~Philadelphia Marathon 11/23/08~

[Jodi]

Hey BOTS!!

Wow, I missed a lot in 24 hours, guess I shoulda checked in yesterday!

Mike - Too cute about your DDs filed trip...ah, an exciting trip to the library for dear old dad! WTG on 16 on the DREADMILL??!! That takes, well, you know...Yeh, my new avatar is all my MCM junk on the hotel room chair the night b4...Bruce took the picture, claiming that I am more anal-retentive than he...don't you believe it!

Lou - Nice job on the Cesar Romero run!! With hills & winde, that is one kickbutt time!! Therefore, I will no longer be speaking to you as I am jealous . Hang in there with work, it'll get better.

Sara - Well look @ you, missy!! I'm soooo happy for you!! 7 miles w/ no side effects & 4 today! Good for you! So glad you're feeling like a "runner" again...I'm still waiting . Did you sign up for the NYC 1/2 or full yet? Both of which are lottery form. I agree, this freakin' weather is getting to be a drag...just the wind, not the cold!

Colleen - Well, my Canadian Friend, in the end I could not resist & I DID sign up for the WDW 1/2 in Jan. I seriously need to get a life! Sounds like you're balancing work/walking/weight pretty well .

Dave & Chester - Hey guys!! Steve - I hope things are going well for you .

I built an ark on Sat, but didn't need it...My little blister is ok, but annoying. Bruce taped the little booger up for me yesterday & I ran 6 miles, it was good but too dang windy! I've been averaging my recent miles between a 9:20s & 9:40s (that's an average of the entire run). This seems to work for me averaging a 4:20-30 hour marathon. I'm not sure what'll happen with 31 . Guess I'll find out...I hope I don't poop in my pants

 

[CynthiaCindy]

Morning!

Lou - awesome PR on a really difficult course!

Dave - yay for running again! I hope you are able to continue pain free.

Sara - you too! yay for 7 miles with no pain!

Colleen - I hear you on the home repairs. Cleaning out the closet together is about as much as we can handle.

Cindy - A 2:02 half sounds every exotic. Anyone can settle on a nice round number like 2 hours. What's DH shooting for?

What kind of masochistic training plan are you following?? A 16 miler for a half??

I got some potentially cool running news this week. I signed up on the Brooks website to be a part of there shoe wear tester program a few months ago. They sent me an e-mail this week saying that I had been selected. They asked what size and type (neutral) shoe I wear and said they would send 1 or 2 pairs a year for me to evaluate. I don't really know any details yet, but it sounds pretty neat (Plus, free shoes!!).

Pretty nice deal on the free shoes!

DH is (maybe was) shooting for a sub 1:45 half, but he has been having some problems with his knee. He is actually driving me crazy because he keeps trying to self diagnose and won't go to the doctor. Everyday he has a new theory about what could be causing the knee pain and what he should do to fix it. Yesterday he said he felt great for 12 miles and then his knee started to bother him and he was unable to run at all for the last two miles. His current plan is to not run this week and cut out all speedwork for the last two weeks before the half. I'm going to try to force him to go see a sports medicine doctor. He gets really cranky when he can't run and I don't want this to lead to a more serious injury where he needs to take months off.

I am following a training plan that I got from Runners World. It was in one of the summer editions and is also online. Its called the Ryan Hall Training Plan (supposedly, it follows the same strategy he used to train for his half in Houston last year except about 70 miles less a week) I do like it and would recommend it.

Cindy - How was your LR? Did you guys get that terrible wind? A 2:02 1/2 is an awesome goal and definitely obtainable since you've been diligently putting in the miles . Has Fred left the building?

Yes, it was pretty windy here Saturday night into Sunday. I waited until about 2 pm yesterday to run. When I was running out, I was mostly running into the wind. By the time I had turned around, the wind had died down a lot and I didn't really get the benefit of having the wind at my back. Fred is now shriveled up dry skin - no pain, but it is kind of itchy.

Jodi - I looked into the NY half because DH and I were talking about going to NYC to see a game in Yankees stadium before it closes. I didn't realize that its also a lottery

ETA: That's funny, I just read your post after I posted. Do you have any sense as to how many people went in the lottery for the half last year vs. how many get to run?

