The Running Thread - 2018

@LSUlakes please change my goal for this weekend to NG:
My Achiles Tendon started bugging me last Sunday so I read on it, iced it, did some eel drops in top of my regular stretching. On Tuesday, it came back and I noticed it was worst on inclines and on speed work so I took it slow and iced. Today, I started running with some colleagues and had to excuse myself after less than half mile. Luckily, my physiotherapist had an opening. So it doesn’t seem tore. My feet was stuck a bit thus restricting the motion. And I learned how to tape it. I went to try the taping, it helps but the problem is still there so probably a mild Achiles tendinitis. We both agreed that I will attempt to run my half-Marathon this weekend but cannot try to push any part of it. Slow and attentive will be my motto to reach my new goal of finishing healthy without further damages.
 
Thanks everyone for all the tips and encouragement! I have been icing them tonight. I'm going tomorrow to buy compression sleeves. Coach DopeyBadger has given me my instructions for the next few days. No running until at least Monday and then we shall see.

On a happier note, one of my recent purchases arrived today. One more piece of my costume for the half arrived and it even had a cute little pin included with it.
Just what I needed to help cheer me up today :D

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NATTQOTD (non-ATTQOTD):

I try to honor Newton's First Law of Motion: An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion..., so no character, ride, beer stops for me. I salute those that do!

The best real bathroom stop seems to be not well know. It took me 6+ races to discover it. Convenient location and never a line. And I am greedily not disclosing the location.

Hmmm trying to guess..
backside of TTC, between Frontierland and Adventureland, AK, Corner in Studios by the fountain??

Coach Charles had posted the route info with every bathroom along the route for the old marathon.

I’m going to guess the bathrooms behind/next to Finding Nemo...
 


Three, but i don’t put my stuff in the dryer. One pair in the laundry waiting to be washed, one that’s line drying and the pair I’m wearing that day.
Indeed, the line drying seems to be my bottleneck.

Running gloves, headband or hat, and if it gets really cold, a windproof shirt or jacket, possibly a balaclava. Also, in real cold weather, watch out for exposed skin. A little vaseline can help. But the last couple years here (I'm near Detroit) haven't been bad. I haven't needed my real cold weather gear.

ETA: I also got myself a pair of running mittens with fold back flaps. These are great because while gloves mostly work, if it is really cold, then for me it' better to have mittens ad let all those fingers keep each other warm! And If I get too warm (as I tend to do), I cn fold back the flap and have a fingerless glove.

Also near Detroit and I found myself never warm a few times last Jan/Feb/maybe March. If I had ‘real cold weather gear’ I would have gotten it out! And thanks for the mitten suggestion, I forgot I ripped the flap off mine, so on the shopping list it goes!

Depends on how often you do laundry and whether you're willing to re-wear clothing before washing. I have 5 pairs, but only 2 are fleece lined, I usually do laundry every 2-3 weeks, and I wear then twice before they go in the wash (don't judge me ... I wear underwear).

Also +1 to gloves. And a warm hat. I recommend finding a race that gives out a winter hat instead of a shirt and running that (that's how I got all of my winter hats).

I would love to do laundry less frequently! No judgment here, just envy.
Is there a point where you switch to the fleece lined?

I like the idea of an earned hat, but I’ve only seen it once.

So, I live in FL... but I own 3 pairs of winter tights. Because when we do get cold weather, it might last 3 hours or 3 days. ;) I have one pair of Serious Winter Tights for temps below 40, and two that are just brushed on the inside and are good for temps in the 40s.
I love the capitalization!

In terms of tracking runs, I would say they are pretty equal in capabilities, EXCEPT the VA3 pretty much just makes up the elevation reading. I do not just mean that the zero-point elevation is offset from reality. I mean that most of the time it gives me plain nonsense. Since I run out-and-back routes or loop routes, there should generally be symmetry and/or repeating elevation patterns in the measurements, and usually it gives nothing of the sort. I also run a lot on the HS track, which is FLAT, and sometimes it will give me substantial gains.

Possibly I've got a bad watch, but I feel like I've heard others complain about this. I've rebooted mine a few times. Every once in a while, I'll get an elevation graph that makes logical sense, but it seems to be maybe 20% of the time. My guess is that the VA3 has fewer or less sensitive GPS receivers and thus typically doesn't lock onto as many satellites as the FR 235 did. The FR 235 was always quite repeatable and consistent for the different routes that I run.
This drives me nuts! My house is not 130’ lower than when I left it!
 
