APRIL 2024 Monthly Running Challenge

TheMrWobbly wrote: »

There are not many Walkingtons in the world. Three of us are in this marathon! There is a Walkington society so I have reached out to my Dad to see if he can contact them. The chances of being able to meet in amongst 50,000 people are pretty slim though.

Fantastic run @7Lenny7 and totally love the idea of dunking in the pond at the end!

I also have an unusual last name. Well, an unusual spelling of a not unusual name. There is no Martaindale society though. As far as we know, my family are the only Martaindales. So I guess it's a society meeting every time we get together.

And, totally amazing race @7lenny7!! Your race reports are so good. Really give me a feel for what your experience was. The first thing I thought when I read about the pond dunk was pond water on open wounds!!! I will admit I'm a little germ aware. Glad you're recovering well.

April total: 42.5 miles
YTD: 315.3/1200 miles

4/2: 5.7 miles
4/3: 3 miles
4/6: 8 miles
4/8: 3.3 miles
4/10: 6.5 miles
4/11: 3 miles
4/13: 7 miles
4/15: 3 miles
4/17: 3 miles

Even hotter yesterday morning. First sports bra run of the year. I just got to FL and am eating lunch before heading to packet pickup. Then my traditional race weekend Italian dinner spot.

Believe it or not, the lows for the next few days are about 5 degrees cooler than what we've had in Houston this week. So, not cool by any means but at least cooler than my last few runs. I'll take it!

My friend flies in tomorrow after I finish the 5k. Really looking forward to seeing her!

29.03 Minor leg surgery
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 - 8 stride repeats
10.04 4.3km 35min 8:04/km - easy
11.04 3.0km 24min 7:54/km - fast
12.04 1.2km 9min 7:32/km - benchmark run
13.04 4.1km 35min 8:36/km - easy
16.04 3.0km 23min 7:40/km - fast
17.04 5.0km 41min 8:06/km - easy, then faster
18.04 3.0km 24min 7:51/km - 9 stride repeats

38.55km/67km - 1.6km behind target

Did 9 short speed bursts today. No idea why and what happened, but I started rather fast. Probably a bit too fast, but doesn't matter.

quilteryoyo wrote: »

Amazing that you are already running again. I guess the blisters are all healed?

@quilteryoyo they are mostly healed. I think the swelling I thought I felt was actually the dead or dying skin. I think I could have started running on Monday but I always think about @MobyCarp 's advice of always giving things one more day after you think you've healed. In this case I gave it two days.

Happy birthday, @kgirlhart !!

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
4/9: 6.05 miles
4/11: 6.32 miles
4/12: 6.52 miles
4/14: 10.26 miles
4/15: 3.16 miles
4/16: 5.66 miles
4/17: 6.02 miles
4/18: 6.08 miles

88.14/130 miles completed for April

It was a warm and humid morning. 72°F with 94% humidity. But it was still a nice morning and I enjoyed my birthday run. I felt good and I felt strong. I ended up running 6 miles. I thought about going an extra block to make it a 10K, but I didn't really have time. And honestly, I needed to use the bathroom so I figured 6 miles was just right. It kind of amazes me that I ran 6 miles on my 56th birthday. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be running at all I would have thought you were crazy. I remember when I turned 50 and running 5.0 miles was really a challenge. I'm not saying that 6 miles is nothing because it is, and some days it is harder than others, but it is a distance I run often.

Thanks for the birthday wishes @quilteryoyo, @7lenny7, and @daria0919. I'm working today, but took off tomorrow so I could have a long weekend.

And good luck on your races this weekend @daria0919, @martaindale and @TheMrWobbly!

Oh sorry @daria0919 I missed you! Good luck on your 10K. It's just as important as any other race.
Happy Birthday @kgirlhart!

Was in the upper 80s yesterday, and 90 today! Was too tired to get up and run in the morning, plus it was in the mid 70s anyway, so just did 6 TM yesterday, and 4 today. Planning on getting up tomorrow to run since it will be in the 60s.

