October 2017 Running Challenge

10/01 - Rest
10/02 - 10 miles Z2
10/03 - 9 miles easy Z2 in the heat
10/04 - Strength + 7 miles Z3/4
10/05 - Strength + 6 miles Z2 in the rain
10/06 - 11 Miles Z2
10/07 - 16 Miles Z2
10/08 - Rest
10/09 - 9 Miles Z2

Summer Goal: Get my marathon pace below 9 minutes.
Official Marathon PR: 4:11:28

Next Races (more as I find them):

10/14/2017 - Stop, Drop, and Run - Fireman style obstacle course - 5km
10/14/2017 - HAWAIIANS LOVE S.P.A.M. (Skin Protection Against Melanoma)
05/06/18 - Pittsburgh Marathon - aiming for sub four hours.

Today was a very slow 9 miles. 95% humidity and a dewpoint of 70 meant I was lucky not to die, never mind finish. I took the flattest route around here, so only 600 feet of elevation. Pretty miserable, but eh, still better than sitting at a desk all day.

@mobycarp Thanks! That really made me feel good about my short, long run. And you are so right. I have family members who think I run crazy amounts. They don't realize that there are people who run in a week what I run in a month.

@elise4270 We are at 86 today but tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 68. It works out for me that today is a rest day. I'm looking forward to running tomorrow.

Dogs and skunks are not a good mix. I hope the kitty is better soon.

Today is a rest day for me, but as usual I am reading this thread so I don't get too far behind.

I am trying to decide if I should sign up for a HM in the spring or not. The one I am looking at is May 19th. How far before a HM should you start training? And does anyone know of any good training plans that run 4 days a week? Or would I need to run 5 days a week? Four days really works well for me. Typically the only "cross-training" I do is about 30 minutes or so of yoga M-F before work. I usually run Tues, Wed and Thurs about 3 miles and Sunday I am up to about 7.5 for my long run.

Thanks @kgirlhart . Looks like we'll be in the low 50's in the AM... Maybe I can get a before work run, and a lunch run in. Ya know- if I get my lazy scared of the dark kitten up.

@WhatMeRunning I saw a guy today on Strava post pics of himself. He was running barefoot in a grassy area, not an area I'd run barefoot in as I've seen posionous snakes out there. Maybe you can find a football field for barefoot sprints? Or sneak in to a golf course LOL! Ohh I bet that'd be some good running!

@PastorVincent @WhatMeRunning most advice on starting shoeless running - ie. with no shoes at all, actually recommends starting on concrete. That way the foot learns proprioception.

I love the dipped shoe idea - I’m on a running vacation this weekend with a couple of barefoot runners so will see what morsels of advice I can get!!!

@kgirlhart - this is the half plan I got pointed towards last year, but I do run/walk as a general plan, if you don't, it maybe obnoxious, but it was a 4day a week plan http://womensrunning.competitor.com/2014/08/training-tips/couch-to-half-marathon-training-plan-2_28774/2

It happens all the time, but I still struggle wrapping my brain around the fact that within the same country, we have some of you in 90 degrees, and i had 6+inches of snow today.

This is not necessarily running related, but it is exercise related, and you guys are very intelligent on many things, so I am asking this here. In the past several weeks, I have had two fairly similar issues on weight days. The first time, a few weeks ago, in the middle of workout with trainer, I started seeing spots and getting light headed.... it got so bad at one point I got scary pale apparently, and he called the workout early. Now this was NOT during a heavy lift, or even major effort lift. Was during light rounds of accessory work. Today, end of workout just kinda sucked but without good explanation, like trainer at one point even used the phrase "use your words" to try and figure out what was going on. However, as I'm wandering the grocery store like 30 minutes later, here we go again, lots of stars, way light headed... pretty convinced someone was going to be picking me up for the floor of the grocery store sort of light headed... so this time not even during the workout. I know people talk about these types of reactions during max effort lifts...but this isn't the case either time.... but it kind of has me freaked out... so goal would be to figure out what is causing it, and fix it.... so any suggestions would be appreciated.

hanlonsk wrote: »

This is not necessarily running related, but it is exercise related, and you guys are very intelligent on many things, so I am asking this here. In the past several weeks, I have had two fairly similar issues on weight days. The first time, a few weeks ago, in the middle of workout with trainer, I started seeing spots and getting light headed.... it got so bad at one point I got scary pale apparently, and he called the workout early. Now this was NOT during a heavy lift, or even major effort lift. Was during light rounds of accessory work. Today, end of workout just kinda sucked but without good explanation, like trainer at one point even used the phrase "use your words" to try and figure out what was going on. However, as I'm wandering the grocery store like 30 minutes later, here we go again, lots of stars, way light headed... pretty convinced someone was going to be picking me up for the floor of the grocery store sort of light headed... so this time not even during the workout. I know people talk about these types of reactions during max effort lifts...but this isn't the case either time.... but it kind of has me freaked out... so goal would be to figure out what is causing it, and fix it.... so any suggestions would be appreciated.

I am NOT a doctor, but I think you should see one soon. That sounds like blood pressure issues. Seriously, I would get that checked out.