QOTD: Since Marathon Weekend is approaching quickly I wanted to ask what are some must does during any of the races. What are the character stops that are a must, places to get a beverage or ride that you can get on during the run. While we are at, bathroom options that are not port o pots... Anything you think that is worth mentioning, lets hear it!

ATTQOTD: I've only run the race once so far and I did not stop for anything other than water towards the end. I have heard a lot of great things, but I am interested in hearing of exact experiences from yall.

I stop and take pics of the characters but never wait in line to take one with them. I have just never seen a character I needed a picture with that badly.

I haven't ridden any rides during the two gulls I have done. I'm afraid if I sit down I won't want to get back up.

I have stopped for bathrooms in fantasyland, AK, the one right before EE, WWoS (I can picture exactly which bathroom it is but I can't explain where it is because the mind stops working well during WWoS, and I have used the bathroom in HS near as Sci-fi theater. The only one out of all of these that was busy was AK. The emptiest was WWoS, I don't think people realize it's there despite running right past it.

I didn't think I would care to miss the race this year but it's starting to make me sad not being there. There is just something special about marathon weekend.

But why?!?!?!?! Was it for the intended purpose of TP or just to do something different. How did you keep it dry while running? So many other questions... Did anyone ask to use some? Is there a YouTube video of this?

The first year I ran it I brought a baggie full of baby wipes just in case I needed to go in the portapotty. I never needed them so I tossed them probably around mile 18 or so. Worked way better than a roll of TP as far as carrying them. U don't want to trust that if you need to use the portapotty that there is actually any TP in them later in the race.
 


Is there a point where you switch to the fleece lined?

When it's sub-freezing I usually try to wear the fleece lined unless they're in the laundry. Anything below 20 I'd definitely wear them, even if it means doing a special load of laundry (or throwing them in with my non-running laundry, which I do more frequently than my running laundry).
Around now, with the weather more in the 40's, I'll often just wear them for whatever the coldest run of the week will be. I wear them a lot when the temperature first starts to change because it takes me a while to adjust.
... But I'm also always cold, so I probably switch to fleece-lined earlier than most.
 
I had a Forerunner 235 for 2 years and this summer for Prime day I got myself a VA3. Overall, I like the VA3 much better than the FR 235. Love the touchscreen instead of multiple buttons, and I got the rose gold and white VA3, which definitely looks nicer.

In terms of tracking runs, I would say they are pretty equal in capabilities, EXCEPT the VA3 pretty much just makes up the elevation reading. I do not just mean that the zero-point elevation is offset from reality. I mean that most of the time it gives me plain nonsense. Since I run out-and-back routes or loop routes, there should generally be symmetry and/or repeating elevation patterns in the measurements, and usually it gives nothing of the sort. I also run a lot on the HS track, which is FLAT, and sometimes it will give me substantial gains.

Possibly I've got a bad watch, but I feel like I've heard others complain about this. I've rebooted mine a few times. Every once in a while, I'll get an elevation graph that makes logical sense, but it seems to be maybe 20% of the time. My guess is that the VA3 has fewer or less sensitive GPS receivers and thus typically doesn't lock onto as many satellites as the FR 235 did. The FR 235 was always quite repeatable and consistent for the different routes that I run.

For me, this is a bit frustrating but not enough to want to go back to the FR 235. But I thought I'd mention it in case it's something that may be important to you.

you may need to correct the elevation manually. https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=R4I5hFFcUk8gJPC4zi0Xv6
 
ATTQOTD: I am eagerly reading everyone’s answers and taking notes for 2020! I’ve never stopped for a character during the W&D 10k, because I’m focused on time. My friend and I walked the W&D 5K this year and stopped for every character and actually ended up at the very back - like they shortened the course and cut off the hairpin turn right before the finish. So we didn’t technically get swept, but we would have had it been a longer distance I think.

I started in C for the 10k and never saw a character line short enough that I would stand in. Do people get more spread out for the half and/or full? What corral do you need to start in so that the lines aren’t crazy?
 
