Wine and Dine 2015

[PrincessV]

Will I be all alone if I walk after 2 minutes from the start?

Not at all! But I'll tell you this: a whole lot of folks will feel compelled to skip their first few walk intervals to "keep up" with the crowd - and you'll find yourself blowing past them later as they fade. Nothing new on race day, and that goes for interval running, too! In cold weather, I'll walk a good 5 minutes before I ever run a step because to do otherwise is just inviting injury with my body. I like starting in the back of my corral - that takes off a lot of pressure to go out too fast and gives you lots of breathing room for a few minutes. The faster folks from the corral behind you will start catching up and passing, but by then that corral has generally spread out some and it's not quite so crowded.

Piggyback to this question-
For good racing etiquette; if you are doing racing intervals, is there a preferred side you should try to stick to when you go to walk? Does it matter if walkers are on the left or the right? I feel like walkers should be on the right based on real world running situations- but wasn't sure about races...

In theory you would want to stay right, but honestly at these Disney races it's so crowded that it can be impossible to stick to one side or the other. I just make sure that when I'm preparing to walk that I raise my hand and then do a quick check behind me to be sure nobody is right on my heels. Sometimes that means that I run a few seconds longer to be sure I can slow down safely. In some cases staying more in the center can work out better because people have more room to dodge around you on either side. I absolutely believe in following good race etiquette, but remember that just because you run intervals doesn't mean you don't have as much right to run your race as the next person. I often see people complain that run/walkers don't follow good etiquette on the race course, but I've had plenty of runners who also can be pretty inconsiderate to others around them as well. We all have an obligation to watch out for each other and make sure we are sharing the course appropriately.

ETA: I don't know if you are running alone, but I think the bigger problem is when there is a group of people who run/walk and they walk three or more abreast. That causes lots of disruption and makes it very difficult to get around them. A single individual who is running intervals is less likely to cause problems. Not impossible, but less likely.

I just quoted ZellyB because I couldn't agree more! "Walkers on the right" simply doesn't work as a single strategy in WDW races. As a run/walker I stay aware of what's going on around me and try to follow suit: if it's time to walk and there's a long line of people walking on my left and a long line of people running on my right, I'm going to fall in behind the walkers, regardless of which side of the road they're on. Because moving smack into a long line of runners in order to stick to "walkers on the right" isn't doing anyone any favors. As a mid-back of the packer, I'll say, too, that there are often stretches of highway that are so wide and so spread out, there's no reason to move over at all to walk. You just want to, again, be aware of your surroundings: don't switch to a walk without checking behind you first, in case someone running is right behind you. Look to each side to see what looks like the best move. Know that there will be times you can't safely slow to a walk, and times you can't safely speed back up to a run; know that those times will pass quickly and you really aren't as "stuck" as you may feel

 

[Dis5150]

Question: My DD25 has been telling me to get a BCAA (branch chain amino acid) powder to mix with my water and drink that during runs. Does anyone on here do that? What I know of it is it is used for weightlifting, but I wasn't sure about running?

I tried the new Propel Electrolyte water by Gatorade on my long run yesterday. It tasted just like water, no flavoring. It is really hard to find around here - I had to go to a truck stop, lol. Anyone try it and like it?

 

[AThrillingChase]

I am also in the group that has changed their R/W interval as the miles start to pile on:

Still chugging along at training. Can't remember now if it was here or Princess or Tink but somewhere someone mentioned how they shortened their R/W intervals to 90/30 and it made a world of difference in their performance and actually made their overall times faster. Now, I thought that logically, I'd end up with my times slowing down if I was running 90/30 vs 3/1 like I was doing before. My initial thought was that it seems like you'd be doing less running, but if you think about it- the amount of time you spend running is the same per four minute group. All that changes is how often you take your walk break. Before, I had noticed that I literally could not maintain 4/1 (I was trying to increase my R/W time and that's what lead me to post in the first place) for an entire long run. At that time, my long run was 8 miles. So that person or persons chimed in that it helped them and maybe to give it a try.

