APRIL 2024 Monthly Running Challenge

Leigh_b · April 8

Fell off the wagon in March. Crazy hectic work schedule and then Spring Break took me off track - but I am back for April.

Goal 85 Miles:

4/1 - 4.00 miles - got to run in the Italian countryside at the base of the Dolomite Mountains
4/2 - rest day
4/3 - skipped run
4/4 - 3.47 miles - last run in Italy for Spring Break
4/5 - travel day - no running
4/6 - travel recovery
4/7 - rest day / travel recovery day 2

7.47 total miles
77.53 miles to go

kgirlhart · April 8

April Goal: 130 Miles

4/1: 3.34 miles
4/2: 6.26 miles
4/3: 6.02 miles
4/4: 6.02 miles
4/7: 13.13 miles

34.77/130 miles completed for April

The weather was perfect this morning. One of my goals for this year is to run the half marathon distance once per quarter so I thought today would be the perfect time to run my 2nd Quarter Half Marathon. It was 52° at the start and about 70° by the time I finished. It was a beautiful sunny morning. The wind started picking up towards the end, but all in all it was great running weather.

I practiced some for my trail race. I wasn't able to go on any actual trails, but I did run the dirt roads at the cemetery and saw a big jackrabbit. I also ran up and down a hill at the park and ran around the soccer fields and a rugged area of the Frisbee golf course and the bird house park. I think I am going to get some trail shoes for the race. My husband seems to think that I need them and if he's OK with me buying shoes that I might not wear a lot, then I guess I will. I'm not really sure what to get though. I wear Saucony Ride, which are neutral shoes. I'm not really sure which trail shoe would be similar. I hate that the closest running store is 60 miles away.

Congratulations on the Parkrun win @Contrarymarymary. And it looks like the kids had a good time at the fundraiser.

@yirara I don't really prefer running in the dark, but I do like it. It gets so hot here that I have to do most of my running before dawn. I do like running when it is quiet and there isn't much traffic. I love starting out with the moon and stars and finishing up as the sum is rising and the sky I'd turning blue.

Laurz9191 · April 8

@yirara At least here in northern Germany where I live and run I would claim that it's been dark pretty much since November. This week the sun has come out and I have no idea what do to with it

. But generally, it does make me happier when the weather is friendlier (brighter) without making me feel like I am baking in an oven.

@ContraryMaryMary In my experience races/running with kids are always exercises in random pace changes and motivational speeches. It looks like you guys had a lot of fun!

@kgirlhart Good job on the half!

@Teresa502 That sounds like a very pleasant outdoor weekend!

@tarun_yadavA Great job getting some running in when you could in between indulgences in the US! Hope you have a good trip home with minimal jet lag!

@7lenny7 I am excited to hear how your race went!

Laurz9191 · April 8

I went on a short 5.5km run on Saturday. We finally had nice weather over here, so I spend a lot of time outside and biking around with the kids both Saturday and Sunday. Having that much sun all of a sudden did tire me out, so I took Sunday off and went on a 7.5km run this morning. I only have short runs planned from now until Sunday. The official race countdown has started

.

50.2/200km for April.

Scott6255 · April 8

Big, huge, GIGANTIC kudos to @7lenny7 for finishing your 100 mile race!! That is just surreal!
@tarun_yadavA hope you are back home safe and sound.

6.2 miles this morning. Really nice weather. Was able to get pretty significant negative splits with each mile. Felt unusually good for a Monday.

TheMrWobbly · April 8

I saw a comment that @7lenny7 had finished. Are you up to posting an update @7lenny7 ?

Ice cream fixes most child ailments @ContraryMaryMary

I quite like running at dawn @yirara though any time I will not be seen is a winner!

Hope you all had a great weekend

yirara · April 8

01.04 1.0km 7min 7:28/km - something
02.04 1.1km 8min 7:26/km - benchmark run
03.04 3.1km 25min 8:12/km - 10 stride repeats
04.04 3.0km 25min 8:08/km
07.04 3.7km 30min 8:04/km - easy
08.04 3.1km 25min 8:01/km - 9 stride repeats

14.96km/80.5km - 6.6km behind target

Not quite as good as yesterday, but not every day needs to be good.

Emilienewme · April 8

First run of the month for me, 3.2km

TheMrWobbly · April 8

So I did the London Landmarks half marathon on Sunday. I thought it was a good chance to get a feel for running in London and in a large group. About 24,000 people and I started very close to the back.

Being at the back meant less waiting, though still a good 45 minutes to get to the start line. There was no queue for the toilet though also no toilet paper. I learnt from pervious experience and came equipped!

Very different, a lot of "Excuse me", "Sorry", "After you", until about mile 10 by which time it was, under your breath, just move! In total ran 13.5 miles instead of 13.1.

The penultimate group had a 2:50 pacer that was jeffing, first time I have seen that!

The day felt good, crowds were excellent and encouraging. The aim was to run as if it was a marathon, gels every 4 miles, run at my marathon pace, 12:22 a mile approx. My brain lost the argument with my legs, brain saying 'slow down, relax', leg going 'stop whining, we've got this'. Ended up at 11:11 a mile and sat comfortably there for 2 hours. My HR started to increase in the last 30 minutes. As I felt fine and had started passing a host of other runners I decided to keep the pace until the end. 2:27 for the half but 2:30:35 by the time I crossed the line.

Crossing the line was a bit of an abrupt stop with so many people just stood around and didn't get a chance to stretch out - so easy to forget the cool down!

Was presented with my finishers medal by a Chelsea pensioner, great guy.

