January 2017 Running Challenge

a cheeky wee 6k ...getting there ...Feb i will log miles daily

@OSUbuckeye906 thanks - the minute he heard 5 days he said no stress fracture. Like you said too, and I knew in my mind, both legs would be most unusual. When we deal with ourselves we don't get as concerned but when it's our babies it's different. She's been doing the ice whirlpool at school with the trainer and starts PT on Tuesday at the school. She sends me pictures of her freezing feet ha ha. Today is the first day she hasn't complained her ankles hurt and hasn't taken anything for pain. You'll be back to running in no time, though I know it'll feel like forever.

@9voice9 I'm so sorry about your nephew. PTSD is horrible. Your family is in our thoughts and prayers.

Date :::: Miles:::: Jan MTD (goal = 70)
01/01/17 :::: 4.3 :::: 4.3
01/02/17 :::: 2.9 :::: 7.1
01/03/17 :::: 3.1 :::: 10.3
01/04/17 :::: 3.6 :::: 13.9
01/05/17 :::: 3.3 :::: 17.2
01/06/17 :::: 0.0 :::: 17.2
01/07/17 :::: 6.9 :::: 24.2
01/08/17 :::: 2.5 :::: 26.7
01/09/17 :::: 2.8 :::: 29.5
01/10/17 :::: 2.5 :::: 32.1
01/11/17 :::: 2.6 :::: 34.7
01/12/17 :::: 3.5 :::: 38.2
01/13/17 :::: 0.0 :::: 38.2
01/14/17 :::: 3.4 :::: 41.6
01/15/17 :::: 5.5 :::: 47.2
01/16/17 :::: 3.5 :::: 50.7
01/17/17 :::: 0.0 :::: 50.7
01/18/17 :::: 2.5 :::: 53.2
01/19/17 :::: 4.1 :::: 57.2
01/20/17 :::: 6.2 :::: 63.4
01/21/17 :::: 7.4 :::: 70.8

Long run today with a good group to chat with. My longest run in a while. The weather is unbelievably mild and the sun was out. Perfect. And we saw swans on the lake. I took a picture but they are a bit too far away so it is not impressive. They were just hanging with all the geese.

And with that, I guess I made my January goal!

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

Am I nuts for considering this? I wear size 7, and from what I can tell, the "big kids" size 7 they have listed is the same as the adult.....

http://www.saucony.com/en/kinvara-5/15262K.html?dwvar_15262K_color=S91000-9#cgid=outlet-men-shoes&srule=price-low-to-high&start=1

If I could find my Merrell Bare Access Arc 3's in a kids size, I'd snatch them up, at that price. Even in pink. I'm not a fan of pink. If they turn out a little less sturdy, at least I could wear them as all-around shoes.

I blame you that I was looking for another pair to add to the collection, today. Some of the Arc 4's are on Amazon at lower prices than I paid for the last pair. I don't hate them, but they're missing the loop on the heel that the 3's have, and the sole of the shoe is a little thicker and less flexible. Also, they're calling them all trail shoes, now - and I'm pretty sure they were selling the 3's as a road shoe. I'm considering the Vapor Glove 2, as a replacement. They're calling that one a trail shoe, too - but the sole LOOKS like the pattern they used on my beloved Arc 3's.

Also, the Mizuno Wave Universe 5's I was looking at when I bought the first pair of Merrell's is only $27 - but I have no idea what size I should order. It looks like they run small...

Stoshew71 wrote: »

My Half got postponed till February 18th. Severe thunderstorms hit the area. There is supposed to be a few people meeting at the site to run the course anyway in about an hour. Gonna go check it out.

Sounds like the right call. Be cool if you get a chance to run the course anyway.

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

Stoshew71 wrote: »

My Half got postponed till February 18th. Severe thunderstorms hit the area. There is supposed to be a few people meeting at the site to run the course anyway in about an hour. Gonna go check it out.

Sounds like the right call. Be cool if you get a chance to run the course anyway.

@MNlittlefinn because so many people came from out of town to run this race they decided to have an "unofficial" run at 1:00 today and those who want will receive their finishers medals though it will not be timed until the February date.

Today's weather (bear in mind this is Chicago in January):



Was able to take it outside today, hooray! 6 miles through my mom's area. It was tough, as my energy level wasn't all that great. The sun and breeze felt great, though. I really needed this.

Total so far = 61.6 / 100 miles

It's just about time for me to replace my road shoes. I love my Brooks Cascadia trail shoes so much, I'm thinking of going with a pair of Brooks for the road shoes too. I had been wearing New Balance 1080s previously. Does anyone recommend a specific model of Brooks? (I wear a neutral shoe, not sure about drop.)

