November 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

11-1 7k slow
11-2 7k slow
11-3 8k for @MobyCarp
11-4 7k easy
11-5 yoga
11-6 7k slow
11-7 7k easy/yoga
11-8 rest
11-9 7k easy
11-10 7k slow/yoga
11-11 7k easy/resistance bands
11-12 rest/yoga

November Total: 64k
November Goal: 135k

January Total: 131k
February Total: 159.5k
March Total: 183k
April Total: 126k
May Total: 128k
June Total: 161.5k
July Total: 151k
August Total: 133k
September Total: 135k
October Total: 115k

2019 Total through October: 1,423k / 882.26m

Monthly average: 142.3k

Next year when you pop in here claiming your December 2019 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?
Run at least 4 5k races. Completed 8-31
Get under 30:00 and a PR for 5k. Nope...
Average at least 135k per month, which would put me over 1,000 miles for the year.

Run the Year Team: Five for Nineteen - Completed 9-28

Day of rest and yoga today. Had about 4 inches of snow overnight, with more still falling. Even after just two weeks, have noticed improved flexibility due to yoga.

2020 goals:

Continue a 5k regimen.
Train better.

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 - 31:11 chip time; 95/141 overall; 4/6 age group (male)
8-31 Race for Freedom 5k - 31:39 chip time; 32:00 Garmin time; Third Place male 60 and older
10-13 Haunted Hustle 5k - 31:22 chip time; 47/74 overall; First Place male 60 and older

Cranked out a couple more miles this morning in my gym class doing treadmill intervals between weights sessions. Really enjoyed it - short bursts of either sprints, hills or both! Ok so the sprints on hills were not fun, but otherwise good!

11/2: 3m
11:6: 6.3m
11/9: 2m
11/12: 2.4m

November total: 13.7m
November goal: 20m

October total: 64.1m
September total: 82.2m
August total: 85m
July total: 90.1m
June total: 86.1m
May total: 67.6m
April total: 71.5m
March total: 42.9m
February total: 30.2m
January total: 31.7m

November Miles - 27.05/70, walk 6.14
11/03 - 6.25; walk 1.44
11/04 - walk 1.35
11/05 - 3.56
11/06 - 3.63
11/07 - 3.1
11/08 - walk 1.12
11/10 - 6.71; walk 2.23
11/12 - 3.8

I almost didn't run this morning, but I really had no good excuse not to. Sure, I was awake at 2am. I still got 6 hours of sleep. I always feel better after a run and we don't have any snow on the ground. It wasn't even freezing temps! Feels like freezing temps, but not actual freezing temps. My plan was to run at least 3.5 miles. Two miles with Jackson and then almost another two with Kira, both of whom did great. And I feel good that I didn't skip it.

Now I need to start doing yoga again. The problem with that is, it means missing out on social hour with coworkers that I enjoy... or doing it in the evening. That's what I'll do. Starting tonight! Bonus of that means I hopefully will stop eating/drinking so much... ...

Mileage question for the more experienced members of the group....
As most of you know, I ran my 2nd HM just over a week ago. My first one back in December left me injured and having to start from scratch, so I was pretty scared of what my legs would have to say this time round.
In an ideal world I would like to maintain this fitness/mileage level and remain more or less HM ready over the winter, because A.) I would like to eat over Christmas and not be the one chewing on a lettuce leaf so as not to gain weight while everyone else indulges, and B.) because I'm signed up for a road HM at the end of March, and there's a trail HM I would like to run at the end of February too.
I saw the physio for a massage last week, she sorted out a couple of knots. Legs felt tight for a few days but no pain. Did a couple of gentle 2 mile runs last week, the ran a 5.5k race (but didn't race it) on Saturday afternoon, and ran an easy 3ish miles yesterday. My legs don't feel 100% recovered, but they don't feel any worse than after the longest training runs over the last few weeks before the HM.
So, to get to what I want to know. Weekly mileage (more or less) for the last 6 weeks has been: 21, 22, 23, 15, 20 (race week), 7.
My vague plan for December/January is to stick to the weekday runs I've been doing (3,5,3 miles) and then on Saturdays do 10, 11, 12, 6 miles (so a cutback every 4th week).
So.... how far do I run this week? If I stick to 6 miles for this week's long run so as not to overdo it, will I not be losing condition considering I only ran 7 miles altogether last week? If I consider last week to have been the cutback week and do 10 miles will I be overdoing it? Am I totally overthinking all of this and should just go run and see what happens?
Post-race runger seems to be lasting forever. I want to eat all the food, and I need to run all the miles to do that but I'm scared of injuring myself.
Times like this I really miss @MobyCarp. He would have answered this with something so sensible and logical and seemingly obvious but that I had totally overlooked.

