The Running Thread - 2020

[avondale]

February 2020
running: 129.9 miles
average pace: 11:11 min/mi
total time: 24.21 h
This is the 3rd-largest mileage that I've run in a month since I started tracking in 2018. It's only about 4 miles fewer than my largest month ever - if February was a longer month, I might have beaten it! My marathon training plan is rapidly heading toward its peak.

tennis: 12 h

This is down quite a bit from last month. I played fewer matches, partly because I made myself unavailable on days with big runs in my training plan.

 

[garneska]

@OldSlowGoofyGuy how did you do it?

and you can all laugh it was 35 degrees out with serious wind and sun. David wore shorts and I had on two pairs of tights. I was pretty comfy never felt too warm.

 

[MissLiss279]

Feb totals:
211.5 miles

Apparently that’s my highest monthly mileage ever!

 

[DopeyBadger]

February 2020 Training Summary

Running duration = 17:34 hours
Running mileage = 128 miles
Average Pace = 8:14 min/mile (about 90 sec/mile slower than estimated LT)
Average HR = 135 (70% HRR)
Indoor Cycling duration = 21:34 hours
Indoor Cycling mileage = 339 miles
Indoor Cycling average power = 157 watts
Indoor Cycling average Normalized Power = 177 watts
FIIT4 Strength = 7:31 hours
Total Training Time = 46:40 hours

Making continued progress to an unknown Spring racing season. Ran my 4th fastest mile (and fastest in training run) of 6:12 on Thursday coming after a top 10 6:20. So the general speed is in a good place, but the endurance and HRvPace is still lacking. Trying to take things easier in this cycle to see if I can get a good end result.

 

[C.beara]

February summary:
49.3 miles

I’m really pleased with myself staying consistent with my running this month. It was tough the first couple weeks without a plan and without a race to look forward to, but I’ve got that all straightened out now. It’s amazing the difference having a plan written out makes though!

 

[Guidman]

February Recap:
156.32 miles
7:32 min/mile

 

[camaker]

February has been a big month for me. Normally a down month after Marathon Weekend exertions, I wanted to use February to see if I could ramp my mileage back up to near marathon training peak to see if an end of March 100k might be feasible. My hamstring seems to have fully recovered from it’s not-quite-an-injury difficulties and has held up well through the month. At this point, the plan is to run the Tobacco Road Marathon in two weeks as a final supported long training run and then make a final decision on the ultra. I’m leaning towards it at this point, though. So, enough intro, here are February’s numbers:

February Training Summary
Distance: 155.35 miles
Time: 28:00:37
Avg Pace: 10:55/mile
Avg HR: 149 bpm

 

[CDKG]

February Miles: 80.1
Average Pace: 11:24/mile
2020 Miles: 145.8

This February, I intentionally kept my mileage low and instead focused on my physical therapy. They started me off slow and every time I’ve seen a new PT, they crank it up a couple notches! Progress is slow, but I know that strengthening my weaknesses and improving my imbalances will be a good thing in the long run.

Tomorrow is the first of two March races (Hot Chocolate 15k). I’m not sure what to expect from my performance. It will be interesting...

 

[TheHamm]

February
34 miles at an average 12:20 pace
I am a bit irritated I didn't get one more mile, but will admit that had I, I would have simply been bothered it was not a multiple of 10. I am going to revel in what did happen: (a) only one of my household came down with Influenza A. Many clorox wipes and an unreasonable quantity of H2O2 were used, and I got in 3 runs while others were suffering. (b) a week of travel was accomplished with a carry on suitcase with running gear that got used (c) I do not love the treadmill, but a third of my runs were done indoors. I did not enjoy it, and cut every one of them short, and found myself needing to get off to get a drink of water every 2 miles because I needed to occupy different space. Does this get easier? I feel like I should be fine for 5+ miles here, but I really just need to get off and even just circle the treadmill 3 times before continuing.
March presents different challenges with family, work, travel etc, but I am hopeful I will clock more outdoor miles, faster times on flatland, and better sleep habits.

 

[FFigawi]

February Totals
Swim - 2600 m
Bike - 24 miles
Run - 67 miles

I did not enjoy it, and cut every one of them short, and found myself needing to get off to get a drink of water every 2 miles because I needed to occupy different space. Does this get easier? I feel like I should be fine for 5+ miles here, but I really just need to get off and even just circle the treadmill 3 times before continuing.

I've only found two things which can make running on a treadmill tolerable for me. One is something to watch. When training in Iraq, I load TV shows and movies onto my iPad and distract myself with entertainment. The second way to get me through a treadmill run is a busy workout. Whether I program it into Zwift or do it manually, having to change speed every 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, etc., helps the time pass without me getting bored out of my mind.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

@OldSlowGoofyGuy how did you do it?

I upload to my laptop to make it easier to rotate, size, and crop. Like I see I should have cropped out my socks.

 

[jmasgat]

I did not enjoy it, and cut every one of them short, and found myself needing to get off to get a drink of water every 2 miles because I needed to occupy different space.

This is a legit coping strategy. I remind myself that if I was outside running, I would have the inevitable road crossings/traffic lights that provide natural slow down/stop moments. There have been times in previous marathon training sessions where I found myself needing to do 10+ miles on a TM. I just give myself permission to switch treadmills after 4-5 miles (obviously, at the gym, this is possible, at home, not so much!)

