The Running Thread - 2019

5k Turkey Trot for St Jude recap

This race was my first in my new community, and an introduction to the running store that seems to put on the majority of the races in the area. This is a small race, the registration site says limited to 150 but DH thinks there were closer to 200, and is a double loop course with an out and back section at the end around a local sports complex.

Temperature was 31, with a real feel of 30. After a hard right a few yards after the start the group spread out pretty quickly. We finished in 46.38, an average pace of 14:59 and while this pace was an effort I didn’t push hard. This pace was a huge accomplishment for me as my most recent walks were in the 17 minute range. It gives me hope that when I am able to start seriously training again getting back to where I was is possible.

The race shirt was cotton. A nice heavy cotton shirt, the type seen as giveaways 20 years ago. It is a nice shirt, and may last for 20 years, but the only other cotton race shirts I have are WDW 5ks.

Things learned about my new running community:
1) Race maps are not posted on line
2) If you want a shirt, or any give away, make sure you register by the date posted. We did, so received our shirts and medals, but 40 people didn’t so no shirts for them.
3) Race results are not posted on line for most events. You can print out a ticket at the finish with your time if you want it. They seem to post only for the half marathon and marathon distances.
 
So I ran the skinny Turkey yesterday. The race is a local 5k/10k/Half Marathon that's put on by one of the local racing companies. We are usually travelling for Thanksgiving, but since we were staying home this year I was excited to give it a try again.

They course is primarily rolling hills, so it's fairly challenging. It's a smaller race I think there were about 400 in the half marathon and they had limited pacing options. I think there were a couple thousand people when the other races were included.

I've run a couple FS series races in the past and they usually gave out pretty interesting finisher swag. They've given out Visors, Socks and Sleeves on other races. The race shirt this year was a pretty soft long sleeve hybrid t. I registered a couple days before the race so I got a short sleeve shirt that feels like it's made out of cardboard. They didn't have any finisher swag this year. Also the medals were delayed at customs so there was no finisher medal. On the course they had 2 gu stations. They only had water at the hydration stations and at the finish they only had water, bagels and orange slices.

I don't think I'll do this race again. It was slightly less expensive than other races, but it really felt like it was being run on a shoestring budget. Most of the other races around here have Gatorade on the course, and have more options at the finish.

455511

IT's SANTA!! I know him!
 
Wow I haven't posted in here for a while, since before Wine and Dine (which was also my first USA runDisney experience)!

October running totals: 101km (63 miles)
November running totals: Interestingly, also 101km - was at 91km this morning, so went out for a 10k just so I could hit my monthly running target of 100km!

Pretty pleased that I actually managed to hit my running targets for both October and November. This is especially since this time frame included a 2 week WDW trip - 18 days in total if I include the travel time it takes for me to get to/from WDW, plus an additional few days for jetlag recovery.

That being said I did run a total of 36km while in WDW since I ran all 3 races at Wine and Dine. And I PRed both the 10k (just under 1:10) and half (under 2:40)! Still not very fast but I'm very happy with the times. The weather was lovely for the races though and I think it was a pretty huge contributor to me being able to PR the 10k/half...

I really want to go back for another runDisney weekend but might be difficult due to logistics (annual leave plus the sheer travel distance/time involved). Will have to see what happens...

Anyway, one more month of the year to go with my monthly 100km running target! Then I'll need to decide if this is something I want to continue next year or if I should revise my running goals...
 


October totals:
Miles: 50.5

November totals:
Miles: 48.4

November should have been higher than October but, thanks to a yucky stomach bug, I missed a week.

Crosspoint 5K Race Recap:

This is a local race that I run every year. I found out about it 3 years ago.
The forecast for the morning of the race was RAIN and lots of it. I left my plan of how I was going to run it (if I was even going to run it) open to however I felt at start time. I’ve been having some hip issues along with the stomach bug at the beginning of the week so I just wasn’t sure.

It wasn’t raining when I arrived. I checked in and got my bib and bag. By the time I made it back out to my car (just a few minutes), the rain had started. By start time, it was pouring. Thankfully I was smart enough to wear my “old” shoes and not my “brand-new-arrived-the-day-before” shoes.

I made the decision to run it about 2 minutes before start time. I decided I’d treat it as a long run due to the leaf and straw covered road; that partnered with pouring rain and the many hills made me afraid I’d slip and fall.

Mile 1 - 11:11 (all down hill)
Mile 2 - 14:11 (all up hill)
Mile 3 - 11:35 (mostly down hill)

Overall pace was 12:27 and my long run pace is 13:33, so I kicked it up some without realizing it.

Finish time 39:22
This was over 5 mins faster than the previous year (that I ran/walked due to injury) and over 4 mins slower than my first year. So definitely not a PR. However, I did come in 2nd in my age group :confused3. There were 3 total :laughing:.

I love this race for the convenience factor - 10 mins from my house. My one complaint is they stopped giving medals to the top runners last year. They said it’s mostly adults that win and what are they going to do with a medal. Uh, do they not realize that’s why I run :oops::D. The only way I’ll ever place again is if the weather is bad enough to keep people away again :teeth:
 


November Totals:

Running: 175 miles
Average Pace: 9:34
Total Elevation Gain: 21,308 ft
Steps: 575,556

A good month: most monthly miles YTD. Thanksgiving week was the biggest week YTD: 47.65 miles, and today was the longest run YTD: 15.1 miles.

This was peak week before the Rocket City Half in 2 weeks. I seemed to have survived with some minor creakiness, but nothing serious.
 
November 2019
running: 116.2 mi
ave pace: 11:07 min/mi
total time: 21.52 hr

My mileage is down almost 12 miles from October, as I have been tapering for my marathon tomorrow! My pace is a bit faster, though.

tennis: 20 h

Also down a bit from October, since there aren't matches scheduled from the day before Thanksgiving through the weekend after.
 
87.8 miles
5172 feet

Slowed down this month. The next two months will probably be about the same or less due to the winter break rush and then the film fest in January.

Still happy, though. I’m already over a year of consistent running which is new. If I could just stick to my diet, that would be great.

Sushi ended up not being a thing on thanksgiving, I got sick and stayed home with my daughter and had pizza. Inari sushi tomorrow though if I can motivate myself.

Photos from Wednesday’s run. (And babby)81CBE80C-0948-4CAA-B9CE-E0953B8A04ED.jpeg4E45CE03-FFE3-4C43-A07A-7D150EFA96A8.jpegF3C19A94-9208-4E57-B0E4-7FE0E6360A01.jpegA6EE9BBE-F50E-4ECC-90BA-E7D70D736734.jpeg21439655-7D89-48A3-8C09-ED3007D87236.jpeg
 

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I am literally on a 6.5 mile run right now but I had to ask... does anyone else get really itchy when they run in the cold? It’s in the 30s today but sunny. I remember being itchy during cold runs even in high school over 10 years ago.
I sometimes have a bit exzema in winter if I am stressed and sweat in a rough fabric. Do you get itchy only on spots with a different fabric, like wool? It could be that the skin is dryer in winter due to heating. Or wool allergies. I know some people are allergic to cold as well. Good luck figuring it out.
 
November Totals:

Total Miles - 164.58 mi
Total Time - 22:43:37
Average Pace - 8.17/mi
Avg HR - 140

Pretty decent month. Pace and HR stayed about the same with a slight increase in mileage from October. After running my third fastest half earlier in the month, I decided to sign up another one in early Dec to see what I can do there. It is in Bryan/College Station, so there will some hills compared to my other races this fall.
 

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