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

Camaramandy648 wrote: »

Avidkeo wrote: »

Morning all, well done to everyone! Some awesome achievements over the last few days.

So getting back on the wagon has been harder than I thought it would be. I have now realised why I crashed so spectacularly, I was trying to do to much. I had basically signed myself up for 1hr+ of exercise every day, as well as looking aster my kids, working full time etc. I definitely stick to things better when it's only about 30 mins a day with a weekly long run.

So to that end I've worked out my own strength training plan, where I do a basic total body workout tues, Thurs and Sunday. I will run Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat. I'll see how this goes and adjust as I go.

Also I realised I'm binging in the evening, so I'm doing If properly. I'll still track as well.

I'm going to do this for 2 weeks and reassess. And hopefully find a balance.

Hi! Single mom of two, here. I work usually fifty hours a week and one of my kids has autism and Tourette's. The other is ADHD as all get out (you're welcome, small human). We have three different therapies per week + tutoring + church + whatever fun we can fit in.... Needless to say, I can empathize with your plight. What works for me is doing what is IMPORTANT before what just seems URGENT. And also refusing - ABSOLUTELY REFUSING - to accept any guilt or shame for not being able to do EVERYTHING, ALL AT ONCE, 100% of the time. On my best days, I'm superhuman. On my worst days, my kids are fed and know they are loved and we do what is most important.

Go easy on yourself, but not too easy. And if you have a day where you don't feel like you cut it, assess the areas you think you can reasonably improve. If there aren't any, then try your best again the next day.

You can do this!

I'm still catching up after a weekend away (only three pages to go!) but wanted to respond to this because I've found that the same strategies apply to living with mental/chronic illness as well. When I'm having a bad day, I figure out what absolutely positively MUST get done, and if I have to skip every single thing on the SHOULD get done list to do it, then that's what I've got to do. Guilt and shame are hard ones to shake, but they certainly don't make getting anything else done any easier! *hugs*

Times like this are when I find it helpful to reshare this:

But You Don't Look Sick:
https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

It applies to pretty much all chronic conditions, and IMO, for caregivers of those with chronic conditions. It is a solid read. I highly endorse it.

shanaber wrote: »

PastorVincent wrote: »

TheMrWobbly wrote: »

I need to speak to my daughter about doing this marathon in April. My fear is that she won't train and I will end up walking lots of it or she will train and I won't keep up. Everything so far has been at my body's pace and I didn't have to worry about anyone else. When you run with others can you change pace easily?

If their pace is a doable pace for you, then yes most people can run at someone else's pace. Most larger races have "pacers" that are there just for that reason so that you can run with them and keep the pace they set.

But, I would encourage you to work it out with your daughter so that you both start the race together, and then see each other at the finish if you are not both running about the same speed. A marathon is a major accomplishment, and each of you should try to run the best race each of you can run.

@TheMrWobbly - I don't necessarily agree with this... I think you should definitely talk and work out with your daughter the expectations for the race ahead of time but whether you decided to run it together or split up and each run your own race greatly depends on what you want your experience to be. Is it a shared experience where you are there to encourage and support each other and get through it together or just something to do on your own but nice to have someone there with you in general.
An example... not a marathon but a half and it was the 1st HM of the SF marathon that at that time went out over the Golden Gate bridge. It was a bucket list race for me and unbeknownst to me my daughter in Seattle signed up and trained to run the race with me. We could have both been there, split at the start and met up at the finish but I wouldn't have traded our slow pace (she was much slower than me then) and our experience of running it together and those memories for anything. We did go back a couple of years later and ran the 2nd HM of the same race and did as @PastorVincent suggested and started out together and then she blasted off and I met her at the finish. Was it a good race, absolutely, but not the memory making fun of the first one where we ran together.

