Marathon Weekend 2023

[Baloo in MI]

Well, I’m injured. Last Friday I did my 2nd 16 miler and felt some pain in my right Achilles. Not terrible while running but over the course of the day as things cooled down and started tightening up, I was hobbling. Took some nsaids and iced it that night and the next morning it felt better. I took a rest day, did some calf raises to test it out, and it felt a little weak but not painful. So, I did a short treadmill run the following day, stopped at 5 miles when I started feeling some twinges. Did another treadmill run the next day, and got to 7 miles before it started to hurt. Both of these days I was able to walk normally after the run and the following morning. I really thought I was on the mend.
The next day I went outside for the first time, 8 miles. That was a mistake. I never had bad pain, but I got some low level pain in BOTH sides about halfway through. Weird thing is it felt more like my calf than the Achilles. Kept it easy and didn’t feel like my form was breaking down. A couple of hours later, I knew I was in trouble. Hobbling around again. The next morning I also had pretty significant swelling on both ankles, mostly over my medial malleolus, and my right medial ankle is covered in a large bruise. IDK what to make of that because the Achilles inserts at the back of the heel and I haven’t had any medial pain. Also, I’m not an overpronator. If anything, I supinate a little. It’s just odd.
So, this is day 2 of no running. I have less swelling today, but it’s still there and the bruise is turning several lovely colors. My triathlete friend gave me the name of a functional sports group she has gone to for a few years that helped her get through several injuries over the years. I have an appointment Tuesday. Until then, no running. I will go for some walks just to keep some movement and I’m going to focus on other exercises like core and some strength stuff. And try not to freak out too much. We’re only 6 weeks out from MW, and I am officially worried. Everything was going so well. Training was on track, I was feeling good and really feeling confident. I’m just feeling really nervous and sorry for myself right now.

Hoping for good news on Tuesday for you and a speedy recovery. So sorry!

 

[flav]

Well, I’m injured. Last Friday I did my 2nd 16 miler and felt some pain in my right Achilles. Not terrible while running but over the course of the day as things cooled down and started tightening up, I was hobbling. Took some nsaids and iced it that night and the next morning it felt better. I took a rest day, did some calf raises to test it out, and it felt a little weak but not painful. So, I did a short treadmill run the following day, stopped at 5 miles when I started feeling some twinges. Did another treadmill run the next day, and got to 7 miles before it started to hurt. Both of these days I was able to walk normally after the run and the following morning. I really thought I was on the mend.
The next day I went outside for the first time, 8 miles. That was a mistake. I never had bad pain, but I got some low level pain in BOTH sides about halfway through. Weird thing is it felt more like my calf than the Achilles. Kept it easy and didn’t feel like my form was breaking down. A couple of hours later, I knew I was in trouble. Hobbling around again. The next morning I also had pretty significant swelling on both ankles, mostly over my medial malleolus, and my right medial ankle is covered in a large bruise. IDK what to make of that because the Achilles inserts at the back of the heel and I haven’t had any medial pain. Also, I’m not an overpronator. If anything, I supinate a little. It’s just odd.
So, this is day 2 of no running. I have less swelling today, but it’s still there and the bruise is turning several lovely colors. My triathlete friend gave me the name of a functional sports group she has gone to for a few years that helped her get through several injuries over the years. I have an appointment Tuesday. Until then, no running. I will go for some walks just to keep some movement and I’m going to focus on other exercises like core and some strength stuff. And try not to freak out too much. We’re only 6 weeks out from MW, and I am officially worried. Everything was going so well. Training was on track, I was feeling good and really feeling confident. I’m just feeling really nervous and sorry for myself right now.

You are doing the right thing to seek this help.

In 2018, my Achilles started acting up during a weekend run. On the Thursday, I had to stop after a few hundred meters of running. I saw my physiotherapist an hour later. He checked that the tendon was perfectly flexible. He massaged the calf and the feet and suddenly there was a click. Something was stuck inside my foot. He made some bandage that worked as a parallel tendon and send me for a running test. I was luckily ok. I was able to run my HM on three days later, replicating the bandage and with strict orders to slow down if if started hurting. I later saw a podiatrist who verified my shows and prescribed little heels inserts that I used for a few months. I also make sure that my socks are higher so they don’t rub on the tendon.

