Runny knows - Feb 12 to 17

[Wahine]

So call me crazy (you'd likely be right) but I ran twice today. Outside for 5 miles at lunch and 3 miles on the treadmill after work. This is all part of my "intensive" month assigned by my coach. It's part of breaking down mental barriers and coming out the other side with a whole new idea of who I am as a runner. I wonder if this will also help me achieve enlightenment, (if I don't get shin splints first). :rolleyes:

Oh... notice that the thread is only going to Sunday. The type A triathlete in me can't take this week starting on Tues thing any longer. :p

Excuse me but I need to go organize my closet alphabetically now.

[crazycanuck]

Errmm Wahine..Shall we break into the Billy Joel song ' YOu may be right" ?

You may be right..YOu may be CRAZY..you may just be the looonatic i'm looking for..Turn out the lights...

Anywhoo..
Thought about doing deep water running this morning and had everything ready. Woke up at 4:10Am but was dizzy from not drinking enough yesterday..went back to zzzz..I won't fret though..I have a swim session tomorrow and fri am i shall do some deep water running if the area's avail.

[teigyr]

Oh... notice that the thread is only going to Sunday. The type A triathlete in me can't take this week starting on Tues thing any longer. :p

Excuse me but I need to go organize my closet alphabetically now.

You know, that little IM thing you did should've been a sign that your mental barriers are pretty flexible. Was it worse than running 8 straight?

Seriously though. Really. I knew someone who had to wash and dry dishes (by hand) by type, size, and color. It was great fun to find something he had forgotten. Say he was on small plates and had already done glasses, cups, etc...and if I would bring him a glass or cup, he'd have to stop everything to wash it then he'd have to rearrange the drying sequence. I was reeeealllly evil back in those days.

Anyways, I think most people start on monday? I used to start on sunday, don't remember why. Oh yeah, I was off sun-tues. Now, though, I've joined the ranks of the sane.

I ran four tonight. In the dark. After work. After only getting about 3-4 hours of sleep per night because I simply don't do morning shifts well. All things considered, the run was pretty awesome :D Running in the dark is kind of fun.

[Wahine]

You know, that little IM thing you did should've been a sign that your mental barriers are pretty flexible. Was it worse than running 8 straight?

Actually, it's easier than running 8 straight. :) The difference is that I will do this 2 or 3 times this week to bring my overally mileage up quite a lot. I've never run more than 28 miles in a week and I never run 4 days in a row. So I'm breaking some "how many days in a row can I run?" and "how much mileage can I do in a week?" barriers. :eek::eek: It's weird but the more fit you are it seens that the more weird your training schedule becomes.:confused:

[crazycanuck]

Wahine..what exactly are you training yourself up for? I know you've said no IM this year but are you trying for top finishings in all your tri's?

Whatever you're training for, i'm sure you'll be at de top chickie :D :cool:

[uk elephant]

Even I went running yesterday! Did 2.5 miles and only walked a little bit of it. We're having glorious weather these days and I got home early enough to get daylight for at least half of my run. Think I may have to try that again today...

[indysteel]

After a month of running, I'm up to 4 miles at a time now, on the treadmill at least and only if I keep my speed to about 6.3 mph. I ran inside yesterday and am meeting a friend tonight for a 3-miler outside tonight. I haven't kept track of my running miles like I do my cycling miles, but I'm trying to run 3 to 4 times a week, 3 to 4 miles at a time. My order of preference right now is to (1) run outside with someone, (2) run on the treadmill, and (3) run outside by myself. Running alone is hard for me.

So far so good though. A duathalon may be in my future.

Happy running to all of you and good luck to Wahine with her intenstive challenge. That's awesome!

[alpinerabbit]

Before enlightenment, Master Yoda, chop wood and carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.


I ran a whoppin 12 minutes with 1 minute run-one minute walk. This is my part of coming back from that evil muscle injury I have been carrying around with me since October.

See if I don't.

[froglegs]

I took 9 days off from running to let my knee rest. Yesterday I hopped on the treadmill for an easy 2.5. It felt good to run, even though it was on the dreadmill.

[Wahine]

4 miles today. That makes 29 miles in 5 days. Phew!! I got the OK for a day off tomorrow.

[kelownagirl]

I did 3.8 km today and felt crappy. My calves hurt again. I walked more in the last half. Looking forward to seeing the new PT next week.

[indysteel]

I did about 3.5 yesterday outside with a friend of mine. It's harder for me to run outside than in given the cold, but we had a good run all the same. She's nursing some injuries and didn't mind slowing down for me.

