The Running Thread - 2018

[ZellyB]

Also Congratulations @BikeFan !

 

[gjramsey]

ATTQOTD: Houston Aramaco Half in 2013. Temps in the mid 30s, cold, rainy at times, gusty winds from the north, some thunder and lightning. Every time I ran towards the north, it seemed like that is when it decided to rain on us. The one saving grace is Houston has the convention center to enter post race. Even after changing into dry clothing I was shivering cold for the next hour or so.

Bonus: Yes, please. If I had to choose between the two, bacon would win.

 

[txdisneygrl]

Congrats @BikeFan !!

ATTQOTD today: I have been very fortunate and not had to race in bad weather really. The "worst" has been the Texas version of cold aka around 33 and cloudy. But I actually like running when it's cooler so...

Bonus QOTD: Bacon.

Yesterday ATTQOTD: Umm... I don't know that I'd ever run a full. So let me see... I'd spectate either Boston or London. Boston because I love the city and London because I really want to go there.

Yesterday bonus QOTD: So much coffee... all the coffee. At least 3 cups a day. With half and half or milk depending on what is available.

 

[Bree]

Congrats @BikeFan

ATTQOTD: I haven’t run many races. Worst I guess was the 2015 Gumbo Limbo Turtle 10K. The heat and humidity was brutal. I think a sauna would have been a welcome reprieve.

Bonus QOTD: Bacon, but I’m extremely picky. It has to be crispy and I only buy uncured bacon.

 

[Dis5150]

I have a question for all you running shoe experts. I have 3 weeks until my next marathon and run 6 days a week. I have 2 pairs of shoes I have been alternating with, one with 300 miles on them and one with 60ish miles on them. Yesterday I ran in the 300 mile ones at my 10k pace for 5.5 miles and last night and today my hips are killing me. I'm pretty sure it is the shoes. There is zero possibility for a new pair of shoes before my race. So my question is, is it better to keep running in the 300 mile shoes and alternating them with the others or run every day in the 60 mile pair? I started alternating shoes based on comments and discussions on here about the benefit of giving my shoes time to "bounce back"?

 

[Barca33Runner]

ATTQOTD:

I've had a couple cold/snowy races in Cleveland. The 2016 Cleveland Rite Aid Half was snowing/sleeting most of the race and my layers of clothes were probably 5-10 pounds heavier from being soaked when I finished. That's a close second to a 5-mile Turkey Trot I ran in either 2014 or 2015 in downtown Cleveland where there was 3-4 inches of snow/slush/ice over the whole course. There wasn't heavy precipitation during the race, but my legs were sore for 4-5 days afterward because of the small/deliberate steps my sister and I had to take the whole way to avoid slipping and falling. It was like running in slippery quicksand.

Bonus: Sausage. It's so much more diverse. For me, despite the fact people put it in everything, bacon is very one-note. It's a fine note, but I don't think it enhances everything. Maybe to the core of the question, when ordering breakfast with a choice of meat I'll always go sausage patty>sausage link>bacon.

 

[camaker]

I have a question for all you running shoe experts. I have 3 weeks until my next marathon and run 6 days a week. I have 2 pairs of shoes I have been alternating with, one with 300 miles on them and one with 60ish miles on them. Yesterday I ran in the 300 mile ones at my 10k pace for 5.5 miles and last night and today my hips are killing me. I'm pretty sure it is the shoes. There is zero possibility for a new pair of shoes before my race. So my question is, is it better to keep running in the 300 mile shoes and alternating them with the others or run every day in the 60 mile pair? I started alternating shoes based on comments and discussions on here about the benefit of giving my shoes time to "bounce back"?

If you are sure it's the shoes that are causing the hip pain, I'd switch over and run only in the other pair. In my experience, once a pair of shoes passes its expiration point and starts to cause discomfort, it's only going to get worse from there. Continuing to run in them after they've given you a "warning shot" could well be a recipe for injury and put your upcoming race at risk.

 

[roxymama]

I can't believe I missed coffee talk yesterday! I need to catch up on everyone's opinions!!!

ATTQOTDyesterday: Probably Tokyo. For the sole purpose of visiting DisneySea, Disneyland and one of those amazing revolving sushi places (though I hear they have a similiar one in Austin that I want to visit when I go see my sister one of these days)
Coffee: I really enjoy resteraunt coffee after dinner with cream and sugar and some kind of sweet chocolate nibble for dessert. Dunkin - the butterpecan flavor in summer is my fave. Starbucks - I like their macchiattos and their cold brews with sweet cream. I'm a big fan of both hot and iced. I really like spiked ice coffees, especially from Disney. Tim Hortons has some good coffee too but I rarely am near one. Mike reccommended a very specific machine from specific starbucks and I have a note in my phone of what to look for but I have yet to try it. I will though!