10/1 through 10/8: Nothing, injured, 0 miles
10/9: 45 mins stationary bike, 15 mins rowing machine

Extending some of my XT activities from last week. 15 mins on the rower at just under 2:30/500m, then 30 mins on the bike doing HIIT and 15 mins of easy biking to cool down.

The weather here continues to be hot and muggy and miserable, so I can't say I'm all that sorry to be missing it with this bum calf.

October Goal: Heal my calf tear and run any miles at all!

Upcoming Races:
10/08/17: Steamtown Marathon - DNS, injured
10/22/17: Perfect 10 Miler
11/05/17: Princeton HM (Pacer)
12/03/17: Schuykill River Loop 8.3 miler (if healed)
2018: A marathon, somewhere, sometime!

@WhatMeRunning That is so cool. If I can ever get over my plantar fasciitis I might have to try that! I've got lots of Injinji socks to choose from.

@hanlonsk - I was going to say that sounds line low blood pressure, but I see others are all over that thought. I can have similar symptoms for a few seconds from getting up suddenly after resting in bed, with my distance runner's resting heart rate. THBS, I'm sure there's other stuff that can also cause it; you really want to understand what is causing your particular experience, if only to know whether it's something you need to worry about.

@kgirlhart - It is certainly possible to prepare for a half marathon on a schedule of running 4 days a week. You'll want to build to a peak of 25 to 35 miles per week, and a long run of at least 10 miles. I'll go out on a limb and say that if you develop yourself to point where you're running 30 miles a week consistently, including one long run of at least 10 miles, you can complete a half marathon any time you see one that you like. 30 miles in 4 days isn't very hard; if the long run is 10 miles, you only need 6, 7, and 7 miles for the other three days.

Don't know about specific plans, but if you want a schedule to follow I'm sure there must be something out there. I developed my understanding in 2015, when I signed up for a 4 race series of half marathons and pretty much needed to stay in shape to run a half marathon all year long.

@hanlonsk - I had similar issues when running, even just warming up and also during strength training. I saw my cardiologist first and ruled out those type issues. It ended up being food (not enough) and hormone related. I would definitely get it checked out as soon as possible!

PastorVincent wrote: »

@allyphoe Yuck. Sorry about your teen's head.
@garygse - Awesome! You crushed your first marathon!
@lporter229 - Happy Anniversary!!!!

LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »

I guess I would say my goal would be to run 60 miles by the end of this month. (God, I hope that's not crazy for someone like me starting out?!)

Hard to say without knowing your condition - Can you run say 15-20 miles in a week? To get to 60 that is what you are looking at now. Say 5-7 miles on 3 days a week? Or 4-5 miles on 4 days a week? You will want at least 2 rest days if you are just starting out, maybe more.

Thanks for the reply! Where I'm at now, yes, I think I can run 15-20 per week! I'm super motivated to reach 60. If I don't, it won't be the end of the world though.

To be honest, I'm comfortable now with 1-2 rest days per week. I know that's probably too few but so far, so good! If I need a rest day, I take it. All last month, I rested 1-2 day per week, but I was running fewer miles. We'll see how it goes.

I'm also to the point where I am comfortable at 4 miles per day (with short 30-1 minute breaks every couple of miles if needed. Yesterday, I ran 3.2 miles in the morning and then went for a 1-mile night run with my husband at the high school track. Today, I ran 4.2 today with my husband and walked 3. I'm not counting the 3 miles walking towards my goal.

That puts me at 18.5 miles over 9 days (some of those days were only 1-mile speed interval days), but I really hope I can continue running 4 miles per day as a base level now and possibly 5 miles next week. Trying to take it one day at a time.

eponine1984 wrote: »

W8D1 complete! 28 minutes of running. I dropped my pace back down to a 15-minute mile (I had been trying to push to 14) and it was still tough but felt better than my last few runs. I loosened up the laces (haven't relaced them yet) and I think that helped because the numbness didn't set in until much later.

Did anyone else start out like me - super slow, can barely hang on - and improve? Jumping into this challenge (trying not to compare) but it just seems like everyone is much further in their running careers than me. My sister is a runner, but she's always naturally been faster than me. So I guess I'm just hoping to hear from some other slow pokes.

8.4/40 miles

YES! I started running again on Sept. 4 — after basically more-than-a-year-long hiatus due to insecurities, physical limits and life.

So I ran. Jogged. Whatever you want to call it. I’ll do a mile, I said. As long as I do a mile, I can go home happy. After the first 1/3-mile, I was out of breath so I rested for about a minute. I ran another 1/3 mile and rested, out of breath again. Ran another 1/3 mile and rested. I ran the last tenth of a mile and then ambled over to my car.

It took me 14:41 to complete that first mile, including breaks. My active running time was 11:44.

These days, I’m running anywhere 3-4 miles per day at a 10:15-12 mph pace depending on how I am feeling. I take short breaks when I have to!

Hope that's encouraging. I was not only slower but I could hardly breathe. A month later, I'm faring much better at longer distances and faster paces.

Happy running!