So after about 9 months off I've been back at it for about a month. knee is a little oochie.

sometimes I think..."you know this running business isn't really a lot of fun."

great weather now for like two months and then winter. ugh.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Got a half marathon tomorrow. My second time running one. Weather is supposed to be shit, so we'll see how it goes.

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Goal time?

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Ran my last one in 1:59:00. Was hoping for anything under that. My 12 mile run 2 weeks ago was run in 1:47:45, so if I can hit that pace again, I should be able to finish a couple minutes of the last half I ran. Though, if it's raining hard, we'll see.

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Well I'm sure you can do that. Go for the gusto!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Thanks! You still running?

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I am running for about 3 months after 9 months off. Probably 20-25 miles week. Did a 10K in 57 minutes the other day. Not exactly setting the world on fire, but improving day by day.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

how did you do at your half marathon?

anyone else still running, getting any miles in or have any races planned for the winter or spring? i have some trail races over the winter, a HM in Tampa in February, a 50k in April and my second road marathon in May. Maybe some other last-minute races during the winter. Been getting a ton of miles in this fall with the nice weather.

Which 50k and road marathon?

Been running pretty good (but for me good does not equal fast ). Did 10 this morning in the gale. Figured I needed to toughen up after all this nice weather. Plus signed up for Miami Marathon in January so have some mandatory long runs coming up. I wish Tampa had a full marathon; if they did we'd probably be doing that instead of Miami.

Will also be signing up for May Ice Age trail 50k on Sunday. And April Iowa City is a possibility.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Right now I am planning on the Chicagoland Spring Marathon in Schaumburg - its a very flat course through Busse Woods and the place I got my HM PR last year. Its also small and affordable. I am considering doing the Frozen Gnome 50k in Crystal Lake in January (though i haven't officially committed yet) and i am on the fence about doing either the 30-miler or 50-miler at McNaughton Trail Runs in Pekin, IL this coming April. It is a tough course (i paced there last year) but the time cutoffs are SOOO generous i may give the 50 a crack. If training isn't going well as I think it needs to be i will do the 30.

been sick as dog recently so eveything has gone to shit. now have to hit the road for work.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

i am starting to come down with something myself. gonna try to run through it. Tonight is gonna be a cold windy one, that's for sure.

Miami Marathon exceeded expectations. Start and finish downtown, ran across MANY causeways, through south beach, coconut grove, Bryan Bickell Ave. Crowd support, while light, was enthusiastic. Weather also exceeded expectations. The forecasted rain never materialized so it mostly cloudy high of 78. Gusty winds help with the 88% humidity.

Winter marathons are a great motivator to stay active during the cold months. A definite 'do-again.'

http://1rh02i5sx2f28y769135v74h.wpengin ... _FINAL.jpg

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

nice! that sound like a great race! i have a run-cation coming up in March down in St. Petersburg. its the inaugural Skyway 10k, over the Suncoast Skyway bridge that crosses the mouth of Tampa Bay. It looks like a cool race, with a massive climb in the middle. I can't wait to bust a move down the backside of that hill.

I agree that winter/early spring races are a great motivator. i have 3 major races between now and May, then i usually chill during the summer months. I'm not a great warm-weather runner. I have been piling up big miles this winter. Cold is easy to run in, and thankfully the snow and icy shit has stayed away for the most part.

I’m so frustrated with this weather. 10 or below is fucking miserable to run in. Below 20 is not fun.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Some advice please (too lazy to Google):

I'm thinking of buying a weighted vest to run with. Does anyone do this and/or is this generally a good idea? Trying to sweat more as I run.

How do you determine your limits? I'm running more than I've ever run these past six months and so far so good. But I don't want to ruin my momentum by over exerting myself. Just not sure when I should apply a stop sign. Weekly/monthly/daily limit?

Any good post-run meals/drinks? I'm too lazy to make myself those complex protein mixes or whatever so I'm just looking for something simple/lazy.

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2013 CSFMB ROY

I know some who drink muscle milk instead of mixing a protein drink but there is the vegan situation.

gatorade does fine. if you want protein, chocolate milk. meals should be heavy in carbs afterward, build yourself back up. good carbs, like brown rice. good proteins.

but make sure you're running hard if you're going to do heavy eating afterward. you don't need to do a huge meal if you're just jogging or doing something light, even if it's long distance.

This.

