December 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

I'm in central Texas where it's been in the 70's all week. Today is beautiful. Sun is shining and there's a nice breeze so as soon as my little guy wakes from his nap, it's up and in the stroller and a running we shall go...

Happy birthday to @shanaber and @Scott6255!!

@PastorVincent I'm not diggin' that run the birthday miles thing! 51 miles...in a day....? Not even sure I could do that in a month! Nope, my birthday is a planned rest day and my Packers will trash da bears at Lambeau as their gift to me.

December Goal: 100 Miles

12/1: 10.05 miles
12/3: 6.25 miles
12/4: 6.05 miles
12/5: 6.25 miles


28.6/100 miles completed

Today's run was 6.25 miles. It was really nice. The weather today is perfect. It was 53°F when I ran this morning and it is 78°F right now. This is by far my favorite type of weather. Today's run puts me at 1193 miles so far for the year which is 1919.947 kilometers, so I have officially run the year. I doubt that I will ever run the year in miles so when it comes to running the year I am going to go by kilometers. Last year I ran 1096.4 miles (1764.48 K) so I did not run the year last year and I have run farther in 2019 than I did in 2018 and that is good enough for me.

@dreamer12151 The key to the birthday runs is to use decimals to your advantage. So on my 51st birthday I ran 5.1 miles. There are some on here who can run 51 miles in one day, but I am not one of them.

@durhammfp There is nothing wrong with taking a walk break when needed. You are still running more than you are walking and lots of people use a run/walk strategies for all of their runs, even marathons. If I start feeling stressed about the distance I "have" to run then I usually try to focus on time for a while instead of distance. And since I run outdoors I like to go places. So maybe I will run to the courthouse and then to my office and then swing by the post office and the park on my way home. That way I focus more on where I am going than on how far, or how long it is taking me.






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

@durhammfp there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking walk breaks. I used to be the same, I felt if I allowed myself to walk I wasn't running, and I definitely wasn't a runner. Eventually after injuring myself from pushing too hard and not listening to my body, and having to start from scratch, I discovered the Jeff Galloway run-walk-run method. It took me a lot of work to get over the mental hurdles and negative thoughts. Now I am a complete convert. Some people say I'm not a runner because I run-walk-run. Usually when I pass them towards the end of races, when they're burned out and I'm still fresh as a daisy, they have to eat their words. Even more so when the following day I'm hauling furniture about while they're going down stairs on their backsides cause their legs hurt ;-)

My advice is to stop fighting your body and mind and look for what works for you. You've nothing to lose, try things out. Want to see if walk breaks are for you? Try them. Don't like them? You haven't signed a contract, you can stop taking them....

His

eleanorhawkins wrote: »

@durhammfp there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking walk breaks. I used to be the same, I felt if I allowed myself to walk I wasn't running, and I definitely wasn't a runner. Eventually after injuring myself from pushing too hard and not listening to my body, and having to start from scratch, I discovered the Jeff Galloway run-walk-run method. It took me a lot of work to get over the mental hurdles and negative thoughts. Now I am a complete convert. Some people say I'm not a runner because I run-walk-run. Usually when I pass them towards the end of races, when they're burned out and I'm still fresh as a daisy, they have to eat their words. Even more so when the following day I'm hauling furniture about while they're going down stairs on their backsides cause their legs hurt ;-)

My advice is to stop fighting your body and mind and look for what works for you. You've nothing to lose, try things out. Want to see if walk breaks are for you? Try them. Don't like them? You haven't signed a contract, you can stop taking them....

Amen sista!

Are you out there running occasionally? Then you are a runner. Screw what everyone else says of thinks.

Thanks all for the birthday wishes! No run today as I had to take our elderly friend for her tests and doctor appts. I have strength training in a bit and then out to dinner with DH! I will get my birthday run in tomorrow but I guarantee that it will not be 64 miles. It will be a meager 6.4 😊
@loveychar - I was 57 when I started running. I hated it before back to when I was a kid and never expected to keep running and still be running 7 years later! I hope to run as long as I can, even if it means doing a slow shuffle! At least I will be moving!

@dreamer12151 I will be cheering for the Pack too on the 15th and hoping you get your birthday present!!
Go Pack Go!

@durhammfp - in addition to what everyone else has said already I would take a couple of runs just to go out and run. No app, no plan, no pressure. Just run and enjoy the feeling of running for however long you feel like doing it. I listen to music, sing along with the songs, watch the hawks and other critters and just enjoy being outside. Other times I am focused on whatever the plan has on the schedule for me. You might even find that you end up running longer, further and/or faster without even thinking about it. You can also plan a day of having fun with a little speed work or some intervals just to mix it up. Note also there is an entire type of running built around doing run/walk intervals. You can check it out here. I tried it for a while and didn't care too much for the constant starting and stopping but some people love it. I do however plan walk breaks in my HMs - typically at every water station or every couple of miles or something like that. I am sure they are all different but I think most of the Fleet Feet stores have group runs for all levels and lots of fun runs that you could participate in just to do something different once in a while.

Happy Birthday @Scott6255 and @shanaber!

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kgirlhart wrote: »

Today's run puts me at 1193 miles so far for the year which is 1919.947 kilometers, so I have officially run the year.

Congrats on running the year and all, but you do know it's 2019, right?

kgirlhart wrote: »

garygse wrote: »

Happy Birthday @Scott6255 and @shanaber!

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kgirlhart wrote: »

Today's run puts me at 1193 miles so far for the year which is 1919.947 kilometers, so I have officially run the year.

Congrats on running the year and all, but you do know it's 2019, right?

Dammit! ☺I was not paying attention there was I? I guess those Aggie jokes are right. Oh well, I still ran more than last year so I guess that is something.

Hey, that's more than just something...it's awesome!

@eleanorhawkins I'm glad to see I'm not the only Jeff Galloway method fan on here. That's what I have been doing. I don't think I would be able to do the long runs otherwise. When I first started running about 11 years ago, my first goal was to run 30 minutes without stopping, because I thought that was what you were "supposed" to do. I did manage to get up to running 6 miles without stopping and it felt great. But, then I didn't keep it up. Maybe because I felt I had reached my limit. I don't know. Then I got injured playing tennis and had to do nothing for a couple of years. This go-around I am doing the Jeff Galloway training and think I can keep it up and go further and further and faster and faster - for the foreseeable future anyway. And, I'm not dying at the end of my long runs. In fact, I usually feel more energized. So, @durhammfp , as others have said, this is something you may want to give a try and see how it goes. If you don't like it, try something else until you find what works for you.