The Running Thread - 2018

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

ATTQOTD: I worry most about getting a cold a week or two before a race. Biggest thing that could impact my race would be the weather. I realize I have zero control over the weather but training in 40-60 temps and having a race with the starting temps in the 70's and high RH% could have more of a negative effect than most colds on a run.

 

[ZellyB]

ATTQOTD: Real life: I worry about weather more than anything. Heat is my kryptonite, so I'm always worried it will be too hot and my race will be lousy.

Pre-race nightmares: I get lost on the race course and usually seem to end up inside some building (often a mall - what the heck??) and can't find my way back out to the course.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

My ankle rolling.

 

[William Santiago]

ATTQOTD: I worry most about getting injured in the last weeks prior to the race and not being able to participate. After putting in months of hard work (and paying so much for the races), it would suck to pull or tear something. Just gotta keep myself disciplined and not go too hard once I get closer to the race days.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

I literally worry about almost everything. It could be a 2 mile fun run and I could have ran 10 miles the weekend before, and I'd still worry about something stupid like finishing. (I need to work on this )
Weather is definitely a huge uncontrollable factor- no wind please!

 

[rteetz]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

I worry about missing the start for Disney races. Otherwise I do worry about weather some.

 

[Barca33Runner]

ATTQOTD:

When, not if, my stomach is going to flair up during the race and I have to make the dreaded decision of port-a-potty filth or miles of discomfort. I've come to the conclusion after trying almost every combination of food, timing of meals, pre-race schedule, etc. that my stomach problems are tied to my social anxiety and I have almost no control over when and how bad my GI issues will be during any given race.

 

[JBinORL]

Pooping uncontrollably on the course.

 

[KSellers88]

ATTQOTD: Not waking up in time for the race and/or getting lost if I've never been to that race before. Most of the time I will force my husband to drive or walk to the start line the day before so I know where I am going.

 

[opusone]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

I usually don't worry too much... by race time, I know my fitness level and where I should be. I guess two slight worries: (1) if the race isn't early in the morning, then I worry about direct sunlight which seems to bother me more than absolute heat/humidity, and (2) that I go out faster than my planned pace, but after 30 years of running, I am pretty good about this now.

 

[camaker]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

I worry most about injury in the last few weeks leading up to a race and every little niggle and twinge trigger a paranoia that it's "Game Over, Man!!"

The night before a race I have a hard time sleeping because I'm paranoid about not getting to the start line on time and end up setting multiple alarms and getting to the race site early.

I'll worry a little about the weather if it's forecast to be cold or rainy.

 

[PrincessV]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

ATTQOTD: Weather. Always weather. I live and race in FL, where the weather swings in "winter" are extreme - I'm basically glued to the Weather Channel (and AccuWeather, local stations, some dude broadcasting form his backyard...) for two weeks before a race. The biggest weather-related thing that could go wrong DID go wrong - when the 2017 WDW half was canceled due to lightning.

 

[Chaitali]

The two things I seem to worry about are getting injured or sleeping in and missing the start of the race.

 

[Nole95]

What I worry about most before a race is getting sick. It's a rare day that I even get a cold, so I have never had to deal with being sick on race day. Either way, it is something I worry about in the bigger races I run.

Getting up on time for those early Disney races is another. We usually have an alarm set on every phone and sometimes even the alarm clock. Knock on wood, but so far I have never overslept for a race.

 

[LdyStormy76]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?.

Having old knee injuries flare as a result of the right - or is it wrong? - type of weather system.

My ankle rolling.

This would be a close second on the worry list.

 

[YawningDodo]

I've recently come to love the idea of setting a primary goal and then stretch goals for a race. I define the primary goal as "Finish the race." Then the stretch goals allow me to address things such as time, pace, intervals, character photos (to this point I've raced exclusively at runDisney events), etc. I like the idea of stretch goals because it's something to work towards, but is also something that I can adjust if necessary on race day. Goals are something we should work towards, but it's important to not get so caught up in the pursuit of these goals that we miss the more important larger picture. A stretch goal allows you to progress towards something at the race, but also gives you the ability to realize that maybe it's more bad than good on race day. If I injure myself in obsessive pursuit of a goal then did I actually benefit myself? I had a stretch goal for Dark Side weekend this year. I absolutely failed in that stretch goal, but I realized during training that I could either pursue that stretch goal at the expense of injury or I could slow down, train healthy, and finish healthy.

Maybe some day I'll run a sub 3 hour half marathon. But even if I never do, I can also honestly say that I've finished 9 half marathons. Which is 9 more half marathons than I ever dreamed of finishing back when I started this back in 2011. I've gone from not even daring a 5K and Half on back to back days because I feared it would destroy my chances of finishing that half to successfully finishing with great times for me multi race challenges and will be running my first marathon as part of Dopey this January.

From your questions and responses, it sounds like you've got this all in perspective. As much as running can be very individual, we learn so much from the community. Sometimes a plan needs to be adjusted. You can make your current plan one of learning what works for you.

Failure only comes if you don't get up again. Or as one of my favorite exchanges in the 2005 movie Batman Begins says:

Alfred: And why do we fall Master Bruce?

