The Running Thread - 2021

[Rogue224]

Has anyone tried the Yaktrax run traction cleats? I'm trying to find something that will allow me to feel stable running on thick black ice.

I have a couple pair that I use. Our house is on a private road, so ice becomes an issue. I've also ran with them. It took me a little while to get used to, but they work well for me.

 

[Dopey 2020]

January totals

Running 100.4 miles
Avg pace 10’5”/mile
Walking 100.1 miles

Just made triple digits on the running, walking is down a bit. Not much hunting or hiking in the woods in January in New England. Still made my 200 mile/month target and soon will get some miles in at WDW

 

[jmasgat]

Has anyone tried the Yaktrax run traction cleats? I'm trying to find something that will allow me to feel stable running on thick black ice.

I ended up getting Kahtoola Nanospikes instead of Yaktrax. The construction looked better. I have used them about 4-5 times and have found them best, as @FFigawi says, on packed snow and less effective on anything slushier/looser. I avoid ice at all costs, so can't really speak to running on that.

My January totals were okay. I did Higdon winter plan for 3-1/2 weeks and finished with about 79 miles of running. My dog developed a bad case of pancreatitis so with vet visit/home care coupled with a sore back for me meant I took 4 days off. Fortunately, both are better (although at Buddy's routine checkup the previous week they determined he had Lyme Disease, so onward to the next treatment/expense!)

New month/start of the week....yesterday I decided to start training for a spring 5k. Maybe I'll see where my head is at regarding trying to race again. To say I am ambivalent is an understatement.

 

[camaker]

January started with a bang with the Virtual Dopey Challenge. Despite, or perhaps because of, the monotony of running that many miles around my usual training grounds, it went extremely well. I ran my 2nd fastest marathon time and cut 102 minutes off of my best aggregate time for Dopey! Here’s hoping that I‘ll get the chance to repeat those efforts at an in-person 2022 Marathon Weekend.

After Dopey, it was a couple of light, easy recovery weeks before starting back to work training for a hopefully in-person 100k at the end of March. The organizers are looking for creative solutions to keep the race in place for this year and have been great about keeping runners in the loop with current plans and proposals. Fingers crossed for that as I present my January numbers:

January Training Summary
Running Miles: 164.80
Running Time: 27:57:23
Average Pace: 10:10/mi
Average HR: 140/min

Extras:
Walking Miles: 72.22
Rolling 12mo Running Miles: 1,967.48 (New PR!)

 

[DopeyBadger]

January 2021 Training Summary

Running duration = 12:10 hours
Running mileage = 84.7 miles
Average Pace = 8:37 min/mile (about 107 sec/mile slower than estimated Marathon Tempo)
Average HR = 136 (12 bpm lower than Marathon Pace)
Indoor Cycling duration = 21:25 hours
Indoor Cycling mileage = 360.9 miles
Indoor Cycling average power = 175 watts
Indoor Cycling average Normalized Power = 194 watts
Strength = 5:30 hours
Total Training Time = 39:04 hours

The plan is going as designed. I'm keeping my fitness depressed while very slowly building/maintaining the running training load. I'm still working through an ankle issue that occurred 13 weeks ago. But the PT has done great work and each passing week feels better than the last. Signed up for an in-person marathon on 5/1 called the "Non-Cancelled Marathon". The race organization has put on several races since September, so I'm fairly confident it'll happen. It's an out and back 3.27 mile course (8 times). That doesn't really bother me. Hopeful to see where I can get physically in the next 13 weeks.

 

[SheHulk]

Philly's Broad Street Run, which normally takes place in May, postponed until the fall. I get it, it's, like, 40,000 runners. But still I can't wait for races to come back (safely).

 

[Grabnar]

Jan 2021 mileage: 76.52
Time: 14h 13m 53s

Given this is the result of my first year of running (I started in March of last year with C25K) I'm pretty happy with the slow increase in mileage. I'm getting better about pacing, and when to eat/hydrate in my long runs. I have the Princess Challenge 10K/HM in 2 weeks (I'm running a week early due to scheduling), which I think I'm well prepared for.

Overall, a great start to the year

 

[michigandergirl]

January running: 81.75 miles

That's a little lower than it should be - I missed two runs this month. I was originally really mad at myself for missing those runs, but in the grand scheme of things, I suppose only missing two runs out of 14 weeks of training isn't so bad.

In other news, after 16 years my treadmill has officially died and is likely beyond repair. I've been looking into getting a new one and I'm somewhat overwhelmed, so if anyone has bought one recently, I would love to hear recommendations.

 

[Rogue224]

Philly's Broad Street Run, which normally takes place in May, postponed until the fall. I get it, it's, like, 40,000 runners. But still I can't wait for races to come back (safely).

The Pittsburgh marathon weekend was announced Friday as going virtual (first weekend in May). It’s not surprising at all. Just disappointing. I registered for the Gettysburg race weekend which is limiting its field. So I hope that happens still.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

January Totals:

Running: 94 miles
Average Pace: 10:30

A decent month for me. Pace is 20 seconds slower than I've seen all year. Not sure what's up with that, except I hate cold weather.

Consistent with two strength workouts a week and weekly yoga. Hitting a new age group in a couple of weeks.

 

[SheHulk]

The Pittsburgh marathon weekend was announced Friday as going virtual (first weekend in May). It’s not surprising at all. Just disappointing. I registered for the Gettysburg race weekend which is limiting its field. So I hope that happens still.

Yeah, I wasn't registered for Broad Street anyway, and was able to find a small 10-miler in May that should go on, those race organizers have held a few in-person races successfully already. Hope Gettysburg happens!

