The Running Thread - 2016

[keahgirl8]

Welp. After an unfortunate check-up with my doctor, it looks like I'm out on the Ultra - but back in on Princess! And now it's a girl trip! So excited to get another girls run weekend together.

We're going all-out on the Princess-y stuff this time - Royal Room at Port Orleans, and ALL the Princess meals. And one of our friends is not only doing her first RunDisney race, but it's also her first trip to Walt Disney World!

So exciting.

You'll have a blast! I'm sorry to hear about your Ultra though.

I can't imagine running with your iPhone would cause the shoulder pain. It could be from a tight muscle or something, just from the way you run. I would have it checked out though just to be safe.

The only way I could see this causing an issue is if you run with that hand clenched and/or your arm really tight and rigid. I have to make a conscious effort to run with loose arms, or I have shoulder pain.

The one downer occurred after the race when I had the gall to ask for extra watermelon... Forever known now as the great watermelon faux pas of 2016. Seriously it is one slice for each runner according to the volunteer I had the misfortune to interact with! I get making sure there is enough for all the runners, but wow she took watermelon protocol very seriously. As my wife said as we headed to the return boat, I have been watermelon shamed! Every other volunteer I interacted with was awesome and it is a great race. I am going back next year.

I hope everyone else running this weekend had good races and look forward to hearing about them once I catch up on the thread!

I'm glad you had a good race! I'm sorry about the watermelon incident, but I have been at a race where they ran out of bananas, so I can understand where she was coming from.

 

[Miranda]

I'm glad you had a good race! I'm sorry about the watermelon incident, but I have been at a race where they ran out of bananas, so I can understand where she was coming from.

Yeah, being a slow back of the packer, I have been to more than one race where either they ran out of food by the time we got there, or it got packed up.

The most disappointing one was the New Year's Day race that I did this year. It was disappointing in a number of ways at the end. It was a combined 5K/10K, and there were a lot more 5K runners than 10K. So by the time the slower 10K people were finishing, we found no volunteers at the finish line, just a pile of water bottle pallets to get our own out. The food tables were decimated and there was nothing left. None of the special goodies we were supposed to get, no bananas, no anything else. I was pretty bummed about that because from what I could tell, there were little boxes with something baked in them that people got. Usually there is at least SOMETHING left. And some people.

I'm sorry about the watermelon though... there is nothing that tastes better than watermelon after a hot race. They had lots of it at my 5K this morning, and I shoved 4 pieces into my face before I even opened up the water bottle. This is where being a back of the packer comes in handy, although there were like 100 people after me today. I could see there was still plenty of watermelon left and they were still cutting up more of them!

 

[Slogger]

I have been gone for the past week on a camping trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with my family. Wonderful trip! We ended the trip with my race this morning. It was my first trail marathon. The race was on an island in Lake Superior just off Munising, MI (next to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore). I have to say that this was the most beautiful race I have ever run, truly breath taking! The course was quite challenging and included great single track and fire road sections that overlooked Lake Superior, Pictured Rocks, historic buildings and beautiful Michigan forests.

Congrats on a great race! Sounds amazing. I may try to look it up on Youtube to see if anyone has posted a video. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Waiting2goback]

I have been gone for the past week on a camping trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with my family. Wonderful trip! We ended the trip with my race this morning. It was my first trail marathon. The race was on an island in Lake Superior just off Munising, MI (next to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore). I have to say that this was the most beautiful race I have ever run, truly breath taking! The course was quite challenging and included great single track and fire road sections that overlooked Lake Superior, Pictured Rocks, historic buildings and beautiful Michigan forests. One section, about a mile, was along the beach and was so peaceful and invigorating! Great run. I really recommend this race for anyone looking for a destination race. They offered a half marathon, marathon (with two start times to assist with staying under the time limits) and a 50k. It was well organized with shuttles from all the local hotels and then a boat ride out to the island. They even hand you a slip at the end of the race with your time, mile average, and placement in age, gender and overall categories.