Bruce Wayne (after a failure): So we can learn to pick ourselves back up again.

From when your race is compared to now, you have plenty of time. I went from having never run at all to finishing a half marathon after very hit and miss following the Galloway plan for the 2011 Disneyland in 4 months. Or about the time his plan outlined. Adjust your plan as needed and don't be afraid to get feedback from the community.

I think that's a good way of looking at it. And really...my goals for both the HM next year and the marathon in 2020 are just to finish. I need to remember that. Frankly, my goal for the 5K two months from now is just to finish even though I know perfectly well that I can easily walk a 5K if all else fails. I, uh...do already have a stretch goal for the marathon: ride at least one ride. I think explicitly framing that as a stretch goal will be mentally and emotionally healthy, though; I don't want to run an entire marathon and then beat myself up over something as minor as not being far enough ahead of the sweep to ride EE when in the grand scheme of things I'll have the whole trip for rides and doing it during the marathon is just for the lolz/ride photo/bragging rights.

Really, I'm looking at a lot of the things I've been imagining for myself and recategorizing them as stretch goals...or letting them go. I have this grand plan for the next year and a half that I really do want to hold onto because I think it's going to be amazing, but I'm reminding myself that there are decades more to come as long as I don't burn myself out and quit.

I know you got some good responses and some good opinions. In my opinion, when I was reading this, all I could think of was, you don't need to worry about pace, diet, 10k, 1/2, or doing a full in 2020. You should just focus on being consistent in my opinion. Yes, you need the right shoes, and sometimes it can take a while to find those. Yes, you would 100% benefit from better eating. (You should find the documentary Fed Up. If you watch that, and see how people are being controlled by food, and don't get motivated to eat better I would be shocked). Yes, stretching would help your shin splints. But to me it sounds like your biggest hurdle to overcome is your fear and self doubt. Don't worry about pushing yourself as hard as you can for two runs a week, that's not what you are "supposed" to do. You're actually supposed to make the majority of your runs easy.

If I were you, I would get a heart rate monitor. I would find out what your zone 2 heart rate is (if you PM me I can help you) and I would spend the next couple of months doing most of your runs/walks in your zone 2 heart rate. Let your heart determine how fast you should be going and take your brain out of it. This prevents you from getting in your own head. You will be surprised at how quickly your "performance" numbers increase when you do this.

I just seems from what you wrote that you are so into what should be happening rather than focusing on enjoying the fact you are deciding to change your lifestyle. Set small goals for yourself and work to accomplish those and as you become consistent at doing that you increase the difficulty of the goal. You can start with, no fast food for the week, no side for a week, walk/run 3 times in a week, etc... then when you achieve those types of goals consistently you change them to a month, or whatever.

Bottom line is, you CAN do this if you want it bad enough. I don't think you need an expensive coach. I don't think you need to worry about what ur walk/run intervals are. I think you need to tell yourself, "I am doing this no matter what it takes and I am not stopping until I cross that finish line in 2020 (if that's your ultimate goal). Once you do that, believe you can, and don't accept no for an answer (when your brain tells you that you can't) you will succeed. I know because I lived it and did it too!

So, funny thing about the heart rate. My Garmin has a built-in monitor, but I've been completely ignoring my HR data...and I did that actually in the interest of not overwhelming myself with too many numbers to target all at once. I just fiddled with it a little and it looks like I can set a HR alert by zone...I have no idea what the different zones mean or if the watch has enough data to know or if I'm going to have to do some programming or something (I've worn it throughout the day most days, so Garmin Connect should have data on my resting HR as well as my runs).

I think you're right about setting smaller goals and just staying consistent. I think the difficulty comes in where...I know, intellectually, that just taking it slow for the next sixteen months will get me across that marathon finish line. It just gets hard to remember that when a two mile run takes me out of commission for a week and a half (even though I know it wasn't the distance that did it, but other factors I can at least partially prevent in the future).

At the risk of getting into non-running topics (though it all kind of interrelates since it dictates how well I function across basically everything I do), right now a lot of my goals are focused on making the home I share with my housemate more livable...and focused particularly on the kitchen. Both of us have been terrible for years about keeping the kitchen clean and usable, which is part of the reason it's so daunting to make the switch to preparing my own meals. I've been making good headway and I'm hopeful I'll have it whipped into shape by the end of the month and get to a point where we can stay on top of it. Even something as simple as frying eggs is a huge ordeal when all the pans are dirty and there's no prep space available. So that's got to happen, and then I'll push myself to make little goals to reduce fast food intake, etc. I mean, I know why I'm not at my best health. It's not a mystery. It's just a matter of building up bit by bit because my attempts to do it all at once have very much not worked.

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

ATTQOTD: I worry most about getting a cold a week or two before a race. Biggest thing that could impact my race would be the weather. I realize I have zero control over the weather but training in 40-60 temps and having a race with the starting temps in the 70's and high RH% could have more of a negative effect than most colds on a run.

Getting sick or injured. The flu tends to hit me really hard whenever I catch it; last time I was down for an entire week and I don't think I was completely back to normal for a month afterward.

