Running toward summer...June runs

[Jolt]

I thought we needed a new thread! Yesterday I did a 5K rail trail race in my new town, time was 27:54 putting me about in the middle of the pack as usual. Found out about a weekly group run that I might check out (although it sounds like it might be a bunch of speed demons where I will be the straggler). Today's run was about a half hour on the beach...would have been longer but I forgot to check the tide chart and, Murphy's law, got there right at high tide and had to turn around after 15 minutes because I got to a stretch where the whole beach was underwater and there was no convenient way around it. After my run I decided to go in the water...it was COLD, I stayed in about five minutes, and a guy on the beach commented that he couldn't believe I did that :D. It took a while to warm up...next time I will bring a thermos of hot tea to drink after doing shenanigans like that.

ETA: Just looked up the water temp at Wells Beach for today and it is 50 degrees according to surfline.com--yikes!

[Crankin]

Can't believe you went in that water. It sounds like a nice place for running, though.
How is the new job?

[skhill]

That cold ocean water sounds wonderful-- we're mired in a heat wave here... Running on the beach must be great!

Today, I headed over to the track for some speedwork. This time, I brought along the mp3 player, and the music really helped. Did a mile in 7:28, my fastest ever as far as I know. Then I pretended to be Tyson Gay, who's both the fastest American ever and the fastest fellow alumnus of our high school. He's probably run on this track, as it's the only one in town not behind a locked gate... Of course, he can run the 200 faster than my best 100 this morning!

At 6:30 am, it was hot and humid enough that I was seriously contemplating taking off my shirt, but couldn't bring myself to do it, even though there's women/girls walking around the neighborhood in tops skimpier than my sports bra... I was absolutely drenched with sweat when I got home.

[Jolt]

Can't believe you went in that water. It sounds like a nice place for running, though.
How is the new job?

The new job is great--I like the team I am working with and things are coming along nicely as far as learning the ropes. After work today I did that group run...should have gone with the group going 3 miles and not the 6-mile group! It was kind of hot, I'm not used to running with other people, and it was a not-too-exciting out-and-back route along busy roads; between all these factors it wasn't my best run and I felt bad about being the slow person. The good thing is that there are some people in the running group who are training for triathlons and doing some open-water swimming, so I might be able to join them on some of their swims.

[limewave]

I had a slow, intermittent jog yesterday. This heat and humidity is killing me! I'm supposed to do 6 hilly miles today . . . we'll see . . .

[Crankin]

I went for a trail run this morning. My options were a 42 mile road ride in a semi-urban area in the 90 degree heat/bad air, run on the road, or trail. So, I walked down to the neighborhood trail, about half a mile on the road for my warm up and ran to the end of the connecting trail in the next town. So glad I chose this option! The beginning of the neighborhood trail has 2 wet areas and rolling logs, so I immediately looked like an adventure girl, but after that, it becomes wider and drier. Funny, how the same place looks different when you're doing different activities. Even though I was going slowly, it flew by. On the return, I wanted to avoid the wet, so I took the very steep trail that comes out about 3 doors down from my house. I was able to jog up all but the steepest part, about 1500 feet. I then ran down the side of the road on the dirt to my driveway. Door to door it's 4 miles, but I think I probably ran 3, walked 1. I really should do more of this. I like it much more than running on the road.
Now to wash the DEET off of me.

[skhill]

Joy of joys-- I cut my run short this morning because of an approaching thunderstorm!! It's been more than 2 weeks since we've seen a drop of rain... The storm petered out before getting here, but we got a little rain, and there's chances for more today/tonight. Cut the run short at 4.5 miles, and it's all good-- my tight calf can probably use the rest anyway.

[limewave]

Major blahs this morning.

15 mile progressive run late last night.

And because my schedule is so wacky, I got up at 4:30 AM to run the scheduled 6 miles this morning. I was worried I would cheat and cut it short, so I did the Bear Lake loop with is closer to 7 miles.

22 miles in 10 hours. I'm beat.

[katluvr]

Ok, so I ran (well sorta) 16 miles yesterday. I will try not to sound tooooo whiney. Some of you may know/remember that I am training for Pikes Peak Ascent. It's only 13.2 miles...but avg 12% incline and not much oxygen. So as part of my training here in Florida I am doing treadmill work, hill repeats and going the distance with a marathon training plan. So yesterday was 16 miles. I have only done that distance once before when I did train for a marathon. I started at 7 AM (or a little after). We drove up to do multi-use path we bike on and did the "hilly section". Mostly small rollers, a few longer-steeper ones. I am slow, and I know that. My goal is to avg an 11 minute mile. I can say overall I actually did that. But mentally it is tough (duh & physically). It was hot & humid (I am hoping this helps make me tough since I'll have tougher things to deal w/ on the mountain). I did take walk breaks...more than I wanted to...longer than I wanted to. My quads were VERY tight and heavy by mile 10. Does anyone ever run 16 miles and feel good? Will I?? I was so tired after. (Not to mention HOT).

