March 2016 Running Challenge

Elise4270 wrote: »

@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.

I sleep well after my 6:30'pm run. My only other afternoon run is around 4 pm. I am eating 2000-2500+ a day so cals are fine. But eating junk makes you sleep hot?! I usually wake up once a week totally drenched... maybe I'll have to note if that's after a night of junk nomming.

3/2-3.53
3/5-6.00
3/6-3.13
3/7-3.26
3/9-3.23 (5k pr)
3/12-7.01 (personal distance PR)
3/13-2.25 (getting closer to doing a true recovery run)

Total- 30.44/56

felt nice running in shorts and a t-shirt, with the 54 degree weather today...and I did it without headphones in! Had the song Rainbow Connection, sung by Kermit the Frog stuck in my head the whole run...I think it helped me slow down

@Stoshew71 @runner_girl83 @Becky_44 Thanks for your kind words

Sunday: 5.85 miles (walk)
Weekly total 13.01 miles
March total 21.21 miles

Goal 60 miles... Ok it was quite ambitious for me. I'll do what I can to do better in upcoming week.

Finally feeling like a runner again--can't wait for weather and schedule to permit more outdoor runs.
3/7. ER trip. Rest.
3/8. 4.25 m
3/9. 3.25 m
3/10. Sick. Cross train.
3/11. Sick. Lift.
3/12. 5.05 m
3/13. 3.5.
Weekly mileage: 16 miles
Total month to date: 31.2/60

Elise4270 wrote: »

Ya know it's better to be busy and miss a run or two than be injured and be sittin' it out.

@Elise4270 Well said and sooo true. A day sitting on the back deck or in the Pool is better than pushing the envelope and risking injury.

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

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

@MNLittleFinn That's the attitude and looks like a great event, arranged Bus's and Drop bags with your Bib number already on them. I agree with you on the list of 3 Things

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

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. /// Rainbow Connection, sung by Kermit the Frog stuck in my head the whole run

LOL

hnewman31 wrote: »

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

@hnewman31 Welcome to the group and Your not late - were just early keeners.

@kristinegift Good call on cutting it short and preventing an injury - save the body for all those future events.
Even though I grumbled about spending a whole week on the road with no runs - The rest did me good as I felt fantastic on my 20km Hill's Run yesterday and still pretty darn good on our 6km shorty today.

rune1990 wrote: »

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.

@rune1990 I am so with you on wanting to enter all races. Its not just the entry fee its the travel time and hotels. Like I said to my local Running Club members " It's the most Expensive Cheap Recreational Sport there is.
Congratulations on doing a Two Miler in the Spring Sunshine !!!!!

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

and I did it without headphones in! Had the song Rainbow Connection, sung by Kermit the Frog stuck in my head the whole run...I think it helped me slow down

I never run with headphones. I'm usually alone and run in the dark so I need to be aware of my surroundings. I sometimes use headphones if I'm taking my dog since people seem to stay as far from him as they can get. I always have some random song stuck in my head, but never that one!

March Running Totals (miles)
[2/28 – 7.78 easy]
[2/29 – 7.22 easy + 4 strides]
3/1 – 9.31 warm up + 8 x Yasso 800s
3/2 – 6.02 easy
3/3 – 15.05 easy
3/4 – scheduled rest day
3/5 – 17.01 2 easy, 13 MP, 2 easy
Weekly total 62.39 vs. target 62

3/6 – 7.70 easy
3/7 – 8.17 easy + 4 strides
3/8 – 11.67 warm up, speed work, cool down
3/9 – 11.03 easy
3/10 – 8.92 warm up, speed work, cool down
3/11 – scheduled rest day
3/12 – 15.10 easy 2 solo, pace 8, race 5
Weekly total 62.59 vs. target 62

3/13 – 11.00 – 4 easy, 3 MP, 4 easy
3/14 –
3/15 –
3/16 –
3/17 –
3/18 –
3/19 –
Weekly total TBD vs. target 68

March total to date – 120.98

Goal – 56, 62, or 68 miles per week, per training plan
Expected March total - ~282 miles

Today's notes – Today's assignment was 4 miles at E, 3 miles at MP, 4 miles at E. Got 49° F with a bit of an east wind and light cloud cover, and was able to run in shorts and a tee shirt. Ran a route with some hills, because a) that's what I have available when I run from my house, and b) hills are good training for Boston. I'm thinking to target a 7:10 pace as MP, and brought the 3 miles of MP in at 7:13, 7:05, and 7:00. Considering the fact that the 3 miles where I was running MP were net downhill, I'm OK with that. Coach's strategy is to run the first 10K of Boston at target average pace minus 10 seconds per mile, then slow down to MP. The idea is to make up some time where it's net downhill but not going crazy enough to be burnt out later when it's more challenging. I'm thinking I'll get some practice of that strategy at Spring Forward, which is all rolling hills but net downhill for the first 10K and making the elevation back up in the last 5K.

Patriot Day is 5 weeks from tomorrow. It's beginning to feel real to me.

Upcoming races:
March 26, 2016 Spring Forward Distance Run 15K (Mendon, NY)
April 18, 2016 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA)
April 24, 2016 Flower City Challenge Half Marathon (Rochester, NY)

@kristinegift What helps me if I can't sleep is a hot milk with honey or a chocolate (which kind of contradicts the "no carbs/sugar" recommendations by others, I guess everyone's different...)
That, and making sure the room is really completely dark. Not having any blue light (screens) around for an hour before sleep and no alcohol are also supposed to help with sleeping problems, from what I've heard.

@MNLittleFinn Wow for signing up for that marathon, so exciting!

@juliet3455 The description of your saturday run sounds really scenic. Floating ice in water is almost always beautiful, and an icebridge sounds really cool

@ccnagain congrats on your first "official" run! I've done all my races alone (the spectacular number of three so far ^^), but that was always fine, I never regretted going there.

@sleepigrl Congratulations on the speed and distance PR!

@runner_girl83 Nice report from your first half marathon, you did great!

@MobyCarb Wow, that was a fast race. Congratulations on the age group award! So where's the photo of you in a green tutu? ;-)

So, my planned run yesterday didn't happen. When I got back from work, it was already late, and I was feeling completely wiped out, with a sore throught on top. I decided to see if some slices nutella toast would give me enough energy for a short run - and then I zoned out enough in the kitchen to burn the bread. In my mind, anyone who is not capable of toasting a slice of bread has no business being out on the country roads after dark, so I just craweled into bed.

After a solid 11 hours of sleep the sore throat was gone and I was feeling up to my long run. And the weather was really sunny! It warmed up to 9°C (50°F) all of a sudden, and there are spring flowers popping up everywhere.
It was a really beautiful run. My only gripe were some forest trails near the halfway mark, where a cute little river (of molten snow?) was running down the same trail I wanted to run up. I ended up walking/climbing/scrambling through the underbrush next to the trail to avoid soaking my shoes in freezing water.
Originally, I had 19.3 km planned, but I got a little lost along the way and ended up with 22.4km in 2:48h instead.





I've started playing around with nutrition a bit, to figure out what to do for my HM in May. On my first run over 20km, I was fine with the carbs from one gel and 250ml orange juice. Today, I was going to follow the same strategy, but started to struggle around 18km. So I figured a second gel was in order.
I don't know if that's related to the weather (I was dressed too warm and didn't have as much to drink as I would have liked), or the fact that at that point I was running on open fields with a quite noticeable headwind. But I guess next time I'll take the second gel a bit earlier and see how that goes.