I worry about missing the start for Disney races. Otherwise I do worry about weather some.

Aaand that thought has already occurred to me as well. Even the non-Disney HM I want to do next June has a strict cutoff for the buses to the starting line, though it's more around 5:00, I think, so not as bad as Disney.

 

[GreatLakes]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

If you mean the night before and morning of a race mostly just severe weather. If you mean the days/weeks leading up to the race it's that I'll come down with some cold that hits at the wrong time.

 

[cavepig]

Before a race I worry like most about injuries/illness. Otherwise, I worry that I'll bonk and basically falling apart during the race no matter how many training went.

 

[Waiting2goback]

QOTD: What do you worry most about before a race? What could go wrong that would have the biggest impact on your race?

ATTQOTD: I worry most about getting a cold a week or two before a race. Biggest thing that could impact my race would be the weather. I realize I have zero control over the weather but training in 40-60 temps and having a race with the starting temps in the 70's and high RH% could have more of a negative effect than most colds on a run.

Getting sick and getting injured. I don't worry about weather because if the race is happening I will run it regardless of weather. But every time I run, weather is a race or training run, I worry about my ankles so that never stops.

I think that's a good way of looking at it. And really...my goals for both the HM next year and the marathon in 2020 are just to finish. I need to remember that. Frankly, my goal for the 5K two months from now is just to finish even though I know perfectly well that I can easily walk a 5K if all else fails. I, uh...do already have a stretch goal for the marathon: ride at least one ride. I think explicitly framing that as a stretch goal will be mentally and emotionally healthy, though; I don't want to run an entire marathon and then beat myself up over something as minor as not being far enough ahead of the sweep to ride EE when in the grand scheme of things I'll have the whole trip for rides and doing it during the marathon is just for the lolz/ride photo/bragging rights.

Really, I'm looking at a lot of the things I've been imagining for myself and recategorizing them as stretch goals...or letting them go. I have this grand plan for the next year and a half that I really do want to hold onto because I think it's going to be amazing, but I'm reminding myself that there are decades more to come as long as I don't burn myself out and quit.




So, funny thing about the heart rate. My Garmin has a built-in monitor, but I've been completely ignoring my HR data...and I did that actually in the interest of not overwhelming myself with too many numbers to target all at once. I just fiddled with it a little and it looks like I can set a HR alert by zone...I have no idea what the different zones mean or if the watch has enough data to know or if I'm going to have to do some programming or something (I've worn it throughout the day most days, so Garmin Connect should have data on my resting HR as well as my runs).

I think you're right about setting smaller goals and just staying consistent. I think the difficulty comes in where...I know, intellectually, that just taking it slow for the next sixteen months will get me across that marathon finish line. It just gets hard to remember that when a two mile run takes me out of commission for a week and a half (even though I know it wasn't the distance that did it, but other factors I can at least partially prevent in the future).

At the risk of getting into non-running topics (though it all kind of interrelates since it dictates how well I function across basically everything I do), right now a lot of my goals are focused on making the home I share with my housemate more livable...and focused particularly on the kitchen. Both of us have been terrible for years about keeping the kitchen clean and usable, which is part of the reason it's so daunting to make the switch to preparing my own meals. I've been making good headway and I'm hopeful I'll have it whipped into shape by the end of the month and get to a point where we can stay on top of it. Even something as simple as frying eggs is a huge ordeal when all the pans are dirty and there's no prep space available. So that's got to happen, and then I'll push myself to make little goals to reduce fast food intake, etc. I mean, I know why I'm not at my best health. It's not a mystery. It's just a matter of building up bit by bit because my attempts to do it all at once have very much not worked.



Getting sick or injured. The flu tends to hit me really hard whenever I catch it; last time I was down for an entire week and I don't think I was completely back to normal for a month afterward.



Aaand that thought has already occurred to me as well. Even the non-Disney HM I want to do next June has a strict cutoff for the buses to the starting line, though it's more around 5:00, I think, so not as bad as Disney.

I think the point I didn't get across is, you might be putting yourself out of commission for 2 weeks because you are overdoing it during the runs you said that you ran as hard as you could. By taking it easier and staying within your zone 2 heart rate, your body is telling you what you can handle based on your fitness. I do walk/run but not the traditional way. I don't have a set interval. My ozone 2 heart rate is 142-152 bpm. Once I warm up I start running at 142 bpm and run until I get to the upper level of 152 bpm. Then I walk until I get back down to the low 140's. I know as long as I am within that range I am generally not over doing things. During the summer I may be running slower because the heat raises your heart rate but you should run slower in the heat so it makes sense.

Hopefully I am making sense. I just think if you stick to something like this it reduces the injury risk more, it improves your fitness faster, it allows for faster recovery, which should allow for more consistency.

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: Getting sick or injured prior to race is what worries me. I am avoiding all ladders and high places until 2019 . Last October I fell off a ladder and sprained both wrists, an ankle and bruised my ribs. It took two months to recover and I had to tape up my ankle for a good while when I started running again. The only other concern I have is weather, but not much I can do about it.