Don't Just Fly.... Soar! A couch to Dumbo training journal (comments welcome)

[Naomeri]

I use an Apple Watch for measuring runs (and many other things ), and my phone for music and run/walk alerts and it goes smoothly. I upload the runs into Strava afterward.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

I also use my Apple Watch for tracking runs and upload to Strava. If you wanted you could set up your intervals on your watch as a custom workout and it would vibrate at you whenever you needed to switch.

 

[AZMermaid]

I use an Apple Watch for measuring runs (and many other things ), and my phone for music and run/walk alerts and it goes smoothly. I upload the runs into Strava afterward.

What do you use on your watch? Just apple fitness? Will that track distance?

 

[AZMermaid]

I also use my Apple Watch for tracking runs and upload to Strava. If you wanted you could set up your intervals on your watch as a custom workout and it would vibrate at you whenever you needed to switch.

So it will track distance? I have no idea how my watch works! It’s embarrassing hahaha!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

So it will track distance? I have no idea how my watch works! It’s embarrassing hahaha!

Yep, it'll track all kinds of things, including distance, pace, heart rate, and all those good things.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

I'll add that I have a cellular-enabled watch and on shorter runs will run just with that and no phone, and since it gets data from the cell towers I can stream podcasts/music with it too. But if you just have the GPS version, you'll still need your phone if you want to listen to anything.

 

[AZMermaid]

I do know mine is not cellular! But man that would be a nice advantage.

Okay. I’ll try to play with it….

 

[Naomeri]

What do you use on your watch? Just apple fitness? Will that track distance?

Yep, just the apple fitness app. You can also program workouts into the app, like 400m repeats or whatever you want

Here’s the data I get from a run:

 

[AZMermaid]

I’ve had a pretty good week! Last Tuesday I was all jazzed up to use my Apple Watch. It’s gonna be great- forget that dumb Map My Run! So I took it off the charger and slapped it on…. And the charger wasn’t plugged in. Doh! Darn. Back to MMR for 3.5.

So my mid week runs are now 3.5 on T/Th and 2 on Wednesdays. But I havent been awesome at Wednesdays. Yesterday (Tuesday) the alarm went off at 5:15 and I was like nope, I’ll run after school. There was a little voice that was like realllyyy?? But I was like yep. I’m doing it. Next week it bumps up to 4 and I dont want to get up any earlier, so I’m gonna have to switch anyway. So I go to school, teach and am tired after school. But I’m like I’ll rest for an hour and go out at 5:30. Sooooo at 5:30 I check the weather. It’s 86 degrees. Dang it!! Even after the sun sets it’s gonna be like 82. So I didnt run yesterday,

But I did run this morning. So I’m just shifting my runs a day this week and won’t do Saturday cross which let’s be real, there was a 50/50 chance of me doing it anyway, But I am going to do the “Wednesday“ run tomorrow. I was hoping for after school, but it’s still 82. It’s supposed to be mid 70s next week so I’m hoping I can switch to after school. Well or just Tuesday actually. Then we are off. Maybe I’ll switch the days around again a bit since I dont have work W-F. Hmmm….

5 miles on the weekend went well. I used a 60:30 and it worked well. I’m gonna try to fuel halfway through this weekend. I’m trying Gu, but I think it didn’t agree with me in 2019. I also wasnt taking it with water, so I’ll try that.

Apple Watch went well! I do miss the splits as I go. It vibrates but I cant get back to it. I’m sure it’s user error!

 

[AZMermaid]

In other news… I’m over analyzing my Dumbo outfits. For the 10K, DH, DS and I are doing Donald, a nephew and Daisy. I have The top from Crowned although I havent lost the weight I’d like to (story of my life) so it’s tighter than ideal. For the half I think I’m doing Goofy, my fave. Allthese are more bounding style than actual costumes. My plan was to wear Sparkle Bolder skirts. I bought a sale orange one for Daisy but slim fit which I now think won’t work. I also bought a royal blue one for Goofy but the legs ride up terribly. I’ve never had this issue before with their skirts. But since I’m at a stand still… I’m deciding between skirts and pants. I worry it’s gonna be cold. But i also think it might be cold waiting and then okay. So I can bring throwaway sweats or something.

I dont have a running pant I love. At home I run in Sparkle Bolder 90% of the time. I have a pair of UA capris that are probably my favorite. I have a thick pair of Carrie Underwood leggings that I have to hike up just right. I saw UA had some blue ones I could buy for goofy. But heat gear or cold gear? Heat gear people say is thin and for heat. But are they in the snow? Or in CA at 40 degrees? Haha! Will Cold Gear be too hot? Like I said, over analyzing this way too much. I want to buy somewhat soon so I can take them for a spin.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I have a pair of UA capris that are probably my favorite. I have a thick pair of Carrie Underwood leggings that I have to hike up just right. I saw UA had some blue ones I could buy for goofy. But heat gear or cold gear? Heat gear people say is thin and for heat. But are they in the snow? Or in CA at 40 degrees? Haha! Will Cold Gear be too hot? Like I said, over analyzing this way too much. I want to buy somewhat soon so I can take them for a spin.

