The Running Thread - 2019



flav said:
Montreal Rock’n’Roll Marathon Race Recap

In short: I am a Marathoner!

Before the race

I registered for that race as I thought it would be a good practice for Dopey 2020 with an option to leave the course almost mid-way to complete the Half.

The organizers changed the course and schedule completely to accommodate road construction so I knew that if I started the Full, I was finishing it.

Training went well, my goal being to have a good slow speed endurance base. The maximum distance I covered in a long run was 19 miles and I was very comfortable with it.

The Expo was better than last year and I bought three pairs of shoes. I also pre-registered my family to next year’s 5k and myself for the Full. It won’t be any cheaper later and it meant that my supporters (I gave one of mine and DH could borrow mine) were all getting the bonus T-shirt aka the perfect attire to be visible during my race! I distributed the T-shirt, race course map, metro pass, gel, energy drink to my « crew ». I also helped them install the Rock’n’Roll tracking App.

After a decent night of sleep, I woke up early and even had time to write on DISboards during breakfast. Thanks for the words of encouragement @steph0808 and others.

Temperature in Montreal was unseasonably high for the last day of Summer but it turned out ok with a slight overcast.

I parked my car at an incentive parking near a metro station, rode the metro, arrived at the site, laced my shoes and dropped my bag. Everything was going smoothly, I was calmer then I’ve ever been at a race.

I lined up in the fourth corral and waited for the start. And waited for the start. And waited for the start. We could not hear anything but we sure were not moving. The Elite finally got the go, 50 minutes behind schedule. Since I was not aiming for a time, it was no big deal for me but I feel for those who had a tight race plan.

During the race

I started the race at a long run pace, taking the time to selfie and cheer for the supporters. I took a gel early to compensate for the delay. I was trilled to see DM at 9km, hugged her and grabbed a gel for later. I ran the first 10k in less than an hour which is not PR fast for me but not slow either.
View attachment 438444
Everyone looking at the course thought that the very long back and forth on Hochelaga would feel dreadful. It was not so bad in the end: We were crossing with the Elite, visiting the army base, being pleasantly surprised by the number of enthusiastic supporters in the residential area and then crossing with the closing crew! Some runners were finding it funny that I was taking pictures and I said that I was a tourist: I had never and will never purposely go running on that road again!
View attachment 438445
And with that, at 23.5km, I met with DM and DU (uncle) for my cake break! I was running blind but, in hindsight, it meant that I had ran a Half Marathon in 2h07 minutes. Not bad for a cake eating tourist.
View attachment 438448
A note to say that all through the race the water and sport drink stations were well staffed and plenty. I did not like the SIS pouch they first gave me and I took the other flavours to try at home for next year since they are not sold in Canada.
View attachment 438449
We passed through the Olympic Stadium and then started a slight but steady climb around it. That part was less inspiring than expected but I was lucky to meet my colleague Philippe. We ran together for a good while and he told me that I was clearly finishing this without issues. He also told me to keep some energy when he saw me dance to the music or detour to high five some kids.

At 32km, DD11 came running toward me! She then accompanied me until we got to DH who filmed me and hugged me and to DD14 who was taking pictures. We ran a few hundred meters together and I said bye.

I saw DU before and after the third and last out and back at 33km and 35km. By the last one I was sugared out so I passed on the Gatorade he was offering. I had also sometimes started to walk, because I wanted to be sure to digest it all. It passed and I resumed. The level of energy of the participants and supporters was now way lower and it affected me a bit. I could have ran more than I did. I was still enjoying myself thus keeping close to my goal.

I smiled and ran the last few km and passed the finish line!
View attachment 438450
I am a Marathoner!

Official time is 04:49:40 and I am about in the middle of the pack.

After the race

I saw DU taking pictures. Then a bit later I saw DH and DDs. DH was happy to see me but sad that he did not photograph my arrival. The App was showing me stuck somewhere and he was worried something went wrong... I explained that it just meant that I had a positive split. I understood that it was the first time he was witnessing live the end of an endurance event and that not everyone finishes as healthy and smiling as me. Makes me appreciate my luck too.

I got my medal, my brown paper snack bag and went stretching.

DM finally answered my calls: She had tripped on a wire while waiting for my arrival, had bumped her head and was at the Marathon’s health clinic. So we waited a couple of hours until she got clearance. We then had a meal in the mall food court and went back home just before dinner and night time. It was hard to be euphoric during the afternoon because of these circumstances but, as I told them, having seen them along the course made this Marathon amazing! That is my crew, the best there is in the entire world (DH is missing from the picture).
They will all be at Dopey 2020.
View attachment 438455
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Congrats! Great race!
 


Wendy98 said:
I am headed to Berlin on Wednesday. Slightly freaking out because I still have to pack for myself and my kids (dh does his own thing with packing--I'm not his mom). I can't catch a break because we are drowning in extracurricular activities (I was at a cross country meet for 10 hours on Saturday and that was after 2 soccer games). Now I know why we don't travel during the school year if we don't have to. O top of that, I have been communicated with 14 teachers about out trip and what the kids can do while we are gone.

