Official Strava/Runkeeper Thread

[Kodos]

Crap. Sorry to hear that cartman.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by cartman

I had the knee surgery this morning. Unfortunately, as soon as the doc got in there and took a look, my osteoarthritis was much worse than expected. I had some massive defects in my cartilage that can't be repaired. So I will have a full knee replacement in the near future. Next week I'll find out what that will likely mean for future athletic activities.

Shoot, sorry, cartman. Keep the faith, man. They can do some amazing things with medicine these days.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Hey ABC, how did the ortho visit go? You going to be back to running soon?

Not anytime soon. I've got some wear on the cartilage in my left knee. High impact and weight bearing activities, such as deep squats or steep stairs, are what's causing the pain. Ortho has me on leg strengthening exercises, stretching, and non-impact cross training. And ice and anti-inflammatory meds if necessary.

If no improvement with these instructions, I'll go back for another examination.

[HerRealName]

This is a crazy bad run of injuries in here.

Cartman, I have a friend that does a lot of biking on his knee replacement. He had to build up the mileage but he finished multiple long distance races this summer. Take care, hopefully the surgery and rehab will go well.

[cartman]

Thanks guys. I've been doing quite a bit of reading now on what they can do with replacement knees. They have come a long way. But I figure if my grandma could make it through having both of hers replaced when she was 80, I ought to be able to handle one at 42.

[hoopsguy]

Bummed to hear about people heading to the DL/IR. Best of luck to everyone with their recoveries.

Subby - that sounds like a pretty absurd amount of miles. Congrats on whatever silly total you end up with, although I know we all like round numbers.

[Alan T]

Sorry to hear about everyone's injuries. Hope you all get better soon and the recoveries go well!

[HerRealName]

I did the Dallas Marathon yesterday, my first. It was a fun day overall, my son and wife ran their first half marathons and I was attempting my first marathon. Things did not go as planned for me though.

It was warmer than I would have liked. It was 63 when we parked and it was humid at about 90%. We did have occasional mist, which was nice, and it rained hard towards the end and on the walk back to the car.

I used Hanson's Marathon Training to prepare and followed it almost exactly. I didn't miss any workouts until the last week when I reduced the taper mileage on Monday - Saturday from 26 miles to 16 miles. My training paces were based on a goal of 3:35-3:40, a pace of 8:13-8:23 a mile. I knew this pace was a best case scenario but I trained hard.

I'll dig out my watch at some point today but here is how I remember the run:

I started out ok and not too fast. Something like 8:40 for the first mile. I picked up the pace a little on the 2nd and 3rd miles and that's when I knew this would not be my day. I started sweating a lot. Knowing what I do now, I would never have attempted this little test and when I did, I should have backed off a lot. I did decide at this point to hit every water stop on the course and to slow down a bit. I started aiming for 8:30 per mile.

The first half went well; the crowd and the runner support was awesome. This was the enjoyable section of the race. I had to take a brief restroom break so I was hopeful that I was hydrating enough.

The next few miles got tougher. We turned into a pretty strong wind near the White Rock Lake and I made the decision at one point to back off to a 9:00 pace. Or maybe that decision was made for me . Things got rough at around 19 or 20. It started with a cramp in my left quad, then I started cramping in my right calf.

The next 6 miles was not fun. I'd run until a cramp hit, either stop to stretch it out or walk it off, run a little more, cramp, etc. I finished at like 4:15.

I drank 4 16 oz bottles of water on the way home and I was still -8 pounds when I got home. It's safe to say I completely failed hydration on this one and started out too fast. I don't know if things would have gone better if I had started out at 9:00 a mile as I still would have sweat too much but it would have been a better plan than attempting to run hard in the conditions. I guess I'll just mark this one off as a learning experience. It was still a great time and a very well run event.

[Kodos]

I think the first marathon usuallly kicks everyone's ass. But you finished! That's an accomplishment! I don't know that I'll ever attempt a marathon myself. Especially since I seem to get hurt when I do longer runs (10+ miles). Still trying to give my knee a chance to heal up while not running. Very frustrating. Patience is running low.

[cartman]

Yesterday was the series of runs at the Formula One track outside of Austin. I'm bummed I wasn't able to participate, but my buddy's wife won her age group for the 10K race. Not a bad birthday present for her!

[Kodos]

Nice!

[Chief Rum]

I put this out on FB last night, but I'll post here, too, so it's out there.