I hope that you also have an easy resolution.

 

[azrivest]

Everything was going so well. Training was on track, I was feeling good and really feeling confident. I’m just feeling really nervous and sorry for myself right now.

I'm so sorry to here this. Sending you all the positive vibes. It's not easy, but try to keep your spirits up. Hope the appointment on Tuesday goes well.


I'll end with a quote from a very wise woman...

OMG, I’m so sorry! That sucks! There is nothing you can do outside of taking it easy and letting your body recover. Fight the urge to push back into training too soon. You can do more harm than good.

You wrote this to me after I caught COVID and you were right. It's okay to take a few days off to let your body heal. You won't lose any significant fitness because of that.

 

[AJruns]

And try not to freak out too much. We’re only 6 weeks out from MW, and I am officially worried. Everything was going so well. Training was on track, I was feeling good and really feeling confident. I’m just feeling really nervous and sorry for myself right now.

I’m so sorry to hear this, and I get all of these emotions. I feel on the verge of injury and am stressing over short term vs. long term goals. Patience is tough to come by, but is so important! Good luck Tuesday!

 

[kristenabelle]

Well, I’m injured. Last Friday I did my 2nd 16 miler and felt some pain in my right Achilles. Not terrible while running but over the course of the day as things cooled down and started tightening up, I was hobbling. Took some nsaids and iced it that night and the next morning it felt better. I took a rest day, did some calf raises to test it out, and it felt a little weak but not painful. So, I did a short treadmill run the following day, stopped at 5 miles when I started feeling some twinges. Did another treadmill run the next day, and got to 7 miles before it started to hurt. Both of these days I was able to walk normally after the run and the following morning. I really thought I was on the mend.
The next day I went outside for the first time, 8 miles. That was a mistake. I never had bad pain, but I got some low level pain in BOTH sides about halfway through. Weird thing is it felt more like my calf than the Achilles. Kept it easy and didn’t feel like my form was breaking down. A couple of hours later, I knew I was in trouble. Hobbling around again. The next morning I also had pretty significant swelling on both ankles, mostly over my medial malleolus, and my right medial ankle is covered in a large bruise. IDK what to make of that because the Achilles inserts at the back of the heel and I haven’t had any medial pain. Also, I’m not an overpronator. If anything, I supinate a little. It’s just odd.
So, this is day 2 of no running. I have less swelling today, but it’s still there and the bruise is turning several lovely colors. My triathlete friend gave me the name of a functional sports group she has gone to for a few years that helped her get through several injuries over the years. I have an appointment Tuesday. Until then, no running. I will go for some walks just to keep some movement and I’m going to focus on other exercises like core and some strength stuff. And try not to freak out too much. We’re only 6 weeks out from MW, and I am officially worried. Everything was going so well. Training was on track, I was feeling good and really feeling confident. I’m just feeling really nervous and sorry for myself right now.

Sending you the very best vibes for a speedy & full recovery!

 

[cruisin5]

I was looking at results for the WD and was surprised to see so many people finishing after the balloon ladies. How was that possible? Balloon ladies finished in 3:31 and the last finisher (from FL) was at 4:25, almost an hour later.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

 

[sandam1]

I was looking at results for the WD and was surprised to see so many people finishing after the balloon ladies. How was that possible? Balloon ladies finished in 3:31 and the last finisher (from FL) was at 4:25, almost an hour later.

They started in a (much) earlier corral. It usually takes up to an hour between the time that the first person starts and the balloon ladies cross the start line.

 

[cruisin5]

They started in a (much) earlier corral. It usually takes up to an hour between the time that the first person starts and the balloon ladies cross the start line.

EDIT - NM.

 

[sandam1]

I posted the net times which I thought was the actual time on course. (As opposed to the clock time which is when the race starts).

It could be their actual time on course.

