Fall Running 10/16 through 10/23

[Syndirelah]

I'll start off the weekend!

Well, I've done it. Even though I swore up and down I never would (again), I signed up for another full marathon. This should be a fun race though, its a trail run the first week of Dec. I'm running with a friend who is doing her first marathon, and I'm looking forward to enjoying running through the fall.

It's SO beautiful right now, I live right on miles and miles of limestone trail, and ran about 2hr 25mins (somewhere around 13-14 miles, I didn't turn on the GPS in my phone). Felt great. Made me feel less guilty about the two cupcakes I had today ;)

Enjoy your weekend and hopefully some great runs!

[yellow]

Post a link to that marathon!

I agree--such a great time of year to run. Not only is the weather just about perfect, but I'm also typically in decent enough shape to tackle a few adventure runs. Ran up (and down) Mt Timpanogos here in UT yesterday with a friend to celebrate her birthday. I was up there in August, too, but this October day was just as nice. I tried to run up there last in October and got turned back by snow.

My training is a bit unfocused at the moment but that's OK. I'm giving myself a month or so to get it figured out. :) And in the meantime, I am anxious for it to start snowing so I can get out on the skate skis!

[7rider]

I did my first "official" 5K today.
My 5K in April with my Fitness Center was more of a fun run - no timing chips, no official starts or anything. Today was the real deal...the Baltimore Running Festival - with a marathon, a half marathon, a 5K, and a fun run for the kids, timing chips on my *really high* numbered tag, and Marathon Foto taking pictures of the event. 22,000 people were there for the whole thing, and I think there were 3,500 or so for the 5K. It was chaos, but a lot of fun.
I went with my friend, Pam, and hooked up with Jen (who talked me into do this originally). Jen's husband and her brother were doing the half.
I am a slow, plodding runner (actually, a jogger is more like it), but I did run/jog for the whole thing, which is, in itself, an accomplishment for me.
Here's the race track for me: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53169995
And here is Pam and me at the start (self-portrait taken with my cell phone). It was cool and breezy.
Next race is another 5K for World Run Day, Nov. 7th, then a 5-miler, also in Baltimore. Gulp.

[OakLeaf]

Nice job 7rider! Looks like you're addicted now, too. :D

How did you carry your Edge?


I'm climbing the walls right now :rolleyes: heading out to the expo in a couple of hours.

[7rider]

Nice job 7rider! Looks like you're addicted now, too. :D

How did you carry your Edge?

I'm climbing the walls right now :rolleyes: heading out to the expo in a couple of hours.

Thanks!
I had bought a pair of InSport knickers at the event's Expo yesterday, and it has an iPod pocket in it that was perfectly sized for holding my Edge (I left the iPod at home).

[Veronica]

I had an absolutely fantastic five mile run today while Thom was working out with a trainer. It felt so effortless and when I was done I felt like I could have kept on going at the same pace for a another mile or two. And my last mile was the fastest of the five. It was one of those runs where I just had a big grin on my face the whole time and actually felt like a runner. No issues with my quad, no stomach issues... Next weekend I'm going to try to replicate it. :D

Veronica

[denda]

Ran my second 10K yesterday. My time was 1:04. I know, that's not very fast. But, I was very happy with it. The weather was great!

[limewave]

The weather has been perfect for running!
6.5 for me today.

Now onto a very big 5 YO birthday celebration for DD at the Second Happiest Place on Earth . . . Chuck E Cheese :)

I will survive the afternoon. I will survive the afternoon. I will survive the afternoon.

[OakLeaf]

Columbus Marathon, 4:05:03.

I'm past the point where I couldn't decide whether to cry or puke, but it'll be a little while before I have enough to put a race report together. :)

[colby]

Columbus Marathon, 4:05:03.

I'm past the point where I couldn't decide whether to cry or puke, but it'll be a little while before I have enough to put a race report together. :)

Congrats!! :D

I did 12 today, pretty sure I'll go for the marathon and not the half. It was a comfortable 12, considering I haven't ran more than 10 since, well, Ironman. :p Bad, bad, me, too happy to just race the short distance triathlons and then off on my bike-cation. I'm hoping the pace picks up a bit as I get farther into it. Finally I don't feel like I'm confused about timezones or anything, either, so I feel like I'm back on track.

Fall... such a good time for running.

[Bike Chick]

Congrats, Oak!!!

Congrats, denda!!!

Congrats, 7Rider!!!

Everyone's doing an awesome job!!! I got 7 miles in yesterday....it was a beautiful day to run!!! We've really had a nice autumn here.

[indigoiis]

Congrats to all the racers!
I ran 4 dirt road miles yesterday, with some big hill action, in my VFFs. Slowly but surely...

