May 2016 Running Challenge

well.....This is interesting....I was checking the website for the HM I have on 7 weeks, and they not longer have the course map posted....course change coming maybe?

@7lenny7 - Great race report & recap and congrads on a great race time and first marathon! Sounds like a fantastic course and reasonably well executed race plan. Usually the cup of coffee is enough for me to get my stomach clear, but maybe some metamucil the prior night with dinner could help. Fighting through the late race aches/pains/bonks is always tough, but congrads on holding things together and not blowing up (as I've seen that happen way too often to friends). Also, definitely a fan of more detailed race reports! I still never get enough sleep the night before a marathon (even at this point), but usually compensate with adequate sleep 2 nights prior which seems to do the trick.

instantmartian wrote: »

Funny little kind-of-running-related story:
Saturday afternoon, as I was sitting on my butt in front of the TV, my male cat came over, and plopped himself on my lap. His right ear looked like it was wet. I took my thumb and rubbed it, and it was not wet, but actually coated in some sort of sticky substance that smelled sweet and almost a little fruity. I had absolutely no idea what it could have possibly been, but I noticed it was on his right cheek, too. I got a wet paper towel and wiped his ear and face off, which he was not at all happy about. I was still very confused as to what was all over his head. A little while later, I decided to clean up the house a little, when I noticed a fruit-flavored Honey Stinger gel in front of the couch. The darned cat had one tiny hole punctured in the back of the thing. All I can figure is that he stole it from somewhere (I'm not sure where it was - either on the kitchen counter or in a gym bag/backpack somewhere) and was playing with it when he ended up putting a hole in the packaging and decided to rub his face all over the honey that oozed out. I rinsed off the Honey Stinger, inspected it, and realized it didn't lose much of its contents, and it was only a very small puncture on the "a" in "Nutrition Facts," so I dried it off, cut a small square of clear packing tape, and covered the hole. Judge me if you'd like, but I am totally consuming this thing the next time I need a gel. Damn cat.

I sure got a chuckle out of this cat story, @instantmartian. (I'm a crazy cat lady.) Good luck with your motivation dip and getting back on track for your upcoming 10K. I went through that earlier this year and once I got it back, I twisted my ankle very badly running after the bus. After two months of doing little exercise, but walking and some strength training, I had zero motivation and no interest in my usual cardio routine (Les Mills Combat). So I decided to start running again. Sorry for rambling on about myself. How long have you been running for?

@Elise4270 - We adopted a pekingese several years ago that, it turned out, had heartworms (yes, they are mosquito-borne). She was probably around 14 years old when we adopted her. We did go ahead with treatment, and she was cured of the heartworms and lived another 1 1/2 years with us.

Treatment for her consisted of one injection, followed by one month of confinement rest (they cannot be active for a month after an injection, as activity can cause chunks of dead heartworm to break off and enter their bloodstream/cause a heart attack). That was followed by one more injection and another month of rest. During the treatment time, the vet had us put her on an ivermectin heartworm preventative (to kill the larvae and prevent reinfestation)--we used Iverhart, as it is deemed safe to use with an existing heartworm diagnosis (some other brands are not).

It ended up costing us about $1000 to get rid of the heartworms. She did suffer from occasional seizures for the rest of her life after undergoing treatment. I attribute that to the stress of the treatment combined with her advanced age, but that's just my guess. Overall, I say it was totally worth it. She had a great year and a half to finish off her life!

Going through treatment was heartbreaking--having to confine her away from the other dogs so that she didn't get too riled up, listening to her hack up chunks of heartworms. It's definitely a tough decision on whether to proceed with treatment.

Hopefully this helps you make a more informed decision. Good luck with your pup!

Yesterday I used Strava for the first time. I'm liking it. My splits are a little wonky due to the fact that I was doing c25k week 7 day 1 and so there was some walking at the beginning and at the end of the route. Miles 2 and 3 were pretty much all running... LOL I am a slow little bunny. It says 4.6 miles but I really did more like 5 miles as Strava for some reason stopped recording at 4.6 miles (I may have hit the button when I looked at it).

I ran for two miles... that's a new best for me. My knees were a little stiff afterwards, because I run on a treadmill during the week, so I only get to run outside on Sundays and I don't think my knees were very appreciative of the pavement. Knees feel okay today though.

Rest day for me. I'm still trying to stay with the 2 days on 1 day off until I'm sure my ITB is happy for good.

@greenolivetree glad it's a bit better, definitely take that rest until it's 100%.
@7lenny7 I loved your race report, even the TMI LOL, hey we have ALL been there. I ran back and forth to the bathroom so many times before the 5K Saturday Skip asked if I was trying to add mileage to the day Of course I had the post race bathroom run too ha ha You should be so proud, that is a fantastic time for any marathon let alone your first. I love the honey water idea.
@respectthekitty great job on the 2 miles of running, you are doing great!
@run4me2day you are doing great - keep it up!

5/1 - rest
5/2 - 4m
5/3 - 5m
5/4 - 6m
5/5 - rest
5/6 - 5m
5/7 - 10m
5/8 - rest
5/9 - 3.8m
5/10 - 3.5m
5/11 - 7m
5/12 - rest
5/13 - 3m
5/14 - 6.2m
5/16 - 4m


Distance to date: 57.5m
Goal: 126m (45.6% complete)

This week will be the most difficult. According to my half marathon training plan, I'm covering 35 miles; 12 of those are Saturday! Eeeek! Only thing to do it put my head down, earphones in and do 'em!

Training Plan (in case anyone is interested)
coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/134.shtml

I broke in the new Glycerin 14's on today's 6 mile easy run. They felt super comfy and familiar like the 13's so I had no issues with fit/feel. Today's run was a bit harder than expected, like my feet felt slow and heavy. Could just be additional recovery from the Saturday race, or it could be the shoes. Or maybe @PoppetsMaster was right and they were so comfy my feet fell asleep! Time will tell. I will run with the second pair tomorrow and after a couple more runs I should be able to make a fair assessment of them.

5/1 - 13.1 miles
5/2 - 6 miles
5/3 - 6 miles
5/4 - 9 miles
5/5 - 6 miles
5/6 - Rest
5/7 - 10.5 miles
5/8 - 10.5 miles
5/9 - 6 miles
5/10 - 6 miles
5/11 - 10 miles
5/12 - 6 miles
5/13 - Rest
5/14 - 13.1 miles
5/15 - 4 miles

112.2/200 miles



2016 races:
4/9 - Rock the Parkway half marathon (Kansas City, MO) 2:30:17.6 new PR
4/16 - Garmin Wickedly Fast half marathon (Olathe, KS) 2:28:39.52 new PR
4/23 - Heroes for Hope half marathon (North Kansas City, MO) 2:19:14 but was only 12.5 miles
5/1 - Buffalo Bell Stampede half marathon (Leavenworth, KS) 2:25:06
5/14 - Running with the Cows half marathon (Bucyrus, KS) 2:17:38.4 new PR
6/2 - Hospital Hill 5k 7pm PRE-RUN (Kansas City, MO)
6/3 - Hospital Hill half marathon 7am RE-RUN (Kansas City, MO)
9/25 - Broadway Bridge half marathon (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)