March 2016 Running Challenge

@Stoshew71, @Amandajs232 - I will share any experiences/data I can, but from my readings the research that seemed to show benefits were in regards to drinking beet juice before a run. But there are potty break side effects that I certainly don't want to deal with considering the amount of planning I do to avoid such pit stops at my age/whatever. I suspect it will help with iron, and therefore the transport of oxygen to muscles via blood, at least more than if I did not have such an iron rich regular food source. I've noticed that even multivitamins are a bit weak on the iron to avoid giving too much. If I look at my diet overall some added iron like this is a good idea so I suspect I will rant and rave about beets being wonderful, but truth be told it's probably just something I needed to add to my diet anyway.

March Running Totals (km)
3/1- 1.4 (1.4/35)
3/2- 2.51 (3.91/35)
3/3- 1.42 (5.33/35)
3/4- DOMS hit hard. Need to remember to foam roll!
3/5- Life
3/6- 3 (8.33/35)
3/7- Life
3/8- 3.5 & 1.97 (13.8/35)
3/9- 1.41 (15.21/35)
3/10- Cross training
3/11- Life
3/12- 3.1 (18.31/35)
3/13- 3.6 (21.91/35)
3/14- Strength
3/15- 3.6 (25.51/35)
3/16- 5.1 (30.61/35) Shamrock 5k
3/17- Rest kind of. Walked at work, taught fitness class (participated in about half)
3/18- Rest and fun night out with friends
3/19- 3.2 (33.81/35)
3/20- Rest
3/21- 3.6 (37.41/35) Great run! Stopped after the halfway point to stretch the calves, other than that I never walked more than a couple of steps to avoid a car or other obstacle. Breathing felt great, calves weren't happy most of the run but didn't full on cramp up, and while I'm slow I'm getting better at maintaining a consistent pace. It was one of those runs that reminds me of why I love running. Added bonus is I've met my goal for the month!!! Any advice on what to do about the calf tightness? I stretch and foam roll regularly.
3/22-
3/23-
3/24-
3/25-
3/26-
3/27-
3/28-
3/29-
3/30-
3/31-

Races
March 16th- Shamrock Run (47:05)
April 10th- Run For Home HM (Relay Team)
May ?- TuscBDD 5k
June 25th- Indian Mud Run
August 13th- Insane Inflatable 5k
August 20th- Warrior Dash

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
3/20: 10 mile race, 1:19:39
3/21: 4 miles, easy
Total: 119.82 miles

Overview:
Today’s run was a super easy, slow 4 miles to let my legs recover from yesterday. No pain anywhere so that’s good, though my legs were feeling pretty sore! It’s my last day in florida, I’m pretty sad to be leaving my family and the warmth

Thanks @WhatMeRunning @MNLittleFinn @CivicSista @Elise4270 @kristinegift @rohanivan @Stoshew71 @rune1990 @louubelle16 and anyone else I missed!

@CivicSista - I see we took matching pictures! Congratulations on the relay! You didn't happen to sign up for the Eat my Crust 5K, did you? I wont be in FL for that one, but the medals sounded really cute! I'm trying to talk my (non athletic) little sister into registering for it haha

@Elise4270 - Awesome race weekend, way to power through those races! Thanks for letting us know about the believe journal sale too; I'm almost all the way through my red one and have been meaning to get my hands on the lavender one next!

@kristinegift - Happy (belated) birthday! Seems like the perfect way to celebrate- with a nice long run and an awesome dinner! Sound like you got some pretty great presents too I don't know about "blazing" fast but I'm pretty happy with my pace; my goal is to run a sub 1:45 half marathon (hopefully at my next one in 3 weeks!) so successfully racing 10 miles at my goal pace was a great confidence boost!

@MobyCarp - Thank you! I made the costumes myself, so that helped a lot. Was able to specifically design something that wouldn't get in the way of running (too much) while still fitting the theme! From what I could tell, I was the first person to finish in costume; too bad they don't give out awards for that too!





Races I'm registered for:
03/20 - Excalibur 10 Miler 1:19:39 - PR and 2nd in my age group!
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

I shaved off 3 minutes off my 5k time just by losing around 5 kg. From 26 min to 23 min. Didn't even felt hard. I'm 5 kg lighter now so probably I'm even faster. Should test it one day.

ariceroni wrote: »

@Elise4270 - Awesome race weekend, way to power through those races! Thanks for letting us know about the believe journal sale too; I'm almost all the way through my red one and have been meaning to get my hands on the lavender one next!

