January 2017 Running Challenge

Daily check in: Today was planned as a rest day. Yesterday evening I asked Coach about quarter inch vs. three eighths inch spikes, and he said go with three eighths inch. So I got it into my head to run a couple miles in the spikes after changing the 1/4 inch out for the 3/8 inch.

Got as far as swapping out the spikes this morning. Knocked the shoes on my driveway to start clearing the dried mud from around the installed spikes, and noticed pin prick holes in the asphalt. The spikes were not noticeably blunted. Hmm, when they include asphalt in the surfaces the spikes are good for, they aren't kidding! I wonder how much I'd tear up my driveway if I ran on it in the spikes!

Then I got to thinking about another conversation last night. A guy who had been missing from practice for a while showed up. I welcomed him back, and he thanked me for telling him to run his long runs slower. (The "run slower" conversation happened some time in the 4th quarter of 2015, and I'd forgotten it till he mentioned it.) I told him that most runners, myself included, are stupider for themselves than they are for other people. That's why I have a coach.

So I thought about how beat up I felt this morning after yesterday's speed work. It's familiar, if not serious. I'd like to keep it at the "not serious" level. Goal number one is to avoid injury. So I made the mature, adult decision to honor today as a rest day. I won't even get 10,000 steps in today, and that's okay. Being healthy enough to run is more important than arbitrary numeric goals.

This evening, I feel pretty good. I could go out and run 3 or 4 miles and not even feel it right now. But I won't, because today needs to be a rest day. Tomorrow the plan is to run 13 to 15 miles, 5 of them as a race. The rest day today should make it easier to have a good running day tomorrow.

Now I need to wind down and get to bed early, so I can be up and do a preview of tomorrow's race route for my warmup. Gun time is at 10, so if I start my warmup about 8:45 that should be good.

zipsterj wrote: »

@JessicaMcB dont stress ....do you need to use the cord, i wrap it round a handle on the treadmill

I have ortho issues so my knees dislocate/subluxate at random. I haven't had an issue on the treadmill yet but my husband would lose it on me if I didn't use the stupid thing. We'll see how I fare tonight

I need to add and revise and add some mileage, I didn't realize C25K measures distance, I was just estimating.

1/2/2017 2.4 Miles
1/4/2017 2.0 Miles
1/7/2017 2.3 Miles
1/9/2017 2.2 Miles
1/13/2017 2.3 Miles

Total: 11.2 Miles

MobyCarp wrote: »

I told him that most runners, myself included, are stupider for themselves than they are for other people. That's why I have a coach.

And that's why I'm HERE - I don't have a coach, and don't know that there are any around here (I tried reaching out to the high school's running team coach, and they never even responded).

MobyCarp wrote: »

So I made the mature, adult decision to honor today as a rest day. I won't even get 10,000 steps in today, and that's okay. Being healthy enough to run is more important than arbitrary numeric goals.

That's one I'm having to learn to deal with too. I broke a LONG streak of 10K/day when I flew to Japan (although I rationalized it by saying I'd crossed the dateline, and if you counted both "days" within that 24-hour period, I made my steps!), and won't make it today. But Garmin says my average daily is 17,256 - which, if I'm looking at it right, is a tad more than 10K/day (can't really say - I'm just a lowly big iron mainframe programmer, so I have machines do all my adding for me! ). I need to grow up and realize that one day, in that kind of 17K average framework, means nothing!

1/11- 2.4..... 2.4
1/12- 3.4..... 5.8
1/13- 3.8..... 9.6

Its Friday and I just got my first run of the week. As they would say " Life Happens" Adjust, Flip the page and move on. 12 km loop circuit around town along the edge of the East River Bank.
Less than a month to the 1st HM of the season and my training plan has been destroyed by the last 2 weeks.
Chilly Willy HM Grande Prairie, AB; Feb 5, 2017. It's an early season Winter HM so it's more of a Fun Run than a serious HM so I will keep pushing forward. I had planned on a 1 week ski trip but I will postpone that until the week after the HM.

01/04 8.0 km –8.0km –132.0 km – YTD 8 km
01/06 7.0 km –15.0km –125.0 km
01/07 8.0 km –23.0km –117.0 km
01/08 6.0 km –29.0km –111.0 km
01/13 12.0 km –41.0km –99.0 km – YTD 41 km

@orphia awesome PR!
@9voice9 thanks for the info on my lumpy toe ha ha!
@MNlittleFinn glad you had no pain on your run. 2nd marathon? Do tell us about it!
@keeprunningfatboy first I have to say from your picture there is no fatboy there. Did I read your mileage right 19 miles on the treadmill? You are my hero.

Date     Miles      MTD
------   -----    -------
Jan 02     6.5        6.5
Jan 07     4.3       10.8
Jan 09     4.3T      15.1
Jan 12     6.1T      21.2
Jan 14     7.5       28.7

Hi all!

Easy run today, all went perfect!

