Monday, November 30, 2020

Not-Sure-What-I'm-Doing November

November 2020 in review!

Total mileage for the month:  144.5
  • Nov. 2-8:  7.1
  • Nov. 9-15:  27
  • Nov. 16-22:  42.8
  • Nov. 23-29:  58.5
Put this in the bad race pics file!
I also can't look at it without laughing.
This was our marathon day.

Workouts:
  • Nov. 21:  5k pick up within a 10.2 mile run.
  • Nov. 28:  6 x 0.1 pick ups within the second half of my long run (pick up paces of 6:08, 5:56, 5:52, 5:57, 5:48, 6:03).  I like little workouts like this a lot during base building because I always feel better during/after the pick ups than I did in the first half of the run!  They really perk up my legs.
  • Strides:  Nov. 25, 30.
  • Elliptigoing:  I learned that the "real" ElliptigGO riders call this GOing.  I did mileage of 130.8, 10.4, 25, 23.6 - clearly there is an inverse relationship with my running mileage, and my training volume was also affected by illness Nov. 12-17.  Workout-wise I did 10 x 0.5ish hill reps on the ElliptiGO on Nov. 5, and on Nov. 7 I did some pushes within my long ride.
  • Strength Training:  weekly totals of 2:00, 2:40, 3:02, 3:13 - this is not counting the extensive amounts of time I spent standing on one leg to work on my balance and proprioception!
  • Yoga:  I cut out yoga after learning that while it may make my hip feel better in the short term, it may be making it worse in the long term!  I did a little stretching after nearly all runs but nothing crazy and avoided the couch stretch, pigeon, and similar positions that may make my hip too mobile.  I am learning that I need to pick strength over stretching always.
#noideawhatwearedoingnovember

I love my ElliptiGO but running
will always be my top love

We run-stalked Rebecca on her birthday morning

Long Runs:
  • Nov. 7 - 35 miles on the ElliptiGO, which was an ElliptiGO distance PR and probably like running about half that distance.  The weather was beautiful and I just went out thinking I'd ride whatever I felt like, and I felt really good until about 31 then I headed home.
  • Nov.  21 - 10.2 miles with a 5k pick up at 6:43, 7:07 (uphill), 6:41.  This was a nice little intro to running faster than 7:30-8:30 pace like my other runs were, but nothing crazy.
  • Nov. 28 -  14 miles with 0.1 pick-ups each mile of the second half, described in workouts.  I ran with Casey, Abby, Missy, Rebecca, and Claudio, and we ran a route we'd never done before, going through MSU, Drury, and OTC campuses, which was fun.
14!

Wet long run
Running Highlights:
  • Just running is a highlight.  I want to train hard, I want to run high mileage, I want to run killer workouts, I want to be competitive, and I want to PR-chase - but more than any of that I want to run every day (6 days a week would be acceptable and is what I'm trying for as long as I can restrain myself).
  • My running group had nice outdoor brunch after our November 21 run.
Missy placed 3rd OA female at Bass
Pro, but as her bib shows she is really #1

Several of my training buddies after Bass Pro

bRUNch

Life Highlights:
  • COVID testing is not a highlight, but it sure is memorable.  I was 99% sure I had bronchitis, which is about all I ever get (although I get it every year, since about age 6), but the doctor wanted to be safe and test me due to my occupation.  I had bronchitis. It was nice to have a confirmed negative though!  I had an asymptomatic test at work a few months ago so I knew what I was in for and it was much worse the second time because I knew what I was in for.  I may only be saying this because I'm not in top race shape, but I'd rather not race than do that 3 COVID tests in the week before a race thing!
  • Thanksgiving was a much smaller affair than usual, but we hosted my parents at our house.  I made several traditional sides and Jon smoked ribs and brisket in place of turkey (his idea, but I was all about it because I didn't want to cook a turkey, although my mom ended up bringing one anyway!).
I took a lot of pictures of my cats this month

The ketchup bottle contains homemade BBQ sauce, &
the largest dish is spaghetti squash...not sure what these
things say about us!

Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, & blackberry
cobbler all made with produce we grew

Forced selfie

Albani has outgrown family photos

Guess this will have to do for our 2020
Christmas cards, hah!

More forced photos

Nugget loves his grandma

Matching pjs!

Books:
  • Monogamy by Sue Miller
  • Still Me by Jojo Moyes
  • Listen to the Marriage by John Jay Osborn Jr.
  • When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley
  • Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Bryan Stevenson
  • Lou in Lockdown by Jojo Moyes
  • Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
  • Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby
  • 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
  • The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion
  • The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Piccoult
  • The Girl With No Past by Kathryn Croft
  • No Happy Endings by Nora McInerny Purmort (I almost waited until December to finish this one just so I could conclude the final month of the year with it, since that seemed fitting)
Theme for the month:
One day at a time.  Overall I'd say I began the month catastrophizing in regards to my hip and ended it stable.
 
Quote that I agree with:  "And the worst thing about being young is not being able to appreciate that you're young because you aren't old enough to know better." - 28 Summers

6 comments:

  1. When you do the pick ups in the second half of a long run do you do the same distance in between the pick ups as the distance of the pick ups? The race photo of you on the Elliptigo is hilarious!

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    1. I couldn't believe they took a photo of us during the race! They had free race photos but I think you had to look through them to find yourself, because almost everyone I knew in the race ended up sending me that photo after seeing it when looking for their race pics, hahaha!

      The pick-ups I did during that long run were just 0.1 pushes at the beginning of every mile for the second half of the run - so 0.1 at 10Kish pace/0.9 easy. In the past I have also done 30 second and 60 second pushes at the beginning of each mile, but you can't accurately program it into your Garmin that way since you don't know exactly how far you'll cover during your pushes or what pace you'll run between, so I prefer to program by distance (I think when we did 60 seconds we figured out we should program like 0.17 or something random like that).

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    2. The fact that you were emailed that picture multiple times makes it even more amazing! And I forgot to comment last time but everything I've heard about the Covid test has me really hoping I never have to get tested! I'd never been tested for the flu until when I had it in March and it was unpleasant. And I know the Covid test goes so much higher into your nose!

      Thanks, that sounds like fun! I want to try it sometime.

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    3. The acute pain gets me. It's like running the 800 m all crammed into 10 seconds of that thing in your nose.

      Definitely try the pickups! I usually feel better/less fatigued when I do them vs. doing an all easy long run for some reason. Maybe they make me stop slogging.

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    4. It would break it up too! I get excited for tempos and long run workouts just because they break the long run up.

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    5. I agree - if I run long alone I would much rather it be a workout. It's easier to do a 20 mile workout than 20 miles easy by yourself!

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