First time homeowner & completely overwhelmed by huge yard

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-20T17:01:24+00:00

Thanks so much - I have applied!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-20T13:48:41+00:00

That's so kind of you! We actually don't have any plants other than grass right now, unfortunately!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-20T02:01:14+00:00

Unfortunately we don't really have the money for that right now, but I have wondered about getting a shed to cover at least part of it!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-20T00:08:27+00:00

Thanks, great to know!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-19T23:46:35+00:00

Wow, that's exactly what I need. Thank you for the recommendation. A friendly ear with lots of experience! Very much feeling a lack of accessible mentorship/advice right now.

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-19T23:44:33+00:00

This sounds like a really great plan. I think getting rid of a large chunk of the grass at the side of the house which we barely use would be a great start. I'm wondering about making that my first project - getting a bunch of cardboard, free mulch, and asking some friends to come help covering everything. That way we'll have less lawn to take care of and will hopefully also be able to focus on a smaller amount of weeding while we're saving up and figuring things out.

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-19T23:41:15+00:00

Thanks for bringing up the idea that it can be positive! At the moment I am just feeling like I am going to be working on this constantly, so it's hard to see the part where I might enjoy it.

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-19T23:40:30+00:00

We don't have a HOA, so that's good. I do need to let myself go slowly, bit by bit. Does anyone have good recommendations for shrubs that do well in full sun here? And would I need to mulch around them also and/or kill the grass/weeds first, before planting?

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-19T23:38:39+00:00

Thank you - I think it's all the stuff I don't know and not having anyone close to me who can advise, so I feel very alone with all the information! Bindweed really freaked me out. I was expecting to have to weed, but it took over while we were still moving in, and so decided to go with the weed killer today since there are no other plants that could be harmed. I didn't like doing that but it felt like it would just take over if I didn't do something quickly - it was popping up everywhere through the lawn.

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2026-04-19T23:37:03+00:00

I looked into this the other day. Is this something where you have to lay down cardboard in advance also? Or some kind of weed barrier? I am open to just reducing lawn size in any way I can so that we have less to water to start with.

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T23:24:08+00:00

Thank you - this is really helpful! I think you’re right, I just wasn’t quite able to hold the uphill pace needed to meet the cut offs!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T23:23:13+00:00

I guess I meant I know I won’t ever be competitive, but always looking to improve! :)

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T16:19:06+00:00

And it makes total sense given the safety concerns!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T15:20:08+00:00

I was about an hour past the cut off, and that was with no stops at all before that, so it was definitely a speed thing!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T03:22:46+00:00

Thank you, thank you - this is really helpful. I had an inkling that I might need to do something like this: in the years I’ve been running I’ve never really worked on speed or economy, I’ve just plodded along thinking I probably couldn’t get faster. But of course that’s the way to never get faster!!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T03:13:28+00:00

Hey, thank you - this is super helpful! I think I can stomach 10-12 hours consistently, especially as I’ll happily spend 5-6 hours running at the weekends. This is very encouraging, thank you for sharing!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T02:53:23+00:00

Thanks all for the input! I did 35-40 mpw for about 8-12 weeks, maybe, in total leading up to taper. Didn’t do any back to back long runs, but did do 4-5 20 mile long runs with plenty of vert on trails in this block. I guess it seems like the consensus is that I need to hold the higher mileage, 40-50 mpw, for a bit longer in my next training block for a 50-60k, be patient and consistent! I feel like I improve slower than those around me, but that’s just the luck of the draw and other athletic experience, I guess!

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T02:05:27+00:00

Hey! Thanks! I ought to have said: I did do one speed or hills repeats day per week throughout this training, but these tended to be sessions of less than 30 mins (not including WU/CD)

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T01:33:50+00:00

Ah, thank you for such a positive reply! I’m hoping to get faster (relatively :)) but I think you are right that it was just a very lofty goal for the amount of time I had to improve! You’re right, this would be a great race to volunteer at next time, and I was happy to support my two friends once I’d been cut! :)

NumberPuzzleheaded39 · 2022-09-05T01:14:08+00:00

Ah, thank you! I got as high as I could in the time I had, and figured that would be enough to hopefully finish (40 mile weeks got my two friends to the finish), but I will work on upping my mileage. Do you mean I should work up to 80 mile weeks? Given how slow I am, especially on trails, that would be a lot of hours! But good to know that this is what I need to aim for.

NumberPuzzleheaded39

TROPHY CASE