The Running Thread - 2018

[GollyGadget]

One more thing... Happy Thanksgiving everyone and best of luck to you fellow turkey trotters!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I don’t have normal Thanksgivings since my husband is in retail and the last two years I was with my mom due to her husband’s death and the one year anniversary of it.

This year - I’m looking forward to shopping alone and people watching in the afternoon.

 

[Kazrak]

I know I'm a wierdo in that I don't even like to try on the shirts at the expo, because I don't want to put on race shirt before I finish that race. That's my own mental issues though.

I had a hard time convincing myself to even buy the Kessel Run shirt (the one I'm wearing in my avatar, actually) at the Expo. I was worried I'd be tempting fate too much and end up getting swept.

 

[DIS-OH]

Had a great 3 mile run yesterday, so I’m feeling confident.

Confident enough this morning to tackle the soap scum and mildew that has taken up residence in my shower! BAM!! SCRUB! SCOUR!! RINSE!! REPEAT!! (Disclaimer: I am terribly near sighted and I do not shower with my contacts in. I am always mortified when I look in the shower with corrective lenses in place!! )

Extended family and friends are gathering at my house tomorrow. I’ll put the turkey in the oven and then head to the local Turkey Trot...first 400 finishers get a pumpkin pie!

Looking forward to hanging out in the kitchen...which is where everyone seems to end up while waiting for dinner...I enjoy the company, but sometimes I wish they would all clear out and just let me finish getting the meal ready.

Menu: Turkey and dressing, beef roast, mashed potatoes, homemade noodles, sweet corn (homegrown this summer), sweet potatoes, rolls, green beans, cranberry jello salad and pies!

Happy Thanksgiving! So thankful for my family and friends (real life and online)!!

 

[AFwifelife]

ATTQOTD: most Thanksgivings are just us and the kids but I still make a pretty traditional Thanksgiving. The pies are currently in the oven. My favorite part of this weekend though is (online) Black Friday shopping. I already have a list of things I need to get when the sales start then I love watching the Amazon lightening deals.

 

[apdebord]

ATTQOTD: We don’t have any Thanksgiving traditions, it’s typically just my husband and I, my sister and my parents. It’s one of my favorite holidays for that reason; no pressure to keep to tradition or to go out of the way to see family. My parents are going to the Oklahoma game at WVU Friday night, and they’ve already left...so my sister will be coming to my house.

I’m looking forward to running my first ever turkey trot tomorrow! I’m very thankful that it’s at 9 AM and not far away so I can sleep in! I am not thankful for the record low temperature tomorrow (high of 39°...yikes). I’ll be making a boneless turkey roast in my Instant Pot tomorrow, so hopefully I won’t blow up the house. I’m really just looking forward to the day off, even if there’s some running and cooking involved.

 

[SarahDisney]

I purchased a pair when I had a foot injury. A few things to be aware of IMO with these shoes. They are going to be very different than almost anything you have previously run in. The store I purchased them in told me to run no more than 4 miles in them for a week or two so I could adjust without causing additional injury. They took a while to get used to but are amazing shoes... we kinda. I found that I would only get about 2/3 of the miles out of them, than I would every other shoe I purchased. They are some very comfy shoes though! I wish I had a pair to walk in the parks with.

I knew they would require an adjustment period, so not running too long in them to allow for the adjustment makes sense.
In terms of not getting as much mileage ... that doesnt thrill me, especially at the price. I get over 400 miles out of my NB shoes. So I'd like to get high mileage out of these shoes... sigh. We'll see what happens

Once upon a long time ago, I tried the Hoka Kaui and original Clifton... I thought I liked both, but wound up with major, major knee pain. Years later, after accepting that I need a stability shoe, I got the Arahi 2 and I still have them; I make myself run in them once in a while to feel like it wasn't a total waste of money. They're okay for days when I just crave more between me and the road, but that's honestly the only thing I like about them. What I don't like: 1. I had to get a Wide width, which I've never had to do in any other shoe - the forefoot is just so narrow. And even with a wide, it pinches my baby toes. 2. At the same time, I have to cinch the heck out of the laces to get the midfoot and heel to fit. 3. I'm a forefoot striker and the rockered sole feels weird and makes me a bit off-balance on landing. 4. The heel cup is deeper than I want or need, making the collar rub my ankle bones. I fixed that, and offset the rocker sole a bit in the process, by DIY-ing heel lifts out of craft foam. 4. Most days, I want more ground feel. Without that, I tend to land harder, looking for it, if that makes sense. And that winds up making my knees and hips hurt.

