April 2017 Running Challenge

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  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
    @karllundy you might be behind reading posts, but not on running. Great job!
  • BeeerRunner
    BeeerRunner Posts: 728 Member
    garygse wrote: »
    @MNLittleFinn Thanks man! I keep taking it slow and steady, and the miles quickly add up. Soon I'll need to adopt an actual marathon training plan, like maybe in June to give me four good solid months of proper training...although I do prefer to just keep running long distances.

    You're doing great also, and your June marathon is just around the corner!

    @garygse The Dallas Marathon is December 10th!! Registration opens May 1st! I won't run that one as a full since I'll probably do the Cowtown as a full. It was fun so I might run it as a HM. One of my friends who ran it as a full got her medal autographed by Meb at the race last year.
  • hesfeld
    hesfeld Posts: 95 Member
    Supposed to be 89 degrees today and the wind is already gusting with a thunderstorm tonight. I was planning an outdoor run after work, but I'm rethinking that. I may just go take it easy at the gym instead. My allergies are going crazy but waiting on insurance to cooperate to start allergy shots again. A positive note is everyone in this city is getting excited for the race this weekend. Like I can literally feel the energy building everywhere I go
  • hesfeld
    hesfeld Posts: 95 Member
    @BeeerRunner I'm about to sign up for the Trinity River run in Dallas in November. I'm planning on making a vacation out of the trip!
  • autumnblade75
    autumnblade75 Posts: 1,661 Member
    edited April 2017
    WhatMeRunning wrote: »
    A rather nice 8 mile run today with my HRM running on new batteries. My pace was maybe down a bit but part of that was because I was 100% honest on my effort, walking as soon as the high alert chirped and walking until the low alert chirped. Normally I might start running early if going downhill for the added pace, or might push a bit further to get to the base of a hill and start walking up it. Not today! Which meant lots of downhill walking and running uphill. This is a good thing, I should probably do that more often.

    So, I did pretty much this sort of thing on my 11 mile run, yesterday, and I came home feeling like I had "cheated" somehow. I thought you guys were running solidly, and still keeping that heartrate down around 130 for the whole run - while keeping 7:30 min/mile "easy" paces. I wound up with an average heartrate of 143 bpm, and an average 12:10 pace (but there were hills, and I don't usually do hills...)

    I didn't walk until I got to the low end of the zone, though - I gave it 30 seconds at a time, and started back up. I don't seem to have a "running" pace that allows for a heart rate that belongs in "zone 1." I may need to adjust zones. I definitely want to find HRMax. After that, I think I am interested in adjusting zones based on reserve, rather than percent. I shall Google that.

    edited to add: Garmin gave me 1250 calories for the run - which seems reasonable, this time. I think my activity calories from work are low, but not outrageously so. I may have nailed down the settings to a place I can work from.

    exercise.png

    4/02 - 5 miles
    4/03 - 10 miles
    4/04 - 6 miles
    4/05 - 10 miles
    4/06 - 6 miles
    4/07 - 18 miles

    4/09 - 4 miles
    4/10 - 10 miles
    4/11 - 6 miles
    4/12 - 10 miles
    4/13 - 6 miles
    4/14 - 20 miles

    4/16 - 6.5 miles
    4/17 - 7 miles
    4/18 - 6 miles
    4/19 - 3 miles
    4/20 - 7.75 miles
    4/21 - 9 miles

    4/23 - 6.4 miles
    4/24 - 11.25 miles
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    Beautiful day out for 4 nice, easy effort (almost recovery) miles.

