Goggins Challenge - Attempt 1

My tracker

This weekend I attempted the Goggins Challenge, run/walk 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. 

I ended my attempt last night at 12:50am. While I didn't succeed, I have trouble saying 29.82 miles in 30 hours is a failure. It certainly helps my progress in the Great Circumpolar Race across the World.

As with any major challenge, I like to do a shake down of what worked and didn't work. I absolutely plan to try this again but not for several months. I have Mt Washington to train for. 

Major Lesson: In my 40's I can not just go 48 hours on minimal sleep with physical activity and zero prep as I did LARPing in my 20's. 

The big mistake was no prep, aside from picking a weekend, that was it. I don't think I sat down and mapped out the every 4 hours until the Thursday before. I didn't reach out for company as effectively as I did for the 50k on a whim I did in January. The weather had been so nice the last 2 weeks I was half counting on it to being nice and instead it was crap. Aside from my last complete 4 mile walk, every single walk outside involved some level of rain. 

I am incredibly grateful to a friend who joined me for two of the segments and without his arrival on Saturday at 4pm, I would have quit 2 segments earlier. I am grateful for my friends that messaged me to check in throughout the weekend. I am grateful for the CRAW team that not only encouraged me but was available to chat with at any hour, thanks to a member being in Australia. I'm grateful for a husband who tried to help me get back on track once I derailed and willing to help me plan my next attempt. 

My feelings on the weather. I was cold

Here is what went wrong, or items I need to correct to be successful.

I forgot my giant water bottle at home on my way to work on Friday. I ended the day with a dehydration headache. I was not successful at reversing this in the hour I had from getting home from work and starting the challenge. 

Treadmill Chips

While I told my husband what I was doing, I had not detailed the level of help I'd need from him or communicated what I needed when I needed it effectively. This is on me, I'm not the type to expect my partner to read my mind. On my way home from work I thought I had asked him to start heating dinner up for me. I had not been clear, and when I got home the boys suddenly needed food and various other distractions, that lead to my food not being ready until 7:45pm for an 8pm start. While there are foods I can wolf down and then go for a long brisk walk, Spicy coconut cream chicken curry with no curry, is not one of them. It is super tasty though, so I look forward to finishing the leftovers today. This was the start of a sour tummy, that never really stopped. 

The food pretty much did me in, aside from a bit during the 5k, I couldn't run, I walked this entire thing. I know I have a delicate balance of food to be able to run and I totally failed it. The problem with walking is it takes more time and reduce available rest time. 

I should have moved the treadmill to the living room on Friday.  Walking on it at 4am while watching my husband sleep was annoying. Had I been in the living room, I could have watched the TV.  We tried this Saturday night but by then I was just done. On the theme of I should have's, I should have cleared the recliner of all my winter running gear so that I could lie down and rest on it. Every time I napped/slept in my own bed for 1-2 hours I woke up insanely nauseous, which is not how things should start. A view from my late night
walks.

By 3pm on Saturday I had realized I was no longer safe to get behind the wheel of a car. Had the challenge been 48 miles in 48 hours, I'm absolutely certain I could do that, add in the sleep loss and that's a whole host of problems. 

TLDR: I shall make sure I'm properly hydrated the week before I start. I shall plan out my meals and make sure I do many of the early segments running. I shall make sure my husband is completely involved in the planning. I have a week off in July, when walking outside at night will be pleasant rather than miserable. I won't have to worry about going to work the day after. I'll likely start at 8am, making a 4am segment my final segment.

 

Moxie trying to comfort me by walking on me.

Garmin Summary

Cancellations and Crazy Plans

With races canceled or postponed, I've been failing to run or train.  But I need to run, it's my outlet, my sanity.

I decided to be a little crazy and registered for the BURCs Virtual Marathon. I was trained up for around 15 or so miles before I stopped, so I guess you could I've tapered.

With the way the city has semi-closed down, I've been trying to sort out the logistics. I don't want to go for a long run around town and need a bathroom, since no places will be open and I doubt the city is putting out portojohns at the parks.

Then I thought, would it be ridiculous, fun and possibly entertaining to others if I run the entire marathon in the ~0.2 mile loop in my parking lot. Around 131 loops.  I could tweet and fb Live updates. I expect to walk the last 6-10 miles. Plus this gives me easy access to a safe bathroom and my food.  I have 36 hours to finish the race, so I could even take a nap.

Maybe this is the thing I need to re-energize. Mt Washington is still a go and I need to start training for that.

