April 2023 Monthly Running Challenge

Itadakimasu7 wrote: »

Oooh just saw this - I'm in! Currently I have a weak ankle / head and chest cold that I'm calling a F4 CHEAD (chest + head cold). I suck at running, been at it since 2007, maybe in another ten years my times will improve Bookmarking this, if I'm not too active in April with miles - will be here in May.

Welcome! Your skills at combining words to describe things make you a perfect fit for this group 😀 Also I have zero running miles and yet here I am posting... so low mileage is welcome as well.

Loving you guys that are getting out there and nailing what I can only dream of, and feeling the pain for those that haven't been able to run.

This seems so petty and small in comparision, yet I am stiff going to saying. Oh my word - the chafing!
Really minor I know. At least my John Wayne impression is improving!

Love you all- you are so supportive. Feel a fool for not being here for so long x

Mari33a wrote: »

I have somehow lost the charging cable for my watch, I searched for 2-3 hours yesterday morning and then ordered a new one. Its really frustrating me because it is always in the same spot and no use to anyone else.

D'oh. I find the secret to finding my lost charging cable is to click "Confirm" on buying a new one, then old one drops from the sky and lands in my lap.

It's been a few days and three pages since I checked in here. Just been an interesting week. I'll try to catch up with everyone this morning and post about my week after I run later, hopefully.

@spl8 I'm so sorry that your knee isn't getting better. I hope I read later that the ortho had some good news. Also hugs for you and your kid.

@eleanorhawkins Hot flashes are no joke. You just feel like you are boiling from the inside out, all over. I'm glad mine have lessened a lot, but still have a few. You are going to do great on your race tomorrow. I hope you are able to rest a bit better and get a good night's sleep. Good luck with the lottery. I'm sure you may feel like never running again after tomorrow, but, knowing you, you'll sign up for your next marathon on Monday.

Thanks for the kuddos @shanaber . This has been one of those weeks where I had to adjust the amount of exercise I did due to other obligations. Some weeks are just like that. You are doing great.

Good luck with your race tomorrow @Laurz9191 . You can do it. We would love to hear your race report. I hope you are able to meet all of your goals for the race.

@polskagirl01 The soup looks really good, if I didn't know it had pickles in it. I just can't imagine. You are doing great and working so hard to get better. I'm glad to here that you are doing some better. Hang in there and hopefully you will start to see faster progress soon.

@tarun_yadavA I'm so sorry to see that you have an injury! Enjoy watching the marathon. I hope your sister has some good news.

Welcome @Itadakimasu7 . This is a very supportive group, regardless of your mileage or speed. Feel free to jump right in on the discussions.

@Mari33a I am the world's record holder for losing things, so I know how you feel. When I was subbing in the local schools, I once lost a lesson plan that was left for me when I was sitting at her desk, looking through the books to make sure I understood everything. I hadn't moved from the desk and it was no where to be found. They had to have the teacher e-mail it to me. LOL Craziness. Of course, I have also been looking for my phone when I was talking on it. I hope you found the cord and/or get the new one soon.

@TheMrWobbly Sorry about the chaffing. It can be really painful, so no apologies necessary. I'm glad you came back to us.

Good luck on your race tomorrow @kgirlhart .

@AlphaHowls Congrats on reaching your goal weight! That's awesome. Cows watching me run always make me smile too. I wonder what they are thinking.

So ortho says I just have a bad bruise behind my knee cap; the bones and ligaments are fine. And as a bonus, he noted that my 59 y.o. post-ACL surgery (nearly ten years ago) knee looks great -- no sign of arthritis or major cartilage loss. I need to rest it for another week or two, take the anti-inflammatory med he prescribed, and I should be fine.

That said, I'm continuing to walk knowing I won't meet my movement goal for the month, but hopefully I'll be back on track for May.

I'll continue to drop by for inspiration.