Also, I find that interval/tempo workouts are psychologically easier to do since they have pace/distance changes.

I won't say it will get easier, but hopefully, you will find way to make it work or you.

 

[SarahDisney]

February Totals:
Run Miles: 53.33 mi
Time: 13:11:01 hours
Avg Pace: 14:50 min/mi
Races: Princess 5K (1:35:42ish), Princess Half Marathon (4:08:15)
Wow the princess races really had an impact on my pace ... if I had time I would calculate what my pace was without those races, because I think it would be closer to 12-13 min/mi

Non-Running:
6 barre classes
1 cycling class (Taylor Swift Ride @ Cyc Fitness)
1 assorted cardio class (SaltDrop ... I really do not know how to describe this class because it's a totally unique class mostly made up, which sounds terrible but is actually great)


March is gonna be interesting because I'm taking a very laid-back approach to running and only running when it "feels right." No more 6am wakeup calls just for the sake of dragging myself out of bed to run. If I want to run, I'll wake up early and run. If not, I'll try this sleep thing that everyone talks about.

 

[huskies90]

February miles = 101

Kept my running miles down again this month as I prepare for the Spring, but I did do just enough to keep my 100 mile per month streak going - now @ 23 months. I am planning 4 races this Spring which will help me gage how good shape I am in. Since 2018, when I actually had a plan to train for my first marathon (Goofy 2019), I have taken a different/smarter approach to running. Since then, I have gotten progressively faster in my longer distance races - PR’ing my last 3 half marathons. I am planning to do some shorter distance races this Spring and it should be interesting to see where I end up. How I do this Spring may influence how I prepare for races in the Fall and beyond.

January = 110
2020 total miles = 211

 

[dis_or_dat]

February:

Total: 136.49 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Avg pace: 8:49

 

[YawningDodo]

Been an odd weekend--ended up putting off yesterday's two mile run to today because I hadn't accounted for a friend's wedding when I wrote my schedule (they're going to have a leap day anniversary! neato). I'll be back to tally mileage after I've gone out and done that; it's already much later in the morning than I wanted to get moving but my excuse for procrastinating on here is that I need to give the eggos a minute to sit in my belly before I get going.

Also got the news yesterday that a tabletop gaming retreat some friends of mine are putting on is going to conflict with the half marathon I'd planned for August. They had tried to work around it for me but just couldn't find a house to rent with availability on other weekends that month. I've already been looking at alternatives and this may actually work out better--the half I'd chosen is here in town, which is logistically a lot simpler (and cheaper), but I was already a little nervous about how long the course would stay open since they didn't have a lot of detailed info and it's not clear to me how competitive or casual the event is. By contrast, I found a half marathon down in Bozeman and was able to confirm by checking last year's results that they had multiple runners finish in the 17-18 minute per mile pace range, so I can feel safe re: the course being kept open long enough for me to finish at what will hopefully be a 15-16 minute per mile pace. It's also a few weeks later, so while that requires adjustments in my training plan it may actually work out better as far as giving me just a little more time to build up to it. The downside is just that I'm going to have to spend at least half a day of PTO and pay for a hotel since it'll be an overnight trip.

February total:

82.8 miles
10’11”/mile avg pace

Right on target for my 1000 mile goal so far this year and with March here it’s time to get ready for Star Wars

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

DH here.
Feb 2020
Running 85.3 miles
Swimming 500 yards
I took some extra rest days at the start of the month, as back-to-back days were really taking a lot out of me. About 10 days ago, I started to feel life in my legs for the first time since Goofy. I'd like to return to the half at the end of April that is my PR and was my PoT for Goofy, and go for a new PR at it. Until the past week or so, I haven't felt like it was possible.

Today ends week 52 in my trusty Runner's World training journal (volume 5). For the 52 weeks:
Running 1093.5 miles This was with about 0 miles during the 4 weeks after I shut down in the summer due to banging my knee.
Swimming 1170 pool lengths

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

https://www.pennlive.com/sports/202...nounces-that-its-2020-event-is-cancelled.html

Saw this on the TV news Friday evening. Disappointing, but Hershey has done some things in the recent past that upset a lot of runners. I would've run it again, though.
Examples: cancel the 10k one spring after the 48h window for hotel room cancellations, yet 30 minutes before NOAA updated their forecast to greatly reduce the possibility of wintry weather. Then the half in 2016 (I think) flipping between 1/4 zip, to can't do that so now its shirts, to back to 1/4 zip, which turned out to be way too small.

I also learned that the Runner's World race weekend is also cancelled. Probably already mentioned here, but I'm behind.

 

[BigEeyore]

February totals:

Run = 99.6 mi (soooo twitchy about this - I noticed it Friday night and didn't have time on Saturday to run!)
Bike = 215 mi (all on Zwift)
Swim = 20,250y

 

[YawningDodo]

February totals:
Running: 4.6 miles
Rowing: 75 minutes

Not much to look at written down, but I'm more or less starting again from scratch. The big goal this month was to just be faithful to the plan I'd written for myself, and I accomplished that!