November 2020 Monthly Running Challenge

Ran 5k in the woods before work.

Work/COVID stuff: November Goal - 100 Miles



"40 weeks of 40" Challenge: Week 1 DONE!

19.6/90 miles

11/2: 5 miles
11/3: 3.1 miles
11/6: 5 miles
11/7: 6.5 miles

Absolutely perfect weather this morning. Since I ran yesterday I planned to just run an easy long run and go by feel. Not trying to push my pace at all. I still managed to come in fast enough to get several Strava segment PR's and maintain a steady pace. And it just felt good. It never got hard. I feel like I'm really seeing the payoff for the summer running!

Exciting for @quilteryoyo and @teresa502 to meet up today at a race! Can't wait to hear about it!

Congrats on the great runs in beautiful weather today @Mari33a, @martaindale and @Scott6255! Nice job Scott on the longest run of the year!

Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
11/01/20 :::: 5.3 :::: 5.3
11/02/20 :::: 3.0 :::: 8.3
11/03/20 :::: 1.8 :::: 10.1
11/04/20 :::: 3.0 :::: 13.1
11/05/20 :::: 3.1 :::: 16.2
11/06/20 :::: 3.1 :::: 19.3
11/07/20 :::: 13.1 :::: 32.4

I also benefited from the extra super nice weather today. It was 66 degrees when I started at 9 am and I was very glad I had elected to go with shorts and a tank with a long sleeve over. I took the long sleeve off almost immediately. My friend had decided this week to do her virtual marathon today (her race was only recently cancelled), so several of us ran parts of it with her to help out. I agreed to the later legs of it because I was happy to sleep in and I was hoping she wouldn't be too speedy for me in the second half. I really thought I would join her for no more than 10 miles, but when I started up with her she still needed almost 15. I hung in there for 13.1 and called it my own virtual half (which I won ). When I was at 10 miles, another friend and I (the only 2 left at this point) decided we could tag team it for the last bit, so she took a short rest and refuel which I ran my last 3.1 and then I handed off to her to finish while I stretched and recovered. I stuck around to cheer on the finish. I was very proud of my friend for gutting out the 26.2 outside of a race environment. It's not easy and she certainly struggled with it more than she thought she would.

And that's my longest run since May and only the second of that distance for the year.

Great runs everyone! And excited for all of you managing to do actual races!!

Was a beautiful of cold morning here in London, and I managed 10km. Have also done lots of cleaning and reorganising at home and got in a home dance workout with the kids, so all in all a good day. If the weather is good tomorrow I will run again- shorter distance though, so I can fit in some strength training as well. Determined to get back into shape and feel better!

November total: 16.5m
November goal: 60m

2/11: 4m
3/11: Strength training plus 1.25m on treadmill
5/11: 5m
7/11: 6.25m

Jan - Oct: 666.8 miles

Went on a nice, leisurely 4ish mile hike with a friend today. It rained on my 2 hour drive there but fortunately eased up while we were out. It created a bit of mud on the mostly red clay paths.

November Goal: 100 Miles

11/1: 11.02 miles
11/3: 4.35 miles
11/4: 4.35 miles
11/7: 13.51 miles

33.23/100 miles completed for November

1209.25/1000 miles for Run the Year Team Pavement Pounders

Race report: Today I got to run a real, in-person race. The weather was perfect. It was 57°F at the start and 63°F at the finish. The sun was shining and there was enough breeze to be comfortable but not a lot of wind. The race was out at Possum Kingdom Lake which is a hilly area so it is really pretty, but the course is pretty flat and you really just see the hills in the distance. There was some fall foliage which was nice because even though I only live about 40 minutes away we are further west and don't get much fall colors. So it was a really lovely run.

The race started at 7:00 am and the sun had just come up. I started towards the front. It was a small race and there weren't any corrals. I probably went out a little fast, but I was feeling good. The fastest runners pulled out in front of me and it only took about half a mile before they were far enough ahead that I would never be able to catch up. But that was ok with me. I never expected to be one of the top finishers. I was just hoping to beat my PR and place in my age group. I did notice that there was only one woman ahead of me so I was hoping that no one would catch me. I really ran the race by myself. For most of the race I about halfway between the fast group the next wave. I was feeling really good and kind of zipping along.

