The February 2016 Running Challenge

@shanaber wow! That is beautiful! Congratulations on a good race!

Date      Miles      MTD
------    -----    -----
Feb 02      4.4T     4.4
Feb 20      3.7      8.1
Feb 21      3.7     11.8

2.5 miles of torture. Guess I can't run 2 days in a row yet. Ugh!

Trying to start packing for Hawaii. Got the important stuff in there.

Keepin' it between the ditches

Been fighting off a cold / chesty cough all week, this coupled with my niggle is taking away from the enjoyment at the moment, would just like a clean run at things for a while.

Didn't prevent any of the training happening, just had to readjust.

Tuesday had the beginnings of the cold and with the poor weather outside I elected to retire to the pain cave to get my session done on the treadie.
10 miles with 6 @ 6:14 @ 2% incline and I was a sweaty mess.

Was feeling cr@p on Weds so postponed the mid-week LSR and ran a very tired 5 miles on the treadmill, went to bed early.

Thursday, decided to give the LSR a go, got to Shanganagh with enough light left to get the 1st half done in the park and the option to bail out if needed. Decided to keep going and ran out to Kilbogget, about 2 miles away to remove the temptation of stopping and done a few laps over there before heading back. I never wanted a run to end as much as this.

Friday, 12 Paracetamol, 10 hours sleep, 2 easy runs, 1 hot whiskey and half a bottle of Exputex and felt up for my LSR yesterday. Picked a quite route that was reasonably sheltered and knocked out 20 miles with 12 @ 6:29 pace. Character building - enough said.

Rounded the week off with a very easy 10 this morning.

Some fast stuff next week to get the hips open.



Running Totals
WTD: 85.6 [137.7]
MTD: 224.2 [360.7]
YTD: 574.4 [924.1]
Races YTD: 3
Master's PB: 0
Weight: 71.2kg

@WhatMeRunning That's the goal! After injury issues killed my race in Philly last November, I'm doubly determined to blow my BQ time out of the water this spring! I'm shooting for a 3:26-3:32, which will cut half an hour+ from my current marathon PR.

@skippygirlsmom That packing looks just about right to me! When are you leaving for Hawaii? Have a fun vacay!

@ariceroni I'm a day late, but congrats on the 5k PR! 22:05 is a kickass time! I hit 22:15 last fall and am trying to find a race this spring to break that elusive 22 minute mark!

Woohoo! First time I've managed to run in 12 days after having a stinking cold. Felt great to get back to it with a 5 miler this afternoon. 34 miles for the month so far, don't think I'm going to make my 76 mile target still, good to be back to it

1---6.10
2---rest
3---6.25
4---6.26
5---not enough rest day
6---15K
7-9--busted knee.
10-- 6.30
11---rest
12---7.05
13---rest dumb knee
14---7.39 (4.41) behind
15---rest dumb knee
16--- 4.60
17---5.73 run/walk
18---7.73 Sulphur park
19---Nada
20---6.72 group run
21---7.61 walk

81.18/Goal 110+ miles

Upcoming races:
03/19/16 Rock N Roll 5K Dallas
03/20/16 Rock N Roll Half Dallas
04/24/16 OKC Memorial undecided distance
10/16/16 THAT dam half Lewisville TX
11/05/16 Jenks Half Jenks OK
Run the year 2016  181.22/2016

@ariceroni I missed the PR post! Congratulations! That is a spectacular time!

@Calli1616 congratulations on your race and PR too!

@WhatMeRunning - thanks for the tips! I'm not sure which hotel yet but all the AP readings take place in the KC Convention Center. The last time I was there was for my daughter playing volleyball in a tournament and at that time I didn't run. I won't find out which hotel they are putting me in for another couple weeks. I hope it is one that is within walking distance of Convention Center, instead of having to bus in. One night we go to a KC Royals game. If it's okay once I get the hotel and plan a route I will ask you if it is safe. I suppose I could do a treadmill but my favorite thing about traveling is running in a new place, so I will find a place to run.

@skippygirlsmom - you and I pack alike! Have a great time!!!

@dominichoran - definitely sounds like some tough character building!

@shanaber - pictures are beautiful. Glad you enjoyed it. I loved the Divas HM I did and will try to do another one. It's kind of silly, but it's also kind of cool to see so many ladies who trained for the 5K or HM all having fun. There is one in Virginia next fall that is very close to where my mom lives so I may do that one.

@AdrianChr92 - oh no, re: your keys! Now I want to start counting the animals I see on a run!

@Calli1616 - pr! awesome!

@kristinegift - sounds like an amazing run today! The temps did something similar here. It was 53 when we left and 70 when we got back. Kept stripping off the layers.

Feb 1 - 4.27
Feb 2- repairing/recovery day.
Feb 3 - Strength training 4.5 miles
Feb 4 - rest
Feb 5 - Strength training
Feb 6 - 34 mile bike ride
Feb 7 - 13.1 HM - New PR 2:18:57!!!
Feb 8 - 3.05 mile recovery run.
Feb 9 - 1 hour spinning class
Feb 10 - Strength training
Feb 11 - 6 miles
Feb 12 - recovery day
Feb 13 - 34 mile bike ride
Feb 14 - 36 mile bike ride
Feb 15 - 7.5 miles
Feb 16 - 3.6 miles
Feb 17 - strength training
Feb 18 - 5.04 miles + 1 hour spinning class
Feb 19 - strength training
Feb 20 - 34 mile bike ride
Feb 21 - 35 mile bike ride






3/3 Orlando City Soccer 5K

Goal for February? 3 X 3.1 miles (ie 5km) per week X 4 weeks = 37.2 miles/60 km per month.

Done to date (Feb 21):
...totals for weeks 1&2: 13.69 miles/22 km
Feb 15: 3.33 miles/5.34 km
Feb 19: 2.16 miles/3.47 km
Feb 21: 3.81 miles/6.13
Week 3 total: 9.3 (finally git my weekly goal!)
...totals weeks 1-3: 22.99 miles/37 km
...14.21 miles/23 km to go and only 8 more days this month (so need to do at least 3.6 miles X 4 runs before Feb 29th)...

I promised myself a new pair of running shoes if I hit this goal...and I REALLY need a new pair!!!!

kristinegift wrote: »

REST DAAAAAAAAAAY I needed this one. Still trying to get my hammies and calves to loosen up after a tough week (really, quite a few consecutive long, tough weeks). I've got lots of fun running plans this weekend! 8 miles followed by runners' coffee tomorrow, then 16 miles Sunday followed by a fellow runner's birthday celebrations which will include going to see the movie Race about Jesse Owens -- it only has 61% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the bday crew are all runners, so I think we'll dig it anyway

I just got back from seeing Race with my running friends! Overall, we liked it. We learned a lot of stuff about Jesse Owens and track/Olympics from the mid-30s generally, so that was cool. We also thought it was a really sanitized look at Nazi Germany (from a historian's POV, to be fair), and it felt like a fairly Disney-esque style biopic. There was almost no conflict that had any real stakes, since you KNOW Owens goes to the Olympics; everything seemed to just sort of go his way, and if it didn't it was resolved within a few minutes. Not something I'd urge everyone to see in a theater, but if in a few months you're looking for a rainy weekend movie at home with a bowl of popcorn? Definitely! It's fun. It feels good. It's about running.

Date.................KM...................Total
2/7...................1.19.................1.19 (Run)
2/10..................1.85.................3.04 (Walk)
2/11..................1.88.................4.92 (Walk)
2/12..................8.8.................13.72 (Bird Count Exercise)
2/13..................4.20................17.92 (Walk)
2/15..................5.27................23.19 (Run)
2/17..................5.32................28.51 (Walk)
2/18..................2.28................30.79 (Walk)
2/19..................3.20................33.99 (Run)
2/21..................2.40................36.39 (Walk)

First 5 K.................. 25th Feb

HonuNui wrote: »

@orphia :excited? ....I'm traveling to the mainland later that same day to see my son who is recovering from surgery to remove some of the melanoma in his brain....not sure if I'll even run it....we'll see.

Oh, my dear friend, I'm sorry to hear that. I really hope your son's condition improves, and you don't have to worry too much.

Best wishes.

Good morning! I have added a careful 1.5 miles to my 5 this morning. Just starting back and the last thing I need is shin splints! It feels incredible to be back in the routine, though - to accept that 1.5 miles this morning was pretty much my rest day and to know that I'll be in the gym all week without sacrificing any other activity (except sleep). My 24-hour gym was a life changer. 6.5 out of 25

10 miles. 50 for the week on 4 runs.

Yesterday, I set a new distance PR: 21.6km!
That was totally unplanned. I didn't even think I'd get a long run in that weekend, since my sister was visiting me, and we did a lot of sightseeing and some hiking. But her flight back was earlier than I had remembered, and it was actually still half an hour before sunset after I dropped her off at the airport.
So I decided to do the 17km I had planned for next weekend, followed by 3km of walking - I wanted to get to a total of 20km, because there was still one distance-based 20k mission in zombies!run that I had to do before I can move on to season two of the app...
After 17km, I slowed down as planned, did a little streching - and then decided that it was too cold to be walking the last 3km, so I decided to run them instead. At 19.5km, I was still feeling good, and started to think about the fact that 20km is just a tiny bit shorter than a half marathon. When I signed up for a HM in May, I wasn't convinced I could go that far. I decided to put my doubts to rest by adding a little kilometer to the end of my run. By the time the distance was getting close to 21km, that crazy little voice inside my head reminded my that in a true HM race, I would likely have to go a little further than 21.0975km, with weaving between people and running non-perfect tangents in the curves and all that. So I decided to go to 21.5km, just to be sure. When I looked at the watch a bit later, I was really surprised to see it was already 21.6km. Were did those last few hundred meters go?
I even had the energy to dance & jump around a bit to celebrate my "first half marathon". When I got to my apartment, I was beginning to feel my legs and opted to let the elevator carry me the last bit of the way. Still, I didn't feel anywhere near as exhausted as I would have imagined to be after running that far!

... and then when I settled down on the couch, I read @Stoshew71 's latest blog post, and immediately had a moment of remorse. Because my long run was nearly 50% of my weekly milage this week, and I increased the distance too fast. Twice guilty! Didn't last long, though, I was too happy about running half-marathon distance for the first time ;-)
But I'll take it nice and easy this week to make up for my crazyness yesterday.


Summary of my running week:
15.2.16: 8.0 km should have been 6km, but I tried a new route and got slightly lost
16.2.16: 2.1 km treadmill warm-up at the gym - started slow, went progressively faster (forgot how you call that kind of workout, if it has a name)
17.2.16: 11.4 km a little longer mid-week run because I thought I wouldn't have time for a real long run on the weekend
18.2.16: 3.8 km easy run to the supermarket to pick up some bananas
21.2.16: 21.6 km in 2:47h - I'm starting to believe I can run my HM in May without hitting the 3h cutoff time :-D