February 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

Yay cat pictures!

We have two Siameses who are brothers. They aren't show-quality cats but we got the first one from a local family who aren't really responsible people when our old rescue cat died at the exact same time they had a litter. Then we ended up loving him so much, we got another when his mom had a second litter the next year. Fortunately their poor mom was spayed after that and allowed to enjoy her old age in peace!

When we picked the older one up from being neutered, my vet, who has known me since I was a child, met me with a serious face and said, "I have terrible tragic news... something seems to have gone wrong... your kitten.... came out CROSS EYED!" Because my vet is a goofball. Anyway we have the most cross eyed Siamese I've ever seen. He's the absolute best cat. We call him our early warning system because he starts to sit up and "point" towards the door when a car even pulls into our lane. His little brother likes to play soccer with dog toys. Neither one is a loud purrer, but being Siamese they make up for it by the variety of other strange noises they make. They are excellent at sitting on sore legs after long run days, occupying empty boxes, and brutally murdering skinks that get into the house under the door seal.

2nd 3.1m parkrun
4th 6m
7th 5.5m
9th 5m
11th 6m
14th 6m
16th 14m
18th 7.3m
19th 6.5m
20th 6.6m
Total 66

Tired legs this week.

I love to run on the rail trail that goes along two lakes and the Puget Sound in Seattle (the Burke-Gilman), but not during dark evenings, because it’s got major bike commuting traffic that gets a little intense. And I don’t find it safe enough to run at night after commuting time. So for three months (Nov-Jan) most of my runs there are weekends, except for the occasional lunch run I can squeeze in, which is pretty rare. So it’s pretty exciting this time of year when it’s light after work, and today was the first day I could leave at 5 and fit a run in (I came back and worked until 8 then, but never mind that...) So yay for looking towards spring!

February goal: 40 mi

2/2 5.1 mi
2/4 3.1 mi (after snowboarding)
2/5 cross (4 hours snowboarding)
2/6 3.1 mi TM
2/7 rest
2/8 cross (45 min xcountry skiing)
2/9 4 mi TM (25 min xcountry skiing)
2/10 rest/cross (2.5 hours snowboarding)
2/11 3 mi TM
2/12 rest
2/13 3.5 mi TM
2/15 cross (oh so many Manhattan steps—20K?)
2/16 4.5 mi Central Park!
2/18 3.6 mi MA slusher
2/20 3.6 mi

Feb total: 33.5 mi

So despite only running at 5pm last night I dragged my tushy out of my nice warm bed at 5.50am and got another run in. Oh my god it was slow but I did it! My legs had zero time to actually recover from last night's run and as I'm eating at a deficit too they have to work for their fuel too! So now I'm at 109.9km for the month.... 51km to go! I'm also 3kg lighter than when I started the challenge so win win!

I'm using "first day to 5k" program on www.podrunner.com

2nd - 10.44km (w4, w3, w2)
3rd - 10.31km (w4, w3, w2)
4th - 1.84 km (short due to leggings being too big!)
5th - 3.84km (w4)
6th - 4.08km (w4)
7th - 4.11km (w4)
8th - 4.18km (w4)
9th - 11.12km (w4, w3, w2)
10th - 11.18km (w5-1, w4, we)
11th - 4.08km (w5 d1)
12th - took the morning off... After 10 days straight my body needed a rest!
13th - 4.15km (w5 d1)
14th - 4.00km (w5 d1)
15th- 4.18km (w5 d1)
16th - rest (taking my son to fortnite competition!)
17th - 13.35km (w5d2, w5d1, w4 & a bit of w3!)
18th - 4.11km (w5d1)
19th - 4.35km (w5d2)
20th - 5.97km (w5d2, part of w5d1)
21st - 4.63km (w5d2)

Total so far - 109.9 km/ 161.93km (68%)

https://www.facebook.com/donate/2069247306698727/?fundraiser_source=external_url

Planning on a 10km on 11th may, trying to aim for <75 mins. (Best so far was 1 18 so 3 mins off is doable right?)

