Phobucket - Run the Town

[phobucket]

Hi there, everybuddy!

 

Super excited for my first challenge.

 

Main Quest - To Run the Town and love it!

The Town is a new half marathon in Oakland.  I ran a couple 5k races when I was a kid, but have never enjoyed running and haven't run on any regular basis ever.  I am giving myself 3 months of solid effort to learn to like running.  So far, so good

 

Goal 1: Stick with the program.

I started the Women's Running Couch to Half Marathon program one month ago, and am currently 1/3rd of the way through the workouts. I had some challenges in the last two weeks due to poor planning on my part, but I am proud that I stuck with it this far.  Today I ran 3 miles with just a single 1 minute walking break.  

 

Goal 2: This is my stretch goal

I need to work on stretches for my hips and knees.  Myrtl routine and gentle knee stretches 5 days per week.

 

Goal 3: Roger Bannister x 2: The 8 minute mile

This will beat my high school mile time of 8:10.  My fastest (recent) mile to date is 9:00 flat in the middle of a 2 mile run.  

 

Life/Side Quest: Recordame

Record and post a youtube video of me playing the Presto Movement of Bach's Violin Sonata in G Minor on bass.

 

Motivation:  I am a classic early quitter.  I come up with great ideas but am easily discouraged and rarely stick with something through the end.  This time I'm sticking with it!

 

 

[Maudezilla]

Hi Phobucket,

 

Good luck with your first challenge!!

I'm also starting today and I have the same problem as you; early quitter. I hope we both stick with this =D

[Hazard]

Hello and welcome!  Just dropping in to wish you the best of luck with your challenge!

[Kailer]

Hey Phobucket, how has your challenge been going? We'd love an update!

[phobucket]

It has been awesome!   I have made every run on the training program for 6 weeks in a row now and crossed a couple of mental milestones (first 5 mile run - I had a roommate that I thought was crazy because she would run 5 miles, and first 3 mile run at < 10mins mile).

 

My GF and I ran 5 miles on a path by the beach in Alameda on Friday, the 13th.  So beautiful.  On Monday I ran 3 miles at a 9:11 pace around the lake.  Yesterday I ran 6 miles at a 10:02min pace all over Oakland.  I need to figure out how to upload my MapMyRun screenshots.  I did make one slight mistake of going straight from running yesterday to sitting for 2 hours straight at work.  That led to some sore calves. 

 

 

Every week it feels more like running and less like trudging.   

 

 

On the stretch goal, I have been stretching 4 times a week, but really need to bump it up to 5.  This is the goal I am most likely to miss.  Need to figure some way to really make it part of daily my schedule.

 

Next week I am going to switch one of the shorter walk runs for a speed and form session.  The theory being that if I can learn proper form for running fast, some of that will translate to my longer runs.  I am shooting getting super form for 1/4 mile intervals, and running at least 1 at a sub 2 minute pace.

 

There are some things I need to start thinking about, like nourishment and hydration during longer runs.  Not sure how to handle that.  I have a running belt, but I'm not sure what to put in it or when to eat/drink.

[phobucket]

Woohoo! - In the 2nd mile of my 4 mile run today, I ran a 7:56 mile.  On Saturday I'm going to a track to make it official.    My pace for the entire run was under 9 mins - had some GPA problems, so I'm not exactly sure...

[Kailer]

Wow, under 8 minutes a mile! That's amazing! Rock on, Phobucket!!

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

[phobucket]

Thanks!  On Monday's run, MapMyRun clocked my first mile pace at 6:12. I thought, "Wow!  I feel good.  I had not idea I could run that fast."  I continued to marvel at my improvement for the rest of the run.  From over 12 minutes to 6 minutes in just 6 weeks.  That's 75% of the way to a 4 minute mile.  By the time I finished my run, I had myself breaking the 4 minute mile, writing a self-improvement best-seller and on the front of a Wheaties box. 

....

 

 

 

 

Five minutes later, as I marveled at my workout stats, I noticed that my elevation dropped 547 feet in the first quarter mile.  MapMyRun had started at a cell tower 4 blocks away and added that to my distance before catching up to me.  Doh!  

[phobucket]

Felt like I had no legs for running today.  But for the first time, I ran 4 miles with no walking breaks, and I kept all of my miles under a 10 minute pace (average 9:20).  It was really hard. 

[Kailer]

My running app has a tendancy to do those weird things, too. One my overall distance actually dropped after logging a new run...??

Congrats on your 4 mile run!! That's amazing, and you were going FAST!! You rock!

[phobucket]

Ran the first 7 miles of the race course today @ 9:30min/mile.  With 7 weeks to go until the race, I think there is a chance I can eek out the half marathon in under 2 hours.  

On my side quest of recording the Bach sonata, I still have 57 measures left to memorize in the second half of the Presto movement.  Feeling behind schedule on that. 

[phobucket]

Goal 3 officially accomplished. 1 mile in 7:48:09. Kicked my high school self's ass! Also, I have new found respect for how fast a 4 minute, or even 6 minute mile is. I ran flat out for 1/8th mile and that was a 6 minute pace. Trying to fathom keeping that tempo up for the rest of the mile. Sheesh.

[phobucket]

[Kailer]

Wow wow wowza!! You've been flying these past couple days. I can't even express how impressed I am. Keep going, you're a rock star!

[phobucket]

Thank, Kailer Over half way through the 14 week program now. I either had GPS problems today or went swimming without knowing it.

[Kailer]

Eeek, interesting detour there!

Congrats on getting through the first half of your Challenge with so much success - you are now officially a Level One Rebel!! Distribute 10 stat points however you'd like to get started

[18ck]

Hi phobucket. It's good to see you exceeding your goal so spectacularly, especially since you seem to have run some of it on water there. The Bach sounds impressive too. I'm looking forward to that. Subbed.

[AverageFish]

Awesome running progress, Phobucket! (Does your name refer to Vietnamese pho? Lots of carbs for running)

And ditto 18ck's sentiments on the Bach -- be sure to post a link when it's ready!

[phobucket]

Yes, it does refer to pho.  I love it so much I could eat a whole bucket... it's now my oldest son's favorite food too.  About to head out for an 8 mile run now.  Don't know what stat points are, but I'll look them up this weekend.  Thanks!

[phobucket]

Couple of epic MapMyRun screenshots. The first is from my weekend run with the kids riding their bikes. I felt like the middle of a 100m bungee cord. They had fun and so did I.

Then this bit of top notch GPS awesomeness from this morning's run. I just ran down 19th, around the northern perimiter of the lake and back.

There were a few other runners that were slightly faster than me, which helped me increase my pace. Hopefully that will happen in the race too.

Of course, there were plenty of runners who were way faster than me, but I might as well be chasing cars at that point. [emoji39]

[Kailer]

Two more solid runs - interesting that your GPS wants you to swim so badly!! It keeps putting you right at 4 M, is that the correct distance at least?

[18ck]

Two more solid runs - interesting that your GPS wants you to swim so badly!! It keeps putting you right at 4 M, is that the correct distance at least?

Yeah, I was thinking the same, but judging by the screen shot, GPS is on. Maybe mapmyrun is just a bit confused.

I am very much loving the idea of being paced by children on bikes. For some reason it's not something my daughter has been keen on in the past, but it seems like a fun thing to do. Maybe I will try and bribe her to do it at some point.

[phobucket]

Based on a google maps check, the overall distance looks very close.  It added distance during mile two (registered a 4:24 mile - lol), but subtracted distance during mile 3, showing a straight line instead of following the curve.   It seemed to track around the lake just fine on my 8 mile run last Wednesday.  Not sure why it had trouble today.  I'm going to make my next run somewhere other than the lake so I can get a more accurate read. 

[phobucket]

FEFRF - my 8yo was zooming ahead and would pause occasionally to throw rocks in the water; my 5yo generally either lagged behind or was at my tempo.  Still, they did a great job hanging in there for 4 miles.

[phobucket]

And woohoo!  Just learned what stat points are and figured out how to make a signature.  Thanks, Kailer!