I tried to download a few pictures but failed, but take my word for it, watching the sun rise from the shore of the island was worth all 26.2 miles! My goal was to finish in 4:30. I did not meet that goal, finishing in 4:40, but I felt very good about the race. It was a challenging course and the hills chewed my legs up some; so the final 10 miles I fell off the pace a bit. But managed to finish 8th in my age group and 43 overall. It was not a huge race, only about 200-250 people running the marathon and a similar number running the half and a small, and very impressive group, running the 50k. I am very happy with my effort. I left everything on the course and was also able to take in the beauty of the woods and views of the trail run. When it was over I participated in the tradition of jumping into Lake Superior. No ice bath needed for me! It was soooo cold but in the moment felt great. The boat ride back was tough though. If you do the race bring a spare set of clothes to change into before returning.

The one downer occurred after the race when I had the gall to ask for extra watermelon... Forever known now as the great watermelon faux pas of 2016. Seriously it is one slice for each runner according to the volunteer I had the misfortune to interact with! I get making sure there is enough for all the runners, but wow she took watermelon protocol very seriously. As my wife said as we headed to the return boat, I have been watermelon shamed! Every other volunteer I interacted with was awesome and it is a great race. I am going back next year.

I hope everyone else running this weekend had good races and look forward to hearing about them once I catch up on the thread!

This does sound like a very nice race and something I would love to do. I always try to get my bigger races to be involved with nature because you get to see what the country has to offer and it makes those painful miles much easier to handle when you have something nice to look at. But, I am just not sure if I can ever bring myself to do a trail race. I would be afraid to get hurt.

Oh, and one piece of watermelon after a marathon just doesn't seem like enough to me. I would have asked for more too. Watermelon isn't that filling.

You'll have a blast! I'm sorry to hear about your Ultra though.



The only way I could see this causing an issue is if you run with that hand clenched and/or your arm really tight and rigid. I have to make a conscious effort to run with loose arms, or I have shoulder pain.



I'm glad you had a good race! I'm sorry about the watermelon incident, but I have been at a race where they ran out of bananas, so I can understand where she was coming from.

I never get shoulder pain when I run, except for my marathons. When I get tired in those later miles I tighten up and there is comes. The good news is the shoulder and upper back pain distracts me from the lower body pain. I was talking to my friend about this very topic today and it just made me laugh. One of those moments that I have occasionally where I realize us runners are a bit crazy. He was saying how much pain he was in during the Disney marathon and how it was the worst pain he had ever felt and here we are planning when to do our next one. It would be like hammering a nail through your foot on purpose and then planning to do it again while giving someone money to allow it to happen. And being the brilliant people we are, we celebrate the torture with a shiny medal. It all sounds so funny sometimes. Sorry if I got a bit weird there for a second.

 

[Waiting2goback]

 

[Baloo in MI]

Congrats on a great race and finish! It sounds absolutely beautiful, I may have to run it someday. I hope you had cooler weather up there yesterday. It is so miserable here this weekend - oppressive heat and humidity.

We are camping in the UP next month toward the east end of Pictured Rocks, can't wait!

Wonderful area to camp! Make sure to get to Tahquamenon Falls. The humidity was not too bad, I was done before noon and much of the race is in the shade of trees so it really helped to make things cooler. You should definitely run this one day. Great race.

 

[Baloo in MI]

I'm glad you had a good race! I'm sorry about the watermelon incident, but I have been at a race where they ran out of bananas, so I can understand where she was coming from.

Yeah, I completely agree with the reasoning. It was more about the approach. Mostly in jest any ways. I think the fact that folks were willing to come over to the island and volunteer shows how much they wanted to support the runners, and how awesome they are. So I am not bashing the volunteers at all. Mostly just laughing at a really awkward moment!

 

[Keels]

I'm pretty down-in-the-dumps, and my training has definitely suffered this weekend because of it.

