SORTED - suspect I must have stupidly caught the LEAVE button on phone without realising. Enrolled again and all good. Merry Xmas all. Looking forward to Christmas morning, aka 11/11. :-)

I probably won't post another update unless something happens, but I thought, why not share my training and goals...


When I started the Challenge, I had already began running 7 days a week. Though this Challenge began December 15th, my personal effort to take my running to another level started November 12, today will be day 43 for me. When I signed up, I said I was not going to alter my plans, but Sunday, I found myself realizing that my normal 3 mile run is too fast to count, so I slowed down, but ended up adding a mile. Not a big deal, but I realized, my desires have slightly altered. Damn it, now I kind of want to see if I can do a hundred runs in a hundred days.

I wonder if I can ever control myself...

Last week was the most miles I have logged at 68miles, I plan to halt there for a couple weeks, possibly considering taking a mile or two off this week ( I typically do a yo yo to make sure my body is adjusting), as this is unknown territory for me.I can be a risk taker but I know, I can only get better if I don't get injured. Currently I am not willing to risk that.

I have been at 50+ miles a week for the last 4/5 weeks, which I had held for 3/4weeks prior to November when I was trying for a 70.3, so the same mileage with more bike & swim load. I feel comfortable with the increases, but I am starting to add back some bike and swim work, which my legs are just now starting feel a little tired but my neck/shoulder is bothering me the most right now. Anyways, I have to just listen to my body, focus on eating consistently and trying to sleep more (I am the worst at making myself sleep when there are things to be done).

I hope to be comfortable with 70+ miles a week by mid February. I will start taking 1 running rest day at the end of January, but for now, I am trying to keep my legs loaded.

I am in the ARC Half Distance Challenge, so I have 2 more half marathons left that I am using as tempo/training runs (but we all know as competitor can't help but still want to compete) with my A race being Boston in April, then a break before attempting another go at the Triathlon season.

Several people ask me about my running structure, honestly, I watched my boyfriend Stephen transform using Slowtwitch. He turned me on to the Barry P plan. The end of March 2017, I started my 6 day a week plan, I had a few minor hiccups then the end of January 2018 last year between sick, death, and weather frustrations. I almost throw away all the work I had put into consistency (a few times actually), but I got my BQ in February on the Austin course and found I could do some Tri things I was not sure I was capable of (of course I was hoping).

I have been lucky to have the belief of someone else by my side, with the support ( or push) of Stephen to not let me be "pathetic" through my weak moments has really helped- hard love is this sometimes the best expression of love. I have found another level in this- a kindness to myself- and a joy in the process I never understood before, I expect a lot from myself but the results are not the calibrator anymore. You learn consistency requires flexibility- something in the past for me was very much an all or nothing attitude.

I literally go out each day, with an idea of how many miles I am plan to run, I adjust based on my weeks schedule, but my only requirement is that I do the work. I adopted two mottos: (1) if you race in it, you run it (2) Feelings do not dictate outcomes.

If I feel like crap, I run slow. If I feel great let the pace fall where it wants. I don't demand a lot of myself on a daily basis other than to get it done, and with each month, the desire to do the work has become the reward. I do understand that the improvements will become less, and I will need to dial in some hill, sprint, tempo work and all that. For now, if I want to run a little faster I run with Stephen, if I want to just enjoy the process; I just do that.

I am a super anxious racer, and this approach has helped me appreciate that at a race, I am just going for a run. I can be thankful, this is what I love to do in my free time. All the sudden I loose the fact that the race also tells me anything about all the work I have put in, or that it is a means of calibrating performance. I take it as my chance to run freely and see what is there on this said day.

Hey, nice! I did the full track once, but 3M hurts my back so no more of that challenge either way. I'll be doing the half at the Austin Marathon this year and am trying to bank a few runs before that for this challenge before then.

