DECEMBER 2023 Monthly Running Challenge

December total: 29.7/164 miles

12/1: 6 miles
12/2: 12 miles
12/4: 9 miles
12/5: 2.7 miles

This last week has been so busy! This is the first time I’ve managed to get to the December thread. My training plan peaks this month at 164 miles. I met my year goal of 1200 miles already, so everything from this month is icing on the cake.

So far this month I’ve had one speed session, 3 x 2 mile repeats. It went really well. I like these longer intervals better than the 400s and 800s. They are almost like a little mini tempo workouts, which are definitely my favorite. These longer repeats are 10 seconds faster than race pace. Overall, I did a pretty good job. Half of the miles were spot on, another two were pretty close, with only one that was too fast by about 10 seconds. For the fast one, I mostly blame the real time pace on Garmin, which, for whatever reason was all over the place early in my run, so I kept making little adjustments and ultimately ran the entire mile much faster than I intended.

The long run also felt really good. I hit the target pace for that pretty consistently, and never really felt like I was struggling. Overall, I am currently in a really good position to get a new PR at my race in January. Now, I just have to get through December. I am mentally struggling a little bit with motivation, which is not usually a problem for me. Things here have just gotten very hectic and I find myself wanting to skip runs just to free up time. In the last couple months of these training plans, my runs get longer and easily occupy one to two hours every day. It would be so easy to skip and gain those hours back but I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not just training for a race. This is also part of self-care, and I need to take the time to give myself an outlet.

Happy Birthday @Scott6255!! Hope you have a great day. Are you able to spend some time with your brother to celebrate, maybe go for a run together?

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Normally I would get out for a birthday run but will pass this year and make up for it next year when I am not completely fatigued walking around Costco.

@Zaxa2021 - When I was running regularly I tried to keep to 4 days running and 2 days of strength training. It was easier when I had a trainer and regularly schedule sessions with him than getting motivated to do it on my own. He taught me the importance of upper body strength for runners as it helps to stabilize your core leading to fewer lower body injuries and ability to recover and not trip and fall. The strength in your arms and shoulders is important too because they help to propel you forward, especially running uphill. Now I try to get one or the other in whenever I feel up to it but when I am finished and back to somewhat normal I will return to that schedule again.

Finally I saw this today in the NYT Running section. Pretty motivating that he is still running a race every month!

"An 80-year-old Bay Area resident who ran a 100-mile race in Illinois last month broke the U.S. record for runners over 80 by over two and a half hours, KTVU-TV reports.

The octogenarian, Wally Hesseltine, completed the Tunnel Hill 100 in just over 26 hours and 22 minutes, beating the previous record of 29 hours and 3 minutes. Hesseltine, the oldest runner to finish the Tunnel Hill race, in Vienna, Ill., placed 128th out of 179 runners overall.

The record, though impressive, is a drop in the bucket for Hesseltine, who has now completed 29 100-mile races, 56 marathons and more than 200 ultramarathons — meaning any footrace longer than the 26.2 miles of a traditional marathon.

Hesseltine said he had competed in at least one race every month for the past four decades to stay competitive. And he has no plans to slow down: He wants to finish an ultramarathon in all 50 states, with 45 already under his belt and another scheduled in Mississippi in March.

Why does he continue racing? Simple: “I still enjoy it, and I want to keep going,” Hesseltine told the news outlet."

Happy birthday @shanaber and @Scott6255 !

Re: cross-training. Always the black sheep, I run 4 days a week, do mobility work and strength train twice a week and do at least 1 pilates session, or 2 if I can find the time, and I also walk or cycle on 1 or 2 of the non-running days, and I also try to do at least a few minutes of yoga every day. Fitting everything in is a struggle, and yoga tends to be the first thing to get dropped as it seems to be the one that does the least for me in terms of injury prevention, BUT my mental health and stress levels are a lot worse when I don't get regular yoga in. In short, I'm constantly juggling and taking risks as to which ball I can afford to drop for a while.

01/12 4.01 miles
03/12 4.03 miles
05/12 3.55 miles

Total 11.59 miles/60 miles

On cross training. I try & do 10+miles on my spin bike in morning & 3+ miles running in the evening on as many days as I can fit in. It if the weather is too bad to get out for run I’ll do another 10 in evening on bike

Breaking News!!! I ran so fast yesterday and today that I reversed the earth's rotation and today I am 61.... not 62 like I thought I was going to be.😜 I have no idea what I was thinking yesterday! I just had it in my head for a few days that I would hit the milestone of 62. Well, I guess I am relieved that I'm not that old (yet) 😏 Thanks to my twin brother for straightening me out!!! Who knows how long I would have gone on thinking that.

Nice run @Teresa502 . We didn't have any rain today, but it did look like it might. I am leaving in the morning. Will spend the night in SC and then get to FL on Thursday. Race packet pick up is Friday. The race starts at 7:30 on Saturday morning. If anyone wants to follow me during the race, I think you can from their website. My bib number is 919.

@daria0919 Congrats on signing up for the 10K. Great idea to work up to 4 miles before the official training starts. The T in T minus stands for Time. So, for a rocket launch, it is the exact time at which the rocket is scheduled to launch. I guess it is just easier to say T-Minus 10 minutes than it is to say 10 minutes until launch. Also, there is often a "window" of time that a rocket can launch and still put it's payload in the correct orbit. So, you can have T - X min and holding, perhaps waiting for weather to clear, or other things, before continuing the activities necessary for the launch to happen. Just a short cut way of saying things that doesn't leave any room for misunderstanding among parties. (Sorry. That was probably way more information than you wanted when you asked.)

Great running @kgirlhart !

Congrats on meeting your year goal already @martaindale . Sounds like you have had some excellent runs this month so far! You are going to PR that race for sure.

Great on all of that @project9percent .

Oh wow @yirara . I didn't realize you had a serious injury from a "run in" with a cyclist. That's horrible. I am glad you are almost back to normal where that is concerned. You are doing great, so I'm sure if you keep at it, you can get your stamina up to a HM by August! Glad you enjoyed your weekend.

@shanaber I am impressed by all that you do. You are going to have a quick recovery once your treatments are finished! That 80 year old is AMAZING. I want to be him when I grow up. I can see @AlphaHowls doing that. @AlphaHowls You were wanting a new goal after running around the world. Maybe this could be it.

Hahaha @Scott6255 ! Apparently you are old enough to not remember how old you are.

Zakkery86 wrote: »

Zakkery86 wrote: »

Let’s go! 🚀 105 km 🎯 (a bit more than 100 to give that extra challenge 💪) Good luck, team.

Hey team, we’re up and running! (Excuse the pun 😂).
3-Dec-23 🏃‍♂️10.1km
5-Dec-23 🏃‍♂️7 km
🏃‍♂️ 17.1 / 105 km 🎯
Good luck everyone 💪

Hello 👋 from Newcastle, UK. Updated total.
3-Dec-23 🏃‍♂️10.1km
5-Dec-23 🏃‍♂️7 km
6-Dec-23 🏃‍♂️6.6 km
🏃‍♂️ 23.7 km / 105 km 🎯

Waving from afar (the other side of London) to @tarun_yadavA !

Long awful story short, I got stuck at Heathrow on my way to the States in response to a family emergency. I was even ready to run through the airport, but they wouldn't let me into security. At least the food at the hotel is good. Thoughts and prayers will gratefully be accepted.