December 2016 Running Challenge
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12/1 - 5.35 miles on treadmill (Trek class)
12/2 - 5 miles. Pleasant for December, about 35°
12/3 - Bodypump class, then 2.25 miles on treadmill
12/4 - Planned rest day.
12/5 - 5.11 miles avoiding slippery spots.
12/6 - Bodypump class, then 2.3 miles on treadmill.
12/7 - 4 miles on the 'mill.
12/8 - 4.6 more 'mill miles (Trek class was full...so I had to run solo)
12/9 - Unplanned rest day.
12/10 - 2.3 miles on the treadmill, then Bodypump.
12/11 - 4.5 'mill miles.
12/12 - Rest day.
12/13 - Bodypump, then 2.25 miles on treadmill.
12/14 - 4 miles on treadmill.
12/15 - 5.3 miles on treadmill (Trek class). Hamstrings are SORE.
12/16 - Recovery day. Yesterday's run/class really beat me up. Hamstrings and hip hurt this morning.
12/17 - 2.5 'mill miles, then Bodypump.
12/18 to 20 - Nada. Dad in hospital with hiatal hernia, so no time to squeeze in a workout.
12/21 - 4 miles on treadmill, then short upper body weight workout.
@MNLittleFinn - I do treadmill fartleks like that too. Helps make it way less monotonous.0 -
OK, got some more perspective from my aunt/coach. she's cutting back my miles to ease me into doing all extra crosstraining and strength work along with it, she's real big into the "no junk miles" way of thinking. that makes more sense to me, even if I agree that there's really no such thing as junk miles.
LOL, if I get annoyed with it, I'll sneak in more running when the weather gets nicer in 2-3 months. Her whole point was, since I'm a newer runner, despite having run pretty high mileage the last 6 months, she wants me to ease into my Marathon training regimen since I have 6 months to train.2 -
Date Miles today - Miles for December
12/1 6 miles - 6
12/2 4 miles - 10
12/3 12 miles - 22
12/4 REST DAY
12/5 5 miles - 27
12/6 4 miles - 31
12/7 REST DAY
12/8 3.5 miles - 34.5
12/9 REST DAY
12/10 26.4 - 60.9
12/11 REST DAY
12/12 REST DAY
12/13 REST DAY
12/14 REST DAY
12/15 4 miles - 64.9
12/16 REST DAY
12/17 REST DAY
12/18 REST DAY
12/19 6.5 miles 71.4
12/20 6.2 miles 77.6
12/21 4 miles - 81.6
Upcoming races:
UAH 8K - 3/6 <<< 34:33 3 in AG
Oak Barrel HM - 4/2 <<<< 1:38:00 3 in AG
Bridge Street HM - 4/10 <<< 1:36:33 3 in AG
PEO-AVN Team Day 5K - 5/4 <<< 19:10 (2.9 mi) 1 in AG 5 OA
Cotton Row Run 10K - 5/30 << 44:57 PR
Firecracker Chase 10.2 miler 6/25 << 1:20:22 1 in AG & 15 OA
Huntsville Half Marathon - 11/12 << 1:35:55 2 in AG & 25 OA
Rocket City Marathon - 12/10 << 2:44:41
Kentucky Derby Marathon - 4/29
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MNLittleFinn wrote: »OK, got some more perspective from my aunt/coach. she's cutting back my miles to ease me into doing all extra crosstraining and strength work along with it. that makes more sense to me. LOL, if I get annoyed with it, I'll sneak in more running when the weather gets nicer in 2-3 months. Her whole point was, since I'm a newer runner, despite having run pretty high mileage the last 6 months, she wants me to ease into my Marathon training regimen since I have 6 months to train.
I have some question. Exactly why is she prescribing all this cross training and strength work? I am not saying it's wrong, but based upon what? Is there something specific she saw in your running gait that made her think you need all this cross training and strength work? Or is she just assuming that, well you never ran before and you are running a marathon for the first time, so you need to do this. As far as I remember you being on here, you never complained of any injuries, so you're not injury prone.
