July 2018 Running Challenge

katharmonic · July 2018

Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
07/01/18 :::: 3.1 :::: 3.1/130 miles goal

I slept in this morning and it was glorious. That meant it was too late to both run and walk the dog before the heat got too bad, so I chose walking the dog on the shaded trails. I was still plenty sweaty when we got back home. Then I went to the gym and did my run on the treadmill. It's always hard to start the new month total - so far to go!

Group Question???

How long have you been running? Do you have a story to share?

Thanks for the group question @Elise4270. I also really like hearing people's stories, whether they've been runners forever or are just starting.

As for me, I started running just about 3 years ago. I was trying to work my way out of a really bad time in my life, grief and depression had gotten me to my highest weight and feeling hopeless. I had always been overweight by smaller or larger amounts from childhood on, and never remotely athletic (but now I wish I had tried more things, because I know I could have). I started using MFP to help lose weight and really wanted to work on being more active. I was swimming, and walking, and doing some classes at the Y. I even started using a C25K app, although I never really believed I could actually run, when I saw an announcement about a Walk to Run program from the Y. Somehow I convinced myself to try it, and that's the thing that changed my life. I met the coach, who honestly cared about us beginning walker/runners and made us think we could do it - a little bit at a time. I also met another woman that first session who had the same kind of look on her face, like "what the hell am I doing here" and we bonded over our fears and encouraged each other.

That coach is still my coach, and the woman is still my great friend and running buddy (although life circumstances keep her from running as much these days). I did my first 5k in October of 2015, in which I finished dead last by a wide margin (lesson learned about signing up for a fraternity/sorority sponsored race full of college kids) but felt so accomplished. I "graduated" up to the regular run program, and then in the spring my friend and I decided very warily to take a leap and train for a half marathon in the fall. We ran our half in October of 2016. I told people after that that I did not necessarily want to run any more long races, I just wanted to keep running and enjoy it. Well, that didn't last too long and now I have done a total of 8 half marathons. I am training for my first marathon, which will be in October this year. I never would have thought I would be doing this. I'm absolutely terrified but excited.

Elise4270 · July 2018

I wasnt going to dredge up my running story, but yall are all so incredibly inspiring, I'll make it a quick one.

I've run off and on since 2005. I picked it up as a way to be unavailable after ending a relationship, hitting a wall in grad school and as a means to figure out which direction i was going. Another relationship, no running, ate horrible gained 40 pounds over 4-5 years. Then decided it was time, once again to find a new direction.

2010 picked it up again. Never gained real momentum. By March 2012 i had debilitating pain with, (simplest explanation but not exactly)- piriformis syndrome. I ran fairly regularly but still with little progress until '15 when i found this group. Thats where my running education started. Set a goal, stay connected, listen to your body, be impressed by your mental and physical ability.. (PS) Surgery June 2016 had me down for 8+ months, made a bit of a comeback last summer only to encounter ITBS. Surgery to address it this past January, and here i am, once again fighting to make a comeback.

I think each run i think "why am i doing this? Its so dam hard and everything hurts" i don't know why. Maybe i like pain, or the self challenge. If i give up, then I've given in. The fight will be lost.

PastorVincent · July 2018

sarahthes wrote: »

So I've started videoing my runs and they're really bouncy as you would expect given I'm holding a cell phone in my hand to record. Has anybody else here recorded runs, or even bike rides or skiing for that matter? What sort of gear do you use if so? I would like to invest in equipment that doesn't give viewers motion sickness as at this point I think my videos are easier to listen to than to watch and podcast isn't really what I'm going for.

(Channel is Run Sarah Run on YouTube if anyone is interested.)

Hey, so the big thing would be to get a Gimble. Whether or not you use a phone, GoPro, or any other kind of camera, a Gimble will make a HUGE difference in stability. They are A few hundred dollars for a decent one though.

