July 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

Today's run was good, apart from the chafing. Again, zero minutes in peak, 8 miles, and I ran 5 seconds per mile faster than the last time. I was sure that was going to result in a few minutes of peak HR, but I'm not complaining that it didn't. It's probably still faster than I should be running the majority of my runs. I'm off to go Google that.

No More Than 120 Miles

.........

July 25 - 7 miles
July 26 - 8 miles

July 28 - 8 miles

Total: 95.5 miles

July miles - 83.17/75, walk 21.24

07/01 - Yoga; walk 1.82
07/02 - 4.58; Yoga
07/03 - 3.02
07/04 - rest
07/05 - 4.5
07/06 - rest
07/07 - 8.07
07/08 - Yoga
07/09 - 4.97
07/10 - 3.08 ; Yoga
07/11 - 4.96
07/12 - Yoga; walk 1.07
07/13 - Yoga; walk 2.03
07/14 - 6.21 - 10k PR (1:09:19)
07/15 - walk 1.33
07/16 - 5.16 (incl 100m sprint @7min pace!); Yoga
07/17 - 2.53; Yoga
07/18 - walk 2.34; 20min bike; Yoga
07/19 - 5.03
07/20 - walk 4.28
07/21 - 9.06; walk 1.78
07/22 - walk 1.2
07/23 - 2.09 recovery run; Yoga
07/24 - 5.17; Yoga
07/25 - walk 2.19; Yoga
07/26 - 5.05
07/27 - walk 2.07
07/28 - 9.69; walk 1.13

Today was tough. I stopped to stretch here and there, walked up one big hill, a couple smaller hills and when I needed to eat something. At a bit past 8.5 miles I was really struggling mentally to push on, then my IT band/knee started to act up. I walked, stretched, ran a bit and repeated that until the end. The goal was 10 miles but my husband reminded me that it's far more important to stay uninjured so we decided 9.69 miles was "close enough" for today. Two weeks to go!

T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »

PastorVincent wrote: »

SOOOOOoooOOoOOOOOO turns out prednisone (which was rx'd for the hand thing) spikes blood sugar... guess I am going to be going for a new PR on my Blood Glucose meter!

I got 4 days more to pull it off, maybe I can up my carbs to help achieve this goal? Fruity Pebbles for breakfast I guess!

Yep, steroids, coffee... pretty much anything that triggers excess glycogenolysis will raise your BG.

I do pretty well controlling with food and exercise. Coffee has never moved my numbers, but it does not change my heart rate, blood pressure, or sleeping either. I seem to be completely immune to it. *shrugs* Makes a nice warm 0 calorie drink in the winter, and cold brew in the summer

The spike surprised me enough that I am going to go back to closely tracking again to make sure I am still on par and have not drifted too much.

July goal: 100 miles

7/2: 6.26 miles
7/3: 5.51 miles
7/4: 6.25 miles
7/7: 9.11 miles
7/9: 6.23 miles
7/10: 6.25 miles
7/11: 6.24 miles
7/14: 10.04 miles
7/16: 6.25 miles (Run in Peace @MobyCarp)
7/17: 6.26 miles
7/18: 6.26 miles
7/21: 10.3 miles
7/23: 6.26 miles
7/24: 6.25 miles
7/25: 6.26 miles
7/28: 10.55 miles


114.28/100 miles completed

I ran 10.55 miles today. It was warmer than it was during the week, but it wasn't too bad. The dew point was 64° so not as nice as last week, but not too bad. It was sunny and 73°F, feels like 73°F, and the humidity was 76%. There was a light breeze which helped and I got out early enough that there was still plenty of shade on my route. I should have gotten out earlier, but I just can't seem to get up as early on Sunday as I can during the week. All in all it was a good run.

@Tramboman Congrats on the PR!

@ContraryMaryMary I can't wait to read your report!

@Teresa502 What a pretty place to run!






