April 2016 Running Challenge

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  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    @9voice9 - It could be possible that you need to work the other way. Perhaps 11:16 is your training pace and maybe you could run a 10k faster?

    Correct. The time you enter into the McMillan calculator should be a race PR time. If you took it easier than race pace, then you are not correctly putting in a correct time. You may try running a single mile in the best time you can (leaving nothing in the tank at the end) and then entering that into the calculator and see if that makes a difference.

  • shanaber
    shanaber Posts: 6,423 Member
    pthyay wrote: »

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    Oookay, you guys must find this a little funny, but I'm a beginner dragging a couple of health problems around, so I'm quite happy with my single kilometre. ;) I was going to do more, but my knee started acting up a bit, and I've learned to stop right away when that happens.

    @pthyay - when I started I could not run a single block. I would run a little and walk a little and when I felt I could I ran a little more... We all have to start from scratch and depending on where we are we may be able to a little or a lot but the point is we are doing it and that is the most important thing! You got up and got out that door!
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    9voice9 wrote: »
    @WhatMeRunning, @MNLittleFinn: thanks for the responses. I guess I was hoping for a magic formula that would let me be easier, not smart folks who know that I needed a kick in the *kitten*. :smiley:
    I'm in a strange "kick in the kitten" spot myself. I know my 5k time from a bunch of dedicated speedwork over the winter. While my long run, easy pace and even tempo paces in the McMillan calculator seem spot on given that 5k time, it is suggesting a half marathon time that I am not 100% confident is possible. Same with the marathon time. So I have to take it that I am being a wussy on those half marathon distances and not pushing hard enough apparently!:lol:
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    edited April 2016
    oops...duplicate post
  • shanaber
    shanaber Posts: 6,423 Member
    Elise4270 wrote: »
    @WhatMeRunning dang, I figured alcohol was an appetite suppressant. But your right, it does mess with your blood sugar- I forgot it always makes me want ice cream. I think I'm going to have to plan better. My body knows we run after work, so it seems to be seriously concerned about getting food early in the day, which is when I eat the least.
    My scale is eeking down ever so slowly. I totally don't want to sabatoge that. I figured you must have develooed an appetite balance with all those miles and still moving the scale.

    As far as the miles from March- I just scrolled through the last few days of the posts and sought out the ones i couldnt find on Strava. Then just used Excel for the math.

    Hey! 1130! It's lunch time!
    @Elise4270 - for me the difference maker seems to be protein. I know carbs give us the energy for running but protein seems to be what I need to have more of to keep the rungaries away. I have reduced my carbs some and increased my proteins and when I stick to it my rungaries seem to stay in check...
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    My experience is similar to @shanaber as for reducing carbs a bit. I've adopted basically a "carb cycling for runners" approach but a bit more simple than the complex formulas presented by that whole routine. It works easily for me because I run in the mornings, I'm not sure how I could do this if I ran later in the day. :smile:

    What I do is run first thing before eating. Immediately after the run I have a recovery shake. That gets me a lot of carbs for refueling glycogen plus the protein. An hour or two later my "recovery meal" has fewer carbs than my recovery shake did, but no fewer than 50%. Between the two meals I try to have the calories from the carbs be somewhat near my burn from the run (except long runs of course). After that I go low carb the rest of the day. I have not suffered in performance one bit despite being low carb most of the day. Long run days are different though. Those days I have another meal or two with carbs, again with the goal of getting somewhat near the same number of cals from carbs that I burned on the run, and then go low carb the rest of the day.

    I have fewer cravings this way, although with the added carbs on long run days I have noticed those days are when I get some crazy cravings and sometimes eat something I wish I hadn't. But on all of hte other days it seems really easy to maintain.

    It might not be a real method, and maybe it only works for me. But I'm really happy with how I'm performing on that plan, and the weight started dropping too (might be coincidence).
  • SunnyDuckling
    SunnyDuckling Posts: 204 Member
    Went out again this morning for a walk. This makes 3 now! I really want this consistency to stick.

    1) Mon 4 April 3.32km
    2) Mon 4 April 2.98km
    3) Tue 5 April 3.10km

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  • whatang
    whatang Posts: 102 Member
    whatang wrote: »
    Missed my March goal by about 8 miles: I took the last week off when I had to abandon a long run 4 miles in with a calf strain. It didn't feel right so I wanted to stay off it rather than push it until it went seriously wrong, so no running for 10 days. Ugh.