The next best thing would be a head-mounted camera. It will be far more stable their then in your hands, and and the benefit of being able to aim the camera just by looking at what you want in the video. It also frees up your hands for doing stuff like drinking or fighting off ninjas.

Or just keep doing what you are doing.

You might want to wait and see how serious you are really going to be with this before you buy anything.

mandabeth34 · July 2018

Hi all! It’s the dog days of summer here in the mid-Atlantic USA, so much heat and the fact I promised myself I’d decrease my mileage for awhile (injuries) means I’m aiming for 15 miles a week- 2 short runs and one long-ish run. It just occurred to me while scrolling through this post, I gotta figure out when to start training for my fall half. Anyone else doing the Disney World Wine and Dine?

abutcher2122 · July 2018

I’m gonna go super low this month in the hopes that once I’m done with classes I’ll have the motivation to run instead of sleeping while the little one is at school. Lol. So I’m thinking 50mi

Avidkeo · July 2018

Morning everyone. I'll be doing my first official training run today towards my half. I'm so excited. It's really fun to say it starts today. It's the middle of winter here so I'll be running tonight. My first run is 5x 1.3k runs with short 160m walks. To keep this challenging, ill be running "sprints". My 10k pace is around 6:44min/km and my 5k pace is around 5:55ish so I'll aim for 6min/km. Does that sound best? I'm really second guessing myself because I can happily run around 7km so doing a broken 6.5 feels wrong.

Oh another idea, do the same plan but use the "walking" as sprints? That would be better training right?

skippygirlsmom · July 2018

7/1 - 5

5 of 60 miles

I need to come back and read everything. I have a huge headache.

Went to the Greenway with Skip. She had 11 on her schedule for today. It was her first run that long, her longest was 10. She would pass me on the Greenway and I’d say great job honey great pace. At her mile 9.5ish she said I need you. I ran with her about a half mile. I told her I was holding her back ruining her pace. She left me and when she finished she was so happy she cried. She met me at the end and said mommy I love you I could have never finished without your support thanks for being the best mom. Omg I cried. I’m going to miss her when she leaves for college. I’m going to have to find me a kid to run with me lol. The time I ran with her was her worst mile and said who cares.

sarahthes · July 2018

7/1 - 15.0 km

15.0/120 km

Eight more days like today and I'll blow my goal out of the water

Race report!

Okay so let me rewind a bit. The 15K start time was scheduled for 7:25 but free parking was also extremely limited so we set alarms for 5AM with the goal of rolling out the door by 6AM, which would have us to the Legislature buildings by ~6:20 since traffic would be light.

I stayed up a bit later than planned and my head hit the pillow around 11PM. Not ideal, but whatever.

At 11:30 Kid B came in and threw a sleepy tantrum because he couldn't find his water bottle. Husband retrieved it. Kid B settled down in my bed. Awesome.

11:45 PM kid A came in, and he's getting really big and tall with arms and legs everywhere. He woke up Kid A again. Kid A then had a tantrum about the toy he went to bed with and how it was nowhere to be found. I looked for it and did not find it and by the time I came back they had taken over my side of the bed completely.

So I went to the boys' bedroom and set myself up on the bottom bunk.

About 15 minutes later my Garmin started beeping, vibrating, and acting altogether strange. I managed to turn it off. I slept in there from around 12:45 to 3:45 and woke up with a sore back. Went back to my room and moved the kids enough to fit in my own bed.

At 5 AM the alarm went off and I jolted out of bed to take my Synthroid. Then at 5:30, peanut butter toast and half a cup of coffee for breakfast. Discovered that my triathlon GPS watch is showing signs and symptoms of water damage from swimming yesterday. (Side note: now it won't even turn on - I'm calling support tomorrow although I expect I won't get thru til Tuesday due to Monday being a holiday in lieu. At least it's only 2 months old!)

Out the door later than planned and we got to the Leg around 6:45. We took one of the last free parking spaces. Hung around for a bit and took a family team selfie.