Boston training starts again May 21st.

I have until April 20th.  I'm looking at the weather and hoping for a nicer day.

Week 9 of Training Already!!!

Boston training continues and I've been fairly consistent. Taji 100 helps with that, as I really need all the miles I can get.

Training Chart.  Green = miles completed; Blue =  more miles than planned; Red = Did not do; Yellow = Less miles than planned; Pink = Cross Training

This week I crossed the 50 mile mark before the 14th, which puts me in a great place to finish early.

Screen capture of my Taji 100 total miles of 57.97. 

Plus I've earned a few achievements.

Screen capture of my Taji 100 achievement badges. 

Today I'll walk a mile or two, but otherwise rest. Tomorrow I'll run 10 miles between treadmill and indoor track.

Taji 100 - 2020 - Week 1

Taji 100 has begun.  The mission to walk, run, elliptical 100 miles in the month of February.

I have a few personal goals this year as well.
1) To walk at least 1 mile every day of the challenge
2) To complete the challenge by Feb 24th.

Week 1

Saturday: Ran 10 mile long run for my marathon training. Had planned on 12 but left the house late and had to make bathroom stop at the 3 mile mark. Hit a wall around 6 miles and was getting super annoyed at all the crosswalks with lights. On a happy note, that completes Amherst St/101A in Nashua for my Run All the Roads in Nashua. I need to do some more focus in fueling while running. My basal metabolism has increased and I spent most of this run hungry expect for the mile and a half trying to find a bathroom and the 15 mins after I ate a gu. The Clif bloks didn't do anything to take the edge off the hunger.

Sunday: Ran Freeze Your Buns 5k, which my watch says is just short of a 5k, so I missed out on the badge. Good race, didn't push myself but my legs were tired and my son hasn't been running, so his legs were not up for pushing it. He alternated between he doesn't want to be last and he doesn't mind being last when I pointed out that if he kept walking he'd be last.

Monday: This is a rest day according to my training plan. That didn't stop me from getting miles. I walked 0.75 miles with my husband during our afternoon shift. After work I went to Fleet Feet to participate in Winter Warriors and walked another 3.1 with one of my favorite running friends.

Tuesday: An actual training day. Plan was for 3 on the schedule. Snuck out for an hour at work for a 3.5 mile loop of hills.

Wednesday: Mid week long run day for marathon training.  Plan was for 6 and I ran 6.11 miles. I forgot to stop my garmin when I got to the chiropractor for my weekly adjustment, which messed up the avg mile pace.  First mile was 12:36 and last mile was 10:24, so I'm thinking I may be taking it too easy on myself when I run.

Thursday: Snow, and slush and muck on the roads convinced me a lunchtime run on the track at the Y was a much better plan than waiting for it to freeze into a sheet of ice to run on during Winter Warriors. Bumped into another Strider, running on the treadmill. She reminded me that this weather is one of the challenges of training for Boston and a few indoor runs are not a bad idea to be comfortable running in the heat because who knows what the weather will be the day of the marathon.

This blog post is incomplete, but I'm posting it anyway. Next post will have some updates in pictures. I'm pretty sure Friday was two half mile walks due to mismanagement of free time and desire to hibernate.

Race Schedule 2019 - Update

A while back I posted my race plans. I just completed the first half marathon planned, and thought an update was in order.

My bibs on the wall of my adjusting room at the office.

Race List

Completed
Jan 1 - Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k - Finisher with Family spectating
Jan/Feb - Freeze Your Buns 5k Series
Feb - Fudgicle Series
February -Taji 100 Virtual - Finisher
Mar 16 - LebRec Shamrock Shuffle 5k - Finisher
Apr 7 - Nashua Soup Kitchen 10k - Finisher
Apr 20 - Sleep Hollow  Finisher
May 5 -  Pack Monadnock- Finisher 
May 19 - Gate City Half Marathon - Finisher
May 25 R - Wachusett Mtn 10k - Finisher
Jun 8 R - Ascutney Mountain
Jun 9 R - WRT Flat and Fast 5k  My 42nd Birthday!
Jun 13 R - Hollis Fast 5k Path Of Life team
Jan 14 R - Flag Day 5k Amherst
Jun 23 - Capital City Classics 10k
Jun/Jul - Mine Falls Trail Series
Jul 7 R - Loon Mtn - Finisher
Sept 1 R - Greylock - Finisher
Sept 22 R - Granite State 10 Miler
Oct 20 R  - Baystate Half marathon - Finisher
Nov 3 R - Cambridge Half Marathon Unofficial Finisher

Planned (if there is an R next to race name, I've already registered)

Nov 16 R - Wolf Hollow 10 mile Thank you Striders!
Nov 22 R - Great Gobbler Thanksgiving Race
Nov 24 R - Novemberfest (May miss due to cross country race)

Dec 8 ? - Mill Cities Relay (Awaiting team placement with Gate City Striders)

On June 27th I have the opportunity to rappel off a sky scrapper if I can raise at least $1000 for The Youth Council(I'd love to raise more, they are a fantastic organization doing great things). Help make my 42nd birthday EPIC, donate on my fundraising site. 

