Back in the Saddle...? Ridgebacks, Running, and other Fitness-related Shenanigans

[PaDisneyCouple]

Your pups are adorable!! They look like they'll be great running buddies when they are fully grown.

The Hot Chocolate races sound like a lot of fun. A friend of mine is doing the upcoming 15k in Philadelphia. She already received her Swag and was wearing the quarter-zip yesterday. It is beautiful!! The purple is a great color and the fabric has that nice light fleece on the inside. Love the medal also!!

 

[LilyJC]

Your pups are adorable!! They look like they'll be great running buddies when they are fully grown.

The Hot Chocolate races sound like a lot of fun. A friend of mine is doing the upcoming 15k in Philadelphia. She already received her Swag and was wearing the quarter-zip yesterday. It is beautiful!! The purple is a great color and the fabric has that nice light fleece on the inside. Love the medal also!!

Thank you so much! I adore my fur babies.

I’d definitely recommend doing at least one Hot Chocolate race if you’re able! They’re so fun and delicious!

 

[LilyJC]

I’m pretty lame at keeping my journal updated. Ooopsie....

But today my youngest DD and I did two 5ks. One was a more “competitive” run, and the second was a fun rabbit run with Easter goodies along the way. Two separate medals were advertised if both events were completed. Here’s what we each got:

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I guess it’s way easier to order different ribbons, but still....

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My baby’s goal was to run the entire first 5k. She did it and was 4th in her AG! Plus she earned those miles to add to her 100 Mile Club goal for the year. I’m so bummed I didn’t get any pictures along the way, but we learned that Tootsie Eggs are a thing. Interesting idea with all the same Tootsie goodness.

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[LilyJC]

I've gotta be better about updating my journal - I can hardly remember last week let alone two weeks ago. We'll see how this goes. The first week I began my official training journal journey started out so great! I was super motivated and feeling amazingly proud of myself.

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The 1/2 running plan I've been loosely following had a recovery week scheduled which I was fine with since I've been so off in my training.

Sunday 3/18
Hot Chocolate 15k

Monday 3/29
I had planned to do an easy 4 mile recovery run, but instead I took the three big dogs for a 5 mile walk with some light jogging to help prepare Jax, my oldest Ridgie, for full on running partner duties.

Tuesday 3/20
Easy 6 mile run
4 mile walk/jog with the dogs
And I actually made myself go to the gym!!!! I was thrilled and enjoyed a back/bi day (my fave).

Wednesday 3/21
One of my favorite mom volunteer duties is to be a "coach" for our 100 Mile Club program. I track miles for two classes this year and present earned awards throughout the year. I also alternate hosting a weekly meet-up so that the kiddos can earn extra miles. Blaze, the puppy, was the only one to get walked at the park by my oldest while I hosted the event.

Thursday 3/22
Easy 6 mile run
Squeezed a quick 3 mile brisk walk in with the dogs

Friday 3/23
Easy 5 mile run
I think I walked the dogs, but can't quite remember for sure....

While my week started out great, I basically slid into the weekend as the majority of #momslaves do. And here is where my running schedule and motivation hit a wall.

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Saturday 3/24
I decided to postpone my 11 mile long run until Sunday because my youngest had her first track meet. I had been warned it was going to be a loooong day. We thankfully had great weather, and huge bonus that it was close to home. I absolutely adore our coaches who are former Nigerian Olympians. They allowed her to skip trying out shot put because she was already pretty much toast. I was grateful to later learn that it would have been an additional two hours if we had stayed to do shot put. Always proud of my girl:

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Sunday 3/25
My alarm went off before 5, and I could not drag myself out of bed. Of course I was super frustrated with myself for blowing it. My sugar detox also tanked.

 

[LilyJC]

My next week was definitely the week of doggie strays and pure exhaustion. Oh, and quick edit to 3/23 - I did not walk the dogs. It was my hubby's day off which he doesn't get that often, so we went to see the new Lara Croft Tomb Raider. I basically consider that my second gym workout of the week. Alicia Vikander is ripped in that movie! Definitely inspired me to get to the gym more often. Anyhow, after my complete weekend fail I thought I'd be good to go on Monday. Not so much....

Monday 3/26
Woke up with my alarm and promptly went back to sleep. I thankfully didn't have much going on that morning, so after dropping the kids off, I made myself go for an easy 4 mile run. Anytime I go out for a run in daylight hours I feel as though it's punishment for not going early morning when I'm supposed to. I'm basically a vampire and hate running in sunlight unless of course it's for an event which is partly why I love Disney runs so much. Can't beat that 5:30am start time!