PastorVincent wrote: »

Well Shoot, forgot my gym bag. Was planning to run at lunch since I have an appointment right after work today. Grrr. Guess I will have a candy bar instead. Good enough?

Well there are memes out there claiming if you eat cookies fast enough your Fitbit thinks you're running, probably the same for candy?

Rest day! Thanks to everyone who gave a vote of confidence re: the photo challenge! I'll let you know Monday if I win!


February miles:
2/1: 10.5 miles
2/2: 8 miles
2/3: 16.2 miles
2/4: 3.3 miles
2/5: 10 miles
2/6: 7 miles
2/7: Rest day
2/8: 18.2 miles
2/9: 10.2 miles
2/10: 2.3 miles
2/11: 5 miles
2/12: Rest
2/13: Rest
2/14: 8 miles
2/15: 10.5 miles
2/16: 6 miles
2/17: Lazy day
2/18: 5 miles
2/19: 10.2 miles
2/20: 5 miles
2/21: Rest day

February total: 135.4 miles


2019 Races
March 24: Caesar Rodney Half Marathon (Goal: PR)
April 7: Cherry Blossom 10 Miler (Goal: Sub-75)
April 28: New Jersey Marathon (Goal: BQ)
July 6: Finger Lake Fifties 50k (Goal: Finish)

After my left knee did something weird at Zumba on Tuesday evening (it seemed to get 'stuck' and then it got clicky) I nearlllly skipped the gym today but as it seemed fine on Wednesday I decided to go, start slow and stop if it felt wrong - seems to be ok now *shrug*

01Feb - 1.85 miles (treadmill)
03Feb - 3.85 miles (outside)
04Feb - 1.8 miles (treadmill)
07Feb - 1.85 miles (treadmill)
08Feb - 2 miles (treadmill)
09Feb - 6.8 miles (outside)
11Feb - 2 miles (treadmill)
14Feb - 2 miles (treadmill)
16Feb - 3.5 miles (outside)
18Feb - 2 miles (treadmill) (I also did this in under 18 minutes - FINALLY!)
21Feb - 2.2 miles

Total to date: 29.85 miles of 40

I’m a dog person rather than a cat person, or mainly just an animal person.

Thanks for all the kitty pictures - here’s my offering. Not cats. Not dogs. Noodle and Gizmo

2-1 7k easy
2-2 7k easy
2-3 Rest
2-4 7k easy
2-5 Rest
2-6 7k slow
2-7 7k intervals
2-8 Rest
2-9 7k slow
2-10 12k slow
2-11 7k recovery
2-12 Rest
2-13 7.3 k slow
2-14 7k intervals
2-15 Rest
2-16 7k easy
2-17 11k slow
2-18 7k recovery
2-19 Rest
2-20 7k easy
2-21 7k intervals

February Total: 114.3k
February Goal: 100k

Next year when you pop in here claiming your December 2019 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?
Run at least 4 5k races.
Get under 30:00 and a PR for 5k.
Average at least 135k per month, which would put me over 1,000 miles for the year.

Run the Year Team: Five for Nineteen

38 degrees F and partly cloudy. No wool cap; no mittens. Intervals today; warmup; followed by 4 sets of 3 minutes hard/1 minute easy; followed by cooldown for the remainder of the 7k. Another reminder that I need to do more speed work; I was pretty beat after 4.5k. Should probably try cookie or candy bar training and count it as a cross training day.

2019 Races:

4-13 Shine the Light 5K
6-1 Freedom 5K
6-30 Strides for Starfish 5k

Morning all.
Gentle run this morning that I decided to cut short half way through and did some yoga instead because my back and legs are hurting. Back is the worst. I'm glad I did the yoga, it always seems to help.

Well you've all seen our new kitty but here he is again with a cute 2.5 Yr old. We finally named him, Leo.