I'll be running the half in the Surf City Marathon (Huntington Beach, CA) again on February 1.

It's my intent to do what our very own ABC did last year, and run all three Beach City half marathons and complete the Beach Cities half marathon challenge.

Which would then be a prelude to running the LA Marathon on 2016, God willing.

I also intend to run at least one Ragnar this year, and may also do my first tri. And I am looking to doing a Spartan race.

Yeah, I know I am nuts.

[timmae]

Sounds like a tough race HRN! But, like Kodos said... you finished. Much props! I'm wondering how soon you'll be chomping at the bit again!!

[HerRealName]

Thanks - it was a character building experience for sure. I've uploaded the activity and it looks just as ugly as it felt.

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by HerRealName

I did the Dallas Marathon yesterday, my first. It was a fun day overall, my son and wife ran their first half marathons and I was attempting my first marathon. Things did not go as planned for me though.

It was warmer than I would have liked. It was 63 when we parked and it was humid at about 90%. We did have occasional mist, which was nice, and it rained hard towards the end and on the walk back to the car.

I used Hanson's Marathon Training to prepare and followed it almost exactly. I didn't miss any workouts until the last week when I reduced the taper mileage on Monday - Saturday from 26 miles to 16 miles. My training paces were based on a goal of 3:35-3:40, a pace of 8:13-8:23 a mile. I knew this pace was a best case scenario but I trained hard.

I'll dig out my watch at some point today but here is how I remember the run:

I started out ok and not too fast. Something like 8:40 for the first mile. I picked up the pace a little on the 2nd and 3rd miles and that's when I knew this would not be my day. I started sweating a lot. Knowing what I do now, I would never have attempted this little test and when I did, I should have backed off a lot. I did decide at this point to hit every water stop on the course and to slow down a bit. I started aiming for 8:30 per mile.

The first half went well; the crowd and the runner support was awesome. This was the enjoyable section of the race. I had to take a brief restroom break so I was hopeful that I was hydrating enough.

The next few miles got tougher. We turned into a pretty strong wind near the White Rock Lake and I made the decision at one point to back off to a 9:00 pace. Or maybe that decision was made for me . Things got rough at around 19 or 20. It started with a cramp in my left quad, then I started cramping in my right calf.

The next 6 miles was not fun. I'd run until a cramp hit, either stop to stretch it out or walk it off, run a little more, cramp, etc. I finished at like 4:15.

I drank 4 16 oz bottles of water on the way home and I was still -8 pounds when I got home. It's safe to say I completely failed hydration on this one and started out too fast. I don't know if things would have gone better if I had started out at 9:00 a mile as I still would have sweat too much but it would have been a better plan than attempting to run hard in the conditions. I guess I'll just mark this one off as a learning experience. It was still a great time and a very well run event.

Hooray! Major props for finishing

[Dodgerchick]

dola,

And Subby's on a tear, it's like every other post on my Strava feed is Subby on a ride! GO SUBBY GO!!

[Dodgerchick]

double dola,

And hope everyone heals quickly, it's no fun being on the sidelines when your body is craving a run

[Alan T]

Nice job on your first marathon Todd! It sounds like it went pretty similar to how my first went, especially the last 6 miles. Now you're ready to know what to expect the next one. Great achievement, and something to be proud of!

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I put this out on FB last night, but I'll post here, too, so it's out there.

I'll be running the half in the Surf City Marathon (Huntington Beach, CA) again on February 1.

It's my intent to do what our very own ABC did last year, and run all three Beach City half marathons and complete the Beach Cities half marathon challenge.

Which would then be a prelude to running the LA Marathon on 2016, God willing.

I also intend to run at least one Ragnar this year, and may also do my first tri. And I am looking to doing a Spartan race.

Yeah, I know I am nuts.

I saw your FB post. Awesome! Good Luck! It was fun doing all three HM. I think OC was my favorite of the three.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by HerRealName

I did the Dallas Marathon yesterday, my first.

...

Great job on your first marathon HRN! Definitely have some info you can work off of to prepare for your next one.

[FrogMan]

Todd, you look disappointed but damn, you shouldn't be. You're a frigging marathoner man, great job!!!

It's in my plans for next summer but it's freaking me out already... Oh well, one step at a time I guess.