April Goal: 110 Miles

4/2: 11.03 miles
4/4: 6.02 miles
4/5: 5.25 miles
4/6: 5.51 miles
4/9: 11.02 miles
4/11: 5.25 miles
4/12: 5.26 miles
4/13: 6.02 miles
4/16: 11.01 miles
4/18: 5.5 miles
4/19: 5.26 miles
4/20: 5.10 miles
4/22: 0.58 miles (warm-up)
4/22; 6.26 miles- Run For The Children 10K

88.07/110 miles completed for April

I ran my 10K race today. It held in a neighboring tiwn that is 30 miles away, so I had to get up a little early,  but not too early. The weather was perfect for racing. It was 50°F with 3 mph winds.  The sun was out but clouds moved in towards the end. My goals for today were: 1. Finish under one hour, 2. Beat last year's time of 57.47 and 3. Beat my PR of 55.50. This is a pretty small race, so I felt pretty confident that I could win my age group. There was also a 5K. We started at 7:45. I went out kind of fast. I know that most recommend not going out too fast. But it is so hard not to. I was running with another woman for about 1.5 miles but after I pulled ahead of her was mostly by myself.  There was a young man ahead of me that I could sometimes see. The course is really nice and it was well marked and there are lots of volunteers along the way.  I was really pushing as hard as I could. The two courses start the same and end the same so I ended up passing about 6 people who were doing the 5K. They were all walking,  but it still made me feel good. I felt like I was starting to drag so I really focused on picking up my pace.

I did meet all of my goals today. I finished in 55.32. It was a small race so my age group win wasn't that big of an accomplishment, but I was proud  because I was 2nd out of the 7 females who ran. And I beat the two women from my town who are both 15-20 years younger than me.  Plus I got a medal and most of these smaller races only give medals to the top 3 in each age group so not everyone gets a medal.

@quilteryoyo -- gosh those are lovely photos, the little church and dogwoods just got me. I am putting visiting Smokey Mt National Park on my bucket list right now.

I hope everyone enjoys good solid runs this weekend and do well in your races! Let's go!

Hi everyone, I have to lay off running for at least 1 month!

London Marathon 2023. Live on the route, between Miles 10 and 11.
Some pics

@tarun_yadavA That sucks about having to take a month off! I hope you get through it ok and that everything heals up well!

I hope you enjoyed watching the London Marathon go by!

@kgirlhart Great job with your race and your PR!!!!

So I have expended all of my energy today!!! The race was really really fun (even though it wasn’t running). I met all my goals- came in under 4 hours, didn’t crash, wasn’t last place, didn’t get a flat tire (although even if I had, they had support vehicles helping people with bike issues), had fun, and enjoyed perfect biking weather conditions.

Things that bothered me - 1. my nose was running the whole 3 hours 50 minutes, which was pretty annoying. 2. @TheMrWobbly Chafing!!!! I even thought it might be an issue and supplied some run guard to my legs - unfortunately I applied it to the wrong spot! Next time I know where! The chafing was especially a problem when riding up the big climbs.

I started off quite slow (perhaps a bit too slow), but I was afraid of burning out. I mostly passed people on the climbs (thank you running!) and mostly got passed on the downhill (my maximum speed was 56.3km. I think that was plenty fast enough!). I didn’t ride in a peloton like I thought I would, so it was pretty relaxing because there were no cars, except the left driving support cars.

I ate 3 gels, a banana and about a third of a Cliff bar along the way. There was an aid station after 55km, so I refilled my water bottle with water mixed with apple juice. That was enough to fuel me throughout the race.

I probably will do the race again next year with some actual training focusing on leg strength. The atmosphere was great. The guys I met along the way (there weren’t that many women) were super nice. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, except during the climbs.

It was crazy though to see such a strong gender divide. In running it seems to me that there is much less of one. There were 1752 men who completed the 100k race but only 154 women. I was 124th place. I am ok with that result, as I achieved my goal time and had only 1 previous ride (last Thursday’s) on my bike in the past 6 months!

Pictures under the spoiler.