I have no idea what to expect on Sunday. I am nowhere close to being as fast as I used to be and being the athlete I know I am. About 3 months ago, I was thrilled when I held an 11:19/mile pace from run/walking and have progressed by leaps and bounds. I am hoping to be in the 3:20s for this race. I am excited to not have 85+ degrees and hell like conditions since we seem to not be getting fall this year. I think it is suppose to top out at mid 60s but it changes hourly. This will be my first race since I broke my leg in my last marathon. I can still find "the spot" on my leg if I press around enough. I was told it is nerve related, but it still makes me nervous.

Anyway, can't wait to see Berlin and run through it! Also excited about Oktoberfest!
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Good luck! I feel you on the extracurricular activities. I'm drowning over here in kids' schedules. I have a friend running Berlin too! You are going to do great!

@flav Congrats!!! Sounds like an amazing race day! I hope your mom is still doing ok!
 
Congrats @flav ! Love the pics and detailed race report. Sounds like you had a great run. How were you feeling the next day.....sore or still excited from being a marathoner?!!!!
 
camaker said:
BTW, for those of you waiting on Boston, they've announced that the cutoff is BQ-1:39. Hopefully everyone is below that! My calculated estimated cutoff was BQ-1:23, so pretty close!
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Congrats to @garneska and @canglim52 (and anyone else)!

I can't believe that means you would have had to run -6:39 faster than last year's qualifying times, and that's with the increased field size this year (31500)! 2021 will be crazy.
 
438927


I am over the moon. Thankfully I was leading my weekly meeting when the news came out. I was tipped off when I saw an instant message from a coworker that i missed. I checked my emails immediately and honestly started jumping up and down and crying at work. How often do you get into boston though!
 
Thank you all for the kind words or thoughts! :grouphug:

Slogger said:
Congrats @flav ! Love the pics and detailed race report. Sounds like you had a great run. How were you feeling the next day.....sore or still excited from being a marathoner?!!!!
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I am proud of being a Marathoner!
I wore my race T-Shirt the next day at work.

I finished the Marathon saying I would do other ones, it was so fun! My stretching was minimal due to all that happened, I ate way later than the usual recommendations and was only able to take a shower (I had changed clothes) more than five hours after crossing that line! Luckily, it did not have any consequence on my recovery.

I had taken a preventive appointment at my PT early the next morning and we were both looking at each other’s thinking why am I here other than celebration? It might have helped anyway.

I had a little usual soreness in one of my feet but it was minimal. My calves burned slightly when doing down the stairs the second day but nothing that prevented me to go up and down cheerily. I don’t even know if the little patch of chafing in my back was there before the race. I was almost glad to see (not feel) a blister on my toe: It is still intact and acts as a reminder of the event... You get my gist, I did not suffer at all and am grateful for it. And I might even have registered to other 2020 races since then...

Current Challenges 2020 lineup includes:
Dopey (5k+10k+Half+Full) in January
Lumberjack (2k+5k+10k+Full) in May
Remix (5k+Full) in September
 
Quick heads up: My Nimbus 17s have over 500 miles and I finally have to let them go, heard good things about the Nike Pegasus so jumped on nike.com and saw they're having a flash sale extra 25% on select items. Was able to score Pegasus 36 Rise for $64! They have Turbos, Vomeros, Zooms etc on sale too, but it ends tomorrow 9/26.

(also free shipping and returns if you sign up for their free Nike Plus membership)
 
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Reporting in from Chicago! Our US holiday has started, 15hr direct flight went well, currently awake at 2:20am with a belly still full of deep dish pizza. Heading out for a run in a few hours. We’re in the Windy City for another 3 nights before heading to WDW for a week before heading off to LA via Las Vegas and Death Valley.

Now to try and get back to sleep...
 
Slogger said:
@RunDopey......sorry about your accident and glad you are on the mend.

Congrats to @DopeyBadger, @Kerry1957, @lauraleh, and @C.beara for great running events last weekend.

Glad to hear you have been running for a month @Waiting2goback. Are you going to sign up for Disney HM?
Click to expand...

I don’t think so. It would have been fun but flights are way more than they usually are for me and adding it all up is too much on short notice. Also, I think it was put to much pressure on me to try and ramp up my miles too quick. I did 3 miles on Tuesday and everything hurt. (None injury hurt). Sore muscles, sore feet, everything was just tight and painful. I’m only running every other day but that may even to much at times. I’m up to 5 miles for an average run, so I’m sure I could do it, but I want to run pain free for years to come. So I am trying to be smart rather than my impatient self. It also hit me, I was basically not running for a year. I’m starting over for the most part. But I’m not 40 this time, I’m 46. I need to be smart. Ok, now you guys know what goes through my head as I run these days. :rolleyes1
 
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