January 2018 Running Challenge

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  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,989 Member
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    Thanks @girlinahat @shanaber @rheddmobile @PastorVincent @RunsOnEspresso @fitoverfortymom @MobyCarp @kevaasen and @JessicaMcB
    I appreciate all of your advice. I do think that confidence is my biggest obstacle at this point. And I hadn't really done the math, but looking at that chart I should be able to run a HM in under 3 hours and possibly close to 2:30. I do think it would be better for me if I run at least one long run of 13 miles before the race. I've seen plans with 10 miles as the longest run, but I think I will feel more confident if I know that I have gone the distance at least once. I like the idea of running further than 13 so that on race day I won't be worried about going the distance. I really like the idea of being able to feel like I could run an HM at any time. Since this will be my first HM my main goal will be to finish, but if I could have a decent time then that would just be nice too. I think I will just try modifying what I am currently doing using the guidelines that @PastorVincent suggested. I definitely don't want to cut my long run down.
  • polskagirl01
    polskagirl01 Posts: 2,010 Member
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    kgirlhart wrote: »
    I have been looking at half marathon training plans. I'm trying to find one that has 4 runs per week instead of 5. I have seen a few but they all start with 4 miles for the first long run. Currently I run 4 days per week. Sunday I do a long run. The last few weeks my long run has been 9 miles and yesterday was 9.5. I also run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday usually between 3-4 miles. I try to run intervals on Tuesdays but I haven't done any lately since I haven't been actively training for anything specific. I see a lot of advice about "following the plan", but most of the plans I am seeing have you starting out at about 12 miles per week. I am currently running about 20 miles per week. Should I cut back and build back up, or should I just go with what I have been doing and gradually increase? Maybe I should switch to 5 days per week. But 4 really works better for my schedule and my personal life. The half marathon I am looking at (but not signed up for yet) is on May 19th. I'm nervous because they have a cutoff time of 3:30. I have run a 10k in training in 1:09 so surely I can run 13.1 in 3:30. Does anyone have any advice? The Hal Higdon Novice 2 plan looks pretty good, but I don't know if I want to cut my long runs back down to 4 miles.

    I'm a newer runner but have taken Hal Higdon plans (maybe even Novice 2 HM) and looked at my current training, then matched it up with his plan and started there - or maybe 1 week earlier. The plans are meant to build up to the distance, so you don't have to go backwards and start at the beginning if you're already part way there. After my half marathon, I wanted to maintain HM fitness so I could run one anytime I wanted. I also wasn't ready to start marathon training. So I took a couple weeks before and after the HM long-run distance from the middle of his marathon plan, and just repeated them until I was ready to keep going. I have found the distance becoming more familiar and do-able.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    edited January 2018
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    @kgirlhart I stretched the Novice 1 plan out by a few weeks (mostly because the timing of which HM I wanted to do) so my longest run before the HM was 12 miles, making a HM the natural next long run distance I would do any way.
  • kevaasen
    kevaasen Posts: 173 Member
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    kgirlhart wrote: »
    Thanks @girlinahat @shanaber @rheddmobile @PastorVincent @RunsOnEspresso @fitoverfortymom @MobyCarp @kevaasen and @JessicaMcB
    I appreciate all of your advice. I do think that confidence is my biggest obstacle at this point. And I hadn't really done the math, but looking at that chart I should be able to run a HM in under 3 hours and possibly close to 2:30. I do think it would be better for me if I run at least one long run of 13 miles before the race. I've seen plans with 10 miles as the longest run, but I think I will feel more confident if I know that I have gone the distance at least once. I like the idea of running further than 13 so that on race day I won't be worried about going the distance. I really like the idea of being able to feel like I could run an HM at any time. Since this will be my first HM my main goal will be to finish, but if I could have a decent time then that would just be nice too. I think I will just try modifying what I am currently doing using the guidelines that @PastorVincent suggested. I definitely don't want to cut my long run down.

    Just another thought. Maybe see if you can run an HM as a “training” run if it works out sometime in March/early April. I was doing my HM training in efforts to just run a 15k race at the end of Oct. yes, I was over training, but for me it was perfect as I wanted to run the 15k well and later work towards a HM, etc.

    As noted it had long runs up to 16 Miles. Before ever running with a running group (which I highly recommend), I signed up for a HM race as a “training run” in early Sept to run not as a race but to simply as a way to run that long with other people. I had run 13 and 14 miles previously alone as a long run (one was just a dreadful, humid late afternoon) and at this point was looking forward to use this as a training run to pace behind others and it fit into my training schedule to run that distance. I had no expectations of time other than I was going to run comfortably hard for 10 miles and if feasible lets the dogs fly for the last 5k.

