March 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

W8D1 completed. I ran during lunch yesterday. It was a beautiful day and the run went well. My plan is to get one more run in tomorrow before the 5k on Sunday, but my legs are pretty sore from my weight training today so I'm not sure. If I do go out tomorrow I was thinking of doing a 10/1 run/walk just to take it a little easy. Since I run really slow I was actually thinking of doing a 10/1 run/walk during the 5k, so it may actually be a good idea for me to test out the interval run/walk tomorrow before the actual race.

3/1--W6D1
3/4--W6D2
3/8--W6D3
3/11--W7D1
3/15--W7D2
3/17--W7D3
3/20--W8D1

Races:
3/24--Mercer Island 5k
6/8--Fall City Day Run 10k
7/6--Bellingham Road Race

@quilteryoyo I think you are wise to be cautious and (despite the "do not google advice") educate yourself. The trick is to only read trustworthy sites. Mayo Clinic, the American Heart Association, and so on.

Glad things are looking positive!

PastorVincent wrote: »

@quilteryoyo I think you are wise to be cautious and (despite the "do not google advice") educate yourself. The trick is to only read trustworthy sites. Mayo Clinic, the American Heart Association, and so on.

Glad things are looking positive!

I agree there. Education only. Not the worst cases like @Avidkeo mentioned. Glad to hear you’re back to worry free running @quilteryoyo ! Man that whole deal sounded stressful.you know you can vent to us any time you need to!

Haha! ETA kitten attacked iPad as I tried to post. Corrected. Dang cute thing.

Yesterday I got to run 3.59 miles on a beautiful second day of spring. I had hoped to run on Wednesday, AKA the first day of spring, AKA the 36th anniversary of my birth, but instead I got a gnarly hamstring cramp at the gym doing rear leg elevated split squats (I blame the Turkish get-ups I’d been doing immediately before) and walked home instead. My leg felt fine by the next morning and I decided to go for a mid-day run to make up the missed miles, and because it was freaking BEAUTIFUL OUT (aka sunny and mid 40s).

I wasn’t sure what the path around the lake would look like, but it was actually clear enough that I got to open up and put on some speed, which felt great. It's been long enough since I watched my pace that I forgot my watch was set to display current and rolling mile and not current pace, so I'll have to tweak that. My plan for the next few weeks is to increase my mileage 10-20% a week until May, when I'll finally start a half marathon training program.

Thanks to my husband’s work schedule firming up a little and the excellent words of encouragement from you all, I’ve pared down my race calendar to the dozen that I’m most excited about. I’ve moved my first half marathon back to the end of July, which I’m more comfortable with from a weather standpoint - it still could be hot as hell, but is a little safer than late June or early July. I only have two repeat races planned - the Twin Cities Marathon 10K (assuming I don't get into the 10 mile) and the Reindeer Run 10K in December. I don't think I'll run the 5K this year - it was really too many people last year - but the earlier 10K was pretty fun, and it is right in my backyard.

I’m really looking forward to my 5K tomorrow - it’s not technically the first race of the year, but in my mind I feel like the split between “before winter got really bad” and “after winter started loosening its grip” is more meaningful than the calendar year changing. I managed a 10'20" average pace yesterday with my third mile a blistering (for me) 9'36", so I'm tempted to see if I can break 30 minutes tomorrow. My last 5K was way back in August and I clocked 0:30:47 at a 9'51" pace - I think I can top that if I push a little.

The big asterisk in my schedule right now is the Endless Summer Trail Run Series (recommended by @7Lenny7). I’ve signed up for one on June 5th, and if I enjoy it there are three additional races in the series that I could fit in around the road race schedule, as they generally happen in the evening mid-week. I know a lot of you really enjoy trail running, so we'll see how it goes.

3/1 Fr - Strength class
3/2 Sa - Shoveled
3/3 Su - Rest
3/4 Mo - Strength class, ran/walked 1.86 miles
3/5 Tu - Rest
3/6 We - Strength class, ran/walked 1.66 miles
3/7 Th - Rest
3/8 Fr - Strength class, ran 3.14 miles
3/9 Sa - Shoveled
3/10 Su - Rest
3/11 Mo - Shoveled
3/12 Tu - Strength class, ran/walked 2.35 miles
3/13 We - Shoveled
3/14 Th - Strength class, ran/walked 2.09 miles
3/15 Fr - Rest
3/16 Sa - Ran 3.64 miles
3/17 Su - Rest
3/18 Mo - Strength class, ran 3.07 miles
3/19 Tu - Rest
3/20 We - Strength class, hamstring cramp
3/21 Th - Ran 3.59 miles
3/22 Fr - Strength class

March Mileage: 21.4/35

2019 Races! (bold registered)
January 26: Securian 10K, St. Paul, MN Chip time: 1:05:07
February 16: Half Fast 10K DNS
March 23: Hot Dash 5K, Mpls, MN
April: Local 10K?
May 19: Women Run the Cities 10K, Mpls, MN
June 12: ESTRS French 5K, Plymouth, MN
June 29 Lift Bridge 10K or 10Mi, Bayport MN
July 27: St. Croix Crossing Half, Houlton, WI to Stillwater, MN OR
August 3-4: Beat the Blerch Half Marathon, Carnation, WA
September 2: MDRA Victory Labor Day 10K, Mpls, MN
September 8: Sioux Falls Half Marathon, Sioux Falls, SD
October 5: TCM 10K OR
October 6: TCM 10Mi, St. Paul, MN
October 12: Bemidji Blue Ox Half Marathon OR 26K, Bemidji, MN
November 28: Turkey Trot St. Paul 10K, St. Paul, MN
December 14: Reindeer Run 10K, Mpls, MN