July 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

vivianmillerj · July 2019

80-100 mile goal:

July 1 - 5k

shanaber · July 2019

@elise4270 - I had to look up pedipalp too. I thought the little short ones weren't legs but had no idea what they were. Now I know - Thanks! Also I think it is great that you got out for a walk and there is no bone pain - that is huge!!
@noblsheep - I am an expert at getting cats in a carrying crate without getting a scratch, but giving them a pill - nope... my daughter used to do it using a pencil to pry open the mouth and push it in, but that would require you to be able to pick up or hold the cat in the first place.

Avidkeo · July 2019

Hey all. Reading and loving all the answers to the questions!

I'm not a fitness adict - that's a pretty high bar. But I do start feeling antsy and blah if I don't for a few days. But yeah foe over 2 years now I definitely do regular exercise and look for my next "fix"

juliet3455 · July 2019

Found You. Thanks to @Avidkeo for setting the challenge for July.
I missed keeping up with the June challenge due to work/life balance and time constraints so I know I missed some comments from fellow members. I am sure there were some epic mis-adventures as we seem to be good at doing that.

Welcome to all the new athletes, any goal is a good goal.
We are a fun group and will joke with each other quite often, some might think we are insulting or being disrespectful, in reality it's just the opposite - runners have foolish ways of showing respect and admiration.

July is my big training month for the summer season as 2nd weekend in August is my main event of the year, Emperor's Challenge.
20km trail run up a mountain on various terrain.
Starts with 2km climb on a old road to get everyone spaced out and then dives into the bush on some double track / single track across 2-4 creeks/water hazards and this changes into a run up a muddy creek bed, then navigating a rockfall and across some alpine meadows - peaking out just after the 10km aid station. Screaming downhill for 2km along a rock strewn ridge ( many novice runners bite the ground here due to site seeing ) then along the edge of a cliff for 1km - back into an alpine meadow and then into the alpine trees on a single track for 2km. Off the mountain trails onto an old road - truly screaming ( calfs and quads ) downhill for 5km to the finish. Capped at 1000 athlete's and usually sells out in 24hours. On average 20% get pulled at the 8km mark due to time limits and only 65-70% finish in the allotted time. I have been consistently just under 3hours. So far the last week of June has been very wet so if it continues it promises to be a bigger challenge due to the creek we run uphill in.

I started with a 14 km Canada Day run up Judah Hill climb to the viewpoint. Goal 140km

07/01 14.0 km - 14.00km - 126.00km - YTD 506.21km

PastorVincent · July 2019

Kali225 wrote: »

Potential inspiration for hot summer runs: my HS xc coach used to quote [read: heavily paraphrase] an African proverb to us about the circle of life in the Savannah. The gazelles have to outrun the lions, or they'll be eaten. But the lions have to outrun the gazelles or they'll starve. So before a workout, we would say "It doesn't matter if you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better be running."

This is great! I will definitely try to remember this and re-share it when I can.

PastorVincent · July 2019

Elise4270 wrote: »

On the board with a walk that wasn't so bad. One of the "double-mint twins" commented that I was doing better. Puzzled, she explained she saw me out on crutches before. I think I've finally turned the corner and am almost there to start rebuilding.

I made a friend or two

Back in my running clothes... I'm thinking I should start thinking like a runner again and watch my food and try to get out more. I see doc2's assistant tomorrow, so hopefully we can define how much I am allowed to push through.

2.6 miles. No bone pain.

Hey that sounds like great news! But be careful and try not to be a typical runner and push too hard too fast too soon.

PastorVincent · July 2019

noblsheep wrote: »

@Elise4270 I had to look up "pedipalp". This forum is awesome.

I did too. But come one, how many of us know all the parts of our own body's never mind some random species of spider

Elise4270 · July 2019

noblsheep wrote: »

0702-8.3k total-8.3k, goal-100k

Had a pretty good run this morning - we are in the middle of a heat wave yellow alert and forecasts say it'll be more than 38 degrees (100F) on Thursday, but this morning we had about an hour of overcast weather which even deposited the slightest little drizzle. Anyway it was not hot for a little while! And I got to run in this window!

One of my cats has been sick so we took her to the vet last night. She's super skittish and hates being picked up as she's convinced we are going to eat her, so lots of scratching happened. They were red and angry this morning (the scratches, not the cat) and itched quite a bit during the run. Oh, and anyone have any advice on how to pill a paranoid kitty?

@Elise4270 I had to look up "pedipalp". This forum is awesome.

Haha! This forum IS awesome.

