i want adventure in the great wide somewhere - running journal! (comments welcome)

[lookingforsunshine]

I really like Tailwind, especially in the heat because I find it harder to want to eat then. I have used it on hikes/backpacking historically but am trying it with running now too. It’s good to know that I’ll also need plain water— I didn’t realize that.

Also, I am pretty new here and I really like your journal! Hi!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Does the water have to be consumed immediately after the blok? Or can the water be consumed less often, as long as I'm drinking it.

The water does not need to be consumed immediately before or after. Rather it just needs to be in and around that time. I view it that as long as you're drinking sufficient water, you'll be fine. The exact timing isn't as relevant.

I also recently saw a Facebook thread in the rundisney group I'm part of and they talked about doing a Blok every mile... I'm considering taking that route as well to help get more bloks in me. After talking all this through with you and reading that Facebook thread, I definitely thing my fuel is an issue.

Right, so that's 8 grams per block. That's like five per mile or so, which is 40g carbs per hr. A definite improvement. Still potentially low, but definitely better than what you were doing prior.

I can't handle caffeine before a run (or anytime, but sometimes I choose violence)

Wait, what...

Then I'll pack PB&banana sandwiches to bring to the start of the race so I can eat that right before my start group heads out.

Just make sure to practice this in a training run as well. Some can tolerate real food right before the start of the race, and others can't.

I also want to end this by thanking you for your time and energy that you put into reading and responding to this journal. You do so much for me (and everyone on these boards) and I'm a disaster so I am especially grateful.

Happy to help!

 

[DopeyBadger]

I really like Tailwind, especially in the heat because I find it harder to want to eat then. I have used it on hikes/backpacking historically but am trying it with running now too. It’s good to know that I’ll also need plain water— I didn’t realize that.

You'll only need additional plain water if you concentrate the Tailwind to a different concentration than what the manufacturer states. It's meant to be mixed at around 1 scoop per 12oz water (or 2g carb per oz water which is the standard absorption value for most carb prodcuts while racing). But if you choose to concentrate Tailwind such that you mix 1 scoop with say 4 oz water instead of 12oz water, it's drinkable, but your body will not be able to properly absorb it without the additional 8 oz of plain water from another source sometime vaguely consumed around it (let's say +/- 15 min). So concentrating Tailwind can allow you to carry more carbs in a single bottle, but at the end of the day you'll still need to drink a total of 12oz of plain water per 1 scoop (25g carb) consumed. If that makes sense.

 

[StacyStrong]

Creeping into this tailwind convo! I’m interested in trying it out. Are there flavors that you all prefer? I might grab one of the sample packs.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Creeping into this tailwind convo! I’m interested in trying it out. Are there flavors that you all prefer? I might grab one of the sample packs.

I drink Berry. When concentrated at 1 scoop per 1 oz water it tastes like a strong SweetTart. When I was cycling a few years ago, I tried Tropical (caffeinated) at the correct dilution and didn't like the taste (it also gave me a headache since I don't consume caffeine often, whereas Maurten caff gels do not).

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Creeping into this tailwind convo! I’m interested in trying it out. Are there flavors that you all prefer? I might grab one of the sample packs.

I really like the lemon. It reminds me of a tart lemonade.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Training Journal​

Not much to say - I've loved following the fuel conversation here - so thanks to all who have contributed! I hope I figure it out before race day!

Totally unrelated (not totally, but sort of) - my club announced that we have 2 invitational bibs to the Boston Marathon and I am considering putting my name in for consideration. If I were to be accepted, I would work with a coach to ensure my success. There are at least two women in my club who coach, both charge a similar rate. I'd just need to purchase a Garmin (which I want to do anyway) and prioritize the time to train. It would be a 14 week turnaround between Disney and Boston... 13 weeks after the Disney vacation. That's the only thing I worry about. Is it enough time?

December 7: 4.01 miles • 45:35 • 11:21 avg pace
Ran with the club, stopped twice, once for a photo with the Christmas lights (and so one of the girls could catch up) and a second time at a light (and so she could catch up again) and didn't pause my watch. So this is slightly off but not by a ton, I don't think. We had some flurries on our run!

December 11: 1.99 miles • 20:28 • 10:19 avg pace
This was the warm up for the race I had today. I genuinely can't believe my pace because I was 99% sure that I was dragging and was very worried about my time goal for the 5k... but more on that in the next post, which will be my race review (5 stars, by the way - it is my club's race). Also you'll note that I skipped Thursday and that's because there was snow on the ground and I'm not risking injury. And another note, this means that I only did just over 5 miles instead of 7 since I didn't add on 2 at the end. I have a kickboxing class tomorrow instead.

Plan (Disney plan || My plan)

• 12/18 - 26 miles || 26 miles (22-24 ideal)
• 12/25 - 6 miles || 6 miles
• 1/1 - 7 miles || 7 miles
• 1/9 - 26.2 miles (race)

 

[GollyGadget]

What are your concerns about Boston? You'll already be in marathon shape and even assuming you take a 2 week recovery, you'd still have 12 weeks. Plenty of time in my opinion, although I'm no expert.

 

[DopeyBadger]

It would be a 14 week turnaround between Disney and Boston... 13 weeks after the Disney vacation. That's the only thing I worry about. Is it enough time?

It's definitely doable. I've done it several times between an October "A" marathon and then Dopey in Jan. You just have to respect the training and the recovery after Disney. Don't worry about what shape you're in in late Jan after taking some needed time off, but rather what healthy shape you can get in come April.

 

[xjillianpaige]

What are your concerns about Boston? You'll already be in marathon shape and even assuming you take a 2 week recovery, you'd still have 12 weeks. Plenty of time in my opinion, although I'm no expert.

I think my concerns stem from Disney being my first marathon so I don't actually know how I'll do coupled with the slight pressure of having a 6 hour time limit from the time I cross the start line since my bib would be a club invitational bib. I've heard of other clubs losing bibs when their athletes take longer than 6 hours to complete the distance. I would just hate to be the reason that happens. On the other hand... my best 20 mile training run was done in 4:30 ish... so another 6 miles would get me across the finish line just after 5:30 ish. So there's a bit of a cushion there (and I would imagine that working with a coach would just help me). I guess I'm just second guessing myself.

It's definitely doable. I've done it several times between an October "A" marathon and then Dopey in Jan. You just have to respect the training and the recovery after Disney. Don't worry about what shape you're in in late Jan after taking some needed time off, but rather what healthy shape you can get in come April.

This is helpful to hear. I do think that having a coach who holds me accountable and can work with me will help with my confidence. I'll chat with my running friends on Tuesday night and see what they think, too.

 

[GollyGadget]

I think my concerns stem from Disney being my first marathon so I don't actually know how I'll do coupled with the slight pressure of having a 6 hour time limit

That makes sense. My first marathon went horribly and I swore I was never going to run one again. I was undertrained and didn’t know fueling was a real thing. A lot of people have a tough race the first time. There’s a lot to learn for a first timer. However, it could be a good thing to have another one planned so soon. It’s enough time to learn from any of your mistakes and adjust. It took me almost 5 years to get the courage for another round but that one was a smashing success.
I also didn’t know about the time limit but completely understand how that would add to the stress.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Training Journal
SOLEstice 5k Race Recap​

I BROKE 30 IN THE 5k!!!!! This was my goal for 2021 and I DID IT!!!!! Also, full disclosure I was on the race committee for this 5k, so I am biased and it was the perfect race from start to finish. Execution was FLAWLESS.

Bib Pick Up​

Normally I get my bib race morning, but I ended up having time to run over before I went to a hockey game with my nephew. I got there early (5:20 ish) and took some photos for social media (that was my job on the committee - I managed our Facebook and Instagram) before grabbing my bib and my parents' bibs and heading out. I was bib #6! I also got a super cozy knit hat as swag (this was for the first registered 250 runners)

Race Day​

I got there right around 9 and stood around for a bit before forcing myself to go warm up. Lots of my friends knew this was a goal race for me, that I was hoping for at least a PR and ideally, I would break 30 minutes. I knew I needed to warm up, but I was also slipping into some self-doubt and was sort of trying to back out of the pressure of trying to meet my goal. I think the crappy weather didn't help - it was very rainy and colder than expected. My hands were like ice.

In the end, I pulled on my big girl running pants and did a 2 mile warm up. (The intent was to do 2 before and 2 after to make my total run 7 miles, but I didn't. Spoiler. I finished the race and was cold and it was rainy so I just stopped.) I know this area really well because I've done lots of workouts on these roads with the club, so I had a super easy 1 mile out and back that I did. I even made it back for the club photo!

