March 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

Hi Everyone, Sorry I disappeared on you all for a few weeks.

I had an unexpected work trip that took me to South Africa (man, that is a long flight from the SE USA), then successfully turned my sleep schedule inside out and upside down only after I got back home (I normally travel to South America for work where the time change is 1-2 hours depending on the year, not 7).

A lot going on in my personal life I had to take care of too, including (sadly) putting down one of my cats. Mia was 16 and in the beginning stages of liver disease, probably caused by years of her being on a steroid for an unrelated condition. Unfortunately, she had an episode the other night, and at 11pm she was rushed to the emergency vet and with heavy hearts, we decided it was best to let her go. I trained her over the years to sit at the table with me and eat off chopsticks- I hope the picture will open.




Anyway, I got back on the wagon yesterday with my running even though I ran a few times during the first half of the month totaling only 8.6 miles.

03.11: 1.5M @ 9:20/M Easy Run Treadmill (1.5)
03.12: 4.0M @ 9:27/M Easy Run Treadmill (5.5)
03.14: 3.1M @ 8:49/M Pace Run (8.6)

03.17: 4.0M @ 9:16/M Easy Run (12.6)
03.18: 3.1M @ 7:52/M Intervals (15.7)

My next race is April 13th (5K).

I hope everyone had a fun and safe St Patrick's Day!

Strength and stretch day for me. Lunges, pushups, rows and a plank... myrtl routine, foam rolling and stretches. I am Finally working on consistency in all the things.

Hi Everyone, I know its a little late to join this group but i decided that today is the day I want to start running or at least jogging. I have stop running since Nov'18 and i guess its time to resume.

I using runkeeper to keep track of things and to do distance challenge with my friends.

If you would like us to keep each other motivated/accountable, please add me on. User name: Vonz Goh

Plan called for 2 miles this morning. I started out a little fast so slowed down for mile in the middle, but at 1.5 miles I was warmed up and the last half mile was the almost as fast as the first. Overall, this was more like an easy-medium run. Lots of stretching done afterward, though I need more...

Saturday's run was a real slog. I chalked it up to a late night out the night before with my son and his girlfriend.

Sunday came, they left to head back to college and it was time for my long run, a planned 20+ miles, on a beautiful, sunny day. Except I couldn't get my but going. My *kitten* was draggin' big time. I was tired just going up the stairs. I gathered up all my gear. It sat on the table for a couple hours. I started negotiating with myself. Maybe I'll wait until evening and go for 10 miles. Maybe I just do 6. Maybe I'll do a long run on Monday.

Finally I realized why I didn't want to go. I was coming down with something. By bedtime I definitely had a cold which felt like it could go into my throat. More feeling crappy yesterday but it wasn't any worse and today I'm feeling slightly better. If I feel this way tonight I'm going to try a 4 or 5 mile run. I won't push it though, because I really need to get my long run in this weekend.

Just popping in to say hey! This month has been a whirlwind of ups and downs. I started the month off in a bit of a rut, which usually keeps me from posting much, but I am glad to report that things are looking up. Like many people, the end of Feb/beginning of March is always a struggle for me due to the weather and the lack of sunshine. SAD just zaps me of my energy and makes it tough to concentrate.
My training has been going okay. I have been sticking to the plan of lower than normal mileage, routine strength training and stretching, and my regular Monday evening plyo class. But after a less than stellar 5K in February where I finished over a minute slower than my PR pace, I was really starting to question if I have been doing enough. It was a very cold day and the muscles were tight, but I could just not get it going and I even struggled cardio-wise. Again, probably that mental rut kicking in.
So two weekends ago I had two races, a 5K and a HM, on the schedule and I knew that I needed the mental boost of performing well in both of these races. I ended up with a ONE SECOND PR in the 5K on Saturday and finished 5th female overall. Since I was convinced that my PR days were behind me, I was pretty elated. Sunday's race was a good one too. Not a PR, but this course is pretty tough with around 700ft of elevation and the winds were pretty brutal, especially when crossing two bridges in the final miles. I have run this race many times in the past, and Sunday's run was a PR for the course and I finished first in my age group in a pretty big race. So I was happy.
Until I tried to run on the following Tuesday. The left hamstring was not having any of it. I went out about a mile and a quarter and it wasn't loosening up, so I decided to head back and give it some rest. The PT who teaches my plyo class offered to do a deep tissue massage with the Hypervolt thing on Friday morning and that helped some. With 4 weeks left til Boston, this past weekend was pretty much the training hump that I needed to get over. I decided that I needed a solo 20 miles with no stops. Training with my group is fun and I enjoy the social aspect of it, but I always like to have at least one run where I run at my own comfortable pace and make minimal stops (just at traffic lights or for a quick Gu). I also appreciate the mental challenge of running it alone. I did 10 miles easy on Saturday with the group and then nailed my solo 20 on Sunday. Average pace ended up at 8:37, but my heart rate stayed comfortable in zone 2 until the final 4 miles when I pushed it for marathon pace. For comparison, most of the long runs I have been doing with my group have been in the 9-9:30 range, so again, a bit of a much needed mental boost.
So with that behind me, I am feeling pretty good about how this training has gone. My hamstrings were quite sore after Sunday, so I decide to do dry needling again. I had my first session this morning and my (plyo) PT said the hammies were really, really tight. I feel like the needling helped a lot and I think maybe he has a bit better technique than the first guy that did it on me. It just felt a bit different.
I am not sure what it is about running Boston that seems to put everyone on the injury edge (based on conversations with running friends who are all in the same boat). I am quite sure it's probably mental more than physical, and the timing of the race definitely contributes to that. I keep reminding myself that the last time I ran it I took almost a month off in Feb-March and I maxed out at 16 miles for my long run. My hamstrings were in much worse shape and I still managed a pretty good finish. I really have nothing to prove here, as I am not shooting for a PR, but I really would like to feel like a gave it a solid effort. I think I am ready. Sorry for the blabber...I just needed to get that all out.

So far this month I have done:
3/2/19 2mi
3/4/19 2mi
3/5/19 2mi
3/6/19 1.8mi
3/16/19 1.9mi
3/18/19 2mi
Total=12mi so far out of 25-30

My body decided that it was time to get a cold half way through the month so that really screwed up my program!! I hope I can still make it to 25mi at least. I hope to start running outdoors in the next couple of weeks as it has started to warm up/melting

@rusgolden these links are for you. An article...

https://www.outsideonline.com/2339576/rickey-gates-running-every-street-san-francisco

and a video...
https://youtu.be/jy_W5qsjB5U

Ricky Gates, a guy who ran across the US is running every street in San Francisco. There's also a guy who is walking every street in NYC.

I've mentioned it before but I'm not sure if @rusgolden has. We're both in the process of running every single street in our towns. I'm at 94% of my town, I think Rus is around 96%. My initial goal was to run every single road in one calendar year but my foot injury last October got in my way. I'm just about done though. I have just 2 easy runs, one short run to pick up a short chunk of missed road, and 2 runs I'm not sure if I'm going to do at all. They are both on US highways. I don't have enough OCD to force the issue. I'll have to drive it with a run in mind and decide if I can do it. If I do complete my town by March 20th, I will have done it in a 12 month span, not counting the 3 months I couldn't run. I'm now starting to run the two towns on either side of me but this time I'm going to take credit for the runs already done, and I have no self-imposed deadline for finishing. Come sailing season, I'll also work on running all the roads in the town where we keep our boat.

Here's my progress in my town so far: