Never Tell Me The Odds!: From the Hospital Bed to Club 71

[jennamfeo]

Ohhhhhh how I miss running through Cars Land early in the morning.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Ohhhhhh how I miss running through Cars Land early in the morning.

Running through the parks in the early morning is incredible. Seeing how the early light of dawn plays off the parks is so beautiful. I also enjoy having photos of me in a very empty area that is never actually empty once the parks open.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

So I'm still sorting through how I want to update my training log while keeping extensive notes for my @DopeyBadger training plan for the upcoming San Francisco Giant Race to give him feedback. Aside from coach, who's already read those notes, nobody else here probably wants to see those details about my runs.

For now, I'll say this. As I'm settling in to the new plan, I find I'm liking it a lot. I became used to being really sore after all my training runs. I'm no longer feeling that. Some soreness, yes but not the incessant need to roll those aching muscles. Honestly, I'm also a bit fearful about how the reduced long run mileage is going to feel come race day. But I also realize that I need to trust the training. I've told myself that since his plan calls for about half the distance of my usual long run before a half, if that works come race day, then I know it can work once again come marathon weekend. And I've pestered coach enough with my questions as I try to wrap my head around it. Sometimes you just have to take the leap. Kind of like registering for a race.

8/2/18 4.18 miles
8/4/18 4.95 miles

I suppose this new plan reminds me a lot about when I first started. As Yoda says "You must unlearn what you have learned."

Inspired by something @SarahDisney said in her training journal, I've been thinking a lot about goals as a runner. The only goal I've really set out for myself in all races is to finish. I haven't really cared about pace so long as my pace was sufficiently fast to not get swept. In looking at marathon weekend and Dopey, I feel much the same. Only this time around, I'm setting what I would call stretch goals or sub goals. I would describe these as goals I would like to accomplish, but can reevaluate or change on the fly as needed if the pursuit of these goals becomes destructive to the primary goal.

For instance, I can say that I want to run the marathon in 6:30 hours, which is essentially double what I was doing during the Dark Side Half when I tested out what it felt like to run with a pace group. I believe that running with a pace group could be a good way to guarantee I finish. But at the same time, I want to give myself the ability to stop for photos if I so desire. I would still love to run a sub 3 half. But maybe that's not actually realistic right now no matter how much I want it to be.

At the same time, this helped me to make my peace with running a marathon. I began to realize that if I arbitrarily assigned a sub 3 hour half time as my threshold for attempting a marathon, I might be setting myself up to never even run a marathon. As I made peace with possibly finishing a marathon closer to 7 hours than 6 hours, I began to realize that I was actually okay with that. Ultimately, I came to realize that I set the sub 3 hour half goal as a mark that included possible photo stops. In other words, I wanted to have more fun during my first full than during my first half when I made no stops whatsoever. And if that means a finish time closer to 7 hours than 6 hours, so what? It still means finishing.

So my new training plan contains speeds that I'd never attempted before. Maybe that's too ambitious right now. But in attempting new speeds, I may yet have the ability to break my 1/2 PR even if that sub 3 half isn't quite there yet.

 

[SarahDisney]

The only goal I've really set out for myself in all races is to finish. I haven't really cared about pace so long as my pace was sufficiently fast to not get swept. In looking at marathon weekend and Dopey, I feel much the same. Only this time around, I'm setting what I would call stretch goals or sub goals. I would describe these as goals I would like to accomplish, but can reevaluate or change on the fly as needed if the pursuit of these goals becomes destructive to the primary goal.

I love this!
It's always good to set goals and strive for something new or something better. But at the end of the day, if your primary goal is to finish the race, you may have to discard some of your stretch/sub goals. Going into the plan being aware of this will make for a much more successful training cycle - because you know why you're doing this and when it's okay to change things around.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I love this!
It's always good to set goals and strive for something new or something better. But at the end of the day, if your primary goal is to finish the race, you may have to discard some of your stretch/sub goals. Going into the plan being aware of this will make for a much more successful training cycle - because you know why you're doing this and when it's okay to change things around.

I think this can also help us be happier as runners. We begin to own our goal as it were and understand why it's okay to change that goal if necessary. Keeping the long perspective can also help us find more important victories.

Suppose someone has set BQ as a goal. They put in the effort, training, study, diet, sacrifice etc to obtain that goal. But what if they never achieve it despite their best efforts? Did they fail? It's very easy to say yes. But what if the big picture shows something very different.

What if they improved their health? What if these lifestyle changes enables them to do more for and with their families? What if they inspired others along the way to pursue their dreams? What if the exercise alone just made them happier? What if this effort made them a better person than they were before? All of these things are more difficult to measure than a chip time. But all of these things might be much better than a chip time.

If we own our goals, then we are able to accept that we didn't meet a goal and move on. Yes, we analyze what went wrong, but we move on and do not beat ourselves up over that disappointment. I think we only truly fail when we do not give it our best. And not just on race day, but in the days, weeks, and months leading up to race day.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Better late than never as I continue my 2017 Avengers Half Marathon race report.

I've seen Disneyland at the holidays many, many times. But there's something really magical about running through the castle decked out for the holidays.


I can never seem to be looking right at the camera when I run through the castle. But this one turned out semi decent on that front.


Sleeping Beauty's Winter Castle in early rays of the morning.


I always have to stop for a castle photo. It doesn't feel right if I don't.



Okay, you knew this was coming. Depending on your perspective, I'm either running this race to protest not being able to run Light Side 2018 or to pay tribute to the race I didn't run.


You're never going to see this area this quiet.


Y O D A. Yo-yo-yo-yo-yoda. I mean I had to stop for this photo. Especially with no one else in it. That just doesn't happen. And Yoda had to be in it.


Tomorrowland in the background. I spend a lot of time here for Star Wars related reasons.


I felt like I was adjusting the backpack straps for the entire race. So it's fitting there's a photo capturing yet another adjustment in motion. I'm never using this for a race longer than a 5K, but it was fun this time.


Black Widow.


Disneyland Christmas tree.


Honestly, the next part of the race was the toughest, but for different reasons than you might expect. We would exit through the Main Street parade gate shortly after the Christmas tree and that also meant that we're leaving Disneyland. And because always in motion the future is, this could be the last time I ever get to run through Disneyland. But I did get to do it.

At this point I'm roughly 4 miles in. I race semi blindly. As in, I don't really worry about my pace other than to check and make sure that my time every mile is approximately 15 minutes from the previous mile. Obviously, my recent photo stops mean that this mile was closer to 20 minutes or more, but that's okay. I also know that they will warn me if I'm in danger of being swept. Nevertheless, I pushed myself on this mile to make sure I was back in line. I entered this race not quite feeling 100% so I was also a more willing to take the race easy from time to time.

Up next, the streets of Anaheim.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

More running updates.

8//18: 3.46 miles

8/8/18: 3.43 miles. After my previous attempt at the 120/30 ratio ended badly, @DopeyBadger advised me to try a 60/30 ratio. That felt a lot better. Didn't wipe me out as much. But it was only 1 mile at that ratio. Next week will be a better gauge.

8/10/18: 3.49 miles.

8/11/18: 4.43 miles.

8/13/18: 3.43 miles. My knee has been sore off and on the past few days, but it feels better after the run tonight. Hopefully, that's a good sign. This also marked the first trial of my new Nike Zoom Fly shoes for the marathon. The New Balance shoes I bought in January cause a weird soreness near the tongue of the shoe on longer runs. So I don't use them for longer runs. However, I will need shoes for the marathon. I want to test them during my upcoming San Francisco Giant Race, so the testing has begun. They feel different on my arches, but I could see that actually being great for support. Reviews say they can reduce soreness for some runners, which could be perfect for me. I'll be monitoring closely to make sure they do.

8/15/18: 4.18 miles. 0.5 miles at 17:30, 3 miles at 60/30 12:45/17:30, and 0.5 miles at 17:30. I went into this run worried mostly on account on how my second tempo run when I couldn’t maintain the necessary pace. While certainly challenging, I maintained the pace today and felt much stronger after this run than the original 120/30 tempo run of one mile. There were moments where I felt recovery was almost easy and also moments where the 30 seconds felt too short. But it was never close to that exhausting second tempo run that was a setback. This marked the first test of the new pace ratio. While I do not know if I can sustain it over 13.1 miles in September, I'm confident that I can sustain it come the marathon since that's further away. I'm fine with that. I registered for this race as a way to test some new ideas for the marathon. So if I need more time to implement those new ideas for the marathon, that's okay. I'm learning a lot that will help during that major goal race.

Friday 8/17/18: 4.43 miles

Saturday 8/18/18: 5.46 miles.

 

[SarahDisney]

It definitely takes a while to get used to new ratios and new paces, but you've got a great attitude about it. Even if you don't make it there by the half, you'll get it by January.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

It definitely takes a while to get used to new ratios and new paces, but you've got a great attitude about it. Even if you don't make it there by the half, you'll get it by January.

Thanks. I think keeping perspective on where we are now vs where we want to be in the future helps us not lose sight of the bigger goals.

For many years, my training cycles tended to end right after a race and not start up again at all for many months. Consequently, I often felt so gassed in the first few runs of a training cycle. I always had to remind myself that I didn't need to be able to go the race distance today, but rather in a few months. So now this time around, I want to treat the Giant Race as serious preparation for Dopey, but also keeping in mind that because of when I started the new pace, I simply may not be able to sustain it for an entire race right now. This race marks a few firsts for me. So I view it as a good way to test some new ideas and learn from them before Dopey.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Training Update. Begun the taper has for the 2018 San Francisco Giant Race.

Monday 8/20/18

3.44 miles at 30 seconds 17:30/30 seconds 14:45.

45 minutes cardio
13 minutes fat burn
126 average

Tuesday 8/21/18

My quads felt heavy today. Not really sure why. Possibly trying to trick me into not running tonight. They still feel sore, but at least they have a reason to.

3.43 miles. 1 mile at 17:30, 1 mile at 60 seconds 12:45/30 seconds 17:30, 1 mile at 17:30.

3 minutes peak
31 minutes cardio
25 minutes fat burn
126 average

Wednesday 8/22/18

3.44 miles at 30 seconds 17:30/30 seconds at 14:45.

42 minutes cardio
16 minutes peak
124 average

Friday 8/24/18

7.96 miles at 30 seconds 17:30/30 seconds at 14:45.

1 hour 54 minutes cardio
21 minutes peak
127 average

Saturday 8/25/18

Not really running miles, but 2.6 miles round trip walking to and from AT&T Park in San Francisco for the Giants vs. Rangers baseball game. As I've mentioned here before, 2018 is the 60th anniversary of the Giants moving to San Francisco so the team is celebrating all season long. Their first World Series title in San Francisco came against the Texas Rangers so yesterday the Giants held a reunion of the 2010 championship team. The game also featured a special giveaway.

Over the course of his now 8 year Major League Baseball career, Giants catcher Buster Posey has won 3 World Series, caught multiple no hitters, and a perfect game. Thus begun a San Francisco Giants phenomenon known as the Buster Hug. Namely, when the Giants do something big, it ends in a celebratory hug between Buster Posey and the pitcher. So yesterday the Giants gave out Buster Hugs bobbleheads to commemorate the first Buster Hug to fans in attendance. So just a few photos tied to the Giants.

60 Miles for 60 Years of San Francisco Giants virtual challenge medal side one.


Same medal side two. And yes, it's as big as looks.


Buster Hugs bobblehead set at home. The other is Brian Wilson, the Giants closer in 2010 who struck out Nelson Cruz to end the game.


My little sister and I purchased a special package to get both bobbleheads and hear some special pregame panel discussions with members from the 2010 Giants. After the panel, we hung out for a little while on the warning track in right field at AT&T Park before walking along the dirt to our seats.



We both ran the 2011 Disneyland Half, 2017 Star Wars Half at Disneyland, 2018 Star Wars Dark Side 5K, 10K, and Half Marathons. We're also both running the 2018 San Francisco Giant Race in 2 weeks and the 2019 Dopey Challenge. We have never actually run the races together per se since we run at different paces and have different goals, but we encourage each other and hang out in the corrals together if we're in the same corral.

The view from the other side.


Postgame we both discovered Giants sweatbands and purchased one for the race. Since I do not currently have a Giants running shirt suitable for running a half marathon in, I will have to settle for the sweatband and a Giants visor to show race day support for my team.

 

[SarahDisney]

Wow that medal is big. But it looks great. And I love the Buster Hugs bobblehead set.
I like that you bought a Giants sweatband for the race! I thought about buying a Yankees headband for my Bronx race but let someone talk me out of it ... sigh. Glad to hear you'll be repping the team while running!

 

[jennamfeo]

We have never actually run the races together per se since we run at different paces and have different goals, but we encourage each other and hang out in the corrals together if we're in the same corral.