[skhill]

Great races, everyone!

It's less than 2 weeks until my half, and I'm thinking going under 2 hrs is probably not going to happen. I've had an awful time getting in any long runs lately.... Oh well, it'll be fun anyway. And if I'm not pushing for a great time, there's a bike event the day before that I may as well do (a 30/40 mile tour through some beautiful horse farms).

Today was just 5 miles; got chased by a dog and stalked by a cat. And got whistled at passing a clot of high school kids waiting for the bus...

[kacie tri-ing]

Nice work everyone!!

I did a tough trail 14 miler!

I have half marathons for the next two weekends...should be fun!

[Susan Otcenas]

Yesterday, I accomplished new PRs in both the 5K and 10K distances. The only problem is that I was running a half marathon.... :o Still managed to PR the half-marathon as well, but I surely did pay for that hot hot start. Oh, yes, yes I did.

Quads were thoroughly destroyed by the end. And today? Hhmm, well, today I'm getting up out of my chair by using my arms to hoist myself up. :eek: By the end of the day, I expect my triceps will be unhappy as well. But, I guess that will help take my mind off my quads....

Stats:

time: 2:05:53
place: 366/1393
division: 89/290
pace: 9:37/mile !!

Last year's time was 2:09:56 (9:55/mile)

Never in a million years would I have thought myself capable of averaging 9:37 per mile in a half marathon. Seriously. (OTOH, 2 years ago I didn't think myself capable of even *running* a half marathon...)

[colby]

Nice Job, Susan! Next year, 1:59! :D That will help bury the version of you that thought 13.1 was an impossibility. ;)

[katluvr]

WOW! Great runs/races everyone!
Oak....AWESOME! You, too, Susan.
These PR's are coming out everywhere. Lots of hard work & for most of us a break from the heat.
Bad stretch of work over the wekend with long hours. I am exhausted but plan to head out in the AM for a nice easy run/trot.
K

[Susan Otcenas]

Nice Job, Susan! Next year, 1:59!

Ha!

I actually entertained the idea of making that a goal until I realized that would mean taking another 30 seconds/mile off my pace. I just don't see that happening. Maybe if I spent the year doing nothing but run training, I could aim for that. But next year is Paris-Brest-Paris, so I'm actually planning to *decrease* my run mileage in the upcoming 12 months. May not even do the same event next year, as it's just 7 weeks post-PBP. Maybe in 2012!

BTW - I'm still fighting the tendonitis problem I developed in late spring. But, thankfully it didn't trouble me at all on the run yesterday. I'm hoping that with decreased mileage in 2011, I'll be able to conquer it once and for all.

Susan

[kacie tri-ing]

Nice work Susan!

Oak--I am looking forward to that race report!

[Bike Chick]

Great job, Susan!

[OakLeaf]

Way to go Susan!

I put my race report up in another thread. Went for a 4.5-mile walk yesterday and felt pretty good. Tomorrow I teach aerobics. :eek:

[colby]

7 miles around marathon goal pace today. My GPS battery died at mile 4-5 and it wasn't picking up accurate distances (at least, it wasn't reading them on the watch, sometimes when it does that it'll still show them when I download the data). I basically shot for no more than 9:30/mile on the first 3 with the dog, and no more than 9:15/mile on the last 4 by myself. Some of those miles were definitely flat and 8:30-9:00/mile, some were not flat and 9:30+/mile. By the end, I was pretty much done. This is the longest tempo run I've done in a long time.

So, I'm trying to figure out how to adjust this training plan to fit in some hill repeats, and for how long. There is 1 interval day per week (and 1 tempo day, 1 long run day, 2 easy days), but they don't involve hills (it seems weird, the creators must be flatlanders). I'm thinking I'll add hill repeats to one of my easy run days early in the week (I will regret saying this tomorrow) for a few weeks until my long runs hit 20 miles and things drop off again. I can either do them back to back to back, or try interspersing easy days between them, but I think I might still have to do 2 of them back to back to avoid having one of them right against my long run. That said, I guess when I'm Ironman training I do intervals back to back with long runs/rides... but that is another time of year. ;)

Rambling now... the ol' training plan debate never ends.

[indigoiis]

Yay Susan! Congrats to you!
I ran 3 on the road tonight, 10:12 pace. Ankle was tweaky but breathing is coming back to what it was back in June before I busted the ankle. I've got to be totally Eeyore about this.

[solobiker]

Holding off on the running this week. I injured my knee back in April..cracked the kneecap and it is starting to bug me again. I may try to do a short one tomorrow because the weather is so beautiful.

Oh and Susan, Congrats!!!!

