New Years Run

[Bones8]

Is anyone here doing one? I just signed up for a New Years Eve 5k. I figured its a good way to end 2014 and start 2015. :D

[OakLeaf]

I just found out there is a beach 5K near me on New Year's morning. I probably will do that. I've just kicked off my training for Boston, but since I'm self-coaching again this time around, I get to decide which local races I'll do. :D All the 5Ks I did leading up to New York turned out to be reasonably decent speedwork, not necessarily the absolute best way to prepare for a marathon, but a great balance between a targeted workout and plain fun.

[TrekDianna]

Yes, I am going a New Year's marathon.

[rocknrollgirl]

None for me, I am still on the injured list. Hoping to cleared in a few weeks, at which point I am treating myself to a new pair of running shoes. Then the challenge will be to figure out how to ease my way back into running. I am thinking a walk/run program.

[OakLeaf]

Dang TrekDianna, I guess that means no New Year's Eve party for you! But extra champagne after. :D

The scheduled workout in my training plan is 5 miles warmup, 4 x 1 mile at Threshold pace, two miles cooldown. I think instead I'll run the two miles to the 5K and back and jog another four somewhere in there.

[katluvr]

I'm doing a New Year's Eve run...16 miles on the training plan for tomorrow. Then I'll rest up or bike on New Year's Day.

[Trek420]

Is anyone here doing one? I just signed up for a New Years Eve 5k. I figured its a good way to end 2014 and start 2015. :D

No run. We'll ride to see the polar bear swim if I can get warm enough.

[katluvr]

2nd 16 mile run done! First time I had a really tough time mentally and physically. Really ran out of gas near the end, could not imagine running 26.2 miles! So I did set out this AM to conquer 16 miles. Did a different route (mental) and focused hard on feeling "good" (another mental task). It was cloudy, drizzling and very windy this AM. I warmed up quickly, rain never came and skies lightened a bit but the wind never went away. It was favorable at times, but right in my face at others. Mile 10-13 I was joined by a nice gentleman. He 68, lives in Canada, comes to FL for part of the winter, originally from Finland (you can learn a lot about someone in 3 miles). He was doing about 25 miles today (seriously!). He's done 100 mile and 50 mile races, but he's a bit out of shape, he said. He had a strange running style, looked more like a fast walk, but it works for him. I was probably much more out of breath than him. But running and chatting with him really helped me out in those middle miles. I did fade at mile 13, but not as bad as last time (or as early). Cut 7 minutes off my last 16 mile run! Woo too!
K

[emily_in_nc]

I will be running in the morning, though nothing organized. I run at the local track and am gradually working my way up as I've just started back after a couple-year hiatus. I am up to a little over 2 miles of running plus 2 more miles of walking total. My legs, heart, and lungs could take a bit more, but it is very hot and humid here (Playa del Carmen, Mexico), so that is all I can manage before I melt -- I'm totally drenched when I finish. Tomorrow the track is closed for NY's Day, so I will try running on the road. Hoping for a cloudy morning. As much as I love the sun, it takes it out of me when I run.

Enjoy your runs, everyone!

[TrekDianna]

I did it. The whole 26.2 miles. It was miserable. Well, the run was fine. The weather was miserable. I can't even begin to imagine how much time I lost trying to get wet tights pulled down and pulled back up again with hands so cold I could barely feel them when I had to pee. I did it though. Now I have to do another one in better weather.

[OakLeaf]

Way to go TrekDianna! Touch wood, I've never run a wet marathon and I hope I never do. I have wondered whether I'd even make it through the whole thing. Kudos to you for sticking it out!!

My race was wet too, but warm enough that it was pleasant, and even the other 8 miles didn't get so wet as to be sloshing in my shoes. My only hitch was when my shoe came untied within the first mile of the race. D'oh!!

[emily_in_nc]

Congratulations, TrekDianna! I just don't know how you folks who run marathons do it. You have my utmost respect and admiration!

As for me, I was happy with my little run around town and down to the beach. I didn't have a GPS but estimate I ran about 2.5 miles and walked about 1.5. It was cool to be running and feeling GOOD while most of the city slept after the long night of partying. There was evidence of it everywhere: confetti, trash, vomit. Ugh. One beach club was actually still pounding music at 8 am.

Yesterday I ran my first 5K since 2012 in Belize. Nothing organized, just took my DH's Garmin so I was sure of mileage and ran at the local track. I was pleased with my time since I am a slow runner. Mile 1 was slower, but Mile 2 and 3 both came in at 10:05, which is quite good for me. I have only been run/walking again since we got down to Mexico in early November, after a year of much, much cycling and very little else, so running even a 5K was an accomplishment for me. :)

[TrekDianna]

Funny, I thought since i was in Texas that the weather would be ok, but it was seriously Oregon winter weather. UGH. I'm glad yours was warm.