January Running Totals (miles)
1/1 – 10.39 warmup, 7.5 mile race, cool down
1/2 – 2.12 easy cross country
1/3 – 8.58 warmup, tempo intervals
1/4 – 5.01 easy
1/5 – 5.99 warmup, speed work, cool down
1/6 – rest day
1/7 – 16.59 warmup + Winter Warrior Half Marathon
1/8 – 7.62 easy on indoor track
1/9 – 6.51 easy
1/10 – 6.02 warmup + MP
1/11 – 6.20 mostly easy
1/12 – 9.01 warm up, speed work, cool down
1/13 – rest day
1/14 – 15.88 warm up, 5 mile race, post-race easy run
1/15 – 10.06 easy with hills
1/16 – 6.83 easy plus 4 strides
1/17 – 8.02 warm up, speed work, cool down
1/18 – 7.04 group run
1/19 – 7.67 warmup, speed work
1/20 – rest day
1/21 – 16.16 easy

January total to date – 155.70

Nominal Challenge Goal – 225 miles
Real Goals: Train toward Boston, working 3 Freezeroo races plus Winter Warrior Half into the training plan. Avoid injury.

Today's notes – Today is a Saturday off between races, and it's a week off between sessions of pace group leading. Forecast for 6:30 AM was 44º F (7º C), with light wind and possible showers in the next few hours. I had a rest day yesterday, got to bed early, and took today to check out the group that runs at 6:30 AM. I've been told they have runners who will run about my pace, but driving a fair distance to be ready to run at 6:30 has always been a bit of a barrier for me.

I thought about wearing shorts, but the possibility of showers convinced me to go with light tights. However, it was warm enough for a short sleeve tech shirt under a light jacket, where the jacket was as much for the high-visibility yellow as for protection from showers. The published route had a couple stretches of trails, and we've had rain recently; so I wore my Peregrines because the trails might be a bit soft.

Found some people I hadn't met, and some runners I knew at the meeting point. I wasn't terribly worried about this one, because I had run maybe 90% of the route in various pieces. Once I saw the route from the meeting point to the Erie Canal Trail, I knew I could find the rest on my own. The route was mapped to 14.78 miles, but since part of it was an out and back, I figured I could just run a half mile farther out to get my 16 miles.

This was not a paced run. The runners started in a clump, and then separated by natural pace. I got talking to a couple people I just met, and after a couple miles they seemed to slow down and I was running alone. There was a group in front of me that I could have run with, but I would have had to run harder than I wanted to catch them. So I lived with that, and they pulled away very slowly. If I'd been with them, I would have run at their pace and kept up; but they were running just a tad faster than is natural for my easy runs.

That became important where the route left the first stretch of trail, crossed a major street, and picked up another trail. I'd run the second trail only once, and that was in the other direction. The group ahead of me was around a turn, and I didn't see where they turned to cross the street. Okay, I'll find it. Except I found the wrong trail entrance. After a quarter mile or so, I could see the right trail on my left, across a gully. Well, I know this area well enough; just follow the trail I'm on, even though it's a little more technical than the trail that was planned. As I expected, I had an opportunity to join the correct trail, and from there I knew the route; but I didn't know how much distance I'd added with my detour.

So I turned around at the planned turn around point. I was a bit over 15 miles when I got back to the meeting point, and totally separated from all other runners. The street was a lot busier at 8:30 than it had been at 6:30, so I ran laps around the parking lot to get my 16 miles in. If I'd known how much I needed, another out and back just before I left the Erie Canal Trail the last time would have been more pleasant.

The forecast showers didn't show. Instead, we got fog and mist. That would have been a little scary to drive in, or to run on roads; but most of this run was on the Erie Canal Trail, and it was just pretty there. No pictures, because I didn't want to stop and I'm not coordinated enough to take pictures while running.

This is the longest continual run I've done since coming back from Achilles tendinitis. My endurance is not where I'd like it to be. I began to feel a bit of a mental challenge along about mile 13. Part of that was from being physically tired, part of it was because long stretches of the Erie Canal Trail are just plain boring to run. I know, if I'd just stayed with other runners I would have had conversation; but most runners were only doing the 11.6 mile route (omitting the out and back), so I wouldn't have had company late in the run anyway.

2017 races:
January 1, 2017 Freezeroo #2 (Resolution Run 7.5 mile) (Mendon, NY) Finished in 50:45
January 7, 2017 Winter Warrior Half Marathon (Gates, NY) Finished in 1:32:40
January 14, 2017 Freezeroo #3 (Pineway Ponds Park 5 mile) (Spencerport, NY) Finished in 33:42
January 28, 2017 Freezeroo #4 (Hearnish 5 mile) (Victor, NY)
February 4, 2017 USATF Cross Country National Championship 8K (Bend, OR)
February 11, 2017 Freezeroo #5 (Valentines Run "In Memory of Tom Brannon" 8 Mile) (Greece, NY)
February 25, 2017 Freezeroo #6 (White House Challenge 4.4 mile) (Webster, NY)
March 11, 2017 Johnny's Runnin' of the Green 5 mile (Rochester, NY)
April 17, 2017 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA)

@9voice9 - so sorry. Yeah, running helps but family is more important in times like this. PTSD is awful. Prayers for your family.