So I tried it.

And the results?
this past Tuesday or Wednesday I ran 4.2 miles in 45 minutes. That's a 10:42 pace! My typical pace for a night time short run was about 11:30 or 12!!
And saturday, I upped my miles. Went from 8miles long run to 10 miles. I did 10 miles in 1:45 (or :46, can't remember which) which is about 10:30 pacing!!
I was over the moon thrilled! My long run pacing for Saturday or Sunday mornings was typically in the neighborhood of 13 min/mi before I switched to 90/30.

For comparison, my long run the previous saturday was 8 miles in the same exact time frame. I literally told myself that I would run for time using this new technique and see just how far I got- knowing that I should at least make 8 miles. Well surprise, surprise! I not only made 8 miles in that time, I made 10. Now, around mile 4-6 I still had the mental "*** are you doing to me?" moment, but using this new interval did not lead me to having to get to 1.5 miles before my body felt 'broken in' and ready to run. It literally took me maybe 10 minutes or so. BIG difference. Also, I know that most running plans say you should only up your distance by 10% (ie about a mile) on long runs; so this was not in keeping with my training plan in that sense, but I did not increase my time spent running so it's kind of a trade off.

So I'm going to stick with this interval for now, and try it again during next weekend's long ru to see what my results are, but initial results are very pleasing.

****apologies to those who are on all three race threads- you will be seeing this post more than once, SORRY*****

I usually take a 1-2 minute break every mile. But this has me thinking I should try a shorter interval and see what happens!

 

[ZellyB]

Not at all! But I'll tell you this: a whole lot of folks will feel compelled to skip their first few walk intervals to "keep up" with the crowd - and you'll find yourself blowing past them later as they fade. Nothing new on race day, and that goes for interval running, too! In cold weather, I'll walk a good 5 minutes before I ever run a step because to do otherwise is just inviting injury with my body. I like starting in the back of my corral - that takes off a lot of pressure to go out too fast and gives you lots of breathing room for a few minutes. The faster folks from the corral behind you will start catching up and passing, but by then that corral has generally spread out some and it's not quite so crowded.

So much YES! to the bolded. We did this last year for Goofy and it was such a great way to start the race. Before we would try to get as close to the front as possible in our corral and then it was just so crazy crowded. By hanging out at the back of the corral I felt like we just had a luxurious amount of space and just like PrincessV said, by the time the faster folks in the next corral caught up to you they had also dispersed. Made for a far less stressful start to the races.

 

[Miranda]

I am planning on just getting near the back of my corral... for Tink I had no PoT so I felt like I needed to be at the front though to keep ahead of those balloon ladies.

 

[BwoZoo22]

Someone on this thread, many many pages back, recommended the Altra running shoe, maybe even the Olympus. The description of alleviating big toe joint and ball of foot pain fit me exactly, so I tried them. This weekend was my first time trying them out on a 'real' race, 13.1 miles. THESE SHOES ARE AWESOME!! Not only did my feet not bother me at all during the race, but the days after walking difficulty from toe and foot pain is completely gone! What an amazing difference! Thank you dearly to whoever mentioned those shoes for that problem. Just amazing!

 

[BwoZoo22]

The back of our W&D costumes (hope the image actually attaches and isn't too big).

We tested them this last weekend. Adding EL Tape (which is on the shirts) to the pants for W&D. Wire, though more flexible, just didn't look right. And it is all about the costume...

 

[huggybuff]

The back of our W&D costumes (hope the image actually attaches and isn't too big).
View attachment 120859
We tested them this last weekend. Adding EL Tape (which is on the shirts) to the pants for W&D. Wire, though more flexible, just didn't look right. And it is all about the costume...

Now that's just freakin' cool.