    So I Ran my 15k in Oct and ran to my expectations and it was really a fun race. I also Signed up for another turkey trot HM in Nov since I wanted to run that distance again and had in theory trained for that distance. Oh, what happened on my earlier “training” HM run which had no expectations other than finishing and enjoying the day ( I was running with such joy and joking around with others running saying “let’s run this twice today” and asking people cheering for more cowbells) remains my PR to date.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,989 Member
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    Thanks @_nikkiwolf_
  • AlphaHowls
    AlphaHowls Posts: 1,909 Member
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    1/1 Run 2.07 miles
    1/2 Run 2.01 miles
    1/3 Run 6.51 miles
    1/4 Run 2.51 miles
    1/5 Run 8.13 miles
    1/6 Run 13.16 miles
    1/7 Run 3.55 miles
    1/8 Run 6.36 miles
    1/9 Run 6.24 miles
    1/10 Run 8.23 miles
    1/11 Run 8.18 miles
    1/12 Run 6.35 miles
    1/13 Run 6.75 miles
    1/14 Run 11.28 miles
    1/15 Run 13.38 miles
  • PastorVincent
    PastorVincent Posts: 6,668 Member
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    01/01/2018 - 3.0 miles @ 9:15
    01/02/2018 - 6.5 MPH and 4% Grade for 1 hour
    01/03/2018 - 6.5 MPH For 8 Miles at 4% grade
    01/04/2018 - 6.7 MPH For 8 Miles at 4% grade
    01/05/2018 - 6.8 MPH For 8 Miles at 4% grade
    01/06/2018 - Rest
    01/07/2018 - Rest - Family Time
    01/08/2018 - 7.0 MPH for 7 miles at 4% grade
    01/09/2018 - 10 miles @ 8:58 pace
    01/10/2018 - *grumble grumble meetings*
    01/11/2018 - 11 miles @ 8:34 pace
    01/12/2018 - *grumble* *grumble*
    01/13/2018 - 7.0 MPH for 7 miles at 4.25% grade
    01/14/2018 - 11 miles @ 9:46 pace - in the snow.
    01/15/2018 - 7.0 MPH for 6 miles at 4.5% grade

    Big Hairy Audacious Goal: Sub 4 hours in Pittsburgh 2018!

    Official Marathon PR: 4:11:28

    Next Races (more as I find them):

    03/17/18 - Shamrock Shuffle Half Marathon
    05/06/18 - Pittsburgh Marathon - aiming for sub four hours.
    05/12/18 - Glacier Ridge 50k Trail Ultra (I must hate myself)

    2020 - Disney World Dopey! (if can raise funds)

    Snow was coming down enough to worry about visibility, and I was not in the mood to get run over. I really was not in the mood to run at all, but I put 6 miles in on the Dreadmill. Bearly. Forgot to start my Garmin so no HR data and stuff. Ah well.
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
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    1/1 5.9miles
    1/2 5miles
    1/3 13.1miles!
    1/4 5miles
    1/5 8.4miles
    1/6 4miles
    1/7 rest
    1/8 6.67miles
    1/9 5miles
    1/10 6miles
    1/11 13.1miles!
    1/12 8.09miles
    1/13 4miles
    1/14 rest
    1/15 5.75miles

    Intervals today in cold weather. Not too bad, I’ve run in colder :smile:

    Time to catch up on 100 posts!
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
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    @kgirlhart the only thought I can add to the HM Training Plan Conversation is when I build/tweak my plans I add an extra week in as a O-*Kitten* Life Happens Cushion. If every goes good then I just do a copy/paste modification of the last week and the Taper portion to fill in that extra week.
    Since you are already doing 20 MPW there is no need to reduce MPW just to match the plan, tweak the plan to match your present abilities. I try to stay in a state of HM Pre-Taper ready so if an interesting HM gets offered to me as a Freebie ( accommodation/travel or entry ) I can hit it with out worry. I won't get a top place/finish but don't really care. I am a little off schedule/training right now thanks to a :( November and December but could still get out and complete a slow/cautious HM.
    From interactions with other runners Local and on-line it seems that everyone takes an existing HM Training Plan and Modifies/Tweaks it to match their situation.
    Now to get the shoes on and go for an evening run in the dark. :)
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,989 Member
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    Thanks @juliet3455. Thst is great advice.
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
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    PastorVincent wrote: »
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    I just wanted to say that even though I have no ambition to run a half marathon, hearing experienced people discuss it is teaching me a lot about running, and running plans. Not to mention all the tips I have picked up about equipment, eating, and weather. You guys are great!

    Careful... hang around here too long and you might start aiming for a HM sooner than you think. :lol:

    Yep. If you asked me a year ago about running a marathon I would have said not in a million years. Now I’m toying with the idea of attempting a training plan this September when all my kids are in school full time...
  • HonuNui
    HonuNui Posts: 1,464 Member
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    January Goal....do something

    1/1 gobsmacked
    1/2 3.35
    1/3 3.20
    1/4 couldn't
    1/5 3.27
    1/6 2.50
    1/7 wouldn't
    1/8 3.58
    1/9 4.16
    1/10 6.19
    1/11 4.62
    1/12 scheduled rest day
    1/13 non-exercise aerobic workout
    1/14 our very own Heidi Bowl ....friends asked us over to watch playoffs and grill hamburgers. Friend had a new cable record system so we could watch and forward thru the commercials. Unfortunately he was still learning how to set it up, and it stopped recording as The Saints were setting up for their final field goal with only seconds left. We assumed they scored and won. Wasn't till after the burgers and news came on that we saw the miracle TD by the Vikings.
    1/15 5.60

    Total 36.47
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    I just wanted to say that even though I have no ambition to run a half marathon, hearing experienced people discuss it is teaching me a lot about running, and running plans. Not to mention all the tips I have picked up about equipment, eating, and weather. You guys are great!
    ...yeah, I said that once, too. 7 half marathons later.....
    @skippygirlsmom Hooray (again) for Skip!
    ....and there are lots of likes (that would have been awesomes if we still could....) up there^^^

    Ticker is my goal for 2017 and progress to date:

    exercise.png


    Upcoming races:
    Phoenix Women's 10k 1/28/18


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