What have you been running lately?

This weekend I ran my 16th marathon. Mom, dad, and I are running one in every state so this one was the West Virginia Hatfield/McCoy Marathon. It was lovely! We really enjoyed the course. It was hilly, but in WV, any course will have hills! We loved running through the mountain scenery, most of the time with streams running alongside us. The water was much faster than we were, however! ;)

It was one of our slower marathons, at 6 hours 14 minutes. None of us had run a long run in months and dad took a bad fall while out running last week. His right knee and ankle were bruised and a little swollen but of course he ran the marathon anyway. He's nuts. But we all finished, which was the point. Another state down!

Have you done one in Arizona yet?

Not yet! We will probably try to do two in a week for that -- Arizona one Saturday and New Mexico the next. It makes them a bit cheaper than taking separate trips. Do you have a favorite Arizona marathon?

I've got my place booked in the Birmingham Half-Marathon on Oct 11 and have been just doing a few short runs to get my hand back in after the horror of the "Fun" Run. Did 3.15 miles today on a hot evening. I have downloaded a trainnig plan, the same one as last year and it lasts 16 weeks; hopefully I can complete it all this time and will have a proper go at the speedwork etc.

Have fun with your plan Lefty, that's really cool! Hope your dad's feeling OK now.

Oh - do you get to do Alaska and Hawaii too?

There are not many Arizona marathons. A few small ones where no other runner would be near you for many miles/hours...boring, if you ask me...and then the Rock'n'Roll Marathon in January which is a major party of 30,000+ and a great, fun time. You can't beat AZ weather for running in January either.

Good luck with training, Lyzzy! Let's avoid any injuries this time around! ;)

And dad is getting better. He's not running all week to make sure he's recovered and doesn't do any more damage.

We will be doing Alaska and Hawaii! Everyone wants to come with us for the Hawaii one, of course. I think I'm looking forward to Alaska more though. :)

Once, Arizona in January sounds like the only way to go! I can't imagine a marathon there this time of year!

Thanks Lefty. Now I have the leg sorted out, I am reasonably confident I will be OK, bar any actual accidents... Also, I haven't really slacked off after the Fun Run like we did last year - so starting the Half Training on Monday from a position of running happily this week, rather than starting from scratch after about 6 weeks off (the Half was 3 weeks later last year)

I did an easy 3 miles last night. It was hot and humid and my first run since the marathon so slow and easy seemed the way to go. I certainly wasn't in a hurry.

Well done lefty. It's humid here too!

I have my first training session tonight - a 2 mi easy run (I doubt even I can run at 12:53 min per mile but I'll go as slow as feels comfortable) but I'm already worrying about the 5 mile tempo run on Thurs (1 mile warm, 3 miles @ 11.16 pace which is faster than I normally go, 1 mile cool) but I'll see how I do. I have to plot out some 1600m and 800m bits for the next week. I am going to try to manage a bit faster for the right distances rather than giving up on that idea wholly like I did last year and just going for the full distance. But I might need some cheering from the sidelines!!

I've never liked running at a predetermined pace! But I know it's really good for building speed and must be done sometimes. Good for you for doing it, Lyzzy! I'll be doing tempos soon too to be more prepared for November's marathon. We can commiserate on speedy runs together. ;)

Lefty - cool - that will help! I did some thinking while I was out today running a bit faster than I should have... and came to this conclusion:

I realised that last time round I think I put the emphasis too much on the long runs on a Sunday, I remember doing them faster than the plan said... but actually need to put my effort into the Thursday interval/ speedwork runs. When you look at how many really scary ones of those there are, it's not that bad. And I get plenty of flexitime so I think I will probably take off at least 1 in 4 Thursdays or Thursday mornings and do them then, well fuelled and with some protein for lunch afterwards. Might be better than dragging round after work for hours trying to make myself run faster.

Any thoughts on that plan, anyone?

That's a good plan, Lyzzy. You might be more motivated that way. I always do best with a more flexible schedule.

Well I didn't do well on my speedwork last week but I did SOME of the speedwork and the full distance and it was VERY hot and muggy. Did 4 instead of 6 mi on Sunday as was v tired and in Edinburgh (so hilly). Still tired today so not running today but will do Wed / Fri / Sun. Am being less hard on myself than last year!

Hope everyone else is feeling OK and doing well!

Cross country season has begun! Husband and I coach a junior high team. We are doing "optional" practice right now. Official practices start in a couple more weeks. For now some of our runners are still on vacations, at camp, etc. Last night was our biggest turnout so far with 19 kids.