 

[Miranda]

Someone on this thread, many many pages back, recommended the Altra running shoe, maybe even the Olympus. The description of alleviating big toe joint and ball of foot pain fit me exactly, so I tried them. This weekend was my first time trying them out on a 'real' race, 13.1 miles. THESE SHOES ARE AWESOME!! Not only did my feet not bother me at all during the race, but the days after walking difficulty from toe and foot pain is completely gone! What an amazing difference! Thank you dearly to whoever mentioned those shoes for that problem. Just amazing!

That might have been me... I currently run in last model Olympus! I am so glad you like them!

I really love mine, it has been awesome to have shoes that are shaped like my feet, and I also do not have any foot pain anymore after runs. Although to be fair, that is not entirely the shoes... some of that is probably also just building up the right muscles in my feet. I didn't start running longer distances until the beginning of this year.

 

[ZellyB]

The back of our W&D costumes (hope the image actually attaches and isn't too big).
View attachment 120859
We tested them this last weekend. Adding EL Tape (which is on the shirts) to the pants for W&D. Wire, though more flexible, just didn't look right. And it is all about the costume...

Those look awesome!!

 

[Dis5150]

They just announced a new "test" breakfast at the Sci-Fi Drive in theatre in November! I made a reservation for DD25 and I for 8:00 am so we can get in the park early and ride Toy Story Midway Mania after we eat, before DHS even opens.

 

[PrincessV]

By hanging out at the back of the corral I felt like we just had a luxurious amount of space and just like PrincessV said, by the time the faster folks in the next corral caught up to you they had also dispersed. Made for a far less stressful start to the races.

It's a totally different experience, isn't it?!

Someone on this thread, many many pages back, recommended the Altra running shoe, maybe even the Olympus. The description of alleviating big toe joint and ball of foot pain fit me exactly, so I tried them. This weekend was my first time trying them out on a 'real' race, 13.1 miles. THESE SHOES ARE AWESOME!! Not only did my feet not bother me at all during the race, but the days after walking difficulty from toe and foot pain is completely gone! What an amazing difference! Thank you dearly to whoever mentioned those shoes for that problem. Just amazing!

That might have been me... I currently run in last model Olympus! I am so glad you like them!

I really love mine, it has been awesome to have shoes that are shaped like my feet, and I also do not have any foot pain anymore after runs. Although to be fair, that is not entirely the shoes... some of that is probably also just building up the right muscles in my feet. I didn't start running longer distances until the beginning of this year.

Hmmm, you guys are making me think I should try one of the more cushioned models. I have the Intuition 2 and my feet looovoe the shape of the shoe! But I'm really feeling the pavement after 13 miles; I like some sense of ground feel, but my poor feet felt beat up on the bottom past about 10 miles. I do have a coupon code for Shoebuy...

 

[Miranda]

Hmmm, you guys are making me think I should try one of the more cushioned models. I have the Intuition 2 and my feet looovoe the shape of the shoe! But I'm really feeling the pavement after 13 miles; I like some sense of ground feel, but my poor feet felt beat up on the bottom past about 10 miles. I do have a coupon code for Shoebuy...

I have been thinking of getting a pair of Torins for shorter distances, to have a little bit less shoe sometimes. The cushioning in the original Olympus is very firm... surprisingly so to me because I had bought them for the cushioning and I guess I was expecting something softer. It turned out that I really liked the firm cushioning though. I wouldn't say you have great road feel in them, but they are also not like walking on marshmellows like my Nimbus 17's were, even though the stack height on the original Olympus is a whopping 36mm.

I'm surprised to see the stack height on the Olympus is actually so much higher than the Paradigm. The current Olympus is 32mm, Paradigm is 25mm, and Torin 24mm.

 

[wilkeliza]

Any one else just feeling blah about running lately? I'm excited for Wine and Dine and the race but the heat has been so ridiculous this year (90 in NYC first week of september crazy!) so I'm having a hard time finding motivation.