I run exclusively in UA leggings and capris (because the ones I buy have a drawstring in the waist, a pocket for my phone, and I can get them for less than $30/pair on clearance) so I can totally chime in on this! Also, sierra sometimes carries UA stuff, and you can get it for sooooo cheap. You'll need to search for "heat gear" or "cold gear" because they have blocked that brand from searches.

Heatgear leggings are REALLY thin. Coldgear leggings are not, and sometimes are slightly "fleecy" on the inside. Now, if you are talking about a 40 degree morning, and a 5k (or walking a 10k) coldgear would likely be fine, unless you are a person who "runs hot." However, if you are talking about running a half, heatgear would (IMO) work better; you may be a little cold for the first few miles, but they would be more comfortable for the longer duration. I'll also add that the coldgear stuff (at least the stuff I own, which I think is from their "infrared" line) is less stretchy, so if you're in between sizes, go with the larger size.

I am always cold, and I'll wear heat gear tights until its about 45 out (as long as it's not windy)

 

[AZMermaid]

Thank you! That is very helpful! Of course the trickiest part is predicting the weather. Which nothing I can do there. But I think you’re right that under typical conditions the heat gear would be best for the duration of a half. Maybe I’ll get heat gear now because that’s also what’s best at home and get a cold gear pair close to the race. If the weather looks bad, I’ll switch plans.

I also just ordered bright yellow Nike Go that were on sale. Probably because they are bright yellow, lol. If those work out…. They will work for Daisy.

 

[AZMermaid]

I decided to do my 2 miler after school on Thursday. I should have gone at 4:30 but decided to wait till 5:00. Then my husband got stuck in a meeting so I needed to get my son at swim practice at 5:30. No problem, I’ll go after. It’ll be dark, but it’s okay. As we are driving home- it starts to rain! The first time in months!! Oh no! My son is like you still gotta go, what if it rains on race day? Dig deep mom. Ugh. What a jerk hahaha! So I went. 2 miles in the rain- like a rockstar.

But the problem that created was I was still recovering when I got up at 5:15 Friday to go run. And I bailed. And then I beat myself up all day for bailing. But I realized I need to go at the same time on back to back days. 12ish hours between runs is not something I am fit enough for. Maybe just mentally, but there it is.

This morning was my long run. 5 miles on a 60/30 interval. I wanted to test out Gu but haven’t decided on my water carrying strategy yet. So I set it out at my house and did a three mile loop followed by a 2 mile. This worked out because I was able to use the restroom. I was worried I wouldn't continue once being at home, but it was fine. I tolerated the Gu fine too- so that was also a win! I’m not sure raspberry lemonade is my flavor but my stomach was good.

My overall pace was 12:34 with splits of 12:14, 12:13, 12:53, 12:18, 13:01. Not sure what happened in miles 3 and 5. Id love to stay consistent in the low 12s.

My goals for this week:
Do not buy breakfast
No candy (Halloween hit hard)
Leftovers 5K on Saturday. Hoping to break that 40s PR 37.53

 

[jmasgat]

No candy (Halloween hit hard)

I totally fail on this count. We typically had ~250 kids, but the neighborhood must be aging (and the dropoffs must be lessening) So I buy 2-150pc bags from Costco. But this year, and last, we are probably only about 175. So lots of leftovers--that I like, because I open the bag, sort the candy and put the ones I like on the bottom!

I think we are finally just about done....just in time for Thanksgiving and also Ghirardelli Peppermint bark (also at Costco). Honestly, chocolate is my ultimate weakness.

 

[AZMermaid]

We hardly get any trick or treaters because we are the first street from the Main Street and we have a few airbnbs on our block (not a touristy area at all, but I digress) that are usually dark. Add that to a bunch of elderly neighbors, between us and the road is mostly dark. Two streets over from us is hopping! We just buy one bag and give a giant handful to the few kids we get.
But I keep eating my own kids candy. And my principal has a jar full of peanut butter cups that is hard to resist. The sweets at school come Christmas is insane. So one day at a time!

 

[AZMermaid]

It’s been a wild week here. My husband had to go to Washington last minute for some stuff with his dad. This put me on full hosting duty for Thanksgiving. He is generally our cook but I have to say it went well. Took my kids to see Wish yesterday. It was good not great IMO. If you haven’t seen it, there is an end of credits scene.

Did well with my training this week. Ran my 5K this morning. It was The Leftovers Run which is a local run here in AZ. You get a random “leftover” Tshirt and medal but if you don’t like the one you got, there’s a big trade bucket. This makes the run pretty cheap- $20! And I bought it during their Christmas in July sale for just $15.