I've been bringing Miles to about every other practice. He can run 2 miles with me pretty easily but starts to tire soon after that. I don't like to push him since he's not even 4 months old. I don't want him to grow up not to love running with me!

Cool stuff!

I am in week 6 of my half-marathon training and doing better than last year as I have found some flatter routes to do the tempo and speedwork runs on.

Going to a half-marathon seminar at the University tomorrow - luckily taking running partner Jen so we can be old and unfit compared to the rest of em, together!!

How's everyone else doing?

We've been a quiet group lately! Have we all stopped running in the August heat?

Husband and I are running with our CC team on weekdays. I've been bringing Miles to practice too. The kids love having him run with them. He's sort of our mascot. Miles loves it too. I'm pretty sure running is the highlight of his day. Today is an interval workout for the team so I'm letting Miles stay home. We ran about three miles just the two of us out in our college's home CC course. They have a hundred acres or so of CC trails. It's all grass and the trails are mowed, the not-trail-areas are waist-high grass. It's such a great place to run but hardly anyone ever goes there. Makes it that much better for me!

I've had a bit of a lack of running as my weaker foot/ankle were hurting a bit. Did cross-training to keep my hand in, for a week - was mainly paranoid about wrecking my foot for our holiday! Said holiday in Italy, well I took gear but the weather was REALLY HOT! In the 80s and very humid. Managed 2.2 miles on Friday, what with the humidity and being higher up, I think it was about a 4 miler here!! Anyway I gritted my teeth and went out for my scheduled 9 miler this morning (got back yesterday evening) and it went fine - I was close to home and round and round the park (seeing Mr LyzzyBee every now and again as he did faster circuits*) and all fine if a bit slow - but then I've hardly had any proper fuel while on holiday, all white not wholemeal and not much meat - so pleased with that.

* mr LB did his first 3.5 mile run - So proud of him!!

Oh, I love Italy, Lyzzy! Great spot for a vacation! Humidity is horrid, isn't it? Definitely one of the worst running conditions. Congrats to Mr LyzzyBee! He's becoming quite the runner!

Mom and I did 6 miles on Saturday. Miles did the first 3 with us. I don't like to take him too far yet since he's less than a year old. I haven't done more than 4 miles in a while so it was nice to do something a little longer. And extra great because I got to run with mom and chat the whole time! :)

I did 10.5 miles the other night. I'm training for the Chicago 1/2 marathon in about a week and a half.

Excellent, Ink! I've never run that half or full but I've heard great things about it. Has training been going well?

Ooh good luck inkdrinker! I did 10 miles on Sunday - my half marathon is in 6 weeks and it feels good to have got to this distance this far ahead after my awful injury and will-I-won't-I think last year!

Mind you I'm shattered now! Not from the running though - from the rest of the long weekend! The running was brill! And ***shh*** I met OH Matthew in the park for the last 2 miles after my fave 8 mile loop, he had done 1 mile already... but he couldn't catch up with me. Oh YESS!

But he did well to rack up 3.5 mi again and just trotted round the 2 miler we were meant to do together this evening. Go Matthew!

Thanks all.

Yeah, trainings going fairly well... Except when the heat and humidity are up. Then I feel like I'm sucking oatmeal through a tube. I'm going to run a short one tonight (6-7 miles).

lol -- sucking oatmeal through a tube is a good way to say that. I know how that feels. We get a lot of humidity around here.

So I'm 3 weeks from the half marathon now - doing quite well for me, most of the training sessions done even if I don't do quite all of the speedwork - and I have got faster too!

But:

1. running partner (I haven't been training with her but we do our races together every time) has had to drop out due to a health issue which has affected her training - I completely understand but it was a bit of a blow. How to cope with it on my own now, esp that bit at the beginning when everyone is in groups or pairs of friends?

2. I was at 10 miles yesterday, a pedestrian stepped in front of me, I cannoned off him and skidded on my side up someone's drive. Ouch! Want sympathy!!

Hope everyone else's running is going well!

Oh, ouch!! Do you have road burn? You definitely have my sympathy! Take a day off or something. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Too bad about your running partner too. It is more lonely to run a race alone but you'll be great anyway. Hooray for seeing the effects of speed workouts! That makes them easier to keep doing.

Jon and I went camping this weekend and took our pup too. We ran 8 miles on Saturday morning and 5 on Sunday, all on trails through the woods. It was lots of fun. Miles had the time of his life. Today I am a little stiff and sore in spots but that's what I get for doing a bunch of trail miles when I'm used to roads. Trails are more fun though!

