December 2016 Running Challenge

Just checking in. I've ran 12 of my 45 goal. I better get moving!

All this talk about college football. I root hard for my Bison! North Dakota State...winners of 5 national championships in a row with a great chance to get #6 this fall!! They're ranked #2 in the nation at the moment.

@juliet3455 any time I think it's getting too cold to run outside here, I'm going to think of you and shame myself to get out there. I will be doing some indoor track running once my daughter comes home for Christmas break since she won't run outside in Minnesota winter. And I agree, -40C/-40F wind chill is definitely too cold for running. We're supposed to get down to -15F wind chill next week.

@RunsOnEspresso That's getting up there in mileage!

@NikolaosKey glad your quads are feeling better. When you first mentioned the pain I thought it was going to be a rather serious injury!

@Stoshew71 run well tomorrow!

@HeatherMN have a pint for me!

@BeeerRunner great job not only getting out in the cold, but doing so while out of town!

@virkati Congrats on the offer!! I don't put anything on Kody's paws. Was there snow on the ground when you were out? Sometimes snow will collected on the hair between the toes and be very uncomfortable. It's good trim the hair back so none is sticking out below the pads to minimize this. If that's not it, it could be he just doesn't like the cold. I'd let the dog tell you if he should be out or not be his actions. I can't recall what breed he is to know if single digits might be too cold. Labs were bred for being able to swim in freezing water so I don't get too concerned about Kody getting too cold, but I do keep an eye on him and if he seems like he's not into it like normal, it's time to take him inside.

I did just receive a product called Musher's Secret which I intend to put on his paws before tomorrows run. My main concern is keeping a barrier between him and the salt since we do a lot of running on the road, but it's supposed to be an all around good thing for dogs. I generally will run outside with Kody down to zero degrees, but just like i short runs when it gets to hot, I'll do it too when it gets too cold. Tonight was 11F, with a 2F windchill and he was fine. If it were to get to 0F with wind, I'd start cutting back the miles. It'd have to get to -15F wind chill or colder I think before I'd leave him at home because of the cold.

@patrikc333 the key is to get some thing, almost skintight gloves to put on first, then put the mittens over them. Being skin tight is much like a base compression layer. It traps a layer of air which then stays next to your skin. As sensitive as it sound like your hand are, you might consider chemical hand warmers or perhaps electric mittens.

@greenolivetree I hope the Mayo Clinic can work their magic/science for your husband!
@bmelb1 did you enjoy the run in the snow? That's my favorite time to run.
@RespectTheKitty If you worked out, be in inside or outside, you did NOT wimp out!

Did my planned 7 miles yesterday as I'm off to see my folks today and wouldn't have time. Really really struggled after mile 5. All I can think is that I ran Thursday as well and I'm just not used to that. As part of the run, I got bored of the flat so ran up into the woods. I was impressed to notice that I ran at least halfway up the hill to the top. I was a bit weary as I didn't have my trail shoes on and it was muddy, but my road shoes coped fine. The other thing that probably caused me problems was pace - I think I was way too fast for the first two or three miles, but I was enjoying it!!!

Starting to think seriously about the HM (or sneaky 15m) in April. My strength training plans using Stronglifts 5x5 may be going out the window as when I last saw my sports therapist we talked about building up the muscles of my glutes and hamstrings which are weaker than they should be, and he was going to send me a training plan. So I will work on that first. Plus I'm getting used to running alone outside in the dark.

12/1- 7.04
12/2- 4.01
12/3- 10.01
12/4- REST
12/5- 5.32
12/6- 5.01
12/7- 3.01
12/8- 8.04
12/9- 5.0
12/10- 11.0

Total: 58.43

Nominal mileage goal: 100 miles
Real goal, get into the swing of Marathon training, and get used to doing 3 days a week of some strength/core while running 35+ MPW

Today's notes: Today's assignment was to runn 11 miles at 10:40 pace. That did not happen, I ran the 11, but pace was 10:15. In my defense, I ran faster because, well..... -5F (-20C) and WNW 3mph winds made for some chilly running. Run felt good, despite my average HR ending up at 157. it was definitely a chilly one, and by the lasr mile and half mile, I, for the first time, and to tell myself a little mantra...more miles makes a better marathon....because at that point, I was pretty well a meat Popsicle, despite not actually ever feeling cold, the temps just made for getting pretty tired.

