The Running Thread--2024

[jennamfeo]

I have been somewhat "training" for a local 5k that I was hoping to sub:30 in. It was this past Saturday and I was literally running on fumes for it. I was up until 2am prepping for my kid's birthday and then got up at 7:30 so I could bake her cake and have it cool while I was racing. Despite it all, I felt okay that morning. I have been doing a lot of running on my treadmill and was at day 181 of my run streak. Most days I was running slow but I would incorporate a few HIIT or Interval classes to work on speed. Truly, I wasn't expecting a lot out of this training. But I was pleasantly surprised when I looked down at my watch and saw that I was actually cruising at a solid pace. I might have gone out a little too fast, actually, but I kept telling myself it was just a 5k. I had a few malfunctions with my music and stopped to walk twice to fix it. Then at the last .25 mile I was really feeling the pace all over my body and it slowed me down. I did one more small walk and then pushed through the wind for the last few minutes to the finish line. I finished at 30:59! I was feeling so very proud of myself until I checked out the age group standings and I got 5th!!! Had I not stopped to walk and just kept going I probably would have a) hit my sub:30 goal and b) placed in my age group. C'est la vie! I am still happy that I did so well.

 

[jennamfeo]

Had my follow up appt. Still on 5 pound lifting restrictions for 6 more weeks. I can walk as long as my heart rate stays under 130. Not sure what I’m gonna do for SS weekend. Slowly walking 10 miles sounds awful.

Oh my goodness! I couldn't even imagine.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Nice job getting out there! I have done this 5K several times, and I swear the weather is always some kind of crazy. Jealous to see you got thunder snow AFTER the race was over -- my favorite weather!

I saw/experienced thunder snow once when I was living and working in Seattle. One of the coolest weather phenomenon there is.

Follow-up on my non-race visit to the Most Expensive Place on Earth.
1. After 50K steps in two days, it was so nice on Mon afternoon after we arrived home that I went out and enjoyed a 4.5 mile run!
2. In spite of the breakfast buffet at Crystal Palace, and dinner buffet at the Biergarten, I managed not to put on any weight. (Whew!)
3. Atlanta TSA is usually pretty nasty, but we breezed right through on the way down. On the way back, however, Orlando TSA flagged my carry-on. I could see the images on their screen: nice outlines of medals, including the cutout for the hanging ribbon. I told the guy what they were and that there should be six of them. He saw the first one (I had them in ziplocks), counted 5 more and told me to have a nice day. Meanwhile, the wife is rolling her eyes at me after she zoomed right through...

Medals are all now back on their board from etsy and I guess I'll glue a pocket to the back of it to hold a few of the pics I took.

Oh, and the rD Official running guide book showed up today. Not sure what is in there that I haven't learned firsthand or from all the experts on this forum, but I bought it and will look at it later tonight.

 

[FFigawi]

I have been somewhat "training" for a local 5k that I was hoping to sub:30 in. It was this past Saturday and I was literally running on fumes for it. I was up until 2am prepping for my kid's birthday and then got up at 7:30 so I could bake her cake and have it cool while I was racing. Despite it all, I felt okay that morning. I have been doing a lot of running on my treadmill and was at day 181 of my run streak. Most days I was running slow but I would incorporate a few HIIT or Interval classes to work on speed. Truly, I wasn't expecting a lot out of this training. But I was pleasantly surprised when I looked down at my watch and saw that I was actually cruising at a solid pace. I might have gone out a little too fast, actually, but I kept telling myself it was just a 5k. I had a few malfunctions with my music and stopped to walk twice to fix it. Then at the last .25 mile I was really feeling the pace all over my body and it slowed me down. I did one more small walk and then pushed through the wind for the last few minutes to the finish line. I finished at 30:59! I was feeling so very proud of myself until I checked out the age group standings and I got 5th!!! Had I not stopped to walk and just kept going I probably would have a) hit my sub:30 goal and b) placed in my age group. C'est la vie! I am still happy that I did so well.

Congrats!!

 

[dis_kegs]

I have been somewhat "training" for a local 5k that I was hoping to sub:30 in. It was this past Saturday and I was literally running on fumes for it. I was up until 2am prepping for my kid's birthday and then got up at 7:30 so I could bake her cake and have it cool while I was racing. Despite it all, I felt okay that morning. I have been doing a lot of running on my treadmill and was at day 181 of my run streak. Most days I was running slow but I would incorporate a few HIIT or Interval classes to work on speed. Truly, I wasn't expecting a lot out of this training. But I was pleasantly surprised when I looked down at my watch and saw that I was actually cruising at a solid pace. I might have gone out a little too fast, actually, but I kept telling myself it was just a 5k. I had a few malfunctions with my music and stopped to walk twice to fix it. Then at the last .25 mile I was really feeling the pace all over my body and it slowed me down. I did one more small walk and then pushed through the wind for the last few minutes to the finish line. I finished at 30:59! I was feeling so very proud of myself until I checked out the age group standings and I got 5th!!! Had I not stopped to walk and just kept going I probably would have a) hit my sub:30 goal and b) placed in my age group. C'est la vie! I am still happy that I did so well.