    4/1 - 10 miles
    4/2 - 4 miles
    4/3 - 4 miles
    4/4 - 4 miles
    4/5 - 4 miles
    4/6 - 4 miles
    4/7 - rest
    4/8 - 10 miles
    4/9 - 4 miles
    4/10 - 4 miles
    4/11 - 4 miles
    4/12 - 4 miles
    4/13 - 4 miles
    4/14 - rest
    4/15 - 12 miles of death by hills
    4/16 - 4 miles
    4/17 - 8 miles
    4/18 - 4 miles
    4/19 - 8 miles
    4/20 - 4 miles
    4/21 - rest = insanity
    4/22 - 13 miles (technically 13.1)
    4/23 - 4 miles
    4/24 - 8 miles
    4/25 - 4 miles

    129 of 120 miles complete


    exercise.png


    Upcoming Events:
    5/20 - Running with the Cows Half Marathon
    6/3 - Hospital Hill Half Marathon
    10/21 - Kansas City Marathon
    10/28 - Some 50k, can't remember the name, ask 7lenny7
    11/12 - Gobbler Grind Marathon
    11/19 - Pilgrim Pacer Marathon
  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    @ddmom0811 glad the cardiologist gave you a great report and hope the nodule is nothing to worry about!
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    edited April 2017
    Just checking in quick. I'm 6 pages behind and I'm not sure when, or if, I'll have a chance to catch up.

    My mother-in-law, who has long been battling the horrible, debilitating effects of MS, is currently on life support. She'll be taken off later today and if she continues to breath, will be in hospice care. My wife is with her father and I'm still at home on kid & dog duty until we need to also be there.

    I have a request...if you're racing this weekend and post a race report, can you tag me? I doubt I'll get caught up with all posts, but I don't want to miss race reports. Not only do I care how it goes for you, but there's often something to be learned from reading them.

    I missed my 12 mile run on Saturday though that was because getting our boat ready to put in the water is taking a lot more time than anticipated. I thought I'd make it up Sunday night but decided at this point I need sleep far more than I need miles.

    I'm still running and planning on racing Saturday but obviously I may DNS depending on what happens with my MIL. I did warn my wife that if I can't race Saturday then that means my beard, which I've dubbed my "racing beard", has to stay until I can find and complete another ultra. She is not a fan of my beard and that gave her well needed chuckle.

    If I do get to race, it could be interesting. The long range forecast called for an inch of rain the day before and a half inch the day of. They've backed off on the race day rain now, but a cold front is moving in and at race time it could be 30°F. I'll have to rethink my race day outfit. If we get any precipitation it will make a long run feel a lot longer. I may be wearing arm sleeves for the first time ever. Here's a satellite view of the course area...trees, hills, lakes, and single track...OH MY!!!

    bew5x2e5etow.jpg




  • garygse
    garygse Posts: 896 Member
    @BeeerRunner Tempting, very tempting, but I signed up for the Long Beach marathon in California last month!
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,155 Member
    @7lenny7 I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL. I guess I am the opposite of your wife. My husband always wears a beard, and I get annoyed on those occasions when he shaves it off.
  • garygse
    garygse Posts: 896 Member
    @7lenny7 Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law; it has to be rough, and I wish you all the best.
  • kimlight2
    kimlight2 Posts: 483 Member
    @7lenny7 Sorry to hear about your MIL. My thoughts and prayers will be with your family.
  • greenolivetree
    greenolivetree Posts: 1,282 Member
    kgirlhart wrote: »
    @7lenny7 I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL. I guess I am the opposite of your wife. My husband always wears a beard, and I get annoyed on those occasions when he shaves it off.

    LOL I've only seen my husband without any facial hair 3 times in 13 years. It goes way beyond "annoyed". More like horror. Haha! I love his beard and he's just not the same without it.

    @7lenny7 So sorry to hear about your MIL.

    Yesterday basically became a rest day for me and today probably the same. I'm feeling under the weather and my sore throat became stopped up ears which feels wonky. Also, I apparently beat myself up pretty good running this weekend and don't feel recovered at all. After the hills Saturday I had horrible glute pain. Then after the flatter but longer Sunday run, I ached all over. Today (I think it started during the night) I have an odd stabbing pain in my right calf. Not really like a cramp because it comes and goes in just a second. No pain when walking whatsoever. Just this random stabbing every few minutes. Odd.
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    @7lenny7 - I'm sorry about your MIL. MS sucks. I am racing this weekend, and I hope I remember to tag you in the report.
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    My condolences to you and your family about your MIL @7lenny7.
  • RespectTheKitty
    RespectTheKitty Posts: 1,667 Member
    edited April 2017
    @7lenny7 Keeping your mother in law (and you and your family) in my thoughts and prayers.

