November 2018 Monthly Running Challenge

My goal for November is going to be 75 miles. I may get more than that. I did manage to reach my goal in October, but there is a lot going on in November plus the weather is a factor for me. So I am going to set a goal that I know I can reach so I won't be stressed about not reaching it if life gets in the way.

What have I done for "tomorrow me"? I have run for the last two years and done yoga most weekdays for about 2.5 years and I have kept off the ~78 pounds that I lost. I plan to continue running, some for races, but mostly for fitness and to keep up with the yoga. I am trying to learn to be flexible about fitting my fitness goals around my personal life. About a year before Dennis passed I lost one of my best friends from my childhood to a sudden heart attack. She was 49 years old. Then Dennis' passing hit me kind of hard (I think because it was so similar to Melissa's passing). Yesterday I found out that my step-niece was killed in a house fire. She was 37 years old, had beat breast cancer in 2018 and left behind 4 children. Life is short and the unexpected happens. I feel that it is important to do things for your tomorrow self and your today self. I hope to have a good balance between taking care of me and knowing that sometimes you have to be there for others because they will not always be here. So while I plan to run a lot in November to take care of tomorrow me, I also plan to be there for my friends and family. We have birthdays, wedding showers, holidays and now a funeral in November. If I hit or surpass my running goal then that will be great. If I don't then as long as I don't quit and I do continue to run and keep up with my fitness then it is all good. I am so glad to be part of this group. It really encourages and inspires me.

I'm in, but I'm not sure I will get many miles in. I'll go low and say 50 miles.
I'm injured from the marathon I ran 10/7. Appt on 11/13 to see if they can tell me what is wrong.

Happy November - for those of us here already (@ContraryMaryMary, @orphia lol)

Rest day today. I still had sore tight muscles, mostly in my hips, after my training run on Saturday, so last night was a good yoga stretch and roll on the roller. My legs and hips feel better but my lower back is still tight, I'll work on that tonight.

This month will be crazy busy for me. This weekend is helping a friend build a chicken coop, next weekend is a study day I organise every year, then HM, then a wedding, then my birthday!! Whew

What have I done for my tomorrow self?

Thats a hard question. Who came up with this horrible reflective question that forces me to look at everything i haven't done.

I suppose dispite my frustrations with injury and diet i have at the very least, stayed plugged in to, and surrounded myself with positive influences. (Yes y'all) Yet i continually fail to implement changes for any length of time.

I do feel I've made gains with some strength and less pain this year. I'm mixed about what feels to be the potential chronic injury issues and the lack of running gains. So, quantifying what actually is progress- I'm at a loss.

Short answer. I've made baby steps in injury management. I've learned a lot along the way and had the answers to help a few others manage or find answers to their similar issues.

What am i going to change? Nothing i truly dont want to. I need to recognize that pattern. If you didnt get up to go run, then you didnt want it. If you had ice cream and potato chips for dinner, you didnt want to be healthier. If you dont do it then i need to see that i gotta get to wanting it before change will happen.

Thanks for starting the monthly thread, @garygse.

Welcome, new people!

@kgirlhart That is an amazing accomplishment losing so much weight and keeping it off. Very inspiring to me. I am so sorry to hear about your step-niece. Wow! That is very tragic, especially for her children.

I am turning 45 near the end of the month, so I will set my monthly goal for 45 miles (being in a metric country, I reserve the right to downgrade to kilometres if things go askew lol, but I figure I'm due for a couple of uneventful months).

As far as I can tell Rock n Roll Vegas never changed me from marathon to half. So I don't think my bib/corral is correct. Ughhhhhh 😫😩

Monthly question...
What in the world have you done for your tomorrow self this year? Done done. Not gonna do. Not gonna get done honey. DONE.

I think the biggest thing I have done for both my tomorrow and today self is the same - I RETIRED! My DH was supposed to retire first and decided to keep working (he is past retirement age) and I decided I couldn't keep my sanity if I continued working until my retirement age, so I retired early and he finally did a few months later. Now we are going on fun trips and working on our house and I have much less stress! Now if I can just get my foot feeling better and get running again!

I keep failing to meet my goal, so I'm cutting it back to 186 miles this month. Even then, that might not happen.

My plan is to run the Route 66 Marathon (Tulsa) as my last race this year. Then I'm going to switch to losing body fat / trying to lean out before next year. I'll probably run during the last half of the month after switching, but will be slower and might even end up cutting back.