ATTQOTD: I ran a local 5k in pouring rain with my hubby. It was for a cancer fundraiser and we were already soaked so I was determined to just do it. We had to walk home in the rain anyways after. At least we got a nice medal and I think I finished at the top in my age because I counted literally like a handful of women running. We did get a nice medal I wasn't expecting.
But that was nowhere as hard as the 95+ degree weather for my Fall HM in Chicago last year with almost no shade and completely on highway. I was probably the fittest I've ever been post-college and still had to walk quite a bit and stop a lot for water and water hoses, etc. It was pretty crazy how much it zapped me. I felt night and day different on my runs in better weather later that fall. I was so disappointed initially but looking back I'm kind of shocked I was able to get the time I did (or even finish) considering the heat.

Sidebar:
I have a HM on Sunday. It's an all women's one and I was pretty excited about signing up for the super cheap (less than $30) introductory price a long time ago and my original idea was to go for a big PR. But life happened and my training didn't go as planned. I've been wrestling with if I should do it or not this weekend for about a month now. Watching Boston I think there's no shame in giving it a try. If it sucks and I have to pull out, I will. If it sucks and I can still finish I will. If it doesn't suck then Hurray. I guess I just want to do it for myself to prove something personally to me and I'm gonna try not to worry about what the clock says and just worry about what my body says. I'm mad at myself for dropping my training ball and super pumped and motivated for starting fresh for Chicago marathon training and going ALL IN. Like crazy all in, even thinking about starting a brand new journal only for that purpose. So anyways, I'm rambling and don't know if I have a point.

 

[ZellyB]

If you are sure it's the shoes that are causing the hip pain, I'd switch over and run only in the other pair. In my experience, once a pair of shoes passes its expiration point and starts to cause discomfort, it's only going to get worse from there. Continuing to run in them after they've given you a "warning shot" could well be a recipe for injury and put your upcoming race at risk.

Ditto.

 

[ZellyB]

Sidebar:
I have a HM on Sunday. It's an all women's one and I was pretty excited about signing up for the super cheap (less than $30) introductory price a long time ago and my original idea was to go for a big PR. But life happened and my training didn't go as planned. I've been wrestling with if I should do it or not this weekend for about a month now. Watching Boston I think there's no shame in giving it a try. If it sucks and I have to pull out, I will. If it sucks and I can still finish I will. If it doesn't suck then Hurray. I guess I just want to do it for myself to prove something personally to me and I'm gonna try not to worry about what the clock says and just worry about what my body says. I'm mad at myself for dropping my training ball and super pumped and motivated for starting fresh for Chicago marathon training and going ALL IN. Like crazy all in, even thinking about starting a brand new journal only for that purpose. So anyways, I'm rambling and don't know if I have a point.

For sure you want to run it. I'm guessing you'll surprise yourself and do better than you expect. I know you've had a lot of interruptions in training lately because LIFE, but you are still strong and fit. Just going in having fun and you may just kill it!

Also, I'm loving the ALL IN talk about Chicago. DO IT!

Lastly, do any of us really have a point when we post on here?

 

[JBinORL]

My husband HATES the Olympics, but has always wanted to go to Japan - so this is the perfect opportunity to get there ... he gets a trip paid for by work, I get to go to the Japanese Disney Parks! He’s still not totally on-board, but his boss is my friend so it will happen whether he likes it or not.

I’m actually trying to figure out a way to make it to all of the Asia parks while I’m in the relative area, since we’ll probably be there for at least three weeks.

I should have gone to Hong Kong Disney when I was there in 2010. They're relatively short flights from Tokyo so definitely doable. I got to do the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010, that was awesome

 

[run.minnie.miles]

ATTQOTD:
My last race was cold and really, really windy, which made for a miserable race. The conditions in Boston yesterday looked so brutal, I am in awe of everyone that ran! (Especially our very own @BikeFan and @Wendy98 ! Way to go!)

Bonus: Bacon, specifically for BLTs. I also love Italian sausage but can take or leave breakfast sausage. I try not to eat too much pork though, it makes my tummy hurt.

 

[JM735]

I've gotten so far behind on this thread that I won't even try catching up. However, thanks for the discussion on running socks - tried Balega and really like them!

Today's QOTD: After watching Boston yesterday and seeing several elite runners struggle or drop out, what are the worst conditions you have ever ran a race in?

Fortunately, I've only had rain. While sometimes it's been colder rain, I haven't run in anything like Boston had yesterday.

Bonus QOTD: Bacon, sausage, or neither?

Bacon. Is this even a question?

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Sidebar:
I have a HM on Sunday. It's an all women's one and I was pretty excited about signing up for the super cheap (less than $30) introductory price a long time ago and my original idea was to go for a big PR. But life happened and my training didn't go as planned. I've been wrestling with if I should do it or not this weekend for about a month now. Watching Boston I think there's no shame in giving it a try.

Go for it! As long as you don't hurt yourself, it will be a good training run if nothing else. (I think you'll surprise yourself!) Plus nothing like a race to get you motivated for another race... like a BIG race.

I'm mad at myself for dropping my training ball and super pumped and motivated for starting fresh for Chicago marathon training and going ALL IN.

Sometimes a little step back is needed. Just look at Des after Boston last year... she took a little time off and came back and KILLED it. You will too!!