My initial diagnosis of bursitis ended up in worse news in a follow-up from a specialist.

I always knew that my hips would likely need surgery because of how lopsided my body is, and because of the atrophy in my left calf from all the time I spent in casts because of surgery on my foot. I didn't realize it could happen this quickly.

Chicago will be my last "race". Dopey 2017 will likely be my last "challenge". I'm still working with my doctor on ways that can get me through Dopey 2018 and then I'll hang it all up. At least that's my goal right now. He's been very specific that once I have a hip replacement - be it full or even partial, running just isn't in the cards if I want to avoid future surgery.

I wish I'd started this journey earlier. There are so many places I want to see and races I want to run, and I don't think it's going to be possible for me to ever do them now.

Womp womp.

OK. Enough of my sad trombone act. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

 

[Z-Knight]

I'm pretty down-in-the-dumps, and my training has definitely suffered this weekend because of it.

My initial diagnosis of bursitis ended up in worse news in a follow-up from a specialist.

I always knew that my hips would likely need surgery because of how lopsided my body is, and because of the atrophy in my left calf from all the time I spent in casts because of surgery on my foot. I didn't realize it could happen this quickly.

Chicago will be my last "race". Dopey 2017 will likely be my last "challenge". I'm still working with my doctor on ways that can get me through Dopey 2018 and then I'll hang it all up. At least that's my goal right now. He's been very specific that once I have a hip replacement - be it full or even partial, running just isn't in the cards if I want to avoid future surgery.

I wish I'd started this journey earlier. There are so many places I want to see and races I want to run, and I don't think it's going to be possible for me to ever do them now.

Womp womp.

OK. Enough of my sad trombone act. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

I'm sorry to hear that, praying that you can make it through at least Dopey 2018 - maybe with the 16:00 min/mile limits and no photos you'll be able to go without further injury and still finish. Whatever the outcome, you have achieved quite a lot thus far and inspired many here.

 

[Keels]

I'm sorry to hear that, praying that you can make it through at least Dopey 2018 - maybe with the 16:00 min/mile limits and no photos you'll be able to go without further injury and still finish. Whatever the outcome, you have achieved quite a lot thus far and inspired many here.

Thank you so much - you have NO idea how much I appreciate that!

I *think* I should be able to make it through Dopey in 2018 and then shut things down. Unfortunately, the first thing to go was my planned Ultra in February of 2017, and any other RD Challenges after Dopey. Obviously, my training is going to be a lot more non-impact than would be preferred for endurance running, but ... mind over matter.

 

[Baloo in MI]

I think there were a few other QOTD's, but I was too far behind! This thread moves so fast!

QOTD: What do you often think about when you are out for a run?

I like to think about work or personal issues, processing my options or how I might approach something. Sometimes I just listen to music and try to focus on the moment. I also like to daydream about great running exploits that I will never come close to achieving but are fun to imagine, really helps when the miles are tough!

 

[Z-Knight]

Thank you so much - you have NO idea how much I appreciate that!

I *think* I should be able to make it through Dopey in 2018 and then shut things down. Unfortunately, the first thing to go was my planned Ultra in February of 2017, and any other RD Challenges after Dopey. Obviously, my training is going to be a lot more non-impact than would be preferred for endurance running, but ... mind over matter.

I can imagine how this must be stressful right now - I've been injured or sick before every race this year but that pales in comparison. My only recommendation is to switch to training on a treadmil, that should be less impact but you get the same endurance benefits. I do all my training on treadmils because of heat in Houston and lack of safe sidewalks - yes it is tedious sometimes buy it does make you mentally tougher, and you can watch tv.

 

[Keels]

I can imagine how this must be stressful right now - I've been injured or sick before every race this year but that pales in comparison. My only recommendation is to switch to training on a treadmil, that should be less impact but you get the same endurance benefits. I do all my training on treadmils because of heat in Houston and lack of safe sidewalks - yes it is tedious sometimes buy it does make you mentally tougher, and you can watch tv.