[TrekDianna]

Congratulations, TrekDianna! I just don't know how you folks who run marathons do it. You have my utmost respect and admiration!

As for me, I was happy with my little run around town and down to the beach. I didn't have a GPS but estimate I ran about 2.5 miles and walked about 1.5. It was cool to be running and feeling GOOD while most of the city slept after the long night of partying. There was evidence of it everywhere: confetti, trash, vomit. Ugh. One beach club was actually still pounding music at 8 am.

Yesterday I ran my first 5K since 2012 in Belize. Nothing organized, just took my DH's Garmin so I was sure of mileage and ran at the local track. I was pleased with my time since I am a slow runner. Mile 1 was slower, but Mile 2 and 3 both came in at 10:05, which is quite good for me. I have only been run/walking again since we got down to Mexico in early November, after a year of much, much cycling and very little else, so running even a 5K was an accomplishment for me. :)

Oh! I don't think that a ten minute mile is slow at all!

[katluvr]

8 miles today. I wanted to do the last half faster than the first. So I really took it easy my first 4 miles and then pushed it a bit the last. Overall time about the same as always but I accomplished my goal. I really need to feel stronger later in my runs.
My 18 mile LR is coming up on Sat. I have only run that far a handful of times. I am trying not to let it get to me. It's just mileage I have to tackle, that's all!

IMO: 10 min miles are not slow. That is a dream goal to run 10 minute miles for longer than a 5K. Sometimes I can't even do it for a 5K. But I'll find that out in a few weeks when I do a 10K race immediately followed by a 5K.

Oh, and our weather is weirdly warmer and more humid than normal. Even for FL we had 80 degree days this past weekend. Today a bit cooler and cloudy until sun came out this afternoon. But this runs are still in some pretty warm weather.

K

[emily_in_nc]

Oh! I don't think that a ten minute mile is slow at all!

Thanks! But my first mile was 10:44, so that took my average up quite a bit. :D

[Bones8]

I did much better in my NY Eve 5k than I anticipated, finishing 4 minutes faster than the goal I set for myself and earning me 2nd place for females in my age group. It was really motivating! It was also my first race ever and I think I've been bitten by the bug...I'm looking for more races to sign up for and working on building up to 10k, although 5k feels like a really "fun" distance.

[OakLeaf]

Haha, you've got the bug too. :D Congratulations on your age group award!!

Emily - none of us here are going to the Olympics (unless someone's sandbagging :cool: )! It's all about putting in the work - be proud of yourself, you are not slow!

Kat - nice work! It finally cooled off here yesterday, hope it did for you too. Non-running related illustration of the temperature and humidity - Sunday I did a mat yoga class but they have aerial in the studio too, so before class I was just hanging upside down in a kite. They keep the studio warm (not hot), but Sunday they had all the windows open because it was so hot and humid outside. When the teacher got ready to start class I turned myself back rightways up ... and all the sweat started dripping the other direction on my body ... just from hanging there in the ambient temperature. Yecccch!

Yesterday was beautiful for my tempo run though. Now that the holidays are finally over I can nail down a consistent schedule because I really want to start joining my bike club's slow Thursday ride.

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks for the encouragement, Oakleaf! Where are you that it has been so hot and humid?

I did another 5K at the track today and beat my previous time by almost a minute. This time my three miles were 10:22, 10:01, and 9:47, in that order. It is really hot & humid here most mornings, and the sun was out full-strength, so I think I could do a bit better in a cooler locale. Because of the heat, I am not sure how much I'll be able to increase my distance, but I am going to keep up a schedule of a couple of 5K runs per week (I do yoga or a bike ride the other mornings) as long as I can tolerate the climate. Perhaps it will get easier the more I acclimate?

[katluvr]

Ran 4 miles Tuesday AM before heading to Anna Maria Island where my parents are staying for a week. It was cool enough, in the 60's. Had a nice run.
This AM had a windy and cool run along the paved beach path. Just 3 miles. But a lovely place to run.
Back to work tomorrow. Expecting "frigid temps" (by FL standards) in the AM. By this weekend it will be warm FL again, just in time for my 18 mile run.

K

[Bones8]

Thanks for the encouragement, Oakleaf! Where are you that it has been so hot and humid?