Like crazy all in, even thinking about starting a brand new journal only for that purpose. So anyways, I'm rambling and don't know if I have a point.

Whoa. This is big. And I'm not sure how I feel about it!

 

[rteetz]

Bacon. Is this even a question?

Apparently it is for some

 

[MissLiss279]

I have a question for all you running shoe experts. I have 3 weeks until my next marathon and run 6 days a week. I have 2 pairs of shoes I have been alternating with, one with 300 miles on them and one with 60ish miles on them. Yesterday I ran in the 300 mile ones at my 10k pace for 5.5 miles and last night and today my hips are killing me. I'm pretty sure it is the shoes. There is zero possibility for a new pair of shoes before my race. So my question is, is it better to keep running in the 300 mile shoes and alternating them with the others or run every day in the 60 mile pair? I started alternating shoes based on comments and discussions on here about the benefit of giving my shoes time to "bounce back"?

I agree with @camaker and @ZellyB.

Also, if your race is in three weeks, and say you are running 50 miles a week, then you would have 210 miles on your shoes. Maybe they wouldn’t be ‘fresh’ low mileage shoes, but they will still have lots of miles left and should be really broken in.

Don’t let an old pair of shoes cause an injury this close to a race or ever...

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: Well up until last fall, I would have said Covered Bridges HM 2016. It was point to point, so we had to be on the buses to the start line early, and it started raining right about when I got dropped off over an hour before the race started. No tents to wait under, although later on after they gave out all the bagels and bananas, some of us started huddling under that tent, which was good and bad... it was good to stay dry, but bad because we were all crammed under there standing so I was on my feet for quite a long time before the start. Then it started raining very hard as the race started, and I am a back of the pack runner so that was 2:50:xx of running in the rain, then time to collect some goodies in the finish area... Cabot was there making grilled cheese and there was another place giving out ice cream. So, figure another 30 minutes there, after 60+ at the start and 2:50 in the race... and then we had to walk about a mile back to the parking area... slowly, uphill. It was really wet. But the race was amazing and I can't wait to do it again some time, just the weather made it tough.

That definitely got eclipsed by White Mountain Milers HM last October. CBHM is in June, so at least it was not freezing. It was really cold at WMMHM... it is a Halloween race. And it was raining A LOT harder... it was pretty much EXACTLY like Boston yesterday, although at least it was only 13.1 miles of it. Later in the day/night after the race, the course we ran got washed out in 4 places from all the flooding because most of it was parallel to a river. There was a 30 minute early start for walkers and people who wanted more time, and I was going to take advantage of that but a volunteer told me that I wouldn't get a time if I did that (which I found out later was incorrect after I emailed the race director about it), so I didn't start, and I was pretty close to being DFL. There were 2 walkers who came in behind me and I think that was it, although there were a few others after me in the results who had used the early start. I was cramped and freezing and struggled to a 3:05:xx finish... I think I pretty much walked the entire last 5K because my lower legs were just not working properly, like I felt like I didn't know how to operate my ankles and feet because they were so cold and numb, and my calves just kept twitching. It was overall a REALLY discouraging day.

 

[Chaitali]

QOTD - I think my worst running conditions were both RnR DC. 2015 it was cold and rainy (but not windy) and 2017 was cold and windy (but not rainy). Of course, 2016 was perfect running weather at that race Sounds like Boston got stuck with all three of those yesterday.

 

[Miranda]

I feel like all I do is shop for running shoes for various activities. I have all my regular running shoes of course, but now I really need to find some for Orangetheory that work for both running on the treadmill and the floor work. My regular running shoes are just no good for lateral activities. I have always liked minimalist shoes for weights and floor work because there's no tall stack height to make me roll my ankles, but since half the class is on the treadmill, I need ones that I also can run in. I also need some new dog agility shoes that work for both a stone dust surface (I train in a horse barn with a stone dust floor) and on grass or indoor surfaces like rubberized flooring or turf. I think some more minimalist trail running shoes probably will fit the bill there... I have to run around on all these different surfaces with my dog for 30-60 seconds at a time in kind of a sprint and change directions quickly. So, today I am online shopping yet again for more running shoes.

Please tell me I am not the only person who owns about 30 pairs of running shoes and gym shoes and cycling shoes, a couple pairs of hiking boots, and nothing else for shoewear.

 

[chuckille]

Brief race report from Boston. Today's race was absolutely the worst conditions I've ever experienced, and I've raced in the snow several times. It was just cold, wet, and windy the whole time. Just miserable. We saw so many people who were in awful shape. The medical volunteers were working overtime today. My brother and I decided to run together and were doing okay until just past halfway when he hit the wall. Still, we got in just under 4 (3:58). Walking to tbe car, we were both near hypothermic, shaking and shivering uncontrollably. So glad to be done and warm. Amazing job by the BAA volunteers and the crowd, out there in these conditions taking care of us runners. Thanks to all of the people of the Boston area for another epic Boston.

Congratulations. I’d say anyone who started the race is amazing and anyone who finished the race has top notch mental toughness!