Yeah, I've been on a treadmill at home now for a couple of weeks - but it's one of those terrible fixed-angle treadmills, so EVERY run is basically on a 20-percent incline. KILL ME.

The running isn't the problem (OK, well, yes - it is) - I feel totally fine when I run inside or out. But my hips hurt painfully when I sit down, stand up, or worst of all - am sleeping. Right now, I'm relying on a lot of anti-inflammatories, ice, BioFreeze, Tiger Balm and even sleeping on the floor when the pain gets REALLY bad because the hard surface helps.

 

[Baloo in MI]

I'm pretty down-in-the-dumps, and my training has definitely suffered this weekend because of it.

My initial diagnosis of bursitis ended up in worse news in a follow-up from a specialist.

I always knew that my hips would likely need surgery because of how lopsided my body is, and because of the atrophy in my left calf from all the time I spent in casts because of surgery on my foot. I didn't realize it could happen this quickly.

Chicago will be my last "race". Dopey 2017 will likely be my last "challenge". I'm still working with my doctor on ways that can get me through Dopey 2018 and then I'll hang it all up. At least that's my goal right now. He's been very specific that once I have a hip replacement - be it full or even partial, running just isn't in the cards if I want to avoid future surgery.

I wish I'd started this journey earlier. There are so many places I want to see and races I want to run, and I don't think it's going to be possible for me to ever do them now.

Womp womp.

OK. Enough of my sad trombone act. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

I am so sorry to hear this! You have been so inspiring and bring true spirit to this thread and the running community on DISBoards! I truly hope you can continue to pursue your goals through 2018. We will all be here to cheer and provide support. 16 min/miles walking is tough, but so are you!

 

[croach]

I'm pretty down-in-the-dumps, and my training has definitely suffered this weekend because of it.

My initial diagnosis of bursitis ended up in worse news in a follow-up from a specialist.

I always knew that my hips would likely need surgery because of how lopsided my body is, and because of the atrophy in my left calf from all the time I spent in casts because of surgery on my foot. I didn't realize it could happen this quickly.

Chicago will be my last "race". Dopey 2017 will likely be my last "challenge". I'm still working with my doctor on ways that can get me through Dopey 2018 and then I'll hang it all up. At least that's my goal right now. He's been very specific that once I have a hip replacement - be it full or even partial, running just isn't in the cards if I want to avoid future surgery.

I wish I'd started this journey earlier. There are so many places I want to see and races I want to run, and I don't think it's going to be possible for me to ever do them now.

Womp womp.

OK. Enough of my sad trombone act. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Oh what a bummer to hear @Keels. I know you had a lot of races you wanted to do but hopefully you can hang in and get through 2018. You wanted to get involved in being a race director right? Still thinking about that or would that be close to the sport? Anyways sorry for the bad news.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'm pretty down-in-the-dumps, and my training has definitely suffered this weekend because of it.

My initial diagnosis of bursitis ended up in worse news in a follow-up from a specialist.

I always knew that my hips would likely need surgery because of how lopsided my body is, and because of the atrophy in my left calf from all the time I spent in casts because of surgery on my foot. I didn't realize it could happen this quickly.

Chicago will be my last "race". Dopey 2017 will likely be my last "challenge". I'm still working with my doctor on ways that can get me through Dopey 2018 and then I'll hang it all up. At least that's my goal right now. He's been very specific that once I have a hip replacement - be it full or even partial, running just isn't in the cards if I want to avoid future surgery.

I wish I'd started this journey earlier. There are so many places I want to see and races I want to run, and I don't think it's going to be possible for me to ever do them now.

Womp womp.

OK. Enough of my sad trombone act. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Sorry to hear this! You are such a positive influence on so many people here on the disboards. Wishing you the best possible outcome.