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The point is, ladies and gentleman, that speed, for lack of a better word, is good. Speed is right, Speed works. Speed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

I did 34 minutes on the treadmill today with a bunch of stretching breaks such that I actually ran for 30 minutes. Eventually my target will be to run continuously for 30 min outside without having to stop to stretch to avoid disc compression related nerve spasms. Thanks to slowman, I did several 15 minute jogs/shuffles in the 2 week lead up to "spring train" for this challenge. As I mentioned elswhere I am on year three of a injury induced swim focus on track for my third 1200km year in 3 years. First year was mainly all free, second year was learning all 4 strokes and doing a decent amount of fly. This year, around half has been the other 3 strokes and training like 'real swimmer'. Its a different world away from when I was a track guy, but running is my native sport. Swimming is taking its place, but I enjoy watching all of you really feel the freedom of what running allows in life.

Keep pushing all of you.

Dev


Dev....just slowly working through the last 9 days of posts and had to send a response to your post above. I had a fairly severe L4/5 disk compression (maybe 25% left) and had a bone marrow concentrate (stem cell) injection into that disk using my own bone marrow (centrifuged) about 5 or 6 years ago. I had pain for about 10 years and have been essentially pain free since then, so please check out that option! I am a believer and it has made life much nicer : ). I'm enjoying the 100/100 this year so far. I definitely have benefited from this effort in the past and hoping it propels me to the next level in 2019!
Diana

I am not quite 55 .... 52 years old and currently sitting around 10th in distance but I won't be chasing frequency since that will mess up my marathon preparation. Yesterday I ran 24k so today I did a swim and an easy bike then jogged 6k in 30 minutes. Tomorrow is my annual Christmas run ...25k on the 25th ... still haven't decided if it will be all at once or broken in two runs. I have some minor stiffness but I am loving doing some extra running. In March, 2016, I had surgery on my heel and had the bursa removed after 4 years of constant bursitus so I didn't race at all in 2016. In 2017 I did a few shorter tri races then raced Barrelman in September. It went ok but my run volume was a lot lower than my pre-surgery past. I had a couple friends running the Toronto Marathon in October 2017 so I ended up entering a week out to see if I could "bluff" my way through based on previous experience and join them in Boston this year. The bluff worked perfectly so now I am upping the miles to prepare for April.... so far so good but I haven't been doing anything fast yet.

Just turned 55. This is my 4th 100/100. These days, I'm not even remotely athletic in general, but most winters for the past several years I've ended up running a lot one way or another. I like how it makes me feel, and more to the point, I like how it makes it less of a problem to eat and drink as much as I like to. I have a background in endurance sports that started when I was 16, but these days I use exercise mostly for calorie and depression control.

 
Merry Christmas to all my fellow Slowtwitchers and 100/100 types.


Just did my annual 25k run to celebrate the 25th. Ran 10k on my own, followed by 10k with my youngest daughter (she took it easy on me!) and then another 5k with my older daughter and her dog. Fun way to spend Christmas morning.

Congratulations and Merry Christmas Allan. What a great way to celebrate the Holiday. And it's giving me some ideas.

"I wonder if I can ever control myself...

Last week was the most miles I have logged at 68miles, I plan to halt there for a couple weeks, possibly considering taking a mile or two off this week ( I typically do a yo yo to make sure my body is adjusting), as this is unknown territory for me.I can be a risk taker but I know, I can only get better if I don't get injured. Currently I am not willing to risk that. "

As someone who has been running and racing for 40 years and coaching runners for the past 25 I like your ideas. My biggest single year improvement as a runner came when I was 16 (a long long time ago!) and after a crappy result at the provincial cross-country championships I took an easy week and then averaged 63 miles/week from the second week of November until Easter with no days off. Consistency is the key but be careful and listen to your body. In a week or two you could dial it back for an "easy" 45ish mile week and then ramp it back up over the next two weeks. The "I wonder if I can ever control myself" comment is typical of all of us type AAA endurance junkies ... most of us don't need a coach to tell us what to do, we need one to tell us what not to do .....

"Dad, is it hard to run in the snow like that?"

"No. I actually like it. But it IS hard to run when I'm so tired."

That was my conversation this morning after my tenth run in my first 100/100 challenge. I used to hang out here alot in 2008 and 2009, lurking for info. It's been along time since I was on Slowtwitch regularly. Then somehow the invite to the 100/100 Challenge got into my primary e-mail (not spam) and I was incredibly happy to see it. It was just what I needed as I was wondering how I would ever get back into running regularly again for 2019.