The big deal about this run was that it was my first time taking Jax out on a solo run. I'd say it didn't go that well. He seemed confused to be the only dog out with me, and he was kind of a freak on a leash. Over the span of three hours I saw a stray dog in different areas of my neighborhood. He luckily made his way to the street in front of my house, so I grabbed him and popped him in one of my old crates. Poor little guy happily came to me and lapped up a bunch of water. Animal Control came by and found a chip. She called his owner and I agreed to keep him at my house so the owner wouldn't be charged any fees. We were happy to help and get him back home. Funny looking little guy:

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Tuesday 3/27
Planned to do at least a 7 mile run, but when the alarm went off it was insanely windy. I refused to get up and basically tried to hide in the house the rest of the day. It was so nasty. Two crazy Ridgebacks plus wind are not a good thing:

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Wednesday 3/28
Hubby and I ran an easy 5 miles, and then I was asked to host the 100 Mile Club event at our local park as the other mom was having a medical emergency. Right as we pulled up she texted me and said she had just gotten there and wanted to do it It ended up working out though as there happened to be another stray boxer that many of the families thought was my boxer. We waited until Animal Control came by, but this time the officer whisked him away as the dog was a typical bonkers boxer and tons of kids were everywhere and somewhat afraid of him. He was taken to the shelter My boxer-loving youngest was pretty heart-broken.

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Thursday 3/29
I can't even remember if I tried to get up to run, but no running

Friday 3/30
Another easy 4 miler

Saturday 3/31
Ran the OC Challenge 5k and Rabbit Run 5k with my youngest DD

Sunday 4/1
I was concerned about scheduling my long run for Easter Sunday, but I actually got myself out of bed and ran 11 miles. Hubby went the day before. I really enjoyed my run minus being honked at with a weird cat-call whistle horn thing. Took me so much by surprise that I automatically switched my pepper spray over and pointed it at the car. I'm guilty of experiencing runner's rage.

I also feel somewhat guilty to be relieved to run at my own pace. I was pretty pleased when I got home and saw it was a decent paced run. I was also proud to eat fairly clean and relatively little candy compared to most Easters

Monday 4/2
The alarms went off, but we didn't budge until I finally made myself get out of bed. Thank goodness for spring break! I was able to head out around 7 for another 4 mile run with Jax. It was an overcast morning and without the schools in session; it was perfect. Jax was better, but I'm finding that he seems to have become more dog aggressive. Everything went well until we came across two separate walkers with yellow labs. I know he just wants to meet them and play, but with his size, he is terrifying to those who witness his insanity. Thankful for prong collars! I need to set aside more time to work on his and Blaze's on-leash obedience training.

Tuesday 4/3
7 miles with DH. Poor guy had to ask me to slow down as I was chatting and not paying attention to pace We finally had our taxes done and then went out for a celebratory lunch at Lucille's BBQ. I resisted ordering my favorite peach lemonade. When I drink my calories I don't have room for anything else, and I definitely wanted to enjoy their yummy biscuits with my salad. Another win in my book!

Wednesday 4/4
Rest day!! We're loving spring break, but it's flying by waaaaay too quickly.

 

[LilyJC]

Some Random Thoughts​

Processing why I've been struggling so much since Dopey - partly not wanting to get out of my warm bed. Now that it's warming up I definitely need to switch the flannel sheets out. Also, it's hard to get up with this sweet little thing snuggling against my legs and keeping me warm.

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Also really struggling with whether I lack motivation to run because I don't feel the need to push myself when I run with DH. With the release of Darkside corrals, I found out we are two corrals away from each other for the half. Really conflicted as to whether or not to drop back to run with my hubby. I feel some desire to work on speed again. I'm in no way fast, but I do like to challenge myself occasionally and would like to return to my pre-training for Dopey with DH running pace. Again, so conflicted as I do enjoy running with DH sometimes.

I'm seeing some light at the end of the tunnel and motivation returning with more spring-like conditions. The orange blossoms are intoxicating and the pink jasmine is just starting to bloom. Spring is my favorite season here, so I'm hopefully I'll continue to enjoy my runs more and more.