    My hip feels pretty good today, no pain, very little stiffness. Looks like a good day to go for a 10-miler!

    Haha just kidding, intervals again for me. Didn't get up early today because I knew I'd have plenty of time after work since my BF is with his kids. Still, I think I would feel better (less jumpy) right now if I had gone before work. If anything, that's reason enough to keep going in the morning.

    I need to get a rain jacket for running in the rain. We've got a lot of rain in the forecast for the rest of this week and I'm pretty tired of getting soaked. Anyone got any recommendations? Can't be too expensive though. Bonus points if I can use PayPal to pay for it.
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    @ddmom0811 My husband has a nodule also on his lung. Nothing ever came of it, they watched it for a few years then he switched doctors and I don't think he informed our current physician. They suspected it was nothing more than a lymph node. He has asthma and decreased lung capacity, (<80% or something). So I figured it's scarring. But he smoked for prob 25+ years too.

    Anyhow, I hope it's "nothing" in your case too. Nice to know about that calcium test. I'll ask about one too!

    @7lenny7 prayers for you and your family.

    I really gotta read more posts, I miss so much.
  • angmarie28
    angmarie28 Posts: 2,883 Member
    edited April 2017
    totally planned on being up early and running, but i was up sick for 2 hours in the middle of the night, so i decided to sleep another hour, but i will hop on the treadmill this evening for a 3 miler
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    edited April 2017
    Brumley2005 wrote: »

    exercise.png


    Ran my first full mile yesterday then walked the second at a fast pace. Problem is my shins are killing me today! Im worried im not going to be able to stick to my running plan and run tomorrow. I know many of you on here are like running miles and miles but for me as a starter, this is difficult. Being overweight I can tell is a large part of my struggle, but my kids are so proud im getting out there and trying to loose the weight. PTSD Meds caused the weight gain and so getting in shape will hopefully help me get off some of the meds that are causing it. June 24 is my goal date for my 5K, hopefully I can get there in time.
    @Brumley2005 - Maybe someone has brought this up already, but what kind of shoes are you running in? Shin splints tend to be the fault of shoes more often than not. That's not to say that simple stress can not be the cause, it can, but soooooo many new runner find they need to actually invest in some real running shoes that are sized and fitted by a professional before they can start running any long distances regularly without pain. I was one of those too.
  • BeeerRunner
    BeeerRunner Posts: 728 Member
    @7lenny7 I'm so sorry to hear about your mother in law. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

    @RespectTheKitty This is the jacket I have. I had a coupon, so I got it for $30. Also, I would buy it 1 size up so you can layer it. I've used it in the rain, and it kept me dry. I also use it on really cold days as my outer layer. When I was up in Chicago last December, I had an 8 mile run to do with a windchill of 6 degrees. I wore 2 tech shirts, a hoody, and this windbreaker/rain jacket and stayed nice and toasty warm on my run.

    @Brumley2005 We all started somewhere and worked our way up to running long distances. It was a slow build up and definitely didn't happen overnight. I haven't personally dealt with shin splints, but maybe someone on here can give some advice on the cause or what you can do to prevent them. Not sure if it's shoes, too much too soon, or running form. I would say if you can't run, it's still better to do something than nothing. Maybe you can walk or ride a bike/exercise bike at the gym instead. When I get hurt or have pain, I cross train in order to maintain my fitness level.
  • RespectTheKitty
    RespectTheKitty Posts: 1,667 Member
    edited April 2017
    Just ordered a new pair of the old ten-eighties from New Balance, and lo and behold, the price has dropped. Score!