[kacie tri-ing]

Great weather and an easy 8 miler last night!

I am running the myrtle beach mini (meaning half) marathon with some friends this weekend. Should be a nice trip.

[Veronica]

Kacie how do you get the time off work to go to all these races? Finding subs and then making sub plans would kill me. :rolleyes:

Veronica

[kacie tri-ing]

HA! Except for the big ones, I don't take time off. I am skipping carpool friday and doing a 6 hour drive. I will drive back sunday after the race. I just commit myself to insane weekends :) My friends are taking monday off, but it is such a hassle, and I save that for full maratons, HIM, or IM's :-)

[kacie tri-ing]

OH, and I have a great school/principal who totally support my ventures into crazy!

[Veronica]

That's cool. Our new principal is a runner, but I'm not sure he'd be thrilled with me taking any time off for a race.

Good luck!

Veronica

[kacie tri-ing]

My school had an assembly for me after my Ironman, and my principal gave a big talk about setting and accomplishing goals:D I am very lucky!

[skhill]

Today I finally managed a mid-week long run! It's been a struggle, getting up early enough and also devising a route that works with the darkness and weekday traffic... Anyway, it was 14 miles, at 9:37/mile. Didn't mean to go that fast, and I'm feeling it now, but that's all good. Just hope my dog isn't looking for a bouncy, quick walk this evening!

[colby]

Ran about 55 minutes today: ~15 minutes to the hill (which is something like 10% grade), ~15 minutes from the hill, and ~25 minutes of hill repeats. I focused on execution, not heart rate or speed - observing what my body was doing and how to make it work as a system up to the crest of the hill. It came out to 10 or 11 repeats of around a minute up and 90 seconds down before I decided I was done.

My VFF Bikila are starting to get more comfortable. I wore them yesterday for my tempo run and today for the hills. It's interesting to go back and forth between them and the KSOs, which I have put MANY MANY miles in and are much more flexible, even compared to my Sprints which are the same sole thickness. I feel like when I put on my KSOs to run I'm saying "hello, old friend." ;)

Urge to consume food rising. That didn't take long. I really have to stay on top of my nutrition or I'll gain weight as my body goes into self-preservation.

[jessmarimba]

First planned run since July!! 4 3-minute intervals, probably just over a mile, but so far so good! Once I know how it feels tomorrow I'll plan another one :)

[colby]

Warm up, 7x2 min hard/1 min race pace, jog home. My poor doggie is ready for a day off, she insisted on coming today and I just couldn't leave without her, but she was ready for a rest at the end. Bikila again today, not quite confident enough to wear them for a long run but they feel a lot more comfortable.

Tomorrow is supposed to be an easy 30-45 min day, but I think I am going to take a day off and do my long run on Saturday rather than getting up at 6:30AM and doing it on Sunday before I fly to LA for a conference. I think I'll do some yoga instead.

Beautiful high moon tonight, just a hair shy of full.

[Bike Chick]

Got 6 miles in yesterday morning before work. It's tough getting up early enough and leaving in the dark:eek: I'm so afraid I'll kick a skunk or stumble on road kill!

DH rigged up lights to wear around our waist that work really well. They illuminate the road in front of us and also enable cars to see us in the dark. Kinda like a headlight for my bellybutton;)

[skhill]

I want one of those bellybutton headlights!

Today was by far the coldest morning of the fall so far-- a beautiful, crisp 34 F when I started out. Felt like my legs just took off, and I was along for the ride. I'm logging it as a tempo run, even if that wasn't my intention. 5 miles, slowest at 9:10 and fastest at 8:07 (!!!!). Isn't the cold wonderful?!?!

When I got home, I found my dog and all 3 cats piled up together on the couch. There wasn't room to sit down to take off my shoes!

[indigoiis]

I want a bellybutton light, too!
Yesterday I did 3.2 on a very hilly route that included a flight of stairs. I pushed myself to do intervals on the uphills and just crank it all out. It was worth it - my self confidence got a boost and the ankle wasn't at all tweaky so I was very happy! I'm getting back what I lost!

[Crankin]

I love that belly button light idea. DH just said you could make a fortune when I described it.
I got on the TM yesterday, due to lack of time and winds blowing up to 40 mph. Of course, I couldn't just walk, so I did actually get in one two minute run interval and another four minute run interval. The rest was walking at 4.2 mph, with hill intervals at 4% every 2 minutes for 30 minutes.
My back hurts, but it always hurts. I am going to have to break down and get a PT prescription.