After deciding I wouldn't run on Tuesday last week, we got hit with a nasty snowstorm with not much snow per se but lots of gusty wind and icy road conditions. So much so that all roads leading from work to our house were cut off from about 8 am to 2 am but I decided around 11 to take the invite of a coworker and slept there instead of risking it home. Because of that and lots of other sutf, I ended up not running again until yesterday but that was good as it meant the pain gradually went away.

I taped myself with some KTape yesterday and ran a very easy 3.5 km run and didn't feel much pain afterward or even when I was standing up for 90 minutes while pacing behind the bench of my my 17 yo son's hockey team. I just6 ran for 7 km again in very little pain.

I got a possible cause for the fasciitis pain. As crazy as this may sound I'm thinking it might be cause by my new ASICS Nimbus 15 shoes I got this Fall. Hve not had this kind of pain all Summer long running in Brooks Ghosts and ran with some ASICS Nimbus 13 last Fall/Winter alos without pain, but the pain gradually appeared, I think, since I introduced the new Nimbus into the mix. They have now about 145 miles on them so it was not instantaneous either and kinda hard to detect since I've been running much less this Fall...

It's also kinda odd since it's a fairly cushioned shoe but I have read in reviews about users saying it gave them fasciitis in one of their foot. Might be an altered gait because of my Achilles problem that'S causing the Nimbus to not work as well anymore...

Anyway, for now I'll remain with the Ghost 7 but will have to eventually think about adding a new pair to the mix as they are now up to about 375 miles...

FM

[FrogMan]

Ran a couple times so far this week but also did something else that's making me think I have found the source of my foot/heel pain. I did a rare evening run on the belt Monday, some 40 minutes of very easy running with some walking in the middle since I was watching hockey coaching training videos on my laptop and I had to slow down in order to click the "next" icon. Foot/heel felt quite ok after the run but it's what I did on Tuesday afternoon that brought some pain, not only on Tuesday evening but all day yesterday. Right after I got home from work on Tuesday, I did three series of calf raises, 15-20-25 reps with the last one being very hard to finish. That was about 20 hours after Monday's run and I started feeling that pain under my foot and too my heel in the evening after doing the calf raises. That pain continued during the day yesterday, same kinda pain I was feeling last week, like a dull pain under my foot with a tenderness behind and under my heel, especially the left one but also a little on the right one.

Like anybody from the Google era, I started searching the web and found that calf raises, maybe especially when done barefoot as I was doing them, can cause some some tight calves which in turn could cause tightness in the tendons down to the foot/heel area. This seems consistent now with my pain which I thought was plantar fasciitis but didn't really feel like it based on when I was diagnosed with it some 10 years ago. I mean, PF's first symptom is some very rough walking in he morning when getting out of bed. It's not really the case now, more like a dull ache.

I ran again this morning and further proof that the running isn't causing any trouble, I'm not feeling any new pain other than the recurring heel one that is less today than it was yesterday.

In order not to change too many things, I will keep on running with my Brooks for a while but will refrain from doing calf raises. When I will start doing them again, I will do only a few at a time and with shoes in order to give some support to my foot and help keep a better form...


Meanwhile, as a Founding Pro member of Smashrun, I get to renew it for life for $1 a year as long as I run 400 km in the year. More than that, I can gift a one year pro subscription to anyone for only $19 instead of the usual $59. I paid $120 for that Founding Pro member status last year, knowing I'd run for at least two years with them. Now, my average cost per year is down to $60.50 per year...

If anybody is interested in getting it for 20 bucks or so, let me know and we can arrange payment later.

I think the tracking of SPI (Smashrun performance index) is my favorite feature from Smashrun. That index tries to compare every run with one another. I found that it did give me a good idea of how much I progressed through my Summer training last season. Attached is what my SPI graph looks like since I started running.Lots of easy runs then one or two a week that stand out then boom a race!

The fact it syncs easily from Garmin Connect by simply clicking a "refresh" icon is also non negligeable...

[cartman]

Had my follow up appointment today. Got the stitches taken out, and he said the healing is going really well. I still am not allowed to put weight on the knee until at least the end of January. He said he has some plans to try a few things out over the next year (stem cells, gel injections, platelet rich plasma) before making any plans for a knee replacement.

[hoopsguy]

Would be very interested in that SmashRun price. I was already sniffing around on this last weekend, and at that promo/offer price I would do it in a heartbeat.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Would be very interested in that SmashRun price. I was already sniffing around on this last weekend, and at that promo/offer price I would do it in a heartbeat.

I need your email address to send you the gift code so send it to me via private message and I'll hook you up when I'm home this evening.