7:25 and we were off. I seeded myself to the back because I'm slow. We rounded the first corner and then went down... and down... and down. Continued along the river front and then back up the on-ramp to one of the bridges, across the river and straight into a local park. We did a full loop of the park, then up one of the more punishing hills in the city, then a sharp left near the top of the hill and into the university district along the top of the valley. Did a loop there, then a bit further up that same hill as we came back on to that road. Hit the turnaround, and then alllll the way back down to the bottom of the hill and across the bridge again, back along the river front, and back up the hill to the finish line.

I think this is the best race I've run all year even though I felt undertrained leading up to it. Average pace of 8:17, and I held that pretty steady the entire race. I think my running pace was closer to 7:30 at my fastest, but it's hard to tell from Strava. Stupid Garmin letting me down. I finished in 2:04:03 according to the official clock. I was just barely starting to cramp up as I approached the finish line. Had a smile on my face the entire 15 km and just felt Good the entire run. Happy. The nice breeze and frequent shade might have helped too!

Now that I've written this up and washed my clothes I'll head out to update my vlog - I'll add that to the comments on my Facebook version of this race report!

2018 Races: (italics means not registered yet, only pondering)
1/1/18 Resolution Run 5K ~38:00 (no official times)
3/4/18 MEC Road Race #1 10K 1:30:57
3/17/28 St Patrick's Day race 10K 1:24:53
4/7/18 Jasper Half Marathon 3:05:55
4/22/18 MEC Trail Race #1 5Kish 1:00:00? (Or 48:45...)
5/20/18 MEC Trail Race #2 10Kish 1:56:15
6/24/18 MEC Trail Race #3 10Kish 2:03:15
7/1/18 Canada Day 15K 2:03:04
7/28/18 Idaho Peak 10K Trail Race
8/18/18 Edmonton Marathon (Half Marathon)
8/25/18 MEC Trail Race #4 10Kish
9/22/18 Heartbeat Run 10K
10/7/18 MEC Trail Race #5 15Kish
12/1/18 Santa Shuffle

Scott6255 · July 2018

Group Question???
How long have you been running? Do you have a story to share?
I have had pretty bad asthma since I was a little kid. Needless to say, I was never athletic. But I digress...
So about 6 years ago at age 49, I started concentrating on my fitness and lifting and walking for cardio. As I was walking one day, I decided to see if I could run half a mile. I actually did it without wheezing. I was so surprised, I tried it the next day. And the next, etc. I got to where I could run a mile and was inspired to try a 5k. I guess I grew out of my asthma, for the most part. I still struggle with it occasionally, but it is only on really bad air quality days.
So it's been 6 years running (almost to the day), and have done 4 half marthons, several 15Ks, 10Ks, and 5Ks. This coming January I committed to run my first marathon at age 56. I can't imagine ever not running anymore. It is my salvation. Althogh I don't get any support from my wife. She thinks it is stupid to put one's body through all that pain and suffering.
So I find most of my support through this group!
Love you guys! Whew...that was a lot more than I started out to say. Thanks for the prompt @elise4270!

MobyCarp · July 2018

Late to the party for July. Finished June with 57.83 of my 160 mile nominal goal, having blown my goal of remaining uninjured. Working my way back. For July,

Nominal mileage goal: 100 miles

Real goals: Get healthy. Build base. Work toward being able to run Wineglass in September.

0 miles today, 0 total in July. This is according to plan, so far.

Today's Notes: Ran a 5 mile trail race yesterday, felt Achilles twinge at 1.6 miles, ran on anyway, iced the Achilles, and it felt totally normal today. Yesterday I resolved that today should be a rest day, even if everything felt perfect.

Everything felt perfect, and it's been hard to keep myself from just going out for an easy 3 to 5 miles. But I need to not do that. It does help a little that it's currently 99º F outside; but I still kind of want to get out there for something short.