 

[CherieFran]

I'm pretty down-in-the-dumps, and my training has definitely suffered this weekend because of it.

My initial diagnosis of bursitis ended up in worse news in a follow-up from a specialist.

I always knew that my hips would likely need surgery because of how lopsided my body is, and because of the atrophy in my left calf from all the time I spent in casts because of surgery on my foot. I didn't realize it could happen this quickly.

Chicago will be my last "race". Dopey 2017 will likely be my last "challenge". I'm still working with my doctor on ways that can get me through Dopey 2018 and then I'll hang it all up. At least that's my goal right now. He's been very specific that once I have a hip replacement - be it full or even partial, running just isn't in the cards if I want to avoid future surgery.

I wish I'd started this journey earlier. There are so many places I want to see and races I want to run, and I don't think it's going to be possible for me to ever do them now.

Womp womp.

OK. Enough of my sad trombone act. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Sorry you are in so much pain! Hope you find a training plan that works to get you through your planned races!!

 

[CherieFran]

I finished my 5K on Saturday night in 24:43. 23 seconds slower than my PR but my second fastest time ever. It was 93 degrees at the start (and finish) of the race with a heat index of 99. More complete recap to come in my training journal. Really happy with my time given the conditions but already trying to decide when I should run another 5K in the fall because I know I have a PR in me!

 

[LSUlakes]

Todays QOTD was suggested by a fellow poster to follow up the last QOTD. Thanks for the suggestion and anyone with any ideas feel free to send me a PM with a idea.

QOTD: When you start feeling burnout during a big training season, how do you get yourself out the door for training runs?

ATTQOTD: I remind myself, that I have yet to go out for a run that I regret. That usually gets me out the door to take on the days task.

 

[Waiting2goback]

I'm pretty down-in-the-dumps, and my training has definitely suffered this weekend because of it.

My initial diagnosis of bursitis ended up in worse news in a follow-up from a specialist.

I always knew that my hips would likely need surgery because of how lopsided my body is, and because of the atrophy in my left calf from all the time I spent in casts because of surgery on my foot. I didn't realize it could happen this quickly.

Chicago will be my last "race". Dopey 2017 will likely be my last "challenge". I'm still working with my doctor on ways that can get me through Dopey 2018 and then I'll hang it all up. At least that's my goal right now. He's been very specific that once I have a hip replacement - be it full or even partial, running just isn't in the cards if I want to avoid future surgery.

I wish I'd started this journey earlier. There are so many places I want to see and races I want to run, and I don't think it's going to be possible for me to ever do them now.

Womp womp.

OK. Enough of my sad trombone act. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Keels, I am sorry to hear this news and I know how you feel, I have been bummed lately too. Injuries suck. BUT, don't give up yet. When my doctor told me I might not run again if this surgery doesn't fix my ankle, and if it does I might never get to run another marathon, I was upset. But, doctors are supposed to be negative to avoid getting sued. I realize you are in pain and it feels bad now but there are always second opinions. Come to Boston for a second opinion, we have some of the best doctors in the world. If my doctor doesn't fix my ankle that's where I am going next.

You might need to change how you do things with training and recovery but you might not have to give it up. And as someone here told me, it's not the end of the world if you can't run marathons anymore. Refer to my post last night about how much pain they cause. I still plan to do Marathon weekend in 2018. Maybe I don't do Dopey but I plan to do that marathon. And I still want to do Boston once. Other than that, I can find other races that will be fun if needed. Maybe you could just do 10K's at rD races and then volunteer for others. That will help you learn the ins and outs of putting on a race so you can work toward your goal of becoming a race director.

You have an awesome story and it would be a shame for it to come to a stop now. Maybe things aren't going as planned but maybe the plans were just wrong in the first place. Maybe this is the path you are supposed to be on. Maybe your purpose is to help other runners.

Someone told this guy he would never run again and I passed him during the marathon.

http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/double-amputee-completes-ironman-703-in-georgia