I have two cats that are all claws when it comes to a pill. It doesn’t help that it takes 3-4 tries either. I have a piller, but I have yet to use it successfully. It could be worth a try if you don’t have one. The theory is you can just grab the scruff and pull their head back and in goes the pill to the back of the throat. Any chance the vet can sub a liquid? Most of the time, my cats just kinda give in after a few days, so you can wear them down. We also do can tuna water or chicken broth to make sure it goes down without burning their throats repeatedly. I give one cat cbd occasionally to calm him down, (he’s ADD-like). It helps. OTC pet calming stuff might help too. Might threaten to put it in an alternate orfice?

Like @shanaber mentioned, a piller or pencil would at least keep you from getting bit. I always just grab them and shove it down and hold their mouths shut. But ya, sometimes it’s bloody, and you just accept you’re the gazelle.

Tramboman · July 2019

Elise4270 wrote: »

On the board with a walk that wasn't so bad. One of the "double-mint twins" commented that I was doing better. Puzzled, she explained she saw me out on crutches before. I think I've finally turned the corner and am almost there to start rebuilding.

I made a friend or two

Back in my running clothes... I'm thinking I should start thinking like a runner again and watch my food and try to get out more. I see doc2's assistant tomorrow, so hopefully we can define how much I am allowed to push through.

2.6 miles. No bone pain.

You should consider warning labels on photos showing "friends" of which I am deathly afraid...

Tramboman · July 2019

7-1 rest
7-2 7k intervals

July Total: 7k
July Goal: 150k

January Total: 131k
February Total: 159.5k
March Total: 183k
April Total: 126k
May Total: 128k
June Total: 161.5k

Monthly average: 148.1k

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

How to train harder and smarter, day 1:
By way of background, my Forerunner 25 was acting up for the last couple of weeks, throwing in some strange messages. One day when it found the satellite, it flashed a message saying, "True Distance enabled," which made me wonder what kind of distance it was giving me before. At any rate, it was an inexpensive refurb that I got a years worth of use from, so I was not unhappy. I looked online for a refurbished replacement, and saw that Amazon had a Forerunner 35 for a little over $100 US. It arrived Saturday evening, and it appeared to be new, not a refurb. I used it for Sunday's race.
Since today was an interval training day, I set it up last night to do my usual intervals: warmup; 5 sets of 6 minutes hard/2 minutes easy; followed by cool down.
70 degrees F and very humid this morning. Stretched, put the watch on the interval training session I had programmed in, and hit the start button. Warmup began; but all the watch was showing was time. No biggie. Started the intervals, and the watch tracked the run time, with a distance at the bottom starting from 0. So now I'm trying to figure out what the watch is tracking, and I'm in my head, which is a lonely, dangerous place to be. Get to the first easy interval, and the distance starts over from zero. Now I'm really in my head, and my intervals now go to *kitten*. Watch tracked all the intervals until the last easy, when it went to cool down. Eventually came to the conclusion that easy and cool down are pretty much the same thing. Since I'm on my regular course, I know when I've finished my 7k route, so I end the workout there. Hit the end workout button, and watch saved all the time and all the distance. Turns out I didn't need to concern myself with anything other than running my intervals.
So day 1 of harder and smarter was actually somewhat less of either. I'll do better next interval day.

2019 Races:

4-13 Shine the Light 5K - 31:12 chip time; First Place male 65 and older
6-30 Strides for Starfish 5K - 31:34 chip time; 31/77 overall; second male 65 and older (no official category)
7-27 Solon Home Days 5K

mbaker566 · July 2019

@shanaber thanks for thinking of me and the dogs. i have been in a funk and getting motivated to do anything has been hard. let alone run. but the new foster dog needs exercise. she is a little aggressive when she gets excited. speed demon has been pretty lazy too. i'll probably run them both tomorrow morning. speed demon got injured last time her and the foster got in a fight. i've found this helps the dogs learn to work together. and a muzzle and prong collar.

PastorVincent · July 2019

So thinking back to HHNH 50k last weekend, while I was one of the last people standing in a race that brutalized the field, there are some things I can take away from it I think.