PT tomorrow, and the week won't have a normal training schedule. So I'll just have to see what tomorrow and Tuesday look like. Probably a bad idea to sign up for a 4th of July race, even though I'd kind of like to do the Firecracker 4 mile again.

Now on to reactions to other posts.

MobyCarp · July 2018

Avidkeo wrote: »

So question,

I am doing the 5-10k program because I want to fill the next 6 weeks before I start my 12 week half marathon training, and this gives me something to concentrate on. Its 3 runs a week, think C25K but its 5-10k instead. it starts as a 6k run - with a couple of walks, and quickly increases to 8,9 then 10. Im adding a long run on the weekends as well as I usually run 7-8km without a break as a long run anyway. ETA my usual weekday running is around 3-4km at my lunch break (it includes a really steep hill which helps keep my fitness up lol) but the last couple of weeks I havent been able to get out due to sickness and weather. I am changing my running to the evenings and will be running regardless of the weather.

Does this seem sensible? I know I could just get out 4 times a week and run what ever distance, but the advantage of the program is it gives me something to focus on. I am worried I'm going backwards rather than progressing by doing this.

Thoughts?

That sounds a bit below your baseline for a starting point. If you really want to use that program, you might want to scan it for a week that looks like about what you're doing now, and start with that week. Or look at the prerequisites for your HM training plan; what does it ask for as a base? 15 to 20 km per week, maybe? If you're not running as far as the base the HM plan asks for, now is the time to gradually add weekly distance and stretch long runs to the point you match up well with the start of the HM plan just when you need to start it.

Most HM plans will be 4 or 5 days a week. I can be tough to prepare for that distance running only 3 days a week, particularly if you haven't routinely run that far in the past.

MobyCarp · July 2018

Elise4270 wrote: »

Group Question???

How long have you been running? Do you have a story to share?

. . .

Where are you in this journey?

Many of you know this already, but there are some new folks this month.

In 2011, at the age of 55, I weighed 196 lbs. and reluctantly concluded I would need to track what I ate in order to achieve a healthy weight. (Top end of healthy BMI for my high school height = 182 lbs.) I figured 175 lbs. was an aggressive goal. When I got to 182 lbs. in August 2011, I was out for a 5 mile walk and felt like running a bit. Finished the walk, and wondered if I could train myself to run the entire 3.5 mile Corporate Challenge without walk breaks. Found an online 5K training program; the initial program called for intervals of walk 1 minute, run 3 minutes.

Got out. Walked 1 minute. Ran 1 minute, and was compelled to slow to a walk. I wasn't good enough to *start* the 5K training program.

So I built a 2-week remedial program of walk 1 minute, run 1 minute; then walk 1 minute, run 2 minutes; then the 3rd week, start the first week of the 5K training program. I got to the end of the program. Ran a 5K in October. Ran a 10K on Thanksgiving Day, and my sister said, "You know, a 10K is almost half of a half marthon."

I made it to my first half marathon two and a half years later, in April 2014. I made it to my first full marathon in May 2015, kind of by accident. I ran my first Boston Marathon in April 2016; and BAA keeps letting me come back.

For 6 and a half years, I have maintained a stable weight mostly between 160 and 165 lbs. I've had periods of training for marathons, and periods of being injured and unable to run for weeks or months at a time. Every time I get injured, my top priority is to recover, get running again, and avoid future injury. I haven't been so good at that last part, but I keep trying.

I am a runner. While I have run a couple of one mile races, my real love is distance running. I want to keep doing it for the rest of my life. Life is much better as a 62 year old 163 lb. marathon runner than it was as a 53 year old 221 lb. couch potato.

mustb60 · July 2018

Hi everyone! Returning back to this challenge after a long gap. Have been running but randomly and no regular tracking so time to bring back more discipline to my workout life.
Keeping low mileage goal in July: 40 km.
Wishing a runderful and injury free month to all of you!

July Running Challenge
Goal: 40 km
Done: 0/40 km

1/7/18 Walk 7 km

bride001 · July 2018

Group Question???