To be honest, I was on the struggle bus on my warm up. I thought that I was going SIGNIFICANTLY slower than I was - which you can see in my weekly recap a few posts above this. It turns out those miles were fairly speedy compared to my typical warm ups. I was also super in my head during them, convinced that a PR was not happening for me.

After my warm up and the photo, I saw my mom, her dog, and some friends and then found Monique, my running friend and pacer, and we headed over to the race start. We put ourselves in the front of the middle and then we were off!

Before I get into the mile by mile recap, please note that my runkeeper/watch was slightly off, so these splits might not be exact. I wasn't looking at my watch because Monique was using her Garmin to pace us and would give me updates about whether we were going too fast (most of the first mile was too fast) or too slow (she never told me we were going too slow) or if we were still on target.

Mile 1: 9:46
So the mile starts flat with a slight downhill before going uphill. Normally, I run this route in the opposite direction so get the advantage of the downhill but not today. For the most part, this is where Monique said we were going a bit too fast and so we would dial it back a tiny bit. My goal was literally to finish in 29:59. As long as the first number wasn't 30 or above, I didn't care about the time. Monique and I also talked about the plan a few days before and decided to just keep it a steady 9:40 pace for the whole race. Then right before we decided that if I slowed down, she would slow down with me and then we would try to catch up toward the end.

Mile 2: 9:30
This is pretty much totally flat. You can see some speed here, which surprises me a little bit. I'm looking at the map and I feel like I remember this being a tough-ish mile. Felt like I was out of my comfort zone a little bit versus the first mile when I felt pretty good.

Mile 3: 9:43
Mile 3 has the last two uphills. One is pretty quick and on the steeper side and the second is much more gradual and longer. Not gonna lie, I was much more tired here. Wanted to quit. But Monique didn't let me and told me when to give it everything I have. Plus, we were still on target to finish in under 30 minutes. As we came to the final hill, we passed someone and then Monique told me to give it my all and finish fast. The gun time was 30:10 and while we didn't have an official result, Monique felt confident that her watch was accurate and that we had finished within my goal time.

Post Race​

I crossed the finish line and immediately wanted to die. It was there and then that I decided not to do the extra 2 miles and to instead cheer on my friends and family as they finished and bask in my success. I found the QR code that we could use to find our results and it was official! I PRed and achieved my goal!

FINAL TIME: 29:54​

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Congrats on your PR!!!

 

[GollyGadget]

Congrats on the PR!

 

[DopeyBadger]

I've heard of other clubs losing bibs when their athletes take longer than 6 hours to complete the distance.

Congrats on the PR! And bonus it gives you realistic data as to what you could do in a marathon when fully trained. Let's extrapolate your 5k to a HM of 2:17. I'm not saying you can run a 2:17 today, but rather someone who runs a 5k as fast as you did has the ability to run a 2:17 HM. With that being said, someone who runs a 2:17 HM has the following marathon probabilities based on real world data:

6% of runners run a 4:45 or better
10% of runner run a 4:47 or better
25% of runners run a 4:54 or better
50% of runners run a 5:04 or better

So I'd say you're pretty far away from the 6hr cutoff according to this data. So if you're well trained, you have very little to worry about when it comes to the time cutoff.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Congratulations!

 

[xjillianpaige]

I will give a more detailed update when I get home tonight, but I did just over 20 miles today and my fuel was significantly better. My energy was up the whole time. My splits are almost totally even every mile. The only issue is that toward the end my feet just really really hurt. And I don’t know that there’s anything I can do about that besides new shoes, and it feels sort of late for new shoes. Especially since these only have just 150 miles on them.

Anyway, time for Starbucks.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Training Journal​

I am very tired. And a show I really loved got cancelled. So now I'm also sad. Anyway, let's talk about running, I guess.

December 14: 3.01 miles • 36:34 • 12:10 avg pace
Tuesday night with the club followed by dinner and a cider.

December 16: 3.05 miles • 35:03 • 11:30 avg pace
Thursday morning with the club in some really gross rain followed by coffee.

December 18: 20.36 miles • 4:37:15 • 13:37 avg pace
My goal was to get out by 7 am, but I ended up starting closer to 7:30. Did a 5 mile loop 4 times, stopping at my car to refill water, have some gatorade, and grab more clif bloks each loop. I did a blok every mile (though toward the end I lost track a bit and forgot). The flavors were cran-razz, strawberry, and margarita. I choked the margarita down. Very salty, which is the point, but I didn't love it. It'll have to do when I'm in Florida and it's hot and I'm sweating more. Had a bathroom on the loop, too - a Cumberland Farms.