It seemed bigger than last year. There is a 10K that’s starts 10 min before the 5K. It’s dog and stroller friendly. I’m not sure this would be the best 10K due to the double loop course and cross traffic with the 5K folks. But it is very back of the pack friendly for the 5K at least. I started about in the middle of the crowd. There was a tiny bi5 of early frustration with people who started out walking and right smack in the middle, some pairs. Not at all annoyed about walking, just in the middle of the path and starting towards the front of the pack. But once I cleared all those people, it was a good race. I’ve run at this park and I always forget the “hills” towards the start. I skipped the first water station but did stop at the second one. There was only one woman manning it so we had to wait a bit. I thanked her- it looked stressful. She was filling and handing them as fast as she could.

I felt pretty good. The weather was great- just about 50 at the start. I ran the whole thing besides a short wait at the water stop. My splits were 11:49, 11:47, 11:34 with a finish of 36.16! This is a 40s PR by a minute and a half! Woot!

Im running Hot Chocolate in a few weeks. I orginally was going to do the 10K. Then a friend asked me about running the 5K so I decided on that. I’m lightly regretting that decision, but it’s always a fun one.

 

[AZMermaid]

Some pics. The yellow shirt and medal I got. I was happy with both of these and didn’t trade. They also sell shirts for $5. I was hoping for a long sleeve I could potentially use as a throwaway but they didn’t have any in my size. But I really liked this orange one. Do I need a running shirt? No. But did I have an Arizona running shirt? Also no. I could have traded for it, but I liked the yellow- bright for my early runs.

 

[AZMermaid]

This one just came in!

 

[AZMermaid]

All rightie! This week was…. Meh. Monday I got a Migraine. I get these 1-2 times a month, pretty sure they are hormonal. I have bee to two doctors and for some reason they don’t prescribe migraine meds and what they have prescribed doesn’t work. It’s frustrating so I basically just deal with it and pop excedrin as recmomended until finally the headache breaks- usually day 3. I can function, but after holding it together with first graders I’m a grouch at home. So that was basically M-W. I skipped my run Tuesday and Wednedsay

. Thursday it finally cleared and the weather cooled off yay! I ran after school. I thought hey it’s 62 and cloudy. That’s chilly. So I put on long sleeve shirt and my new Nike yellow pants to try them out. I set out for four miles. Uh. This was too much clothes. I was So hot and uncomfortable! But I got the miles done. But I noted 62 is not yellow pants weather.

Today I was going for my long run- 6 miles at a 60/30 interval. This went well. I did two 3 mile loops and again stopped at the house for water and fuel. Strawberry banana GU was decent. The temp was 45 so I was worried it’d be chilly, but I didn’t want a repeat of yellow pants. I wore thin capris and a t shirt and this was good. It was 52 when I came by the school again on the second loop. This felt good. I was able to maintain a steady 12:25-12:30 pace. My legs and toes are a bit more sore than expected but I later realized I wore my old shoes. Oops.

This week the highs bounce back up to low 80s. I’m not sure what that means for my midweek runs. I should be doing 4.5 on T/Th which is more than I want to do before school. We have to leave by 7:15. But… even waiting a bit, it’ll be like 75 at dusk. I’m trying to tell myself that is still lower than the summer lows I ran in… but I was only doing 2.5/3. Decisions….

 

[AZMermaid]

So my plan this week was to run t/w/th sun.

Tuesday my alarm went off and I did not want to get out of bed. I’ll run at night I told myself. Did I ? No. It was too hot. Still in the 70s. I fully realize this was me losing the mental game. But that’s what happened.

Wednesday my son was home sick with an awful cold. Probably the worst he’s had. My kids hardly ever stay home so this was u usual. Generally my husband stays home for emergencies bit it was my student teachers last week and she is sub certified. So Imtook advantage of that and stayed with him. He’s 13 so this meant I could get my run in. I waited until like 9 when the school traffic dies down. It was still cool- maybe 60 or so- so I did t bring my hat. Mistake. I was miserable with the sun. But I got my 4.5 in and felt good about that, even if I did have to walk. I try to run my full shorter runs.

Friday I got up at 5:10 and got out there. The weather cooled back down and it was about 45 which didn’t feel that cold. I got 4 done at 11:30 pace and ran the whole thing. I realized I like dark running better, no hat or glasses to deal with. This bodes well for the 10K I think. How does daylight savings affect the light though? Does it? We don’t do it here. Will it still be dark-ish around 7?

Today, Sunday, I had 7 scheduled. I started out a bit later than I planned- but I brought the hat, woot! When I ran by the school the sign said 44, so it was cooler this morning and I felt it. My hands were freezing the first mile. I ran/walk this with a 60/30 and finished it. I got fuel at the house around mile 4. I tried the cliff blocks and hated chewing them, but also didn’t feel as icky as Gu. Although Gu has been fine with water. It’s the texture going down. I’m still deciding how to handle water so looping past the house it is. I was pretty steady with a 12:30 pace. I finished murder in apt 12 and an episode of 321 Go- both great! This run felt pretty good overall.

Next week I need to just suck up the AM runs and I have the Hot Chocolate 5K on Sunday!