How long have you been running? Do you have a story to share?

I started running the first time in 2011. I decided with the encouragement from one of my coworkers to do the couch to 5K program. I would spend weeks on the same week of the program, never moving past week 3. I would stop for months and then start over at Week 1. That same year my SIL did her first half marathon.

At my daughters birthday party in January 2012, my SIL encouraged me to complete the C25K program in the 8 weeks as planned and if I did it, she would complete a 5K with me and run a marathon that year.

The 5K we registered for was only 7 weeks away, but we did it. I still had to run walk it but I finished it.i was thinking the whole time I am never doing this again. After the race I started thinking well i could have ran that portion faster or done this differently, so I signed up for another race. Thus began my running journey.

I ran for time up to an hour 5- 6 days a week, working two jobs and walking on my breaks at work. I dropped 50 pounds over that year.

In 2014, I decided to run a half marathon in December of that year. Did everything the training plan said to do. I followed it with another half in January 2015.

After that half I decided to take a week of rest which lead to two and half year rest. I did do another half in December 2015 - this time with very little training. I kept registering for races and would not do any training.

Basically fell off the wagon in 2015, 2016 and half of 2017. Gained that 50 pounds back. About this time last year I decided to take my training seriously because I had registered and started training for another half marathon. Training did not go according to plan, but I managed to get in most of my long runs.

Wanting to lose the weight again, I started focusing on running again in January 2018: however a cyst on my ankle in March and plantar fasciitis in May and June have had me sidelined.

Slowly working my way back to running consistently and with more focus this time. Watching what I eat and hoping the foot with PF cooperates this month!

BruinsGal_91 · July 2018

Group Question???
How long have you been running? Do you have a story to share?

I think I started running somewhere around 2005/2006. We had a gym at work and I used to go in there on a lunchtime and trundle at a fairly slow jog on the treadmill. A friend kept trying to coax me outside, but I insisted I wasn't a 'proper runner'. She eventually put an appointment in my Outlook calendar for a lunchtime run outdoors, and I never looked back. Got myself a Garmin Forerunner 205 so I could nerdily look at all my stats.

A year or so later (2007), I moved from the UK to the US and that was when I started to become more serious about my running and actually entered some races. I wasn't particularly fast, but I liked the excitement of pinning my race bib to my shirt, lining up with my fellow runners, and finishing somewhere at the back of the pack.

I stuck with 5k's and then entered a 10k, and in 2010 I ran my first half marathon. I was as slow as molasses, but I got a shiny medal and one heck of a feeling of achievement. The following year I ran another two half marathons and knocked 20 minutes off my time. Man I was cruising, and then slipped on some black ice outside the house. It hurt to run and I lost a lot of confidence. For the next few years I barely ran and put on quite a bit of weight.

In 2015 I decided enough was enough. I dusted off my shoes and headed out for run. And fell in love with running all over again. Got myself a new Garmin, entered more races, lost 25lbs which led to faster times, and discovered that being in the 'veteran' age-group meant I could sometimes place in the top three. Last year I got new PBs in 5k and 10k, and I ran a half marathon and got a PB by knocking 15 minutes off my 2011 time.

Yeah, I like running.

Avidkeo · July 2018

MobyCarp wrote: »

Avidkeo wrote: »

So question,

I am doing the 5-10k program because I want to fill the next 6 weeks before I start my 12 week half marathon training, and this gives me something to concentrate on. Its 3 runs a week, think C25K but its 5-10k instead. it starts as a 6k run - with a couple of walks, and quickly increases to 8,9 then 10. Im adding a long run on the weekends as well as I usually run 7-8km without a break as a long run anyway. ETA my usual weekday running is around 3-4km at my lunch break (it includes a really steep hill which helps keep my fitness up lol) but the last couple of weeks I havent been able to get out due to sickness and weather. I am changing my running to the evenings and will be running regardless of the weather.

