Half Marathon Trainers

December (Read 378 times)

HappyFeat


    For me, December is such a month of contrasts...makes it a real challenge. 

     

    Right now, I can possibly hit one of my 4 goals for the year...if...I run a lot for the rest of the month and, really that's just 'running to log miles', something I often challenge others on. The office is getting filled with junk food I can never ignore, so keeping up miles is the only way to not balloon up beyond my normal chunky state. I'm a bit battered and sore, and some downtime would help with nagging problems and give the chance to start fresh for mid-winter races...but would I be better off preserving the base, or maybe giving up miles for intensity.  And finally, I only have 5 off days left in my annual running 'budget'...so when to use them, all at once or here and there to deal with all the holiday events.

     

    Seriously folks, this is some important stuff to worry about. Undecided  I'm tired just pondering it all, and writing it out is more than a bit embarrassing.

     

    It's like that scene in the movie Bull Durham when they're all huddled on the pitcher's mound and working through all the problems..."we've got some serious issues" the coach says.

     

    MTA:  How can there be year-in-review summaries already -- don't you people run in December? Geez. Wink

     Giving this some thought MT and have a couple questions:

    What's your 2012 mileage goal and when are your winter races?

    Will catch up later this evening with my thoughts on your post.

    Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done. 

    Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.

    hog4life


       No special holiday plans here, but if it's anything like Thanksgiving was, I'll have a house full, of my kids, grandkids, DIL. We decided to do something different, instead of the traditional ham, turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, etc, we're going to do some snack trays. There was so much food that was wasted last month, we thought it was worth a try, and should be a little cheaper too.

       

       I start my training plan next week for my February 17th half. I'll be using the Ryan Hall 10 week Plan and trying to focus on the long plan. I'm seriously thinking too of replacing one of the speed work days with a MLR instead. Any tthoughts on this?

       Running 4.5 years, 30 mpw and trying to bump up to 40-45, this will be my 3rd half, 2:08 and 2:01 on the first two, looking for a 1:57 or better.

        I can't post in the year-in-review yet. It has been a great year, but the big test is this weekend.

         

        I am REALLY excited to run the RocketCity Marathon. (and yes MilkTruck, I am hoping for a 2.5 hour PR. My only other marathon was a death march)

         

        Hopefully I will feel really justified in taking it easy the rest of the month Smile

         

        --

        Nashville, TN

         


        an amazing likeness

           Giving this some thought MT and have a couple questions:

          What's your 2012 mileage goal and when are your winter races?

          Will catch up later this evening with my thoughts on your post.

           

          Goals for 2012 [these will come around again when I get to my year-in-review summary in the other topic]

           

          G1: 2012 miles running --> done.

          G2: 2268 miles running --> 158 to go

          G3: 330 runs in 2012 --> 22 to go

          G4: Half marathon per month --> done.

           

          So guess it boils down to...abandon the two unfinished and heal up? Or get them? Both are within striking range.

          Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

          Zelanie


            Mitch, our Christmas meal is kind of like that.  We usually open family presents here and then go to my in-laws' house.  We have a big breakfast together over there.  But after that, there's not really a meal per se.  There is plenty of food around and available, kind of like the snack trays you mentioned, and people just sort of graze throughout the day.  That makes things pretty easy, I think, and means that nobody has to run around stressing about a big Christmas dinner.

            HappyFeat


              Goals for 2012 [these will come around again when I get to my year-in-review summary in the other topic]

               

              G1: 2012 miles running --> done.

              G2: 2268 miles running --> 158 to go

              G3: 330 runs in 2012 --> 22 to go

              G4: Half marathon per month --> done.

               

              So guess it boils down to...abandon the two unfinished and heal up? Or get them? Both are within striking range.

              Striking range at what price? Here's my own ponderings on your December Dilemma...and - hey! it's not embarrassing at all - it's called "sorting things out." You have to look at things from all angles sometimes to figure out what you really want to do. Outside input sometimes helps.

               

              First of all - 2012 miles in 2012 is AMAZING!  What a fun goal and a terrific accomplishment!  Along with your monthly HM goal achieved, you really could stop right there and feel you have met The Challenge and come out on top. Congratulations!

               

              Given the toll taken on your legs, I would opt to let go of G2. 158 miles in the next 25 days could tip you over into injury or overtraining symptoms and isn't worth taking the chance.  If it was important for you to accomplish G3, I think you certainly could do that without injury if you wanted to forgo (some of?) your rest days and do really short  (like 30 minutes) easy runs on some of the days. Plus if you stick with the running every day, it will help combat the holiday treats. I am helpless in the face of them too and running is my best weapon.

               

              Wondering how you came up with 2268 miles as a goal?