My first mile was my fastest at 9:14. The next four were 9:26, 9:39 and 9:48 and 9:48. I was still feeling great and no one had passed me. Miles 6, 7 and 8 and 9 were 9:45, 9:30 and 9:44 and 9:44. I couldn't believe I had held a pace under 10 minutes but I was still feeling good. I could hear someone behind me though and in mile 9 I was passed by another runner. It was a man though and he was by himself, so I still only had one woman ahead of me.

I was starting to slow a little and ran mile 10 in 9:59. I got down to 9:55 for mile 11 but I was starting to get tired. I was still far enough ahead of the next runners that I wasn't too worried about it. I finished mile 12 in 10:08 and passed the last aid station. Up until mile 12 it had been an almost perfect race. But then I started getting some cramping in my right calf. Nothing too terrible but annoying. So I slowed a little. The runners behind me were still far enough away that I didn't think they would catch me. And then I passed my turn. It wasn't well marked. And I was starting to think I was going the wrong way but I looked ahead and saw the man who had passed me so I kept going. But it turned out that he had missed the turn too as did the two women behind me. We were all able to correct though and no other runners passed us. We did end up running 13.51 miles though. I finished mile 13 in 10:11 and it took me 5:08 to run the last half mile. By that time I was a little disappointed that I had missed the turn and run long, plus I was having more cramps in my calf. The last part of the course goes through the parking lot which is a gravel/dirt road. It felt hard to run on it even though it was softer than asphalt. But by then I could see my husband cheering me on and that gave me the extra push I needed.

I was really excited that I finished in 2:11:54 which was a PR for me. That was actually for 13.51 miles. Garmin gave me 2:07 for 13.1. But either way it was a PR. The two women behind me were at 2:13 and got 1st and 2nd in their age group (30-39). The next runner behind them finished in 2:17 so I guess running a little long didn't hurt us in the end.

I ended up with a PR and as Overall Masters Female, 2nd overall female and 13th runner overall. So all in all I am really happy about it. I am a bit disappointed that my official pace shows 10:04 which is what it would be for 13.1, but for 13.5 my pace was actually 9.46 which is really fast for me. But I am really happy about how it went.





Great running everyone! Seems like everyone had great running weather this weekend.

Beautiful hike @marisap2010!

Great race @quilteryoyo and @teresa502. Beautiful pictures and so cool that you two were able to meet.

@rheddmobile On our way home from the race we saw a campaign flag flying at half mast. I doubt we'll hear much celebration around here. I'm just hoping they will stop flying the flags now.





2020 races:
11/7/20: Run for 57th AHC Half Marathon

11/1 – 5 miles
11/2 – 10K Monday
11/3 – 3 miles with Champ
11/4 – rest day
11/5 – 10K
11/6 – 1 mile
11/7 – 9 (15K) Cathedral Caverns trail race
11/8 – 4 miles with Champ of recover

34 of 120 miles

I’ll have to come back and catch up on the thread, busy busy ha ha
Yesterday I ran an in person race a 15K trail race that the last ~1.5 miles is in a cavern. Last year I ran the 5K and enjoyed it, the 15K was pretty hard but I really enjoyed it. I did packet pick up before the start and missed my wave (people people come to pick up the night before in the future!), so I started with one of the 5Ks waves so I spent A LOT of time alone on the trail, but that’s okay. Results are not out yet, I told Skip I’d be thrilled with a 2:45 finish, and finished in 2:30 which included stopping to help a girl who fell and had no idea the elevation would be so hard. She was with a friend, but I stopped to check on her and to make sure they knew the options of getting off the course and giving them the race directors cell numbers in case they needed someone to come in and get her. I’m happy to say I saw her later and she finished (though she cut over a mile off the course but not completing a whole loop – but that’s okay).


Races:
335 of 335 miles Pinhoti Trail Challenge done - complete
40 of 250 miles Yuletide Madness


Pictures from race: