October 2018 Monthly Running Challenge

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  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    PastorVincent wrote: »
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    MobyCarp wrote: »
    Home again, house put together, time to think about October goals. With all the deep thought of 3 minutes, I come up with:

    Nominal Monthly Challenge Goal: 150 miles

    Real Goals: Recover well from Wineglass. Avoid reinjury. Build volume only to the extent consistent with recovery and injury avoidance.

    Monthly questions:

    1) With holiday's coming up and the return of cooler or warmer weather. What's your stragedy mitigating the particular challenges you face these last few months of the year?

    The challenge for October will be not to overdo things. There are a stack of races coming up that I'd like to run for various reasons, and I need to do so only when I'm physically capable of running hard without risking injury. That can be hard to discern. Holidays in general are not much of a food challenge for me; I live alone, control what goes into my kitchen, and am not shy about skipping holiday parties if that's what I need to do to maintain my weight. Colder weather is not a challenge for running. I already have the wardrobe, and I learned to run as the seasons progressed from August to December 2011.

    2) pretend for a moment your 8, unless you really are dressing up, then dish.... What are you going to be for Halloween?

    My 8 year old self would wear whatever costume Mom was willing to provide, in order to go door to door and get as much candy as possible. I don't even remember what those costumes were when I was a kid, but I remember the candy.

    Now, I don't do costumes for Halloween because they're too much effort. I think it would be cool to have a good devil costume, or perhaps Ming the Merciless; but realistically, I thinks it's nicer to not have to go shopping for costumes or stuff to make costumes.

    I will buy a small bag of some type of candy that I don't mind eating one fun sized package at a time over 2 or 3 months. I anticipate zero trick-or-treaters, same as recent years; but I want to have something in case I get a handful of them.

    This reminds me that I've been meaning to ask about running in cold weather gear - I'm not as concerned about keeping warm as I am about falling (or being so tense about falling that I might as well have fallen). Have you ever run in winter spikes (I've seen these recommended a few times)? Have you had any issues with your knees/legs/hips running with them? What do you do if you have them but don't need them? Need them but don't have them? Do outdoor races usually de-ice the course? Do you use your normal shoes or are there better winter shoes?

    We don't get much snow here but we did get ice for several weeks off and on. When it was icy I ran in my Brooks Cascadias which were very safe feeling unless it was straight up glare ice - something like yak trax might have helped, but then you have to run in yak trax on the NOT icy parts too, so it just seemed the better part of valor to skip the one or two really bad days.

    The race I ran in February did not de-ice, and the four bridges were very slick. Most runners crossed single file holding on to the side of the bridge. My husband and I had run that course before and knew that on the bridges, the packed ice closest to the rail was the slickest part, whereas the deeper unpacked snow in the middle was fine to run in as long as you didn't push off to the rear too much - you have to sort of stomp. So that's what we did, stomped by a whole bunch of seasoned runners and got a PR.

    I bought yak trak three years ago, and have yet to need them. So there is that :)

    A winter without ice caked on the sidewalks around me would be a mild winter indeed! The city does keep the paved paths pretty clear, though, so I could plan my routes so I'm only walking on the sidewalks a couple of blocks at the beginning and end and stick the trax in a pocket/belt for the run itself. I forget that last winter I was running primarily on sidewalks whereas now I'm mostly on the paved paths.
  • PastorVincent
    PastorVincent Posts: 6,668 Member
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    PastorVincent wrote: »
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    MobyCarp wrote: »
    Home again, house put together, time to think about October goals. With all the deep thought of 3 minutes, I come up with:

    Nominal Monthly Challenge Goal: 150 miles

    Real Goals: Recover well from Wineglass. Avoid reinjury. Build volume only to the extent consistent with recovery and injury avoidance.

    Monthly questions:

    1) With holiday's coming up and the return of cooler or warmer weather. What's your stragedy mitigating the particular challenges you face these last few months of the year?

    The challenge for October will be not to overdo things. There are a stack of races coming up that I'd like to run for various reasons, and I need to do so only when I'm physically capable of running hard without risking injury. That can be hard to discern. Holidays in general are not much of a food challenge for me; I live alone, control what goes into my kitchen, and am not shy about skipping holiday parties if that's what I need to do to maintain my weight. Colder weather is not a challenge for running. I already have the wardrobe, and I learned to run as the seasons progressed from August to December 2011.