Does this seem sensible? I know I could just get out 4 times a week and run what ever distance, but the advantage of the program is it gives me something to focus on. I am worried I'm going backwards rather than progressing by doing this.

Thoughts?

That sounds a bit below your baseline for a starting point. If you really want to use that program, you might want to scan it for a week that looks like about what you're doing now, and start with that week. Or look at the prerequisites for your HM training plan; what does it ask for as a base? 15 to 20 km per week, maybe? If you're not running as far as the base the HM plan asks for, now is the time to gradually add weekly distance and stretch long runs to the point you match up well with the start of the HM plan just when you need to start it.

Most HM plans will be 4 or 5 days a week. I can be tough to prepare for that distance running only 3 days a week, particularly if you haven't routinely run that far in the past.

Thanks for replying. The HM plan is 5 days a week, so to prepare for that I was going to do this plan + a long run on the weekends for the 6 weeks that this plan goes for - so 4 runs a week. Then jump into the HM plan. The HM plan is for beginners so its for those doing around 25-40km which even in the beginning stages with my extra long run (8-10km) on the weekends I will be doing. Hence my thought was to use this, but instead of doing the walks, I'll do sprints, so use it as an improover rather than a 10k trainer. the first long run in the HM plan is 9.6k so by the end of this plan, will be matching that. The first week is a 6.4k FARTLEK, 6.4k, 6.4k and a 4.8k with the 9.6 long run.

MobyCarp · July 2018

Avidkeo wrote: »

Morning everyone. I'll be doing my first official training run today towards my half. I'm so excited. It's really fun to say it starts today. It's the middle of winter here so I'll be running tonight. My first run is 5x 1.3k runs with short 160m walks. To keep this challenging, ill be running "sprints". My 10k pace is around 6:44min/km and my 5k pace is around 5:55ish so I'll aim for 6min/km. Does that sound best? I'm really second guessing myself because I can happily run around 7km so doing a broken 6.5 feels wrong.

Oh another idea, do the same plan but use the "walking" as sprints? That would be better training right?

There are two reasons to do intervals like the ones you describe.

Plans designed for beginners do run/walk intervals to build the capability of running without running to failure. Running to failure can be demoralizing, and it also has a high risk of injury. Since you can already run 7 km nonstop, this reason does not apply to you.

The other reason to run short intervals is speed training. The idea is that you run fast, recover, run fast again. Depending on the length of the interval and how fast you run it, you may be working on speed for shorter races. (To me, "shorter" is 5K and 1500m or 1600m races.) Or you may be working on developing endurance at speed by running longer intervals, but less hard.

Interval work while training for a half marathon or marathon is generally designed to improve form, improve cardio vascular conditioning, and improve endurance at speed. The idea is to run the fastest half marathon or marathon that you can.

If the plan you are looking at is all interval work, it's a beginner plan. If the plan you are looking at has interval work one day a week (or maybe two days a week, if it's a 5 day a week plan), it's designed to be speed work and the days that aren't intervals should be run easy.

Half the battle is understanding what you're trying to accomplish and how the plan is trying to get you there. If all you want is to be able to run the distance, interval work is less important. If you want to run the distance fast, you want to understand how using intervals is intended to help you do that.

I'd also note that a plan focused on getting you to run a 10K fast will have different types of intervals than a plan focused on getting you to run a half marathon fast.

Avidkeo · July 2018

MobyCarp wrote: »

Avidkeo wrote: »

Morning everyone. I'll be doing my first official training run today towards my half. I'm so excited. It's really fun to say it starts today. It's the middle of winter here so I'll be running tonight. My first run is 5x 1.3k runs with short 160m walks. To keep this challenging, ill be running "sprints". My 10k pace is around 6:44min/km and my 5k pace is around 5:55ish so I'll aim for 6min/km. Does that sound best? I'm really second guessing myself because I can happily run around 7km so doing a broken 6.5 feels wrong.