Taji 100 Week 3 Update

I completely forgot to write my week 3 summary. Now I'm through the last weekend in February. I started the week with only a 1.5 mile 'bonus'.

Taji 100 Profile and Fundraising page!

February 15th to the 21st

The week starts as always with a Friday. I've been treating Fridays as rest days and not stressing about major miles, just 1. It looks like it was a 1 mile walk in my neighborhood before dinner.

The weekend is where I have time to get miles. On Saturday I headed to Tewksbury for the Fudgcicle 5k with friends. I always get a little extra distance as I include my walk to the start and the walk back down the route to meet up with friends and run them in. This Saturday I got a PR for the race, which was nice.

Sunday was another Freeze Your Buns Race. I run these with my husband. I was thinking of running extra miles after but honestly I was nearly crawling due to cramps and just didn't want to. Realizing how many miles I did not get that I needed, I went for a mile walk after dinner. 

Husband is super excited that I've dragged
him to another 5k.

Monday is Winter Warriors, which generally means 4-5 miles. There was ice everywhere, so we had to modify the route for safety.  Even with that I managed just over 4 miles while chatting with a friend. It was getting slippery as the run went on and the weather got colder. 

Tuesday was a super busy day, between the office and our Meals on Wheels route. After work was a PTO meeting. In the Spring I might have considered getting dropped off and running home, but placement of snow on the roads between my home and the school, made that very unsafe in the dark. Instead I headed off to the Y and had a treadmill party of 1. I did a lot more walking and less distance than I planned but the dramatic increase in weekly miles has been taking it's toll.

Post YMCA treadmill run

Wednesday's miles were nearly an accident. I headed to the Y to walk a bit before my chiropractic appointment. I felt great and ended up walking over 3 miles on the indoor track. That was the visit that sparked my last blog post. 

My watch did all the C25K reminders!

Thursday morning the roads were gross and icy. We decided to stay local that day and hit the Y at lunch to run. After work that night was Winter Warriors again, which is sadly coming to an end. Can I just express how done I am with 10+ mph winds with below freezing temps? I can handle below freezing, but a 12-20+ mph wind just sucks the heat and breath out of me. That said, aside from careful footing in the park due to slippery slush and then patches of black ice near the high school, I still managed 4 more miles. 

That was the end of the week, getting ready to head into the last week and final stretch. I had 76.65 miles.  Just a small buffer to help. 

Exercise Road Block: Workout Clothing

One of my road blocks in the past to exercise was work out clothing. 

At the Y in my favorite Gym Girl Ultra Skirt.

As an ambassador with Skirt Sports I have tackled the looking good and feeling comfortable while working out.

The bigger problem was, the "I can't go to the gym without the proper clothing" road block.  I'd forget my bag, a piece of clothing or forget to pack, and then justify that as a reason to skip going.

Maybe it's because the Y is a different than gyms I've been in before, but I noticed there are plenty of people walking the track in street clothing.

Now if I forget something, I still go, I just walk. Though I'm fairly certain I have seen someone running the track in jeans and sandals.

As minor as this is and as obvious as the solution is, this was seriously a road block to getting to the gym and working out.

Today I just walked 3.1 miles after my morning shift and before my appointment with my chiropractor.

Pushing myself to run or walk 100 miles in February without the assistance of a marathon training plan has brought many of my excuses into the clear for me to confront them. I'll be better off for having done this challenge.

Taji 100 - Virtual Race to Benefit Red, White & Blue

Taji 100 Week 2 Update

Valentine's Day was the halfway point.

Taji 100 14 day streak badge

The week started out ahead with 2.33 extra miles and I needed them.

Friday was a bit of a rest day and cold. OK truthfully everyday has been cold, but I just wasn't handling Friday's cold well. I did go out and walk a mile after dinner.

Collage of garmin results, Phil & I at breakfast
and my purple tights under my black pants.