I’m going to guess the bathrooms behind/next to Finding Nemo...
Those would be big because they are attached to a show, but those are down a hill aren't they. Aren't there huge bathrooms behind Restaurantosaurus to?

.

(I can picture exactly which bathroom it is but I can't explain where it is because the mind stops working well during WWoS,
I think that's a fairly accurate description of everyone's experience at WWOS. Bad or Bland enough to make people's brains shut down.

I didn't think I would care to miss the race this year but it's starting to make me sad not being there. There is just something special about marathon weekend.
Me too. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal either. My son and I did wine and Dine and we are doing the 10k during princess, but I really wish I was going to be there for the marathon.

The first year I ran it I brought a baggie full of baby wipes just in case I needed to go in the portapotty. I never needed them so I tossed them probably around mile 18 or so. Worked way better than a roll of TP as far as carrying them. U don't want to trust that if you need to use the portapotty that there is actually any TP in them later in the race.

Within the first couple of miles it became clear that we weren't carrying it for functional reasons. We were just 4 dudes dressed as the Dapper Dans passing a roll of toilet paper back and forth as we ran through the Magic Kingdom.
 
First dark evening run of the season last night... and my headlamp's battery died 1/2 a mile in. For 3.5 miles, I relied solely on cars' headlights, intuition, and muscle memory to differentiate between shrub, sidewalk, and grass. My PSA of the day is to check your headlamp's battery before your next run in the dark. :)


This happened to me in the spring. I didn't notice at first because I started out in the neighborhood, and then used a very bright moon to navigate. After the moon was obscured by clouds, I realized it was pitch black and my lamp had died. :) I only had about a mile left on a paved prairie path, so it wasn't TOO bad, but it went from a routine run to very exciting run pretty quickly.
 
First dark evening run of the season last night... and my headlamp's battery died 1/2 a mile in. For 3.5 miles, I relied solely on cars' headlights, intuition, and muscle memory to differentiate between shrub, sidewalk, and grass. My PSA of the day is to check your headlamp's battery before your next run in the dark. :)
This happened to me last winter, kind of... I was running with 2 of my running buddies and we had one person with a headlamp and Tracer360 vest that worked, one person with a reflective vest and no headlamp, and me with my Tracer360 that went low battery shortly into our run and then died about 2/3 of the way through and my headlamp that somehow in the cold got stuck in the night vision red light mode that doesn't actually light anything up enough to see. It was so weird, I thought the headlamp seemed dim so I clicked it to make sure it was in the brighter setting, and it went into the red light mode and I couldn't even turn it off to "reboot" it. It was just stuck there! I wonder if I had stopped to take the batteries out and reseat them if it would have fixed it. It worked ok once I got back into my car though and it warmed up a bit... so maybe it was just too cold. That was not a fun run with 3 of us running on icy, poorly plowed sidewalks with all kinds of ruts and ice, with one headlamp between the 3 of us relying on that and car headlights and a few streetlights!
 
I would love to do laundry less frequently! No judgment here, just envy.
Is there a point where you switch to the fleece lined?

I have one pair of Fleeced lined pants and I will wear them more than once before washing. They are very warm so usually 35 and below I will wear them. I love them especially because I was able to buy them in long. Usually, pants are an inch or two above my ankles. I would love another pair but I need a sale due to the price (LL Bean)
 
I have a friend who is already in Vegas for the Rock N Roll Vegas Half and she keeps saying how cold it is. And while I am in agreeance with her, I am sure it's nothing compared to places where it's already snowing?! Anyway, she was told that she should probably wear a plastic bag during the race because it's going to be cold and windy and that's where I draw the line. I'm trying to look cute in some pictures on the Strip and not literally look like garbage. So I guess I'm gonna be cold. :confused3
Forecast is between 63-50 from start to finish and wind speeds at about 10mph.
 
I have a friend who is already in Vegas for the Rock N Roll Vegas Half and she keeps saying how cold it is. And while I am in agreeance with her, I am sure it's nothing compared to places where it's already snowing?! Anyway, she was told that she should probably wear a plastic bag during the race because it's going to be cold and windy and that's where I draw the line. I'm trying to look cute in some pictures on the Strip and not literally look like garbage. So I guess I'm gonna be cold. :confused3
Forecast is between 63-50 from start to finish and wind speeds at about 10mph.
That’s not a cold race. That’s excellent race weather.
 

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