Cool Runners -- November thread!
 

OK, I guess I'll start it this month! :)

Did my longest run yesterday in a long while - 15 miles. The weather was nice and cool (yay, fall!) and I felt surprisingly good. My legs were feeling it, but I finished nice and strong, in a little over 2.5 hours. My first half marathon is in 2 weeks, so I'll taper down from here. Did 5 easy miles this morning ....

How about the rest of you weekend runners?

Hello Everyone, I survived the 10K I did on Sunday and I'm satisfied with the results. I did it! As you may remember I have only run 5K's in a race, never a 10K, and my longest distance run ever is 9 miles - I mostly do about 6-7 miles 3x a week and then swim the other days. But for my upcoming 50th birthday I wanted to try this event.

It was a beautiful day, a bit chilly, 42 degrees, but very sunny. We started at the base of the Be Franklin Bridge in Camden, NJ, ran over it to the Philadelphia side, then back - this was about 3.1 miles. Then we went through an area they have by the river for the next 3.1 miles, including some of the city of Camden, past the battleship New Jersey, etc., and then finishing in Campbell Field, a minor league baseball stadium right against the bridge.

It was really a lot of fun, great views, lots of people (about 3,000 in the race and 1,000 walking). I felt I did well on the first half, as I run hills well and I'm used to a 5K, although I did manage to keep my pace down, with a struggle, since the excitement really can take over. I found the second half hard, even though it was very flat, and at first I was taken aback by EVERYONE passing me. But, I realized, for me this is a really long race, but for most of these people, they train for longer distances and it's actually quite short. There were a lot of half and marathoners in the crowd as I learned talking to others later! Then I settled down and just ran along best as I could. My chip time was 52:11 and I was very happy with that, I realized from looking at the clocks along the way I had actually run it pretty evenly all through it, although the last half felt so much harder.

Everyone was very happy and the atmosphere was festive, and we all got finisher medals, which I wore all day after this. I really enjoyed the event and so did my husband, who also ran it. I did like doing a longer event, but I can see that if I wanted to make it more of a regular thing I need to run longer distances in practice, maybe run more days, and I'm not sure I want to do that, so it helped me to try it and see how I liked it. I think the 5K suits me a bit better in terms of how much I think my legs can take at this stage of my life, and also leaving time for me to do my other exercise. Longer runs are for a special event for me! But anyway, I'm really glad I did it.

I did a 5K last weekend also, in a park. It was on paved roads but hilly and I may be nuts but I like hilly courses. Supposedly I did 22:22 but that's way too fast and I really don't believe that time - the event was kind of casually organized and I would not be surprised if they measured the course casually! But I figured it could not be more than 2 tenths off, so, that would come out to about a 24:00 and that would be good for me, so I was happy no matter what. Plus I did win my age group and got a little trophy, it was fun! And they had really good food afterwwards!

OK, that's my report! I have a lot of empathy now for all of you doing so many miles, having tried something longer myself, and I'm very impressed with all the marathon and half-marathon running. Not that I wasn't before but now - I had a little taste of it and the experience has made it a lot more real!

MBN~ Good job on the 15 mile run. A half marathon right around the corner sounds very exciting.

Pink~ Yay on your first 10K! :carrot: It sounds like a beautiful run.

As for me, I did a 5K and sprints on Sunday. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get a nice long run in.

Pink -- AWESOME time on both races!!! Congratulations! If you are interested in running longer races regularly, IMO you don't need to add more running days -- just do a longer run during one of those running days (the long, slower, distance run). That long run is the key to distance training. The length depends on the race that you're training for. With only one "long run" a week, it doesn't impact your cross training that much. If you extended your long run up to 10-12 miles, then you could run a half marathon. (and they usually give out medals too!) :D

MBN - I'm amused by your easy 5 miles. I'm not sure if I'll ever get to the point where 5 miles are easy.