Also dealing with a slight case of FOMO with Ragnar SoCal coming up this weekend. After captaining a team the past two years, I was pretty done. I keep reminding myself of my last leg last year and driving through the area when we went down to San Diego for the Hot Chocolate 15k was another helpful reminder of how much I hated that leg! I vowed the entire time to never do Ragnar again. Happy me just starting out on my first leg both years:

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Ragnar is overall a fun experience!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Also really struggling with whether I lack motivation to run because I don't feel the need to push myself when I run with DH. With the release of Darkside corrals, I found out we are two corrals away from each other for the half. Really conflicted as to whether or not to drop back to run with my hubby. I feel some desire to work on speed again. I'm in no way fast, but I do like to challenge myself occasionally and would like to return to my pre-training for Dopey with DH running pace. Again, so conflicted as I do enjoy running with DH sometimes.

Could you do both? Run with DH on recovery/easy days and the other days focus on harder/faster pacing? Then those easier days for you, could serve as DH's hard days? How much separation in pacing do you have between yourselves?

 

[LilyJC]

Could you do both? Run with DH on recovery/easy days and the other days focus on harder/faster pacing? Then those easier days for you, could serve as DH's hard days? How much separation in pacing do you have between yourselves?

That is potentially what I’m considering although I’m worried it’ll still hurt his feelings.

We did another 7 miler again today with him struggling at about 5 miles in. Our pace separation can be anywhere from 1:00-1:30/mile on an easy, normal distance run to 1:30-3:00/mile on a longer training run. I experienced some physical pain from altering my pace so significantly while training for Dopey which I feel like I’m just starting to recover from.

As far as races when we run separately, I tend to finish ~20-30 minutes before him during halfs. It’s hard to compare full marathons since he’s just done the one during Dopey ‘18, but my PR is one hour faster than what we ran together for the WDW full. My PW is about 45 minutes faster than our full together as well.

 

[DopeyBadger]

That is potentially what I’m considering although I’m worried it’ll still hurt his feelings.

We did another 7 miler again today with him struggling at about 5 miles in. Our pace separation can be anywhere from 1:00-1:30/mile on an easy, normal distance run to 1:30-3:00/mile on a longer training run. I experienced some physical pain from altering my pace so significantly while training for Dopey which I feel like I’m just starting to recover from.

As far as races when we run separately, I tend to finish ~20-30 minutes before him during halfs. It’s hard to compare full marathons since he’s just done the one during Dopey ‘18, but my PR is one hour faster than what we ran together for the WDW full. My PW is about 45 minutes faster than our full together as well.

What are your recent race results (like last 6 months)? Because from your description, I think there are a few types of workouts that could work for both of you simultaneously.

I guess the way I'd look at is if both of your end goals is to continue to improve (which it doesn't have to be if that's not your goals), then training closer to each of your own personal fitness levels will yield maximal improvement. And there's nothing to say he wouldn't improve at a faster rate and in short time actually be as fast as you are.

 

[LilyJC]

He would love that, @DopeyBadger! The majority of our race results from the past 6 months are ones we've done together (usually Disney races or other fun runs). Here we go:

November 2017
Superheroes Weekend 10k - 59:47
Superheroes 1/2 - 2:02:22

Dopey 2018
10k - 1:03:36
1/2 - 2:14::35
Full - 4:57:23

After Dopey both of us tanked in the training run department. I ran four times before our next half at the beginning of February and he maybe ran 3 times...? We started this half out together, but after 3-4 miles I knew I was losing patience and he was really not feeling great. He encouraged me to take off. I later regretted it as it was a miserable race, and I would have had way more fun staying with him.
My time: 2:06:56 (my PR for this particular course is 1:48:04 so that'll tell you how wretched it was... I think this is my PW for any 1/2 I've run by myself)
His time: 2:20:47

And then we did a 15k together in March - 1:32:30

We've only ever done one 5k without the kids, and it was part of a challenge the evening before a 1/2. We ran it together in May 2017, so I'm not sure it's worth mentioning. Just in case our time for that 5k was 25:12.

Thank you so much for any help, and please let me know if you need any other potentially useful info!

 

[LilyJC]

4/5 update and finally some fun spring break fitness-related shenanigans!

DH and I ran 7 miles early and eventually made it out the door for our first family trip to Joshua Tree National Park. I’d accompanied my youngest DD’s 4th grade class on a field trip there late fall. I never realized 4th graders (plus their families) received free admission into the National Parks until a year ago - So neat! We vowed to take the other half of our family back, and yesterday we all had a blast!

My girls spent a ton of time bouldering




Can’t forget the wildlife since we’re an animal-loving fam-seriously loved these huge lizards: chuckwallas!


Had to get at least one family pic at the end of our last hike!
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We all enjoyed drinking some calories at the nearby Sonic in Yucca Valley after leaving the park, and we hope to get through more of our National Park bucket list before my DD’s pass expires at the end of August.