I know she's your aunt, and she's a "coach" for the American Heart Association for newbie runners. But, I think she is being overly cautious with you. That just my two cents. You have been very successful so far with the training you have been doing with no major injuries to report. So why all of a sudden we are holding back the reigns?
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greenolivetree wrote: »I used the treadmill setting on my garmin but I don't know what difference that makes. I noticed when I was walking the garmin was adding distance veeeerrry slowly,like I was barely moving. But then running it picked up more distance. My cadence was strangely low and my stride longer. I haven't been on a treadmill for 15 years and never as a runner so all new to me
Running at the 6mph felt pretty tough compared to outside. But I swear it was 85 degrees in that fitness room.
Yeah...same thing happened to me when I was working in Chicago. It was super hot in the hotel fitness room as soon as I walked in. I ended up cutting my run short because I ran out of water and felt like I was running in the Texas heat without any sprinklers to run through. FitnessCenters should be cold so you don't die of heat once you start exercising. I hate dreadmills too.. I feel like I go slow, and it's such a different feeling when your run is trying to avoid being thrown off the machine instead of moving forward.1 -
December goal: 100 miles
12/1: 3.25 miles
12/2: 2.75 miles
12/3: 3.15 miles (m)
12/4: Rest Day
12/5: 5 miles (2 + 3 treadmill)
12/6: 4 miles (m)
12/7: 4 miles
12/8: 4.35 miles (m)
12/9: Rest Day
12/10: 3.5 miles
12/11: 5 miles (m)
12/12: 4 miles
12/13: 4 miles (m)
12/14: 5 miles (m)
12/15: 4 miles (m)
12/16: Rest Day
12/17: 3 miles (m)
12/18: 7 miles (m)
12/19: 3.5 miles (m)
12/20: 4 miles
12/21: 3.5 miles
My Total/December: 73 miles
Mike's Total: 43.5 miles
Well, with 10 days left in the month and only 27 miles to go, it looks like I will hit my goal assuming no catastrophes. Mike didn't sleep well last night so Fergus and I went out without him again this morning. It was a nice run with warmer temps up in the mid 50s - not too hot and not too cold - downright perfect, if you ask me. Mike's work schedule is going to keep him sidelined for the next two days, so he won't run with us again until Saturday. I am planning to run every day for the rest of the month except for maybe Christmas day. I've got lots of holiday prep to do over the next couple of days. There's a house to clean up, cookies to bake, presents to wrap and a ton of cooking to do before our holiday dinner on Christmas Eve. I hope to have enough time to keep checking in here daily, but, just in case I don't, I hope those of you celebrating have a great holiday and those that are not have a fabulous rest of the week!
@greenolivetree As @midwesterner85 & @BeeerRunner have pointed out, it can feel like you are going harder on a treadmill which is going to make it tough to tell by how you feel if it is accurately reporting. It all comes down to whether the treadmill is calibrated correctly. We have two treadmills. One was correctly calibrated and was pretty spot on when compared to my watch. Of course, that one is now broken. I suspect that our other treadmill is likely not calibrated correctly; it generally does not match my watch and shows fewer miles and slower speed. I am leaning toward the watch being the more correct of the two, but I am not positive of that. I haven't run on it yet with my pod, but I suspect that the pod is going to match the watch when I do. Right now, the pod, the watch and all mapping programs that I use pretty much match each other for distance. The pod and the watch match for distance, speed and steps. I suspect that I will find that the treadmill is going to be the oddball when I do run it with the pod. All that said, I would say that it is a safe bet that the treadmill is accurate but only if it is correctly calibrated which may not be something that you can know when it doesn't belong to you.
Have a fabulous rest of the day everyone!
Completed Races:
12/3 Snowball Run 5K, Kingwood TX (35:34.2) *PR
Upcoming Races:
1/22 Choco Loco 10K, Houston, TX
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I have some question. Exactly why is she prescribing all this cross training and strength work? I am not saying it's wrong, but based upon what? Is there something specific she saw in your running gait that made her think you need all this cross training and strength work? Or is she just assuming that, well you never ran before and you are running a marathon for the first time, so you need to do this. As far as I remember you being on here, you never complained of any injuries, so you're not injury prone.