[katluvr]

So after a full week without running I finally got out today. I was scheduled for 11 miles but didn't think that was a good idea w no mileage under my belt this week, so I did 8 miles. I decided to push myself some, a bit beyond my comfort zone. I have been reading all you ladies postings & seems everyone else is pushing the themselves a bit. So my half marathon goal is 2:09, so a sub 10 min mile, so I thought I would try to run close to race pace. Well, I almost did it.1:22, so about a 10:18 min mile pace. I walked once & took a rest mile pace from mile 4 to almost mile 5. Overall I had a good run. Did I have 5 more miles left in me, yes but not at that pace. I have 4 weeks until the half, I think I need a few more if I am going to meet my PR goal. Oh well, it was a good run today!

[colby]

Ran my Sunday 14 as Saturday 14 today (14.5 according to the GPS) - 11 at "whatever pace" (probably 10:30ish) and 3 at "race pace" (except the last 2 of my last 3 miles are basically uphill, so my "race pace" was 8:45-9:15 and then more like 9:45-10:30 :p).

I waited too long to go, I was out late last night and then slept later and loafed around longer than I should have without eating more food. It made it harder than it should have been, someday I'll learn. ;) I'm going to just start all of my runs at 8:15am, which is the time of my race (thankfully I have a later/more flexible work schedule).

Turns out I'm a week off on my training plan, which might actually be okay - the plan goes 16, 18, 20, 22, 10, race, so I can chop off the 22 or gently increase the gap by an extra mile or so to get over 20 before the taper. I'm traveling this week, ugh, so my Mon-Wed runs will be at weird times of the day and probably treadmill miles unless I brave the wild LA financial district by foot.

People are starting to get sick at work, some of whom I'll be traveling with this week. I'll be staying on top of my nutrition to stay healthy. Last year I was sick when I ran the marathon and while I approximated 4:30 I really want to get closer to 4:00 - I have to be healthy for that.

[Veronica]

I did another great 5 miler on Saturday, took 2 1/2 minutes off my time from the week before. I have my fingers crossed, hoping to stay injury free so I can develop the good running base I need to finally have that terrific HIM. :D

Veronica

[indigoiis]

Yesterday I ran the werewolf 5K, a loosely organized (by artists) fun run in the urban cool old mill part of Providence. I did 27 minutes which is not bad for running in a dress with a pitchfork in my hand, in my VFFs (I was a villager, DH was a werewolf. We villagers chased the werewolves through downtown Providence.) DH won the race at 21 minutes 40 seconds - not bad for running in ripped jeans, in werewolf makeup, with a rubber chicken in his hand.

[indigoiis]

Today I ran 3 miles on the trail and stubbed my toe pretty badly. I'll be off the vffs for a bit. Bleh!:mad:

[Jolt]

Today I ran 3 miles on the trail and stubbed my toe pretty badly. I'll be off the vffs for a bit. Bleh!:mad:

Been there, done that, OUCH!!

[Bike Chick]

Great running, everyone! Colby, I hope you stay healthy. It's a genuine concern this time of year, isn't it? Especially when you are training for an event.

Syndirelah, where is your marathon? Good luck.

I got 8 miles in this afternoon. I was surprised that I was able to do it after the hilly 66 mile bike ride yesterday, but it wasn't too bad. I probably won't be able to walk tomorrow.

As far as the bellybutton headlight, it is just an LED light on a strap that used to put around a hard hat. There are different settings for a bright beam, low beam and flashing light. DH let the strap out enough for us to step into it and slide it up around our waists. It works really well and looks kinda like this one.

[colby]

Today I ran 3 miles on the trail and stubbed my toe pretty badly. I'll be off the vffs for a bit. Bleh!:mad:

When we were walking in Italy, my pinky toe caught on a ridge in the pavement on a shoulder of a road and separated from my second toe, it felt sort of like it does when you hyperextend your pinky finger. It turned purple, swelled up, and was not happy to be straightened by my shoes (I only had 2 pairs of VFFs and my Keen cycling shoes). The swelling went down after a day or so, but the stiffness was pretty rough for at least that week (the entire bike trip, though I wore my Keens during the day). My chiro said I probably irritated the ligament and sprained the toe, and he knocked things back in place (boy did that feel good). After all that, it still feels a little stiff almost 2 weeks later.

The curse of free toes. Reminds me a lot of wearing gloves when you ski/snowboard (rather than mittens), which is how I know what it feels like to hyperextend a finger. ;)

[Bike Chick]

When we were walking in Italy, my pinky toe caught on a ridge in the pavement on a shoulder of a road and separated from my second toe, it felt sort of like it does when you hyperextend your pinky finger. It turned purple, swelled up, and was not happy to be straightened by my shoes (I only had 2 pairs of VFFs and my Keen cycling shoes).

OUCH:eek: