The Running Thread—2023

[RunWI1265]

Wow. Corrals with numbers, letters AND colors!? If I ever do a major I feel like I’ll be walking around like a deer in headlights

 

[flav]

Wow. Corrals with numbers, letters AND colors!? If I ever do a major I feel like I’ll be walking around like a deer in headlights

Yes, in top of the wheels athletes and pros, there are five waves (different starting times), each with six corrals. The three colors are different starting villages. They each have a different entrance on the Verrazano bridge and the three courses merge at mile 8 of the marathon.

I am so happy that DH and I are in the same (we put the same predicted time) because I was stressing about moving “back” which also means changing village. Imagine being the only pink bib in a sea of orange

 

[RunWI1265]

Yes, in top of the wheels athletes and pros, there are five waves (different starting times), each with six corrals. The three colors are different starting villages. They each have a different entrance on the Verrazano bridge and the three courses merge at mile 8 of the marathon.

I am so happy that DH and I are in the same (we put the same predicted time) because I was stressing about moving “back” which also means changing village. Imagine being the only pink bib in a sea of orange

Wild! Is this your first major? Seems like such a cool experience!

 

[flav]

Wild! Is this your first major? Seems like such a cool experience!

Yes, it will be my first major, sixth marathon. It will be DH first marathon.

I am sure that 50k participants and so many supporters will make it a special race!

 

[flav]

I'm wave 4, Corral D Orange. I don't really care about the whole "upper/lower, which course has 50 ft less elevation and fewer right hand turns". I am not planning to run for time.

Cool We are not running for time either. I was mostly looking to see if other DISers could be found near us

The rest of your comment made me wonder… I went and just learned that the Varrazzano bridge has two levels. Looks like I will be under

 

[jmasgat]

Cool We are not running for time either. I was mostly looking to see if other DISers could be found near us

The rest of your comment made me wonder… I went and just learned that the Varrazzano bridge has two levels. Looks like I will be under

Oh my comment wasn't directed at you--sorry if it sounded that way. As usual with a race this big, people talk about start conditions, whether they're pacing is going to be screwed up, how to swap corrals, and the urban legend of whether they will get peed on in the lower level by guys on the upper level! So except for that last one....some of the same stuff we talk about with Disney races.

As an fyi, you can move back corrals (if you wanted a different color start). But in your case, since you are in the last corral of Wave 3, you would need to move to wave 4. You could then pick either blue or orange (Wave 4 Corral A)

 

[RanDIZ]

Does anyone have information on running in the WDW parks before park opening?

Sometime in the first week of December 2022, I was in line at Animal Kingdom for early entry and saw droves of people exiting the park after a run. I couldn’t find any information on runDisney as to if this is a yearly thing or what the case was. Is this something that is done often? Does it happen at other parks as well? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[accm]

we came to Toronto for the weekend, and turns out there’s a Marathon happening. The start and finish are right outside of our hotel, so we plan on spectating for a bit.
Having mostly done Disney races, where I’m out the door 2.5hrs before the race, I got major anxiety seeing people still at the hotel 20 minutes before the start time.
The downside is that since all the roads are blocked, I don’t think I’ll be able to get my run in today.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Does anyone have information on running in the WDW parks before park opening?

Sometime in the first week of December 2022, I was in line at Animal Kingdom for early entry and saw droves of people exiting the park after a run. I couldn’t find any information on runDisney as to if this is a yearly thing or what the case was. Is this something that is done often? Does it happen at other parks as well? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks!

could it have been a cast-member 5k? I know they have those, and I believe there was one at AK last year. Disney isn't going to just let people into the parks to run around (aside from the rundisney races.) There's also a small chance it could have been part of their advertising campaign; there were casting calls for runners so they could get footage and photos for social media, etc.

 

[RanDIZ]

could it have been a cast-member 5k? I know they have those, and I believe there was one at AK last year. Disney isn't going to just let people into the parks to run around (aside from the rundisney races.) There's also a small chance it could have been part of their advertising campaign; there were casting calls for runners so they could get footage and photos for social media, etc.

