December 2017 Running Challenge

12/1 – Rest
12/2 – 2.4 miles (11 min pace)
12/3 – 2 mile
12/4 – 1 mile
12/5 – 1 mile
12/6 - Rest
12/7 – 2 miles (11:52 min pace; off day)
12/8 - Rest
12/9 - Rest
12/10 - 2 miles (10:40 pace)
12/11 – 2 miles
12/12 - Rest
12/13 – Rest
12/14 – 2 miles (10:40 pace)
12/15 - 2.3 miles
12/16 - 2 miles (9:53 pace)
12/17 - 1 mile (9:53 pace)
12/18 - 3 miles (10:50 pace)
12/19 - 3.2 miles (Total time: 34:24) First test run for upcoming 5k. My race-day goal is to run it in under 33 minutes.
12/20 - 1 mile (10:27)
12/21 - Rest
12/22 - Rest
12/23 - Rest
12/24 - Rest
12/25 - 3 miles (10:59 pace)
12/26 - Rest
12/27 - 3.4 miles (11:16 pace)
12/28 - 3.2 miles (Second test run for upcoming 5k) Total time is 33:14. Argh! You have no idea how disappointed I was being unable to run this in under 33 minutes. I pushed hard. I think my big mistake was I decided at the 2-mile mark that I suddenly wanted to try to run a 5k AND beat my race-day goal! Hah! Not the brighest idea when you were going at a comfortably hard pace to start. I quickened up the pace in the last 1.2 miles to no avail.
12/29 - 1 mile (10:19 pace)
12/30 - 3.2 miles (32:42!) I DID IT! First-ever 5k under 33 minutes!
12/31 - 2.75 miles (Took my time with this one. Focused on the music and controlling my breathing rather than speed.)

Total: 43.45/50 miles for December. Fell a bit short, but I definitely made some strides with speed, pacing and my breathing. Praying the weather breaks a bit this upcoming weekend (For Chicago, I'd be happy with temperatures in the 20s right now) so I can get back to running outside.

Some major milestones for me since since I started running in mid-September:
1) I can now run more than a block without getting severely out of breath!
2) My average 1-mile pace is down from 14:40 to about 9:50-10:30, but apparently when I push myself, I've found I can maintain a 10:12 pace for a 5k. How in the heck does THAT work?
3) About two years ago, my husband and I trained together for a Chicago 5k and I struggled a lot -- it was mostly mentally because he was faster than me, having started training about a month before I joined him. That year, I ran the 5k in 38 minutes. This year, I'm training on my own after a two-year hiatus and ran 3.2 miles the other day in 32:42. Progress!
4) Self-confidence. Before September, I would not step foot on a treadmill at the gym before now. And I hated running outside, terrified someone in my neighborhood would SEE ME. Lol.

As a Christmas gift, my dad signed me up for three races! Two 5ks in January and February and my first-ever 10k in April! A little nervous about that one.

Goals for January and the rest of 2018:
- Lose weight so my running speed goes up (it's one of the barriers, I think, to my breathing.)
- Control my pacing (but mostly, have patience) to run longer distances daily versus constantly trying to increase my 1-3 mile speeds.
- At the same time, I would be overjoyed if I could run a sub-9-minute 5k. In high school, I could run a mile in about 7 minutes to 7:30. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but a girl can dream.

katharmonic wrote: »

abutcher2122 wrote: »

And December closes with a bang. I wasn't going to go running today but I realized I had signed up for a challenge and I needed to run a 8 minute mile or less. I swear if someone was watching they probably thought I was running for my life. I was pumping along so hard that when I hit the one mile mark (7:45) I didn't notice that the trail I was coming up to was closed and I tripped over the small, pretty much at ground level, "invisible" chainlink fence. Not gonna lie, I totally crawled away as low as possible. So glad I go out so early. Lol

Oh, @abutcher2122 hope you are OK, but that was a great visual of you running like your life depended on it, BAM, and then slinking away hoping no one saw that. Great effort on your mile!

-10 F real temp out there right now. Think it's going to be the treadmill if anything today. Tomorrow is much the same, which makes for a tough Resolution Run. Yesterday it warmed up to almost 20 degrees F and it felt so much better, the dog and I were loving it. I was hoping we were on an upward trend but no.

Be back later with today's numbers, if any. Happy last day of 2017!

@katharmonic I'm okay. Luckily I busted my butt the on so many Lego pieces lately, that fall was like going down memory lane.

@ddmom0811 sorry about your cycling problem

So I was just reading that Emma Coburn ran 3280 miles this year along with winning a gold medal AND managed to get married. Go girl!

dreamer12151 wrote: »

My December goal: 25 miles

12/1: 2.11
12/2: 2.12
12/4: 2.11
12/7: 2.19
12/8: 2.12
12/11: 2.12
12/13: 2.19
12/16: 2.10
12/18: 2.28
12/20: 2.28
12/22: 2.17
12/29: 1.60- 25.39 Total miles run for month - GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!

True I didn't SMASH it down, or do the CT10K for last week, but I DID accomplish the goal I set. I'm feeling kinda proud of myself, if I so say so myself!

And, the last run I did was a turn on the tunes, and just run. Ok, I did still take a few 30 second walk breaks, but I still had no agenda other than making my 25 mile goal. I get home to find that my over all pace time has improved! Ready to start again in the new year....

Elise4270 wrote: »
end-of-month question?

What are your goals for this next year?
Where do you want to be a year from now?
How do you see your training evolving?

This has been rattling around my head for the past week or so. Still formulating plans & goals, but now that I've accomplished this "little" goal, I think I'm back on track to setting some more for the coming months.

Congrats!! Really nice work.