My 16 miler was decent. I took it really slow and I feel fine today. A million times better than my 14 miler two weeks ago.

 

[Jodi]

Cindy - NO idea how many people enter. The first year it sold out real fast, so last year they made it a lottery & I just happened to get in. We'll see about this year. I kinda want to be one of those "ran it every year since inception dorks" so I'm hoping I get in. Otherwise I'm seriously considering going the charity route Can you imagine me? schilling for some charity? What a joke!!

 

[Theta]

Hi Colleen- You crack me up that you're considering running the Disney marathon again. Has it been two months since you said you ran your "last" one?

Ah, yeah, pretty much!

 

[msblrobs]

Cindy - NO idea how many people enter. The first year it sold out real fast, so last year they made it a lottery & I just happened to get in. We'll see about this year. I kinda want to be one of those "ran it every year since inception dorks" so I'm hoping I get in. Otherwise I'm seriously considering going the charity route Can you imagine me? schilling for some charity? What a joke!!

No, I certainly can't imagine but I will donate to your cause if you need me to . I looked at the website today. How many people do they let in? I'm not really into the whole lottery and the non-refundable processing fee . It seems a bit excessive for a 1/2 but since I promised and all I will get my application in before the lottery deadline . We're so going to have to talk Cindy and DH into running it as well .

Colleen - OMG, don't do it to me!! How am I going to tell DH that I have to go to WDW next January because of all of the peer pressure on the DIS and being unable to miss out on the fun . Luckily my b-day's in January (40th next year ) so if I have to use that as the excuse then I'll go with it . We aren't even getting back from Hawaii until the 7th so I guess I'd better check out the dates .

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Luckily my b-day's in January (40th next year ) so if I have to use that as the excuse then I'll go with it .

Hey my 40th birthday is this year too. Dec. 24th I'll be 40. Maybe I should go to Disney too.

BTW: I was checking out the website for the Lake Placid 1/2 Marathon. I'm definitely up for that. I remembered that my DW's Uncle has a cabin closeby in the Adirondacks. I'm wondering if we can crash there.

 

[Jodi]

Sara & Dave - You are soooo BOTH doing Disney in '09!! C'mon!! You can scalp 1/2 marathon bibs @ a later date, dudes!! 'Sides, you're both going to be really old this year & it may be the last time you make it down there And Sara, don't feel obligated to sign up for NYC, it's not a biggie... I'll be ok...Hey, what's the update on our Philly hotel, lodgings lady?

Mike - I meant to comment on your free shoes... Nice goin'. I hope they fit & run well! When are YOU signing up for NYC???

 

[Optimator]

Howdee Folks!

Mike- Did you get a hat for the Cleveland Marathon? I guess I registered early enough for the early bird special...

Dave - You're asking the guy that just registered for a March 29 marathon two days ago. You think I've already signed up for Cleveland? What if I keel over dead in DC? I'd hate to waste the 90 bucks that Kathy could use to buy a reinforced cardboard box to plant me in.

Nice job on the runs and I hope you get to race this weekend.

I'm going to try to force him to go see a sports medicine doctor.

Cindy - Let us know how that works out for you . Seriously though, I hope it works out for him and starts feeling better.

I'm glad your 16 miles went well. Heck, I guess if it's good enough for Ryan Hall it should work for you (although I'd hate to see the LR for the marathon plan).

Luckily my b-day's in January (40th next year )

Hey my 40th birthday is this year too.

Dang youngins'!

When are YOU signing up for NYC???

I'm planning on avoiding the whole lottery thing by qualifying on time; only takes a 3:10 marathon. No problem.

...I am more anal-retentive than he...
...I hope I don't poop in my pants

Based on my knowlegde of anatomy, More anal retention = less pooping in pants .


Hey to everyone else!

 

[CynthiaCindy]

Morning all!

Today was an optional day for me. I opted to sleep in. I think it was a good call, I haven't been getting much sleep lately.

Yesterday was supposed to be intervals at the track but the track has been so crowded on Tuesday mornings, I decided to do my tempo run yesterday and will head to the track tomorrow. It is so dark out again in the mornings - I hate it. I did a little research. On March 8th (day before DST started) sunrise was at 6:30 AM in D.C. Because of DST, it will take until April 16th until it is that early again. I guess I shouldn't complain too much - I'm lucky that I live so near bike paths so that I don't have to run in the streets, but at least 3/4 of the lights on the path were not working yesterday morning. I probably should call Arlington County to complain.

