Training Tip
Every year there are people starting off the challenge by doubling or tripling their in season run mileage. The first week of a 14-16 week plan is for gentle adaptation to the plan. You want to build your mileage progressively. The peak mileage should come around week 12 in a 14 week plan or week 14 in a 16 week plan. The first few weeks even for marathon plans may only have a 6-8 mile run for intermediate mileage and a 12 mile run for higher mileage programs. I know a lot of people are running one week and saying wow i feel great but 4-6 weeks or even 3-6 months from now you will be paying for it. The challenge and the intent Dev had when starting it was for the triathlete to run more than the traditionla plans of 3 times per week which in my opinion is not enough even during season.

So that being said I echo Dev's comment on gradually increasing your run training.


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8/8
4.2
37:48

Amazing how this challenge has gotten to run everyday. And the first 7 runs totaling 31.3 miles is a new high for me by 3 miles. woohooo!!! Down side not sure why I have gained weight as my diet hasn't changed. If anything it has gotten a little better.

8/8

Treadmill

5 miles in 42:37.

 
I'll third what Dev said. I see a few folks cranking out pretty big miles and putting up comments about record weeks and chasing a spreadsheet can be very addictive (I am about as type A as they come so I get it!). Just make sure that you are being careful with yourself. Before you question my advice based on my first week which has been quite a bit of volume, note that I raced the marathon in Philly a month ago and the weekly miles I am running in this challenge are the same as what I've been up to for the past few months but just lack any quality :)

I'm feeling much better this year. Normally by this time I've missed 3 or 4 of the 8 days and dropped out in shame. This year I will hit 7/8 runs after my run this afternoon, and my run times are starting to show the consistency and not sitting around from Sept - Feb. Went for a run off the trainer ride last night and felt great!

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

7/8. Going easy as I build volume. By the end of the weekend I should be caught up. With all the holiday food and drink I'm gonna have to work extra hard to have a satisfactory Monday weigh in.

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

dropped a day yesterday to try to give my tightening right calf a chance to recover. went to run 4 miles easy today and felt ok till 1/2 mile from home, when the calf did its usual thing and cramped/popped/something.

ordinarily i'd be bummed, but this happened at about the same time in last year's challenge and was just something i had to overcome (and i did). so ... onward and upward, but i sense some doubles showing up soon (also, like last year :)

Ran 5 miles this morning, was going to do another 5 tonight and look at Christmas lights, but it's pouring, so the scenery will suck. Sooo I'll just go do 30 minutes or so easy on the treadmill instead.

Whatever! I'm headed for 100 mile weeks!!! :)

Just kidding. I'm planning to be very smart with my runs. I've been putting in 40+ miles weeks for quite some time now as I built up to my fall marathon. Right now I'm two and a half weeks out from an important 1/2 mary that I hope to PR at. This week just happened to be my peak volume week and come Monday I'll start to taper off. After the race I'm switching to short easy runs done daily for at least a couple months before building back up and adding any faster training.

Thanks for the words of wisdom and for putting on this challenge. I hope everyone is being smart and listening to their bodies. Stay safe out there.

Nathan

10.5 miles today. The last of big days before Christmas.

8/8. 4.5 miles; 35 mins. Did it a couple hours after a ride on the trainer. It was the easiest run so far. Took it stupidly slow for the first mile and just went by feel for the remainder.

More importantly, what happened to the sticky??? I can't handle the strenuous scrolling of half a page to find this thread!

7.?? miles today then road the bike outside beautiful weather for this time of year. Caught a few rabbits and rode a bit with them till my course took me to a different direction.

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7/8, 6.15 miles, ~ 52 mins today. Nice easy run to start week two.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

If I go read this thread from top to bottom can it count as an easy run? Fourteen hour day and I'm worked. Actually, I'm glad for the challenge; otherwise, no way I'd get my miles in today.

8/8 after 6.4 mi tempo run (45:23 including 2 mi warmup) on the treadmill this morning. Tomorrow is my day off from running to get ready for a big weekend.

