Every Wish That We Put Into Motion.... (comments welcome!)

[azrivest]

Good job on getting it done! Glad it felt really good, that's the most important thing.

Hope the surgery goes well.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Dropped the brown dog off this afternoon. She hates pictures. I’m not sure why, but she always goes full Eeyore for the camera.

Everyone at the vet’s office questioned me on her age again. “Is she really 10?” Yes. Yes she is.

On my way home DH called and I told him I would be going for a run after dinner because I really needed to move my body after spending 9 hours in the car. Took the pup with me, and tried out my new running belt (ruffwear omnijore…..I see that there’s a nonstop dog wear canix belt on sale for prime day right now too.) Sooooo much better. My lower back is not sore post-run, and I didn’t spend half the run tugging it back down to my hips. I’m sure it looks ridiculous since it has leg straps (think of a climbing harness) to hold it in place but I don’t care. I was comfortable.


My left soleus was a bit grumpy for the first mile, but things calmed down after that. There’s a definite loss of strength in my running-specific leg muscles, mostly in my lower leg, but that will hopefully bounce back quickly as I reintroduce running into the regular rotation.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Brown dog successfully navigated anesthesia and the 4hr car ride home. She now holds the title in the house for “most daily meds needed.”

 

[azrivest]

Such a beautiful girl

 

[jmasgat]

I hear you on the dog meds. I had to sign narcotics forms on more than one occasion. One time, he and I had the same meds! Thank goodness for the drug take-back programs--good to get rid of them properly.

Hugs to your dog!

 

[garneska]

See avatar for money, love, time and compassion spent on a dog. You can do this!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Well I took almost 2 weeks off again

During dog1’s incision check trip yesterday, DH and I talked about what we could do so I can go run after he gets home from work and not feel like I have to squeeze it in between making/eating dinner and putting DD to bed and still having time to actually spend with him. And he was just like “Go after dinner. I can put her to bed. It’s not a big deal.” So that’s that. Problem solved. I no longer have that as an excuse.

I took Dog2 for a run today that turned into mostly a walk. He pulled hard for the first mile and we clocked in at a lot faster than I would normally run. And I was feeling it in my lower legs. Again. Ugh. I’m asking in a dog-running group about if this is just a product of canix and different muscles, if it’s because of run/walk and braking to slow him down, or if I have a form or technique issue. Anyhow. We did a mile and then walked for 30min.

Here he is looking like a super-intense psycho (zoom in on his eyes) while I waited almost 10min for my watch gps to lock.

I updated the garmin app thinking that might be the problem and I hate how it looks already.

 

[Herding_Cats]

On a different note, and one where I know I'm probably looking too far ahead....I need to make a plan for how to incorporate refereeing into the dopey plan this year. I definitely want to avoid over-doing it and pulling something (like I did last year in late November) but I also don't want to treat refereeing as a 1:1 swap for running because it's definitely not the same intensity. While I don't know what my schedule will look like for awhile, it'll start in very late October/early November, and DH and I are already in discussions about working a lot of YMCA-league Saturdays depending on the indoor track schedule DS2 ends up with. Saturdays differ from weeknights because it's pretty much 6hrs straight of working, with maybe a 5min break between games where we get a drink, eat a quick snack, and stretch back out. I feel like it's a slightly reasonable substitution for a long run, but I don't really know for sure. I can add some screenshots of my garmin data from the Saturdays I worked last year if that would be useful. I'll also add that Y-league Saturdays are worked a little bit differently from MHSAA/school league because of it being 6 games in a row; we run a little less and walk a little more so that we can get to the last game in good enough condition to still do a good job.

 

[The Expert]

And he was just like “Go after dinner. I can put her to bed. It’s not a big deal.” So that’s that. Problem solved.

I waited almost 10min for my watch gps to lock.

Have you tried a hard/factory reset? How old is your Garmin? I've heard that this CAN be a sign of a dying watch, but if it isn't that old maybe it just needs a kick.

As for refereeing, it *sounds* to me more like an intense cross-training session than a run substitution, but I will leave any conclusions to those who know more about training than I do.

 

[DopeyBadger]

What's the goal for Dopey, and where would you assess your current fitness to be (or at least at when you plan on starting Dopey training)?

 

[Herding_Cats]

What's the goal for Dopey,

As usual, to finish. Upright. And be a functional person the next day.