Having said that, I did a little over 3 miles of walk/run intervals this morning. Up and down hills. Funny thing is it really didn't feel hard. During the last hill near the end of my workout, my legs told me that they were done so I increased the amount of walking versus running. Also I was almost home so it was a bit of a cooldown anyway.

Originally Posted by Pink Geranium:
Hello Everyone, I survived the 10K I did on Sunday and I'm satisfied with the results. I did it! As you may remember I have only run 5K's in a race, never a 10K, and my longest distance run ever is 9 miles - I mostly do about 6-7 miles 3x a week and then swim the other days. But for my upcoming 50th birthday I wanted to try this event.

When I grow up I wanna be you :). I guess in 10 years I might manage it ;).

Hi all,

I am trying to run 3-4 times a week faithfully this month to see if I can improve my endurance. Monday I ran 2 miles. It wasn't easy. I am still recovering from the longest cold ever but I figured I could just slow down a little and do 2 miles without much issue. I think running is always going to be a challenge for me, but I do enjoy it. I am going to try 2 miles on Mon/Wed, then 3 on Fridays. I am not sure what to do on weekends. Maybe sprints?

Hi MBN, thanks for your encouragement. I hadn't realized that I could fit in training for the longer distance that way, thanks for the info. I am going to think about it over the winter as I see how I hold up. I do want to do a 10 mile race next May (thankfully all on a level course). So it's in my mind, this longer stuff. I just don't want to hurt myself - after all these years of sitting around not being able to do anything athletic , things now are a lot of fun and I don't want to mess it up by getting ahead of myself (a tendency I do seem to have!).

We don't have too many 10K's around here, it's easy to find a 5K every weekend but not the 10K. I am sure that's a long enough distance for me (having said that, I did sign up for an 8.4 mile run on 11/16, but it's a RUN to me, not a RACE, so I am thinking of it differently, and I'm doing it because it's a chance to try out a nice long path I haven't been able to do yet). Anyway, it gives me something to think about and try for in the future. I do like having new goals. Keeps me interested and burning calories, which is what this is all about, anyway.

On another subject, I'm wondering what everyone wears to run in the rain (in the colder weather, I mean). I've run during the summer in the rain and it didn't matter being wet, but now...it can be chilly! Any suggestions?

Pink - It sounds like your 10K was a lot of fun, and I'm always amazed by your times - great job! Thanks for the race report. I don't have an answer to the running in the rain question but would love to hear anyone else's answers!

MBN - It sounds like you will be well prepared for your half. It's great to have fall weather to run/train in.

lene - did you get your long run in?

Nelie - It wasn't that long ago that even 2 miles felt hard for me so I think you certainly have the ability to eventually run an "easy 5". Of course there are days that a 5 mile run is still a hard one for me though!

cakses - if you are trying to build endurance I think just getting out there and doing it will make a difference, but it wouldn't hurt to add sprints on the weekends.

I haven't done too much running since the marathon as I have been having some issues with my left knee. I've been trying to walk and to go for a couple of short runs. I'm signed up for a cross country run the weekend before Thanksgiving so I'm hoping it is okay by then.

Happy running everyone!

Ran 2.5 miles today on the TM. It was slightly killer, but there was no passing out or puking so I guess it wasn't that bad. I need to figure out what fatigues me so quickly because I slowed down my pace by over a minute and that is pretty much as slow as I can run without tripping over myself. I ran it at an 11:15ish pace - any faster and I crap out a lot sooner, any slower and I just start getting clumsy. I am trying for a complete 5k on Friday. Could have done it today with an extra push but I was already so fatigued I figured 2.5 was good enough.

Hi ladies. Hope it's ok if I join this group. My name is Jennifer, and I started running in March. I'm actually a member of the 3FC group at RA, but I think I heard that you guys post here instead of there?