I know she's your aunt, and she's a "coach" for the American Heart Association for newbie runners. But, I think she is being overly cautious with you. That just my two cents. You have been very successful so far with the training you have been doing with no major injuries to report. So why all of a sudden we are holding back the reigns?
I totally had a reply typed out, then lost it, so here goes again. I totally agree with you, and actually just sent her an Email asking why she's cutting my mileage by like 30%, since I'm used to running that much. I think part of it is she's a 3-4 day a week runner who's more injury prone, and she's seen a lot of runners whose core strength sucked and caused injuries. OTOH, I've been running up to 6 days a week and had zero injuries.
I'll just look at what she gives me for mileage and XT and cut some of the XT if I think that she's being too cautious, though some things, like the Lateral X elliptical workouts, seem good, but I can just do those once though instead of twice and put a 3 mile run after, so I'm running on quads that have been worked pretty hard. I did that last week and it was great.
So, in short, Sometimes I'm too easily influenced by "more experienced" runners, despite having logged over 1000 miles under 10 months myself, with no injuries, and need to use my own experience as a guide.3 -
Got 10 hours sleep last night! WOW! No alarm. Got up around 8 and the temps were perfect for running. It's funny because I passed walkers who were all bundled up (it was about 50).
12/1 - 3.2 miles
12/2 - 1.5 miles
12/3 - 45 miles biking + 1 mile run
12/4 - 27 miles biking + 1 mile run
12/5 - 4 miles
12/6 - 4 miles
12/7 - 1 mile on treadmill for streak (after strength training)
12/8 - 4.47 miles
12/9 - 1 mile on treadmill for streak (after strength training)
12/10 - 77 miles bike and 1 mile run for streak!
12/11 - 27 miles biking and 1 mile run for streak
12/12 - 4 miles
12/13 - 5 miles
12/14 - 2.1 miles - day 21 streak + strength training
12/15 - 4.5 miles
12/16 - 1.5 miles
12/17 = 44 miles biking + 1 mile run
12/18 - 27 miles biking + 1 mile run
12/19 - 4 miles
12/20 - 6.07 miles
12/21 - 5.02 miles
Upcoming races
2/5/17 - Daytona Beach HM
2/26/17 - Disney Princess HM Orlando
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BeeerRunner wrote: »greenolivetree wrote: »I used the treadmill setting on my garmin but I don't know what difference that makes. I noticed when I was walking the garmin was adding distance veeeerrry slowly,like I was barely moving. But then running it picked up more distance. My cadence was strangely low and my stride longer. I haven't been on a treadmill for 15 years and never as a runner so all new to me
Running at the 6mph felt pretty tough compared to outside. But I swear it was 85 degrees in that fitness room.
Yeah...same thing happened to me when I was working in Chicago. It was super hot in the hotel fitness room as soon as I walked in. I ended up cutting my run short because I ran out of water and felt like I was running in the Texas heat without any sprinklers to run through. FitnessCenters should be cold so you don't die of heat once you start exercising. I hate dreadmills too.. I feel like I go slow, and it's such a different feeling when your run is trying to avoid being thrown off the machine instead of moving forward.
@BeeerRunner, @midwesterner85 and @greenolivetree - this is one reason I hate running on the treadmill in a hotel gym or even in my regular gym. It doesn't seem to make any difference how cool the room is I still get hot, much hotter than I do when I run outside. I think it must have something to do with how the ambient air movement outside cools our bodies or maybe it is all just in my head
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Just a quick 3k tempo run today as that's all I have time to do. Now to get ready for beer o'clock!