All in all, a great day for a run and enjoyed. Now to convince my legs to slow down!

Scott6255 · April 8

Great HM @TheMrWobbly 😀 Your training is paying off!

quilteryoyo · April 9

April 1 - Walked 2.25 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Gym 17 min
April 2 - Walked 2.25 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Doubles tennis
April 3 - Walked 1.50 miles - Ran 1.50 miles - Gym 36 min
April 4 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Gym 33 min
April 5 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 3.00 miles
April 6 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Doubles league tennis and push mowing
April 7 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Doubles league tennis
April 8 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Gym 37 min

18.50/65 mile goal

Went to the gym early. Only new things I did there was reverse squats and a couple of hill repeats on the really steep hill beside of the gym.

I ran errands and then walked 2 miles on the treadmill. I would have ran, but I had eaten a quick bite, hoping to get the rest of mom's grass mowed before it rained. Of course, it started raining as I was eating. I don't mind walking right after I eat, but can't run.

quilteryoyo · April 9

Looking good @Leigh_b . Welcome back to the challenge and getting on the wagon again.

Great job on the HM distance @kgirlhart ! I'm glad your husband is urging you to get trail shoes. That's awesome. I think you will do great on your race since you are practicing on such varied surfaces.

@Laurz9191 Glad you had such a nice weekend and got some sun and outdoor time. You're going to do great!

Great running @Scott6255 . Where did you see that @7lenny7 finished? Congrats to him. That is AMAZING!

You have to start somewhere @Emilienewme ! Keep it up.

@TheMrWobbly When I saw your post on Strava, I didn't realize you had run in an actual race. I thought you just ran by yourself. Boy, was I wrong!

I had to look up "jeffing." Interesting that they had a pacer doing that. That's what I need in a pacer. Congrats on that HM time. You did great. I can see how you would need to slow a bit for the full though. Sounds like you had a great day/race! Love all the pictures.

martaindale · April 9

Way to go @TheMrWobbly!!

@kgirlhart Maybe having trail shoes will inspire more trail running?

martaindale · April 9

April total: 20 miles
YTD: 292.8/1200 miles

4/2: 5.7 miles
4/3: 3 miles
4/6: 8 miles
4/8: 3.3 miles

I did a short run before people started showing up for the eclipse. We had really cloudy weather but managed to see glimpses of the eclipse as it approached totality. It was amazing how dark it got! The birds went totally quiet. So cool.

kgirlhart · April 9

April Goal: 130 Miles

4/1: 3.34 miles
4/2: 6.26 miles
4/3: 6.02 miles
4/4: 6.02 miles
4/7: 13.13 miles
4/8: 3.30 miles

38.07/130 miles completed for April

I ran 3 miles this morning. I was tired from the 13 miler yesterday, but the weather was perfect so I thought a slow and easy recovery run would be nice.

tarun_yadavA · April 9

Morning all;
Back! Got in 4 (at 10'06).

@TheMrWobbly well done on the Landmarks Half!
@Scott6255 @Laurz9191 @Teresa502 @quilteryoyo thank you all 🙂 it was a fantastic trip!
Jetlagged though 🙃
The 'Red eye' from JFK to Heathrow is a toughie. Leaves around 9 eastern time, flight itself is a little over 6 hours. You land around 6-7 UK time. If you don't KO on the plane, you're gonna be in deep deep trouble. Got in 2-3 only after the inflight meal. So was working remotely yesterday and constantly fighting the urge to doze off.

Have a great day all

quilteryoyo · April 9

Great running yesterday @martaindale . Glad you got to experience the darkness of the eclipse and saw glimpses of it.

Nice recovery run @kgirlhart .

Great jet lagged run @tarun_yadavA . That sounds brutal. I hope you recover from the trip quickly. Glad you had a great trip and especially glad that we got to meet!

emptydog · April 9

And again, I am way behind on the posts. And also miles for this month. I will strive to do better in both areas.

The Eclipse 5K was where I most often ran at the lakefront park. There were 199 finishers. I finished 2nd in the 70+ age group, and my running friend P won in the women's 70+ age group. We both had a good day.

4/1 - 2.14 Miles. Lakefront Park, 36F, Mostly Cloudy. 7:10 am.
4/1 - 1.35 Miles. Up the Hill. 48F Sunny. 12:26 pm.
4/2 - 1.19 MIles. Neighborhood. 40F, Cloudy.
4/4 - 1.35 Miles. Lakefront Park, 36F, Misty Rain.
4/7 - 3.1 Miles. Eclipse 5K, 41F, Sunny.
4/8 - 3.04 Miles. Lakefront Park, 43F, Sunny.

Teresa502 · April 9

April 1 – 3.31
April 2 – 5.10
April 4 – 6.15
April 9 – 5.09
19.65/90 Mile Goal

I got in a 5 mile run this morning before the rains moved in. The temp was 52F – perfect running weather. Today was our hilly route and even though I had to walk a couple of times I was still pleased with my overall pace.

@TheMrWobbly – Congratulations on your half marathon! Sounds like you managed quite well especially in that big of a crowd. It’s so easy to get caught up with those running around you.

@tarun_yadavA – Glad you made it home safely. I have trouble sleeping on those overnight flights also, especially going out. I think it has a lot to do with the excitement of going some place. Coming home is easier because I’m usually exhausted.

Congratulations on placing in your 5K @emptydog!

Scott6255 · April 9

Congrats on your 5K 2nd place finish @emptydog! 🙌🙌

APRIL 2024 Monthly Running Challenge

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