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[DopeyBadger]

So it sounds like most of the times above are reflective of his current fitness. Does he reasonably believe he could run a 25 min 5k right now? Maybe 28 min? How about you what's a current fitness 5k guess?

 

[LilyJC]

So it sounds like most of the times above are reflective of his current fitness. Does he reasonably believe he could run a 25 min 5k right now? Maybe 28 min? How about you what's a current fitness 5k guess?

Yes, definitely his current fitness. The 25 min 5k was really pushing it for him at the time. I thought I was running at his pace for that run, but he was really trying to not disappoint since we'd never actually run a 5k. At this point, he could definitely do a 27-28 minute 5k.

As for me, perhaps somewhere in the 23-24 minute range right now...? I'm currently debating whether to train for a 5k or 10k on July 4th to see what sort of time I can get when actually training specifically for a shorter race. We'll be doing the Darkside Challenge in a couple weeks, but then I don't have anything set in stone after that for a while.

 

[DopeyBadger]

So this would be a stab at it based on the slower end of the 5k guesses (28 and 24 min). They line up reasonably well with some of the recent stuff. I always prefer to err on the side of being too slow (which is safe) vs too fast (which stunts adaptation and improvement).



If we compare them side by side, you can see the disconnect. If the two of you run at say 9:30 pace in a training run, then he's doing a pace (Daniels T) that should be limited to 20 min at a time, or 40-60 min total with 1 min rest interval for every 5-8 min of running. But that same pace for you is long run. That's a pace in training that you can maintain for up to 150 min without resting breaks. So for him 20 min max at a continuous duration and for you 150 min. So by pushing it too much for him, then he's always trying to recover and never gets the opportunity to improve like he may desire to do.

So that's a great paced run for both of you, if you want to consider it an easy day for yourself. Something like the following:

-a WU of 5-10 min at easy pacing (around an 11 min/mile). Or in mileage a 0.45-1.0 mile WU at 11 min/mile.
-Intervals of 5 min run and 1 min rest at 9:30 min/mile pace. Do no less than 6 of these and no more than 8. 5 min of run at this pace is around 0.53 miles
-a CD of 5-10 min at easy pacing (around an 11 min/mile). Or in mileage a 0.45-1.0 mile WU at 11 min/mile.

For you, this would amount to an easy day and would not inhibit your ability to improve. You'd spend other days of the week doing harder paced runs. For him, this would be an extremely beneficial run. It will improve his performance over the course of several weeks.

As time progresses, you could move this from 6 x 5 min w/ 1 min RI to 4 x 10 min w/ 2 min RI to 3 x 12 min w/ 2.5 min RI to 2 x 18 min w/ 3 min RI. The key in developing these is:

1) Keep the T pace duration between 30-45 min. You can go up to 60 min, but I'd save that for after a few months of this type of workout. I don't go up to 60 min at this point in my training either.
2) Keep the max continuous duration at 20 min.
3) Maintain a 1 min Rest for every 5-8 min of run in the interval. The rest can be either walking, slowly running, or whatever it takes to allow yourself to have consistent T paced splits.

Another matching point is your EB pace and his HM pace. So again, the workout would be your easy day and his hard day. For this workout, limit the time spent at HM Tempo (for him) at no more than 60 min. And honestly, you should only be doing the 60 min max maybe 2-3 times right before a HM event. Any more than that will lead to too much stress. So aim for no less than 30 min (or where to start) and build up to 50 min. This type of run should have a minimum 5-10 min WU/CD associated with it.

I think these are two workout paces that you could both do and they would lead to an easy day for you and a hard day for him. For his easy days, he needs to stick in the 11:23-12:11 range.

Thoughts?

 

[LilyJC]

Wow, this is an amazing wealth of information! Thank you so much for taking the time to walk me through this. I initially was a bit overwhelmed by all the different paces/pace labels in the chart, but after re-reading a few times everything is coming together (I'm a slow processor - what can I say...?). It definitely makes sense that the poor guy hasn't been able to fully recover. During the majority of his half marathons, he tends to crash at the 9-10 mile mark. We always thought it was mostly mental, but interestingly during full marathon training, his pace for long training runs was in the easy range you posted for him. He was able to run both of the half marathons he did in that time frame without stopping. At this point I've just gotta figure out how to broach the subject and pass on your tips without hurting feelings.

And now I'm totally interested in working with you on future running plans after seeing that full marathon time in my chart. I used a runner's world plan to get sub 4, but it was just by a hair really at 3:58:58. I do love new challenges!