I think I can send three of these gift codes so if anybody else is interested, let me know.

FM

[hoopsguy]

Good to see so many people posting runs on Strava over the past two days.

Anyone working on 2015 running goals? Here is a rough draft of what I'm working on:
1.) 1,000 miles. Finished with 949K reported in SmashRun for 2014, but basically took off 4 months
2.) 200 days running. Finished with 135, so this increase is consistent with hitting goal #1
3.) 21 min 5K. Would involve cutting 1:15 off my current time. I would be a little more aggressive with this goal if 5K's were my primary running ambition like this year, but I'm looking at a more diverse set of runs in 2015
4.) First 1/2 marathon race: have done a practice run, want to run at least one and maybe a 2nd one if I can line up a "destination run" in fall/winter
5.) Under 1:50 time for 1/2 marathon. That would involve taking 7-8 minutes off my training run time.
6.) Get weight under 160 for first time in 25+ years. Was down to 165 in October, but probably need some food discipline on top of running to get this number and sustain it.

[Radii]

I've been following everyone here all year so I'll go ahead and post some goals.

As those that read the weight loss dynasty may know, I'm in physical therapy for all kinds of problems, tightness/shortened muscles all over from a lifetime of sitting and inactivity. Seriously, and literally, "all over": back, chest, hips, calves, ankles, all have noteworthy issues that are being specifically worked on in physical therapy combined with massage therapy and stuff they have me doing at home.

The main thing that triggered the PT was pelvic floor (bladder and that whole gross area) issues, but its turned into a lot of posture and general flexibility work, and recently we've added some specific work on my hips, calves, ankle and foot. I hurt myself running in the middle of last year and the problems I created then have never gone away. I've seen two podiatrists and an orthopedist. The physical therapy has been described as "the last thing we can do before deciding on surgery vs pain management" for the foot problem by the orthopedist. I don't want to feel limited in any way, but the pain isn't nearly bad enough to consider a surgery that isn't guarenteed to work and could cause other problems, so if PT doesn't work it'll just be a matter of avoiding/heavily limiting things like running, lunges, most jumping, things that put all of my weight up on the ball of my foot.


So with that update, goals for 2015, which are fairly general for now:

1) Physcal Therapy is *HARD*. Getting through that, especially given all the problems that have been identified, is key. Getting the most out of this can give me a huge head start towards being more fit and healthy overall.
2) If my foot issues can be corrected by PT, I will start running again in 2015. I don't have any goals about making it my primary thing, but I would love to be able to do it a couple days a week on rest days at the gym.
3) Currently I'm going to the gym 3 days a week, doing group classes with trainers, there's a "general fitness" focus, some cardio, some strength, a lot of core, a lot of bouncing around between things in these classes. Its great for me but I would like to add a more specific strength focus, maybe only doing the classes two days a week and lifting twice a week on my own. Adding a 4th day at the gym starting in January is the main thing. I'm not set on a specific program yet.
4) If I can't run, I really need to do more cardio on my off days. I've made great strides but I'm still very sedentary overall outside of the 3 hours in the gym a week. Eliptical/Bike/maybe learn to swim (I can't, so that would become a crazy goal for me on its own)
5) I dropped from 323 to 258 in 2014. My goal weight is 220. I plan to hit that in the first half of 2015. I may adjust that goal as I get closer. 6'4" 220 seems good, especially if I am lifting, but maybe once I get there I decide 200 or 210 would be better, etc.



I have really enjoyed following you all this year, so many marathons and half marathons and Subby being insane biking maniac, its great to see and has helped motivate me towards weight loss and fitness goals, even if I'm not running.

[Chief Rum]

Keep the faith, Richard. You'll get there. I'm glad we can all help by posting our running activities!

[HerRealName]

Wow, losing 60+ pounds in a year is amazing, Radii. Keep up the great work. I go 6'4" and about 215 these days, you can aspire to look better than my doughy ass .

For 2015, I want to get in 2000+ miles. I ended close to 1800 miles this year so that seems attainable if I remain injury free. I'd also like to work on a half PR this spring and maybe a full PR later in the year if my schedule allows.