1-Dec: 6.2k easy run
2-Dec: 11.5k - 10k tempo plus warm up/cool down
3-Dec: 2.1k streak run [TM]
4-Dec: 5.3k easy run
5-Dec: 21.7k long run
6-Dec: 8.3k 'tired' run
7-Dec: 3.1k streak run [TM]
8-Dec: 5.3k easy
9-Dec: 12.6k easy
10-Dec: 2k short run
11-Dec: 11k - 10k tempo plus warm-up
12-Dec: 8.2k easy
13-Dec: 1.8k streak run
14-Dec: 12.5k hill circuit (4 laps; 295m climbing total)
15-Dec (AM): 5.2k inc 5k fast [TM]
15-Dec (PM): 6k inc 5k fast
16-Dec: 5.5k easy
17-Dec: 2.3k streak run
18-Dec: 2.3k streak run
19-Dec: 5.2k easy
20-Dec: 9.2k slight hills
21-Dec: 2.9k tempo1 -
I have not come on this thread since my sister visited me earlier around Thanksgiving. I didn't run while she was here and I missed my November goal by a lot. Then, I did not set a goal for this month... It was good that I registered for a race and get to meet with @shanaber. Otherwise, I am not sure how long I would be hiding
My race report is a few days late. But I would really like to keep a record of it and share with you all
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The Race Course:
This is a mostly downhill race. It's a 714ft net drop with ~300ft elevation gain along the way.
Here is a picture of where the race start and where it ends:
And a picture at the start line and somewhere in the 2nd mile:
The Day Before:
The day before the race, I was actually at a youth retreat volunteering. It was a nice "distraction" from my usual pre-race excitement/anxiety. I left retreat around 8:30 pm. We decided to park our car near finish line so we do not need to wait for the shuttle. We wanted to make it back in time to pick up the youngest child while the older two would still be at camp.
Race Day
We live kind of close to the race start, about 10~15 minutes drive. As we were driving close, we saw runners dressing festive clothes. I started to get very excited. Of course the highlight was seeing @shanaber. Here is another picture of us
We really liked that they told us the Salvation Army would be there to collect our throw-away clothing. So, the jacket and the sweatshirt I had in the picture are both gone
We also saw 2 guys dressing up as Forrest Gump. My husband said his own face was too big in the picture, so he cropped the picture to just enough to show the 2 Forrest's and Shana He told me that the Forrest in the checker shirt was actually carrying a box of chocolate in the run.
We then saw another person of inspiration: we first saw this person in our first HM in March. He wore a crab/lobster hat, had a splint on his leg and carried a cane. He ran passed us. I would like to take a picture with him but my husband put some sense into me saying that it was too close to race start time. But if you are looking for some inspirational story, here are his:
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/sdut-man-on-the-move-2016mar07-story.html
http://www.fitzness.com/blog/bryonsolberg/
I think seeing all these people kept me in a really good mood for the race. I was just so happy running it. The pace that I finished in had never felt so “easy” (in terms of cardio). I am sure being downhill most of the way helped. My legs did feel sore towards the end. My ankle was bothering me, then, hamstrings, calfs and glutes. They all felt tight at one point or another. I remember praying that they wouldn’t give me cramps and that I would know when to slow down but still try my best. In the last mile, I was still able to speed up a little and cross that finish line with a smile. I ended up having a PR and finished in 2:09:55 (my previous PR was 2:23:55 in August).
Earlier in November, I did one of my 8-mile run at about 10 min/mile. I remember hoping to finish this HM at that pace. And earlier last week, I started spying on Strava to check people's splits for finishing the race course last year at that pace. Now, that I actually did it, it seems so unreal. But then, this is not without a price. My knee caps and one of my ankles hurts. They are not too painful but makes me worry that I might break something if I continue to put stress on them. So, I think I will take a few more days off from running… And I probably should get back into strength training and read more on injury prevention
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01 Dec – 6.2 km Lake Wendouree
Tried running at an easy pace for a change today, aiming at 6:30/km. I was spot on, according to Garmin! It felt so good, I want to try even slower tomorrow!
My long runs lately have had me battling to keep up the crazy pace. It was nice today to run without huffing and puffing.
@Orphia - In two short paragraphs, you have captured the essence of why long runs are supposed to be slow. Yeah, there's a lot of scientific and technical detail that could be tacked onto the description; but it's really all about feeling good and being able to sustain the distance.