That amazing!!! Great job.

 

[dis_kegs]

Yep, familiar with this type of “assistance,” too. See also: “helping” me practice yoga by flopping down exactly where my face is about to go during sun salutations.

Oh yes! 3 cats here and they love it when i pull out the yoga mat they are all ready to "help".

 

[Disney at Heart]

Ollie is the best of both worlds. Officially he belongs to our neighbors. They feed him, vet him, and are responsible for him, but he stays at our house all day! So we get to pet him, play with him, and listen to him purr. Best thing is that when we go on our runcations, we don’t have to hire a pet sitter. This morning it is raining, so he scratched on the door when we got up. Yes, he is inside our house at the moment.

 

[garneska]

@Disney at Heart that is funny my in laws had a cat that was the same except opposite. They fed the cat, took him to the vet, but was only allowed in the garage. The neighbors let the cat inside there house and he typically stayed there.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Book review of the rD book by Scott Douglas

First and foremost, it is a.... running book. And for the chorus of "duhs", I guess I was expecting more content that was much more specific to running at Disney, more like the one of the books of Hidden Mickeys, or Disney secrets, etc.
Instead, the first 5 chapters are about running: conditioning, training, shoes, clothes, nutrition, and avoiding injury.

On the plus side, it is all written in a very straight-forward manner in plain English. No Vmax, V-dot, critical velocity, ludicrous speed, glycogen uptake, and other running technical terms I've seen in other books and articles. I'm an engineer and work with numbers every day, so I appreciate numbers and technical stuff. That said, there are times when even my eyes glaze at some running books/articles.

There are a number of sidebars by Galloway and Molly Huddle on different topics. Again, some straight-forward answers to frequent questions and topics, such as: "What if I miss my long run one week?" or "Selecting the proper shoes/running bra/shorts". Ditto for very straight-forward (and good) advice on pre-race and post-race nutrition.

The latter chapters have information that is more rD-centric, such as what the different race weekends are and the race lengths in them, finding a rD group to run with, the challenge races, resorts to stay at, etc.
The chapter I really enjoyed was a gallery of medals with the years labeled. The photos really illustrate how, starting around 2013, the medals went from rather plain monochromatic metal to rather fancy and multi-colored.

Is there anything in the book that was new to me? Not really other than some history of when and how races began at Disney. Is there anything in it that I can't find in the rD forums? Not really. In fact, if I had been compiling the book, I would have added more details about the specific races and their historic routes, useful info like a map of the indoor bathrooms along the routes, what to expect on race morning in terms of transportation and the corrals, etc. And I get that Disney changes things around, but some of the really nifty aspects of running at WDW are omitted or glossed over. For instance, mention the gospel choir near the finish, or jumping off the route to ride a ride, or running down Main Street USA. Maybe that's just me; maybe I need to write my own rD book.

So if you want a short, easy-read running book, this is a good one, especially if you are a new runner.
If you have been on this forum a while, there probably won't be anything new.

And totally bummed that I did not spot myself in any of the nice color photos. (Cue a Mike Wazowski photo exiting the castle) ;-)
Nor did I spot anyone else that I recognized. Maybe someone on this forum is in a photo though.

YMMV

 

[jmasgat]

Good book review.....but don't get me started on the gospel choir. It used to be a bona fide church choir, not the "faux, ersatz, phoney, sham etc group of twenty-something interns dressed up in robes and at best lip synching to pre-recorded music.

Gee, you'd think I hadn't done a nice relaxing yoga class earlier!

 

[accm]

I'm looking for shoe recommendations, but not for your typical running shoes.

I'm looking for a travel shoe. Something that looks nice enough that I'd be able to wear it with summer dresses, comfortable for lots of walking, and that I can use for short, under half hour runs. Does this exist? My chiro, who's also a runner, recommended the Nike swift 3, but I can't find them in Canada. I want to buy something soon so I can try it out at home before traveling with it.

 

[FFigawi]

Good book review.....but don't get me started on the gospel choir. It used to be a bona fide church choir, not the "faux, ersatz, phoney, sham etc group of twenty-something interns dressed up in robes and at best lip synching to pre-recorded music.