Lefty - luckily I fell over sideways quite slowly (felt like my centre of gravity went slowly over) so I just got a few scrapes up my right forearm, but I'm really stiff on the right upper arm (now mouse use and typing is difficult) and my knees and leg muscles in general hurt where I must have kind of buckled. Wah! I went into work but came home again for midday and I've been on the sofa with rubbishy celeb magazines since. Think I'll have an anti-inflammatory with my dinner and I don't have a hard run scheduled till Thursday, hopefuly will be ok by then (but will be aware of how I feel)

Thanks for the encouragement about the run. I should have plenty of people around teh route, plus it's teh WORLD half-mara championships ahead of us, Paula Radcliffe and all -how cool is that, so I can think I am in their footsteps. I made friends on the race last year when I did half of it on my own cos Jen had to drop back - it's just a bit daunting.

Trail weekend sounds a lot of fun. I am pleased my OH comes out running with me now (esp as he was there to pick me up and get me home as just behind me on the run) and it is a cool thing to do. How did the pup do? Enjoy the trails, I bet!

Oh goodness, Miles LOVED camping and running in the trails. I think he feels like home is really boring now. But he was completely worn out by the time we left Sunday afternoon. For the first time in his life, Saturday night he chose to nap instead of hang out with us even though we were making s'mores at the campfire. Usually it doesn't matter how tired he is, if something is going on, he's part of it. At least now I know he does get tired. It just takes some long trail runs and chasing smells through meadows for a couple of days to do it!

Hey everybody :D I've been lazy about posting around here, but it is nice to see that there is still a group of you staying fairly constant. Running season is slowly creeping to it's finale, and I hope everyone's training is going well!

I've been keeping up with my barefoot running, and I'm considering a race for late October. If I go for it, I'll be shooting for either a marathon or 50k, but we will see how my training goes over the next few weeks.

Tyro,
I, too, have been absent from these posts for a long time, but have kept my running going and now my wife and I run a 10K every Sunday AND I run in Vibram five fingers. I love them, but I sure feel every small rock...and the desert has a lot of them.

I'm here, munching a lot of veggies, fruit and wholewheat as I have my half-marathon on Sunday. Whee! Actually trained for it properly this time too!

OnceaRunner, that is awesome to hear that you have made the switch. It is certainly a different experience. Right now I am reading my way through Lore of Running and working on developing my knowledge and form. This winter I am purchasing a pair of VFF Treks to help me run through the cold trails this winter. Hopefully the first winter I will have trained all the way through... Michigan winters were much more difficult to run in.

First the knowledge base, then the training base; maybe next year I can work up to something genuinely incredible.

I did my half-marathon yesterday, report here: http://lyzzybee.livejournal.com - and apparently there was a guy running it barefoot - but carrying his trainers! A suddern convert to the cause??

I'm doing a half tomorrow. Race start is supposed to be 33 degrees F (Yeee-uck). I ran a short (5.5 mile ) run last night and it was painfully cold. After tomorrow, I retreat to my treadmill until very early spring training for two half marathons.

Ooh inkdrinker good luck - though you'll warm up as you run, won't you?

Ink, I hope your half went well! Running in the cold certainly takes a lot of motivation. But I would rather the cold than a treadmill. I don't think I've ever gotten farther than 3 miles on a treadmill.

I've actually been running quite a bit lately. A friend and I have started running together in the mornings 3 times a week with our dogs. The pups are loving it too! Yesterday husband and I ran 6 miles and found a wooded area with trails that is supported by the local university and open to the public. We are very excited about it!

Lefty that sounds lovely - both the runs with the friend and the new area to run in.

I went out on Sunday and did 5.5 miles quite happily (some round the park then off when OH went home round the roads and through the other park). I'm having to up my game a bit (and keep a food diary - ech!) as I've managed to win 3 months of personal training from the Running4Women online group I belong to (it is UK Athletics linked so I get all the benefits of that without having to go and run round at the back of a group) anyway I need to be doing something before I start training properly! Might even blow up the silver ball thing for doing sit-ups with...

The half that was a nightmare...

In the first 1/4 mile there was something in my shoe. It was rubbing sooo much, I knew it would be a blister very quickly if I didn't take care of it. So, for the first time ever, in a race, I stopped. After taking my shoe of and putting it back on several times, I finally realized it was the sock.

Okay, so I've got that fixed. I'm pissed that I've lost 1 - 2 minutes, but if I keep going, I might be able to make up the time.

7 miles in, a blister I had gotten the day before the race (just walking... and I never get blisters) starts to hurt horribly. I talk myself out of the pain and I keep running.