Mike - DH has been reading and posting on Runners World Injury forums and is convinced he has all the answers. I give up BTW, what are you shooting for at the National Marathon? Did you check out the course map again? They took away all of those Gu stops. Now there are none on the half! (There are two on the full at 13, after the half splits and at 20).

Dave and Sara - Really, what better place to celebrate your 40th birthday than WDW!!

Jodi and Sara - DH and I probably will enter the lottery for the NYC half, maybe the full. I figure the half must be a bit easier to get into than the full, so hopefully one of us will get in and then we will have an excuse to have to go to NY.

Hi to everybody else! Got to get to work.

 

[Optimator]

Morning all!

Today was an optional day for me. I opted to sleep in.

Cindy - That's the choice I'd make 9 out of 10 times. I'd be in big trouble if my only option was to run early in the AM.

I hadn't looked at the revised Gu-less map. I figured it was too good to be true but they should have at least kept one for the half.

 

[CynthiaCindy]

Hi Mike and the rest of you missing folks.

You guys didn't really give me anything to respond to, so I'll just write about myself.

Did my intervals on the track this morning. It was much less crowded than its been on Tuesdays, so I am happy with my decision to switch up the days. But it was so dark (no lights on), I couldn't see anything for the first four of the six intervals. (I promise to stop complaining about DST soon).

In the category of things that are probably a bad idea but that I intend to do anyway, I think I am going to run a half marathon on April 20th in Leesburg VA. After the National Half, I intend to switch over to Hal Higdon Intermediate 1 to train for RnR San Diego. The weekend of the 19th/20th is a step back long run of 13 miles. So I was thinking that it would be nice to do a race if there is a local one and just take it easy since in the three weeks after I have two 20 milers and the Minnie. And there is actually a half in Leesburg (not too far from here and its where the outlets are so we go there a few times a year). The catch here is that only the top 100 finishers get medals. You know I really, really want to get a medal. Looking at the results from last year, its a pretty small race and it should be possible for me to finish in the top 100 - last year finisher #100 ran a 2:11 - but taking it easy won't really be an option.

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[KeenHo]

PHILADELPHIA MARATHON REGISTRATION OPENS IN 19 DAYS - APRIL 1, 2008

Be there of be square!



Howard




PS. Marine Corps Marathon registration opens in 48 Days! (April 30, 2008) Semper Fi!

 

[msblrobs]

Howard - Love the registration reminders so thanks . At the risk of being slammed by y'all, I honestly don't know if I can see myself doing 26.2 again . Let's hope on 11/23 you can incessantly remind me about my foolish doubt .

Cindy - You will definitely get a medal if you decide to run the Leesburg 1/2 ! Your training plans sound doable and prudent. I hope your DH figures out his issue and I have to sympathize since I have been doing the same thing with my leg for a good 6 months now

Jodi - If Colleen goes for WDW '09 and she'll share a room with me then you so know I'm in . I'll work out the details, or rather spring it on DH, sometime . It'll have to be a Jodi, run to the plane after the finish line, trip though...I'm still considering the NYC 1/2 for sure

I ran on the TM this morning and I will try to sneak in a few more miles tonight. I am feeling good but I still don't have the mojo to go long and I'm okay with that . I am supposed to start training for the Lake Placid 1/2 this month so I guess that will be the test.

 

[Jodi]

Hi Everyone!!

Sorry I haven't been around the last few days, work has been really busy!

Sara - So happy to hear you're running without consequence. Now would you PLEASE sign up for the NYC 1/2 I'm still debating Lake Placid...the way things are going, I may not be able to afford the gas $ to get up there Whad'ya mean you can't do 26.2 anymore? Oh puh-leeze! And you might as well book your room for Disney now!!!

Cindy - Has Fred completely left the room? I like your plan for non-stop running ...just don't get burned out, woman. It can get really, mentally tough, all that stuff. But hey, if you're up to it, go for it . I hope your husband's issues resolved themself, because if he's like MY husband, when he's miserable, everyone around him is miserable....You know, there's a reason why MEN don't have kids....big whiners!

