Running with the reindeer...December runs!

[Bike Chick]

Happy late birthday, Katluvr!

I'm sorry to hear you are struggling so, Crankin. That sucks so bad.

Oak, I can't blame you. It was 28 here yesterday when I got out and ran my 7 miles. It was brisk but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. I have to think twice about anything below 20 degrees.

[indysteel]

It was 21 degrees for my run yesterday. Minus the first few minutes, I felt okay. The winds were light though and the sun was out. My left glute and hamstring have been bugging me for several weeks now. At first I thought it was the return of the sciatic nerve issues I have had off and on for some time, but now I'm not so sure. I suppose a trip to the doc is in order as it's becoming chronic.

Crankin, I'm sorry you're hurting. I had a stress fracture in my foot during my sophomore year of cross country. I ran most of the season with it and ended up on crutches for six weeks.

[Crankin]

I need to stop reading this thread! This is what makes me want to "try" running again.

[Selkie]

Happy Belated B'day, Kat.

Sorry about your foot, Crankin. Hope it heals quickly and doesn't impact your winter sports.

ChiRunning workshop was yesterday---it was great. I got to meet 7, which was a treat (I'm would love to have her swimmer's feet!!!). By the way, she's got great running form and was moving pretty swiftly when we were outside.

Today was our Jingle All The Way 8k race in DC. Unfortunately, my cold pretty much has me operating on 75% of my "jets," so I didn't feel that great. It was the first morning of the season that went below freezing at Reagan Nat'l, so it was cold. Insult to injury, the race started 20+ minutes late---everyone was freezing. Once we got moving, it was fine. I had five jingle bells on, several pinned to my fleece and one on my shoe. Lots of folks in the spirit, wearing reindeer headgear, santa hats, green sequin skirts, striped socks, etc. As usual, I overdressed and once we got in the sun, I was too warm.

Luckily, things opened up a little after the first mile in terms of being crowded, so I had room to work on the chirunning techniques I learned yesterday. Was in the groove of it for a bit, but my cold symptoms definitely impacted how I felt overall. I wrapped a buff around my forearm to help clean up my nose drainage, which was good planning. The last quarter mile or so, the accumulated junk in my throat/bronchial tubes made me gasping for a breath and sounding like as asthmatic. I was relieved to cross that finish line (they called out everyone's name over the loudspeaker as you finished).

My husband was about 3 or 4 minutes behind me, so I had time to stretch my calves and get cold before we schlepped it off to the car. Got to see the Nat'l Christmas tree on the way, plus the White House all decked out.

I'll check my time/finish results later. This is my longest run to date and because of my cold, I was just happy to run the entire thing and cross the finish line.

[7rider]

ChiRunning workshop was yesterday---it was great. I got to meet 7, which was a treat (I'm would love to have her swimmer's feet!!!). By the way, she's got great running form and was moving pretty swiftly when we were outside.

Ha! If you had to buy shoes for my "swimmer's feet" you wouldn't want them so much! Was great to meet you - even tho' we didn't have much time for socializing.

I took my ChiRunning and tried to incorporate some of it into today's Jingle Bell Jog 8k. Spent a lot of time working on my two "L's" of what our instructor referred to as "ALLT" for "Align, Level (your pelvis), Lift (the crown of your head), and Tilt". Happy with negative splits -- first time I've done that...ever and an 11:14 pace for 4.97 miles total. I also ran my whole thing. Happy with that, too. So, overall, a really good morning run. Glad you had one, too, Selkie.

[OakLeaf]

Nice job Selkie and 7rider!

I got in earlier than expected, did a little unpacking and some perfunctory dusting and announced I was going for a run. I decided to just play it by ear, since it's 40° warmer and about 1000% more humid than the last time and place I ran. But I felt reasonably good and wound up doing a little over 11 at a 9:30 pace. The last five or so were in a pouring rain. I saw four gopher tortoises on one block who'd come out of their burrows to drink. I'd never seen that before and it was really cool, but I had to wonder about what was in the runoff water. Well, I got to find out about a mile from home when a pickup truck roosted me. Welcome to Florida. Naturally, as soon as that happened the rain let up, so I got to run the last mile covered with motor oil and dogsh*t and who knows what else. I remembered the one good thing about having the laundry room in the garage ... strip off the wet clothes and walk into the house nekkid.

[GLC1968]

Happy Belated Birthday, katluvr!

Sorry about your foot, Crankin. I had foot trouble for many years and basically gave up running. It's actually why I ended up buying a road bike!

Great job on the clinic and the 8K, Selkie and 7rider!

Today was supposed to be my second half-marathon. Unfortunately, I was up most of the night between a barking puppy and a super upset stomach (I actually threw up at one point). When I took the puppy out again at 5 am, it was raining and cold, I was miserable, nauseated and had a headache, so since I was doing this run alone (meaning no one was counting on me), I blew it off.

I did manage to run 6 miles later this afternoon after my stomach started to settle. It was almost a mistake as last nights issue had moved into the intestines... Oy! It's probably a good thing that I didn't do the half...it would not have been a fun time at all. It's a bummer to train for something and then not really get 'closure' but I know it would have been a terrible experience had I tried.

My next race isn't until March (15k Shamrock Run), so I've got time to focus on my chi form and getting some weight training in. My plan is to maintain at least 15 miles per week until it's time to ramp up volume again.

[Selkie]

Great job, 7.

Poor GLC! Thank goodness you didn't try to run the half! Hope you are feeling better today (just in time for work, eh).

My race results:

Total time: 45:21
Pace: 9:08
Age Group (45-49): 39th out of 204
Overall Place (females): 725 out of 3,024

[limewave]

8 miles for me yesterday. I felt pretty good but I didn't have a watch or garmin so I have no idea what my pace was.