Oh another idea, do the same plan but use the "walking" as sprints? That would be better training right?

There are two reasons to do intervals like the ones you describe.

Plans designed for beginners do run/walk intervals to build the capability of running without running to failure. Running to failure can be demoralizing, and it also has a high risk of injury. Since you can already run 7 km nonstop, this reason does not apply to you.

The other reason to run short intervals is speed training. The idea is that you run fast, recover, run fast again. Depending on the length of the interval and how fast you run it, you may be working on speed for shorter races. (To me, "shorter" is 5K and 1500m or 1600m races.) Or you may be working on developing endurance at speed by running longer intervals, but less hard.

Interval work while training for a half marathon or marathon is generally designed to improve form, improve cardio vascular conditioning, and improve endurance at speed. The idea is to run the fastest half marathon or marathon that you can.

If the plan you are looking at is all interval work, it's a beginner plan. If the plan you are looking at has interval work one day a week (or maybe two days a week, if it's a 5 day a week plan), it's designed to be speed work and the days that aren't intervals should be run easy.

Half the battle is understanding what you're trying to accomplish and how the plan is trying to get you there. If all you want is to be able to run the distance, interval work is less important. If you want to run the distance fast, you want to understand how using intervals is intended to help you do that.

I'd also note that a plan focused on getting you to run a 10K fast will have different types of intervals than a plan focused on getting you to run a half marathon fast.

Ah that makes a lot of sense. I think I'm running around in circles because I have been so haphazzard for the last few months as far as running goes. I regularly run around 7-8km on the weekend with a 3-4km run as often as I can during the week, averaging around 3 times during the week. I have once run 10k (a month ago) but havent done anything longer than 5k for the last couple of weeks due to illness.

the HM training program is mostly just distances with FARTLEK thrown in once a week, or a hills run, but the bulk of it is distances building to 20k long run at week 10, then a taper off for the final 2 weeks.

I think I got stuck on the 6 week plan because it gives me something to focus on until I start the HM plan. So instead should I just be going out, running increasing distances for a bit? Now I'm wondering if the HM beginner plan is appropriate? My ultimate goal is to run the entire race, and I want to do it in 2.5hrs or less. I did complete one years ago in 3hrs 7 min. I never trained properly for it at all, hence my desire to do better this time.

ETA Ive just notice that cool runnings has a pre training plan to do for 5 weeks or so. Perhaps I should focus on that?

Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun.
Pre-
Train Off 3M 4M 4M Off 3M 5M

Scott6255 · July 2018

@sarahthes sounds like you had your hardest work BEFORE you ever started your race. Good job getting through it and finishing.

@skippygirlsmom that was such an inspiring moment. You're such a good mom! Sniff....

_nikkiwolf_ · July 2018

Back from vacation, back to the challenge!
And back to serious training - I did five runs with my sister during my three weeks vacation, all of them at an easy pace and around 5k. Not entirely sure were that leaves me training-wise. Very recovered, I guess

I'm toying with the idea of an October marathon, so I'll have to work my way up to long long runs again. I haven't picked a race yet (there are only really two options that don't require crazy travel distances), and I still need to chose a training plan, so I don't have a fixed monthly goal yet. Maybe 150km?

Today I started with a 15.6 km long run. It's too dang hot here! I missed my transfer flight yesterday (the first one was late) and got home almost six hours later than planned, so neither a chance to go shopping nor going to bed early. The compromise between sleep and running before it's too hot was getting up at 6:30, and it was still 22°C (72°F) when I started and 26°C (79°F) at the end. My clever weather app told me it 'felt like' 35°C (80°F) when I finished. I can definitely confirm that it felt way too hot to be running! I planned my route so that I would come across fountains twice during the run, and each time I took a 1 minute rest and used it to drench my hair and the bandana I was wearing in water, that helped for a bit. Still, next week I will have to try to get up earlier...

July 2018 Running Challenge

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