 

[RookieLady]

Any one else just feeling blah about running lately? I'm excited for Wine and Dine and the race but the heat has been so ridiculous this year (90 in NYC first week of september crazy!) so I'm having a hard time finding motivation.

I ran in the rain yesterday. If felt so good. I got home, and I was cold, yes cold. It was delicious after all this heat.

 

[PrincessV]

I have been thinking of getting a pair of Torins for shorter distances, to have a little bit less shoe sometimes. The cushioning in the original Olympus is very firm... surprisingly so to me because I had bought them for the cushioning and I guess I was expecting something softer. It turned out that I really liked the firm cushioning though. I wouldn't say you have great road feel in them, but they are also not like walking on marshmellows like my Nimbus 17's were, even though the stack height on the original Olympus is a whopping 36mm.

I'm surprised to see the stack height on the Olympus is actually so much higher than the Paradigm. The current Olympus is 32mm, Paradigm is 25mm, and Torin 24mm.

Oh this is great info - thank you!!! Exactly my thing: I hate the marshmallow/pillowy feel where it seems like you sink down into the cushion. I want response and pep, but a bit less pounding on my feet.

Any one else just feeling blah about running lately? I'm excited for Wine and Dine and the race but the heat has been so ridiculous this year (90 in NYC first week of september crazy!) so I'm having a hard time finding motivation.

The heat has totally gotten to me at this point. West coast of FL here and no end in sight - it's hard. I did get a slightly cooler morning last week (you know it's bad when 75* and 100% humidity is "cool" lol!) and it felt amazing! I needed that, badly.

 

[flatlandcycle]

Any one else just feeling blah about running lately? I'm excited for Wine and Dine and the race but the heat has been so ridiculous this year (90 in NYC first week of september crazy!) so I'm having a hard time finding motivation.

The heat has totally gotten to me at this point. West coast of FL here and no end in sight - it's hard. I did get a slightly cooler morning last week (you know it's bad when 75* and 100% humidity is "cool" lol!) and it felt amazing! I needed that, badly.

The old carcass just isn't recovering from intensity or volume like it used to. The heat has been brutal from April on. There is just no way to make a weekly plan; I've just had to roll with the weather punches. So far, I have kept up with the run faster Galloway plan, but just barely. The problem is that, usually, I need an easy-third-week, but every weekend is either long or intense. Adjustments are in order. Sometimes it's as simple as running one less mile, here and there, to keep an injury or burnout at bay.

 

[SunDial]

The back of our W&D costumes (hope the image actually attaches and isn't too big).
View attachment 120859
We tested them this last weekend. Adding EL Tape (which is on the shirts) to the pants for W&D. Wire, though more flexible, just didn't look right. And it is all about the costume...

That is awesome. I have to do something like that for my training runs. I do all my runs after sunset.

 

[SunDial]

Oh this is great info - thank you!!! Exactly my thing: I hate the marshmallow/pillowy feel where it seems like you sink down into the cushion. I want response and pep, but a bit less pounding on my feet.


The heat has totally gotten to me at this point. West coast of FL here and no end in sight - it's hard. I did get a slightly cooler morning last week (you know it's bad when 75* and 100% humidity is "cool" lol!) and it felt amazing! I needed that, badly.

Southeast Fl coast here PrincessV. Even running in the dark between 8 and 10pm is no fun.

 

[flatlandcycle]

The back of our W&D costumes (hope the image actually attaches and isn't too big).
View attachment 120859
We tested them this last weekend. Adding EL Tape (which is on the shirts) to the pants for W&D. Wire, though more flexible, just didn't look right. And it is all about the costume...

Hum? I like this stuff on the front, but I find this sort of thing blinding at night, if I need to see the road. I'm no stranger to adafruit, arduino or RPi. It looks like a hazard to anyone behind you. Thirteen miles of blinding EL tape would be a real test for me.