[cartman]

Small bit of progress. Went in for my 6 week post-op checkup. I don't have to wear the full leg brace anymore! Still not cleared to run, jump, squat, or twist, but I can start to get the leg muscles built back up. He said I'd likely be fully cleared at the 3 month checkup. Can't wait! I've gained about 25 pounds since the whole knee ordeal started, not being able to run, bike, play soccer, etc.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by cartman

Small bit of progress. Went in for my 6 week post-op checkup. I don't have to wear the full leg brace anymore! Still not cleared to run, jump, squat, or twist, but I can start to get the leg muscles built back up. He said I'd likely be fully cleared at the 3 month checkup. Can't wait! I've gained about 25 pounds since the whole knee ordeal started, not being able to run, bike, play soccer, etc.

Way to go, cartman. Keep it up!

[Chief Rum]

In other FOFC running news, I am running the half at the Surf City this weekend. I ran it last year in a little over 1:50. I don't anticipate doing as well this year, although I am always surprised at the end of these things (I think competition spurs me on).

[Fidatelo]

I managed to run quite frequently right up until Christmas, but then the hectic Christmas schedule plus a plunge into deep freeze temps had me not run once in a full month span. I'm trying to get back into it now (ran last Friday and this Tuesday) but the weather is still messing with me. Went to run yesterday and the path was literally pure ice, like trying to run on a curling rink (the rain made everything pebbled up it was terrible). Had to give up. Today it's gotten fairly cold (-15) with a strong wind making it worse. If the path is still slippery I may have to bail again, but even if it's not the run is going to suck.

Looking forward to April...

[Fidatelo]

Dola

Oh and I have done something to my lower abdomen in the past week that makes it hurt when I run. Not sure if it's just a muscle strain or closer to something like a sports hernia. I don't know what I did to cause it, I can only assume it happened in a recent hockey or spongee game. Annoying.

[Radii]

Didn't expect to have any sort of update of substance this early, but I'm feeling so damn good that I need to share somewhere.

Originally Posted by Radii

1) Physcal Therapy is *HARD*. Getting through that, especially given all the problems that have been identified, is key. Getting the most out of this can give me a huge head start towards being more fit and healthy overall.

I stopped taking one of my meds from my urologist on Sunday. I'm on my 5th day without it. In the past I've forgotten a refill a couple times and within 48 hours the feeling has always been agonizing. There's a LONG way to go here, I'm on some short term anti-anxiety meds that may be making a difference right now, but man this feels like a seriously positive step.

2) If my foot issues can be corrected by PT, I will start running again in 2015. I don't have any goals about making it my primary thing, but I would love to be able to do it a couple days a week on rest days at the gym.

In the past few weeks I've had the go ahead from my physical thearpist to basically start "testing out" my foot in various situations. To allow it to hurt some but to judge what I can do compared to before. I haven't modified any exercises with my trainers to protect my foot in the last two weeks, and I feel some low level discomfort, but it doesn't feel like its escalating.

4) If I can't run, I really need to do more cardio on my off days. I've made great strides but I'm still very sedentary overall outside of the 3 hours in the gym a week. Eliptical/Bike/maybe learn to swim (I can't, so that would become a crazy goal for me on its own)

Adding to the previous, at the gym we're tracking number of workouts for some promotional thing as part of the new year. I dunno, go to the gym 50 times get a free t-shirt or something, whatever.

But, since we're tracking, I know that I went to the gym for at least a half hour 20 times in January

ALSO, as part of "testing out" my foot, I'm still mostly using the elliptical, but once a week or so I'm using the treadmill and seeing how my foot feels. Today was spectacular. I hit the treadmil for a full hour, walk two minutes/run one, and I ran for the last 5 minutes straight. During the hour, my foot never escalated past the "low level discomfort" I mentioned earlier. Now that I'm home and took my shoes off, it hurts more, but I'm pretty sure its still way better than what an hour on the treadmill would have done to me 2-3 months ago.

5) I dropped from 323 to 258 in 2014. My goal weight is 220. I plan to hit that in the first half of 2015.

I wore a 2XL shirt in public today for the first time in god knows how long, 18 years? Not ready to do that every day, still more comfortable in the 3X stuff, but its a big step.


So yeah, today is a pretty damn good day I do believe

[Kodos]

That sounds great, Radii!

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Way to go, cartman. Keep it up!

I was able to use the elliptical last night. Before the surgery, I couldn't go 30 seconds before the pain made me stop. That is an incredibly encouraging sign.

[FrogMan]

That is awesome, both of you, Radii and cartman!



FM

[cartman]

Yeah, awesome stuff, Radii!