5 miles tonight. It was a beautiful 45F but pretty windy so I donned a long sleeve shirt. A little bit of pain in my right knee at the start but after I was warmed up it was gone.

Rest day tomorrow then I hit the trails again Saturday. Not really sure how far I'll go though.

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
April 9 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Horrible crick in my neck
April 10 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Gym 35 min treadmill wun - neck was still hurting
April 11 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 1.00 miles - treadmill - neck mostly better
April 12 - Walked 2.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - treadmill - tummy issues
April 13 - Walked 1.25 miles - Ran 3.00 miles - driveway laps
April 14 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Doubles league tennis
April 15 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 1.00 miles - Gym 39 min - Push mowing and weed eating 1.25 hours
April 16 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 2.00 miles - Mowing 1h7m
April 17 - Walked 1.00 miles - Ran 0.00 miles - Gym 37 min - Doubles Tennis 59 min
April 18 - Walked 0.50 miles - Ran 2.50 miles - on the road today

39.00/65 mile goal

I didn't post yesterday. I went to the gym in the morning. New thing I did was chest press. That really worked my arms in a different way. Afterwards, I walked one mile on the driveway and then played league tennis last night. My partner and I lost, but the other two courts won, so the team overall finally got a win. Yeah for us.

Today I ran out the road. I wasn't feeling the best today, but decided to just run and see how it went. I wanted to stop at mom's since I had a package delivered to her house and it was there. That motivated me to even get out and going. I did a short warm up walk, counted as part of the run, and then ran/walked for a total of 2.50 miles. At that point, it was just too hot and I didn't feel like I could go on, so I walked from the rest. I stopped at mom's for a while and walked the last fast quarter of a mile on the way home. When I saw my HR, I knew why I was having such a hard time. Avg was 153 with a max of 173 bpm. Not sure why it was so high, except I did forget to take some of my prescriptions last night, so.... I was pleased with the pace of the run though; 12:48 min/mile and the fact that my legs felt fine.

Run well @daria0919 – 10k races have their own difficulties, number one being you have to run fast and, ideally, without walk breaks (can’t be sauntering along like those 100 milers do, ay @7lenny7?)

I’m laughing @laurs9191 – signing up for races while recovering, sounds like something I’d do. We’re pretty lucky here in New Zealand, loads of distance running females, but we’re still significantly outnumbered by the men. My only ultra (and it wasn’t an ultra for me as I was in a relay team) had 11 female finishers to 58 male (it was a 60km very challenging trail in absolutely dire weather. The winner took 7:18 to run it and cut off was 15 hours). Interestingly, of the nine that withdrew after 22km, eight were men. And again, at 42km, another seven men withdrew and only one woman. (There were also four that DNS - all men.) So, from my very quick study of a limited data set, fewer women start, but those that do start are ready and able to go the distance. Whether this is a mental thing or whether only women who absolutely know they can do it enter, I don’t know.

As for you @themrwobbly, you have me checking out whether I ought to enter the lottery for next year and worry about the training/airfare/22hour flight later. Super excited for you. I hope it all goes well and I can’t wait to read your report.

I’m feeling excited for you too @martaindale.

Yay for speed work @yiyara, planned or not, it’s a great idea.

@7lenny7, that t-shirt and mug are awesome!

Happiest of birthdays @kgirlhart, good call on the long weekend.

Another great workout @quilteryoyo. Your discipline is impressive.

As for me, since I've found out my iron is low and is why I have 'fatigue, reduced exercise tolerance and poor concentration' (my brain is fried), my subconscious has said, "relax, sleep, you're unwell, have a day off," so I've missed the past three days running (school holidays haven't helped as extra planning around the husband and children are required).

I've started on iron supplements and today headed out for 8.5km. Still experiencing 'reduced exercise tolerance'. It's weird - my lungs are fine, my legs are fine, but no, after about 5km I just want to stop. Hopefully I'll see a big improvement over the coming week as I have a half marathon booked for next Sunday!