A lot of us running this weekend, C3Baker! Me, PlantMom, MOWC, you. Low 40s is chilly. Do you have a Goodwill or Salvation Army near you for cheap throw away clothing? Definitely painful to throw away some nice new stuff!
Gertrude, stick with it! I’ve been doing it for a while now and mat is really tough. It takes a lot of concentration. And I also forgot to congratulate you on the job news - sounds like a great opportunity.
Today’s column by Kristin Armstrong was a good one for me. It’s about “showing up”.
Good luck to everyone this weekend: C3B, Classof2015, MoWC!
I hope those aches and pains work themselves out soon, sabaray. Romani, like sabaray, I have the Fitbit Charge HR. I think it does a reasonable job of monitoring heart rate. If anything, I have more trouble with reliability of HR on my Garmin 235. I don’t know why, but sometimes my HR really spikes on the latter. I like the Fitbit; my biggest complaint is having to replace them because they’re not durable. Oh, and that the Fitbit’s not so comfortable to wear while sleeping because of the shape and flashing lights.
Fallgirl, I like your workout routine and hope to bring balance back to mine.
I’m feeling much more excited about Sunday’s half marathon after going to the exposition today and meeting Jeff Galloway. He was very kind and took time with each person he met to offer a little pre-race counseling and sign the race bibs. Apparently my corral is between the run-walk pace setting corral groups. Because there are so many people in this thing (up to 20K 
) it’s not easy to move up by passing during the race to catch faster group. But, if I get tired, I can pretty easily fall into the slower group behind me. Hopefully I’ll maintain the “just right” spot. As long as we’re talking about what to wear, I must make my confession: I bought a light, short, sparkly red and white polka-dotted skirt to wear over my running skirt and a matching sweatband visor. When in Minnie/Mickey Land…I couldn’t resist! It’s looking like 60 degrees at 5:30 AM–wish it were a bit cooler, but I’ll take this over the usual Florida morning. While shopping at the expo, I also bought a Sparkle skirt–it’s pretty, not sparkly–with built in compression shorts. They have a slightly longer “trail walking” length.
Good luck to you too, PlantMom! Plus MOWC and C3B! Lots of good thoughts for Saturday and Sunday’s races.
PlantMom – that outfit sounds adorable! And the skirt sounds great too!
These expos where you go to get your bib – boy, they are hard to resist. Asics has a huge store. So tempting to snag a running jacket with the marathon logo on it for $140 then you realize you have a perfectly good one at home.
I think it sounds cute, Plantmom!
I buy a lot at expos. Often there are things you don’t see elsewhere or online vendors and you can check the sizing.
PlantMom, your outfit sounds so perfect! 
Good luck to all racers!
I am so jealous of all of you who are doing these races. Running has always been my thing, and I still can’t seen to run more than a couple miles without painful blisters on my feet. I’ve tried many pairs of shoes, different socks, moleskin, blister cream, and expensive orthotics were supposed to fix it. But I can only run really slow in these orthotics. For those of you who use orthotics, does it slow you down, too? Do you ever get used to it? I feel like I’m used to them when I’m walking, but not while running.
I’m not a beli very in orthotics, although I have worn them in the past. They should be pretty much better noticeable, though. I think SuperFeet work well, and are much less expensive. I’m sorry you can’t solve the blister problem, I guess you’ve tried things like BodyGlide or Vaseline???
I have terrible problems with blisters, and I find wearing two pairs of socks really helps. Probably obvious, but I thought I’d mention it.
Yes I have tried the body glide, though I haven’t tried two pairs of socks. Will try that. I used the super feet for years and they don’t help. The problem is, that I massively roll inwards when I run (pronate?) and get painful blisters on the inside of my feet. These fancy orthotics are supposed to train my feet but it’s not working yet. I guess I’ll just keep trying!
Thanks for the suggestions.