I did another 5K at the track today and beat my previous time by almost a minute. This time my three miles were 10:22, 10:01, and 9:47, in that order. It is really hot & humid here most mornings, and the sun was out full-strength, so I think I could do a bit better in a cooler locale. Because of the heat, I am not sure how much I'll be able to increase my distance, but I am going to keep up a schedule of a couple of 5K runs per week (I do yoga or a bike ride the other mornings) as long as I can tolerate the climate. Perhaps it will get easier the more I acclimate?
If you want to increase your distance you'll likely need to slow down. I train in zone 3 on my heart rate monitor as I'm building up to 10k, which means i am only training at an 11 min mile or slower. It took me a while to get used to, because most of its are used to the mindset that if we aren't pushing ourselves to moderate pain we aren't going to see progress. Next month i plan on starting a mix of endurance runs, speed intervals, and tempo runs. For now, it's slow and steady :)

[emily_in_nc]

If you want to increase your distance you'll likely need to slow down. I train in zone 3 on my heart rate monitor as I'm building up to 10k, which means i am only training at an 11 min mile or slower. It took me a while to get used to, because most of its are used to the mindset that if we aren't pushing ourselves to moderate pain we aren't going to see progress. Next month i plan on starting a mix of endurance runs, speed intervals, and tempo runs. For now, it's slow and steady :)

I'm sure you're right that I'd need to slow down to build endurance for distance. But with the heat and humidity here (Playa del Carmen, Mexico), I don't want to be out on the track any longer than I am since I am not very good at getting up any earlier than I do already (around 6:30 am). So my current plan is just to stick with the 5K distance for fitness and bone strength since I have no aspirations to do long runs. I'm primarily a cyclist, but since the cycling is limited here, it's nice to have the options to run and do yoga for variety!

If we are ever in a cooler climate, I might work on building running distance, but for now, I just want to get 'er done and get back to our rental for a cool shower! :D

[Bones8]

Ha! I can totally understand that! I only took up running to cross train for cycling but now that I'm looking at duathlons I've had to get more into it. I find running in the hot humidity awful! In any case, 5k is a good distance.

[OakLeaf]

Emily, you might just try running in the warmer part of the day once or twice, just to see. My experience is that I'm much more likely to experience heat stress if I run in the early morning when the humidity is so much higher, even though the temperature is lower. Once the humidity is even above 85% - and typically in early morning it's closer to 95% - but anyway, beyond 85% sweat really doesn't evaporate at all, meaning my body can't cool itself whatsoever. The main source of core heat is the body's own heat generation, not the ambient temperature. Once the humidity drops to 75% or 80% by midday, even though the thermometer might show a much higher figure, I can run the same distance and pace with a lot less chance of dizziness and nausea by the end.

[rocknrollgirl]

I got cleared to start slowly returning to running post foot surgery. Today is six weeks out. I tried a bit of walk run on Tuesday, but it still hurts pretty bad to impact. So I am taking that as my body saying it is not healed enough. If I have to gimp along to do it, I am not ready. My PT told me that it is usually 8 weeks post surgery before they consider the initial healing to have taken place. Which makes sense to me.

So i will stick to running, yoga and lifting for now and try again in a week or so.

[Helene2013]

Better be safe than sorry. I remember when I had my breast reduction (which is far less serious than a foot) I was told it was about 6 weeks before running. On the 4th week, I was allowed to do "some" light running on the trainer. And wear 2 sports bra - one over the other to protect the boobs as the inside was not healed yet even if it looked good on the outside. And even then it was not that great. So I can truly read you on the present pain.

When I had my knee surgery, it took a lot of time before I resumed to most activities. Do you have access to a pool (like school) you can try swimming in the meantime?

[rocknrollgirl]

Better be safe than sorry. I remember when I had my breast reduction (which is far less serious than a foot) I was told it was about 6 weeks before running. On the 4th week, I was allowed to do "some" light running on the trainer. And wear 2 sports bra - one over the other to protect the boobs as the inside was not healed yet even if it looked good on the outside. And even then it was not that great. So I can truly read you on the present pain.

When I had my knee surgery, it took a lot of time before I resumed to most activities. Do you have access to a pool (like school) you can try swimming in the meantime?

We do have access to a pool, although it is high school swim season so tough to get in. My hubs and I both do tri's so it was just a matter of waiting to get cleared to go in. The doc needed to wait until the incision was completely healed on the outside. We may try and get in this weekend, which will be unpleasant at best because I have been out for a bit. OY.

As long as I can mt bike, I will not get too squirrelly. Tough to watch my husband our mt bike friends pack up and head off when I was stuck inside.

[OakLeaf]

If the pool isn't so crowded and you can have a lane to yourself, you might try deep water running too. It's neuromuscularly the same as running on land - in fact it always helps my "real" running form when I do it, because it reinforces the feeling that my lower body is dangling from T12-L1. The only trouble is you're moving so slowly you really can't share a lane with even the slowest swimmers. I need some pool time myself ...

[rocknrollgirl]

Excellent idea Oak. They have a large family area set up on the weekends. I could grab a corner.