Your welcome. I had the red one first, and it was hand signed by Lo&Ro. My lavender one isn't signed.

greenolivetree wrote: »

ariceroni wrote: »

Stoshew71 wrote: »

Article I came across since I know we talked about this last week. Weight loss correlated to better race times.

http://www.runnersworld.com/for-beginners-only/how-does-weight-loss-affect-my-running-speed?cid=soc_Runner's World - RunnersWorld_FBPAGE_Runner’s World__Nutrition_RunningTips

I've heard a lot (and experience personally) the difference that weight loss can make on running. I'm pretty shocked by this though: "The general guideline for weight loss for women runners is 1200 to 1500 calories a day, and 1500 to 1800 calories a day for men" Seems almost irresponsible to recommend such a low calorie intake, especially to runners! I couldn't imagine trying to run while eating so little... As the saying goes, If you chase two rabbits you won't catch either one. I think it's probably better to focus on either losing weight or getting faster, but both at the same time sounds like it could be too much.

I agree! Too few calories. I tanked in fall of 2014 from eating too little and getting too thin. Couldn't run a mile anymore. I could stand to lose 10lbs now though! I keep saying I'm gonna do that

most likely they need to address to the entire crowd. If you are just 10 pounds over your ideal weight those seem good. But if they said 2500 for a man and a guy at 170 lbs wanted to get to 160 while running 10 k a week obviously would complain that he doesn't lose weight. 1800 for a man generally isn't that less since the average man consumes 2500 a day to maintain and women 2000. So they probably based on that

ceciliaslater wrote: »

Conversation of the day:

Random cashier: You're not moving very well today.
Me: I ran a marathon yesterday.
Cashier: Oh, a 5k?
Me: Uh, no. 26.2 miles...

*shakes head* silly non runners!

Ha this happened to me on sunday. Finish my 6k run and wanted a kebab since I craved it so much and the vendor looked at me and asked me while I'm so sweatty. Told her I just ran a short one and she asked me how much. Just 6k. Her response "you sure you don't want fries?"

Also "be careful that your heart won't explode" cracks me up every time, especially when overweight people tell that


.....Date.....Distance...Pace (min/km).........................Random thought of the day
March 01 - rest
March 02 - 5 km............(4:42).........Stop bouncing like Bambi you idiot you gonna kill your knees
March 03 - 7 km............(6:00)............................Bend at the ankles not the waist.
March 04 - 3.5 km.........(7.46)....................A metronome app helps with your cadence
March 05 - rest
March 06 - 15 km..........(6:00)............Need to taper long run next week but don't want to
March 07 - 5 km............(7:08).........................,.............Treadmills suck
March 08 - rest(4k walk)
March 09 - 3 km............(6:00).................................Treadmills really suck
March 10 - dead
March 11 - dead
March 12 - dead
March 13 - dead
March 14 - 4 km.............(4:20).......................Turns out I'm quite good at biomechanics
March 15 - rest
March 16 - 4.4 km..........(6:50).................I can't do this any slower watch leave me alone
March 17 - 3.4 km..........(5:50)......................Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap
March 18 - 3.4 km..........(5:00)........................................Gotta go fast
March 19 - rest (xt)
March 20 - 6.5 km..........(5:40)........................................Praise the sun
March 21 - 5.3 km+ONE (1) hour of stationary bike.Above & Beyond Acoustic - "Satellite / Stealing Time"




03/04: Bucharest 10k and Family run (registered)
16/04: Color Run Bucharest (registered)
15/05: Bucharest Half Marathon (need to register till march 31)

In regards to the discussion on daily calories for runners...

My daily calorie intake calculated by MFP for my current weight of 247 pounds (BMI 32.3) is 1880 calories per day, set to 1.5 pounds/week loss. Any running I do I eat back those exercise calories. So I guess 1800 is about right for me if you DON'T count running AND assume 1.5 pounds/week weight loss.

@elise4270 @ceciliaslater

A few days ago the 6633 Arctic Ultra (566 km) ended and a romanian won it

The romanian president decided to congratulate him but made the mistake of calling it the Arctic Marathon. I'm guessing for non-runners everything that involves running for 1 hour or more is a marathon

Back to my regular schedule tomorrow. Ready! And feeling much better.