    2) pretend for a moment your 8, unless you really are dressing up, then dish.... What are you going to be for Halloween?

    My 8 year old self would wear whatever costume Mom was willing to provide, in order to go door to door and get as much candy as possible. I don't even remember what those costumes were when I was a kid, but I remember the candy.

    Now, I don't do costumes for Halloween because they're too much effort. I think it would be cool to have a good devil costume, or perhaps Ming the Merciless; but realistically, I thinks it's nicer to not have to go shopping for costumes or stuff to make costumes.

    I will buy a small bag of some type of candy that I don't mind eating one fun sized package at a time over 2 or 3 months. I anticipate zero trick-or-treaters, same as recent years; but I want to have something in case I get a handful of them.

    This reminds me that I've been meaning to ask about running in cold weather gear - I'm not as concerned about keeping warm as I am about falling (or being so tense about falling that I might as well have fallen). Have you ever run in winter spikes (I've seen these recommended a few times)? Have you had any issues with your knees/legs/hips running with them? What do you do if you have them but don't need them? Need them but don't have them? Do outdoor races usually de-ice the course? Do you use your normal shoes or are there better winter shoes?

    We don't get much snow here but we did get ice for several weeks off and on. When it was icy I ran in my Brooks Cascadias which were very safe feeling unless it was straight up glare ice - something like yak trax might have helped, but then you have to run in yak trax on the NOT icy parts too, so it just seemed the better part of valor to skip the one or two really bad days.

    The race I ran in February did not de-ice, and the four bridges were very slick. Most runners crossed single file holding on to the side of the bridge. My husband and I had run that course before and knew that on the bridges, the packed ice closest to the rail was the slickest part, whereas the deeper unpacked snow in the middle was fine to run in as long as you didn't push off to the rear too much - you have to sort of stomp. So that's what we did, stomped by a whole bunch of seasoned runners and got a PR.

    I bought yak trak three years ago, and have yet to need them. So there is that :)

    A winter without ice caked on the sidewalks around me would be a mild winter indeed! The city does keep the paved paths pretty clear, though, so I could plan my routes so I'm only walking on the sidewalks a couple of blocks at the beginning and end and stick the trax in a pocket/belt for the run itself. I forget that last winter I was running primarily on sidewalks whereas now I'm mostly on the paved paths.

    We hand ice and snow a plenty last year, but it always seemed by the time I got to run it either melted, or was cleared already. I live in a new town now, one not nearly as rich, so things might be much different this year. We will see!
  • Avidkeo
    Avidkeo Posts: 3,206 Member
    Anyone use Thorlos socks? I got a pair and I don't like them, too thick in the heel and toe. Anyone want them? They are unused, just tried one on, in my shoe. Thorlo 84N Running Socks size medium grey/navy
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    This reminds me that I've been meaning to ask about running in cold weather gear - I'm not as concerned about keeping warm as I am about falling (or being so tense about falling that I might as well have fallen). Have you ever run in winter spikes (I've seen these recommended a few times)? Have you had any issues with your knees/legs/hips running with them? What do you do if you have them but don't need them? Need them but don't have them? Do outdoor races usually de-ice the course? Do you use your normal shoes or are there better winter shoes?

    As you can see from previous replies, experience and preference varies somewhat between runners.

    I wear trail shoes for snowy winter roads. I've tried screw shoes, but many of my winter runs have 30% to 60% clear asphalt. The screws tend to come out when I run on clear asphalt. Replacing them is cheap, but if they come out on the first half of my run I don't have them for the second half of my run. With Yak Trax and variations of the stuff you linked, I am concerned that I would simply ruin them running on clear asphalt. I suspect they'd be fine for winter trail running, or if I could guarantee I would be running on snow or ice everywhere.

    Races may plow snow, but most won't be able to de-ice. For snowy road races, the trail shoes have done well for me. They aren't a whole lot better than road shoes for icy surfaces.