[Jolt]

Well, I'd really like to go for a run today (the sun's even out!) but there is so much darn ICE around that it's probably not such a good idea! We had snow, then freezing rain, then large amounts of rain yesterday, then the temperature dropped so all that slush and all those puddles froze. Not cool. So it's either the stationary bike (boring) or go to the Y tonight and use the rock gym (appropriate given the feeling of being about ready to start climbing the walls from being cooped up)--and I'm trying to think of productive ways to use some of this pent-up energy.

[emily_in_nc]

I ran on the treadmill Tues. and today, 40 minutes each time. Tues. I did 3.64 miles in that time (including some walking), and today I did 3.78 miles (no walking). I am working on getting faster, but it is so hard. My time for 3.1 miles (a 5K) was 31:18 today, and my DH said that a time that slow is not even listed in his heart rate training book as a possible 5K time. Sheesh....way to discourage a beginning runner! :mad: Admittedly, I did start out slowly warming up, which I would have probably already done before starting out on a 5K, so I might be slightly faster at an actual event, but throw in the hills and I might be even slower!

But whatever the book says about my time, I'm feeling better than ever when I run (no pain anywhere!) and am improving over my speeds from just a month ago, so I try not to be too hard on myself. I'll never be a speed demon, but I'd like to run a 5K one of these days. It just needs to be a large enough event that I won't come in dead last. :D

Emily

[OakLeaf]

Oh Emily, just go to any site that has timing & scoring archives like active.com or altavistasports.com, look at some 5K results and you'll see that 31:18 is perfectly fine. It wouldn't get you any trophies, but you weren't expecting that, were you? Besides, it's true what they tell you even though I didn't believe it either, you will go MUCH faster in an actual race. In my first one last month I ran TWO MINUTES faster than I thought I'd ever be able to, and disappointingly I had a lot more in reserve! Stupid men, don't let them make you feel inferior.

I've been on the couch for a week now with this stupid conjunctivitis->sinusitis->pharyngitis->otitis media->bronchitis and I am TIRED of being sick!!!! :mad: Especially since I don't really feel that horrible but every time I try to get out and do something I get way worse!!! I finally started the raw garlic cure two nights ago - the home remedy of last resort - now I smell horrible in addition to feeling bad :p but it seems to be starting to work.

[Kimmyt]

31 is a perfectly fine time, there will be others in after you, unless it's a very competitive race. Most 5Ks will have folks doing their first race and those folks might be walking and running. Besides, if you finish last, there's no where to go but up next time eh?

I agree with oakleaf, emily. All my race times are 1-2 minutes faster than I was training at, even though the percieved effort felt the same. It's the adrenalin, I think. And anyway, the last thing you want to do is finish a race and still have some left in the tank. :)

[Jolt]

Emily, that time isn't that bad. When I did the local "Spring Into Spring" 5k a couple of years ago, my time was 34:18!!! I'm thinking I'll probably do it this year if I don't have anything else going on that day, and hopefully get a better time than that! I wasn't dead last, but I wasn't too far from it either.

[btchance]

Emily that time is faster than my 5ks - so believe me I would never consider you slow

anyways, I have been back running for 6 weeks now after taking some time off and have built my distance back up to a decent amount. So now I am upping the intensity for this training block (last week was recovery). So Monday I did a 4mile hill repeat run (flat in the middle, most hills at the end - eh). Yesterday I did 2.5miles with 4 x 30 sec fartleks included. It feels great being able to do this again. One more run to go this weekend!

[nonsmoker3]

Emily - don't ever apologize for your times! You are out there moving and that is what is important.

If you ever get a chance, read John Bingham's books. He is famous for running slow and will make you feel so much better. I read his books whenever I am feeling slow and sad.

Keep it up girl - you are doing great!

[teigyr]

Emily, I think your time is fine. Keep a log and you'll see improvements. I ran 5 miles today and felt like a sloth but when I went to write it in my log, I realized I was about 5 minutes faster than the last time I ran that route. You just never know :D And the last 5K I did, I was passing people right and left. I am NOT a fast runner.

I ran 5 miles today. It was mostly good. I'm trying out some new shoes because I had the beginnings of a really disturbing trend (knee pain, side of my leg pain going up to my hip/backside) and that had to be nipped in the bud. I've been stretching and really trying to make it Go Away. The new shoes helped SO much, I think the older ones didn't work well with my orthotics. I was initially much faster than usual but then started to feel fatigue because I think I'm working slightly different muscles now. It's ok though, that I can deal with.