My resting HR has been all over the place on my Garmin 235. For the last 6 weeks it will be anywhere from mid 50s to high 60s. Before that it was mid 40s to low 50s. I don’t know if it’s making good contact or it’s a little wonky. The new replacement doesn’t seem as reliable? And the resting HR on the watch never matches Garmin Connect. I haven’t worn the strap in awhile and will probably wear it full time just to make sure that something isn’t amiss.
busdriver11 – that sounds so painful! I feel like there must be a fix but it sounds like you have tried all of them.
I just learned how much a difference a shorter stride makes. I was experiencing real pain in hamstrings and butt and I think my stride was causing it (I normally lope along like a golden retriever chasing a frisbee). I timed my cadence – goal is 180 or more – and it felt better.
I keep trying for a 180 cadence. I can only seem to get in the low 170s during training runs. When I’m at 180 it seems like I’m doing nothing but stepping. I can get 180 and above when racing. I had my Garmin on during a 400/800 race and it had me at 207. I can only seem to get at 180 if I’m at 7:00 pace or lower.
Wow – I don’t think I could ever get to a 7 minute pace, ohiopublic! I know what you mean though – it feels like I’m moving up and down more than forward when I focus on shorter stride. I tried to time it with the stopwatch on my iPhone (I counted strides for 30 seconds then doubled). I was at 100 paces. But I didn’t check my pace.
Good luck to everyone in races this weekend. Classof2015–enjoy NYCM. The crowds will keep you going.
Sabaray–good that you are resting. Have you tried a Yin yoga class? It is slow-paced and the poses help to increase flexibilty and open up joints (especially hips). I find that I feel remarkably free of any muscle aches and pains for an entire day after a Yin class.
Yesterday, I went to yoga (flow class) and did 3 hours of garden/yard work (putting garden to bed and cleaning up flower/herb beds). We are at our vacation place getting ready to close up for winter (after Thanksgiving). Working with trainer later today and have already done lots of steps (hauling outdoor furniture to storage).
Romani–if you need precise HR monitoring, the Fitbit Charge HR isn’t that great. I have used the Polar watch/monitors with a strap and they are better than the FB. Plus, cheaper than the Garmin–which has more features than a non-runner needs. The strap is a pain. Good luck–agree that you should ask doc who wants you to monitor has a suggestion.
Two things my coach had me do to improve cadence were a treadmill workout focusing on the 180 and then moving that exercise outside. So, I’d walk slowly on the TM to warm up for 5 minutes, then for the next 24 minutes I’d increase the TM speed by .2 every two minutes, trying to keep the cadence high, then drop down to the original walking speed but run for two minutes, then a five minute cooldown. It uses a lot of energy to have a high cadence at the lower speed, but you’re also not thudding or grounding yourself every time you land. You get a lot more spring! Having the Garmin really helped with improving cadence.
Back to Pilates this morning - the studio got some new equipment which I am really excited about! A Pilates ladder barrel! Great for stretching and more advanced exercises. Today did a lot of assisted stretching and some modified core work. I am feeling better - went home from work around 4 yesterday, drank some tea w/honey and lemon, had some Emergen-C and was in bed for the night at 9 pm. Needed the rest, I think.
thanks Bromfield2! I’ll think of you and all the seasoned marathoners on this thread on Sunday, that’s for sure!
interesting about improving cadence, sabaray. I didn’t realize there was a system to it but I will try that.
Good luck to MOWC and C3B tomorrow.
An easy 3 mile run this morning with Back on My Feet. It was fun to feel all the excitement for the members who are running tomorrow. Most are doing the half marathon but a few are doing the full. We’re taking a half day vacation to head down for packet pick-up this afternoon and spend $ at the Expo. H thinks we’ll be able to stop by and vote early on our way home. I have tried telling him that everyone I have talked to has had to wait 2-3 hours to vote early - not my idea of something fun to do on a half-day vacation, but he doesn’t seem to believe me. We’ll see, maybe he will be right and it would be nice to have that out of the way.
Good luck tomorrow MOWC! Great weather for running!
Have been monitoring my resting HR today with the strap with my Garmin 235. Back in the mid to high 40s range. Optical HR may be off on the new watch?