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

2020 races:
5/16/20: Run for 57th AHC Half Marathon

3 july......5km
6 July.....6km
10 july....5km
16 July...5km
23 July...5km
26 July...5km
28 July...5km

Goals
1. Runs............11............7
2. Distance......59km......36km
3. 5k Time.......<35m......x
4. Long Run.....7km.......x

My husband and I went out pretty early this morning for our 3 miles. I woke up ready to run, which doesn't happen often. And the weather was just going to get worse as the day went so we headed off completely fasted and *gasp* without coffee!
It was fine. Nothing special. Just a get it over with kind of run. But I am glad I did it because it has been a humid mess here today.
I think it's time for me to mix in a new pair of shoes. My knees have been hurting. I thought it was because the mileage was creeping up, but this past week was a cutback week of four 3-4 mile runs and it wasn't any better. On Strava I'm only about 250 miles in on my main pair, but that doesn't include the warm up and cool down walking. They aren't shot yet, for sure, but usually I get a new pair for the longer runs and the old ones become my shorter run pair for a couple more months.


7/1: 3.5 miles
7/3: 3 miles
7/5: 5 miles
7/7: 3 miles
7/8: 4 miles
7/10: 3 miles
7/12: 6 miles
7/14: 3 miles
7/15: 4 miles
7/17: 3 miles
7/19: 7 miles
7/21: 3 miles
7/22: 3 miles
7/24: 3 miles
7/26: 4 miles
7/27: 3 miles

July total: 60.5 miles
July goal: 66 miles

2019 Races:

Piney Woods Trailfest 5k - 2/2/2019 29.23
Rodeo Run 10k - 2/23/2019 1:03.12
Run Houston! Minute Maid Park 10k - 3/23/2019 1:01.28
Brazos Bend 50 10k - 4/6/2019 1:15:33
TWRC Run Wild Run Free 5k - 9/2019
10 for Texas 10 Miler - 10/2019 registered
Wine and Dine half marathon - 11/3/2019 registered

Run the Year 2019 - Team Five for Nineteen

Mammoth race report from mammoth, or should that be piggy, race follows:

The 3 Pigs two-day marathon up north in Whangarei in Northland (@Avidkeo's old stomping ground) was described as an event to appreciate the outdoors in a traffic-free environment and to have fun and challenge yourself. It certainly lived up to all three of these.

Two girlfriends and I entered the ‘beastly pig’ event which comprised a 16km run on forestry roads on the Saturday morning (civilised start time of 10:15), followed by a 5.1km run on single track and forestry roads in the afternoon (1:30 start). On the Sunday was a half marathon on forestry roads, 4WD track and a bonus 1km of single track at the end.

There were no water stops and no marshalls to speak of (there was one old guy on the 16k ensuring the 10k runners turned and again on the 21.1k course, this time handing out lollies at about 15kms). Helpfully, there were arrows spray painted on the ground at junctions. The total field for each event was less than 100 runners and walkers.

My friends, who are much more intrepid and rugged than I, were a little disappointed following the 16km – it was an out-and-back, all on forestry roads – which, while they were unsealed, were pretty smooth and unchallenging. Unchallenging that is unless to take into account the 347 metres of elevation (1125 feet). There was a lot of up and down – and more importantly, 1.3km of up to start and 1.3km of down to finish.

They raced off and I started very gently – this was largely because they’re part mountain goat and was still battling with tight Achilles (and I was very aware that this was not only the first of three events but I’m also booked for another half this coming Saturday!). I wore road shoes, a great choice, and ran most of the way with a local from the host running club who filled me in on all the gossip about the club and seemed to know everyone by name as they came towards us on the way back (there was also a 10k event on so a whole bunch of people got to turn early). I left her behind about 5km from the end when I knew it was mostly fast downhills left – I simply upped my cadence (up to nearly 200) and finished in 1:37, which works out at an average pace of six minutes per kilometre. Actual distance run was 16.19km.

Lunch was provided (about 12 different soups to choose from) and as we’d taken a campervan, we retired there and ate as much as we could in the hour and a half break, and tried to stay warm. It wasn’t too cold – about 15 degrees (59 for you fahrenheiters) but as we were sweaty, we cooled down quickly. I changed clothes completely to prevent freezing and chafing issues, and also switched to trail shoes in anticipation of some mud.