               

              MTA: If you ran twice in one day, eg., 3 miles each, couldn't that count as two runs? and then you could take the next day as a rest day. As you said, it would be a matter of just running to log miles; but you set up the goal / the game  of trying to run 330 times in 2012. Think of it instead as simply a strategy to win the game.Big grin 

              Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done. 

              Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.

              rainmakerrc


                Evening, all!  Burning the midnight oil over here trying to get a project done for work tomorrow, yet here I find myself procrastinating . . . Got my week started off with an easy 10 miler this morning before work.  Feels good to be building the miles back up post marathon.  I need to prepare to jump back into a Pfitz plan in a couple of weeks, but I also need the caloric burn to dispatch the remaining Thanksgiving pounds.  

                 

                As for Christmas plans, we're staying in town since DW and I have to work on the 24th and 26th.  DW's family may be coming up here, though, so perhaps we'll still be hosting the relatives (the kids will love that).  Then, we're headed to Texas to spend New Year's with my side of the family.  Gonna be hectic . . . 

                 

                Good luck to everyone with races left to run and yearly goals to meet this month.  I don't have any races left myself, but if I can really kick up the mileage and hit a slight PB for the month of December, I could finish with 2600 miles for the year.  Right now, my planned workouts will leave me about 20 miles short of the 280 miles I would need, but we'll see where I might be able to squeeze out some extra mileage. 

                 

                Mitch - Good luck with the Ryan Hall plan!  It worked very well for me in Jan-Mar of this year for the HM's I ran in February and March.  

                  I know...it's bothering me. The book on 2012 is still open. You're throwing away 1/12th of the year here folks...come on!

                   

                  Guilty as charged sir (and ma'am)! I started it! Blush In my defense... It's my favorite thread of the year and I have thrown way more than 1/12th of the year away anyway... so i doesn't really matter to me! Wink

                   

                  Ah VEGE!!! the week is here! Yikes! I am excited but also realize how much more poorly trained I am this year compared to last. I'm a little sore, I'm 8lbs heavier, 20sec/mile slower. Don't get me wrong I WILL get round but it ain't going to be pretty! The weather's going to be one to watch this week. We have a front coming. If it doesn't make it (current forecast) then it's going to be hot & windy. If it goes through before the race it'll be 40F at the start (perfect, thank you!). If, like last year, it comes through on race morning it's going to be wet & miserable again! The jury is out!

                  Tapering is going OK for me - work's busy and taking my mind off it. 3 tomorrow, 4 on Thursday. Rest on Friday, 2 on Saturday..... Race on Sunday. Bring it on!

                   

                  Flippy - Some endurance cyclist friends of mine recommended Nuun Active Hydration as a recovery drink. I didn't like the taste but they swear by it. May also be worth a look?

                  MT - I'm with Happy; Skip the 2668 (Is that 10k/day?) and play the game to get the 330 goal. "Rest easy son, you've had a busy day year. You're fortunate you're still in one piece!"

                   

                  Rainmaker - read your post in the other (premature!) thread  and just wanted to say; WOW!

                   

                  hog4life - I got nothing for you on the RH plan but will follow with interest. I'm going to need something specific to get me under 1:50 next year.

                   

                  jaxn - Good luck this weekend. As you streak over the finish line please spare a thought for those of us just crawling past the mile 15 water station!

                   

                  I am back to the UK for Christmas & the New Year with family for the fist time in many (5+) years.....in only a few weeks time.... another reason my year may seem to be coming to an end a bit prematurely... (and therefore needing to be reviewed already!! Clown) I'm not running over there. It's too cold & wet! Wink

                   

                  Good luck to everyone else racing this month, especially those of you doing stuff for the first time!

                   

                  MTA: I am 100% guilty of starting the 2012 review thread way too early and disrupting the space time continuum of HMT but I did put the following disclaimer at the top of the very first post there and I would like to beg for leniency from the jury, if it pleases your honors. Big grin

                  It's a little early to start this discussion, as there are still a good 30+ days of running to get in before 2012 is in the books completely but I figured we have a bunch of new HMTs right now and the "year in review" posts are a great way to get to know people.

                  2017 Goals
                  1) Run more than 231 miles
                  2) Be ready for  HM in the spring

                  HappyFeat


                    rainmakerrc - I can't make out what your avatar is....about...?

                    Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done. 

                    Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.

                    CanadianMeg


                    #RunEveryDay

                      Flippy, I started drinking chocolate milk after every run a few months ago when HF and I were chatting about post-run soreness and I do think it makes a difference. You don't necessarily need anything fancy after an easy run. 

