Morning Donuts!  Look what happens..miss a couple days and there is so much to catch up on!  Great discussion on GMP, etc...I don't have much to contribute since I am definitely a novice and not great at pacing myself.  I will say that blowing up in a race is overrated!  If you have never done it, it's hard to describe the feeling of going from feeling fantastic both mentally and physically, to thinking you cannot run another step in mere minutes...NOT FUN.  Having said that, I totally understand wanting to challenge yourself and see how far you can push.  If you are willing to take the chance, then I say go for it!

I have not had a good last couple of weeks, between recovering from the marathon and vacation, this respiratory thing (which has turned into a full blown sinus infection), and my Aunt's death, I have only run a couple times and done a couple Insanity workouts.  I feel fat, lazy, and just generally unhealthy.  So, since tomorrow is the start of our Hanson HM program, it could get pretty ugly this week!  But, I am going to make a new commitment to training and eating well, and hopefully, my fitness will return quickly.  Today is a SRD (although I am not sure what I am resting from) and I have a 24 hour shift to do, so hopefully, I will get some rest in prep for tomorrows 6 mile "long run."  Have a great day Donuts!  Good luck with all the cold long runs....it is snowing again here and gonna be cold for a couple more days...then warm up to the 30s and 40s...yay!

Ami, I hope things turn around for you. Hang in there. The first few weeks of the Hansons plan are base building. Just do a bunch of easy miles, and things will come back to you.

Banshee, maybe I'm an anomaly, but I'd rather be under dressed than over dressed because running produces so much heat by itself, for me. Pitt and Cbus have similar conditions. And when it gets really cold here, I wear my Nike Thermal shirt and Nike Shield jacket. With those two layers, I'm never cold. On quality days, and I'm sure it'll be really cold, like single digits and teens, then I go with my Mizuno Breath Thermo shirt instead of the Nike Thermal. I like the Mizuno because it's thinner while just as warm, but it's a mock turtle neck instead of a half zip, so I have to be sure it's going to be cold because I won't be able to unzip. On quality days with temps in the 20s and above, I wear my Nike half zip, which is thinner and not brushed--I think it's called Element half zip or something like that. I've got a pair of Nike Thermal tights for the cold days, and I wear my regular tights on quality days, unless it's really cold, and then I'll go with the Thermal tights. As far as hands, I've got Mizuno Breath Thermo gloves, and those are warm enough. If its really cold, the Nike jacket has got those long sleeves that go over the hands, and so I'll just pull them over and the hands are good. The only thing I've added now is the balaclava. The only quality workout I've used it on is my LR, and it was great. I think on temps lower than 20, I'll go with the balaclava, regardless of quality. As far as feet, I just wear normal running socks. After a few miles, my feet warm up enough. I've worn three layers only once, a few years ago, and it was so uncomfortable that I swore I'd never do it again. I find there are enough cold weather shirts and jackets that i can get down to two layers.

Come down here and you'll change your mind.  I am worried about my 50K in MARCH that will be in the 80-90s.  Shadeless.

Thanks for the advice all. I'm a heat-lover so any kind of cold really slows me down. I had no problem setting a 50M PR in the middle of August this past summer. Yet I wasn't much faster in single digit temps with wind last night even though I was wearing what most would consider 'enough'. I'm going to have to carefully study my gear tonight and choose some extras to keep in the car. I'm thinking I'll add capris under my tights and pack wind pants plus ditch the jacket and put a UA hoodie on top instead. Then I will see if I have some mittens to layer over my gloves. If not I will double layer gloves. I guess I better go do our running laundry so I have a full wardrobe to pick from! 

 

have a good one Donuts! I'm going to enjoy my SRD and hang out with my kids.

Wow...took the goruns out on the road this morning and I love this shoe!  Really flexible and great road feedback.I already like these better than the pureconnects.  More minimal and with a nice roomy forefoot.  I could see myself running a HM in these.  I will be picking up a few more of these on amazon at $27.

Ran 5@8:27 with some strides.  10 slow easy miles on tap for tomorrow.

I am moving my long run tomorrow- got up late, and I have a 4 mile race tomorrow that will set my corral for the NYC Marathon.  This way I can run FAST.  If I do 14 today I'm just going to be deadlegs later.

I don't see those as excuses, but reasons.  We always need to find a reason so that we can improve and change what we did last time.  It might also not have been your day.  We all have those (I sure have had horrible marathons too and I'm like WTF).

Hey all,

Got in 6 easy @ 9:40ish. Tempos were in the teens, so I wore the balaclava. It was awesome.

 

Jedi, that Hansons 5k plan sounds tough! Have you run in the Ronin yet?

 

Nachos, glad you liked the GoRuns. It sounds like you're having a lot of success with less shoe.

 

Onemile, there are some things I should disclose about my marathon that might give YOU more confidence about your goal. There were a number of circumstances that probably contributed to my terrible time. First, I was pretty dead legged going into the race. In retrospect, I was probably a touch overtrained. Then, i was sick, and had a terrible cough during the race (ie phlegm, etc.). Then I walked a ton the day before between the airport, expo, and getting lost on my way to my motel. Then there was the motel, which was far away from any food, except Chipotle , and so my carbo loading consisted of a burrito. The motel also didn't have breakfast, so i had to run down to a gas station and buy some foods stuff (ie donuts!). I don't like to mention this stuff because it always sounds to me like I'm making excuses. But there was something definitely wrong on race day because the wheels were already coming off at mile 13, and I'd run faster HMs with less effort. I mention it now because I think my meltdown is not typical of overestimating one's fitness. So even though I'm still cautious and conservative when it comes to marathons, I don't think you should expect the type of meltdown I had even if 8:30 is a touch aggressive. So now when you hear me naysaying and doubting, just couch it in that experience with those circumstances, and that might give you the context from which my comments are coming.

 

Happy running all!

Docket: Thanks!  This will be the first time I comply with the Pfitz "Long run Sunday" plan- usually I run long on Saturday but I think I needed the sleep.