I'm super happy to be here, and glad this challenge exists. A couple years ago I started my own 5k-a-day challenge for 30 days and lost it at about day 17. My goal here is 100 days straight with at least a single 30-minute run per day. Day 10 and I'm super tired, as evidenced by my first "maladaptation" reading from HRV4training app. I've been running mostly 4-4.5 miles/day but yesterday I went for 10k and paid the price this morning.

Somebody wrote in an earlier post that it's not about who can do the most but who can do the least. That is so true.

I'm trying to embrace Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 principle this year, and of course this challenge works well for that I think because I am being forced to find my slow pace for the 80% portion. I was doing well incorporating some Sufferfest bike sessions the last two weeks and maintaining a "coping well" reading with HRV4training, but now it's catching up to me. I don't know how I'll get my swimming going again next week; I haven't had to worry about it with our pool closed for maintenance recently. And swim is my favorite.

I think you have a point when you say that people should post what they are trying do and why. Although it takes a bit of time to write something down, it provides a great community. If you've ever done the Sufferfest Tour of Sufferlandria and watched the facebook community, you can see what the community-support posts can do for overall motivation.

So, as for why I'm doing this, I need to build my running back up after a rough 2018 with lack of consistent training because of a new job, two-week business trip, minor injury during elk hunt, all kinds of stuff. I'm looking at getting back into some races in 2019; I haven't done any racing since 2015 I think when I met my goals at 70.3 St George, but I've been swimming/biking/running to various extents all the time because I simply enjoy it. Maybe I'll do my first 140.6 this year as a local just-me event. Maybe I'll do it at the Bear Lake Brawl , and I'm certainly looking at my first Ironman-event 140.6 in Boulder in 2020 (would do it this year but schedule didn't work out). I need to get back down to 185-pounds from high-190s now, and this run challenge should help do that. I also have a huge backcountry ski adventure planned for April that I need to be in-shape for.

As for how this challenge has been going: I started out with a no-run on Day 1 because I did a local backcountry ski day that was awesome, followed on Day 2 (my Day 1) with a scheduled 9 miler run that felt much better than expected after that ski day wore me out. Some days I feel great; other days like today the real success comes from just doing the minimum. At some point in the future, I expect to do a double run day and get back on track for 100/100, possibly even get ahead of the curve at some point. My goal is 100 runs in 100 days. Stretch goal is 99 consecutive days of running (I missed Day 1) with 110 runs in 100 days.

Best of luck to everyone!

Given the dearth of pictures (other than Bluestack's feet), I thought I would get things going. First time posting pics by the way.

Some friends from my run:



And my true running friends:

welcome back, to slowtwitch and to the 100/100.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I'd like to introduce Espola. Espola is a lovely road that I use in roughly half of my runs.

Espola runs east-west to form the northern border of my town. Then she curves gracefully south to form the eastern border. She separates my town from the desert to the east.

There are horse trails in the north end of my town. So, there are horse cross walks on Espola.



Landscaping on Espola includes these ornamental chives (at least, I think that's what they are.) When these plants heat up, the smell is tremendous.

you bet. part of the highland valley loop.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Also of note, if you have a problem and don't want to post it here, you can leave me a message and I'll help you out.

And I'm on 12/12 as well. Been running 6 days a week for a couple of months now, so going to 7 days was easy. Now to just stay healthy, keep the mileage high, and keep the streak going even after a few upcoming races....

-Eric

Nice. I went to the high school on that road.

Well 'm a newbie compared to the who's who around here. I don't think I've run a week solid in my life. I was feeling 58 going on 35 until yesterday. Woke up and was brushing my teeth, leaned into my left hip and baam! Nerve pain so bad I had to hit the floor. Appears to be a femoral nerve, front hip flexor issue in my shingles-ravaged left leg, which still has residual nerve damage from that bout 4 years ago.

Hitting the roller and hypersphere, heating pad seems to be coming around. Made the family Christmas walk ableit a bit dicey at time (spasms).