Yet another possibility - I run with my husband, but I also train with my husband. Our training together serves several different functions; I feel safe running in neighborhoods where I would never run alone as a female, we both stay fit, and we have a shared hobby.

We have nearly identical paces but I believe he could be much faster if he trained alone, since he’s a man, taller than I am, and shouldn’t be limiting himself to my stride length. (He tends to run in cadence with me, even when I remind him not to.) On the other hand he has asthma which tends to knock him over when he runs faster, so possibly I’m doing him a favor. When we race,we race together unless one of us can’t deal and tells the other to go on ahead near the finish - usually if he does have an asthma attack he sends me ahead. I enjoy running with him much more than running alone. He’s unlikely to place in the male AG at my pace, but it does happen once in a while!

Training with your daughter all the time may not be feasible but if you can run at least a few training runs with her it might tell you how suited you are to running a marathon together.

PastorVincent wrote: »

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

Camaramandy648 wrote: »

Avidkeo wrote: »

Morning all, well done to everyone! Some awesome achievements over the last few days.

So getting back on the wagon has been harder than I thought it would be. I have now realised why I crashed so spectacularly, I was trying to do to much. I had basically signed myself up for 1hr+ of exercise every day, as well as looking aster my kids, working full time etc. I definitely stick to things better when it's only about 30 mins a day with a weekly long run.

So to that end I've worked out my own strength training plan, where I do a basic total body workout tues, Thurs and Sunday. I will run Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat. I'll see how this goes and adjust as I go.

Also I realised I'm binging in the evening, so I'm doing If properly. I'll still track as well.

I'm going to do this for 2 weeks and reassess. And hopefully find a balance.

Hi! Single mom of two, here. I work usually fifty hours a week and one of my kids has autism and Tourette's. The other is ADHD as all get out (you're welcome, small human). We have three different therapies per week + tutoring + church + whatever fun we can fit in.... Needless to say, I can empathize with your plight. What works for me is doing what is IMPORTANT before what just seems URGENT. And also refusing - ABSOLUTELY REFUSING - to accept any guilt or shame for not being able to do EVERYTHING, ALL AT ONCE, 100% of the time. On my best days, I'm superhuman. On my worst days, my kids are fed and know they are loved and we do what is most important.

Go easy on yourself, but not too easy. And if you have a day where you don't feel like you cut it, assess the areas you think you can reasonably improve. If there aren't any, then try your best again the next day.

You can do this!

I'm still catching up after a weekend away (only three pages to go!) but wanted to respond to this because I've found that the same strategies apply to living with mental/chronic illness as well. When I'm having a bad day, I figure out what absolutely positively MUST get done, and if I have to skip every single thing on the SHOULD get done list to do it, then that's what I've got to do. Guilt and shame are hard ones to shake, but they certainly don't make getting anything else done any easier! *hugs*

Times like this are when I find it helpful to reshare this:

But You Don't Look Sick:
https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

It applies to pretty much all chronic conditions, and IMO, for caregivers of those with chronic conditions. It is a solid read. I highly endorse it.

bugger spoons

Avidkeo wrote: »

eleanorhawkins wrote: »

PastorVincent wrote: »

eleanorhawkins wrote: »

