MARCH 2024 Monthly Running Challenge

@martaindale thank you for saying that there’s no shame in dropping down to the lower training group. I think I needed to hear that. I’ve decided to do just that. I want to enjoy the runs and not stress or get injured.

@TheMrWobbly thanks for the support and great 17-miler by the way! 👍🏻

@Teresa502 thanks for your input. I sometimes battle between getting the workout /run done versus listening to my body. I’ve gotten much better with listening to my body. I didn’t realize at the time of my PT session that what she had me do was too strenuous until later when the aches started. At the time I thought it went well.

@tarun_yadavA this trainer is still young to training and learning (even though she has some certifications). She’s just used to working with younger people. Over time I’ve been letting her know what’s been a bit much for me and she always adjusts.
It’s true that there are some in it for the money, but all the ones I’ve worked with have had a genuine interest in helping me. This young girl has solved all the other pains, like my knee pain is gone with her helping me strengthen the right muscles and the same with my right hip and lower back. All that has greatly improved. She’s a trainer at our local YMCA, so she doesn’t get paid nearly as much as a true private trainer.
As far as the overweight ladies, that can’t be put on a trainer. Trainir can’t control what food and how much the ladies put into their mouths. No amount of training helps if the individual doesn’t improve their diet and lower their calorie intake on their own.

Thanks to all who “hugged” and sent messages of support. You all are really helpful and supportive!

Did 4.83 miles with the running group this morning at a 15 minute pace.

Here for my second Monthly challenge of the year.

Goal 85 miles:

3/1 - 2.82 miles
3/2 ‐ 12.01 miles
3/3 - Rest Day
3/4 - 3.02
3/5 - skipped run (stormy/rainy morning)
3/6 - strength training / planned rest day from running
3/7 - 3.47 - interval run.
3/8 - skipped run - my legs were burned out after strength training followed by interval run 🙁
3/9 - 3.28 miles - the run I was supposed to do on Friday
3/10 - 11 miles - was supposed to be 14 but ran with a new running friend and went faster than I had planned - ended early so that I didn’t completely burn myself out for the upcoming week. Felt good to be at a “faster” pace for a longer run - feel like there is hope for me to build back to where I was a year ago
3/11 - rest day
3/12 - 3.80 miles - easy run
3/13 - 3.58 miles - easy run
3/14 - rest day
3/15 - skipped run - terrible thunder storming / not mentally strong enough to get on the treadmill
3/16 - 14 miles - kept it slow and easy but it felt good - happy with my progress and building mileage
3/17 - rest day
___________________
57.01 total miles

27.99 miles to go

Need to get my crap together and do a better job of checking in /posting regularly - things have been so busy I have not been taking the time to log/post regularly. I am happy that I have mostly kept up with my running plan - but without accountability - that only gets me so far. I am committing to being here every day to cheer you all on and keep myself accountable to what I have planned to do.

March 2 – 7.38 miles
March 3 – 3.02 miles
March 4 – 5.03 miles
March 5 – 5.10 miles
March 11 – 5 miles
March 13 – 5.12 miles
March 14 – 3.20 miles (am) + 2.01 miles (pm - trail)
March 15 – 5.18 miles
March 17 – 9.06 miles (trail)
Total 50.19/100 mile goal

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I met a friend at a local state park and we ran 9 miles on the trails early this morning. We got there as soon as the park opened at 8:00 am and had the trails all to ourselves for the entire morning. It was very nice and peaceful. Except for a few people in the campground and the ranger who opened the gate, we didn't see anyone in the park.

Very nice long run @TheMrWobbly! What a beautiful place to run!

Congratulations on your 5K @emptydog!

Yikes @Laurz9191 – I didn’t realize your calf was swollen and painful to the touch. Bravo to you for coming up with cross training plans. I hope the injury heals quickly.

Nice long run yesterday @Leigh_b!

Yesterday was a great day for tennis @quilteryoyo. Today it's been pretty breezy. There are some pickle ball courts behind my work. Friday after work I saw a couple of my friends over there so I stopped to say hello and they had me out there hitting balls. It was quite fun!

Good job hanging in there and going to your running group today @daria0919!

Those “biscuits” look so good @tarun_yadavA.

Good morning everyone!
Got in 3.75M (at 10"42). Took it easy.

@Laurz9191 so sorry that you're out for awhile ☹️
@daria0919 glad to hear that this PT isn't awful. In some ways, I think it's sad that people acknowledge there is a problem, do wanna lose weight and put their time+money into PT sessions thinking it's a silver bullet - however, equally, said PTs knowing that it's not and never quite being transparent about the whole package: diet, calorie deficit, steps etc. no amount of kettle bell swings or Burpees are gonna make anybody slim if they're not logging calories accurately and/or eating right. A lot of PTs know this but just choose to stay silent and bank the cash!
Ok. Rant over.
@Teresa502 haha! Thanks... I like both Biscuits! Lol. But one with breakfast, and one with chocolate chips and nuts... Lol.

RAISINS... 😂

Here we go:

@ContraryMaryMary hmmm 🤔.
No. Would go Peanut M&M over a chocolate coated raisin.

@quilteryoyo opposite of you! Lol. On its own - waste. Coulda been better as a grape or fermented into wine; lol.
Will say this... Chocolate raisins - ok... So so! Nuts and raisins together... Eg Cadburys Fruit+Nut. Yep! Absolutely!
(Agreed with @Laurz9191 entirely... chocolate nut beats chocolate nut+raisin beats chocolate raisin!)