10 miles in, my head starts to get extremely light and I nearly pass out/fall over. About a 10th of mile past the 10 mile marker, I start walking and grab two waters. I walk all the way to the 11 mile water station and grab two more waters.

A short ways past the 11 mile water, I start to feel better. So, I start running again. This race was a Marathon and a Half Marathon. At the split for the two races, I go right and keep on jogging. I get to a 13 mile marker and I can't hear or see the finish anywhere. I turn around and look at the runners behind me. Their tags are all yellow. Mine is pink. Son of a ^%$#@ I've gone the wrong way. At this point I'm sooo pissed off that I turn around and walk to the Half finish line... I've now run/walked approximately 15 miles. My time is pathetic and people are at the finish cheering people on saying things like: "Hey great job!" or "You did it!" I was so mad at myself, I wanted to do some not so nice things to those very nice people.

gah gah gah gah GAH!

Oh no! So sorry to hear about this, what a nightmare!!

Onwards and upwards I suppose... really feel for you though - these things are so easy to have happen.

Thanks

I signed up the next day for another half in the spring.

(I started on a new medication a week before the last half. I think it dehydrated me more than usual and that's what caused the nearly passing out thing.)

Wow Inkdrinker. That sucks or bites or whatever term you might use depending on where you live. That is certainly a horror story.
A few races from now and it will be in your past as a distant, horrible story.
Get 'em next race!

Not many active runner readers?

Or maybe we are to busy running to sit online :)

Suprised to find this group on here.

Been running for a couple of years now.
Finished my first full marathon in Kansas City October, 17. They day after my 34h birthday :)

Good to see others here.. keep putting one foot in front of the other!

Had an amazing week here weather wise. Beautiful calm clear mornings around 40-50 degrees with the full moon setting on one side and the sun rising on the other. Beautiful Fall runs rock.

Andy

Hi Andy - did you come over here on my suggestion, there was someone in the non-fic readers' group who mentioned a few running books they were planning to read...

Anyway, welcome. We come and go a bit with the threads I think but I've certainly found welcome responses and support in here.

I am so enjoying the autumn weather here in the UK - lovely crisp days and nice cool rain - I don't like running in the heat! Planning a 7-8 mile slow tomorrow... want to slowly build up to my spring half-marathon having done my October one fairly recently!

That was probably me.

About half way into Once a Runner. I am not used to fiction reading though so it has been an adjustment.

Ultramarathon Man is next.

Andy

How are you finding Once a Runner then? I do like reading running books although I'm careful not to read too many; want to retain some kind of an identity apart from Liz The Runner (she says, sitting here in her running gear, clicking away to check her route...)

Thought I'd say 'Hello!' I guess there aren't many running readers using this site...

I'm just returning to training after 4 months out with a stress fracture. I missed the whole summer, and now I have a cold wet winter to look forward to.

Anyway, have any of you read 'More Fire: How to run the Kenyan Way', and what did you think?

Ok, Parker's writing style is alittle over the top with adjectives for my taste. I am used to reading biographies and history though.

Andy

Hello third cheek and welcome. How did you do your stress fracture - was it a running injury? I prefer cold wet winters for training... anyway hope you enjoy getting back into it.

I'd love if more runners kept these threads active - I have found people on here really supportive, even though we're all quite different (we have someone who does cross-country barefoot, then there's slow old me with my big trainers and my love of roads...) and not the injokes and testosterone of some of the running websites...

Andy - I have to admit I've read mainly running biographies rather than novels - is it based on fact though? Sounds a bit flowery but I will give it a go if I come across a copy.

Welcome, Andy and Third Cheek! We all check in from time to time on here, just not daily. Glad to have you!

Andy, I loved Ultramarathon Man. He is way more dedicated than I ever could be, but it was a fun read.

Third, what a bummer to be healed just in time for the cold. We've been lucky weather-wise this fall. I'm in northern Indiana and today was about 70 and sunny.

Lyzzy, do you use Google Maps? I love that for checking route distances.

It's 3C and snowing here. The cold wet winter will soon become a cold dry winter, which is stunningly beautiful but shockingly bad for the legs. My stress fracture came about from spending the long winter running on ice. It was down to -21C at its worst in February. The ice didn't clear until early April, so you can imagine that preparing for a May marathon puts knees, ankles, shins, everything at extra risk.

I'm hope to avoid repeating the same injury this time around. New shoes, reduced mileage, and no hill sessions or speed workouts until the ice is clear.

Here's hoping.

It's Estonia, by the way!