Howard - Thanks so much for the reminder, I'd completely forgot!!

Mikey - What's up, brother?

Dave - We'll be seeing you in Disney as well.

Colleen - You have to go to Disney, who else will arrange the dinner??

Hi to everyone other non-posting disbot!

OK, here's the deal...CT 40 mins Mon; Tues 6 miles; Weds CT 30mins; 6 miles today. Today was the first day in a while that I actually felt like a runner, & it all has to do with my gut, I'm convinced of that now. If I'm, uh, empty, shall we say? I run very well...otherwise the doody interrupts my chi, I think. OK, I'm done talking about this....for now.

 

[Theta]

[

I still don't have the mojo to go long and I'm okay with that . .

Sara, I still don't have it either! And I am OK with that too! I am still walking 2 or 3 times a week and getting between 4-5 miles in at a shot. That's it, nothing else.

We will absolutely share a room for Disney, IF I go...I guess if I can get trained for Philly, then Disney marathon will be an easy add-on for me.

Jodi, planning dinner already?? We need to plan Philly first!

Cindy, good luck getting a medal!

Hi to everyone!

 

[Optimator]

Hello Friends, Romans, Countrymen,

Wow - 5 posts in one day!!! We're on fire!

Howard - Thanks for the Philly reminder. Keeping with my registration history however, I doubt I'll be the first of the group to sign up.


Sara - Plenty of time to get the mojo back!! I bet it will come with the warm weather.

Colleen - Ditto about the mojo (although I don't think you can use the weather for your excuse).


Cindy - Nice job on the intervals. You've got a heck of a lot of running planned for the next few months!

The Leesburg half... interesting.

I hope your husband's issues resolved themself, because if he's like MY husband, when he's miserable, everyone around him is miserable....You know, there's a reason why MEN don't have kids....big whiners!

No, I'm pretty sure the reason we men don't birth no babies is because... well, let's just say we men are just a tad more forgiving about insults, threats, etc. shouted mid-labor than you lovely ladies would be. Something tells me that if a guy shouted "You did this to me! You'll never touch me again!!", it would come back to haunt him for a LONG time!

I'm glad you've figured out your secret to running well. Now you just have to figure out a routine that allows that to happen.


Shouts out to anyone else peeking in.


Thursday was a rest day for me. Going long (20 mile long )Friday. It's the last double-digit run before the race on my plan so I'd like to get it done and start tapering .

Have I mentioned how absolutely starving I am all the time? I'm in big, big trouble if I don't take it easy once the miles drop.

Take it easy, folks.

 

[Cruella de mom]

PS. Marine Corps Marathon registration opens in 48 Days! (April 30, 2008) Semper Fi!

Is anyone else planning on running the Marine Corps Marathon? I was hoping to run it in honor of my Dad, but it is looking more and more like he won't make it until the end of October. I will be there no matter what though. It just may be a tough one. I am thinking of running this race for time and then just goofing around at Goofy again. I hope I can recover and be ready for Goofy in 8 weeks.

Cecilia

 

[Optimator]

Hi Friends (and Jodi),

I hope everyone is doing well. Not much action on the thread today .

I ran my happy little 20 miles today. Not exactly a "Wow, I'm ready for the race" run. More like "Umm, I guess I'll maybe probably be O.K." but it's done and I'm living the life of no-LR leisure for the next 2 weeks .

Since nobody wants to chit-chat anymore, how about some "Add a Caption" fun? This is darling Jodi and me after the full. Notice we had time to go through the food line and the Goofy tent and still look a bit beat up!

1. "Throw a sports bean in our mouths. Win a prize!"

2. Mike - "Are you hanging around a while?" Jodi - "AS IF!!! I've got a plane to catch."

3. Jodi - "I'm so happy to be done!" Mike - "Me too, but don't you think they could give us a #@*$ bag to put all this stuff in???"

4. Jodi - "I feel so much better now." Mike - "I can't believe you pooped in the big fountain."

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Howdy everyone:

Mike- I like the picture of you and Jodi after the WDW full. Look at all that bling around your necks.