Saturday I got up entirely too early to met a friend and head to the Fudgcicle race. He wanted to run a few miles before the race, and I was going to as well(at my pace.) I skipped the pre-race running, and chatted with a friend instead. We then ran the race together, I was struggling some. I think the high mileage is starting to get to me, or the 21 mph winds. Once we finished we ran back along the course to find and encourage friends. I ended up with 3.78 miles for the morning. I wasn't done for the day, that afternoon after a movie, the family headed to the Y to walk the track. The boys ran a mile, while the adults walked.
That night Sunday plans were made.

Collage of my Taji 100 status 56.56 miles
to go. Garmin results for both activites,
cuddling my friends tan Chihuahua,
and Pokemon Adventure sync showing
67.3 km for the week.

Sunday I met up with two friends for a 6 mile run. That  ended up being 6.7 miles. I was struggling some but I was able to do it. As a bonus we ran on a bunch of new roads for my Run Nashua challenge.  Afterwards, one of the friends and I met up with some other runners for a 3 mile walk. That group decided to run instead, so we just walked.Total Daily Mileage: 10.24

This was a  good set up for the week. I didn't need many miles and I knew I was missing Winter Warriors on Monday. 

Monday at lunch, my husband and I stopped off at the Humane Society and dropped off some donations, then we went for a mile walk. More new roads!

My selfie in front of Humane Society banner

Selfie in the snow, with face mostly covered.

 

Tuesday we had a snow storm, once we were settled in the house, I went to go running. I didn't manage to run much as I had eaten too recently but I did walk another mile.

Wednesday was one of those days when everything times out wrong. I ended up taking Moxie for a walk that night and carried him most of the way so I could check off another mile.

Holding Moxie after walking outside

Because the weekend had been so good, not running Monday to Wednesday was not a problem for miles.

Gift from Husband, Flowers, beef sticks.
card and gift bag,

Thursday was Valentines Day! My husband surprised me with a hydration vest and flowers. He gets me. I went to Winter Warriors and ran with my WW running friends. Due to excessive ice and us being super careful, we didn't do our usual 4+ miles, but 3.63 miles was enough to bump we move the 50 mile total line, with 0.48 extra to start the new week.

With 2 running friends after Winter Warriors

Pace chart of run. Dips are the icy park.

Taji 100: Week 1 Update

It's been 7 days since Taji 100 started. My goal was 25 miles. I succeeded and banked XX miles toward the goal.

I'll be honest I was nervous.  This year I wasn't training for a marathon. I hadn't run a weekend long run in ages and I know those are critical for success. Instead of just running, I had to make a plan.

All my achievement to date!

The plan 

Walk at least 1 mile every day at lunch. Generally these miles end up being 1.1 or 1.25, which in the end of the challenge will add up.

Attend every single Winter Warrior run in February. I know I'll get in at least 4 miles. Challenge myself to go with a running group, instead of the Winter Walkers.

Attend Fudgcicle 5k and Freeze Your Buns, try to get miles in before and after.

Use my YMCA membership and go, even if it's to walk the indoor track. Remember if I'm walking the track I don't need to change into workout clothing, don't use I forgot to pack as an excuse. Bring the boys to YMCA as well. They love the adventure zone and the kids wellness area.

What I have done

Friday  Feb 1, to start things off, after work, I went to the Y with my husband and we walked nearly 2 miles before heading out to pick up the children. I knew Friday would be a rough day to get many miles.

Saturday I made up for it. I suited up and braved the -2 to 1 degree weather for the Fudgcicle 5k. Afterwards, I went to the Y with my family so the boys could play in the wellness area. I ended up walking nearly 3 miles on the track with my husband.

Sunday was Freeze Your Buns 5k with the husband. Then lots of resting before I took Moxie our 9lb Min Pin for a walk, which ended up being a 1 mile carry the dog.

Monday's course and stats!

Monday I went for a lunchtime walk and then to Winter Warriors for 4.5 miles. I opted to go with my friends that were running, rather than the walkers. We did the usual route and added on another half mile.

Tuesday is a busy day at the office, plus my husband and I have a Meals on Wheels Route. If I recall I was having rough headspace day and only did a 1 mile-ish walk after dinner to check off another mile.

What was I thinking Wednesday

Wednesday I was doing much better. We got to my chiropractors office early and went for a walk that not only got nearly 1.5 miles to my tally, but checked off a few more roads on my Run Nashua map. That evening I went to the Y, bumped into a good friend, ran 2 miles on the treadmill with the elevation set at 6, hiked up 35 floors on the StairMaster(that don't count toward Taji 100) and then did a 1 mile cool down walk on the indoor track. Since I have several mountain races in my future, I'm using the stair master to help prep me for all the hills.