Date:: :::: Miles :::: Dec total (goal = 80)
12/01/16 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
12/02/16 :::: 2.6 :::: 2.6
12/03/16 :::: 3.1 :::: 5.7
12/04/16 :::: 6.0 :::: 11.8
12/05/16 :::: 3.3 :::: 15.0
12/06/16 :::: 2.4 :::: 17.4
12/07/16 :::: 2.4 :::: 19.8
12/08/16 :::: 3.7 :::: 23.5
12/09/16 :::: 0.0 :::: 23.5
12/10/16 :::: 7.0 :::: 30.5

Yesterday was a rest day from running but took a long hike with Stella in the falling snow. Last night I had a fun holiday party with lots of excess eating and drinking so this morning came around a bit too quickly for my taste. I managed to drag myself out for the 8 am long run with my running group. It was chilly and snowy and I was dragging. My butt is still cold. But it's done and now I'm ready to laze around as much as I can the rest of today. which may not be as much as I want, because Stella is surely going to want some exercise in short order.

I have a bad habit that when I quit running I quit everything. Haven't walked, stretched, rolled, "pilatesed" Nada! I need to do this stuff.

@7lenny7 thanks! It's been a long 4 months around here.....

Had my first snow run today. Wore some rubber traction things over my shoes (similar to yak tracks?) that my husband got from his work as a postie and they worked perfect. We're on day two of snow and more is expected, so I might get to do it again. Since no one here owns a shovel, except for the one neighbour I stopped to chat with, the sidewalks on the main roads were the worst. Complete slush probably from the salt being splashed up. I was very slow and didn't get far, but ran by effort and it turned out to be exactly in my desired zone.

12/10: 1.66 miles

Total: 11.74 / 40

Hello!

Goal for December: 120k

12/1: 8k
12/2: 2.2k (warmup for strength training)
12/5: 6.8k
12/6: 6.8k intervals
12/7: 2.1k (as a warmup for strength training)
12/9: 10.2k (easy run, quad testing)
12/10: 8.7k (intervals)

44.8/120k

Ok. Everything went well, felt a minor pain in my quad but nothing serious. Interval train today, 10 min warm-up @5:50/km followed by 6x 2min @4:25/km, then 10 min cool-down @6:04/km. Feels great. @lissadecker @7lenny7 tnx for the support!!

Races:
12/18: Tour of Drama 10k

Ended up taking 2 ray days as I was a bit under the weather Thursday and did a long ride yesterday. Still, the weather was great this AM so ended up going for a nice cool 12 mile run with some faster miles at the end. Going to do another long one tomorrow as I'm feeling better.

12/2 - 7 miles
12/3 - 5 miles
12/4 - 4 miles (warmup + 5K race)
12/6 - 7 miles
12/7 - 4 miles
12/10 - 12 miles

Total: 39 miles
Goal: 180 miles
Remaining: 153 miles

2016 Race Schedule:
Disney Marathon - Jan 6 - 3:29:09
Gasparilla 15K - Feb 20 - 1:01:59
Ironman 70.3 Florida - Apr 10 - 5:07:51
Pittsburgh Marathon - May 1 - 3:08:25
Ironman 70.3 Augusta - Sep 25 - 4:43:56
Chicago Marathon - Oct 9 - 3:04:57
Ironman Florida - Nov 5 - 10:21:27 (3:38:20 marathon time)
Chase the Dreidel 5K - Dec 4 - 18:13