2014 Running Thread

Completed my first regular 5k run this morning in blustery conditions. As this was my first 5k not on a treadmill, I wasn't really pushing for any particular time. And since I was running with a buddy, I let her set the pace. We finished in 42.26 so I will now strive to improve on that time when I run the next race on Thanksgiving morning.  Don't know that I will ever be a fast runner but was pleased how easy I found that pace and could have continued running. Came home to a pot of chicken tortilla soup to thaw out. 

Happy Sunday everyone. 

20s??? *faints ..recites to self ' never leave california '*  congrats Ginger on new PR

Did the Race for the Cure with Purr for the Cure team.. I think we did the 5k in about.. oooh an hour and 45 min....yes you read that right 1:45. its all good.. they were great ladies to chat with  

10 days til RunDisneys Avengers...and the high will be 80.. low will be 50.. just got out hoodies out scarfs... back to shorts and tanks..;p

Congrats on everybody's runs!!

Forgot to check in - did my 10K on November 2nd, sharing Odie's windy and blustery conditions - 41 degrees at race time with wind chills taking it down near freezing. This was the target race for my 12 week running clinic and they picked a good one!   It was a challenging hilly course, but I could really feel the benefits of the training.  At one point, there was an almost mile-long uphill - before the clinic I'm pretty sure I would have run out of gas and walked at least part of it.  But all the interval training really helped, and I was able to just chug on up that big hill and have enough in the tank to tackle the remaining hills as well, and didn't have to stop or walk at all.  I didn't really notice any increase in speed, but the cold and wind may have had something to do with that as well - I swear there was a stiff headwind for most of the race!  But what I did notice was that I wasn't wiped out at the end - I had enough energy to mow the lawn and do other outside chores the rest of the day - usually I'm wiped out for the rest of the day after a 10K.  And I really wasn't sore the next day.  

All in all, the clinic was really worthwhile.  I was undecided about whether to take the clinic, but when I posted here asking your advice on whether to take it, many of you had gone through similar clinics and urged me to do it.  Thank you so much for giving me that final nudge to register for it.  I learned about training strategies, interval training, race strategy, injury prevention, race nutrition, etc.  Plus it was a blast!  We ran in the heat, in the pouring rain, in the freezing cold, and on beautiful mornings. We ran all different trails in our county, and the group even went down to DC for one of the long runs, going past all the monuments.  My pace group got really close and we had a lot of fun training with each other.  Several of us plan on keeping in touch afterwards to coordinate our own group runs now and then.  

If any of you have a local running club that offers clinics, I can highly recommend it.  Our club offers clinics for every level - from a couch to 5K to 10K to half to first time marathoners, and all the way up to experienced marathoner programs.  We had pace groups that ranged from under 9 minute miles to 14:30 minute miles, so there was a group for everyone.  A co-worker who is an experienced marathoner took the Experienced Marathoner clinic this fall and ran the Marine Corps Marathon - he's run it the last two years, but after finishing the training program, he shaved close to a minute off his time this year, finishing with an astounding pace of under 8 minute miles (yes he's young!).  I'll never see an 8 minute mile - heck I'll never see a 10 minute mile - but even for an old, fat, slow runner like me, the clinic was incredibly helpful.  They advertise the program as "take your running to the next level" and that's exactly what they did for me.  Here's DH and me in our official program shirts, just before the race. As you can see, we were bundled!!!

AWESOME Nats!  What a great picture. You look adorable!!

Congrats!! sounds like you had amazing time and you rocked it!!

Diana, no words of wisdom just commisserating thoughts.

Good luck tomorrow for all those running this weekend! Gonna take a trial run of the course for my Thanksgiving morning race..

Diana, just one comment . . . a 7+ mile run at 9:52 pace and you think you're slow??? Especially with all you've got going on? I guess it's all relative . . .

Good luck at your races, this weekend everyone!

I celebrate finish lines not finish times. I only sprint if Im chasing after a student or a soccer ball

Panthrah / I love that!

Trails - you are definitely going to have to go with your gut instinct once/if cleared with your docs.

I had a umx with immediate DIEP reconstruction - so not the same. Back to running at 6 weeks as soon as reconstruction surgeon cleared me. He would have let me run at 5 weeks without a bra. I'm not large chested but I won't run without a bra. So ... 6 weeks.

You'll know. Great job with the walking and hiking!!!

Goldlining, it sounds like sheer willpower got you to the finish line. We can't ask ourselves to do more! I feel for you on the hip pain...not nice

Goldlining- Im sorry Wine and Dine was so hard How are you after the fall ?? Do you use KT tape? I have to tape my hip but at mile 10 it tends to yell at me the rest of the race. My last half my hip was over it at mile 2! Rest up.. drink your wine..biofreeze and rest. Pamper yourself til Avengers.. where we will have a high of 80 and no rain wear the medal with pride and def be proud of yourself for marching on!! I have heard looooots of medals have been breaking so check yours. again.. Im sorry the experience was less than stellar

Wow Goldlining -

Rain for miles and miles and a trip and fall. So sorry that you had such a tough time of it.

Hope you were able to soak in a hot tub and enjoy your snacks and such!

You're a trooper for finishing!!

Natsfan - great report on the clinic. Im glad that you enjoyed it and saw improvement in your running. Sounds like you had a great race.

Goldlining - sorry to hear that it was a rough one for you. I hope your hip is feeling better. Run Disney posted some pictures from the race and it looked like some heavy rain. I also do hope you had that glass of wine (or two) after the race.

Dltnhm - as others have said, great job on the pace!

Trails - welcome to the thread. I can't offer advice about when to start running after BMX but you have gotten good advice from others. It's one of those things you will just know when the time is right. I found that happened for me after every treatment I had.

HockeyCat - I saw you had taxotere as part of your chemo. I found that stuff nasty. I had major bone and muscle pain and just going up a flight of stairs made my legs feel like I had just finished a marathon (unfortunately that's not an exaggeration!). That being said, I found that the feeling slowly went away the further I was from that last treatment and it was all gone in about 6 weeks from treatment. I'm just sharing so that you can see that the side effects should go away and that in four weeks things should be better.

As for my training, it's going well. I did a 24k run on Sunday and that went well. Kept a pace that will keep the Disney pick up bus off my tail I'm forced to do a recovery week this weekend since my port is coming out Thursday and I have been told not to do any strenuous activity for a week I'm hoping to negotiate that on Thursday!

I have a question for those of you who run with a sleeve and gauntlet or glove. Have you found that your fingers fall asleep when you run? I had that for the first time this weekend. My thumb and pinky fell asleep at about the 21k mark, just wondering if someone had that happen to them.

Happy runs everyone!

Well ladies, I tried to run today ... and could tell within 5 minutes it was too soon. It's frustrating - I am 5.5 weeks out from BMX now, and was really hoping to be back at it by now. Sigh.

Goldlining, way to hang tough for the half! You sound like one tough cookie.

Oncearunner, nice job on the 24k! I can't wait to be running those distances again. I see that you've been on Tamoxifen for a while. Can I ask how that's going for you? I am due to start in a month and am on the fence about whether the benefits would outweigh the side effects (my cancer has a low oncotype score, so low chance of recurrence).