More specifically, DH is doing the 5k and 10k with me. We usually do something like 60/30 or 30/30 intervals, make a couple of character stops (nothing that's more than a 15-20min wait) and walk the uphills.

SIL is doing the HM "with" me. I'll tell her to go ahead of me if she wants, but she probably won't, at least not before the castle. Usually the plan for that race is to do intervals to the castle and then walk it in once I exit MK.

and where would you assess your current fitness to be (or at least at when you plan on starting Dopey training)?

I don't even know how to figure that out right now. I've done "stuff" this summer, but nothing particularly consistently. Could I go out and do 5mi at easy pace (13:30-14:30) right now? Yeah. This is probably the least fit I'll be out of all my MWs going into the training block. Motivation just hasn't been there, and with all of the other stuff going on this summer, it's been easy to let things slide. But the realization that I could be in big trouble with Dopey if I don't remedy that now is setting in. Nothing like some good old fear to re-kindle the motivation!

 

[Naomeri]

I don't even know how to figure that out right now. I've done "stuff" this summer, but nothing particularly consistently. Could I go out and do 5mi at easy pace (13:30-14:30) right now? Yeah. This is probably the least fit I'll be out of all my MWs going into the training block. Motivation just hasn't been there, and with all of the other stuff going on this summer, it's been easy to let things slide. But the realization that I could be in big trouble with Dopey if I don't remedy that now is setting in. Nothing like some good old fear to re-kindle the motivation!

Now imagine my fear, being in the same boat as you, but looking down the barrel at my first-ever Dopey

 

[DopeyBadger]

As usual, to finish. Upright. And be a functional person the next day.

More specifically, DH is doing the 5k and 10k with me. We usually do something like 60/30 or 30/30 intervals, make a couple of character stops (nothing that's more than a 15-20min wait) and walk the uphills.

SIL is doing the HM "with" me. I'll tell her to go ahead of me if she wants, but she probably won't, at least not before the castle. Usually the plan for that race is to do intervals to the castle and then walk it in once I exit MK.

I don't even know how to figure that out right now. I've done "stuff" this summer, but nothing particularly consistently. Could I go out and do 5mi at easy pace (13:30-14:30) right now? Yeah. This is probably the least fit I'll be out of all my MWs going into the training block. Motivation just hasn't been there, and with all of the other stuff going on this summer, it's been easy to let things slide. But the realization that I could be in big trouble with Dopey if I don't remedy that now is setting in. Nothing like some good old fear to re-kindle the motivation!

So I'd schedule the bare minimum to meet those goals and aim for that. Don't overcommit, rather undercommit. Then if you find yourself with more time, or more energy, then choose to do more. But if you set just a bare minimum bar to clear in terms of training, then it might put you in the best place to succeed.

-I'd aim for 4-5 days of activity per week. So if you do three days of reffing, then that means 1-2 days of running. If you do two days reffing, then do 2-3 days running. Leave a few days open intentionally not to overload the plan. Since the goal is to finish, be upright, and be functional, then you really don't need to do anything faster than easy paces. Those easy paces should help you be more consistent because there will be less recovery day to day. If there's a lack of interest because it's just easy, then mix in some faster reps here or there.

-Volume wise, just keep the big picture in mind. It's not about any single run, but rather the consistency from week to week. So 3 days per week at 45 min each is better than 0 days this week, and 3 days of 70 min each the next week. Just a little something each and every week. Avoid big swings in volume as much as possible. The more you can do in August, Sept, October the better you'll be in terms of a downswing come Nov/Dec.

-Then when you find the additional time to throw in a long run here or there, just do something that builds into the 90-120 min range. That's the sweet spot of training. Good benefits, with less recovery than going 120+ min. Just do those longer runs super easy. Like ignore past pacing or past plans and just go slow enough that it always feels ridiculously easy. If it doesn't feel ridiculously easy, then go slower, or elongate the walking breaks if you can't run any slower comfortably.

I wouldn't say this is advice I'd give for everyone, but I think it's my best POA for you given your goals, where your fitness is, your history with running, and your tendencies in past training cycles.

 

[garneska]

The pic of your dog is adorable and he absolutely has that look of crazy in his eyes. Run it out of him.

FYI mallory, from my avatar, was crazy and tons of energy. She only went running with me on the weekends but she loved every minute of it. I said i was doing it to run the crazy out of her.