I did my first 7 miler yesterday and I am so excited! The most I'd done before that was 5. I'm not sure what happened. It was a really rainy and cold day, but I decided to just get out there and see how long I could go, and it was a lot further than I ever thought possible. I could have pushed on to 8 miles, but I didn't want to overdo it. Went out today and did 2 miles just to shake out my legs, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Maybe I'm getting the hang of this running thing?

cakses, I'm still a newbie, but the one thing that really helped me was slowing down more than I thought possible so that I could get in the mileage and run more often. It wasn't that my body or legs were tired per se, more like my breathing and heart had to catch up. So I started focusing on pushing up and almost bouncing (for lack of a better example) which sounds really weird but helped a lot. I was @ a 12:00 mm pace most of the time. Another thing I did was to add in short 20-30 second walk breaks when I felt my heart rate or breathing become erratic. It gave me a chance to catch up and keep going instead of burning myself out.

Hi runners. I have been following along with everyone but have been kind of boring in my running, so not too many updates.

Tomorrow I have a 12 mile run planned. Last week I did 10 miles. I was feeling sort of off, but I manged to finish the run I had planned. Then the next day I had a blinding headache and the day after that had a cough for one night followed by laryngitis and sinusitis. Now, it is one week later and I am mostly well and have kept up with my runs, kids and work, throughout.

woohoo, go me! (nobody else says it ;))

Since my mention of a May marathon I have spoken with several other runners who have done significant bodily damage with training and racing.

So, it is my current plan to go for a half marathon in January and see how things come about for May. I'm thinking another half would be pretty cool too. We'll see.

let's have some cool running in November!

Back again!

It rained when I was running yesterday so I can answer the question about what I wear. Actually it more misted than rained. And the weather was kind of warm- low 60s/high 50s. I wore a baseball hat, tee shirt and poly long underwear top which soon came off to be tied around my waist.

OK, not much help there, sorry.

My 12 mile run felt great. I ran very carefully as there were wet leaves covering all surfaces. The funny thing about my soreness is that it has very little to do with my long run and everything to do with a 20 min power sculp video that I did the day before. Squats and lunges kicked my a$$!

Have a great SAturday everyone! :)

Woohoo, go Kitty!!!

Hello!

I'm having a recovery day today but yesterday I ran a 26km (just over 16 miles) mountain running race for the first time :)

I've previously one other "mountain race" but it was only over 16kms (10 miles and the time was 1hr 25mins) and around one peak. This one was around (and up!) three.

It rained, it was muddy, it was very slippery, there were more rocks and logs than trail and some sections were so steep you almost had to crawl the trail was so vertical (I am not joking either! One section I seriously almost WAS on my knees).

But I DID it! *happy dance*

It took 3 hours on the dot which I am more than happy with given the running conditions and a knee threatening to buckle. That distance running on the road usually takes me about 2hrs 15mins give or take...but thats flat and nice and even(ish) lol.

Tomorrow I think i'll just take a nice slow jog around the suburb in the morning...loosen up all these aching muscles :P

wow, lyria--- that's AWESOME :)

Hey everyone. I have a question for you runners.

How many days a week do you run and for how far? I'm really starting to enjoy running but only do between 1-2 miles so far and usually only twice a week. My other workout days I do things like a stairmill.

I think I'd like to run 5 days a week and was just curious about how often you long distance runners go. My goal is to be able to eventually do 5 and 10 k's and possibly branch into sprint tri's.

I'm not a long distance runner but I am in a 5k training program.

I run 4 days/week and currently i'm doing run/walks (more run than walk) for a little over 2 miles. In the next few weeks, I'm going to be building up to 3.5 miles in preparation for the 5k.

After that, I hope to enter a 10k training program (or at least follow a 10k training plan).

Hi MotoMichelle!

At this point I am running 4 days a week. On Mondays and Wednesdays I will run to my worksite from the train station--5 miles. On Thurs or Fri I try to do a longer run (8-12--trying for more) and during the weekend I will do a 6 mile run.