                       

                      I'm not thinking next year yet either. It's very much winter here. We had more snow this year in November than we had all of last winter. (We've got over 2 feet already.) I'm struggling a bit with season change, but I'm trying to get the mileage in. I'd like to be running 5x a week but the way the last few weeks have gone, I'm thinking I should focus on 4x a week and just make sure I'm hitting that. Running is different in the winter here.  Next race for me is a NYD 5K.

                       

                      Christmas should be fun. We'll do brunch with my husband's parents, sister and her son in the morning (a block away from home) and then supper with my family that night. My younger sister who lives in Oxford (UK) is coming from the 16th to 30th. My older sister from Ontario is bringing her family for a week. My brother (police) and sister in law (nurse) are both not working on Christmas Day. My other sister will be there with her kids. Only one of my siblings won't make it home for Christmas, but she doesn't usually bring her family. I need to get going on the baking soon! Smile 

                      Half Fanatic #9292. 

                      Game Admin for RA Running Game 2023.

                        Welcome to the new members! I think the average speed of our group has been increased a bit by the new arrivals....

                         

                        Congratulations on a great year of running MT- and Rainmaker.

                         

                        Hog, I suppose the choice between distance and speed comes down to whether you faded at the end of your previous halfs, or simply didn't run fast enough. You have been doing steady miles, but what happened in September?

                         

                        Good luck to the many racers this weekend- look forward to the race reports.

                        PBs since age 60:  5k- 24:36, 10k - 47:17. Half Marathon- 1:42:41.

                                                            10 miles (unofficial) 1:16:44.

                         

                        hog4life


                          Simon, sorry if this is TMI, but I don't mind sharing. I had surgery on Aug 28th to remove part of my colon, I was diagnosed with cancer on Aug 21st. This was found on a routine colonoscopy checkup for Crohn's Disease which I've had for ~25 years. Most of Sept was spent recovering and no running. I'm very proud to be a runner, and know that it helped me beat colon cancer.
                          HappyFeat


                              trying to focus on the long plan. I'm seriously thinking too of replacing one of the speed work days with a MLR instead. Any tthoughts on this?

                             Running 4.5 years, 30 mpw and trying to bump up to 40-45, this will be my 3rd half, 2:08 and 2:01 on the first two, looking for a 1:57 or better.

                             

                            Hi! My thoughts =  big Yes to inserting a midweek MLR. I've been doing this for the past year and my fitness for the LR improved and I ran my first sub-2- hour HM last Sept. (1:59). My next step has been to transform that MLR into a bona fide Tempo Run. So far so good - making incremental progress on that and my 10Ks are getting easier. My MPW goal is 40-ish as well.

                             

                            Congratulations on resuming running so soon after cancer surgery - that's Huge!

                            Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done. 

                            Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.


                            an amazing likeness

                              Striking range at what price?

                               

                              Thank you!  You boiled it all down the core issue with this simple and insightful question. You made me stop and think.

                               

                              I'm going to drop the '330 runs in 2012' goal as the first item to jettison from the ship. Orginally this was actually a goal to force 35 rest days throughout the year, not a 'run this many times' goals -- it got swapped somewhere along the way, unintentionally, from being a max to being a min.

                               

                              2268 miles = 3650KM = 10K/day average.  This one I want...as it would be two years in row. Probably wont happen, and I wont let some off days or cross training days be replaced with run days to get it....but I'm still looking at that one longingly.  We'll see.

                               

                              Good advice all around, appreciate your help on the clarity.

                              Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

                              HappyFeat


                                Thank you!  You boiled it all down the core issue with this simple and insightful question. You made me stop and think.

                                 

                                I'm going to drop the '330 runs in 2012' goal as the first item to jettison from the ship. Orginally this was actually a goal to force 35 rest days throughout the year, not a 'run this many times' goals -- it got swapped somewhere along the way, unintentionally, from being a max to being a min.

                                 

                                2268 miles = 3650KM = 10K/day average.  This one I want...as it would be two years in row. Probably wont happen, and I wont let some off days or cross training days be replaced with run days to get it....but I'm still looking at that one longingly.  We'll see.

                                 

                                Good advice all around, appreciate your help on the clarity.

                                 You're welcome. I'm surprised to see how your 330 runs goal morphed from being about Rest Days to being Forced Running Days. Glad you caught that one!  I'm frowning on your 10K/day goal for the rest of this month thoughDisapprove  Given your leg complaints and some degree of burnout. I really think that is risky, especially since you indicated some upcoming races.  Wouldn't you perform better at those with some targeted training combined with more rest/recovery, maybe some more days off? If you didn't have the races, I'd say "Fine, Mister, go for it through December, but then Rest UP!" 

                                This is all just my gut response to what you posted. I hope you don't take offense.  I care.

                                Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done. 

                                Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.