September 2021 Monthly Running Challenge

7lenny7 wrote: »

Speaking of the OG members, it looks like Stan @Stoshew71 hasn't logged into MFP in over 3 years. For you new member, he was the originator of the monthly run challenge threads.

Stan and I ran together once(maybe twice?) when he came to Baltimore for a visit. This was probably 2013ish or so? I was on the original running challenges back then when I went by CarsonRuns(MFP won't let me reclaim it).

I moved to California 5 years ago and started surfing. Took 4 years off from running, but have now moved to North Carolina and I'm running again.

Goal for September is 100 miles.

My log is here: https://www.runningahead.com/logs/f395f426a792443989cc9b545ae45445

Sept totals: 31.7/70 miles

9/2: 3.1 miles
9/3: 4.1 miles
9/5: 3.1 miles
9/6: 3 miles
9/8: 4.1 miles
9/9: 3.1 miles
9/11: 8.2 miles
9/13: 3 miles

Pretty unremarkable 3 miles this morning. Still a little cooler than average this morning but super humid ahead of tropical storm Nicholas blowing in later tonight. Light rain has already started but the heavier stuff and the wind won't come in until late tonight and the wee hours of tomorrow morning.
We live far enough north of Houston that mostly we just worry about flooding. Specifically road flooding. The Houston area is designed for roadways to flood first before property, as run-off since we basically live on a marsh. During Harvey when so much of the city was under water, we did fine but we were flooded in with no passable roads out for a couple of days. School has already been called for tomorrow and I will have to see if I can get to the office. As long as we don't lose power I actually kind of enjoy these tropical storms. They are so much less anxiety producing than hurricanes and I like a couple of good rainy days every now and then.

I had my first session of Intro to Yoga tonight. Tonight was just working on the warmups. Nearly everything we did felt like it would also benefit running. I enjoyed it and wish I had time to do it several times per week. Perhaps when I retire I'll do it regularly.

I'm impressed you got that extra walk in @quilteryoyo I would have just considered mowing to be more than enough.

7lenny7 wrote: »

I had my first session of Intro to Yoga tonight. Tonight was just working on the warmups. Nearly everything we did felt like it would also benefit running. I enjoyed it and wish I had time to do it several times per week.

I do 10 minutes before bed every night (more if I have time and energy). Easy to slot in to the routine, helps me fall asleep faster. Definitely helps with the joint mobility.

My husband and I ran the West Cancer Center Fight On 5k yesterday. This 5k is our 4 year runniversary - the first race we ever ran, back when we were still overweight, in the middle of c25k, and couldn’t even run the whole way - and it’s also special to us because when we ran it my husband still had stitches in from his cancer surgery, and was in treatment at West Cancer Clinic. It was a great first race, because it usually has a ton of folks - about 5000 - booths, swag, a live band, and a mimosa breakfast, as well as being very casual as far as the people who enter so it’s possible for not so great runners to be competitive in a big race. My first time back then was 44:17 and it included the longest I had run at a stretch since grade school! Next year, we ran the whole thing in a respectable middle of the pack time. Year after that, I won my AG. And then last year it was called off completely, not even virtual option, and we ran our own private race on a secluded access road near our house.

Which brings us up to this year, when it was all planned and everything and then went virtual due to Delta. We were disappointed but at least had the virtual to run. We decided to run it on the official course around Patriot Lake, which includes a couple of big hills. Two practice runs on the course did not make us hopeful that we would run a good race! It’s been too hot to run fast recently, and time constraints mean we have mostly been training at WC Johnson park which has no hills.

Recently due to caring for my mother we have been getting out to run at midday when it’s hottest, and the forecast said it would be nearly 90 on race day. My mom has a caretaker in the afternoon, and we’ve been staying up until about 4 am which is the only time we are guaranteed private time after my mom is asleep. But racing with no shade in full sun and heat didn’t appeal, so at the last minute we decided it was better to stay up and run it on no sleep, last thing in our day! We would have run it at night, but in Memphis it’s illegal to go anywhere after dark. Seriously, it’s illegal to be in the park between sundown and sunup, and they enforce it - the exact hour of sunrise is posted on the park info page. So that meant the earliest we could be at the park was 6:40 am.

Good news, the weather at that time of the morning was perfect. Slightly overcast - dense fog while we were driving down - with a bright red sunrise, and 66 F. The lake was covered with egrets, which must be migrating as they don’t usually live here.

When we arrived at the park we were surprised by all the other people there. Turns out there was another race scheduled - an in-person race! The Runner’s track Club 10k was that day at 7 am. Fortunately for us, they were doing it at a completely different part of the park and not in our way at all. But seeing all the cars with distance stickers, people stretching, and so on, gave our little virtual race an in-person feel which was nice.

So, our run is an example of how strategy can shave time off a short race. In practice we challenged the hills and rested on the downhills. On race day we didn’t challenge the hills and bombed the downhills. Difference in time, two whole minutes faster. Also, the cooler weather helped a lot. We were going to have to hang up our shoes in shame if we couldn’t manage a sub-30 and we just barely made it, 29:56. I feel like I could have probably shaved off a little but my husband was having exercise-induced asthma problems and called for a break at the beginning of mile 3, so we walked the last hill then ran a fast finish. Not too bad for not having done speedwork since May! My husband’s watch, which he got in August, says he did his fastest mile since getting the watch, 9:09, which probably includes that downhill we bombed. For comparison our fastest all-time mile PR is 7:56. So, we are definitely not at our best, but pleased with where we are, considering!

