Baltimore BOT-Fest

[rKyDeX]

Chester: It was great to see you at Wine and Dine. I tried to keep you in my sites when you passed me at DHS, I managed it for about a mile then you got too far ahead. Give all my best to Tracy for an easy, successful procedure and quick recovery.

Jen
I really enjoyed hanging out pre-race with you, Butch, Bill and Howard. It helped make the hours go by quicker.

Sorry I didn't stay and chat on the course. It wasn't because I was anti-social, it was more like I couldn't believe how great my run was going and I didn't want to change anything.

I started the race toward the end of Corral B and running in the pack kept me at my warm-up heart rate early on and at an 11:30 pace. As each mile went by I turned up the heart rate a little more and the speed seemed to increase without effort.

By the time I passed you I was hitting sub 9:00 miles and couldn't believe how light my legs felt and how effortlessly I was maintaining my heart rate goals. It was almost an out-of-body experience.

It really felt good to be running fast (for me anyway) between Hollywood Studios and the Finish. This is the area that I'm usually walking during the Marathon. I wasn't even breathing hard during the final sprint to the Finish Line.

Now, if I can only have the same success in Baltimore in a week then I will finally believe in this "Chi Running" techniques I've been trying to implement. It hasn't been this successful in any of long runs during training.

Chester
Techno Chi Neander Runner

 

[Theta]

This thread is ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!! There must be fall marathon training in the air.

I am so excited~!!!~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I came here to report that I RAN TODAY!!!!! I ran 1.5 miles and ran/walked 3 miles. It's a start.

I really want to get down to Disney this year to see you all!

Congratulations to Howard, Chester, Jen and all the wine and diners. Need to get motivated to train.

Jodi, no need for defibulators.

 

[Theta]

Ok, we need to find Dave, Sara, Howard, Cam, Mike, Bill, Judy...
etc,
etc....

 

[Optimator]

I'm alive.

Been running a little more and eating a little less lately after a big 8 month lazy-fest but am no where near race-ready.

I even logged onto FB this week since I have no idea what everyone is up to.

 

[jbucci]

It's nice to see some life on this thread again.

Chester: I was just happy to see a friendly faceon the course did not in any way think you were being anitsocial. Congrats on the great race, I hope Baltimore goes equally well. You inspired me to go faster, so may have helped me to my PR. I owe you thanks.

 

[Theta]

I'm alive.

Been running a little more and eating a little less lately after a big 8 month lazy-fest but am no where near race-ready.

I even logged onto FB this week since I have no idea what everyone is up to.

Hi Mikey!

Happy to hear your 8 month lazy-fest is over, I have those every year. Are you registered for both the half and the relay at Disney? Are you running the first half of the relay and Kathy the second?

 

[Honeibee]

I'm here!!!

I had a ten month lazy fest but THAT'S OVER! Last week I started my MFM training for January. Well, here we goooooooo!

 

[rKyDeX]

I'm alive.

Mike

Great to hear from you. I had a lot less than an 8 month lay-off and I'm still struggling with training and weight. I've really had terrible long training runs this season. But, I had a really good half for Wine and Dine and am hoping that it will carry over to the Baltimore Full this Saturday.

Looking forward to hearing more from you and seeing you in January.

Hi Coleen and Jen. And Judy too.

 

[AmyBeth68]

I am NOT an official or unofficial BOT...however, I know and remember all of you and always wonder how everyone is doing despite not being on these boards as much. I've had a "lazy" year laden with injuries and just getting back to form. We did the Relay this year at Wine and Dine and had a blast and are signing up for the Half Marathon. Maybe we'll get to catch up with some of you in January!

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[lourodrigis]

Hello EveryBOTy

Figured I would bump this thread up for a day.

I have a 20 mile run on tap tomorrow in Philly despite the fact it's snowing here in South Jersey. Last LR before my attempt at running the Philly Marathon with minimal training.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm and dry.

Lou

 

[Theta]

Lou, I didn't knowk you were planning on Philly again! Good luck and I hope you can get the miles in.