Thanks for sharing! Lots of interesting stuff to think about. Definitely sounds like I need to pay close attention to how my toes feel in the toe box.
And for longer runs I actually prefer less ground feel, so these might work.
Thanks!

QOTD: Since today is my Friday with Thanksgiving being tomorrow this will be our fun Friday ummm I mean Wednesday question. For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, what is your favorite part of the day?

Thank for adding "for those who celebrate." I hope this becomes a continuing trend with holiday-related questions.

We haven't been big Thanksgiving people in a few years. Mostly I'm just looking forward to seeing my family, especially my sister.

 

[Capang]

ATTQOTD: honestly I am looking forward to a break from work. I also get to see some family I don’t always get to see and my BIL makes some awesome venison. Looking forward to that.

 

[GreatLakes]

I guess there are more positive first time marathon experiences here than with my real-life friends though none of them just ran for fun. All had some race goal in mind.

Wow, that is strict. I basically ignore the watch time/distance: if the course is long I use official time, not the watch time at that distance. If the course is short, I would still use the official time and count it as a PR. Almost all of the courses I would attempt a PR on are USATF certified, so unless I cut a corner, it shouldn't be an issue.

Follow-up question: most people said chip time. Am I the only one that runs races that aren't chip timed? Sometimes gun time is all you have. Interesting note: age group awards are often based on gun rather than chip time.

If it is close I would count it but if it is way short, like a quarter mile for a 5K, I wouldn't. Very few races around here are not chip times any longer but every couple of years I run one. Those the gun time is all you have but they are also generally small so there is very little difference between the two even for the last people to start.

I have never seen gun times used for age groups when there was also chip time but they do use it often for overall if there is prize money. Most local races don't have prize money and base all positions, including overall winner, on chip in my experience.

QOTD: Since today is my Friday with Thanksgiving being tomorrow this will be our fun Friday ummm I mean Wednesday question. For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, what is your favorite part of the day?

Thanksgiving is pretty low key for us. I like seeing family the best and always start off with a race so I don't feel as guilty overeating later in the day.

 

[Chaitali]

The discussion of PRs and short courses reminded me that my half marathon PR is from a course that read short on my Garmin. It came out as 13.04 instead of 13.1. But I checked with friends that ran it and no one else had it short on their watches. I checked the map and it doesn't look like there was anywhere that I accidentally cut the course. So in that case, I count it and I assume it was just a weird satellite or watch glitch.

 

[Jules76126]

ATTQOTD: Happy Thanksgiving everyone. This Thanksgiving we are very thankful that after 2+ months are heat was restored yesterday. Just in time for the coldest Thanksgiving in at least 100 years. We are in Maine at my in laws and will enjoy being together and good food. My parents actually come to my in laws as well so we get to see both sides which is nice. Also looking forward to spending the weekend shopping in
Portland and some good brews. And then the start of my favorite holiday!

 

[michigandergirl]

ATTQOTD: I am a little high strung today trying to get ready for a house full of people tomorrow! I am most looking forward to left-over turkey sandwiches. And pie.

@LSUlakes I have a last minute race to add:

24 - michigandergirl - Trails to Hope 5 Miler - (NG/NA)

Trying another trail race - this one is only 5 miles from home so it was hard to pass up.

 

[Waiting2goback]

As someone who needed some pushing last week, I appreciate that. Even my two most challenging races were incredibly rewarding.

I think it's difficult for non runners to understand why we put ourselves through the challenges in pursuit of this sport. It's not about the medal. It's about the hard work, sacrifice, and most importantly, lessons learned about ourselves that lead up to that moment where we cross the finish line. For those who so desire, the medal becomes the real symbol of the hard work that led up to it.