[emily_in_nc]

Emily, you might just try running in the warmer part of the day once or twice, just to see. My experience is that I'm much more likely to experience heat stress if I run in the early morning when the humidity is so much higher, even though the temperature is lower. Once the humidity is even above 85% - and typically in early morning it's closer to 95% - but anyway, beyond 85% sweat really doesn't evaporate at all, meaning my body can't cool itself whatsoever. The main source of core heat is the body's own heat generation, not the ambient temperature. Once the humidity drops to 75% or 80% by midday, even though the thermometer might show a much higher figure, I can run the same distance and pace with a lot less chance of dizziness and nausea by the end.

Excellent point, Oak. I will have to double-check the hours the track is open to the public; I think it's 6 am until noon and then again in the early evening (which doesn't work for me, though it would be cooler -- that's when DH and I are having dinner together and walking our dog after). I usually get there around 7:30 am for my run, but if I were to try going at say, 11, the sun would be higher and humidity less. Enough less to help, I don't know, but it's certainly worth a try.

Thanks!

[Helene2013]

I'll be looking too to get back to a pool. See....this thread is taking us somewhere. I do not like public pool just for the strong smell, having to wear a headcap and often the water is a bit too cold for my taste but if it can help my knees, it may be worth the try.

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, I hate chlorine too, plus it kicks up my asthma a little - not so much as I'd notice otherwise, but if I go pool running before my allergy shot and blow into my peak flow meter, it always shows.

Wet run today. I figured I'd ride to the yoga studio, run from there, do the aerial class and ride home. The radar showed only sprinkles. It started pouring about three minutes after I left on my bike, d'oh. It let up and dried out a little, but by then I was so soaked that I had to borrow a towel from the teacher who fortunately lives in the back of her studio, and my butt was still wet enough to soak through the kite. :p It seemed to stop raining while class was going on and started up again about two minutes after I started to ride home. Blecch. At least it was warm!

[katluvr]

Did my 18 miles yesterday. I now know why a 1/2 marathon is my race. 18 miles is long and that really means 8 more to complete a marathon. I felt like I had a few more miles in me, but not 8. My overall avg pace is JUST within my goal (finish in 5 hours). So I'm a bit nervous that I won't make my goal time. But I felt pretty comfortable and I don't dread 20 miles (1 week from tomorrow) as I really felt like I could do 20.
I have a few minor blisters on a few toes, but nothing that will prevent me from running again soon!
K

[OakLeaf]

Way to go Kat! You've got this, you know how the race-day psych always gives you speed and endurance you don't have in training.

Hope your blisters heal fast. I'm a huge believer in Band-Aid Advanced Healing Blister colloidal pads - both to let me run without pain when I have a blister, and to pre-wrap my most blister-prone toe if needed.

[TrekDianna]

Speaking from my recent experience.... for me, miles 16-19 were the most difficult mentally. It really felt that after 15, everything seemed to slow down. When I saw the mile marker for 20, it seemed the end was near since the mile markers now started with 2 rather than 1. After seeing 20, I thought, "huh" I only have a 10K left." That was my experience. Your mileage may vary :)

dianna


Did my 18 miles yesterday. I now know why a 1/2 marathon is my race. 18 miles is long and that really means 8 more to complete a marathon. I felt like I had a few more miles in me, but not 8. My overall avg pace is JUST within my goal (finish in 5 hours). So I'm a bit nervous that I won't make my goal time. But I felt pretty comfortable and I don't dread 20 miles (1 week from tomorrow) as I really felt like I could do 20.
I have a few minor blisters on a few toes, but nothing that will prevent me from running again soon!
K

[katluvr]

12 miles today. I know why I don't do more marathons...the time to train (properly which I am barely doing) is very time consuming. Yes, I could of got out of beed sooner (was out about 6:30) and could of moved faster to get ready (but I like to enjoy some coffee, Today Show and my cats on my morning off). AND if a was faster....(well that's another story). So by the time I head out (8:30) and do my 12 miles (2 hr 14 minutes) it's almost time for lunch!
Trying to feel more comfortable with the 1/2 half of the marathon mileage. My pace was about the same as the last 12 miler, but I think I was struggling less in the latter miles (or at least that is what I tell my self).

Next on the agenda: 10 K and 5 K on Saturday, back to back "races". I'll see if I can pick up the pace a bit!

K

[OakLeaf]

I'm just not a morning runner either. I might not even have got started running had I not had the luxury to run in the middle of the day! I don't mind waking up early, but my body is just creaky until I've been up for a couple-three hours.

I almost flattened a pedestrian today. :D I'm running intervals wearing my hi-viz yellow jersey and arm warmers and hi-viz orange gloves, she starts crossing the street with headphones and sunglasses on a cloudy day without even looking to her left. There was a car passing on my other side so I couldn't swing wide. I had to holler to get her to notice me and then she's all, why am I there? Lucky for her I wasn't another car!

Good luck on your races Kat! Someday I might do one of those back-to-back things but it just sounds painful!