Slat Tabs. I went 9.5 hours and I am a very salty sweater. My clothes turn white. I was offered them several times during the race, but I get runner's brain bad and did not compute the option at all. When I finally took some, things improved for me. Next time: Plan for salt tabs during run, before you have an issue instead of way after.
Expectations. My first two laps were in 1 hour 20 mins each. That was too fast for conditions, way too fast. For me at least. Next time: Run slower
Liquid. With an aid station every 3 miles, I think I did okay on liquids. I drank Coke, Gatorade and water. Next Time: No change
Shoes. I think my Lone Peaks were too far past prime in their treads for the conditions. I had traction issues beyond what I expected. Next time: Check shoes/replace before race
Food: I do not think I did poorly with this either, again having aid stations every 3 miles made this easy to manage plus I had cliff blox on me. Next Time: No change
Chaffing. Body glide worked well for 4 or 5 hours, but I ran for 9.5. I had actually planned for this contingency and stashed some in my bag which I had at the aid station, but I probably should have reapplied sooner. Next Time: Be more pre-emptive with lube

So as long as you learn and improve you never truly fail right?

Teresa502 · July 2019

shanaber wrote: »

@Teresa502 - you could jump onto one of our YTY teams here!

Thanks for the invite! My team mate is back to running some now so I don't want to abandon her. It was her idea to do this challenge. I was reluctant given my past history but needed to keep moving forward. We may not make it to goal but hopefully will be close.

I hope you are feeling better today.

NiigataA · July 2019

A quick run this morning. I'm trying to be more thorough about post run stretching.

I'm looking into 10k training schedules to hopefully do a race in September or October. I have done one 10k in the past but it was about 8 years ago and I definitely wasn't trained up enough for it. Does anyone have any preferred training schedules?

July Total: 4k
July Goal: 50k

kgirlhart · July 2019

July goal: 100 miles

7/2: 6.26

6.26/100 miles completed

I ran 6.26 miles today. I really thought that the run was going to suck. When I left the house at 5:45 it was 75F, 80% humidity and dew point 68. The wind was 11 mph from the south. Of course I start out running south straight into it. 11 mph isn't THAT bad, but it was difficult running into it and I was feeling pretty slow. But after I turned and started running west it wasn't as bad. As I ran along I felt better and better. My pace picked up and I just enjoyed the morning. The crepe myrtles are blooming and they are just so pretty. I love them because they flower through the heat of the summer when lots of other flowering trees and bushes are done for the year. We have had so much rain that everything is still pretty green and there are still a lot of flowers so it was a lovely morning. I ran through some sprinklers about halfway through and that cooled me down some and was really nice. I saw a lady walking her dog and several walkers at the park. It was just a really nice morning. My headphones did die on me. When I was getting ready this morning I realized that I hadn't charged them and really couldn't remember when I last charged them so I was a little worried that they might die on me. But they made it until I was about .75 miles from home so it wasn't bad not having them for the last little bit of the run. I feel like July is off to a good start.

2019 races:
2/2/19: Catch the Groundhog Half Marathon - PR 2:15:17
5/18/19: Run for 57th AHC Half Marathon - Cancelled due to weather

emmamcgarity · July 2019

NiigataA wrote: »

A quick run this morning. I'm trying to be more thorough about post run stretching.

I'm looking into 10k training schedules to hopefully do a race in September or October. I have done one 10k in the past but it was about 8 years ago and I definitely wasn't trained up enough for it. Does anyone have any preferred training schedules?

July Total: 4k
July Goal: 50k

I am currently doing the Bridge to 10k podcast. The first week starts with four run/walk intervals (10 minute run/1 minute walk). Then it increases the intervals each week. It’s a 6 week program. I still consider myself a beginner runner (just started running in February), but there are a few of us that just started this 10k program in July in the c25k group. I am building on a 10-12 miles running per week base currently.

Kali225 · July 2019

Day 2 in the books! Cooler morning runs should be my motivation, because the post-work heat was a killer yesterday.

7/1 - 2 mi
7/2 - 1 mi
Total - 3/25 mi

Glad people are liking the lion/gazelle quote!!

PastorVincent · July 2019

So I was thinking about going for a run...

Yeah, maybe I need to rest a bit more first.

Mari33a · July 2019

In for 50 miles again.

02/07 2.52 miles

@Elise4270 I don't think I could live where ur from with the snakes and tarantulas. We had a little lizard about 4" on the door step this morning, I can cope with those. My son put it in the grass so the dogs wouldn't torture it.

Elise4270 · July 2019

@Mari33a haha! I like critters. They are better than bears or lions or anything else that might eat me. We have mt lions, but they don't bother people. Oh there are gaters in the lake now at texoma. I'll pass there. Take a tarantula any day.

And doc update.
Saw PA
Warning for the squeamish. X-ray. @Avidkeo

Horrible photo of the computer screen. But it's noticably healed some since the last visit. Hooray!!!

Think I'll use the tm daily for about half a mile rather than trying to pile on the miles and regret it for a week. Leg is cranky today after yesterday's walk.

July 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

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