 

[Herding_Cats]

So I'd schedule the bare minimum to meet those goals and aim for that. Don't overcommit, rather undercommit. Then if you find yourself with more time, or more energy, then choose to do more. But if you set just a bare minimum bar to clear in terms of training, then it might put you in the best place to succeed.

Yes. I am the master of over-committing, over-estimating my motivation levels, and under-delivering on my execution.

-I'd aim for 4-5 days of activity per week. So if you do three days of reffing, then that means 1-2 days of running. If you do two days reffing, then do 2-3 days running. Leave a few days open intentionally not to overload the plan. Since the goal is to finish, be upright, and be functional, then you really don't need to do anything faster than easy paces. Those easy paces should help you be more consistent because there will be less recovery day to day. If there's a lack of interest because it's just easy, then mix in some faster reps here or there.

This is kind of what I ended up doing last year. Because doing a 60-75min run in the morning and then refereeing for 2-2.5hrs in the evening was a LOT. Also, I was listening to some podcasts during my 9hr car rides and they were talking about easy running and discussing the benefits of strides so that your body doesn't get "stuck" in easy mode and you're still activating your sprint muscles and working on turnover. The way they said it made a lot of sense, and I think that strides are definitely something I'll start incorporating once I've been back at things for a few weeks.

-Volume wise, just keep the big picture in mind. It's not about any single run, but rather the consistency from week to week. So 3 days per week at 45 min each is better than 0 days this week, and 3 days of 70 min each the next week. Just a little something each and every week. Avoid big swings in volume as much as possible. The more you can do in August, Sept, October the better you'll be in terms of a downswing come Nov/Dec.

This is absolutely spot on. And now that DH and I have a plan about it, I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get a lot more consistent before things go sideways with basketball season.

-Then when you find the additional time to throw in a long run here or there, just do something that builds into the 90-120 min range. That's the sweet spot of training. Good benefits, with less recovery than going 120+ min. Just do those longer runs super easy. Like ignore past pacing or past plans and just go slow enough that it always feels ridiculously easy. If it doesn't feel ridiculously easy, then go slower, or elongate the walking breaks if you can't run any slower comfortably.

I feel like this should be 100% doable.

I wouldn't say this is advice I'd give for everyone, but I think it's my best POA for you given your goals, where your fitness is, your history with running, and your tendencies in past training cycles.

my history of running and my tendencies. The strava doesn't lie. I do think that a huge benefit to me is that I know how I'm going to feel going into the marathon. And I know that I've done it before. So there won't be that mental "can I" game going on.

 

[Herding_Cats]

With a new plan of attack for Dopey, here's how things have been going:

Wednesday: 1mi run with the pup, and then 30min walk because he was just yanking me all over the place too much and it was making me really sore. Plus, I got started a lot later than I intended and it was already pushing 80 degrees and 80%+ humidity at 11am.

Thursday: 3mi easy (45min.) I dopped my intervals down to 15/30 since I was pretty sore (like....ridiculously more sore than I should have been) but it seemed to work itself out by about the halfway point. 15sec run is crazy short. I feel like I'm just settling into my stride and it's already time to walk again. This kept my HR in a pretty good place for returning to running after the inconsistency I had the past few months.

Friday: 2.2mi easy (30min) with the pup. We went out at 8:45pm because it was soooo hot all day (over 90, which is high for our location) and we also hit up our local downtown business sale to look at clearance shoes from fleetfeet, and a costco trip because these kids just keep eating all the food! Kept it short because it was getting dark, and working on a few things to keep the pup from jerking on his leash so much during the walk breaks to protect my lower back and hips. He really does a good job for being a beginner, but he definitely wants to go faster than I'm capable.

Speaking of fleetfeet, I was able to try on some saucony triumph 21s and those feel like they might be a potential replacement for the 1080s. I'm not sure about the back of the heel cup; it might be too high, but they have that bouncy foam feel like my SC Trainers have. Now to find some for a price I'm happy with. (I also tried out some On Cloudgo as a possible refereeing shoe....I found some online for what appears to be a good price, but I'm concerned that it's too good and is a scam site. it's "Sun & Ski Sports" and it looks really legit, but they're selling this shoe for $85 where everyone else is over $100, on sale (reg $150.)