Say Runner X (your last finisher) has a corral A placement because they are normally a fast runner with a proof of time that qualifies them for A. But for this race they happen to be injured (I know that I saw someone during both the 10K and half that was on crutches and non-weight bearing on one leg). They know that they are going to have a significant amount of troubling maintaining pace. They could still start near the front of the A corral and give themselves almost an hour on the balloon ladies - in other words, almost 4:30 on the course. That's probably almost the maximum amount of time that you could get and Runner X probably finished behind the balloon ladies, but it is possible.

 

[Herding_Cats]

They started in a (much) earlier corral. It usually takes up to an hour between the time that the first person starts and the balloon ladies cross the start line.

I posted the net times which I thought was the actual time on course. (As opposed to the clock time which is when the race starts).

So the person with the 4:25 time can still cross the finish line in front of the balloon ladies/sweep line if they start in the first corral. A corral gets released at 5:00am. The balloon ladies start close to 6:00am. If they finished at the same time, this person will have a 4:30 finish time and the balloon ladies will have a 3:30 finish time. The sweep line/pace expectation isn't some imaginary line that follows each person individually.

 

[cruisin5]

Thanks, I get it now, DUH! I appreciate the explainations.

 

[lukemorenus]

…and so it begins! (password stage)

https://www.rundisneyexpo.run/

 

[Baloo in MI]

Good morning runDisney All-Stars! It is time for SAFD. For todays question: With the runs getting longer, and for some, Goofy and Dopey simulations it is getting tougher. How do you deal with motivation, especially on a day when maybe you would rather not run?

My Answer:

I will own that I am a little off…. I look forward to the long runs and the hard weeks, I rarely have an issue with motivation during these periods. My biggest challenge is getting out of bed. And this is not so much about getting out of bed to go run, but simply getting out of bed. I am a wannabe morning person but struggle with actually being a morning person! Once up I am psyched and ready to go run. The other place I struggle is when I do not have a structured plan or am working towards a new goal or race. For this reason I tend to always have a race on the horizon. On a really tough day I will put on a running channel on YouTube and/or put on some energizing music and that will get me out the door. Hope you all have a good week!

 

[FFigawi]

SAFD: There are many days when I don’t want to wake up at dark o’clock and go swim/bike/run. My motivation for not skipping whatever that day's workouts are comes from several places:
- my coach will be disappointed in me if I don’t get my workouts done
- my training partners will be waiting for me and wondering where I am
- I know how terrible race day would be if I don’t complete my training plan
- I hate seeing anything but green in Training Peaks

 

[WillRunForPizza]

SAFD: I try to run first thing in the morning (well, second after I walk my dog) because the longer I put it off, the easier it becomes to keep putting it off. But I also hate missing workouts so I usually manage anyway. If I can't run in the morning for some reason, I try to at least know when I will run so that it's already sort of built into the plan for the day.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

My biggest challenge is getting out of bed.

*writes this as I am still in bed*

SAFD: currently in bed waiting for my Instacart order of nutrition chews to arrive so I can go do my long run lol. Lately my motivation has been checking in with friends who are also training and these boards more generally. I know I’m going to post what I’ve done and that helps a lot. I also remember how I felt not finishing the marathon last year bc I didn’t train for it.

 

[matt and beth]

SAFD: I tell my family my training plans prior. I don’t want them to see me as a failure, so I run.

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: my motivation is that running is my excuse to get out of the house for a while, so I don’t want to miss out on that time. I’m at the start of my new training plan, so it’s not hard to find the time and motivation to get out and get it done.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

SAFD: This year my motivation has been my DD as I am running Goofy for charity (non-Disney related charity) in her honor. That's definately helped give me the kick I've needed now that I am into the harder weeks of my plan for this year. When I am in Texas for work, getting up early to get my runs done before heading to the office has been easier; but I have definately struggled when I am back home. Fortunately my schedue can be flexible enough that I still get the run in later. Giving my self the grace to be flexible in timing has helped get through the harder weeks too.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

SAFD: My motivation was remembering how much pain I was in during/after my first Dopey and being determined not to repeat that feeling. It totally worked!