The 5.1km route was a run of two halves – first 2.5km, mostly uphill, on muddy single track through the trees (which my friends loved and I didn’t mind knowing it was short). Very pretty. Very slippery. Quite slow. Thank goodness only 2.5km. We then hit the same road we had run in the morning for a speedy 2.5km home. This run added another 190 metres of climbing (623 feet), and I ran an average pace of seven minutes per kilometre. However, I recorded my fastest Garmin kilometre (4.22) on this course, which gives you an idea of how slow some of the uphill mud was. Actual distance run was 5.37km, which I got done in 38:22.

We then headed home for hot showers and food and sleep, returning after a big breakfast, ready to run again at 9:30am.

I was delighted with how good a felt in the morning – no aches, no pains, and not too fatigued. My Achilles weren’t sore at all – not even their usual ache, which was a big surprise. No idea why, and in fact today they remain totally pain free (it’s a mystery). One of my friends had pushed it a bit hard on the Saturday and was nursing a sore hamstring in the morning, fortunately for her it came right during the Sunday run.

In an effort to ensure I was sufficiently fuelled, I think I actually ate too much and felt a little queasy for the first few kilometres – probably worth it in the end though.

The half marathon was mostly forestry road and four-wheel-drive tracks, so nice and wide, with plenty of room for passing, but some of the tracks were pretty cut up and muddy, making them much slower and more technical. I was happy to be running in trail shoes again, as probably a good 10k was slippery and uneven.

We started on a fairly smooth track – gravel slightly overgrown with grass so plenty of grip in the wetter spots. We soon started climbing – there were some really mammoth hills on this half. In total we climbed 582 metres (1909 feet) and a couple of the ascents and descents were very steep. I chose to walk up a number of the hills to protect my legs and everyone else around me did the same.

An older guy and I ran much of it together – he passed me going down, I caught him going up and on the flat. I only managed to pull away from him when the course finally got flattish between 16 and 20kms. We then hit an ‘adding insult to injury’ final hill at the 20km point, which was about when I decided I’d had enough and I’d like to stop now. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option, so I plodded on until I got to 21.1km and a marshall (the second of two) pointed me off the road onto a narrow and slippery and technical yet flattish final kilometre of single track. Yup. The half was 22.48 kilometres long. I so did not need that extra bit, but it was the only way home, so I ran it.

I averaged 6:34 minutes per kilometre for this event, but my pace varied wildly, from a speedy 5:16 at kilometre 17-18, to a sluggish 7:37 for that kilometre from 21-22. Total time: 2:27.

Overall, it was an awesome event. I enjoyed almost all of the running and had a great time with my friends. We got real value for money – not only was the entry fee $35 for the whole shebang, including generous lunches and lashings of cake, but we got a total of 44.04 kilometres for the price of 42.2!

Today, I’m in pretty good shape, but my quads are, unsurprisingly, a little sore. This week I have a massage booked, and will take one or two very gentle short runs to prepare my poor we legs for a flat, fast, and freezing half this Saturday in Taupo.

A few pics from the event:

0728-20k total 84.7k goal-100k

I actually did it for once and got up at 5am to run. It was already 27 degrees feeling like 31 at dawn. Bah. Everyone I saw running in the park looked exactly like I was feeling - hot and miserable but gonna finish this run, dammit! It was humid enough that everybody was dripping from their shorts - none of the sweat was going anywhere at all.

Ran into a guy in a suit and briefcase who tried to race me. I'd catch up with him and he'd break into a 50 meter sprint, then slow down to a walk until I'd catch up to him again. This went on for more than a kilometer. Not sure what he was trying to accomplish.

@ContraryMaryMary congrats on a great weekend!

@Avidkeo I also think it's a great thing. Sometimes I wish my parents had taught me about portions, instead of allowing me to eat everything on the table or until I was so stuffed I couldn't move.