With Carolina and Olive! Yes that is duct tape on my sneakers. 

Thursday was Winter Warriors again. I knew I only needed 1.8 miles to get my 25 miles for the first week goal.

I'm proud that I not only accomplished my goal of 25 miles, I accomplished 27.33 miles!

Today will be a rest day, so I'll likely get in a 1 mile walk to keep the streak going. Tomorrow is Fudgcicle 5k again.

Current Run Nashua map.

Why I run?

When I'm asked why I run, I often start with answering the unasked question, why did I start running? Because why I run today, is a very different answer as to why I started to run.

OK, I may need to work on my jump shot.

Science may have proven that exercise is good for mental health, I now understand that answer on a personal level. I'm a happier and calmer person when I run regularly. There have been evenings my husband has shooed me out the door to go running just because I was too cranky or frazzled.

Running for me is a challenge. I was never a distance runner. When I played sports I was goalie. No one cared how slow the goalie ran a mile. The sense of accomplishment when I finish a race, especially when I set a personal record, or a personal best time, is immense.

I run to be a good example to my children. Children learn from watching, and "do as I say not as I do", never works. If I want my children to have good exercise habits in life I need to demonstrate good exercises habits for them to copy. Just like eating vegetables, they are always on our table at dinnertime, and we all seem to fight over the last stalk of broccoli. My children see me sticking to my training plan even when I'd rather stay inside to drink tea. They were there when I came in last(19th place) at the small 10k. They saw everyone cheer me on, and how I handled being last. What better way to teach them about losing, then for them to see me lose.

"Mom remember that time when you came in last?"

Mission Accomplished: Taji 100

I don't remember at this point if I learned about the Taji 100 Virtual race from another Skirt Sports ambassador, or from a fellow runner in my local She Runs this Town group. Either way I looked Taji 100, up and was fascinated by it. I loved the challenge of running and/or walking 100 miles in February. 25 miles a week. Plus Taji 100's partner charity is Team Red White and Blue which helps veterans connect with their communities, and I can get behind that.

Unfortunately I'd already spent my budgeted money on races for the winter/spring, so when I discovered that they had an option to register for free, and just track your running miles, the event went from not possible this year, to "I can run it for fun". I considered just registering in hopes that next year they would email me and remind me about the race. That left the question, do I want to commit to running 100 miles in February?

First run in February.

I pulled out my marathon plan, and totaled the miles I had planned to run in February. I had 75 planned miles for my marathon training. Wow, 25 miles difference?  This suddenly seemed feasible! I'd only need to figure out how to add an additional 25 miles. "Only." If I walked one additional mile a day while I was at work, I could make this happen. There was an indoor track I could run while my son was in dance class, I could walk a mile or so then as well. The extra miles seemed doable, so I signed up and then waited a week or so for February to start.

Snowstorm!

Then February started. I didn't walk a single mile at work. When I was there either I was too busy or the weather was not accommodating. I only walked during two of the four dance classes, as my son missed one class due to illness, and I was too exhausted to walk a different week. Time was not on my side it seemed.

Let me break the month down by numbers.

I logged 26 Activities. Only Running or Walking counted. Miles calculated by my watch's step counter do not count.
I was active 21 hours, 36 minutes and 26 seconds.
It was below freezing for 8 of my recorded runs, according to my run journal. I have no idea how cold it was for the indoor track activities.
It snowed for at least 2 of my runs.

My intention was 75 miles run and 25 miles walked.  In the end I ran 93.4 miles and walked 6.75 miles. Most of the miles felt like they were in the last two weeks when the weather improved. I tried to add a mile or more to a planned run if I was feeling good.

Surprise Spring! 

My full log is on my profile along with a donation link.

In the end this was harder than I expected and  honestly I wasn't all that certain I'd succeed when the month was over. The last week I was looking at my log and counting down, nervous I just wouldn't have the time or energy without risking injury. Recognizing I needed a kick in the butt, Amber told me if I succeeded, she would get me a shirt to commemorate the 100 miles in a month.

Now I am left with a sense of accomplishment, a lot closer to my 500 miles in 2018 goal and a really cool shirt on the way,  Thank you Amber!

I look forward to registering next year for this virtual race. If anything, it was a way to stay active during the winter.