I also had a physical today. I have slight heart abnormalities that they want to look at. Ordinarily they wouldn't care but my doctor works at a sports medicine place and knows I'm signed up for a half-marathon AND a marathon next fall. I have a stress test in March. Good times!!! I think it's nothing. Hopefully.

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks for all the encouragement! I appreciate it. Just to be clear -- my DH was not criticizing my time at all (he's very proud that I'm trying and improving!), but he just noted what the book he was reading said.

Thanks also for the recommendations for reading material -- I am enjoying learning about a sport I never really paid much attention to before because I thought (from being weak, sickly, and asthmatic as a kid) that I could never run. :D

The John Bingham books look great! I just went and checked them out on amazon. I think I'll check our county library first just in case.

Emily

[Wahine]

I ran 4 miles easy tonight at the track after work. Then I have a 10 km road race tomorrow. I'm kinda excited. Now before y'all get worked up, this is a training race with a very odd strategy. I have absolutely no plans on ranking well tomorrow.

Emily, you're doing great. There's nothing wrong with that time.

Teigyr - :D:D What shoes did you get?

[Grog]

Back home (at last)!

I was lodged at hotels in cold cities that can't seem to pick up the snow on the roads and sidewalks. I'm used to run in adversarial conditions but I didn't have the snowshoes I would have needed to tackle Toronto's sidewalks this week.

So the treadmill it was. I called it "mental toughness" week, which was also taper week so thankfully I didn't have to spend much time there.

Sunday is my half-marathon!

[teigyr]

Grog, I can't wait to hear about your race!

Wahine, you also. I kind of understand it but ugh...then again might be a relief just to get it over with.

My shoes are Brooks Glycerin. The only problem I have with them is that they don't come in other widths. I have to do mens shoes and usually I'm a EE. I tried a lot of them and the sales person seemed to think that those shoes combined with the orthotics would be the best. They weren't perfect but seemed better than the other offerings. They felt SO good compared to what I was using so we'll see! The store offers a 60 day return/exchange policy so I'll give them some time. I tried ASICS Gel Nimbus (2nd in contention) and a few New Balance ones. I kept going back to the Brooks though they look like Kermit the Frog had illicit relations with the guy from Tron. Or Michael Jackson, haven't figured it out yet. I wish I could use girl shoes, the colors are SO much prettier!

Does everyone alternate shoes? I've read about it and was talking to the salesperson about it. He advocated it but says he alternates the same make/model because his feeling is if he likes them, he'll use them every day. We also talked about the reason for alternating other makes/models just due to the fact it might be better for you.

[Wahine]

When I have a pair of shoes I like I usually buy 3 at a time and rotate through with the old pairs slowly introducing the new. Ideally I have 3 pairs going at one time and rotate on a 3 month basis. So pair A might be on the way out, pair B in mid wear and pair C new ones being broken in. Then in 3 months, A gets retired, B moves into A's place, C into B's and we intro D into the picture.... and so on. That way one pair will be used for a total of 9 months and I'm never running on really old shoes or new shoes all the time.

[Grog]

When I have a pair of shoes I like I usually buy 3 at a time and rotate through with the old pairs slowly introducing the new. Ideally I have 3 pairs going at one time and rotate on a 3 month basis. So pair A might be on the way out, pair B in mid wear and pair C new ones being broken in. Then in 3 months, A gets retired, B moves into A's place, C into B's and we intro D into the picture.... and so on. That way one pair will be used for a total of 9 months and I'm never running on really old shoes or new shoes all the time.

Sorry for the silly question, but if they are identical, how do you know which is which?

[limewave]

Grog--I usually date my shoes with permanent marker so I know which is which.

I just got back from a 10k snow shoe race. It was soooooo hard! Only 4 women participated and I got fourth place, but I'm happy. I averaged 15 minutes miles. For a normal 10k I average 9 min miles. I came home, made a huge mug of hot cocoa and watched Kona on TV and cried when everyone crossed the finish line. I'm such a softy.

[Wahine]

Same here. I will also buy the same shoe in different colour schemes if there are any, sometimes that works best if you're buying right when the stores are changing out the seasonal stuff, eg winter to spring.