Mileage question for the more experienced members of the group....
As most of you know, I ran my 2nd HM just over a week ago. My first one back in December left me injured and having to start from scratch, so I was pretty scared of what my legs would have to say this time round.
In an ideal world I would like to maintain this fitness/mileage level and remain more or less HM ready over the winter, because A.) I would like to eat over Christmas and not be the one chewing on a lettuce leaf so as not to gain weight while everyone else indulges, and B.) because I'm signed up for a road HM at the end of March, and there's a trail HM I would like to run at the end of February too.
I saw the physio for a massage last week, she sorted out a couple of knots. Legs felt tight for a few days but no pain. Did a couple of gentle 2 mile runs last week, the ran a 5.5k race (but didn't race it) on Saturday afternoon, and ran an easy 3ish miles yesterday. My legs don't feel 100% recovered, but they don't feel any worse than after the longest training runs over the last few weeks before the HM.
So, to get to what I want to know. Weekly mileage (more or less) for the last 6 weeks has been: 21, 22, 23, 15, 20 (race week), 7.
My vague plan for December/January is to stick to the weekday runs I've been doing (3,5,3 miles) and then on Saturdays do 10, 11, 12, 6 miles (so a cutback every 4th week).
So.... how far do I run this week? If I stick to 6 miles for this week's long run so as not to overdo it, will I not be losing condition considering I only ran 7 miles altogether last week? If I consider last week to have been the cutback week and do 10 miles will I be overdoing it? Am I totally overthinking all of this and should just go run and see what happens?
Post-race runger seems to be lasting forever. I want to eat all the food, and I need to run all the miles to do that but I'm scared of injuring myself.
Times like this I really miss @MobyCarp. He would have answered this with something so sensible and logical and seemingly obvious but that I had totally overlooked.

Listen to your body, if it needs a rest week, give it.

You may lose a little conditioning, but honestly, it will not matter. At all. By Feb it will not matter if you took this week off or not. One extra week's rest will not impact your performance that far out BUT it could prevent injury today.

As @MobyCarp would say, a week's rest now is faster than months of recovery later.

Very true. The sensible option would probably be to drop back to say a 6 mile long run, and then re-add a mile a week with a cutback every 4th week, which in a nutshell is what my training plan did.

@PastorVincent is wise. I've found when I've taken time off running it's taken about 2 weeks to get back to where I was before the break - but my breaks were 1 month or so. Taking a week off isn't going to impact much. The first run back may feel a bit weird but within a week you should be back to normal.

We do get afraid to take time off but it's worth it in the long run.

I'm on day 5 of my new plan. I'm following a garmin coaching plan since I have this feature on my watch. I've plugged in to improve my 10k time to 55 minutes. Definitely achievable as my current average time is around 59 minutes, and I'm sure I've done close to 55 mins this time last year. I'm purely using it as structure and I work better with a plan. The eating plan is going well so far haha. I'm not noticing much of a difference, except when I run late morning it feels like a slog, I think im not great running fasted. I know it really suits some people. But I'm going to stick with it for 2 weeks because like anything I need more than 1 try. Also generally most of my runs will be a few hrs earlier, the only reason they are late atm is because I'm working late. Gotta love a rotating roster!

Hah, I almost asked a very similar question - I've struggled a lot with consistency this year, so I might have a week of increased mileage followed by two or three low mileage weeks. I don't want to start at zero when my legs are feeling better, but I also don't want to treat two or three weeks the same way as I would treat a cutback week. I like the idea of spreading the "return" over a couple of weeks though. I occasionally get a little obsessive with my numbers and need to remember that even if I'm not where I'd like to be, I'm not starting from the beginning every time either.

November Goal: 80 Miles

11/3: 11.02 miles
11/5: 6.55 miles
11/6: 6.51 miles
11/9: 1.54 miles warm up
11/9: 3.24 miles Wags and Whiskers 5K
11/11: 6.52 miles
11/12: 3.20 miles


38.58/80 miles completed

When I got up this morning it was 23°F feels like 9°F so I decided to wait until later in the day to try to run. I may be a wuss, but that is just too cold for me. Today at lunchtime it was still 30°F feels like 22°F, but the wind was only 7 mph and I decided to go ahead and run. I only have about 30 minutes to run during my lunch hour so I just ran 3.2 miles. But it was nice and I was really glad to get out there. It was cold, but the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue so it wasn't unpleasant at all.






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
10/5/19: Old Rip 5K - PR 27:27, 1st AG
11/9/19: Wags and Whiskers 5K -2nd AG, 4th Woman, 5K PR - 26:36


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