Do you have any advice/insight into whether I should choose to train for a summer 5k or 10k? How many weeks do your 5k and 10k training plans typically entail? I'll have about 10 weeks after the Darkside Challenge to devote to my training if that makes any difference? Thank you once again!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

At this point I've just gotta figure out how to broach the subject and pass on your tips without hurting feelings.

Have him read these -

Testimonials: 2018 Disney Marathon Weekend; Winter/Spring 2018 (updated 3/19/18)

Running at the appropriate pace (train slow to race fast) will yield a much faster and consistent rate of improvement over the course of a running career.

And now I'm totally interested in working with you on future running plans after seeing that full marathon time in my chart. I used a runner's world plan to get sub 4, but it was just by a hair really at 3:58:58. I do love new challenges!

I'll be ready!

Do you have any advice/insight into whether I should choose to train for a summer 5k or 10k? How many weeks do your 5k and 10k training plans typically entail? I'll have about 10 weeks after the Darkside Challenge to devote to my training if that makes any difference? Thank you once again!!

Just a matter of personal preference really. The training for a 5k and 10k isn't terribly different. They both are a bit more speed oriented than would be a HM plan or a M plan. More time spent at I and R pacing, then HMT or MT.

10 weeks is a good timeframe. Usually after a race there needs to be a recovery period. So one day easy/off for every 3k of racing. So a HM (21k) is 7 days off/easy. So really you've got 9 weeks to train. My minimum for making tangible benefits (and not just maintaining) is 8 weeks. 12 weeks is better, but we work with what is available.

Happy to help!

 

[LilyJC]

Have him read these -

Testimonials: 2018 Disney Marathon Weekend; Winter/Spring 2018 (updated 3/19/18)

Running at the appropriate pace (train slow to race fast) will yield a much faster and consistent rate of improvement over the course of a running career.



I'll be ready!



Just a matter of personal preference really. The training for a 5k and 10k isn't terribly different. They both are a bit more speed oriented than would be a HM plan or a M plan. More time spent at I and R pacing, then HMT or MT.

10 weeks is a good timeframe. Usually after a race there needs to be a recovery period. So one day easy/off for every 3k of racing. So a HM (21k) is 7 days off/easy. So really you've got 9 weeks to train. My minimum for making tangible benefits (and not just maintaining) is 8 weeks. 12 weeks is better, but we work with what is available.

Happy to help!

Perfect! I’ll have him read through the testimonials, and I’ll try to make up my mind ASAP about my 5k/10k dilemma.

Do you prefer for people to contact you via DM (if that’s what it’s called on the DISboards) to formally request a training plan?

 

[DopeyBadger]

Just send me a PM (or DM, whatever you want to call it).

 

[LilyJC]

4/7

Planned to do 7 miles, but cut it back to 6 since I was possibly heading to DLR with the girls. They were too grumpy so we decided to skip​

4/8
12 mile final long run before Darkside - it was pretty hot and humid so it was perfect prep for WDW

4/9
Took Jax for a 4 mile recovery run. I'm pleased that he seems to be improving in the running buddy department. We came across a couple people with dogs and he wasn't as nutty as he has been. I'm tempted to take him for a longer run, but I don't want to push it too quickly. He's definitely enjoying running though and is way more chill on days we run. Lots of happy stretching throughout the day.

King of his domain today


Blaze and his favorite pastimes-chewing and sunbathing​

Minor freakout today as I realize we are leaving in a week for our WDW trip. And also obsessively watching the weather predictions....

My final runs before we leave
4/10: 6 miles
4/12: 5 miles
4/14 and 4/15: 5 miles and 6-8miles but I'll probably have to move these around due to track meet and volleyball tournament scheduling conflicts
4/16: 4-5 miler and that's it!

 

[LilyJC]

Goal Assessment
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Pretty pleased to have hit 5 training runs last week, and I’m hoping this week will be the same - 2 down!

I’ve been to the gym once since starting my journal. It’s definitely still my plan to make it there 2x/week at the very least. I’m going to make it happen this week.

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Walking the dogs 4x/week was probably overly ambitious. I still want this to happen, but I need to adjust my expectations of how long a walk should be. 1-2 miles is ok if that’s all I have time for. 4-5 is awesome but not always practical for my schedule. Running Jax more and more will help, but the puppy is really rambunctious and should get exercised daily to avoid mass destruction.

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Having goals set in writing has certainly helped overall. I need to add one more for my health and fitness, so maybe if I put it in my journal I’ll actually take care of it: health screenings every 6 months...ugh! So past due

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