Thank you, @MobyCarp ! I don't really understand what I've said! LOL
Really happy you've nearly transitioned back to complete recovery, BTW.
I'd LOVE to know and understand the science behind "slow 80% leads to faster events".
I have a niggling suspicion it's just a nice sound-bite!
Hopefully someone can explain it simply, and/or I'll get time to research it better during my holidays which start on Friday.
Am I to understand it's because you don't wear yourself out, you just get used to the distance?
There is a book by Matt Fitzgerald called "80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster By Training Slower" that explains this theory and talks about different types of runs and how to create a training plan. He explains things better than I ever could and as a new runner I found it very educational. You might want to check it out.1 -
01 Dec – 6.2 km Lake Wendouree
Tried running at an easy pace for a change today, aiming at 6:30/km. I was spot on, according to Garmin! It felt so good, I want to try even slower tomorrow!
My long runs lately have had me battling to keep up the crazy pace. It was nice today to run without huffing and puffing.
@Orphia - In two short paragraphs, you have captured the essence of why long runs are supposed to be slow. Yeah, there's a lot of scientific and technical detail that could be tacked onto the description; but it's really all about feeling good and being able to sustain the distance.
Thank you, @MobyCarp ! I don't really understand what I've said! LOL
Really happy you've nearly transitioned back to complete recovery, BTW.
I'd LOVE to know and understand the science behind "slow 80% leads to faster events".
I have a niggling suspicion it's just a nice sound-bite!
Hopefully someone can explain it simply, and/or I'll get time to research it better during my holidays which start on Friday.
Am I to understand it's because you don't wear yourself out, you just get used to the distance?
There is a book by Matt Fitzgerald called "80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster By Training Slower" that explains this theory and talks about different types of runs and how to create a training plan. He explains things better than I ever could and as a new runner I found it very educational. You might want to check it out.
+1. I credit that book for my Boston qualifier.3 -
December Running Challenge:
12/1: 4 miles, Body Pump, and yoga
12/2: Yoga
12/3: 8 miles
12/4: 11 miles, yoga
12/5: 4 miles
12/6: 50 minutes of Elliptical, 25 minutes of Strength Training
12/7: 8 mile run in super cold windchill of 6 degrees in the burbs of Chicago
12/8: 3:34 treadmill run. It was supposed to be 4 miles, but I cut it short to 30 minutes, because it felt like it was 80+ degrees
12/9: Rest day
12/10: 2 mile shakeout run and yoga
12/11: 13.1 miles!! Dallas Half Marathon!! New PR!! (and Yoga which helped my sore legs)
12/12: 4 miles
12/13: XT Day: 10 minutes of rowing, 20 minutes of stationary bike, and 25 minutes of core/upper body stength
12/14: 8 miles
12/15: 4 miles and a Strength/Cardio class (Body Pump Instructor out)
12/16: Yoga
12/17: 15 miles - This was a fantastic run. I felt great, the weather was sunny and in the 60's. It was also my longest distance so far.
12/18: 8 mile trail run - Windchill (in TEXAS) was -2 when I started the run. Just me and the girls (4 doe) out on the trails.
12/19: 4 miles
12/20: XT Day: Body Pump and too much other stuff to do so I didn't get the xtra cardio in like normal
12/21: 9 miles
MTD: 105.4 out of 115
2016 Races Completed:
Buffalo Boogie (5K) May 7 – 23:42
Marine Creek Trailhead Trot (5K) May 14 – 22:00
Joe’s Run (10K) June 4 – 48:04
Firecracker 5000 (5K) July 4 – 22:51
XTERRA Jurassic Trail Run (15K at Night) July 16 – 1:32:05
Clark Gardens I’m Only Half Crazy Half Marathon/5K (HM) Oct 1 – 1:48:21
BMW Dallas Marathon (HM) Dec 11 - 1:46:23
Upcoming Races:
Cowtown Marathon (Full) Feb 26
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@mom3over40 - Nice race report! I knew you ran fast but that is an amazing time drop and PR! Congratulations!! Did you have any soreness in your quads? That was where I felt it the most but it also pretty much gone now. I hope your knees and ankle are feeling better with a few days rest.
