2/5-3.6 miles hill sprints +strength training
2/6-6.3 miles
2/7-12.2 miles
2/8- 3.3 easy miles + yoga
2/9-4 miles speedwork on treadmill+yoga
2/10-7 miles

mbaker566 · February 2016

ugh 1 degree forecast for my race saturday. I'm so thrilled

GBrady43068 · February 2016

Newbie welcome to @cwolfgram

@5BeautifulDays and @WhatMeRunning: Thanks for the mention of hip/glute strengthening exercises. I will hijack that info for myself.

@kristinegift; 12 miles is a “short” run like the U.S. has a “tiny” national debt

Remember how in January I was talking about beautiful 50 degree weather? Single digit temps this morning, minus double digit windchills..that’s Ohio for ya. Think we’re looking at a night run.

Stoshew71 · February 2016

ddmom0811 wrote: »

@5BeautifulDays - It probably will be cold at the Princess run. I wore a Nike very thin jacket and on top of that a sweatshirt and gloves. Mile 1 the sweatshirt came off. I was willing to just throw it to the side but decided to wrap it around my waist until I saw homeless people to give it to but never saw any. Mile 5 the gloves and jacket came off. I wasn't willing to lose the Nike jacket or gloves so I put gloves in pockets with zipper and wrapped that around my waist. It didn't bother me at all running and in fact was nice to have that sleeve to pull up to wipe the face. Because it had been raining the two jackets were wet so no good to warm up. February in Orlando is bizarre - it is going into the 30s tonight but will be in the 80s in a couple days probably. You probably will be cold afterward but a hot shower/bath will fix it.

I know you ladies are pretty fashionable and may not want to do this. But I usually make a trip to the thrift store (Huntsville has like 20 of them all over the place) and get a cheap used sweat hoody or 2 for like 3 or 4 dollars each. That way when they come off, you don't care if you don't ever see it again. If you have someone at the finish waiting for you, pack an extra sweatshirt and pants or tights in a bag and have them hold it for you.

When you begin a race, you should be a little chilly. If you feel comfortable at the beginning, you will be warm by the second or third mile which will raise your heart rate as your body will be pumping "cool" water filled blood to your running muscles to cool down. Raised heart rate and sweating more than you need to is not a way to begin a race. Just a couple of things to think about.

lporter229 · February 2016

ddmom0811 wrote: »

@5BeautifulDays - It probably will be cold at the Princess run. I wore a Nike very thin jacket and on top of that a sweatshirt and gloves. Mile 1 the sweatshirt came off. I was willing to just throw it to the side but decided to wrap it around my waist until I saw homeless people to give it to but never saw any. Mile 5 the gloves and jacket came off. I wasn't willing to lose the Nike jacket or gloves so I put gloves in pockets with zipper and wrapped that around my waist. It didn't bother me at all running and in fact was nice to have that sleeve to pull up to wipe the face. Because it had been raining the two jackets were wet so no good to warm up. February in Orlando is bizarre - it is going into the 30s tonight but will be in the 80s in a couple days probably. You probably will be cold afterward but a hot shower/bath will fix it.

At most bigger races, they have a volunteer crew that picks up all of the discarded clothing along the course and they give it to homeless shelters or other charities. They also have boxes at the start and at various spots along the course for this purpose. The start of the Columbus marathon last October was 28F. I discarded a long sleeve shirt and a pair of cheap gloves around mile 5. I later heard that they collected over a ton of clothing from the race.

Stoshew71 · February 2016

runner_girl83 wrote: »

@Stoshew71 You are amazing how you can see all that from the photos! Thanks so much for the link! Reading now!! I just wish there was a way I could guide my knees apart more while running for the time being.. Doesn’t seem to matter with monitoring my form – I just can’t get that left knee to move over so it is definitely the hip!

The hip is supposed to stablize you, so you shouldn't try to use it to "move" the knee over.
What I believe is happening is that your glutes (especially the left side) is too weak or not engaged. So that is throwing off your form. With weak hips, the thigh just caves in such that your knees rub against each other.

Run a little slower, but work on engaging the glute muscles. That way, you need to emphasize your core being tightened and glutes squeezing to engaged them so it will keep your form the right direction. Your back needs to be straight with shoulders down and relaxed. Neck straight with head looking straight ahead. Nothing should be sloping or slouching. Your butt should not be sticking out like you are riding on a motorcycle. Concentrate on trying to push your chest forward.