Runner's Forum: The Official: Training Summary Start Up Thread

Hey, I'm back!

Thanks for missing me. (Those who noticed - LexB, gfinkelde and others who just didn't mention it)  After my week in Sweden in early May where I only managed to get in a couple of treadmill runs, I had not run another step until this week.  I've been in Thailand with my job and we were staying in a "resort" about an hour out of Bangkok and the dogs made it impossible to run.

The up-side is, I ran a couple of half hour runs this week completely pain and tightness free so the enforced layoff has cured my achilles.

The down-side is that there is no way I can get into shape for the Melbourne Marathon in October, or even the half on the same day so I've had to push back my comeback plans somewhat. Oh well...

I did finally get a replacement HR monitor (SimmoT - I did get the RS200) so I can be a little bit more scientific about things.

gfinkelde - you sound like things are really going well.  Fantastic.  I see we have picked up another couple of Melbournians as well. Great stuff.

Well, my next posting will be from the Qingdao province in China where I'm heading on Monday for 2 to 3 weeks.  We have another guy on site there already and I know he's been running so it should be safe for me there.

Run on!

Nice to meet you exkiwi. Hope you can put your injuries behind you.

Ran 14.1 miles at 9:41 per mile . . . 40 sec slower than marathon pace which is faster than I was supposed to run, but all in all a good workout and the longest run I have ever done. Junkie99's advice that hills are speed work in disguise helped motivate me as I slogged up the couple of steep hills during the run.

I ran with my brother. He is six years older than I am, but has run all his life. He did Boston to celebrate his 50th birthday the year before last (it was rainy and cold if you remember) and finished at around 7:15ish a mile. So he stooped down to run with his slow little brother.

Hey,ex...nice to meet you! : )

Kdogg...uh, you rock...I can't wait until I get to the point when I'm competing in races, rather than just covering the distance and making personal bests.  You inspire me...especially scaring the kids...I wanna scare the kids.  LoL! 

I've been taking it pretty easy this week.  I did an easy 5 mile on Wednesday with a playground stop at 4 1/2 for my boy.  It was fun, but hot.  I hate this heat...I'm actually getting to the point where I may join a gym.  I know...it's crazy-talk!  LoL!

Yesterday, I did a fastwalk/slow jog at times with my friend, Diana.  She's a walker, but I was proud of her for keeping up the jog for a significant amount of it...especially in that heat.  It was nice to have the company...I've only had company in races so far.

My biggest goal has been conquered...I have inspired my husband to do a race with me!  I KNOW!  Alert the press!  We are doing a 5 mile in Belmar on July 12th.  We are doing our first "family run" tomorrow!  He used to be in amazing shape, but hasn't done much in the last year.  He started mountain biking two weeks ago and is feeling ready to start running too.  I don't doubt that he will cover the mileage (he is a stubborn Italian and when he wants something, he gets it), so I'm excited to see how he does tomorrow.  I'm just happy that we have yet another "family fitness fun" activity!! : )

Did 3.4 yesterday morning before 7 straight hours of meetings at work. What joy! My knees have been a bit sore since the run yesterday. Need to keep up with the excersizes that the PT gave me.

KDogg - great job at the meet. You would have lapped me at my fastest on the 1600. Heck, you would probably come close to lapping me on the 800.

Ran 12.5kms with mates this morning, windy and slow. We were a bit disappointed with the times, but glad to have locked it away.

Rest day tomorrow.

Ran 10.72 miles today 2hrs and 8 mins - not bad considering the extreme heat this morning.  I was soaked after the run. I hope the temperature improve for my half in July. 

Hey everyone, sounds like you are all having fun with your running. KDogg, there's something wrong with you. How can you run so many fast times in a single day. I think I'd be dead after running a lap with you.  Good job to all the others that have reached their goals for the week.

I killed off a few easy 3 and 5 milers last week, then had my first half on Saturday (Run Charlevoix Half-Marathon) First of all, Charlevoix is in a very nice part of the state, right on Little Traverse Bay, so the scenery was beautiful. It was a small race, only about 700 people for all four events (5k, 10k, half, marathon) with about 300 in the half.

First of all, I stayed in a hotel that was decent (lucky since I waited till the day before to book it). Unfortunately the bed was hard as a rock, and my little girl, having crawled into my bed, kept kicking me in the back all night. I only got about two hours of sleep, so I was feeling pretty burned out before I toed the line. Plus, my stomach was a little twisted (probably from the nerves), but got better shortly after I started running. 

They billed it as a flat, out and back course. Maybe it's because I live in about the flattest place on earth, but there were a couple pretty tough hills about a 1/4 mile each. We ran probably close to 2 miles on a wooden bridge, though, which felt awesome on the legs and feet! The first half seemed to go pretty easy (almost all downhill). Then, at the turn, I ran headlong into a stiff wind that was, apparently, helping push me along. Add the slight uphill grade, plus the two hills, and I still wound up with a positive split, despite going out slow. 

All in all,  I had a great time running this race. Beautiful scenery, challenging course, and fun people to run with. Since I seemed to have slipped from my training over the last month or so, I set a conservative goal of 2:30 to finish. I crossed the tape at 2:22:32, so I met my goal. 

Now, a little recovery time, then time to buckle down for Chicago in October. Keep running. 

The humidity increases while the storms in progress, but it usually tekes a lot of the water out of the air and chucks it on the ground, so it feels much fresher afterwards.
Thats how I always look at it.