Upcoming this weekend: We are currently in the middle of a bunch of projects, so I'll just shoot for 1 longer run this weekend (probably around 60min.) What are we doing? Repainting DS3's bedroom, and fixing up a 1967 or 68 Starcraft boat. I grew up on a lake, and this was the "kid boat" for us since it was able to pull someone on a tube, or a skier. After we all grew up, my dad cut out the windshield and bow to make it more fishing-friendly, and the DH and I bought it from them about 10 years ago. It's mostly sat unused, because something about kids and sports and work makes it difficult to find time to go fish. Anyhow, we are replacing the (original) floor and transom, and repainting it. We've spent a lot of time digging through different youtube channels and I've found a few forums that have a wealth of information, although they depended on photobucket for image hosting, so a lot of the older posts that get referenced don't have pics any longer. The goal for this weekend is to get the transom boards glued together and rough-cut the shape, and to get the hull primed.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Stalking my flights this morning, trying to see if we can get on a flight 4 hours sooner to come home, and discovered that there WAS a change to both our departure and return flights. However, it appears that United has updated their flight change policy:

"If your flight’s schedule changes by more than 30 minutes, you can book another United or United Express® flight for free. Your new flight must leave from the same airport within 24 hours of your original flight time."

So it's no longer any change, but a change of 30min or more. *sigh* Definitely not clicking the "OK, Got It!" button any time soon.


Oh. Look at that. The flight I was trying to change us to has disappeared. Not like....it's sold out, but more like they took it off the schedule.

ETA: it gets better. I texted DH about the flight changes (and the fact that we are on a 777-200 coming from MCO to Chicago now...those things are huge!) and he says "I'm so stressed about work I could easily be convinced to go on Monday." So yeah. Now I'm pricing things out for that.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I need gut-check opinions from other female runners.

I've been running mostly in the evening lately because that's when it's maybe cooled off enough to go, and because that's when I have childcare. There's one house that I have to run past 2x no matter which way to go on my routes. Now, these people are different and while my perspective is that they are just kind of "hillbilly" or "redneck" but otherwise harmless; last night was a little bit disconcerting. To give some context, the people who own and live at the house are probably early 60s. But it appears that several of their adult children stop by and/or live with them pretty regularly. Someone lives in a camper in their front yard all summer. And they have a personal junk/scrap yard behind their house that sometimes spills over into their front yard. These are the people who set off fireworks randomly all summer, and might start at 10pm and go until 12:30am (we have no idea how they can afford that many fireworks given the appearance of their property.) They burn their trash, and will lounge around out in their front yard in the evening.

So last night I went for a run, and as I pass this house one man is sitting out in the front "yard." I have my shokz on and I hear him yell something. I don't catch all of it, but the last part was "I heard you were missing last night!" And I had taken that day off from running. It really caught me off-guard and I yelled something back like "Well I DO get to take a day off sometimes!" and kept going. Kinda creepy, but I didn't really think too much of it.

When I got home, I told DH about it (and about the pack of coyotes that I heard a lot earlier in the evening than I would have expected) and was basically mansplained about how I should have handled the exchange. And DH was adamant that I run somewhere else for awhile (which will be a pita for a variety of reasons.)






Now, I can rationalize this a lot of ways. I'm the crazy lady that runs a lot. I run past this house TWICE every day that I run (for the past 4 years,) someone is always home there, and there's usually someone out in the yard. I've started taking the dog with me, and he's on a waist belt and a bungee leash, and that's not a super common thing to see. And yeah. I was "missing" last night because I stayed home to watch the primetime replays of the T&F with my husband. But the fact that it was commented on, loudly, to my face gives me a bit of pause about it.

 

[Naomeri]

I’m with your DH on this one. If I found out someone I didn’t know had taken enough notice of my routine to realize when I deviate from it, I’d avoid that person/area whenever possible. Maybe they’re harmless, but maybe they’re not, and once you find out which it is, it might be too late.

 

[The Expert]

Being in a rural area and knowing my neighbors, my gut says it's probably no big deal. This time of year, a lot of them sit out on their deck, in their yard or even the garage in the evenings because it's nice out and they can chat with the dog walkers, families on bike rides, etc.

That said, sadly, there is far too much craziness out there to dismiss it. If you can vary your route or schedule and be less predictable, I'd do it. And keep training that dog!