Absolute baby steps today :(

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Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

"You might think running that easy detrains you. Try this Challenge. Let's revisit this once you're 60 days into it. "

Is there a clue here?
I like to think I'm normally quite patient, and willing & able to make short term sacrifices for long term goals, but 14 days in I'm still struggling to shake the "am I just learning to run slow" jitters. I'm guessing rest days might help but I'm still using the streak as the main incentive at the moment. My current thinking is that once I'm properly used to daily running and have adjusted to the increased weekly mileage, maybe I start running a little longer / faster and then the minimal 30 mins very slow runs will feel like a rest day? Either way, I'm hanging in there for now and enjoying the challenge. And given that my longest previous streak was probably about 4 days I guess I can say I've achieved something already :-). My first big challenge will probably come over the weekend as I try to top off the annual bike mileage (for no better reason than a stupid round number fixation) whilst keeping the streak running.

patience is the key. this is the value of this challenge. we're used to thinking that we need to concentrate on the workout you're performing. and that's all well and good. but this challenge is designed to reorder your thinking. in this challenge you're always thinking about tomorrow's workout. is there something i'm going today that is going to sabotage my run tomorrow? that's a more valuable lesson than we realize, regardless of activity.

my mother used to tell me that if i kept looking cross-eyed my eyes would stick that way. no, i don't think that's true. likewise, no, you're not training yourself to run slow if you run slow. this challenge is exposing that you're weak. if you are finding it hard to recover regardless of how slow you run, you may need to run either slower or shorter yet. at least occasionally. but you have it right. this challenge gets you strong enough to run every day. once you're that strong, then you can begin to run farther every day. or faster. and recover. this is not to say that you should run 365 times in a year for your triathlon training. but for these 100 days you're training your body to run and recover. we're not even 15 days into it. at 60 days i think you're be a lean, mean running machine.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

week 2 -- again, a bit of swimming also


Day 8: 3.6 mi
Day 9: 11.2 mi
Day 10: 6.45 mi (w/ 1 mi @ 8:00 + 2.1 mi @ 7:53)
Day 11: 7.3 mi
Day 12: 3.6 mi
Day 13: 3.7 mi
Day 14: 4.3 mi progressive

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

"at 60 days i think you're be a lean, mean running machine"

First time for everything Dan, and at 55 it's well overdue. ;-)
But thanks, kinda the answer I was hoping for. Running daily is not a problem yet (slow and short) just seems so contrary to the norm. Have only really just started to understand this year that it's the recovery days where you make the gains and have only just started to focus on those recoveries, both short term and long term, so you can imagine my inner turmoil with this challenge. I guess the only thing is, for the moment, apart from the weekly mileage increase I'm not really giving myself a need for recovery. I'm really curious (and hopeful of course) to see how this pans out. Not sure I'll shake those jitters just yet but if/when I get to the point that I can start putting some hard efforts in and gain recovery from short easy run days I'll be very happy.

I'm 66 and this is my first 100/100. I have been working to get my run back after a bad hamstring injury and a lack of consistency has been my biggest failure in getting back in shape. The 100/100 is exactly what I needed. So far, 15 runs and 68 miles since the 15th and going well.

 

Not sure how anyone would find my tales of slow 30 minute runs interesting or inspiring, so here's some of our roads/conditions.

You lucky California runners...





following deer tracks up primitive county road.



brown snow and slushy footing. good months ahead...
why am I having recurring dreams of summer/heat waves, etc?

I hopped on the treadmill at the start of the Third Quarter of the #FranlinAMerican Music City Bowl in Nashville with Auburn up 56-7 vs Purdue

I saw the the SEC record for points in a Bowl game was 61 by Alabama vs Syracuse in the 1953 Orange Bowl

I decided that I would go for the @Slowtwitch #ST100in100 #ST100Runs100Days minimum of 30 minutes, then keep going until Auburn reached 70

The next touchdown to bring it to 63 came along quickly, but as the 3rd quarter came to an end, and Auburn had pulled their stud QB I could tell they weren't going to run it up on The Boilermakers, so I dropped off after 5.5 miles = 47 minutes of real time

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Thanks for the images....I did a bit of Woodway curve treadmill shuffling after I emerged from the Dec 24/25 fever/chills/nausea (and it had nothing to do with the material nature of the days vs the spiritual nature)....I was just sick!