[Poli]

I've been banged up recently...I had a slight tear in my left calf. I kept hoping it would heal on it's own but I kept re-aggravating it. I finally gave in and went to physical therapy after my football season was over. After some physical therapy I'm back to the point where I can run again!

[timmae]

3 good news stories in a row... so awesome guys!

[Alan T]

Good news cartman, radii and poli! Hope you get better soon fidatelo and good luck this weekend chief in your race!

[FrogMan]

Good to hear Poli and well done getting it taken care of!

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

In other FOFC running news, I am running the half at the Surf City this weekend. I ran it last year in a little over 1:50. I don't anticipate doing as well this year, although I am always surprised at the end of these things (I think competition spurs me on).

just saw your pic on FB. Took some investigating to put the real life name to the FOFC handle

Hope you had a great race!

FM

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

just saw your pic on FB. Took some investigating to put the real life name to the FOFC handle

Hope you had a great race!

FM

Thanks Frogman!

It was a good race. The only downer was coming in at 1:55:37 instead of the 1:50 I did last year. But like I said on FB, I knew I was carrying around 15 more pounds than last year (and I'm a year older). Working on those pounds lol.

The weather was great, typical California. Actually, it was even warmer than normal. A beautiful day at the beach.

I didn't plan my morning timing very well, so I actually got on the course a little later than the time I put down. That meant I had to dodge a lot of slower runners. What's up with the women walking in step thing? Very frustrating. They should have just linked arms to complete the race block. Saw that several times.

I got off to a strong start, even while I was trying to temper my pace to save my energy. I did just a little over 8 minute miles for the first four miles. My timings gradually slowed down after that because of fatigue and a course that got a little more incline/decline than the start. Miles 3-6 are mostly on streets away from the beachfront, but the rest of the race (start and finish) is right on PCH, so you're more or less running along the beach.

But PCH rolls up and down a little bit to the north of the race start/finish, and that definitely had its effect on me.

Around mile 9-10 (approaching the comeback I first ran at the start), I started to wonder if I could make it. I was pretty tired, although my breathing was better this year than last year, where I feel like I "sold out" for speed (and probably not in a good way). I thought about walking the rest.

But I manned up and kept going, didn't stop running except for two 3-4 second spots at two water stations because of trying to grab water.

Despite carrying extra weight, I actually felt better at the end than I did last year. And I'm not nearly as sore now as I was last year (which wiped me out for two days of walking gingerly).

Funny thing, I pulled an "ultra MAN" moment (read: stupid man), and said "I'm going to walk back to my car instead of taking the shuttle". Since I actually missed my car and walked past it, I ended up walking a good 4-5 miles AFTER my half, either walking to or backtracking looking for my car. So, smooth move, Chief.

All in all, a good effort and well run event by the event coordinators, and a lot of fun. Now I am looking to run the OC in May.

I am still looking to do a Ragnar this year, too, but I haven't managed to get into one yet (issues with getting a team together).

[hoopsguy]

Have my first race of the year tomorrow, although not a conventional run. Doing the "Hustle up the Hancock" where I'll be taking on 94 flights of stairs. I've done a couple training runs at the 20 story building where I work and have concluded that there isn't all that much overlap between 5k/10k/15k races and stair races. Barring some unusual change of heart tomorrow, this will be my only stair race.

Also picked up some new shoes today to replace the Brooks Ghost 7s once the weather outside cooperates a bit. Went with the Saucony Ride 7, which is my initial foray into a lower heel drop at 8mm.

Also put together my first draft of the training schedule for this year. Assuming nothing changes, and I'm pretty sure it will, I've got the following on tap:
1 stairs run (94 flights of idiocy)
2 obstacle runs
5k - 5
3.5m - 1
5m - 1
10k - 2
15k - 1
10m - 1
1/2 marathon - 2

If I hold this schedule, or something close to it, I anticipate hitting all of my running goals that I set at the start of the year.

[timmae]

Wish you well tomorrow hoopsguy!! Gotta love it when 30 degrees F is beautiful running weather!!!

[Radii]

94 flights of stairs sounds intense, good luck, can't wait to hear how that goes!

[Chief Rum]

I am running an 8K tomorrow. More like a fun run for me, although the event isn't a "fun run" or anything (just a straight little city 8K).

Good luck hoops!

[HerRealName]

I'm looking forward to hearing about the stair climb. The logistics seem difficult with crowding on the staircase but it sounds oddly fun too. Hopefully they can keep the stairs from getting slippery with sweat and water too.

Good luck HG and CR.