    The slickest conditions I've run in was for the USATF Masters Cross Country Championships in Bend, Oregon in February 2017. My age group ran 8K, 4 loops of 2K. We went up and down 100 feet twice on each loop. There had been an ice storm the day before, and it was quite slick and sloppy even though it was 42º F when we ran. The course was clearly marked by the two feet of snow everywhere except where we were supposed to run; volunteers cleared the snow with shovels, but couldn't do anything about the ice. On the advice of my team captain, we all bought half inch spikes to install in our shoes the evening before. I am proud to say I left no butt-prints on that course. Many other runners did.

    With the experience from Bend, my thinking is that if I need to run on the roads after an ice storm, I should just put quarter inch spikes into my cross country shoes and run in them. Don't want 3/8 inch, because I know those are a bit annoying when I cross asphalt roads. (Note: Cross country shoes are commonly called "spikes," which I find leads to a bit of confusion if I have discuss the actual metal spikes as well as the shoes that they go in.)

    But really, most of running on slick surfaces is balance, practice, and good eye-foot coordination. In this respect, it is not unlike trail running. You want to go slow enough, but not so slow that you mess up your form and cadence. There is a sweet spot where I can run with less risk of falling than if I were running much slower or much faster.
  • SarahRuth42
    SarahRuth42 Posts: 6 Member
    cbos1215 wrote: »
    Hello all!

    Well, I am brand new to this challenge, I'm not a runner but I love to walk and I could walk for miles while listening to my playlists. I do love to challenge myself, basically have to keep my body moving. I am a 70 year old great grandmother who does boot camp for an hour every M-W-F beginning at 5:30 a.m. My husband and I are members at a gym and I will workout with him from time to time. I love to golf and I walk 18 holes 2 days/week weather permitting. I have no idea where to start with a goal so I will shoot for 25 miles and go from there next month.

    Looking forward to making some great strides with this challenge.

    You are amazing. :)
  • cbonsign
    cbonsign Posts: 4 Member
    2/40 miles tonight

    Is there something I can do to help my body not feel the sudden urge to go the bathroom? Something that will improve?
  • Elise4270
    Elise4270 Posts: 8,375 Member
    cbonsign wrote: »
    2/40 miles tonight

    Is there something I can do to help my body not feel the sudden urge to go the bathroom? Something that will improve?

    #1 or #2?

    1 could be nerve irritation.
    2 simplly go before you run, haha! That will/should/might improve with training. You'll learn to eat, not eat or have coffee or not, or plan a route close to an acceptable pit stop. Or sacrifice a sock in the woods. Just dont poop in your neighbors yard. Makes all of us runners look bad. 😏

    Everyone is different. NSAID'S bother me. Occasionally I'll eat some that causes gi inflammation and i have problems. If you have ibs, talk to your doc. There are meds available.

    Sure others will gladly share their experience and potty wisdom!
  • PastorVincent
    PastorVincent Posts: 6,668 Member
    Elise4270 wrote: »
    Monthly question.

    1) With holiday's coming up and the return of cooler or warmer weather. What's your stragedy mitigating the particular challenges you face these last few months of the year?


    Okay, a more serious answer to this...

    Temps in the 50's F and up:
    • I do fine. T-shirt, shorts and normal socks

    Temps in below 50's F depend highly on wind, moisture and etc.
    • I will need handwamers for sure. Fingers and toes are always an issue for me long before any other body part
    • Same for toe warmers
    • Probably wearing my Darn Tough wool socks
    • Depending on how low I switch form tshirt to UA Cold Gear compression mock turtle top
    • Same with the bottoms, I swap to UA Cold Gear fitted Storm pants
    • If wind is an issue, my North Face Wind Barrier jacket goes on. It was WAY WAY expensive, but it stops the wind dead in its tracks
    • If temps are really cold I add a..whats it called.. the hood that covers your face too. Makes you look like a ninja
    • Wool hat for my ears if it is not cold enough for the hood thingy

    If that cannot keep me warm, I just do not run. It will be my fingers and toes that defeat me first. At 40 degrees I already need the warmers. I have run in 0F, but only short runs as my toes get painfully cold.
  • PastorVincent
    PastorVincent Posts: 6,668 Member
    Oh, I have a quarter zip pullover I can add to the mix too. I have found that LAYERS are better than single thick items. So that is what I do. I keep adding layers.

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