The Running Thread - 2019

Hi everyone!
I have officially finished my first race! And I should be super ecstatic about it, but I'm not. If you'll allow me to vent for a minute...
It was a 5k, a big local race around here. I was on track to meet my goal time. And about 500m from the finish there was such a bottleneck that I literally came to a complete stop. It took over 7 minutes to cross the finish line from that point.
So I'm a little frustrated to say the least.
But all in all it was a beautiful day and I completed the race, so I am trying to be positive about it. Thanks for listening :)

Congratulations! Sorry about the frustration at the end. At least you know that you were on track with your goals and if it weren't for the bottleneck, you would have hit them.
 
Hi all. Not such a great week for me. Car accident at high speed on Tuesday (Imelda rain storm) that left me with a spinal (L3) compression fracture. I am asymptomatic other than some muscle pain in my lower back. I have been told to wear a brace for two weeks and then I can start training to the level of "what feels OK". I walked on our elliptical for 20 min yesterday and had no pain or issues.

Has anyone had one of these before? We are supposed to do a 2 day, 170 mi bike ride in October and the spinal doc seemed to think I would be able to complete the ride.
 
Hi all. Not such a great week for me. Car accident at high speed on Tuesday (Imelda rain storm) that left me with a spinal (L3) compression fracture. I am asymptomatic other than some muscle pain in my lower back. I have been told to wear a brace for two weeks and then I can start training to the level of "what feels OK". I walked on our elliptical for 20 min yesterday and had no pain or issues.

Has anyone had one of these before? We are supposed to do a 2 day, 170 mi bike ride in October and the spinal doc seemed to think I would be able to complete the ride.

No experience to share - but glad you are doing ok. That sounds scary!
 
Hi all. Not such a great week for me. Car accident at high speed on Tuesday (Imelda rain storm) that left me with a spinal (L3) compression fracture. I am asymptomatic other than some muscle pain in my lower back. I have been told to wear a brace for two weeks and then I can start training to the level of "what feels OK". I walked on our elliptical for 20 min yesterday and had no pain or issues.

Has anyone had one of these before? We are supposed to do a 2 day, 170 mi bike ride in October and the spinal doc seemed to think I would be able to complete the ride.

Glad to hear you're doing ok! Is this injury similar to yours @disneygpa ?
 


Hi all. Not such a great week for me. Car accident at high speed on Tuesday (Imelda rain storm) that left me with a spinal (L3) compression fracture. I am asymptomatic other than some muscle pain in my lower back. I have been told to wear a brace for two weeks and then I can start training to the level of "what feels OK". I walked on our elliptical for 20 min yesterday and had no pain or issues.

Has anyone had one of these before? We are supposed to do a 2 day, 170 mi bike ride in October and the spinal doc seemed to think I would be able to complete the ride.

OMG! I hope you heal quickly!
 
DoLittle HM Race Report

This should be short because @DopeyBadger gave a great report of the conditions in the previous post. I drove up from north suburban Chicago and encountered much of the same rain as Billy.

This HM was just a training run for me as I have a full trail M in three weeks. Billy adjusted my training plan a bit to get this in, and emphasized my mantra needs to be ... Slow it down; save it for the marathon.

My training plan called for a 13:19 pace and I ended up just a bit faster at 13:09. About 30 minutes after Billy finished the rain started really coming down hard (I was about at mile 9). The cool rain felt great and I wish it had rained more sooner. This is my 13th HM in the past four years, and although it was a PW (personal worst) I was very happy with the time and how generally easy the pace felt, even after running seven miles yesterday.

All in all a very good day; I made my paces and finally got to meet Coach Billy, Steph, and G.
 


DoLittle HM Race Report

This should be short because @DopeyBadger gave a great report of the conditions in the previous post. I drove up from north suburban Chicago and encountered much of the same rain as Billy.

This HM was just a training run for me as I have a full trail M in three weeks. Billy adjusted my training plan a bit to get this in, and emphasized my mantra needs to be ... Slow it down; save it for the marathon.

My training plan called for a 13:19 pace and I ended up just a bit faster at 13:09. About 30 minutes after Billy finished the rain started really coming down hard (I was about at mile 9). The cool rain felt great and I wish it had rained more sooner. This is my 13th HM in the past four years, and although it was a PW (personal worst) I was very happy with the time and how generally easy the pace felt, even after running seven miles yesterday.

All in all a very good day; I made my paces and finally got to meet Coach Billy, Steph, and G.

Are you running Chicago?
 
Are you running Chicago?
No, I'm running the Des Plaines River Trail Marathon on October 12. It starts in Lincolnshire, IL and follows the river up to Libertyville, IL and back. I would like to do Chicago some day, but its a lot of pavement pounding on my 62 year old legs, hips, and knees.
 
No, I'm running the Des Plaines River Trail Marathon on October 12. It starts in Lincolnshire, IL and follows the river up to Libertyville, IL and back. I would like to do Chicago some day, but its a lot of pavement pounding on my 62 year old legs, hips, and knees.

Definitely understand that.
 
Hi all. Not such a great week for me. Car accident at high speed on Tuesday (Imelda rain storm) that left me with a spinal (L3) compression fracture. I am asymptomatic other than some muscle pain in my lower back. I have been told to wear a brace for two weeks and then I can start training to the level of "what feels OK". I walked on our elliptical for 20 min yesterday and had no pain or issues.

Has anyone had one of these before? We are supposed to do a 2 day, 170 mi bike ride in October and the spinal doc seemed to think I would be able to complete the ride.

Sorry to hear about your injury. Hope you make a full recovery soon.
 
Long time, no post. Back to school has kicked my butt! But running has been going great. I've been running with a local group and did a challenge this weekend. 5K yesterday and 10K today. I am so excited about my times. By far, personal bests for me. 23 min 48 sec for the 5K. I was 3rd in my AG and 66th overall. For the 10K, time was 52 min, 38 secs. 2nd in my AG and 34th overall. I'm thrilled and getting so excited for Wine and Dine.
 
Glad to hear you're doing ok! Is this injury similar to yours @disneygpa ?

@RunDopey Wow! Sorry to hear about your accident! Hoping for a speedy recovery! I followed all the instructions I got from the surgeon and the therapy team. It took awhile for me to recover but I'm thankful to say that my back is in great shape now. I think the bike ride isn't out of the question! You got this!

@DopeyBadger my injury was an unstable fracture that required surgery, plates and screws. I fortunately never had to wear a brace, but I think my recovery time was a little longer.
 
@RunDopey Wow! Sorry to hear about your accident! Hoping for a speedy recovery! I followed all the instructions I got from the surgeon and the therapy team. It took awhile for me to recover but I'm thankful to say that my back is in great shape now. I think the bike ride isn't out of the question! You got this!

@DopeyBadger my injury was an unstable fracture that required surgery, plates and screws. I fortunately never had to wear a brace, but I think my recovery time was a little longer.
Thanks! Getting better every day. Your injury sounds complicated. Glad to hear you made a full recovery.
 
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.
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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!
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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.
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.
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!
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.
438455
 
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!
 
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!
You continue to amaze me (and I'm sure many others here)! Good luck for the packing and even better luck for the race. Don't break a leg. Or break one, depends on how superstitious you are. Clearly didn't work last race. Another plus to the not 85+ temp is the course is as flat as a pancake, it will be interesting to see if the WR falls again.
 

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