    It's been feeling a bit better now, so I tried an easy 5k today. Still a bit tight, but nothing nasty going on, so I think I'll be ok to ease back in. Going to aim for the same 75 miles I was going for last month.
    Welp, that's not going to happen. Popped my hamstring tonight :(
  • AdrianChr92
    AdrianChr92 Posts: 567 Member
    edited April 2016
    @9voice9 My cadence is 160-165 usually. I've been working on it trying to increase it. I did it today at a very very slow pace of 12 min/mile and got to around 168-170 for a couple of km.

    What I notices. The ride was smoother, pace was more silent, but my heart rate was 10 beats higher. It felt better but I think I am not used to it and I have to work extra for that faster turnover. My steps were real small though and my lower leg certainly didn't lift too much since it didn't have time. I've been working on this too, lower leg lift but it seems you need to go fast to happen. I'm not really convinced 180 is a magic number though. All things related to it are from observation of Olympic runners and those are pretty fast. Their recovery pace is my sprint pace. Any coaches I asked in person said they never considered cadence as part of their training. So I don't really know.

    Date.......Distance...Pace (min/km).........................Sarcastic tips from someone who ran since December
    April 1 - 3 km...........(7:30)..................................Your cotton shirts will do just fine. Your nipples won't bleed
    April 2 - rest
    April 3 - 10 km.........(4:51).................................Go fast first miles in a race, you won't bonk near the end
    April 4 - 5.2 km........(7:35)..........................................................Buy all the shoes

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    03/04: Bucharest 10k and Family run (registered) 48:37, 188/1010
    16/04: Color Run Bucharest (registered)
    15/05: Bucharest Half Marathon
  • whatang
    whatang Posts: 102 Member
    @ceciliaslater so sorry to hear about Maggie. What a horrible situation. My sympathies.
  • onesmallchoice
    onesmallchoice Posts: 16 Member
    4/1-rest
    4/2-2 mi
    4/3-2 mi
    4/4-2 mi

    Short runs three days in a row and my back/hip seem to be holding up! If this keeps up, I'll be back in actual training in no time! Not in time to run an upcoming 10k, but I tell myself I'm just feeling out the course to come back and kick its butt next year. :)
  • michable
    michable Posts: 312 Member
    @ceciliaslater I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to your poor Maggie! You all must be traumatised by what has happened. I am so scared of aggressive dogs; we often hear about terrible dog attacks on small children here. Aggressive dogs really need to be restrained and contained at all times!
  • librarianlady2012
    librarianlady2012 Posts: 56 Member

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  • michable
    michable Posts: 312 Member
    @MNLittleFinn Pleased to hear you are getting a headlamp for running through national forest in the dark! I always wear my head lamp when I am running early before it's light, and it helps me spot any spider webs across the path before I run through them (I really hate running through spider webs - it is almost enough to put me off early morning running); also helps me spot any dogs that might be loose too so I can turn around and go a different way - I find a lot of dogs tend to get out overnight, and I don't trust them at all. I don't have to worry about bears or cougars here, though.
  • michable
    michable Posts: 312 Member
    Easy 8.7 km this morning, at 7:08 min/km; av HR 131; max HR 148. Nice, cool conditions this morning, at 20C. Winter is coming, I guess.

    Apr 1 – Rest
    Apr 2 – 27.55 km
    Apr 3 – Rest
    Apr 4 – 8.59 km
    Apr 5 – 8.72 km

    Total: 44.86 km / 240 km

    Races:
    5 June Rocky River Run 21km
    3 July Gold Coast Marathon


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  • shanaber
    shanaber Posts: 6,423 Member
    I had a really great run today just doing my regular 5 mile loop. It was warm again but not nearly as warm as Saturday's 80. The problem I am having now is when I first start out my cast vibrates and bugs me so I am trying to hold it still with my fingers as much as possible. I will need to retrain myself to not clutch my hand once I get it off :) Then about midway into my run my arm starts to swell and by the time I get home it is feeling claustrophobic... It just wants out of that cast! The good news is I only have a little over a week to deal with it. I will still have to wear a brace when I run but I will be able to remove it when I get home until I shower and cool down.

    Date..........Miles.........Total
    04/01.......5.44..........5.44
    04/02.......8.33........13.77
    04/03.......0.00........13.77
    04/04.......5.25........19.02

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    Upcoming Races - Let me know if you will be running too!
    06/25/16 - SHEPower Virtual Half Marathon
    07/31/16 - San Francisco 2nd Half Marathon
    09/xx/16 - Beat the Blerch Half Marathon, Seattle
    xx/xx/xx - Nike Women's Half Marathon, Los Angeles
    12/18/16 - San Diego Holiday Half Marathon
  • ariceroni
    ariceroni Posts: 422 Member
    9voice9 wrote: »
    @WhatMeRunning, @MNLittleFinn: thanks for the responses. I guess I was hoping for a magic formula that would let me be easier, not smart folks who know that I needed a kick in the *kitten*. :smiley:
    I'm in a strange "kick in the kitten" spot myself. I know my 5k time from a bunch of dedicated speedwork over the winter. While my long run, easy pace and even tempo paces in the McMillan calculator seem spot on given that 5k time, it is suggesting a half marathon time that I am not 100% confident is possible. Same with the marathon time. So I have to take it that I am being a wussy on those half marathon distances and not pushing hard enough apparently!:lol:

    This could also be an indication that you are better at short distance running than long distance! I'm the same way- if I use my 5K PR, race calculators consistently predict HM times that are ~5 minutes faster than my PR for that distance. Keep in mind, my HM PR was ran 2 weeks after the 5K race that I used to calculate that time and I puked/nearly passed out at the end so I really don't believe I could have done it any faster. I think this was discussed a little in last month's thread, that some people excel more in shorter or longer races. I have some characteristics of both categories, but when it comes to races I definitely do better on shorter races.
  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
    Shoes arrive Thursday, headlamp and new pants arrive Wed, in time for my Thursday run! Tomorrow will be my last day running without light.
  • librarianlady2012
    librarianlady2012 Posts: 56 Member
    @ceciliaslater
    So sorry for your loss. That was a very traumatic way to lose a friend. We just lost our lab, Belle, to cancer and that was bad, but I couldn't imagine your sudden & traumatic loss.
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    9voice9 wrote: »
    @WhatMeRunning, @MNLittleFinn: thanks for the responses. I guess I was hoping for a magic formula that would let me be easier, not smart folks who know that I needed a kick in the *kitten*. :smiley:
    I'm in a strange "kick in the kitten" spot myself. I know my 5k time from a bunch of dedicated speedwork over the winter. While my long run, easy pace and even tempo paces in the McMillan calculator seem spot on given that 5k time, it is suggesting a half marathon time that I am not 100% confident is possible. Same with the marathon time. So I have to take it that I am being a wussy on those half marathon distances and not pushing hard enough apparently!:lol:

    The standard calculators use formulas and assumptions. Among the assumptions are: 1) You are optimally trained for the race at the pace the calculator spits out, and 2) the limiting factor on speed is your cardio conditioning.

    What happens with longer races, particularly when the distance is new to you, is that the cardio might not be the limiting factor. The calculators all said I could run a marathon in 3:14 or so, from my half marathon times; but I actually ran my first marathon in 3:21 or so. The limiting factor was muscular/skeletal, not cardio. Also, my training was rather light and the "optimally trained for the distance" assumption probably didn't hold.

    With further training and development, the calculators now think I can run a marathon in the 3:05 to 3:07 range. I'll be delighted to hit the 3:10 to 3:15 range.

    FWIW, I know a guy who has run many marathons and tells me he could never hit the time the calculators spit out. My working assumption is that non-cardio factors are more important for non-elite runners, and the calculators are built off data from elites.
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    April Running Totals (miles)
    4/1 – scheduled rest day
    4/2 – 13.31 easy
    4/3 – 7.83 easy
    4/4 – 4.59 easy 30 minutes + 4 strides

    April total to date – 25.73

    Nominal Challenge Goal – 200 miles
    Real Goals: Taper well. Arrive at Hopkinton healthy. Run Boston well. Recover well.

    Today's notes – This morning I took a shovel and cleared an inch of wet heavy snow from my driveway. It was still coming down lightly, but with the blacktop driveway cleared it didn't stick during the day. It accumulated to about three inches on the grass, but the town plowed and salted the roads. By the time I got out to run this evening, I had mostly clear asphalt to run on.

    Today's assignment was 30 minutes at E plus 4 strides. First real taste of taper; 30 minutes seemed like *nothing*. That doesn't even take me 4 miles! But I broke 4 miles by adding on the strides, so I felt better about that. There sure was a lot of time left in the evening when I got done.

    The speed work assignment tomorrow won't feel like taper at all.