I may well feel very differently when I cross the finish line of the marathon, but for now my most treasured medal is the 2017 Kessel Run. But it's not because it's Star Wars. It's because of what it required to earn that medal. The two respective races that I ran to earn that medal are among my best race experiences ever. One of them still stands as my character stop PR race. But that medal means so much because of the 18 months of training and sacrifice that I put in to earn that medal. It often meant training repeatedly when I didn't want to. It meant doing things I once never wanted to do and once also believed was impossible for me.

And none of that would have happened if I had quit during my very first race when it became difficult.

Sounds like you get the whole running thing and the benefits that come from it. So why would you ever dream of quitting the marathon?

ATTQOTD: This was my question and y'all have made me feel like I am not crazy (or any crazier than I already know I am). Long story short, I have a friend who ran a marathon this weekend and stopped their watch at the 26.2 mark and is using that as their official time. Apparently their tangents were way off, because their chip time is over 5 minutes slower than the PR they are claiming. Either time would be a PR for them so I don't understand the reasoning for the watch time instead of chip time. I realize in the grand scheme of things this is pointless and probably makes me seem petty, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing my own PRs wrong too. LOL. So thank you all for your answers, I use chip time as well.

Also like others, I don't count it as a PR if the course is short, which really stinks sometimes.

For POT and Boston they use chip time, what good is the watch? Anyone could run with your watch. Means nothing IMO, as far as proof of time anyway.

Hoka people! I know Hoka One One shoes are different than many other brands. Is there anything you wish you had known before you started running in them? Advice for someone who is new to the Hoka brand?
For people who tried Hoka shoes and didn't like them - was there something about them you didn't like? Or was it just a general feel/fit situation?
(Specifically, I'm trying out the Bondi 6, but I'm interested in general Hoka advice as well. I thought they were okay in store, but knew I couldn't make a decision on them until I actually took them out for a run. I'm switching over from New Balance.)

TIA!

I got Hoka's. They took some getting used to but then I was loving them. Then I began getting bad pain in my Achilles so I went back to my Asics and haven't had an issue since. My doctor told me to stay away from them. Now I use them for park days.

QOTD: Since today is my Friday with Thanksgiving being tomorrow this will be our fun Friday ummm I mean Wednesday question. For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, what is your favorite part of the day?

ATTQOTD: Being with family that I do not see often. While some of them I could go without, the others I am happy to see. Also another spotlight of the week is black Friday. For those of you going out in there, remember to film the adults acting like children with your phone in the horizontal position. The world thanks you for your efforts.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! safe travels for those getting on the road, and to the men and women who work in industries that do not get off holidays, thank you for providing the services you do.

Just food and relaxing.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating.

 

[sourire]

ATTQOTD: We rotate which holidays we work at my job, so this year, favorite part is being off and seeing lots of family! Hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving! Thankful for this group and for all that running has brought to my life.


Philly Half Marathon Recap - 11/17/18
(Short version: the weather was perfect for running, the crowd support was awesome, and there was a PR!)

It was great running weather...high-30s at the start and low-40s at the finish. A fantastic surprise, Meb was on the stage at the start line providing short bits of training/race advice and cheers to the crowd! I lined up to the far right of my corral, and before I knew it, I was standing just below him by the start line! I waved and yelled, "Love ya, Meb!" (and blew him a kiss). He waved and yelled back, "Love your smile!"

I'm not lying when I tell you that I felt half asleep for the first 4-5 miles of this race. I was in a bit of a fog...similar to how I have felt if I try to run after a night shift, which is to say, not very good. I got out of work late Friday evening, but managed to get 5 solid hours of sleep that night.

During the first few miles, I was having a lot of "I dunno about this race today. Maybe I should not have signed up for this? What if my foot starts to hurt? Is my foot hurting, or is it my imagination?" But, I tried to repeat positive things instead...."I feel good, the foot feels great, weather is fantastic, I am rested, I'm out here with 10,000 of my Philly friends doing what I love to do.” I ate a fig newton at mile 5, and something finally switched in my brain. I told myself to "Get your head in the game, girl!" several times! And I did. And then I was okay (and faster)!