@kgirlhart woah woah lol
I love chocolate and coconut. I love Bounty. (That's 'Almond Joy' translated into American! But Bounty is wayyy better. The chocolate coating on Bounty is nicer than Almond Joy!).
Think there's generally a cocoa:milk:sugar ratio difference between UK,Europe (eg Cadburys Nestle Belgian etc) and America (Hersheys etc). Something changed along the Atlantic. Just tastes wildly different.

Speaking of... Didn't want an unhealthy weekend. Fly off to the States next Thursday. 11 nights. I bet that turns into 11 Lbs after I'm let loose on food and beer! Lol

March total: 50.7 miles
YTD: 251.9/1200 miles

3/2: 4.1 miles
3/4: 4.1 miles
3/5: 6.4 miles
3/7: 3 miles
3/9: 4.5 miles
3/11: 3 miles
3/12: 6 miles
3/14: 4.5 miles
3/15: 3 miles
3/17: 8.1 miles
3/18: 4 miles

The weekend rain is gone and in its wake is a couple of beautiful mornings. This morning was cool, humidity was low, just ! Since I did my long run yesterday but I had quite a bit of time available this morning I did a longer warmup with a mile walk, then ran 4 miles and walked out the last of my route which was another 0.5 mile or so. It was really pleasant and I will do this combo again on mornings where I have more time that I need. It adds up to a fair bit of extra time on feet and will hopefully help me maintain fitness a bit while I’m cutting back running.

Speaking of cutting back, recovery is going well. I am finally getting to the point where my legs don’t feel tired every run and I feel good about running. I actually want to go for a run, which was part of my struggle for the last couple of months. I needed a reset and taking some pressure off my schedule has done me some good. I am meeting a friend of mine in FL for Disney races in a month which will be fun, low pressure race days. I am doing the 5k, 10k, and 10 miler. She is doing the 10k. It provides enough motivation to keep me moving but is an easy enough event that I don’t need to “train”.

Well I’ve finally worked out what going on with my running - my form is way off. I realized during my run yesterday that I wasn’t rolling off my big toe so corrected that and promptly found my missing power. My tight hip was way less aggravated last night as a result. My back was still tight though.

Today I focussed on my toe the whole way and recorded my third fastest time for that loop. Woot!

I have just been to see my osteo and he explained the mechanics of it while he unjammed my foot, hip, and back - basically the jam in my foot was stopping me rolling off the big toe so my hip flexor was having to work very hard to compensate which is why running uphill was so difficult. The resulting tight hip flexor was pulling on all the muscles through my lower back, hip and abdomen.

Rest day tomorrow to let his ministrations settle and then I’ll test it on Thursday. Watch this space!

Incidentally, that speedy effort was in part due to being overtaken by a girl in the final 3k. I’ve seen her running a lot - she’s very tall (6 foot-ish) and rather quick. She’s also 20 years younger than me. She came loping past me when we were on the final uphill portion before the massive downhill home. There was no way I could keep up with her on the up but, on the down… let’s just say I also recorded a 3rd fastest time for that particular segment!

Hilariously, Strava now thinks we ran together so I now know who she is and can stalk her! What it hasn’t worked out is my average pace was 5:59 and hers was 5:25!

1 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 mile - treadmill
2 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 2.00 miles - driveway laps
3 Mar - Walked 1.25 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
4 Mar - Walked 1.50 miles - Ran 1.50 miles - driveway laps - wun/intervals
5 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 2.00 miles - driveway laps
6 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
7 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 2.00 miles - treadmill
8 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
9 Mar - Walked 4.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - driveway laps wun - rain/drizzle
10 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill - also played two hours of tennis
11 Mar - Walked 1.50 miles - Ran 1.50 miles - treadmill
12 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill
13 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill - also DR Field and Brush mower for an hour
14 Mar - Walked 2.25 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - driveway laps wun - DR for 2h19m (2.37 miles)
15 Mar - Walked 2.50 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Driveway laps wun
16 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Driveway and road - league tennis later
17 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Driveway laps
18 Mar - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 1.25 miles - Treadmill

35.25/85.00 goal

Yesterday, I just did a mile walk on the driveway after church, helping with a fundraiser, and taking a nap.

Today, I did my run early because mom had an appointment early afternoon. I got started later than I intended, so decided to walk a mile and run 15 ish minutes. The run was 2 min each at 4.5-4.9 mph, then 5:38 min at 5.0 mph. It was not as hard I was expecting it to be. Avg HR was 132 with a max of 147 bpm.

ContraryMaryMary wrote: »

Incidentally, that speedy effort was in part due to being overtaken by a girl in the final 3k. I’ve seen her running a lot - she’s very tall (6 foot-ish) and rather quick. She’s also 20 years younger than me. She came loping past me when we were on the final uphill portion before the massive downhill home. There was no way I could keep up with her on the up but, on the down… let’s just say I also recorded a 3rd fastest time for that particular segment!

Hilariously, Strava now thinks we ran together so I now know who she is and can stalk her! What it hasn’t worked out is my average pace was 5:59 and hers was 5:25!

😂
Paging @chris_in_cal .... Strava! It works!
😂