When I started back in the spring I ran 4-6 days but shorter distances and more treadmill than outside. Soon, winter is upon us.... might be a change in routine coming. But I hope not. I feel a bit in a good groove. :)

hope everyone is having a cool running monday! :)

Thanks Nelie and Kitty.

I think I'm going to start running 4-5 days a week. I've had this excuse in my head of "Well, I don't want to overdo it or hurt myself!" but I really think that's just an excuse or really just a bit of a mental block. :^:

You might want to look for a 5k training plan or 10k training plan online. From what I've read, in order to increase your mileage, you do need to do so gradually.

Hi everyone,

I had a rubbish week last week for running - stayed up to watch US elections, then had a couple of nights out which ruined my training plan. Sigh. But tomorrow I'm going for a seven mile run and hope to get back on track.

I'm keen to get faster after I ran ten miles in 1hr40 a couple of weeks ago. I've started trying to introduce a few very short (5-6 x 1 min) intervals of faster running into my regular 5 mile runs. It's really tiring! Any tips for how to improve my speed?

Happy running everyone (in the wind, rain, dark and cold ...).

Originally Posted by midwife:
Woohoo, go Kitty!!!

in our next lives let's be neighbors and practice together :)

Originally Posted by southofriver:
Hi everyone,

I'm keen to get faster after I ran ten miles in 1hr40 a couple of weeks ago. I've started trying to introduce a few very short (5-6 x 1 min) intervals of faster running into my regular 5 mile runs. It's really tiring! Any tips for how to improve my speed?

Happy running everyone (in the wind, rain, dark and cold ...).

ok, so that's 10 min miles- right? that's my goal ;)

Originally Posted by kittycat40:
in our next lives let's be neighbors and practice together :)

Sounds great!

MotoMichelle -- I've been running for a while, and I'm training for half-marathon distance races. So, I run usually 4 days per week. 3 days are around 5 mile distance, and the 4th day is the "long run" for distance training, of anywhere from 9-15 miles depending on where I am in my training cycle. I use the other days for cross training, stretching, weight training, etc. The rule of thumb is not to extend your distance by more than 10% per week. This gives your legs a chance to adapt to the new stresses gradually. Ramping up mileage too quickly is the most common cause for injury. Just my 2 cents!

Southofriver -- the way to get faster is to run faster -- speed intervals. You are on the right track. If you look at runnersworld.com, they have quite a few different suggestions about how to do speed work. I find a lot of that confusing, personally, so I usually just do 5 minute sprint intervals on the treadmill, it's easier for me to keep track of! I'll warm up for 15 minutes at an easy pace, then do 5 minutes at a faster pace, 5 minutes recovery, repeat several times. You can pick shorter speed intervals, longer recovery, whatever works. Gradually you will be able increase your faster "pace", extend the intervals, do more repeats, etc. I also find that doing 5K races makes me faster, because it is one long speed workout! Increasing speed takes time, so be patient. The more intense your speed workout, the shorter it should be too. You should feel tired when you're done, but not completely wiped out. Hope that helps!!

Nelie - I will look into some training programs. Thanks. :)

Originally Posted by MBN:
MotoMichelle -- I've been running for a while, and I'm training for half-marathon distance races. So, I run usually 4 days per week. 3 days are around 5 mile distance, and the 4th day is the "long run" for distance training, of anywhere from 9-15 miles depending on where I am in my training cycle. I use the other days for cross training, stretching, weight training, etc. The rule of thumb is not to extend your distance by more than 10% per week. This gives your legs a chance to adapt to the new stresses gradually. Ramping up mileage too quickly is the most common cause for injury. Just my 2 cents!

Thanks, that makes sense. It's been a slow progress so far for me. Got to 1 mile a little over a month or so ago and every 2-3 weeks have bumped up another 1/2 mile. Just hit the 2 mile mark last week.