So on the good side...I DID IT! I met my lowly goal of 11 min miles. I did some "hills". Only 1 blister. Quads tight today but I am moving. I am VERY hungry today! My 1/2 marathon time was about 2:24. So my BEST HM is 2:10, so not bad for a hot training run. I expect my PPA time will be X2 of my normal HM so that is about 5 hours (I have 6 1/2 hours to complete it). So I guess I am meeting my goals. But I admit I am envious and in awe of some of the runs, speed, distances, etc that you ladies are doing and reporting here!

So a little over 2 months, getting my training really in gear! Next weekend is a shorter 10 mile or so run before I ramp back up to 16 and then 18 miles. All I can do is keep trudging along. Thanks for letting me vent and thanks for all the inspiration on this forum!

K

[Crankin]

Just came back from another trail run. Very wet and muddy. Not sure how far I went, since I went in a different direction on one of the trails and turned around and headed back, since there was construction noise coming from the direction of my usual route. Probably 3.5 miles.
Again, very slow, but I enjoy it so much. And nothing hurts the next day.

[skhill]

katluvr, I'm in awe of anyone who can go 16 miles in Florida heat and humidity-- that's awesome! I've been struggling to cope with the KY version of summer...

Today was a nice little tempo run, 1 mile warming up, 4 fast, then 1 gently going home. The 4 fast miles averaged 8:08, with a 7:55 thrown in. Any sub-8 minute mile and I'm grinning like a maniac! There were more folks walking/running around the park today, and it's nice to have company out there. The incentive of passing people is helpful too!

[jessmarimba]

Guess I'm not running my half marathon in a week and a half.

I either have a stress fracture or an inflamed nerve in the tibiofibular joint. (So, either a nerve that hurts because of a reason, or one that just randomly started hurting).

At least I can ride my bike again without pain.

[Jolt]

Tonight I ran with that group from the Y again...5.5 miles this time and it went much better than last week. I'm sure the weather helped--cloudy and mid 50s. Also, the route we ran this time was a little better. I was still the slow one but I ran the whole way without stopping and kept up with the other people at the back of the pack.

[limewave]

4-mile trail run.

[indysteel]

Guess I'm not running my half marathon in a week and a half.

I either have a stress fracture or an inflamed nerve in the tibiofibular joint. (So, either a nerve that hurts because of a reason, or one that just randomly started hurting).

At least I can ride my bike again without pain.

Oh Jess, what a bummer. I'm sorry. :(

[yellow]

Jess, sorry to hear that. I feel your frustration! My diagnosis-via-collective-wisdom (which includes an ortho FNP and an ortho acquaintance who admittedly does mostly shoulders) is extensor tendon tendonosis/itis (aka...kid you not...ultramarathoner's ankle). Mine is getting better but still no running & stairs. I've been riding a bit too, which is fine for about an hour and if I don't try to stand. Stupid.overuse.injury. I'm glad I have been able to do what I have post-surgery, though. Always remember that things could be very different!

Nice to see so many people enjoying the trails! :D

[jessmarimba]

Thanks guys! I'm not getting any closer to knowing what this is, but the general consensus is that it doesn't matter. Treatment for any of it would be the same and essentially I shouldn't do anything that causes pain.

(At least it is keeping me from shopping, since walking around with no purpose isn't worth it at the moment!)

[skhill]

Today was going to be a rest day-- but my cats did not approve of sleeping in, my newspaper was late, and it's looking like it's going to rain this afternoon so no bike ride.... So I ran anyway. Took a wandering route through the poorest part of town, then through the obstacle course that is the sidewalk reconstruction downtown. Ended up going about 5 miles, at a pretty quick pace. And when I got home, my newspaper was waiting and I heard the first peal of thunder just as I stepped onto my porch.

Now I have one cat trying to crawl into my skin and the other 2 are hiding under my bed-- they really, really don't like thunderstorms. But the garden needs the rain.

[indysteel]

I ran/walked about three miles Thursday and again on Saturday. I am not tolerating the heat and humidity very well at all. Merely from a running perspective, I'm looking forward to cooler weather again (don't shoot me!).

[jessmarimba]

Merely from a running perspective, I'm looking forward to cooler weather again (don't shoot me!).

Haha, I know how you feel. I'm not really a morning person but since my room faces east and I don't have curtains or blinds at the moment, I've been waking up incredibly early. And the beautiful thing about Colorado is that the weather is remarkably conducive to running/biking in the early morning. Too bad I'm slow as molasses in the am.

