March 2016 Running Challenge

March 2016
01/3……….09.44……….9.44
02/3……….02.95……….12.39
03/3……….15.36……….27.75
04/3……….05.01……….32.76
05/3……….10.00.........42.76
06/3……….06.20……….48.96
07/3……….03.94……….52.90 + strength
08/3……….13.65……….66.55
09/3…….Sick Children...…66.55
10/3……….03.79.........70.34
11/3……….05.01……….75.35
12/3……….21.11……….96.46
13/3……….rest………….96.46
14/3……….03.23……….99.69
15/3……….15.99……….115.68
16/3…Lazy Birthday….115.68
17/3……….00.00……….115.68
18/3……….03.19……….118.87
19/3……….02.01……….120.88 Brooks vapor 2 trainers

Tried out the new trainers today. Thought my feet were sluggish and felt slow.. Kept to 2km as the storm was rolling in, only to get home and see that I shaved 1 minute of my usual 2km pace. I ran 2km in 13 minutes… Not that fast really but I’m pretty happy with that – considering the new shoes and all Really needed that today!
Emotional day tomorrow as I’ll be marching in the Melanoma march.. At least I made it to the beach before the storm hit today though.. The ocean always makes things better!




March Races
*12/3 Leukaemia Foundation Run – 21.1 km 2:53:32
*20/3 Melanoma Awareness March – 4 km
*The March Charge Monthly Challenge – 150 km

Pre5k. Decided to go for pr. It feels like 37F and DH didn't bring warm clothes. I told him I could finish in 25, he scoffed. Said that's faster than is PR. So, I've been challenged. And it's cold!



Happy running! I may have to swing back by the expo for that Brooks jacket..;)

March 2016

2/3 1k
5/3 6k
6/3 5k
9/3 1k
12/3 6k
13/3 8k
16/3 4k
17/3 4k
19/3 8k

43/75

Better than last week - starting to feel like a runner; pesky traffic lights slowing me down

By the end of the summer I might start to look like one

11/3: 3.2 Miles
13/3: 5.0 Miles
14/3: 3.7 Miles
16/3: 3.2 Miles
18/3: 4.0 Miles

Amandajs232 wrote: »

March 2016

2/3 1k
5/3 6k
6/3 5k
9/3 1k
12/3 6k
13/3 8k
16/3 4k
17/3 4k
19/3 8k

43/75

Better than last week - starting to feel like a runner; pesky traffic lights slowing me down

By the end of the summer I might start to look like one

The way you can tell a "runner" has nothing to do with body type/size/muscles, imho ... it is 100% attitude and focused determination. You are a runner *and* you look like a runner! Rock on!

So, I had my 10km race today and although the original plan was to try and PR, beating my time of 56:10 that I set in January, as I had been ill I realised how unrealistic that was as sub-55 was still really a long-term goal.

Or so I thought!

2 cups of coffee, some chocolate and race day buzz later and I SMASHED MY PR!!! My official chip time was 52:55!!!!! I never ever ever thought I'd get that fast, so to do it today was amaaaazing! I thought I was going to pass out at the 9km mark but hey, let's forget that... It was such a good race!!! Aaaaaaahhhhh!!

Ok, I'll calm down now. Maybe...

1st March - 3.03 miles
3rd March - 4.03 miles
6th March - 9.13 miles
8th March - 3.30 miles
12th March - 10.28 miles
17th March - 3.77 miles
19th March - 6.22 10km race PR!

MTD - 39.76/65 miles

Upcoming races:
19th Mar - Spring Riverside 10km
3rd Apr - Paddock Wood Half Marathon
8th May - Run Hackney Half Marathon
2nd Oct - Tonbridge Half Marathon
30th Oct - River Thames Half Marathon

3/1-2.03
3/2-3.53
3/3-Rest
3/4-Rest
3/5-6.00
3/6-3.13
3/7-3.26
3/8-Rest
3/9-3.23 (5k pr)
3/10-Rest
3/11-Rest
3/12-7.01 (personal distance PR)
3/13-2.25 (getting closer to doing a true recovery run)
3/14-3.14
3/15-2.02 (4-10 inches of snow in the forecast for tomorrow, so I snuck a quick run in tonight)
3/16-Crosstrain HIIT core work
3/17-Rest
3/18-3.01 (First AM run, in the dark)
3/19- 6.27

Total: 44.89/56

Noticed that on the last couple runs, I've been a little more tired and my estimated V02 Max is lower.....the 12 degrees F temps might have something to do with that. Core gets too warm and legs get too cold with just running pants and too warm with the bolar fleece on.