Aim: 100k

8/1: 5.7K
12/1: 2.6k
14/1: 10.4

18.7/100k

Stay free of injuries!

1/12 - 4.1
1/13 - Rest
1/14 - 4.2
Jan. Total: 42.9/90

Happy Saturday all! Enjoy your long runs!

Jan 1-5.3 miles
Jan 2- Rest day- P90X3 yoga
Jan 3- 6 miles w/ 3 @ tempo
Jan 4-5.1 miles (1 with crazy Stella)
Jan 5-5 miles treadmill fartlek run
Jan 6- 4 miles total -1 mile warm up outside with Stella then 3 miles of intervals on dreadmill
Jan 7-7.7 miles
Jan 8-14 miles
Jan 9- Rest day
Jan 10- 4.5 miles treadmill
Jan 11-6 miles (slow and icy)
Jan 12-5.7 miles
Jan 13-4.3 miles 12X30 second hill sprints
Jan 14-16.3 miles

The forecasted ice storm held out, so what we ended up with was 33F with a light, steady rain. Definitely not ideal running weather, but a heck of a lot better than pelting ice balls. I managed to do my 16, actually 16.25. I went to join the running group at 8AM. Two of my favorite people to run with (they run right at my comfortable/preferred pace) were doing 12, so I joined them and then tacked on another 4 on my own. Really glad to not have that hanging over my head for the rest of the weekend!

Yesterday after work I did hill sprints. Training plan called for 12X30 second hills with 90 second rest intervals. I have a good hill with an 8% grade right outside the door, so I like to use it for this workout. I am not sure how Strava or Garmin calculates elevation gain. According to Strava, the bottom of the hill is marked at 823 ft elevation and the top is at 853, so 30ft gain. I ran up this hill 12 times plus once in my warmup (actually went higher in both my warm up and cool down). So just based on the 12 repeats, that should give at least 360 ft elevation gain. Strava listed 108 and Garmin 225. Shrug. Any thoughts?

Sorry to make this a long post all about me, but I am struggling with a bit of a dilemma in my training. Because I am looking to have a slower, more comfortable marathon in April, I decided to lay back off my speedwork a bit to keep my legs fresher and avoid risking injury. The thing is, I am used to really pushing hard on my hard runs and taking it easy on the easy. Mentally, I think that has always done me good because I know that I have toughed it out and it has always given me a good feeling of preparedness. Taking it easy on myself is messing with my head a bit. It has me feeling underprepared and second guessing everything. Furthermore, at group run today, two guys were talking about speedwork and how it is so critical in marathon training. They were both crediting good speed sessions for their ability to maintain fresh legs in the late stages of the marathon. Another thing to keep me second guessing things here. I want a comfortable race, but I would still like to finish sub 4 hours. Am I asking to have my cake and eat it too? Do I stick with plan A and just let things be? I really don't want a DNF, but I also don't want a DNS...although I am not sure which would be worse, honestly. Just venting, I guess. If anyone has any words of advice from experience, please feel free to offer!

Also, way to kill that 5K @Orphia!

@MNLittleFinn - Yeah, I totally agree. I am still doing the tempo runs and the intervals, I am just not doing them as fast or as hard as I would have in the past because my number one goal is to stay injury free. However, it is proving to be a little mentally tougher than I expected. For whatever reason, it has me thinking that I am going in under prepared and risking a DNF. I have not had any issues with finishing a marathon in the past. I am worried that this, the one that I have worked so hard for, might be my first. Maybe it's just butterflies creeping in because I have dreamed about crossing the finish line at Boston for so long. If I am starting to have these feelings already, I don't even want to know what my taper is going to be like!!

1/11- 2.4..... 2.4
1/12- 3.4..... 5.8
1/13- 3.8..... 9.6
1/14- 2.7..... 12.3

melaniefay82 wrote: »

Got another short run in yesterday. Puked once, but that's cool. Felt much better after. Pretty sure I have bronchitis, but not going back to the doctor. I have asthma. This happens every year. Not a big deal, just annoying and a little disruptive to my training schedule. Today is rest and travel, tomorrow is trail running in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and Sunday is the race! Can't wait to leave work and skip town for the weekend.

4.5/70 miles completed

@melaniefay82 Good luck!

RunsOnEspresso wrote: »

I didn't see the Phoenix marathon but I am weary about them because I was signed up to do a half in their fall race a few years back. It was downtown and they had no parking. Everything was blocked off (even paid lots) and I couldn't find an open meter so I ended up going home & running on my own. I am going to look into this one & one I saw on Feb 19th. I *may* try to do one of those.

@RunsOnEspresso Have you tried Spot Hero or a similar app? It allows you to purchase parking fare and guarantees you a spot in a lot ahead of time. In 2014, we took the train into Chicago for the Chicago Marathon. as advised. After the long walk back to the train station and almost passing out on the train back due to standing room only, we tried out Spot Hero the next year and it worked great! Have used it since then.