February 2020 Monthly Running Challenge

LoveyChar wrote: »

Running every day on a taper down, although, tomorrow is 8 miles. Because of the way Austin Marathon is mapped out, husband and kids will see me at the Start, 6, 12, and Finish line. They're making signs but I won't see them until race day. I'm ready. I AM READY.

If anyone finds or keeps an "easy pace" after hitting over 10 miles, then kudos to you. Running that long would exhaust many and maybe most. It's hundreds, maybe a thousand or more, of calorie burns in distance for a reason compared to a lesser distance; you're body is running longer and it's harder and much more grueling to do. You're fatiguing your muscles, your mind...all of it over several hours if it's a Marathon you're running.

I think it's meant to get more difficult for many reasons...

"People think I'm crazy to put myself through such torture, though I would argue otherwise. Somewhere along the line we seemed to have confused comfort with happiness. Dostoyevsky had it right: 'Suffering is the sole origin or consciousnes.' Never are my senses more engaged than when the pain sets in. There is a MAGIC IN MISERY. Just ask any runner." - Dean Karnazes

autumnblade75 wrote: »

LoveyChar wrote: »

Running every day on a taper down, although, tomorrow is 8 miles. Because of the way Austin Marathon is mapped out, husband and kids will see me at the Start, 6, 12, and Finish line. They're making signs but I won't see them until race day. I'm ready. I AM READY.

If anyone finds or keeps an "easy pace" after hitting over 10 miles, then kudos to you. Running that long would exhaust many and maybe most. It's hundreds, maybe a thousand or more, of calorie burns in distance for a reason compared to a lesser distance; you're body is running longer and it's harder and much more grueling to do. You're fatiguing your muscles, your mind...all of it over several hours if it's a Marathon you're running.

I think it's meant to get more difficult for many reasons...

"People think I'm crazy to put myself through such torture, though I would argue otherwise. Somewhere along the line we seemed to have confused comfort with happiness. Dostoyevsky had it right: 'Suffering is the sole origin or consciousnes.' Never are my senses more engaged than when the pain sets in. There is a MAGIC IN MISERY. Just ask any runner." - Dean Karnazes

Part of me wants to be encouraged that After Mile Ten it Just Gets Hard - but I really don't remember that happening for previous training. Perhaps it's selective amnesia. I AM going to figure this out.

polskagirl01 wrote: »

autumnblade75 wrote: »

10.5 miles today, still not quite figuring out how to get to 15. I didn't walk at all, though. I spoke to myself out loud every half mile. I could fool myself for the first 9.5. The last couple, I recognized that I wasn't even fooling myself - and then I took a walk break and it was all over. I think I need a third water bottle to supply enough fluids for a full 15 mile run (and longer! Eek!) because rationing to a couple mouthfuls every 8 minutes leaves me thirsty - 6 is my standard. Today's experiment: I ran 11:32 for 10:30, then a minute at 10:00/mile. This gave me an average pace of 11:26 for a full 10.5 miles. I felt a lot better about it than 11:00/mile for 9 minutes, then a 1 minute walk. Tomorrow I have 7.5 on the schedule, but I'm an idiot and will probably make another attempt at 15 miles. The experiment shall be 10 minutes at 11:46, 1 minute at 10:00/mile.

Why is a 3 minutes savings over the course of a 3 hour run so important? If I'd just set the treadmill at 12:00/mile and trot along for the full 3 hours, we could just check this long run off the list and move along...

Honestly I would stick to the plan, and do the 15 next week, rather than trying again so soon afterwards. Let your body get used to what you're doing. If I know it's going to be a tough run, I might plan the route as an out and back or something where the return is the shortest path possible, so that once I get to halfway, I have no choice but to do it. Seriously, don't worry about time on a long run that's an increased distance for you. Hide your watch (or leave it behind!) if you have to. Build in planned walk breaks if you want, or allow yourself to go as slow as you want as long as you're running, take along gummies or some sort of treat to encourage you, wear your favorite hat, plan some sort of reward for afterwards, whatever you need to do to get it done.

kimlight2 wrote: »

My goals for 2020 are to stay injury free and healthy. I am also possibly going to try again for my first half marathon.

February goal : 70 miles
Plan goal: 76 miles

2/1 - 6 miles
2/3. - 3 miles
2/4 - 2 miles
2/5 - 2 miles
2/8 - 6.2 miles
Monthly total - 19.2 miles (3 miles behind)

Today was a stop and start run. Originally I planned to run 1.5 miles to the park, do 2 laps and run home for a 6 mile total. Unfortunately the park was a sheet of ice so I made up the missing 3 miles by running around the town. I had to keep stopping to jump on curbs to avoid getting run over and stopping at intersections for traffic. I covered my scheduled 6 miles but it wasn't fun or pretty.

Since I didn't eat dinner last night, I thought it might be a good idea to try some Gatorade gummies with caffeine that I had and bring a bottle of water. My stomach did better than I thought it would. I don't usually do well with caffeine but it was good. Only issue was the gummies froze and I had to melt them in my hand mid run. I didn't like the taste and they were really big so I had a hard time chewing them. I think I will try Honey Stingers on my next long run or regular jelly beans.

Races:
March 14:
St. Malachi 2 mile and 5 mile
May 16:
Cleveland Marathon Half and 5k
June 13 - 14:
Run and Ride Cedar Point 5k and Quarter Marathon
September 20:
Cleveland Hero's Run 5 miler
December 5:
Santa Hustle Cedar Point 5k

rheddmobile wrote: »

autumnblade75 wrote: »

TheMrWobbly wrote: »

Let us know how/if your race went @hamsterwheel6 and you are right @autumnblade75 3 minutes don't matter, the time doesn't matter - the distance will come and that is what matters right now.

With tomorrow's being cancelled due to the weather I decided to do a HM of my own this morning. It doesn't count as a HM, partly because it wasn't under race conditions and partly as I hadn't mapped it and went too far, but most because you won't normally stop part way for a hair cut 💇‍♂️!

Time to hunker down for storm Ciara!!

I'm trying not to worry about how long the distance takes - and this isn't my first marathon. I've had exactly ONE totally magical run on the treadmill that lasted 20 miles, and stayed constant at 10:00/mile for the entire run. The trouble is that my brain wants to tell me that I can do that, every time. So, even though last time around 11:00/mile was a very pleasant run for as far as I wanted to go, I pushed for faster every time. And now I'm not even in proper shape to chase 11:00/mile. And then I have some sort of mental block about falling below that 12:00/mile threshold. And I don't know what this is that 11:30 feels like an easy pace until all of a sudden around 10 miles. After 2 hours, if it was an easy pace, it should still be an easy pace, right?

I'm intrigued by the notion of stopping for a haircut in the middle of a run. That sounds Very Spontaneous.

Most people have about 90 minutes worth of stored glycogen, so bonking after about 10 miles makes perfect sense. Fueling at about 8 miles should help.