Another 2 miles this morning. I attempted a "speedy" mile; am curious how much the icy/snowy roads and ~15-20F temperatures affected my time. Still, 4 PR's on Strava: 1/2m, 1k, 1m, and 2mile. According to one online calculator, I need to drop that mile time by a minute to reach my minimum goal for my 12k in May. Time to buckle down and run!

Re: snowfall. We are currently in 4th place for the snowiest February on record, with more than 25" so far. The average February is 5". Our third snowiest Feb was in 1939 with 26.3"... and we're expected to get more snow through the weekend.

On our walk home after the 2 miles, I saw a MOOSE in a yard. And then I saw ITS MAMA lying in the snow. They both watched us walk past (on the other side of the street) and I'm actually surprised that my HR didn't shoot sky-high. Neither of them moved though, and my dogs didn't react, so that's probably why. I drove by again about an hour later on my way to work and only saw one. I didn't stick around long though I did snap one pic:

I am amazed at the snow pictures, more so that you all are getting out and are able to run in all of that!

@Avidkeo - your daughter is adorable and I love Leo's markings!!
@girlinahat - we had Guinea Pigs for years when my daughter was young. She got one that ended up being pregnant so we had lots of little babies. Our dog at the time (Lakeland Terrier) thought they were his babies and wanted to get in the box with them all the time and lick them.
@eleanorhawkins - my daughter was like yours. She was always rescuing something - dogs (we had 4), cats (we had 3), birds (1) in addition to all the lizards and others that she acquired or bought. She even did a science fair project with rats (teaching them things) and we had 52 of them in cages in our living room one Christmas. Honestly I loved them, they were so clean and so smart! She wanted to be a veterinarian but ended up becoming a pediatrician instead (still working with tiny things )

I did my intervals again today... My legs are still so sore from training on Tuesday with lots of squats and core work that I wasn't sure that I would finish my run. I did take it slow because my sore legs just couldn't give me any more. I am hoping to maybe increase my running interval next week.
Date........Miles.......Total
02/01......1.91.......1.91 - + Cycling
02/02......0.00.......1.91
02/03......0.00.......1.91 - Cycling
02/04......2.25.......4.16 - + Cycling and Agility
02/05......1.57.......5.73 - + Strength Training
02/06......2.10.......7.83
02/07......2.40.....10.23 - + Strength Training
02/08......0.00.....10.23 - Cycling
02/09......0.00.....10.23 - Agility Trial
02/10......0.00.....10.23 - Agility Trial
02/11......0.00.....10.23 - Cycling and Agility
02/12......0.00.....10.23 - Strength Training
02/13......0.00.....10.23
02/14......0.00.....10.23 - Strength Training
02/15......2.71.....12.94 - + Cycling
02/16......3.29.....16.23 - + Strength Training
02/17......0.00.....16.23
02/18......0.00.....16.23 - Cycling and Agility
02/19......2.60.....18.83 - + Strength Training
02/20......0.00.....18.83
02/21......3.26.....22.09



My completed and/or upcoming races. Let me know if you will be running them too.
02/03/19 - Surf City Half Marathon (iffy) Deferred to 2020
05/11/19 - Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon
09/15/19 - Jack and Jill Downhill HM - Boise

Digging on all the kitty pics, here's mine
The cats were feral rescues, mom was killed by vehicle(not mine), and while they need their space I don't feel that they are any more needy than usual.

So went out intending to do 6 this morning at an easy pace. It was 41 degrees and misting rain with some lightning, about every 10-15 minutes, that was so far off that you couldn't hear the thunder. FF to almost at mile 3, rain has been getting steadily stronger and lightning has been getting more frequent, still not close about 10 secs(2miles) off by thunder. All of a sudden the sky lights up like someone had flipped on a spotlight for 5 seconds and less than 3 seconds later the thunder rolls through my body. OH *KITTEN*! Sprint to the closest covered area, sopping wet, nab my phone off it's carrier and call wife. I was finished. She was in town anyways and picked me up about 5 minutes later, dropping me off back at my car and the YMCA to shower and head to work. Get done with the shower and am ready to walk out the door, no rain whatsoever!