So far this week I've ran 2x and x-trained (biked) once. Both my runs were 4 miles TM, and my hip is feeling OK. Still not perfect, but I'm running on it. I'm going to try 5 miles today. I haven't figured out if I'm going to run outside or head to the gym. I'll see what the temp is once I drink my coffee.

I haven't been posting because I'm majorly depressed right now. I hate getting on and having another huge downer post, but you asked for it Mike. As you all know, it's been a real crappy 6 months for me. My mom passed away in September and less than a month later I'm told I have a year to find a new job. Now we have another major illness in our family.

My wife's step-sister's husband, so her step-BiL? (I know it sounds convoluted but he's a big part of the family), has been struggling with cancer the past 2 years. He has throat cancer, the tumors have not responded to any of the major treatments, and now they have gotten so big they are choking off his air supply. The doctors say he could go anytime.

This is a young guy. He's not 50 yet, and he is one of the strongest people I know. He is a contracter/home builder, and comes from an Amish family. He's such a nice guy, good guy, and has done everything right. I feel so bad for his wife, his kids (he has 2 in college), and his parents. It's just such an awful thing.

But here's how it get's even worse. He's in the hospital right now on a ventilator. He never ever wanted to be kept alive on machines. They tried to remove the ventilator a couple of time, but when they do he starts to crash. So they can not remove the ventilator - but he doesn't want to be on the machine. The hospital is essentially waiting for him to tell them when to turn it off. So he's on the ventilator, getting oxygen, he has a feeding tube, and he's actually gaining strength and looking better. He's totally lucid and conscious, but when they turn it off no one thinks he is going to make it. So now he's in the position that he has to decide his own death. He scribbles notes to the nurses such as "how long will I live when the machine goes off?" I just can't even imagine what's going through his mind. uuugh, it's just so sad.

OK, that's enough from me. Sorry to bring everyone down.

ETA: OK, it's 9:30am and I'm back from my run. I did 5 miles outside. I thought I would go to my ole' MCM LR standby the Canal Trail. Bad move. It was covered with a thick snow. I thought it had warmed up enough to melt off, but it only warmed up enough to make it a sloppy wet deep mess. There were lots of places I couldn't run at all and had to walk. However, maybe that was good for my hip and forced me to slow down. My time was around 56 minutes, but a couple of miles where I was running I was actually around 9:30 min. So that's pretty good, and I didn't hurt myself anymore by slipping on snow and ice. Have a great day everyone.

 

[CynthiaCindy]

Dave - I'm so sorry. There are never any words that seem right, so

Cecilia - I hope you do get to run MCM in honor of you dad. I won't be running the marathon, but, as long as we don't go down to WDW for ToT (only a small possibility at this point) I will either volunteer or run the 10K (you get a medal!)

Colleen - It sounds like you are still putting in enough miles to keep a good base. (perhaps enough miles to decide to do the Minnie at the last minute )

At the risk of being slammed by y'all, I honestly don't know if I can see myself doing 26.2 again . Let's hope on 11/23 you can incessantly remind me about my foolish doubt .

Well, you do have plenty of time to decide if you want to do the full, but there is a half, so you can still run with everyone even if you don't want to subject your body to the torture of 26.2. I'm probably going to wait to register until after the RnR Marathon. I will definitely be in Philly, but depending how that race goes and how motivated I feel about running after it, I may opt for the half. (Of course, I do have to be ready for the goofy, so maybe I should do the full no matter what )

Cindy - Has Fred completely left the room?

Fred is now a large patch of dead crusty skin. It doesn't bother me at all anymore, so that's find by me.

Mike (and Jodi) - I thought it was the Dumbo Topiary, not the fountain (I told DH about that post a few months back, and it stuck, he now often jokes about, where is a good topiary when you need one?" ) (Poor DH, he has lots of problems with Jodistop issues).

Mike - At least the 20 is done. I've got to do a 12 mile race sim today (6 easy, 6 race pace plus 20-30 seconds) I'm not really looking forward to it, I feel kind of off. I'm going to wait until this afternoon, hopefully I will feel better then.

DH is going to try running today (he says 5 miles) for the first time since last week. I hope his knee holds up. He's pretty down about not being able to run and is really worried about the RnR Marathon. He's going to try and run the National Half no matter what. I made him promise that if he is forced to walk because of knee pain, that he will go see a doctor. We'll see