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JD

Ok, I'm done lurking and I'm in - have run every day since Thanksgiving but the ground rules for that were at least 1.5 miles since I was coming off a wicked ankle sprain and building up......time to strap the Garmin back on and get serious.....

Deal, I will try to get one in the next couple days from "balmy San Diego." Weather predicts santa ana winds (warm and dry) so we should have a sunny an 70 degree x-mas.

6 miles in 45min. It was getting dark , so half the challenge was not falling flat on my face.

7/8 and slooowwwwly building miles

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Hoka One One - Field Service Rep

9/9

no double yesterday, just 5.6M @ 7:53/mi yesterday morning.. the call of Gin was too strong in the evening.

However, with this and Challenge Cairns, today will be my first full day off in 6 or 7 weeks.. despite wanting a beer this afternoon, my poor little brain is trying desperately to find an excuse to do something, anything!

"My name is Adam and I'm a trainaholic" - I need a support group here to convince my head that since my hamstrings/calves and back are starting to ache daily, that a day off every now and then is a good thing.. more may be more, but sometimes its ok to chill.

Back on the wagon saturday with a planned 12M.. 8M @ 10:00 with the wife and 4 @ 7:30
Then the Christmas Day classic to go pick up the car from the pub in the am.

9/9, 4 miles 33:39

I did a pretty good job at taking it easy this morning. 43* with a light rain. I don't mind running in the rain so long as I have a baseball cap on. Oh, I meant to say thanks to Dev for this year's challenge. Better late than never? During last year's challenge I was lurking and just beginning to get back to running after a 2 month injury. One year ago I could manage to run only two miles. By mid January 2011 I worked up to 2 miles 6 days a week and I've been slowly building since then. Take care all and have a great weekend!

30th day in a row of running at least 1.5 mi - extended my normal 20 min recovery shakeout day to 31 min and just over 3 miles, 9 days to go on the Thanksgiving to New Years streak and many more to get at least my bronze status in 2012! Thanks for the motivation...

WOO HOO, no calf/tendon pain this morning. Not going to push it and run yet, maybe wait until tomorrow and see how everything feels.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

3 runs in the last 2 days while dodging rain showers. Lots of slipping around in the mud, but was able to avoid the heavier rain periods and just got sprinkled on for the most part. My trails were as sloppy as I've ever seen them and I did cut back on the mileage and pace for fear of aggravating my still-recovering knee. Still flared up a bit toward the end of last night's run.

Now I'm off work until after the New Year, so hope to get in a solid block of easy mileage. If the knee cooperates, I hope to be able to get back above 60 mpw by the first week of January. Currently handling mid-50's pretty well.

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Happy trails,
Chris

Finally some real snow falling in Ottawa so doubled my usual run commute to work into 10 miles. Absolutely awesome on the paths with good footing again after the freezing rain of the past couple days. And since my wife and I are leaving town for a week, needed to use up food in fridge and cooked up a half dozen slices of bacon for a morning snack. Promising start to the season with snow in the forecast, four pairs of skis in the car, ice wine and champagne packed. A daily run in the snow will be icing on the festivus cake.

Yeah, finally snow in Ottawa. I'll need to switch from trail running to snowshoe running if we get a little more.

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Today is gonna hurt. One easy 30 minute down, one ridiculous 90 minutes with some maniacs to come.

And I thought this was a smacktalk thread? Cuz I am bringing this whole challenge down!! 40lbs overweight with average volume of maybe 10 miles per week over the last 2 years, but who's counting. I think I was close to 40 for week 1 and will be increasing that as much as possible.

Stick the 10% rule, staying within your limits and a gradual progression up your ass. No Dev, I am not going to average the last 52 weeks to get a basline and build from there. I am going to crush myself beyond recognition, loose a ridiculous amount of weight, laugh at the stress fracture gods and spit on the altar of overuse injury. I have a 3 inch blister on top of a 4 inch blister on the instep of each foot. One is filled with blood.

Going running.

Pussys.
























Are you motivated now? ;>)