The Running Thread—2023

[lookingforsunshine]

The course was different this year than past years,

Congrats! I did Augusta 70.3 in 2016. I was too slow and had my timing chip pulled a mile from the finish which was annoying (I still crossed the finish line though) so I might return to the race for redemption (or another 70.3). The run was brutally hot when I did it as well.

 

[MissLiss279]

Berlin marathon quickie race recap - my 1st international marathon and 3rd world major!

The Good - very well organized event, fun/positive vibe, cool city with lots to see/do/eat, FLAT course with an epic finish through the Brandenberg Gate, weather was good (I hate to complain that mid 60's was a little hot but it was), and the exciting pro race

The Bad - expo was super crowded (esp the official race merch), it was a little difficult to find my husband after the race as there wasn't an official meeting area, plastic cups at water stops made it hard to drink and then left the road covered in hard plastic cups that got kicked around and stepped on, not starting the race until 9am for pros (10am for me)

I was about 15 min slower than my goal - ran a 4:27 but was hoping for 4:15 or better. The sun beating down on us combined with fighting off a cold did me in, but I kept a pretty consistent pace until mile 21 or so.

If any of you are going for the 6 Star medal, Berlin is a great event and we really enjoyed touring Germany - we hit Munich (Oktoberfest) and the Bavarian alps after the race.

We might have crossed paths at some point. From Garmin, it looks like I started around 10:15. So I may have always been behind you. I finished in 4:35, but had to stop 3 times for a bathroom stop. Thankfully I had enough wet ones (or Kleenex from my mom) to cover no toilet paper! I did decide to try the warm tea. It was interesting! If it had been a colder race, maybe it would have been nice!
I too was hoping to be a little faster, but it was a bit too warm.
The expo for me wasn’t too bad at about an hour to closing on Friday.

 

[Dopey 2020]

A solid month, didn’t miss any scheduled runs/distances. Seems to me like I’m getting slower rather than faster but still quite happy and feeling ready for W&D.

 

[RuntheMouse]

September Totals:
Running Miles: 87.6
Avg Pace: 11:24

Had a decline from August, the COVID monster got me at the beginning of the month. Little to no lasting effects which is good. Had to slow it down at my 10k race today but still finished solid with a 10:47 pace so I’m happy with it.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

September 2023

Running distance: 198.9 miles
Running time: 33h 46m
Strength training: 4h 13m
Core: 47m
Yoga/Pilates: 1h 5m
Total training time: 40h 10m

Lol so close to 200... Next month! Also 1 half marathon PR

 

[Guidman]

September Running
172.52 miles
7:42 avg/mile

Had a 10k last Sunday (Pittsburgh Great Race). Always a fun way to start the fall races off. Finished in 39:14. The splits were almost dead even, I was two seconds faster in the second 5k. I don't think I could have done that if I was trying to.

 

[Naomeri]

September 2023

Running distance: 198.9 miles
Running time: 33h 46m
Strength training: 4h 13m
Core: 47m
Yoga/Pilates: 1h 5m
Total training time: 40h 10m

Lol so close to 200... Next month! Also 1 half marathon PR

You couldn’t find time to run that last 1.1 today?

 

[WillRunForPizza]

You couldn’t find time to run that last 1.1 today?

I already did 8+ miles this morning! The extra 1.1 did not seem worth it lol

 

[LorrieAnn5]

September 2023: Activities: 17 Distance: 65.78 miles Time: 12:53:40 This includes two 5ks, a 10k training run, and best of all a 10k RACE PR! This was my first time racing in person since November 2019, and my second ever 10k race. This race was two laps of 5k; I started out really fast because it was a crazy clump of people, zigging, and zagging. I did end up slowing down as each mile past! Ha! But, in the end I was still fast enough for a PR and Disneyland Half Marathon POT of 56:13.

In September I also did yoga and an express strength program. I was able to increase my 1 Rep Maximum for Bench Press *113, Squat 1RM stayed the same *143, but I lost some progress on my Deadlift, reducing my 1RM by 10lbs *169.

Looking forward, October will include weeks 2 thru 5 out of a 16 week Garmin Half Marathon Intermediate Plan. This plan will require me to run 5 times a week which will be the most I've ever run on a weekly basis. I am also going back to my normal strength work outs twice a week.