I finished my 10 k this AM. Not great but OK. With my warm-up it worked out to about 7 miles. I'm up to 29 miles for the week and I'm not done yet. :D

[tattiefritter]

I've not had a chance to update for a while,so I'll cut to the chase, I've been ill all week and done sod all! :mad:

On the bright side I did a very hilly (tough and challenging course was the race blurb) 10K last Sunday. On the entry form it said add 10% to your flat 10K time to get an estimate of how you'll do, now my best 10K time is 51:25 so I was hoping for around the 57 mark, particularly since this is my first event of the year and I've actually been quite lazy ;), so I was ecstatic to finish in under 53 minutes. I was feeling quite frisky on the day so pushed myself quite a bit, OH then came down with the lurgy that afternoon and of course having pushed myself hard that afternoon I got it too, big style.

It's been beautiful weather here, gorgeous clear sunny days and I only managed to get out today. I got out for a nice 4.3 hilly off road miles (too nice to do tarmac near my house), I was struggling with my breathing a bit but think that was because the air was so cold. I also hit 5:32 minute mile on one of the steeper long descents :D which was the point I decided things were geting out of hand and I'd better slow down for the gate and stop looking at my Garmin! Hopefully I'm back on track.

Out for an easy MTB ride tomorrow then I'm going to the running club's Monday night training session for the first time - hill reps or interval training (gulp) :eek:

[emily_in_nc]

You ladies really inspire me! Congrats to all who raced or are racing this weekend!

I did a slow trail run today and had a blast. Instead of killing myself and making myself miserable like I usually do, today I had a strategy of starting to walk whenever my HR went above my target zone. I'd walk until it got back to a reasonable level, then run again. As a result, I ended up with 3.36 miles at only a 12:17 pace, but I didn't care one bit. I had a blast and felt great! Towards the end I started feeling the runners high and smiling broadly. Fun!

Unfortunately, our library doesn't have any John Bingham books, so I guess I'll be ordering a couple from amazon -- after reading the reviews, I just have to read him. Not that I need any more inspiration, but they sound simply wonderful!

Emily

[kelownagirl]

I did my Saturday morning run and felt great so did a few 2:00 intervals to see if they caused any trouble. They did not! I have been to the gym since Tuesday so I suspect that it's the squats that are causing at least part of my troubles.

[yellow]

Checking in from Siberia....

OK, not quite, considering the high and low temps are steadily climbing and I can see parts of my patio. Seriously, we have so much snow this year I've had a hard time finding trails to run because the snow is so deep and the humidity so low that even the snowshoers aren't packing down the trails. Up until last week, I was skiing the trail that I normally run after work instead of running (this trail is in the city). But I've been getting lots of skiing in and have been getting acquainted with my new rollers.

I was entering today's run in my log and noticed lots of comments over the last month like "hip-deep drifts" or "crust on top of unconsolidated sugar snow" and "brutal". :rolleyes:

Anyhow, we're finally getting some sunny weather and because the days are longer, the temps are higher... but today I was really wishing I'd gone out earlier because the snow turned to goo. I tried a new trail running group today, but no one except for the run leader showed up (I suspect because it was cloudy and generally dreary to start). The run leader, a very nice young man in his early 20s, entertained my pace for about the first 4 miles, during which time the snow was very nice to run on. And then he started to run at his pace, and I was stupid enough to try to keep up ("I'll show his skinny young azz that this old lady can keep up." What the hell was I thinking?). And about this time the snow started turning to mashed potatoes, and I was breaking through to the unconsolidated stuff, fell in a couple of moose holes up to just above the knee, and generally slid all over the place. It was a blast! He quit after about 7 miles (and confessed that he was worked! hah!) but I kept going since I'm feeling the training need for a 25k I'm running 3/15 and a 50k I'm still thinking about that is in late April. I am worked. But it was still better than pavement (for me, anyway). http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Happy/happy-074.gif

I had another interesting run earlier in the week...it was a very cold and windy day and my challenge was breakable crust, not mashed potatoes. I was the only idiot that had been on that section of trail that day (which was the day after a particularly big blasting storm with lots of wind).

I don't know how running on dirt will feel. I'm kind of looking forward to it even though I'm loving these 20s and 30s temps! :p

[Wahine]

Yellow, I'm so happy to see you back on the board!!:D

I did my 10 km and a warm-up for a total of about 7 miles today. My times were not great but it was the learning experience that I had hoped for. I'm going to post more details on my intensities thread.

Happy running.

[Grog]

Wow Yellow! Those runs seem like a lot of hard work!

I wish you some "normal" terrain soon, but I enjoy reading your snowy stories!