Gee, you'd think I hadn't done a nice relaxing yoga class earlier!

You’re entirely right, though. You could hear the choir well before you rounded Spaceship Earth and made the turn for the finish. Always a great feeling to see them and know you’re almost done.

 

[MissLiss279]

I'm looking for shoe recommendations, but not for your typical running shoes.

I'm looking for a travel shoe. Something that looks nice enough that I'd be able to wear it with summer dresses, comfortable for lots of walking, and that I can use for short, under half hour runs. Does this exist? My chiro, who's also a runner, recommended the Nike swift 3, but I can't find them in Canada. I want to buy something soon so I can try it out at home before traveling with it.

I’m not sure that these are exactly what you are looking for - maybe not quite as nice. I got these Sketchers Max Cushioning Elites on Black Friday, and I have really liked them. They are really comfortable, and worked great for walking around Disney during marathon weekend. I think they are technically running shoes, so should work for that part.

Sketchers does have a lot of options that could work though.

https://www.skechers.com/max-cushioning-elite-2.0/129600_ROS.html

 

[accm]

My annoyance with Garmin's heart rate zones continues. I set it to calculate my zone using %HRR. I reset the % for each zones, and yet it's still not matching what I'm calculating. I know it really shouldn't matter, but for whatever reason it bothers.
Here's what Garmin has the top of each zone set to vs what I calculated using the same data that Garmin is using:

Zone	Garmin		Calculated
1​	115​	44%​	137​	60%​
2​	134​	58%​	151​	70%​
3​	153​	71%​	165​	80%​
4​	173​	86%​	179​	90%​
5​

 

[GuinnessRunner]

Traveling for work gets tiresome but on mornings like today when I can wake up and go for a run along the Thames I remember it has its advantages too.

 

[jmasgat]

@GuinnessRunner Is this Henley on Thames? If so, it is slightly scary (yet somewhat impressive) what Google Lens will do.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

@GuinnessRunner Is this Henley on Thames? If so, it is slightly scary (yet somewhat impressive) what Google Lens will do.

It is indeed (on both accounts).

 

[PrincessV]

I'm looking for shoe recommendations, but not for your typical running shoes.

I'm looking for a travel shoe. Something that looks nice enough that I'd be able to wear it with summer dresses, comfortable for lots of walking, and that I can use for short, under half hour runs. Does this exist? My chiro, who's also a runner, recommended the Nike swift 3, but I can't find them in Canada. I want to buy something soon so I can try it out at home before traveling with it.

A couple neutral shoes I’ve been happily wearing a while for just such use - good with summer dresses, great for walking around WDW, and I can definitely run in them:

Saucony Kinvara 13 - depending on size, you can still find some on Amazon. Some bright colors, but fun to pair with neutral outfits. (The 14 is totally different and fun to run in, but I would NOT want to stand or walk in them much.)

New Balance 880 - I’ve still got the v12, but the v13s are on sale and are nearly the same, with some reviews saying even more comfortable. A gorgeous all-white version exists, but is hard to find in stock.

I recently started running in ASICS Dynablast and I like them so much, I’m tempted to buy another pair for non-running. I wish they came in an all-white option, but if you like fun color ways, they deliver. My pair is mostly black with some flashes of pink and I could definitely pair them with a black summer dress.

I always see a lot of women at WDW wearing On shoes with dresses, shorts, linens pants, etc.

 

[Cabius]

ICYMI:

New thread for the 2024 Summer Virtual Series, the themes for which were announced today --

https://www.disboards.com/threads/2024-summer-virtual-series.3941634

 

[steph0808]

I know I'm really behind on March! How is it the 7th already?!

February Totals

Running
Distance: 71.3 miles
Time: 12:13:32
Avg HR: 141
Avg Pace: 10:22

I continue to not train for anything, so I'm happy with this. Probably going to half-@$$ attempt a 10k PR at the beginning of April. Need to do some sprints. Been doing about one tempo run a week.

Walking
Walks: 18
Distance: 17.16
Time: 5:37:27

This is just walking our lab around the loop in our "neighborhood," so he's happy. But man, he gets demanding sometimes! My goal is four walks a week, which we have been accomplishing.

Strength Training
Sessions: 7
Time: 3:00:49

Fell off a bit, but I'm happy with where I'm at. Just in maintenance, not trying to get super muscles or anything.

Spinning
Classes: 1
Time: 51:55

There are only four classes each week - 2 daytime and 2 evening. Well, with work, the daytime ones are hard. And with kid activities, the nighttime ones are hard. I enjoy them but they're not a priority.