[Bike Chick]

I had a 4 AM wake up call yesterday morning by tornado sirens, weather radio and 60 mph winds. It was a wicked storm. After it passed, I took off on my 5 mile run before the heat and humidity kicked in. I did 5 miles of hills and felt great. It was cool to be out right after the storm too. It was a good run but my hamstrings are sore today.

[Red Rock]

Its benn a long time since I posted on this thread. I updated at the end of last months thread before this one started. But good news....I finally did my 4 mile trail run in one hour!!:D This is a personal best for me. I was and still am really happy for myself. I had to make sure I told you all.

I have been struggling with weight gain and how to exercise since my whole thyroid stuff came up a year ago. My issue has been my heart rate and keeping it within the desired range. I found that if I walk fast and maybe do a slow jog, I can still keep my HR within the correct zones.

All of this has been a hard lesson to learn from my point of view, but I think I have it now. That and to not go over the 10% rule when increasing miles.

Also, I do all my "runs/walks" with the hiking poles and they have been great. It remindes me of my dryland trainning for cross country skiing when I di that. I just invsion wheels on the bottom of my feet. They are a must have piece of equipment.

Anyway...had to share my good news with you all.:)

Red Rock

[chosen1]

This is a good thread. My last run was on Sat. morning as part of a brick training day and it was HOT!!! I was an hour later starting, just couldn't pull myself out of bed and let me tell you, an hour makes a huge difference in the temperature! I trudged along for 4 sweat drenched miles and thought of giving up and cutting it short many many times. I actually was ready to get on my bike and ride just so I could "cool" off with the wind hitting me. I plan on running this evening (7ish when it's "cooler") and am hoping for some kind of overcast.

[OakLeaf]

Okay, I'm back.

I've been struggling all year with one little thing after another, starting with my crash and the abdominal wall bruising, minor illnesses, family stress, just all adding up go a giant loss of motivation. I never quit running altogether, but there wasn't any consistency and there wasn't any focus, and I could hardly bear to check in here and see how great you all are doing.

So maybe the cr*ppy bike weather has been a blessing in disguise for my running. Or something. I've put in a decent couple of weeks and I'm starting to feel like I'm back.

I've still got Columbus marathon in the back of my head, but it's awfully late to be thinking about it. I haven't run longer than 8 miles since Columbus last year. I guess I could sign up and switch to the half if I'm not ready. I don't really want to run it just to run it (although it is a super fun race), I have a goal in mind that I'm not really ready to say out loud, even.

Intervals today (10 x 1 minute, omg it's humid) ... long run Thursday I think, although I have a strength class to teach Thursday morning.

Good to see you all again. :) Jess, hope you get your ankle sorted - try to find a good PT. :( Too much rest has always wound up causing more problems for me than it solved, with at least four different injuries to different parts of my body. I'm glad you can ride anyway.

[Bike Chick]

Four hot humid miles this morning. Man, my legs were sore from the hill workout Sunday. I'm thinking I was a little ambitious.

Welcome back!

[colby]

Hey ladies, good to read you're all staying AWESOME here in the running thread. :)

Just maintenance running right now, but Sunday is the big 26.2 (after that other junk). Taper makes me feel great!

[OakLeaf]

Go Colby! You will be amazing!

Taper always makes me get mystery aches and pains ... glad it's different for you!

My ambition gave way to reality and common sense today. I was sorer than I expected from last night's ride, REALLY sore after the strength class I taught this morning, and tomorrow I'm supposed to ride with a guy I haven't ridden with since we were both racer kids 20+ years ago. So just a little recovery run of barely three miles, and it was all I could do to try to keep my cadence over 85 and my heart rate under 150. :o

Part of my discipline is (1) doing a little run even if it's minimal and (2) posting even if I'm not proud. So here it is. :p

I'm thinking I'll do an easy ride on Saturday (instead of the hard one another friend invited me on, that I was a little unsure about anyway), and run long Sunday. If I can do 10 yet this week, and I think I can, I won't be too far behind for Columbus marathon ...

[indysteel]

Go Colby, go! And welcome back Red Rock and Oak!

I haven't run since Saturday. It's been a crazy busy week. I didn't even make it to yoga. :(

[Crankin]

I seem to be doing a trail run once a week; trying for two next week.
I headed out to Estabrook Woods after Hirakukibou and I made the decision not to ride. We've had some heavy rain in the last 2 days, and while it's not raining now, it is misty, drizzly, cool, and the roads are wet and full of crap. I went knowing full well I am not at my top game here, still struggling with asthma and general ickiness.
Let's call it a trail trot. I did the whole 4 miles out and back, but I had to slow to a hike pace more than usual. Still, I sweat and it was nice to be in the woods. The main trail at Estabrook is wide and cleared and so it wasn't wet in the way other trails around here would be. I only "almost" tripped twice, though it wouldn't be the first time I've splayed myself out across this trail.
Then I went to the grocery store, with mud streaking up the backs of my calves, feeling very he-man-ish.