Did 5.5 miles last night. Was meant to be 6 but I made a wrong turn when I was almost home and didnt really feel like turning around to make it up! A bit slower than previously, but thats what long runs are about right? Furthest I'd gone previously was 5 miles, so its a step in the right direction.

reptreccajr: Sorry to hear about your knee pain. On my long runs the two middle toes on both feet (especially the left) begin to throb at about mile 6 or 7, but it usually goes away as I continue to run.  It is not really an injury because I get almost immediate relief when I stop running and rub my feet a bit. I've experimented with different shoes and inserts, but it is a pretty much consistent occurence - by mile 7 achy toes, by mile 9 it is pretty much gone, but may come back a few times during the long run. I think I may have a nerve that is affected by the pressure of running. But as far as running pain goes, it is not too bad of a problem because it doesn't keep me from running or slow me down. Your knee flare ups must be "extremely frustrating" as they impact training and performance.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a rest day. Today ran an easy 3 miles (24:51/8:19 mi) in keeping with week 6 of Higdon's marathon training plan. A little bit tight from the 14 mile long run on Saturday, but felt pretty good.

Speaking of knee pain...has anyone ever had a knee that hurts when you kneel on it, but no other time?  It feels like I am leaning on something ridiculously sharp, but it could be on a mattress!  Otherwise, there is no pain though.  Kind of weird.  Has anyone else experienced this or know what it is??

I'll echo what rpetreccajr said about Indiana and hot and humidity. I'm from southern Indiana and this stuff can be killer. I ran a half marathon last October and the front packs times were about five minutes slower than the times from the previous years because it was soooooo hot and humid.

Anyway, 12/7 miles double today. I've got this crazy weird pain in my upper left leg. Its definitely in a muscle, but I'm not sure what it is all about since I haven't done anything fast to irritate it. 

I scored some (very lightly ~50 miles) used Nimbuses today for free. A pretty sweet deal since they retail at 120 bucks. I've got six pairs of running shoes with less than 20 miles on them and then another three pairs with less than 200 miles on them and then my wear test pair of 1063s (which is what I have to do all of my running in until July 19th). I'd say I'm stocked up for awhile

Hello All

Another newbie to the group (Wiltshire UK).  Have been running for a couple of months now, albeit slowly.  Approx 15miles or so a week with the hope of half marathon in Sept.  Doing a couple of short runs during the week (4 - 5 miles) with longer run 10 - 11miles at w/ends. 

May total 52 miles and June's total 67miles.

Pace sloooowly improving - seems to drop no more than a minute per mile each month.  now averaging 10.4min mile, just can't seem to get it lower thanthis. perseverance i guess..!

Great to keep up with all your progress - some of you guys certainly put in the mileage!

Welcome FBP. I ran my first half marathon last year. Slow improvement is good. Training too hard too soon is a sure road to injury. Find a training program and stick with it.

I did 7 miles early this morning (6am). Finished in 61 minutes. I experimented and didn't stop at 4 miles for a 30 sec walk and gatorade break and my mind and body kind of rebelled having been conditioned to get this little mid-run break, so the last 3 miles I felt slow.

It does get humid even here in New Hamshire but by running in the morning I can usually beat the heat. We do, however, have something here that you can never beat once summer arrives. The dreaded deer fly. These annoying creatures are smaller than horseflys, about the size of a housefly, except light brown in color, and they bite. Soon after I start running I'll pickup about 3 or 4 that circle my head like small satelites looking for a chance to dive bomb into my face and head. If they succeed in landing on my shoulder or back they bite through my shirt. It is not like a bee sting, but like an over size mosquito bite. So, from about the 3rd week in June through the middle of August I always have a crowd that follows me as I run.

5.2 miles today at just under 8 minutes per mile.

Rememberly: I've been taking a break about 1.5 miles from the end of my run to walk up 2  fairly steep hills. I forced myself to keep running today and finished the 5 miles in my best time.

15/8 mile double today.  My 15 mile run was my medium long run for the week and I felt pretty good. The eight mile run was actually supposed to be five, but I met up with one of my friends to run and then we ran into our coach and he wanted to run with us for awhile, so it became social hour.

I felt surprisingly fresh, we'll see what happens tomorrow and Thursday though!! 

ran 7 sunday and 9 yesterday. I'm about to head out for today's run, 9 again, its going to be a great time after working on a roof for 12 hours in 100F heat. Who knew working at an engineering firm could be so exhausting.

4:30 pace for a 10k is pure sickness, lol. Thats my long (long long) term goal for the 5k, but first I gotta be able to run 4:50 pace for a 5k on the track!!

That finish in the 800m was awesome. 800 runners are freaking beasts 

3 miles today in 23:33. Glad that only a short run was on the schedule today as the humidity was 95% at 6am. Although the temp. was only 62 F. I don't have much to complain about when I remember visiting my brother-in-law in Cairns, AUS where the humidity and temp is always way up there. Tomorrow is a rest day, kind of nice . . . but I am always ready to get back at it on Friday.

Killed 4 deer flies during the run. I got them before they got me! I'd have to be Kdogg fast in order to outrun these pesky critters and that's not going to happen unless I am on a bike (with a motor!)

Pappypage, nice to have you join us. WOW, amazing time in the half and good job with the weight loss. Looking forward to hearing how your trainining goes and the big race in Oct. I am also doing my first marathon in Oct. (Hartford, CT).

I'll have to see if I can find that 800 in the US trials. Is the 800 a sprint?!

3.5 miles today in 27:03 (7:40 pace). I'm looking foward to a rest day tomorrow. 1:45 for 800m? I think I could handle 1:45....for 400m.

I like seeing Kdogg calling other runners a "beast." That's my view of kdogg...he's a beast :)