I love this so much.

That medal is so amazing.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Wow that medal is big. But it looks great.

When I first saw the photos online I wondered if it really could be that big and hoped I would get the black one. Once it showed up, I discovered that yes it really is that big and it's two sided plus the 60th anniversary logo spins.

And I love the Buster Hugs bobblehead set.

It was voted the number two most anticipated game giveaway this year. And since my sister and bought the special package we received both. The boxes are identical so you didn't know which player you were getting.

I like that you bought a Giants sweatband for the race! I thought about buying a Yankees headband for my Bronx race but let someone talk me out of it ... sigh. Glad to hear you'll be repping the team while running!

My little sister and I can either talk each other into something or out of something. It can get expensive for us at race expos because of that. I looked at Giants running shirts, but they cost more than I wanted to pay. I'll probably get a visor for the race, but decided to wait since the expo is at the ballpark so if I don't see a race specific visor I like at the expo, I can buy a Giants visor at the dugout store. The sweatband is also one of those cooling ones so that could be nice although the weather in San Francisco in usually cool to begin with.

I love this so much.

That medal is so amazing.

It works because my sister and I understand that each one has different goals. Before the Dark Side Half this year she had never stopped for a photo before in her life until she saw Ewoks on the course. I, on the other hand, stop for as many Star Wars photos as I feel like/believe I can stop for without being swept.

As for that 60 years medal, it's probably part of the reason why I was somehow slightly disappointed when I saw the 2018 Giant Race finishers medal. It's a nice medal. The home jersey and it says the year, the race, and finisher on it. There's no reason to not like the 2018 finishers medal. It's a different design from prior years.

Out of curiosity, I conducted a brief search to see what other MLB teams offer races. I quickly found that some do, but others do not. And some cap their distances at a 10K.

 

[jennamfeo]

Out of curiosity, I conducted a brief search to see what other MLB teams offer races. I quickly found that some do, but others do not. And some cap their distances at a 10K.

I did one this year at the Diamondbacks Stadium and it was a 5k/1 mile. There is a 6k race at the STL Cardinals Stadium and that is on my bucket list for sure.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I did one this year at the Diamondbacks Stadium and it was a 5k/1 mile. There is a 6k race at the STL Cardinals Stadium and that is on my bucket list for sure.

Running through a Major League Baseball stadium is so much fun. I'm honestly surprised that some teams do not offer a race especially with shorter distances being an option.

 

[Bree]

That medal is HUGE!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

That medal is HUGE!

7 inches in diameter and I think it weighs just over 1 pound. They called it the biggest, boldest, and shiniest medal in Giant Race history. It probably also worked for their purposes. I signed up for the virtual race with no intention of doing the Giant Race. Well after the medal came, I got all excited and I think I had signed up for the half that evening.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Possible final update before my SF Giant Race this weekend. A busy evening tonight and leaving for San Francisco late tomorrow morning.

Training has gone fine, but hit the backburner on account of escaping to Disneyland last weekend. It was much needed for my psyche. Lots of fun was had, epic character interactions ensued, and I returned to reality much better equipped to deal with reality. Photos will eventually show up here once I have some more time. For now, I will only say this. Over the course of my days in Disneyland, I got to be all sorts of different things, which I thoroughly enjoyed and helped contribute to the need to get away from it all for just a few days.

This week has been stressful and hectic, but I expected it. A couple of late nights contribute to the madness as well. When @DopeyBadger asked me if I was ready for the race, it helped me confront my fears and calm down.

I've spent some of the past week feeling not ready for the race. But as I examined it, I realized that I already dealt with the preparation part, which constitutes the single most important factor of being ready for the race. I trained. Everything else will take care of itself.

"Emotion doesn't get you very far and neither does a lot of talk. But preparation does." LaVell Edwards

The race is a shakedown to hopefully better evaluate what I can do heading into Dopey since there probably won't be Star Wars characters along the course to distract me from running. But I reserve the right to take photos of the Golden Gate Bridge if I want and high five Lou Seal after I finish. He's practice for high fiving chipmunks come Dopey.

 

[Bree]

Good luck this weekend!

 

[jennamfeo]

I see there is a tracking option on the SF Giants Race website -- post your bib number when you get it so we can watch you!

ETA: GOOD LUCK!!!!