Lefty - I use www.walkjogrun.net - it's free and you can save your routes and look up other people's to get new ideas - really excellent. Plus the people that run it are approachable, have a blog about their own running etc, on twitter and facebook too. It's been a great resource over my time as a new and established runner.

Third - wow - actually running on ice? how do you grip? I am hoping it's not going to be an icy winter here in the (obviously milder) UK, as I really fear slipping over and I've got an April half-marathon. I've never 'met' anyone from Estonia - is there a big culture of running there? It's really gained a lot of interest in the UK in the last few years, even - loads of people out whenever I go.

Lyzzy - Running on ice isn't so bad as you might think. You have to experiemtn a little with shoes and style but generally the difficulty depends on the kind of ice. Wet ice is slippiest as you'd expect. Fresh snow is ok but hard work. Slush is unpleasant but refrozen slush is worst overall - hard, slippery and very uneven. Hard compacted snow-ice is fine - if you continue steadily in a straight line. What caused my injury was uneven hard ice, from compact snow and re-frozen wet ice. It's like running on very uneven and icy cobbles - bad for your ankles and knees!

Running is very popular here, though if the winter is good then cross-country skiing is the biggest mass-participation sport. Estonia's top marathoner recently was Pavel Loskutov. He ran 2:08:53 in 2002, and was second at the 2003? European chamionships. He retired last year. I should mention that I'm English, but I've been living in Estonia for several years.

This morning I ran with Miles (my pup), my friend Lindsay, and her dog Sunny. We were running through grass trails on the local university's cross country course. The course is great for running, especially with dogs, so we love going there. Today after running for about a half hour, I realized my car key was no longer on my person. I always run with it in my pocket and have never lost it before. So we backtracked walking and thankfully found it within about a half-mile. I was more worried about it because it's one of those keys with the keyless entry attached so it would have been a couple hundred dollars to replace!

After that, we ran for another half hour then let the dogs run around off leash without us for a bit before heading home. Miles is so well behaved after these runs!

Third - wow - interesting stuff. Actually I'm sure wet leaves are as problematic as ice really. Anyway am really going to try to train properly through the winter so we'll see. THanks for the info on running in Estonia - interesting.

Lefty - what a nightmare! Glad you found them again!

I'm reeling from managing 2 miles @ 10 mins 16 secs per mile. That's VERY fast for me! And the whole 4.14 miles in 44:26. Whee!

Hi from Australia. I've been lurking for a while and thought it was time to say hello. I'm an older runner (50s) and have been running for about 18 months. I've done a hand full of half marathons so far. The weather's getting warmer here and there are not many longer events on the calendar so I've been doing shorter runs recently.

I often take my dog, a dalmatian/jack russell cross, on runs up to 10km. I'm sure he adds about 1 minute/km just keeping his attention and making sure he stays in position. There's an extensive network of bike paths where I am so crossing roads isn't a big problem. I have a long extendable lead and he starts out way in front but lags back after 4 or 5km, especially if I'm doing hills or sprints. He's always very eager but I sometimes feel sorry for him not knowing whether he's going to get a gentle jog or something a bit more challenging!

Hi gimboid

A friend of mine a little older than me (25 years?), who was a competitive cross-country runner in the hayday of British middle-distance running in the late 70s, told me that he did around 50% of his running with his dog. However, he took him off the lead most of the way. He would run through the Yorkshire Dales, the dog trotting along and occasionally lagging behind to sniff a tree-trunk, and if the dog went hurtling ahead after a rabbit he would pick up his running pace for couple of minutes until he'd caught up. In effect it was a fartlek session. His other running was done alone over longer distances at a steadier pace. He thought it worked pretty well for him, though I guess letting the dog off the lead might be risky, depending on his temperament and your environment. He would start and finish with the dog on the lead, which was pretty short - old school.

However, he had a Border Collie - they run all day...

Meddelandet ändrat av dess författare, nov 10, 2009, 1:54pm.

Hi Gimboid and welcome! I'm impressed you're doing half-maras after only 18 months or less - took a few years to build up to that!

Love the dog stories!

Welcome to the group, Gimboid! I'm glad you spoke up. I'm sure your dalmatian/russel is happy to run with you regardless of what the pace ends up being.

Third, I would love to run with Miles off leash but he's still young and I don't trust his attention span. We've started practicing off leash for small things, like going to get the mail, and I have hopes that I'll be able to run off leash with him someday but right now he is too puppy-spastic. Miles is a Pointer, another breed that runs all day. He loves to run, which is perfect because I wanted a running buddy.