Hi all,

I finally...FINALLY ran a complete 5k. No stopping, no walking, just running. For me this was the hardest distance to attain. I am hoping now that I have done it once, I can keep my runs near this 5k distance and eventually add in more in a month or so.

I ran the 5k in about 34 minutes - I wasn't officially keeping time since I wasn't sure if I would get tired and just do my usual 2-2.5 miles. So I sort of gauged my pace and ended up at 34 minutes. So I guess that is decent for a first try.

Congrats Cakses! :cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

Originally Posted by cakses:
Hi all,

I finally...FINALLY ran a complete 5k. No stopping, no walking, just running. For me this was the hardest distance to attain. I am hoping now that I have done it once, I can keep my runs near this 5k distance and eventually add in more in a month or so.

I ran the 5k in about 34 minutes - I wasn't officially keeping time since I wasn't sure if I would get tired and just do my usual 2-2.5 miles. So I sort of gauged my pace and ended up at 34 minutes. So I guess that is decent for a first try.

rock and roll!! :)

Decent run today. I should call it good, but it's too much hard work to use that word ;) But I did somewhere between 2.5 and 2.75 miles, and didn't have any knee problem, whereas Monday I had a lot.

Plus, I wore my new capris (too cold for shorts now) - I got two (Danskin) for $3.60 each! Size medium! Maybe not *exactly* what I wanted, but for that price, while my size is still changing, it was great. Here's hoping by the time the weather gets warm enough next year, my shorts will be too big ;).

Ran 2 miles today then did some intervals for 20 minutes after that. Feeling a bit better about my running. Maybe I have actually gained some endurance!

So this is my last week of walk intervals intermixed with my run. I have to admit I'm scared. I've come a long way though from just 5 weeks ago where I was running 1 minute at a time.

It was cold, drizzly and dark this morning but I ran! I had to force myself because last night was my running group and I stayed up a little too late after getting home late.

Tomorrow, my physical therapist is going to do some treadmill work with me to help work on my form. Then Saturday is my long run day with my last walk intervals. Did I mention I'm nervous? I am.

Nelie -- eliminating walk intervals is a worthy goal, and you very close to achieving that! But ... so what if you do still throw in a walk interval from time to time? So much depends on the day -- the weather, how you feel, how much sleep you had, how hard you worked out the day before, how you've been fueling, etc. What I think is most important is that you are OUT there, moving, consistently getting in the distance/time. Walking/jogging or a combination, it's all calories burned. I did the run/walk thing for YEARS before I progressed to running only. And I still walk to get a drink, because I'm not coordinated enough to drink and run at the same time!! So, maybe you're putting too much pressure on yourself? Just a thought!

I did a couple of 5 milers this week, and now am in "taper mode" for a half marathon on Sunday. My last half was last February, so I'm hoping for a new PR? Maybe? We'll see!

Thanks ladies! I am following the c25k and was going to run on my off day even though tha plan doesn't call for it. I came on here and you ladies told me you wouldnt recommend it. Said that keeping to the schedule would keep me excited... WELL I couldnt run last night and now I am dying to run tonight. Awesome, thanks for the great advice!

Originally Posted by nelie:
So this is my last week of walk intervals intermixed with my run. I have to admit I'm scared. I've come a long way though from just 5 weeks ago where I was running 1 minute at a time.
...
Then Saturday is my long run day with my last walk intervals. Did I mention I'm nervous? I am.

Don't be nervous ... Anticipate! Running without walking breaks is sometimes challenging, but it also feels amazing. :D

Nelie, you can go as slowly or quickly as you want, right?? I think sometimes I would walk FASTER than I am running....

you go girl :)

Thanks for the support guys. My training plan for Monday says run 2 miles, walk as needed so yeah I know I can walk if I need to. I can also 'run' as slowly as I want so if I need to shuffle, I can.

About 2.75 miles again today. But no knee trouble, yay!

Julie - You really are one of my inspirations on this web site!!!