    Looks like the v7s will now be my walking shoes... maybe. Not sure what to do with them since I'm pretty sure they're what messed up my hip. Sigh. That's what I get for changing things up.
  • RespectTheKitty
    RespectTheKitty Posts: 1,667 Member
    BeeerRunner wrote: »
    @RespectTheKitty This is the jacket I have. I had a coupon, so I got it for $30. Also, I would buy it 1 size up so you can layer it. I've used it in the rain, and it kept me dry. I also use it on really cold days as my outer layer. When I was up in Chicago last December, I had an 8 mile run to do with a windchill of 6 degrees. I wore 2 tech shirts, a hoody, and this windbreaker/rain jacket and stayed nice and toasty warm on my run.

    Link? :smile:

  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    edited April 2017
    Also @Brumley2005 - You should consider stopping this much running to let your shin splints cool down. You won't make your goal by making the pain worse until you are injured and can't run (or walk). Think long term. You might look into some strengthening exercises to help build up supporting muscles so that when the pain goes away and you start running again you have less chance of it happening again.
  • greenolivetree
    greenolivetree Posts: 1,282 Member
    @brumley2005 I tried Couch25K several times and my shins would hurt so bad every time, I never made it past week 3. I also found the increasing intervals to be too difficult. I ended up learning to run on my own with a lot shorter intervals and I don't know why I didn't get shin splints that time. That's just to say, running is hard for just about everybody in the beginning. I know your race is soon, but it's okay to run/walk the race for the fun experience. I wouldn't try running a whole mile again right now. Only run as much as you can without pain. Even walking can produce shin splints if you are new to walking and start walking 3 miles a day. My son complained a lot of shin pain walking and last summer I realized he was over-pronating badly. I started buying him stability shoes but recently he got regular shoes and guess what? He complained his shins hurt walking to school in the new shoes!
  • Brumley2005
    Brumley2005 Posts: 7 Member
    What is a good brand of running shoe? Looking in to it, they can be really expensive.
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    Brumley2005 wrote: »
    What is a good brand of running shoe? Looking in to it, they can be really expensive.


    Any shoe that is specifically made for running.
    Nike
    Mizuno
    Saucony
    Brooks
    Merrell
    Adidis

    There are so many more....


    You can usually find shoes on clearance about March just before the new line comes out. I think you can always find discounted shoes on the internet.
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    Brumley2005 wrote: »

    exercise.png


    Ran my first full mile yesterday then walked the second at a fast pace. Problem is my shins are killing me today! Im worried im not going to be able to stick to my running plan and run tomorrow. I know many of you on here are like running miles and miles but for me as a starter, this is difficult. Being overweight I can tell is a large part of my struggle, but my kids are so proud im getting out there and trying to loose the weight. PTSD Meds caused the weight gain and so getting in shape will hopefully help me get off some of the meds that are causing it. June 24 is my goal date for my 5K, hopefully I can get there in time.

    Less is more. When you hurt, you need to do less until you no longer hurt. How much is "less" depends on where you are in your running career.

    I'm one of the people here who runs miles and miles and miles. The past 5 days have been light, only 20 miles or so; but I'm in recovery from a marathon, so I'm running less. But even this amount of "less" is more than I could handle when I was a new runner.

    When I was a fairly new runner, I ran myself into injury on less than 25 miles per week. I likely would have been okay running 15 miles a week, but I got into December vacation and had more time to run, and that's what I wanted to do . . . and I ran myself into injury. Then I compounded the problem by staying in denial about it for 2 or 3 months.

    So while it may sound hypocritical for someone like me who views 150 miles as a light month to tell you to back off, I'm still telling you to back off. "No pain, no gain" does not apply to running and shin pain. Take a few days off. Walk gently. Pay attention to how the shins feel. If they don't get better, consider seeking medical advice. Then get back to running, slowly and gently, when the shins let you.

    The natural thing to do is to run and just push through the pain. Lots of us have done that, typically putting ourselves on the couch for an extended period of time. It's much less frustrating to take a week off running when you need it, than to keep running and be compelled to take 3 months off. Trust me, I've done both.

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