 

[PrincessV]

I wanted to add it is a good idea to take notes on the temp and wind chill, how you dressed, and how you felt. It is easy to forget that adding that third layer made you miserable a few miles in when you are just staring out in the cold but good notes on previous runs will help you dress appropriately.

I'll second this! Floridian here... after 6-8 months of nonstop, intense heat, I really do not remember what I liked to wear the last time it was under 70*. Looking back at run notes from the previous year is very helpful. (And, it turns out, the answer is a lot more clothing than I'd have thought, lol!)

 

[RunDopey]

January started with a bang with the Virtual Dopey Challenge. Despite, or perhaps because of, the monotony of running that many miles around my usual training grounds, it went extremely well. I ran my 2nd fastest marathon time and cut 102 minutes off of my best aggregate time for Dopey! Here’s hoping that I‘ll get the chance to repeat those efforts at an in-person 2022 Marathon Weekend.

After Dopey, it was a couple of light, easy recovery weeks before starting back to work training for a hopefully in-person 100k at the end of March. The organizers are looking for creative solutions to keep the race in place for this year and have been great about keeping runners in the loop with current plans and proposals. Fingers crossed for that as I present my January numbers:

Congrats on the PR and good luck on the race! We have had a mixed bag with us for ultras. My December race was cancelled but this weekend is a go. I am looking forward to my first in person race since Princess last year. There will be four 30 minute time slots for starts with a 30 second delay between individuals within those time slots. No contact aid stations and a request to self support if possible.

 

[RunDopey]

January totals:

Running:

Activities	32
Distance	303.84 mi
Elevation	5177 ft
Pace	9:59
Avg HR	142 bpm

Walking:

Activites	5
Distance	6.05 mi

Fairly typical of my totals since last summer. Racing this weekend and then providing support the following weekend at Rocky Raccoon.

 

[Herding_Cats]

January Totals:

Running: 4 miles? Maybe 5 or 6.
Workouts: 30
Time to start keeping closer track of these things.


Our spin bike got delivered on Saturday, 20 days after I ordered it, and I put it together while DH was working. Downloaded the peloton app (and found an approximate equivalent chart to turn peloton resistance into schwinn ic4 resistance) and did my first "ride" on it today. I think I'm going to like it a lot. Fingers crossed DH likes it because it was bought mostly for him.

I found out last night that my fantasy football league prize was $60 more than I thought (we had more people this year than in the past) so I now have a pair of NB1080s ordered.

In other news, after 16 years my treadmill has officially died and is likely beyond repair. I've been looking into getting a new one and I'm somewhat overwhelmed, so if anyone has bought one recently, I would love to hear recommendations.

I'm dreading the same thing because mine is at least 10 years old, and was a floor model.
I don't have any person experience with these, so I'm just going to repost what I've seen suggested in a couple of fb groups:

If you have a big budget, large space, and are ok with waiting a while, the peloton tread gets a lot of love. (maybe check fb marketplace for a used one?)

The next step down price wise seems to be a nordictrack commercial model

And below that is a Sole f63 or f80.

 

[avondale]

I ended up getting Kahtoola Nanospikes instead of Yaktrax. The construction looked better. I have used them about 4-5 times and have found them best, as @FFigawi says, on packed snow and less effective on anything slushier/looser. I avoid ice at all costs, so can't really speak to running on that.

My microspikes are also not Yaktrax, but that is just because that's what the running store had when I wanted them the next morning.

I agree that they aren't great in slush or fluffy snow. For packed snow, a mix of snow and ice, and icy surfaces, I think they work great. But you have to keep in mind that you can only ask for so much: you should plan for your run to be an easy to moderate pace. There is some weight to them, so between that and the conditions, you'll be slower than usual anyway. I will run with them on ice, but I would definitely slow down.

I've also worn them on mixed surface where there's snow, ice, and bare pavement. It feels weird to run on them with on pavement, but otherwise it seems fine. In principle, it's probably wearing away my spikes faster, but I haven't seen a noticeable effect.

Two other comments. First, the black rubber "harness" part that wraps around your shoe to hold on the spikes definitely discolored the fabric part of my shoe. (Maybe that's just mine.) But if you like your shoes to be clean, why would you wear them in the snow and ice?

Second, it takes a lot more strength than I thought it would to stretch out the rubber from toe to heel to get the darn things on.

 

[bovie]

Has anyone tried the Yaktrax run traction cleats? I'm trying to find something that will allow me to feel stable running on thick black ice.

Just want to say I'm in the same boat. I'm not worried about a ton of snow- we get that rarely. More about random slick spots. The sidewalks are pretty uneven at baseline, and I trip on those even in nice weather. I'm not sure if Yaktrax or what I need exactly? Or if they'd be more harm than good on regular sidewalk.

 

[Kerry1957]

Just want to say I'm in the same boat. I'm not worried about a ton of snow- we get that rarely. More about random slick spots. The sidewalks are pretty uneven at baseline, and I trip on those even in nice weather. I'm not sure if Yaktrax or what I need exactly? Or if they'd be more harm than good on regular sidewalk.

My nano spikes do not work very well on sidewalk with random slick spots. They are great on snow pack trails with icy spots because the spikes have a surface they can bite into. They don't bite concrete.

 

[bovie]

My nano spikes do not work very well on sidewalk with random slick spots. They are great on snow pack trails with icy spots because the spikes have a surface they can bite into. They don't bite concrete.

That's kinda what I anticipated. Happy to say that since posting that, I ran on a sidewalk with random slick spots, did slide some, but didn't fall. I kinda don't think there's a real solution for this one.

 

[dtrain]

Felt great this month, AZ winter running outside is the best.