[alpinerabbit]

8x2minutes with 1 min walking break in between. plus religious stretching before, after and massaging, and wearing my brand new calf sleeve - I'm working myself up there again....

The verdict this morning:

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/25/ednabt5.jpg

however, I stupidly was going to do lunges on the warmup and pulled summat in ma a$$. it's going away again but I was hobbling going up stairs all yesterday.

[Grog]

Ok, I just need to vent.

I just discovered (my own fault - should have figured that out earlier) that the city where my race is this morning (Fort Langley) is a good three degrees colder than Vancouver (they are 1 hour away from each other). I can't wear my training tights because I'll be too warm, I can't wear my 3/4 as I planned because I'll be too cold. I have to wear my thinner tights, which also happen to be a bit snug at the waist. That's okay for 30-minute run but for a half-marathon?

Ok done venting. I'll go figure out a solution. Thanks for letting me vent.

(I also woke up 1 hour ahead thanks to jetlag so I've got time to waste!)

[teigyr]

3 miles today and it actually felt good!!! The weather was beautiful and the new shoes are making such a difference. I actually felt like I had a little bit of power and it's been a long time since I've felt that way.

Grog, grrrr. I can't wait to hear what you came up with and to read your race report.

Wahine, ouch! But fun, no doubt.

Yellow, sounds like fun too! Though I imagine when you get back to real surface, you will be kicking serious backside.

Thanks for the shoe info. I am liking these ones so far but I won't get more until I'm sure. There is still residual pain but it's going away. It actually makes me feel good about running which is pretty freakin' awesome :D

[btchance]

Ran 5mi today. It rained like crazy in the morning but turned out really nice for the rest of the day (mid 60s temp). Did 5 easy miles, was a little fatigued at about 3.5 but got out of it and finished strong.

Of note, I was wearing the Jenny t-shirt and had an older gentleman run up behind me and offer to be my running partner. Sweet offer but I was almost done and I think 1/2 my neighborhood was out walking/running.

[Grog]

What a GORGEOUS, GLORIOUS day. (Yes, it's worth the caps.)

This is certainly one of the most beautiful days I've seen in Vancouver and it was the day of our race! I don't remember racing in such beautiful weather. It was really cold in the morning, barely - and in some places not quite - above freezing level, so there was quite a bit of frost on the roads. But there was a small crowd - perhaps 1500 people? - and I ran hard.

This was also a hilly course, with almost 1,500 feet of climbing, which I took as a great challenge. I was prepared for that, I train almost exclusively on hills, don't really have the choice around here.

I started much, much faster than I thought. I was running nearly 45 seconds faster per kilometer (25 seconds per mile?) than I had planned. But whatever. I knew the big hills were at the end and I benefited of the easier start, and drafted a few tall men (including one with an endlessly beeping GPS... which motivated me to leave him alone after a bit) once in a while. I hit the 10 km mark at about the same time as I finished my last 10K race. Oh, I should add that the race took us through some kind of a zoo where they breed endangered species, and I saw a bunch of hyenas (very interested in the race) and a Brazilian ocelot (totally uninterested; sort of a medium-sized cat).

The third quarter was fine, but the last quarter was tough. The biggest hill hit at about the time when my legs were weakening and my left hip started hurting a little. I kept pushing on the uphill but not quite as fast as I did earlier, and my planned walking break was slower than usual. All along I had visualized myself sprinting the last km, but it just did not happen. I finished on my planned pace - 5 min / km - having raced the rest much faster, thus finishing about 6 minutes faster than expected. I was pretty happy with that.

I took four 1-minute walking breaks, and walked (30 seconds?) through three of the water stations.

Oh, and for the tights: I stretched the waist really hard a few times, each time until I'd hear a little "crack' indicating that the elastic band was loosing some of its grip. It felt all right during the race! Thanks for commiserating!

So...

I had a blast!

Now I need a massage....

[OakLeaf]

Way to go Grog! That's so cool! And Yellow, OMG.

I finally started feeling healthy late yesterday. Stupidly, it was so good to go out for a nice dinner with DH that I wound up overindulging, and between that and the astronomical pollen count, I woke up with a splitting headache which I've had all day :rolleyes:

Still managed to get out for 3.6 - pace wasn't too bad considering it was the first cardio I'd done in a week. HR through the roof, legs sore - how is it that being sick sets me back so much??? Anyway, unlike what I thought last time, I'm really done with that infection now, and headache or no, I'm really glad.

[Wahine]

Way to go Grog!! that's great running for a half mary!!