Hello EveryBOTy

Figured I would bump this thread up for a day.

I have a 20 mile run on tap tomorrow in Philly despite the fact it's snowing here in South Jersey. Last LR before my attempt at running the Philly Marathon with minimal training.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm and dry.

Lou

 

[lourodrigis]

Hey BOTs,

I'm not sure anyone reads this thread anymore but it feels like habit to write a post-marathon report here so I'll do it.

First of all, my prayers go out to the families of the 2 runners that died yesterday. A 21-yr-old man died just after completing the half and a 40-yr-old man died a 1/4 before the full finish line. Kind of brings into perspective how it hard it is to run these races. It's so easy to get caught up in the hype and try to do more then your body can handle.

I finished at 3:58:26 which was an achievement considering I was thinking 4:15 at best. I signed up for this race at the last minute and only trained seriously for about 8 weeks. My 20-mile run was horrible so I wasn't expecting much. Got lucky in that the weather was close to perfect and the course layout was easier then normal.

It was 50's, sunny, and dry all race. The course layout was easier in that they cut out some hills that used to kill me around miles 14-16. The course still had some rough hills between 9-12 but I still had juice in the tank at that point.

I basically ran consistent 8:45 miles for the first 19 miles. Once I got in to the Main St in Manayunk part I felt pretty tired and cramps started creeping into my calves. I found some Gatorade quick and downshifted to a 10 min/mile pace. I figured if I could hold that pace for the final 6 miles I had a shot to break 4:00.

This was the first race that I didn't hit any kind of Wall. I got close around Mile 25 but at that point I figured I could gut it out for 1 more mile. When i got to the Art Museum I was around 3:57 so I knew I had 4 as long as I didn't stop.

My sister was the only one waiting at the finish line. Family decided to bag this race as they needed to prepare our house for Thanksgiving. I felt horrible when I crossed the finish line. Came real close to throwing up that Chicken Broth they give you. I had to sit on a chair with my head between my legs for about 5 minutes just to get my equilibrium back. I saw a man drop in front of me and his family was real concerned for him. I managed to get up but his eyes real glassy.

I'm thinking the great weather had people pushing harder then normal. When I ran Disney in the snow in 2010 I had no delusions of a good finish.

Well, that's it. Congrats to Jen and Butch for a great tandem race.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Lou

 

[jbucci]

Lou: I still check here, although it has been pretty quiet lately. Congrats on a great race Sorry you felt rough at the end but glad to hear you get better quickly. You are right how the deaths put it all into perspective. I tend to worry about ortho injuries, hurting my knee or ankle but ignore the bigger risks. You really do have to respect the distance and effort involved and pay attention to how you feel.

I'll give my slightly long winded race report. Butch and I ran together which is really unusual as he is so much faster than I am. He has managed to hurt himself in some way during every full he has run and didn't want this to happen so close to Goofy, so volunteered to be my pacer and help me PR. We also had a friend who was running his first full with us that day although he wanted to run his own race but we hung out with him the night before and at the beginning.

We got there about an hour before the race start but had a horrible time finding parking and wound up a bit better than a mile away from the start so we had to hustle to check our bags, hit the port o john and get to the corral on time. There was a wave start with a pretty impressive group of about 6 guys with brass instruments playing the Rocky theme as each wave started. The weather was cool and a bit cloudy and stayed pretty perfect for the whole race.

The crowd support was quite good throughout the course which made it more fun. My first personal victory in the race was running up the hills by Drexel and the zoo, I've run the half twice before and have always had to stop and walk these, but I felt really strong yesterday. I made it to the 13.1 point 6 minutes faster than my time on the course last year and headed out into the unknown second half of the marathon.

Manayunk was pretty fun as there were crowds everywhere handing out beer, brownies, donuts, jellybeans and fruit. The enthusiasm was a great boost (although I didn't actually take anything). Butch grabbed a beer and we kept going. I felt pretty good until about mile 23-24 when I started having some pretty major calf cramping. The last 3 water stops had no cups, so you could choose to fill your own bottle (which we didn't have), let them pour the jug into your mouth, or get some water in your cupped hands. I get a handful of water at each stop, but it wasn't really enough and I didn't get any electrolyte which I think contributed to the cramping issue (although to be honest my calves were complaining a bit after mile 16). I sort of ran for a half mile then stretched/walked for a few minutes until the cramping calmed down and repeated to get to the end.