As @Slogger mentioned, the Garmin got quite confused from the moment we came down Ben Franklin Parkway off the start line and ran into the city. I had forgotten this from last year. I became a little nervous that I was surely going out too fast and that I would have to be doing a lot of #runmath at each mile marker clock to figure out my pace (which I can't do, so that was making me anxious). Luckily, I had downloaded the official race tracker app, and when we got to mile 1, it updated me with the split in my headphones! Hooray!

I deviated from the pace strategy suggested by Coach. In theory, plan was to start out around 12 min/mi and work down from there. The first mile was 11:29/mi. I ended up running a more even paced race, hovering around 11:30/mile for the first 5 miles. Then when my body started accepting all of the positive statements that I was telling my mind, I started to pick up the pace, and everything got better from that point.

There were some gradual (but not too steep) hills around miles 8 and 11ish, and I decided that on the last downhill around mile 11ish, I was going to push it from then to the finish and stop looking at the watch. I did a decent job with that even pace in the first half of the race, and still managed to pick up the pace in the second half, feel strong in the last miles, and pass lots of ppl! First half was 79:xx minutes; second half was 78:xx minutes, for a finish in 2:27:36! Finally got that sub-2:30!

There were so many ppl in the finish/food area, and it was a little disorienting, even though I am familiar with the Philly finishes in front of the Art Museum. At long last, I found @Slogger! It was so nice to meet another member of the runDis fam and chat for a bit!

I would agree with his assessment, that the crowd support out there was awesome! Besides the Broad Street Run, this is definitely my favorite Philly course through many of the neighborhoods in the city. A lot of the local Philadelphia races do sort of an out and back - up Kelly Drive and down MLK Drive, or vice versa. It’s probably easier to send runners that way, rather than close off city streets. So it’s really fun when you get to run IN the actual city, in addition to running along the river, Boathouse Row, and finishing in front of the Art Museum. There was a really fun section in Old City - some hilarious signs (something about wanting to date a runner, and “call me?” - I forget exactly, but I laughed at the time!) and ppl handing out beer. Also appreciated all of the ppl with boxes of tissues, as my nose was running a lot from the cold! And the Liberty Bell on the medal dings which is fun.

Thanks again to @DopeyBadger for another solid training plan! It was an abbreviated training cycle, given the slow return to run post-injury. Plus, we changed things up at the last minute, since I was supposed to run the Monterey Half on 11/11, but hey, it all worked out!

Thanks for reading this lengthy recap!

 

[DopeyBadger]

ATTQOTD: We rotate which holidays we work at my job, so this year, favorite part is being off and seeing lots of family! Hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving! Thankful for this group and for all that running has brought to my life.


Philly Half Marathon Recap - 11/17/18
(Short version: the weather was perfect for running, the crowd support was awesome, and there was a PR!)

It was great running weather...high-30s at the start and low-40s at the finish. A fantastic surprise, Meb was on the stage at the start line providing short bits of training/race advice and cheers to the crowd! I lined up to the far right of my corral, and before I knew it, I was standing just below him by the start line! I waved and yelled, "Love ya, Meb!" (and blew him a kiss). He waved and yelled back, "Love your smile!"

I'm not lying when I tell you that I felt half asleep for the first 4-5 miles of this race. I was in a bit of a fog...similar to how I have felt if I try to run after a night shift, which is to say, not very good. I got out of work late Friday evening, but managed to get 5 solid hours of sleep that night.

During the first few miles, I was having a lot of "I dunno about this race today. Maybe I should not have signed up for this? What if my foot starts to hurt? Is my foot hurting, or is it my imagination?" But, I tried to repeat positive things instead...."I feel good, the foot feels great, weather is fantastic, I am rested, I'm out here with 10,000 of my Philly friends doing what I love to do.” I ate a fig newton at mile 5, and something finally switched in my brain. I told myself to "Get your head in the game, girl!" several times! And I did. And then I was okay (and faster)!

As @Slogger mentioned, the Garmin got quite confused from the moment we came down Ben Franklin Parkway off the start line and ran into the city. I had forgotten this from last year. I became a little nervous that I was surely going out too fast and that I would have to be doing a lot of #runmath at each mile marker clock to figure out my pace (which I can't do, so that was making me anxious). Luckily, I had downloaded the official race tracker app, and when we got to mile 1, it updated me with the split in my headphones! Hooray!

I deviated from the pace strategy suggested by Coach. In theory, plan was to start out around 12 min/mi and work down from there. The first mile was 11:29/mi. I ended up running a more even paced race, hovering around 11:30/mile for the first 5 miles. Then when my body started accepting all of the positive statements that I was telling my mind, I started to pick up the pace, and everything got better from that point.

There were some gradual (but not too steep) hills around miles 8 and 11ish, and I decided that on the last downhill around mile 11ish, I was going to push it from then to the finish and stop looking at the watch. I did a decent job with that even pace in the first half of the race, and still managed to pick up the pace in the second half, feel strong in the last miles, and pass lots of ppl! First half was 79:xx minutes; second half was 78:xx minutes, for a finish in 2:27:36! Finally got that sub-2:30!

There were so many ppl in the finish/food area, and it was a little disorienting, even though I am familiar with the Philly finishes in front of the Art Museum. At long last, I found @Slogger! It was so nice to meet another member of the runDis fam and chat for a bit!

I would agree with his assessment, that the crowd support out there was awesome! Besides the Broad Street Run, this is definitely my favorite Philly course through many of the neighborhoods in the city. A lot of the local Philadelphia races do sort of an out and back - up Kelly Drive and down MLK Drive, or vice versa. It’s probably easier to send runners that way, rather than close off city streets. So it’s really fun when you get to run IN the actual city, in addition to running along the river, Boathouse Row, and finishing in front of the Art Museum. There was a really fun section in Old City - some hilarious signs (something about wanting to date a runner, and “call me?” - I forget exactly, but I laughed at the time!) and ppl handing out beer. Also appreciated all of the ppl with boxes of tissues, as my nose was running a lot from the cold! And the Liberty Bell on the medal dings which is fun.

Thanks again to @DopeyBadger for another solid training plan! It was an abbreviated training cycle, given the slow return to run post-injury. Plus, we changed things up at the last minute, since I was supposed to run the Monterey Half on 11/11, but hey, it all worked out!

Thanks for reading this lengthy recap!

Also, nice smile!

 

[SarahDisney]

ATTQOTD: Happy Thanksgiving everyone. This Thanksgiving we are very thankful that after 2+ months are heat was restored yesterday. Just in time for the coldest Thanksgiving in at least 100 years. We are in Maine at my in laws and will enjoy being together and good food. My parents actually come to my in laws as well so we get to see both sides which is nice. Also looking forward to spending the weekend shopping in
Portland and some good brews. And then the start of my favorite holiday!

Yay! I'm so glad to hear you finally got heat back!

I got Hoka's. They took some getting used to but then I was loving them. Then I began getting bad pain in my Achilles so I went back to my Asics and haven't had an issue since. My doctor told me to stay away from them. Now I use them for park days.

Hmm ... I had some ankle pain, including a little light Achilles pain, in my other shoes, so this is definitely something I need to pay attention to. Thanks!

 

[Keels]

QOTD: Since today is my Friday with Thanksgiving being tomorrow this will be our fun Friday ummm I mean Wednesday question. For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, what is your favorite part of the day?

Kinda different Thanksgiving for me. I have a half tomorrow morning, then I’ll probably take a nap and will spend the rest of the afternoon/evening at Champions Square and the Superdome for Falcons-Saints!

 

[michigandergirl]

Congrats @Slogger and @sourire on your PR's!!!

 

[cavepig]

I'm all about the Macy's Thanksgiving parade! Then the national dog show after. Oh and Families good too! As for food, I'm not a Thanksgiving food fan, I'm a vegetarian and would prefer to eat spaghetti.

 

[garneska]

i am also a Macy's Parade fan and the dog show fan. My big problem tomorrow is that i have 9 miles to run. I was planning to run at 6:30 so i am back for the parade but it will be cold. i really want to wait till 8:30 then i will miss a lot of the parade