@bmelb1, @orphia and @lporter229 - I think the Matt Fitzgerald books are excellent. Also if you send him a question he actually responds back. I had one regarding the Racing Weight book and was so surprised to get an answer back from him.0 -
BeeerRunner wrote: »greenolivetree wrote: »I used the treadmill setting on my garmin but I don't know what difference that makes. I noticed when I was walking the garmin was adding distance veeeerrry slowly,like I was barely moving. But then running it picked up more distance. My cadence was strangely low and my stride longer. I haven't been on a treadmill for 15 years and never as a runner so all new to me
Running at the 6mph felt pretty tough compared to outside. But I swear it was 85 degrees in that fitness room.
Yeah...same thing happened to me when I was working in Chicago. It was super hot in the hotel fitness room as soon as I walked in. I ended up cutting my run short because I ran out of water and felt like I was running in the Texas heat without any sprinklers to run through. FitnessCenters should be cold so you don't die of heat once you start exercising. I hate dreadmills too.. I feel like I go slow, and it's such a different feeling when your run is trying to avoid being thrown off the machine instead of moving forward.
@BeeerRunner, @midwesterner85 and @greenolivetree - this is one reason I hate running on the treadmill in a hotel gym or even in my regular gym. It doesn't seem to make any difference how cool the room is I still get hot, much hotter than I do when I run outside. I think it must have something to do with how the ambient air movement outside cools our bodies or maybe it is all just in my head
Count me in for also noticing this phenomenon. You should see me after a treadmill run. I look like I just stepped out of the shower, that's how sweaty I get. I much prefer running outside because I don't feel like I'm sweating nearly as much.2 -
@BeeerRunner, @midwesterner85 and @greenolivetree - this is one reason I hate running on the treadmill in a hotel gym or even in my regular gym. It doesn't seem to make any difference how cool the room is I still get hot, much hotter than I do when I run outside. I think it must have something to do with how the ambient air movement outside cools our bodies or maybe it is all just in my head
same here, no TM running at the gym always makes me feel nasty.0 -
Running through sprinklers are the only part of running in the Texas heat that I love, not such a joy if I get hit in the winter though! Also, a huge congrats on your Dallas HM PR...I just finished catching up on this thread after a few days out, so apologies for the late gratz!BeeerRunner wrote: »Yeah...same thing happened to me when I was working in Chicago. It was super hot in the hotel fitness room as soon as I walked in. I ended up cutting my run short because I ran out of water and felt like I was running in the Texas heat without any sprinklers to run through. FitnessCenters should be cold so you don't die of heat once you start exercising. I hate dreadmills too.. I feel like I go slow, and it's such a different feeling when your run is trying to avoid being thrown off the machine instead of moving forward.
--
Time off from work means getting to work on cleaning around the house and finishing up on tasks and errands that I've been procrastinating on. But I did manage to sneak in some miles this morning, and hopefully I'll get some more in this week to make up on missed runs:
02 - 11.77 miles
03 - 5.39
04 - 5.33
05 - 11.30
07 - 12.78
09 - 13.94
10 - 4.19
12 - 10.32
14 - 12.64
16 - 12.43
17 - 5.33
21 - 7.92
Total: 113.34 / 1250 -
MNLittleFinn wrote: »@BeeerRunner, @midwesterner85 and @greenolivetree - this is one reason I hate running on the treadmill in a hotel gym or even in my regular gym. It doesn't seem to make any difference how cool the room is I still get hot, much hotter than I do when I run outside. I think it must have something to do with how the ambient air movement outside cools our bodies or maybe it is all just in my head
same here, no TM running at the gym always makes me feel nasty.
When I use the TM at home I use a small fan on the floor behind me. Artificial tailwind, I guess. Without that I always feel hot on the TM, even if it's 65 or colder in the room. I wonder if we underestimate how much heat comes up off the machine itself.0 -
@mom3over40 great report and pictures, fantastic time!1
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