The best boost of the race was seeing my daughter at mile 25.7 right behind the art museum. Our friend who was babysitting brought her kids and Sarah out to cheer for us and our friend (spouse of sitter and father to other kids there). Giving them high 5's was the perfect inspiration and I managed to run to the end with a 9:30 pace for the last .5 miles (prior mile was closer to 11:00). I finished in 4:42 which was a huge PR for me beating my old time by 35 minutes. I felt pretty good at the end and aside from my left leg seizing up on me while I got my bag (requiring about 5 min of me propped against a UPS trunk to unknot the thing). We met up with our friend and daughter and all went back to their house to shower then had a celebratory Melting Pot dinner.

Sorry for being long winded, I was just so excited and wanted to share.

 

[lourodrigis]

Jen - Great job with the race. I can't believe they ran out of cups at the end of the race. It was a warmer then normal race so maybe more water was being sucked down at the end.

I remember the beer smell going into Manayunk almost turned my stomach. Stale beer and 20+ miles don't mix.

Hope you are recovering well. I'm feeling good today.

Lou

 

[Theta]

Lou and Jen, congratulations on your marathons!!!!!!!!!!1

Do either of you have plans to be at Disney this January?

 

[jbucci]

We will be there in Jan. I get there Thurs and head home Mon night. The whole family is doing the 5K (Sarah's first) then Butch and I are doing Goofy.

 

[lourodrigis]

Lou and Jen, congratulations on your marathons!!!!!!!!!!1

Do either of you have plans to be at Disney this January?

Hey Colleen - no WDW marathon for me. I kind of lost the Disney bug after the 2010 marathon. The kids are not feeling the magic like they used to either. I'm thinking it may be a couple of years before we go back. I'm trying to come up with a race to motivate me for 2012. Chicago is doing it for me but we will see.

Hope everyone has a good time this year!

Lou

 

[Optimator]

Jen - Awesome race. You've been knocking out some great runs lately!

Lou - Pretty impressive finishing sub-4 on short notice like that.

It's been so long since I've run a real long run I can't even wrap my head around doing a full at this point. Luckily, Kathy and I are doing the full relay in January so she gets to run the back half. Then I'm doing the full in DC in March for the newly Rock and Roll run race there. I'll have to get serious here pretty soon.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks!

 

[lourodrigis]

Jen - Awesome race. You've been knocking out some great runs lately!

Lou - Pretty impressive finishing sub-4 on short notice like that.

It's been so long since I've run a real long run I can't even wrap my head around doing a full at this point. Luckily, Kathy and I are doing the full relay in January so she gets to run the back half. Then I'm doing the full in DC in March for the newly Rock and Roll run race there. I'll have to get serious here pretty soon.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks!

Mike - Good to see you back on the wagon again. It's always tough to train this time of year so the relay is probably a safe bet. Come spring you should be fine for the full.

The thread actually has a slight pulse again.

 

[Theta]

Hey Colleen - no WDW marathon for me. Lou

Hey Lou, sorry to hear we won't be seeing you this year.

Yeah to Jen and Butch...you two are marathoning, racing machines!! Exciting your daughter will have a race to run too.

Mike, good to hear from you! So how much have you been running? The relay should be pretty cool. Something different and a new medal.

We have our room booked and flights booked. We just need to decide if we will enter the marathon relay, let Jeff run the Donald, or find a partner for him for the relay. My knee isn't good, I tried 7 last weekend and it was terrible then I went out for 3 more yesterday. Anyway, if i do anything it will be 100% walk the 2nd half of the relay. I will try 3 more easy miles Sunday and see what happens.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!!!!

Oh, I also have to find a babysitter for the weekend. I better get on that!