 

[SheHulk]

September Running:

Total distance: 121.25 mi
Average pace: 11:24/mi

Not as many miles as I planned, developed IT band irritation in my hip at the end of August. It sidelined me from running for a little over a week, at a time when I really should be peaking my long runs for Chicago next week. I've been doing run/walk/run intervals since the ortho told me it is ok to run with. I'm not as well-trained as I'd like, but not so far off course that I'm going to scratch the race altogether. I'll just see how I'm doing that day but I'll most likely do some kind of intervals as long as the crowds allow it. After that I have half marathons scheduled about every 6 weeks, including Disneyland and Princess! The goal is to not irritate the IT band so badly that I have to miss out on anything.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

September 2023

Running distance: 198.9 miles
Running time: 33h 46m
Strength training: 4h 13m
Core: 47m
Yoga/Pilates: 1h 5m
Total training time: 40h 10m

Lol so close to 200... Next month! Also 1 half marathon PR

There is still time today for 1.1 miles!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

September 2023
Running miles: 65
Avg time: appx 10:35/mile

Dang. I thought that I had gotten in more miles and more runs, but I guess dealing with the foot issues I did less than I thought.

Oh well, time for a strong October leading up to the MCM.

 

[flav]

September 2023 totals
Distance: 222.3km (138mi)
Average pace: 6m47s/km (10:55/mi)
YTD: 1565km on 2023km

Busy busy month! Family, work, training and coaching wise

I was glad I had passed on the triathlon sprint and could help DD with hers because it was pouring that day.

The rest of September was so beautiful weather wise around here. That was perfect for supporting DD’s combo 5k+HM at Marathon de Montréal. She succeeded with her sub-19 5k, and was the only female doing so

DH and I are five weeks from NYC Marathon and we were able to train well all month. We concluded the month with the HM at Ptit Train du Nord this morning.

 

[FFigawi]

Sept Totals:
Swim - 1 mile
Bike - 225 miles
Run - 60 miles

Another month of base maintenance with the cycling and running starting to increase slightly to get ready for races this winter (Dopey and Oman 70.3).

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

September running
Miles = 78
Avg pace = 10:19
Runs per week = 4.6
Avg miles/run = 4.1

September was OK running-wise, though I wish my long runs (10 mi) were a few miles longer to give me more confidence heading into a half marathon next weekend. Can't decide if I want to start off with the 2:10 pacer and see how long I can hang or start more conservatively with the hope of picking it up later in the race. Either way, my goal is to stay mentally strong the entire race and finish in less than 2:20.

 

[flav]

Can't decide if I want to start off with the 2:10 pacer and see how long I can hang or start more conservatively with the hope of picking it up later in the race. Either way, my goal is to stay mentally strong the entire race and finish in less than 2:20.

What are your objectives for the race (enjoy at a happy pace, get a POT, see how well the training went, best speed possible to see how far you can push yourself)? How is the race elevation profile? Have you trained with a 2:10 half-marathon pace? If the course is relatively flat and your training plan was built around a 2:10 half-marathon than staying with that pacer can be a good motivation and a way not to start too fast. If 2:10 is faster than your current preparation, then you likely will not enjoy the end of the race.

 

[striker1064]

September Running:

Total mileage: 222.2 Mi
Total time: 34h 56min

This wraps up, by far, my highest total month ever. With Marine Corps Marathon fast approaching it will likely be some time before I hit this kind of monthly mileage again, but I'm very proud of sticking with this especially through the heat.

 

[huskies90]

September Miles = 152

Two months in a row I did all of my training plan runs for the month except for the last one. And once again it was due to an all day tailgate/college football game. I will be both peaking and tapering for NYC in October. In November, I’m leaving directly from NY to Orlando for a week of walking around the parks to recover from the marathon and then its right back to training for Dopey!!

January Miles = 113
February Miles = 113
March Miles = 116
April Miles = 115
May Miles = 123
June Miles = 112
July Miles = 119
August Miles = 136

2023 Total = 1,099

 

[pluto377]

I'm always so amazed at everyone's monthly totals. I don't know how you guys do it! I only had 35 miles for September, though I did take some days off early in the month for vacation and missed 9 days at the end of the month with being sick and rain on top of rain on top of rain. Hoping October goes a little better.

 

[DopeyBadger]

September Training Summary

Running duration = 24:40 hours
Running mileage = 171 miles
Average Pace = 8:38 min/mile (about 100 sec/mile slower than recent HM)
Average HR = 130 (15 bpm less than half marathon)
Strength Training = 3:20 hours
Total Training Time = 28:00 hours

After a nice summer of pivoting focus to weight lifting for 17 weeks, it's nice to be back to running full time. The timing of this previous training cycle was perfectly timed. There's been a lot of upheaval in my personal and professional life. So to have training take an intended back seat was what I needed before I even know I was writing it that way. I made some significant gains muscularly from all the weight lifting, but those are already disappearing a few weeks into run training. Most of the summer I hovered around 100 miles per month. I detailed the 35 week training plan here (link). I was able to maintain a good level of running fitness despite the lower volume, so I'm in a good place right now. Looking forward to getting into some harder training runs since I've been doing exclusively easy running since April.

G and I have been hard at work on our Halloween costumes and looking forward to getting that all wrapped up. She hasn't done much run training recently, but we're going to get back into the groove so she's prepared for the Disneyland 5k.