Super even splits - the fastest mile was 12:39 (first) and the slowest was 14:13 (third). Everything else was in the solid 13's.

The only problem today was my feet were SORE toward the end. Not sure what to do about that.

And some final exciting news - my sparkle skirt arrived and I picked out a tank top for my costume! 3 weeks to go!

Plan (Disney plan || My plan)

• 12/25 - 6 miles || 6 miles
• 1/1 - 7 miles || 7 miles
• 1/9 - 26.2 miles (race)

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Training Journal​

We're tapering baby! I got a Garmin for Christmas (okay, I bought myself a Garmin and my parents are going to pay me back and that's their gift). I got the forerunner 245 (no music) and used it for the first time today! Okay, onto the week:

December 21: 3.18 miles • 35:00 • 11:00 avg pace
This was our annual night lights run. We did a different route than I normally do on Tuesday and we stopped at houses along the way to see their lights. It was a lot of fun, but my run keeper app has been a mess lately and it didn't record the run. I used to be able to start my run on my phone but lately it hasn't worked and I've had to start it on my watch. Anyway, this distance/time was an estimate based on my friend's watch (she did 2 more miles so that's where the guesstimate comes in).

December 24: 5.00 miles • 53:53 • 10:47 avg pace
Instead of running on Thursday, we did a Christmas Eve morning run. I was able to run with my friend Jen who hasn't been able to run because of a twisted ankle. She wanted to be able to do training runs with me during this whole thing but it hasn't worked out due to her own training stuff and then her injury. She's the best - one of the most encouraging people I've met and she's really taken me under her wing from when we did some of the track program together. She always tells me I can when I'm not so sure.

December 26: 6.04 miles • 1:05:07 • 10:47 avg pace
This was my first run with the Garmin watch! It was easy to use and tracks lots of things. I'm still learning my way around the watch. The original plan for this run was to start at 8 am, but the streets and roads were super gross, so we pushed to an 11:00 start. It was still slick in some areas and very wet, but I managed. When I started the run, I was going so slowly - I looked at my pace and it said 12:30. But I could hear the group falling further and further behind me. I was so confused as to why they were so far behind when usually I'm trying to keep up. A few minutes later, Robin caught up to me and said they were all nervous about falling so they were "tip-toeing" and she decided to catch up and stick with me. We ran the whole way together and even saw Carmela (our track coach) on the route. They gave me some race day advice and then we finished up! Carmela sent me the nicest note later (and had lots of nice things to say on the run, too). Again - this is the best club. Super encouraging and supportive.

Plan (Disney plan || My plan)

• 1/1 - 7 miles || 7 miles
• 1/9 - 26.2 miles (race)

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Training Journal​

Posting a day early for 3 reasons:

1. It feels like a nice clean way to end the year
2. I signed up for a last minute 10k tomorrow as my 7 mile training run (I'll add on a little bit after or do a little warm up)
3. It's stopping me from constantly checking my JetBlue app because I'm anxious my flight will get cancelled

Also, I connected my Garmin and RunKeeper but I'll have to do a little bit of math to get my total miles for 2021 because there are some walks in there and it's across two apps and *screams*. I'll figure out this Garmin stuff eventually. Anyway, my annual totals are on the first post of this journal.

December 28: 3.12 miles • 35:49 • 11:28 avg pace
This was a slippery Tuesday morning run so we took it on the slower side to stay safe. I ran in the morning instead of at night because I'm on vacation and because me and a few other girls were going out to try on dresses for our club's February gala and get dinner. Anyway it was a nice run. Some of the girls I ran with added on 2 miles but I had to get home to shower and get my grandma to her hair appointment.

December 30: 5.00 miles • 54:00 • 10:48 avg pace
They convinced me to run 5 miles on Thursday morning! I was going to call it quits at mile 4 but then said "eh, what's one more?" and did one more. Then we got coffee (and I got a bagel because my stomach was grumbling after like, 2.5 miles because we went out about an hour later than normal).

Plan (Disney plan || My plan)

• 1/1 - 7 miles || 7 miles
• 1/9 - 26.2 miles (race)