May 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

eleanorhawkins wrote: »

Race report:
This morning was the 3rd and final race in our local series, 3 times round the riverside park for a total of 7km. Although I've often laughed at the memes asking why one would want to pay to run someone you can run for free every day of the year, there was something for running a race on ground I'm so familiar with (like knowing which bits of grass hide holes and which are safe to run on instead of sticking to the brick path). My husband decided he was coming, so I knew from the start it was going to be more of an easy training run than a race for me. Ok, that is what my physio wanted me to do anyway, she made me promise not to race it hard as the furthest I've done since December is 8km anyway and that was at easy pace.
So we positioned ourselves at the very very back of the pack, a couple of metres behind everyone else. There were a couple of young (probably late teens) English-speaking girls wearing stupid pink sports bras and skimpy shorts in front of us who looked us up and down and laughed, which upset me a bit as my psoriasis and still not being used to not being the fat one makes me very self conscious. Tried to ignore them, but more about them later.
Our plan was to go slow and steady and just finish the race, we had agreed to run for 5 minutes or so and then I'd turn on my interval timer for us to run-walk-run it. It was actually almost 1km when we decided it was time to start the bleeper, which I had set to 90 second run, 30 second walk intervals. I was still deliberately jogging at a very easy pace, but we had passed a few people anyway. After the first couple of intervals husband said he was feeling good and suggested we only took every second walk break, so we did 3 and a half minute run, 30 second walk intervals for the rest of the first lap and around half the second. By then he was starting to look red in the face but still going, I thought he was slowing down but he later told me actually he thought I sped up. We completed our second lap ok, but he was pretty spent by then. At the 5km mark he told me he was going to walk the rest and grudgingly agreed I should go ahead and continue running. I stuck to my 90-30 intervals until km 6, but I was feeling really strong so was running harder during the runs. I passed a guy surrounded by paramedics who had fallen and hurt his shoulder (or that's what it looked like) and a little further ahead there was a woman unconscious on the ground, again surrounded by paramedics. I was glad at that point that I had taken it easy. Then, just after the 6km mark, I saw those 2 girls ahead of me. They were stopping and starting and looked from a distance to be struggling. Well I bet you can guess what thought came into my head.
Yeah, s*d physio, s*d taking it easy, s*d everything in fact but getting past those two judgemental little biatches who laughed at me at the start. So I started to push and overtook them around half a mile from the finish line. One final (very fast so they didn't catch me again) walk break and I decided that was it, no more walking. I didn't sprint the final stretch but I did run it harder than the rest of the race (my pace over the last km was around 1 minute faster than the others according to Strava). The clock read 51.35 as I crossed the line, so yeah slow but I'm still very happy with the way I ran it. It felt absolutely wonderful to have plenty left in the tank to finish strong, and showing silly young ladies in bikinis that scabby old women can beat them was AWESOME :-)

samthepanda wrote: »

Today was my first half marathon and I am very happy to say I completed! Apologies if this post makes little sense - my brain is quite addled. I kept my usual breakfast of porridge and added immodium. The weather forecast was for it to be about 6 degrees at 9.00am this morning - it was wrong! I had dug out several layers that I didn't mind discarding but it was clear blue skies and about 14 degrees by 9.00 and it got hotter and hotter. I had arranged someone I met on the event FB group as we were both running alone and going for the same time. By the time of queued for the loo and met it was nearly time. I had a bag with spare layers but I couldn't find the baggage store so I thought I'd have to take it with me. Fortunately I saw hubby as we were going up to the start so I passed it to him ( I was in the slowest runners group). I honestly can't remember a lot of sections -it's a blur! Warned by others who had done the race before we started slow, 2 miles in you start to climb and then there are hills for the next few miles. We saw them (and the heat) take out a few people. We kept the same slow pace and it paid dividens as we only had a couple of walk breaks. We kept in the shade while we could, took on regular water.I was worried about my IBS playing off so despite the many lovely treats that were offered on the way I just took on a couple of jelly babies. There was so much support on the course it was lovely. We reached Mile 9 which was uncharted territory for me. I was a bit nervous but I onesie road and I knew it was mainly flat now to the end and the was beautiful section past the abbey. I missed the 12 mile marker altogether so was happily surprised when one of the stewards said it was half a mile to go! So pleased to finish and feel ok, apart from couple of blisters and tired legs in 3:00:02 including one toilet stop and a selfie at the abbey. I didn't do this one for time, just to prove to myself I could. I'd like to do another (well at the moment, see how my legs feel tomorrow!) and go a bit faster. Thank you to everyone on here who has given me advice and encouragement - you are awesome!

Elise4270 wrote: »

jane1729mfp wrote: »

Hello all, I am just returning to running again after a 2 year hiatus. I know its late in the month, but I am still joining the group. I am hoping to at least complete 25 miles by the end of the month, fingers crossed. I would like to ask the group which is a better way to train? I did a half marathon in 2017, and this fall would like to complete another. Thank you for any advice!

Stick with it, be reasonable and consistent in your goals and allow your body time to absorb training/ recover. This is a great group and often folks find the inspiration they need to get out for those runs that are dreaded. We try to be a close nit group, so feel free to ask any questions. Hang around for our inaugural Hug a Runner challenge in November. Try to run 3-5 times a week, active walking also counts.

I started out trying to run a mile a day. Sounds easy, just a mile. I quickly learned to change the focus of my running from distance to time. I’d see people here logging monster miles and deluded myself regarding capabilities. Maybe embrace intervals as you start out and work up endurance,(example: run 3 minutes, walk 1).

Best of luck! We look forward to hearing your progress!