March 2016 Running Challenge

I am starting late so I will go with a goal of 42 miles for the rest of March

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

said, the heck with it. I'm signed up: http://www.elymarathon.com/#!half/c17i2

Yea!

@MNLittleFinn - Woo-Hoo!! I'm excited for you!

Its been a few days and I am finally having time to catch up.

Stoshew71 wrote: »

So here is the other thing as far as losing weight and running performance.

Thanks @Stoshew71! I am pretty much at maintenance and have been for a while now. Like @ddmom0811, I have gained a few pounds but everything still fits. I am however terrified of gaining weight so I typically eat right on the edge either low maintenance or at a bit of a deficit. I really think I need to eat more. The last month has been crazy and my eating has been spotty - still eating good things, just not enough of anything. My long runs and HMs have suffered the most but I have generally had more bad runs than I have ever had (body is tired, legs with no energy, etc...). I also have been eating less protein - not sure why but I guess it is easier to grab a piece of fruit than take the time to cook something.
@ddmom0811 - I have been on meds for hypothyroid pretty much all my life. The hardest thing is finding and keeping the dosage at the correct level. After years of trying mine is finally stable.
@Elise4270 - a while back I had a Pod test for my body fat and they gave me a breakdown of my estimated RMR and TDEE for different levels of activity. Being a nerd I used that to calculate my weekly calories based on my activity level for each day of the week and a deficit. From that I calculated a daily amount.

I will check out Matt Fitzgerald in more detail - thanks!

11/3: 3.2 Miles
13/3: 5.0 Miles

3/1: Rest day
3/2: 12 miles (am), 5 miles (pm)
3/3: 7 miles speedwork (am), 6 miles with Thursday crew (pm)
3/4: Rest day
3/5: 7.3 miles
3/6: 15.2 miles
3/7: 6 miles with Joe to Go crew
3/8: Rest day
3/9: 12 miles (am), 5 miles (pm)
3/10: 8 miles (am), 6 miles with Thursday crew (pm)
3/11: Rest day
3/12: 5.6 miles (2.5 mile warm up and 5k race)
3/13: 18 miles

I fell victim to my own arrogance today. Despite running a hard 5k effort yesterday, I figured I could just cruise through a 22 mile long run today. (I originally had 18 on my schedule for today, 22 next week but decided last night to switch them, fairly arbitrarily.) NOPE, I WAS OH SO VERY WRONG. The route I picked was nice, if a bit hilly, with lots of real estate eye candy to keep me distracted. But about 8 miles in, I knew there was no way I could do a full 22 miles and I decided mid-run to switch back to my original schedule. My shins/calves were still angry from yesterday's poor shoe choice, and the farther I ran the more I realized my quads and glutes were a bit sore from the 5k race as well. At 12 miles, I stopped and mentally reconfigured my route to cut 4 miles out, and I was right on the money; I came into my apartment complex at 18 on the dot.

Usually on a long run, I might have to make one pit stop (a new and annoying development this training season...) but I almost never walk. I may walk a bit if I'm working on a troublesome gel or having a hard time getting things reconfigured in my pockets or hand held water bottle, but that's it. Today? I walked a quite few times, stopped to stretch a few times, had to make a pitstop TWICE... it was just a hot mess. I'm glad I knew to cut it short. Could I have slogged through 4 more miles? Sure! But I'd much rather do a run of that length with my body in good shape and my head in the right place, or else it will haunt me when I line up to start my marathon in 7 weeks.

I'm glad I cut it short also because I am exhausted. I keep waking up 45-60 mins after I fall asleep, and then I struggle to sleep all the way through the rest of the night. And half the time I'm waking up before my alarm even goes off! I'm trying some new sleep aids to try to find something that works. You'd think that running 60 mile weeks would leave me exhausted, but I'm wide awake at bedtime. If anyone has tips/suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I need a full night of sleep, dang it!



Upcoming Races:
3/12: Run O' The Mill 5K: New PR! 21:55
4/3: Caesar Rodney HM (Wilmington, DE)
4/16: River Horse 6K (Ewing, NJ)
5/1: New Jersey Marathon (Lots of towns, NJ)

kristinegift wrote: »

I'm glad I cut it short also because I am exhausted. I keep waking up 45-60 mins after I fall asleep, and then I struggle to sleep all the way through the rest of the night. And half the time I'm waking up before my alarm even goes off! I'm trying some new sleep aids to try to find something that works. You'd think that running 60 mile weeks would leave me exhausted, but I'm wide awake at bedtime. If anyone has tips/suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I need a full night of sleep, dang it!

@kristinegift, I think it's the endorphines. This was my second week on my schedule (14-16 mpw, nowhere near your mileage) and I can't sleep either! I did find, that a walk later in the day helps, kept me loose, and moving, but somehown helped me sleep more and better for some reason.

@kristinegift regarding the sleep, not sleeping. Are some of your runs later in the day? I find if I'm running later I'm just wound up and can't sleep. Also, is your body getting enough calories? Too few can disrupt your sleep. I read that some carbs before bed can help (don't remember where, but it was in regards to marathon training). Not junk, that can dehydrate you and cause you to sleep hot.

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

Reading all the running reports and other posts made me realize 3 things. We have some seriously awesome runners here, I have a lot of miles to go, and I hate the fact that I'm so far away from a lot of races.

That goes double for me! And I wish I had all the money so I could enter all the races AND I'm jealous of no parkruns here.