    2016 races:
    January 1, 2016 Resolution Run 7.5 mile (Mendon, NY) finished in 53:58
    January 9, 2016 Winter Warrior Half Marathon (Gates, NY) finished in 1:30:59
    March 12, 2016 Johnny's Runnin' of the Green 5 mile (Rochester, NY) finished in 32:32
    March 26, 2016 Spring Forward Distance Run 15K (Mendon, NY) finished in 1:05:24
    April 18, 2016 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA)
    April 24, 2016 Flower City Challenge Half Marathon (Rochester, NY)
    May 15, 2016 Highland Hospital Lilac Run 10K (Rochester, NY)
    June 19, 2016 Medved 5K to Cure ALS (Rochester, NY)
    July 16, 2016 Shoreline Half Marathon (Hilton, NY)
    September 18, 2016 Rochester Marathon (Rochester, NY)
  • 9voice9
    9voice9 Posts: 693 Member
    @WhatMeRunning, @lporter229, @Stoshew71, @AdrianChr92: thanks for the responses. I need to digest what you're saying - but in the meantime, if you're interested, I believe that all of my activity on Strava is non-private, so you can see what I have there. Just so happens that I often run with a HRM, but not today. Did have it Saturday on the 10.5K, so there's that.
  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    9voice9 wrote: »
    I felt so bad and the doctor said when they have no fever and seem fine (except when they are throwing up duh), you just don't realize they are really that sick.
    As parents - there is no worse feeling in the world than knowing your kid is feeling bad, and feeling helpless to do much about it. I know, there's also a tinge of "kid, what were you thinking, not following instructions", but that's nothing compared to the heart-hurt for your kids. Sorry for Skip and sorrier for you!

    @9voice9 thank you :heart:
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
    edited April 2016
    Over 80 posts since my last Visit. I won't be able to touch or read all of them.
    pcarvalho3 wrote: »
    So, it's started. I signed up for a 10k next Sunday. It's my first 10K. So here's my question should I run Saturday or rest? Thanks for your insights

    @pcarvalho3 That's a very open ended question and you are probably getting a lot of different replies - suggestions. I would have to ask " Do you run on Back to Back days in your average weekly running schedule?
    Do you do a short run and then long run, ie Running Sequence? ". My Personal Preference is skewed by the fact that since I have to travel at least 3-6 hours minimum for any Race Event so I am always driving and staying in Hotels I like to get a Small Leg Stretching run ( 2-3 km ) in after all the driving. This saved me at my race on Feb 7 as the shoes I had planned on running in suffered a terminal/structural failure during this stretch run - fortunately I had my secondary rotation shoes in my kit so I was able to Run with confidence in my Emergency Replacement Shoes.
    pcarvalho3 wrote: »
    Hey welcome to my world! I'm 5'11" and frequently have to buy man's clothing and shoes because of size. My ski boots are exactly the same as my husbands,1 size different, that's how we tell them apart. It's not easy not being average.
    @pcarvalho3 It's not east - not being average, could be worst as Kermit would say " It's not easy being Green".

    @pthyay @WhatMeRunning said it best
    1 km is about a kilometer further than a huge segment of the population has run, that is for sure! And you do need to be smart about how you approach running with the ankle, so you should be proud! I think it is really something just to even try when the reasons to avoid running might seem so appealing.

    @Elise4270 - As for Rungries and them turning into Hangries - Been There Done That. I have to keep some Protein Packed Snacks handy - my favorites are Old Cheese and Yogurt. Which is not good for anyone who is Lactose intolerant. I used to keep Cliffs Bars but they just don't quite fill the Hangry Hole and too many carbs/calories.

    @ceciliaslater Like others I updated my Profile Photo too in honor of your Maggie. It is a Picture that I used when I started on MFP of my Aunty Juliets Dog " Halmar" ( Norweigan Name ) that we found in her collection of photo's after she passed away.

    I don't understand why in some posts my MFP Profile shows one picture and my profile shows a different picture?
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
    12 km in 82 mins. That might seem really slow but it was 2 km along the Riverbank, 3 km uphill, 1 km on top the hill then turned around and headed straight back down the same route for home. When I say hill it is a serious Switch back climb, 330m Elevation in 3km = 110m/1000m.

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    04/01 – 0.0 Km – 0.0 - 140 km
    04/02 – 10. Km – 10 km- 130 km
    04/02 – 8.0 Km – 18 km- 122 km
    04/04 – 12 km – 30 km – 110 km – YTD 420.8 km
  • dkewatson
    dkewatson Posts: 1,415 Member
    4/1 - rest
    4/2 - rest
    4/3 - 2.85 mi
    4/4 - 3.49 mi
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  • greenolivetree
    greenolivetree Posts: 1,282 Member
    whatang wrote: »
    whatang wrote: »
    Missed my March goal by about 8 miles: I took the last week off when I had to abandon a long run 4 miles in with a calf strain. It didn't feel right so I wanted to stay off it rather than push it until it went seriously wrong, so no running for 10 days. Ugh.

    It's been feeling a bit better now, so I tried an easy 5k today. Still a bit tight, but nothing nasty going on, so I think I'll be ok to ease back in. Going to aim for the same 75 miles I was going for last month.
    Welp, that's not going to happen. Popped my hamstring tonight :(

    OUCH!
  • akerra27
    akerra27 Posts: 117 Member

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  • akerra27
    akerra27 Posts: 117 Member
    Yay! Finally got my ticker