Afterwards we went for a walk and found most of where we wanted to walk was blocked off for the race. So we waited for a big gap in the runners then bandited the race for about 100m to get to the trail system! I got cheered on by a volunteer! “You’re doing great, you’re almost there!” Uh, no, I’m going this way, see ya! Took a nice 5k walk, watched the race for a while and saw a friend with cerebral palsy who races in a wheelchair go by.

Drove home and realized hey, when you race at 7 am you can’t order food afterwards! And nothing at all in the fridge, I mean nothing, we were overdue for a grocery delivery. My husband came to the rescue - kielbasa and leftover French fries tossed in a skillet with runny fried eggs and salsa on top. Delicious!

In response to this month’s question about special items for a race, I mentioned my lucky headband and race color fingernails. West Cancer Fight On colors are lime and sky blue!

9-1 7k easy
9-2 rest
9-3 4k slow
9-4 4k sloooooooow
9-5 4k easy
9-6 4k moderate
9-7 4k moderate
9-8 rest
9-9 rest
9-10 4k slow
9-11 4k moderate
9-12 4k easy
9-13 rest
9-14 4k easy

September Total: 43k
September Goal: 150k

Partly cloudy and upper 60s F today. Was as pain free as I've been in 2 months or so.

@rheddmobile Great job on your race!!!!! I think I would retire from racing if I could get under 30:00.

When you pop in here claiming your December 2021 mileage, what accomplishments will you have made?

PUT THE FUN BACK IN THE RUN!
Return to a good running weight of 175 lbs (second attempt)

2021 Races:

6/26 Direction Up 5k, Solon, OH 31:48 chip; 31:59 Garmin; 53d overall; 2d male 65 and over
7/17 Run of the Ox 5k, Mantua, OH 32:19 Garmin; 44th overall; 3d place male 60 and over
9/18 Hattie Larlham ThriveK, Aurora, OH Scratch

Short 4 mile recovery run, as legs are still a lillte achy from Saturdays race. Pace of 9:48 min per mile and 596 feet of elevation.

Wow! This thread moves so fast. It's hard trying to keep up with all the posts!

September cumulative:
55.4/100 miles
7,418/10,000 feet of elevation

I'm hopelessly behind on all the comments. But congrats on your races @polskagirl01 and @rheddmobile. And anyone else I missed - I feel like there were more and I liked them!

Date :::: Miles :::: Cumulative
09/01/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 0.0
09/02/21 :::: 1.8 :::: 1.8
09/03/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 1.8
09/04/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 1.8
09/05/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 1.8
09/06/21 :::: 3.8 :::: 5.6
09/07/21 :::: 2.1 :::: 7.8
09/08/21 :::: 5.4 :::: 13.1
09/09/21 :::: 1.8 :::: 15.0
09/10/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 15.0
09/11/21 :::: 3.1 :::: 18.1
09/12/21 :::: 5.9 :::: 24.0
09/13/21 :::: 0.0 :::: 24.0
09/14/21 :::: 3.1 :::: 27.1

I'm continuing on pace to break my record for lowest mileage month Yesterday work happened and running did not. Today I missed my planned warm-up run before yoga due to getting a phone call. But I decided during yoga that I would take the time after to get the run done even though it meant being later to work than I intended - I knew I would be staying late tonight. I stopped at the canal trail on my way home and did my 5k, which felt surprisingly fine after Sunday's race.

Thanks all of you who congratulated me on my Spartan race. You guys are all awesome for your support. I mentioned here that this was the first time I was seeing these obstacles since December 2019. I backed out of doing the Beast (HM distance+). which was the right decision - although my friends did it and had an awesome day for it on Saturday. They had great races and I felt a little twinge of regret, but I truly was not ready for that. The Sprint (5k+) on Sunday I was still plenty worried about. Killington is a ski resort and it is no joke for steepness. We only did 1600 ft elevation gain total in the sprint but I swear most of that was in the first mile. This is where hiking so much this summer was a benefit.

I was so excited to get the monkey bars, the rope climb, and the rings all on the first try. There were 20 obstacles in all and I missed one, the spear throw. I did my 30 burpees but then there was no line so I tried again and got it on the 3rd try. So excited! The dunk wall water was brutally cold but fortunately the rain held off and despite being windy it was not as cold as I feared. The sandbag carry up and down the steep muddy course was the hardest one I've ever done. The last obstacle on the course was the monkey bars and I was filled with dread because it's right at the end when you are tired and right in front of spectators. With every swing I grabbed the bar and said under my breath "do NOT let go" and prayed not to lose it now. And I did it! Then just a quick jump over the fire and we were done. My Garmin clocked 5.89 miles but I think it was more like 4 (Spartan 5k is never just 5k), my watch is always way too generous when there is elevation.

A few pictures from the race photographers: