hey, let's have a check-in!

[ilanarama]

It's Monday! And it's the beginning of December! How goes your running?

Have you made any plans for next year yet? Races to run, goals to strive for?

Comments

[thalia]

I ran a 5K on Thanksgiving, and it was fun! My time utterly sucked, mostly because the course was really crowded and I was dodging walkers pretty much the whole time, but it's still a great way to start the morning.

My only goal is to keep running consistently over the winter. I'll probably do a 10K in March or April, just to have something to shoot for. After that, we'll see.

[ilanarama]

Hah, I bet it's a lot harder to run consistently through the winter where you are. Oh, that makes me think of a couple of friends who live up by you, who are members of CARA and do group runs to keep them motivated - maybe they have a club near you?

[cofax7]

I had a lot of trouble with plantar fasciitis last summer, and basically stopped running for two months. When it finally seemed mostly over (no more stabbing pain, anyway), I started running again a few weeks ago, using Zombies, Run! for inspiration.

So in only 3 weeks, I've done 10 missions for Abel Township and dodged quite a lot of zombies. Fun! And my feet seem to be healing up slowly...

[blnchflr]

Hey, impulse-buying after lying awake with insomnia for two hours - good thing apps are not the most expensive things to impulse-buy?!

[cofax7]

I'm a little scared it's going to be my new fandom...

There doesn't, however, appear to be one consistent location to find out how to do everything, which is annoying. The ZR website badly needs a FAQ.

[ilanarama]

I hope you have figured out how to permanently fix your PF (through new shoes, inserts, or strengthening exercises, or all of the above). A lot of my friends have struggled with it, and I understand it's really difficult to deal with.

[cofax7]

I don't believe there's any such thing as a permanent fix. I got it first in 1991, have managed it mostly through orthotics in the last decade. This round was probably a result of wearing the wrong shoes to walk 2 miles/day to a temp job for a couple of months. Dumb!

It's getting better through wearing good shoes, and lots of exercises/stretching. SIGH.

[meri_oddities]

Haha. I have all of 2014 planned. I am actually looking at running several shorter races as well as my usual 7 marathons. I'm doing some for fun, and some for real. Reykjavik in August is next year's goal race. With Top of Utah as the backup about 5 weeks later.

[ilanarama]

Reykjavik will be AWESOME. And as you know I will happily dispense advice. I'm really excited for your half marathon - I think you can PR easy.

[meri_oddities]

I'm actually running 3, but the first 2 don't count. One is with the Dopey, which I am going to do at LSD pace -- which I'm hoping to do for all the races. And Shamrock is just too close to Austin, but Ottawa is Memorial Day and there is plenty of time for speed work before it. It's also, my PR course (2:05).

After you rock CIM, I'll be back to you for some thoughts on what kind of speed work will be best. As I said, I love tempo runs and am not as crazy about the track.

[blnchflr]

Twisted my (bad) knee and (bad) ankle last week, because I'm an IDIOT.

Went on a 4 km run Saturday, and it wasn't too sore. Hoping to run tomorrow morning, aka in less than five hours (insomnia, yay).

[ilanarama]

Oh nooooo! (Both to twisting and insomnia.) Heal up and stop being an idiot. ;-)

[semielliptical]

My running is going fine, though I'm not doing much. I have a low-key goal of running at least 3 times a week for now. My plan will be to ramp back up in the new year, as we start to get more daylight hours and it will become easier to run before or after work on weekdays.

I am about to register for a 5K in early March, and a 5-mile trail race later that month, which will give me some motivation to get moving more often in the middle of winter! I want to do more trail races next year, and I'm thinking about another 5-mile trail race at the end of April, and/or a hillier 8-mile trail race at the beginning of May. My choices will depend on working out some travel plans. I also have my eye on a 10-mile trail race in July.

I want to do another half-marathon next fall, and I'm thinking about the Detroit Half, which is fairly close to home. I will probably be annoyed by some of the inconveniences of such a large race, but I really like the idea of running through two countries in one race so I figure I should do it once!

[ilanarama]

Yay, good goals! And I love trail races. I'm not nearly as good at them as I am at road racing, but I enjoy them a lot.

[ilanarama]

I am currently in the throes of taper madness as I will be running the California International Marathon (CIM) on Sunday.

My big goals for next year are a sub-1:35 half marathon and a legit sub-45 minute 10K (as opposed to my current PR which was set on a downhill course). I would also like to run a 50K at some point.

I'm planning to do the Canyonlands Half in Moab in March, our local Steamworks Half in June, and the Imogene Pass Run trail 17M in September for sure.

[ell]

I will be cyberstalking your results on Sunday and thinking of you! You're going to kill it!

[temve]

My plan is to start running consistently again after a terrible season of stress, sickness, and sprained ankle. It will take a while to rebuild my base so I'm not expecting any PRs any time soon (and hoping I'm not over the hill age-wise). Mostly, I'll be keeping up the triathlon habit, because I spent a lot of time swimming when I couldn't run this year, and have finally gotten comfortable doing it.

[linaelyn]

Over the hill, age-wise? BWAH!!! No such thing, darling! I know I'm faster now than I've ever been (or I was, ten weeks ago, and I know I'll get back there soon.) Tons of empathy for you on the stress, sickness & injury woes, though. It can be daunting to come back to training after a setback, I know it well. YOU CAN DO THIS!!

[ell]

You don't have to expect the PRs. I'll just keep writing down my secret and almost always very accurate predictions for you. But remember, no matter how old you are, I'm older and look what I can do! I've gotten much faster in the last 2 years so if that's predictive, then next year you should be having your fastest year ever :-)

[ilanarama]

I just set a half marathon PR in October at age 50, and I'm expecting (well, hoping!) to break my marathon PR this Sunday. So let's not hear any of this "over the hill" garbage, missy!

[linaelyn]

I'm back to running after losing two solid months to health issues. My first run was a week ago Sunday, and I managed just over 2 miles, 4min/1min intervals. Today, I nearly managed 6 miles! I'm getting my conditioning back, far faster than I had feared.

My goals for 2014 are to get really comfortable with the 10-15k zone, running that distance 3 times a week or so. My only plan for a formal race is Bay To Breakers in May.

[ell]

So glad to hear that running is going well for you and the health issues are behind you!

[ilanarama]

I have found that coming back to a fitness level post-injury (or illness, or even just vacation and slacking) is easier than getting to that level initially. Sounds like you are on your way to making your goals.

[ell]

2014 plans, I haz them!
Spring is the usual March 1/2 marathon where if I get moving, I might actually get it under 1:50 (last one was 1:51 something so it's a legitimate goal)

Then a May marathon (in Mainz) where I'd like to shave 2 measly minutes off my PR and manage it under 4 hours

One 1/2 Iron triathlon in late summer - probably Wiesbaden where the 1500 meters of climbing on the bike and I have some unfinished business

And then in September, I'm going to run up an Alp. The Jungfrau Marathon starts at 568 m in Interlaken and hits a high point of 2320 m on the mountain before ending in Klein Scheidegg (2100 m). It neatly combines my love of doing stupid things with my love of mountains. So yeah. Run up a mountain! Who's with me?

Ive been trying to get back into training in some sort of regular fashion after July and spring racing is definitely the key.

[linaelyn]

That's a lot of plans, and I admire your goals immensely. RUN UP AN ALP. This is why I love you. (geez, you're kinda crazy, you know this?)

[ilanarama]

RUN AN ALP! That is so cool. I just found the virtual course tour at http://www.post.ch/flash/Post/InsightView/Jungfrau/index.html and it looks amazing - like a cross between a road marathon and a trail race.