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
3/14: Impromptu rest day
3/15: 6 miles (am), 8 miles (pm)
3/16: 10 miles (am), 7 miles with Wednesday crew (pm)
3/17: DC mini-vacation
3/18: DC mini-vacation
3/19: 7.2 miles

This run was half good and half worrisome. On one hand, it felt great to put on my shoes and run after a couple days off. My legs felt really refreshed. But my calf/ankle/shin tightness hasn't gone away. I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what part of my lower leg is the problem. I know it's from wearing too-stiff shoes on an all-out 5k race. Mistake. But I can't tell if I'm having problems with my ankle or if my calves are just really tight and making things uncomfortable everywhere. The discomfort roves, so it's hard to pinpoint. And nothing is swollen, warm, etc. The muscle/tendons are tender a few inches above my ankle, but NOT bone (I did much panicked googling about stress fractures, and I think this is a tissue, not bone, problem). So I'm taking the "cure it all" approach today so I can try to get my 22 in tomorrow: compression sleeves, foam roll, tennis ball massage, bath... I think I should also write an apology letter to my lower legs and hope they'll forgive me.

At this point, I'm less concerned about mileage than getting my legs back in line. So if I don't get this long LR in or hit my 250 for March, it's fine. I know I can run 26.2 miles as long as I get to the starting line healthy. Hopefully my legs will be better tomorrow, but if not, I am prepared to make sacrifices!



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)

longest run since I got injured a year ago ... 8 today and feeling great! Oh and my baseline on the TM is officially 6.0 now. Time to shoot for 6.2.

My training pace was 10-11 minute mile, race pace average was 8:45. Keep running slow.

1---3.57 walk
2---7.06
3---3.55
4---7.47 walk
5---5.75
6---3.03
7--- work late, DOMS, rain
8---work late, headache, rain
9---6.61cramps
10---5.05 cramps
11---5.41
12---7.33
13---worked, slept
14---2.3 walk, biked 9
15---7.23 easy
16,17---eat days
18---travel/crazy day
19---5k turned out to be 2.85miles, about 0.5k short. So no PR. So sad.. So so sad.

Good news I did beat DH by 2 minutes. He said he wasn't trying, and it doesn't count because the course was short. Stage 1. - Denial.

I'm positive I will not come close to his half time tomorrow. I'm hoping for 2:15, he'll be 1:55 ish, if I can get him to eat more.

 68.23 miles/150 Dang, I'm behind!


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  411.30/ 2016

Nice seeing all the run reports coming in for the day. @louubelle16 congrats, that's awesome!

12 mile long run today along my favorite hilly 12 mile route that I trained on last year. I'm happy with how it went but will spend the rest of the day wondering what my pace would have been without the 2 walking breaks to take fuel/hydrate. Lately I try to keep running through those but my ankle was trying to trick me into thinking that something might have felt off. The ankle lied.

3/1 - 5 miles
3/2 - 5 miles
3/3 - 5 miles
3/4 - Rest
3/5 - 12 miles
3/6 - 5 miles
3/7 - 5 miles
3/8 - 5 miles
3/9 - 5 miles
3/10 - 5 miles
3/11 - Rest
3/12 - 12 miles
3/13 - 5 miles
3/14 - 5 miles
3/15 - 5 miles
3/16 - 5 miles
3/17 - 5 miles
3/19 - 12 miles

101/150 Miles



Upcoming races:
4/9 - Rock the Parkway half marathon (Kansas City, MO)
4/16 - Garmin Wickedly Fast half marathon (Olathe, KS)
4/23 - Race for Hope half marathon (North Kansas City, MO)
5/1 - Buffalo Bell Stampede half marathon (Leavenworth, KS)
5/14 - Running with the Cows half marathon (Bucyrus, KS)
6/2 - Hospital Hill 5k 7pm PRE-RUN (Kansas City, MO)
6/3 - Hospital Hill half marathon 7am RE-RUN (Kansas City, MO)
10/15 - Kansas City Marathon 26.2 (Kansas City, MO)
11/5 - Jenks half marathon (Jenks, OK)
11/6 - Kansas half marathon (Lawrence, KS)
11/12 - Longview half marathon (Kansas City, MO)
11/13 - Gobbler Grind half marathon (Overland Park, KS)
11/19 - White River half marathon (Cotter, AR)
11/20 - Pilgrim Pacer half marathon (Lenexa, KS)

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 – 5.74 easy + 4 strides
3/15 – 7.96 easy
3/16 – 9.41 easy
3/17 – 9.79 easy
3/18 – scheduled rest day 2.38 easy
3/19 – 22.03 (14 with 8:00 pace group + 8 solo)
Weekly total 68.31 vs. target 68

March total to date – 178.29

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

Today's notes – I pace 8:00 or 8:30 with a local training group on Saturdays. Most of the time, there are no runners wanting to run at an 8:00 pace. Today, there was my friend Jim who paces 8:30 but can run 8 and one other Boston qualified runner I had not met previously. She has been running with the 8:30 group, but Jim has told me she could run 8:00. So the three of us set out with no fixed pace target other than whatever felt good between 8:00 and 8:30.