Also I would skip the vest. The good thing about running is that it is natural. I wouldn't mess that up and risk injury by adding artificial weights. If you want to sweat more just run faster and longer.

As for knowing what is too much, just listen to your body. As a general rule you should take days off now and then. And if stuff hurts, rest more.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

i concur with skipping the vest and agree totally with the "increase distance and/or pace" advice if you are looking to sweat more and work harder. I know some guys who wear weighted vests but it is for specific hill repeat workouts in preparation for mountainous ultra marathons where they are really trying to work the legs. I also agree with the advice regarding what to drink - i drink water and powerade post-run, nothing fancy. Then afterwards I eat. Im not really into the shake stuff.

as far as setting limits only you know where to set that. I definitely would rest at least 2 days a week (i generally take Monday and Friday off, even when in a training cycle) and it it has served me well to this point. If you are looking to escalate the miles, just be sure to ease into it over a period of weeks, don't just all of a sudden decide "I'm gonna start running 50 miles a week" if you are a 20-25 miles per week runner. Do you have a race or a distance you have in mind? if so, there are TONS of plans to help you gradually build your training for everything from 5k to ultra marathon distances. But even those plans should be taken with a grain of salt - only YOU know how your body is feeling and how long it takes to recover from a run. As long as you take rest days and don't "run through" pain, you will be fine. Good luck!

Good God, the humidity out there this morning. I ran 4 miles 9:30 pace thought I was gonna croak. 20lbs overweight and creaky knees. not good.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

The 3.5 mile run last week in Chicago destroyed me, and I am in very good shape. I trained like crazy and was ready for everything but the hot humid weather. My quads were cramped for days afterwards.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

i don't recommend running in humidity. it gives a false sense of "accomplishment" when you run because you're putting so much more effort into it. but you're really not doing yourself any favors and you aren't strengthening yourself. you're just punishing yourself.

i had to train in this shit years ago, and it always felt demoralizing.

For years I usually ran anything from 400m to 20k, except in the humidity. Ran my last track meet in Atlanta when I was goofing around running three events and cramped up too badly to even get in the blocks in the 100m final. I just quit it all shortly thereafter.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

I am never good in the heat. I have mentioned my dislike of heat in the past. The event last week was tough. There were 27,000 runners. I suspect I ended up running over 4 miles because of all the blocking and zig zagging required to navigate the streets of Chicago. Where I hurt myself is in training leading up the event, I kept leaving gas in the tank on my 3.5 mile runs. My last training run was just below a 7 minute mile, and I still had a ton of gas in the tank. But all the weather leading up to last week was much cooler.

Now fast forward to last week. I was way out of my routine. I had to get downtown and couldn't do anywhere near my normal stretching (rollers). We sat outside at Grant Park for two hours in the heat waiting for event to queue up. I ate an extra large lunch thinking that would hold me over for a 7:00 run without eating dinner. Hydration was definitely a problem.

It all went awry from the start. I overran my first two miles, probably at a 6:30 mile per time. I cramped up from the large lunch, and my legs died after two miles. I am in shock that I finished. I ended up with quite possibly the slowest time I had ever run on average at eight minutes per mile. I was ashamed because it was so far below even my leisurely run times. Again I rana lot more than 3.5 miles because so much sideways stuff and wasted tons of energy slowing down and speeding up from all the people. Another guy in my group was three minutes his normal run time, so it checks out with my issues.

The heat obliterated me and my pace.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I spent the last 5 months not running because it was too cold!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Humidity is brutal and there is just no way I can get enough fluids into me when in the midst of these things. I remember laying under a yard hydrant on a day like we’ve been having recently for 5 minutes straight during a break trying to cool down and that’s when I was young and in shape. Got better at prehydration from that point on. The cramps and overheating were not conducive to continuing.

i rarely even worry about pace during the summer months, i simply get the miles in and make sure i hydrate as much as possible. The summer months are pretty much my "off season" when it comes to racing. I try to keep my mileage steady, disregard pushing the pace, and rest up for a heavy training block in the fall and winter. That said i do have a 9-hour trail ultra coming up in a month or so, but it is not really a target race for me, just something to keep me working during the summer and have some fun with some friends.

How do you avoid humidity in the midwest?

I get it is not ideal, but if you avoid running in humidity you are going to be on the sidelines for a large portion of the year

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Basically have to run at sunrise. At least the oppressive heat isn’t beating you up yet.