Everyone probably knew this but me, but I just discovered that on Google maps you can do a "measure distance". I was playing with it and mapped out two potential routes. I used to look at my Strava or Endomondo runs and estimate ways to go, but with this feature it tells you and you can drag the route to change it. I only use google maps for directions, not for this.

1/1 - rest day (recovering from stomach virus)
1/2 - 40 mile bike ride
1/3 - 4 miles
1/4 - 4.1 miles
1/5 - rest day
1/6 - 5 miles
1/7 - 4 miles
1/8 - 5 miles
1/9 - 4 miles
1/10 - 4.1
1/11 - rest day
1/12 - 4.1
1/13 - 4.0
1/14 - 34 miles biking
1/15 - 56 miles biking - hills! felt like 100 miles
1/16 - 4 miles + strength training
1/17 - 4 miles + neuromuscular activation (lol)
1/18 - Strength training
1/19 - 3.77 miles
1/20 - strength training
1/21 - 34 miles biking - windy day

Upcoming races
2/5/17 - Daytona Beach HM
2/26/17 - Disney Princess HM Orlando

Not a good day. Woke up with low BG, overcorrected and was nearly 300 mg/dl by the time I got to the trailhead. Went out and wasn't in optimal shape because of the BG swing, but then the trails were super muddy and slippery. These are the same hills I did last weekend when dry and had an average of about 18 min. miles. Very challenging when dry. I ended up cutting to some roads somewhere on the way back, but I think avg pace was over 19 min. /mile still. I hate that I couldn't run as much, but I know I wasn't feeling at full health and I didn't want to sprain an ankle because of mud, so I can't beat myself up too much. Anyway, I'll update the ticker when I get home.

@calvin2008brian great job on the HM. My friends ran it too, though they complained about the heat. Funny you mention the amount of women running, a woman finished first overall. Great picture.

@ddmom0811 map my run will do the same thing.

Just dropping to say hi. I try and run twice a week, slowly, but I do. Joined a couple months last year but pneumonia put me back a long way. Just had another month out with illness but have managed 2 2 mile runs this week. Chest is still not great but today's was definitely better than the first one on Wed. Slow and steady, but I'll get back. Reading the posts is inspiring to keep going. I'll join you in setting target for Feb soon, might be slow and short but I'll be here.

MNLittleFinn wrote: »

@MobyCarp you did your 16 in around the same amount of time I did 13.1. Great job! looks like you're really in the swing of Boston training.

Yeah, and I'm pondering whether I ran it too fast. My HR was fine, never got above Zone 2, but I felt more beat up than I think I should after 16 easy miles. Or maybe this is a normal part of getting my conditioning back after taking time off for injury. I don't know.

I just finished a 5 mile run. I was supposed to do 12 this morning, but that didn't happen. I went to a surprise party for a friend last night, and afterwards a bunch of our friends ended up coming back to our house for a fire pit. I did a good job of controlling my wine consumption, but the night just flew by and before I knew it, it was almost sunrise! I have not done that in quite a while! Needless to say, I did not make it up to meet up with the running group at 8AM. But I did take advantage of the 60F January afternoon and did two fun miles with Stella and then another three solo. It got dark on me and I did not have any of my night running gear, or I think I would have stayed out there forever. It was so nice to head out the door in shorts and a shirt and not have to worry about jackets, hats, gloves, etc. In fact, I was feeling so light and free, I didn't even take my music. Hoping the weather repeats itself for my 12 tomorrow. Looking forward to a nice flat run on the bike path!

@MobyCarp - I did 16 last week and it has been quite a while since I have run that distance. Mine was also slow and easy, but I was surprised at how beat up I felt afterwards too. I think we just need to recondition ourselves to that distance. For me, over 14 always feels like a big jump up, especially in terms of recovery.

RespectTheKitty wrote: »

OSUbuckeye906 wrote: »

@autumnblade75 @RespectTheKitty I grew up in Naperville and my mom, who I visit several times a year, lives in Woodridge.

I used to live in both Naperville and Woodridge in my younger days. I love Naperville, such a lovely town and a great Riverwalk.

I have a job interview in Naperville next week! Fingers crossed... I've been looking for a new job because I can't stand my current one.

Small world! Good luck on your interview next week...fingers crossed for you!