It turned out that what felt good to the other Boston trainee was somewhere in the 8:03 to 8:05 range. The assignment for the training program was 14 miles, structured as an 8 mile plus a 6 mile. The three of us ran the 8, coming in at 8:03 or 8:04 average. Jim ran a mile and a half more with us before dropping out because his hard training day is tomorrow; the other runner and I finished 14 at about that same pace. Then I went and ran the 8 again to get my miles in. Turned out I ran a negative split, and ended up doing 22.03 miles in 2:55:21 for an average pace of 7:58.

Realization: It was easier to run 22 miles capping a 68 mile week today than it was to run 22 miles capping a 41 mile week before my first marathon. I don't feel as beat up afterward, even given my right ankle situation compared to no specific injuries the last time. I conclude there's something to the concept of having a solid base in addition to the long run. I might quibble about the exact percentage of the week that a long run can be, but the idea that it shouldn't be the super-dominant part of the training week is making a lot of sense.

The route was just a bit longer than the stated 8 and 6, so I could have run a little further to get back to the start. But I stopped when I did because I saw a photo opp. This is what Lake Ontario looked like while I was running this morning:



Technically, the picture was taken immediately after I stopped running; but it is similar to the views I had while running the path or streets near the lake shore. The white caps indicate that there was a north wind. The wind was no big deal for the first 14 miles, but picked up a bit and I felt it on the northbound stretches of the last 8. Temperature was 25° F (-4° C) when I started, and might have warmed a bit during the run but probably didn't quite reach the freezing point.

This was a real confidence booster for me. The ankle felt a little better this morning than yesterday morning, and felt good enough after the run that it didn't seem like I needed to ice it. I iced it anyway, on general principle.

No more 22 mile runs for me before Boston, and the weekly mileage will be stepping down between now and race day.

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)

3/01: 3 miles, easy (am)
3/01: 6 miles, 2x1 mile at LTP (7:30) then 800m @ 5K pace (pm)
3/02: 6 miles, easy
3/03: 5 miles, 5x800m @ 6:45 pace with 400m recovery jog between
3/04: 5 miles, easy
3/05: 6 miles, easy
3/06: 13.1 miles, long and easy
3/07: Off, have the flu
3/08: 4.25 miles, easy
3/09: 5 miles, easy (am)
3/09: 5 miles, easy (pm)
3/10: 4.75 miles, 3x800m @ 6:45 pace + 2x400m @ 6:30 pace with 400m recovery jog between
3/11: 5 miles, super easy
3/12: 2 miles, warm up
3/12: 5K race, 23:27
3/13: 9 miles, easy with strong finish
3/14: 5 miles, easy
3/15: 5 miles, 1.5 miles at LT pace (7:40)
3/16: 5 miles, easy
3/17: 5 miles, 3x1/2 mile @ 7:00 pace with 1/2 mile recovery
3/18: Off, rest day
3/19: 3 miles, easy with quick finish
Total: 105.74 miles

Nice easy run today before my 10 mile race tomorrow! It was raining pretty hard but I really wanted to get this run in. The nice thing about FL is that you never have to worry about cold, cold rain like we have in Chicago so I didn't mind getting soaked haha. Averaged ~9:20 pace for the first 2.5 miles, then picked it up to ~7:50 (goal race pace?) for the last half mile to stretch my legs out. My goal for tomorrow is under 1:20 (or under an 8 minute mile); it's looking like we might get some hard rain for the race though so I might have to adjust my goal a bit. Wish me luck!





Races I'm registered for:
03/20 - Excalibur 10 Miler
03/26 - Chicago Quarter Marathon
04/03 - Shamrock Shuffle (8K)
04/09 - Chi Town Half Marathon
04/24 - Ravenswood Run (5K)
05/28 - Soldier Field Run (10 miles)
10/09 - Chicago Marathon
11/27 - Space Coast Half Marathon

W7D2 of C25K in the books! Felt strong the whole time, breathing has been great. Looking forward to the end soon...!