[chosen1]

I'm hoping to get a run in this evening. We've had rain every single day this week, my yard loves it, my bike and running shoes not so much. It's been sunny all day long so hopefully our rain spell is over, although it was much needed!

[skhill]

It was a perfect morning for a run today, or at least as close as it gets this time of the year-- 60F and just a bit of a breeze. Beautiful. I headed out on the new bike path, and before long remembered how much I don't like running on it. It's pretty rural and a bit hilly. And I find the out-and-back thing very boring. Ended up going just shy of 12 miles.

The best part of today's run was that included my first ever truly barefoot running, about a mile. I was wearing my big old Brooks, since the VFFs were wet, and they felt all wrong. So, as I was nearing the end of the path, I took the shoes and socks off, and it was wonderful. Nice smooth asphalt, free of gravel and trash. But then I left the path for sidewalks and streets, and had to put the shoes back on. Can't wait to try it again, tho!

[Bike Chick]

Another morning of thunderstorms! I woke up to no power and thunder rolling so my run was delayed a few hours until the storm passed. I did 5 miles after a 65 mile bike ride yesterday. The legs were tired but I got it done and our power is back on! Yeah!!

I've been getting so bored running the same routes so today I took a detour around the front 9 of the golf course that's 1.5 miles from the house. There weren't any golfers since it had rained this morning and I had the course to myself. It was great! 3 waterfountains and 2 bathrooms in a 2 mile loop and no cars to contend with. Perfect. I hope I can do that loop again.

[indysteel]

I ran four miles today. Minus high humidity, it was a relatively cool day for June. I felt bett than I have, probably because I forced myself to slow down. I also worked on breaking my bad happen of looking down when I run. I have a tendency to look at my feet, which ever so slightly closes my chest off a bit.

I'm not making tremendous progress with my runs, but frankly, I haven't really expected to. I really hate the heat so instead of running at least three times a week, I'm lucky to get out there once a week. I don't know that that's going to change until fall brings cooler weather.

[OakLeaf]

I did 10 and felt pretty much all right. It was a beautiful day for running, 66° and overcast, almost no wind, a very light drizzle. The weather sure has been weird, but I'll take this.

I had to stop once to let a skunk cross the road! I saw it well in advance and slowed down, but it was really checking me out, so I just walked slowly and quietly until it was far enough off the road and deep into the tall grass. :)

There were some people on dirt bikes rolling around. I was glad for the rain then, because they didn't kick up any dust at all, and the two-stroke exhaust settled pretty quickly. Actually with all the rain we've had this year, the gravel roads aren't nearly as hard as they usually are - not soft or muddy, just not harder than concrete, which is nice.

It feels weird to be taking care with recovery, but it's been long enough that this counts as really kicking up the mileage, so I've got my compression tights on.

Just a few more days until they raise the entry fees for Columbus ... will I or won't I? This run was kind of a preliminary make-or-break, and I definitely passed, but apparently that just means the answer isn't "no." :p


Indy, your neck and mine need to talk to each other. I have a bad habit of throwing my head back when I run. :p

[limewave]

Okay, I'm not doing the marathon after all. I am so burnt-out on running! I keep trying to motivate myself but it's just not happening. In recent years I've focused on biking in the summer and running in the winter. It's a nice balance for me as I really like both sports but not enough to do one or the other exclusively.

That being said, I did a 14 mile run on Sunday. Not my best run ever. I've been having pain in my heel and my hamstring. I took most of last week off and am starting to feel better.

Postponing marathon training until winter and will plan on running one in the Spring. Probably the Bayshore Marathon (http://www.bayshoremarathon.org/).

[chosen1]

I did 3miles on Sun, didn't really want to push my legs too much since I'd had a 48mi bike ride on Sat. I actually felt pretty good on the sunset run, it was still pretty hot and humid at 7pm but I'm glad I did it. I'm beginning to realize I'm in much better cross training shape than I realize. Running still isn't my favorite but I'm pushing thru it and making myself beat the pavement.

[Crankin]

Had my own warrior dash this morning.
Did a trail run on my muddy neighborhood and conservation land trail. The beginning was total muck/rolling logs. Then, a tree was down and I had to do some figuring out how to get over that. The rest was uneventful, as I go back a different way, up a steep, steep hill. This run involved lots of DEET and having to wash my shoes with the hose at the end.
About 3.5 miles.

[OakLeaf]

Fun ... I probably need to just go roll in the mud. Gardening is nice but it's not that full-body mud. :D

Intervals for me yesterday. Little by little ...

[skhill]

June totals: 162.4 miles, in 24 hrs 20 min. More than one whole day spent running-- weird to look at it like that!

[OakLeaf]

Nice work skhill!

Oops, it's July, isn't it. Time to start another thread ...