That’s definitely a possibility. Makes sense.

 

[azrivest]

Wow... I signed up for a half-marathon on October 29th as a catered training run for Dopey. I just read this on their FAQ:

Answer: You can walk/run distances from 1 to 10 km, but for the 21.1 km you must finish in 2h15 and 4h30 for marathon.

Congrats on this organisation for being so inclusive! Not.

At my training pace, there's no way I'll finish in under 2h15. I don't want to race my long run... And besides that, 2h15 must exclude a helluva lot of recreational runners.

 

[GreatLakes]

Most Garmin watches should connect to about any chest strap as long as it has a Bluetooth or Ant+ connection. I can connect my OrangeTheory chest strap to my watch without issues.

Many, many years ago, I think I connected a Polar chest strap to a Garmin watch - but I may not be remembering correctly.

It’s possible the Garmin strap provides more data than HR?? I haven’t looked at them.

Isn't the issue with most heart rate straps that they will just capture heart rate? If @Herding_Cats wants to capture the activity (steps, calories, etc) in addition to the heart rate they'll need a strap that can do that. The only two I know of for sure are the HRM-PRO and HRM-PRO Plus. I took a look at the Garmin site and I'm pretty sure this is the feature they need:



I'm not sure at all if any non-Garmin devices would do it.

 

[huskies90]

For NYC, I am in Blue Wave 2; Corral F

 

[jmasgat]

I managed my longest run in 4-1/2 years yesterday...still slightly amazed that I ran 18 miles. My training has had a hiccup or two related to yet another "new to me" issue. I've started feeling my knees for the first time ever running. I chalk it up mostly to the hill training I've been doing as part of this marathon training plan, as well as age. I've tried to be smart and strategically skip a run or two, but I really needed a long run longer than the 14.4 that I had done. Yesterday was the longest run in my plan (15-18) and so I figured I could do the 8 mile easy and hopefully the 8 mile MP and then I could always walk the 2 or so miles home. My legs and feet were tired by the end, but I finished with no knee issues and today feel pretty good, albeit slightly achy in the hip area. Feeling better about NYC in a few short weeks.

Spent yesterday and today packing....leaving in a few hours so I can run the Half Dram in Dufftown, Scotland (and I just can't help not thinking of Duffman from the Simpsons) Any race that has a post-race whisky tasting of the places you ran past is already a winner in my book. Weather looks crappy, but who cares.

 

[mmm_texas]

Isn't the issue with most heart rate straps that they will just capture heart rate? If @Herding_Cats wants to capture the activity (steps, calories, etc) in addition to the heart rate they'll need a strap that can do that. The only two I know of for sure are the HRM-PRO and HRM-PRO Plus. I took a look at the Garmin site and I'm pretty sure this is the feature they need:

View attachment 802408

I'm not sure at all if any non-Garmin devices would do it.

The Wahoo Fitness TICKR X I mentioned earlier does more than HR (i.e it has an accelerometer, does running analytics, etc.), so that might be another option.

 

[camaker]

Race Report - Cape Fear 24 Hour Endurance Challenge
[You spin me right round]

I ran the Cape Fear 24 hour Endurance Challenge in Lillington, NC this weekend. The race is run entirely on a flat 0.59 mile asphalt paved loop in a local park. My goal was to see how far I could go in 24 hours, setting a new distance PR with an unlikely outside shot at 100 miles, while seeing if I could expand my ability to eat real foods during an ultra and get past the 18 hour mark or so without a repeat of the hypothermic incident I had a couple of years ago in a different race.

Race day temperatures were very nice, projected to be in the 60s all day. Unfortunately, it was rain and cloud cover projected to keep the temps down, although the rain was forecast to pass by 10am or so. We started promptly at 8am under a light drizzle and set off around the course. There's not too much to report on a loop that size, other than running the laps was not nearly as onerous as I had feared. The forecasters had, however, missed the metaphorical boat with their prediction. The rain came in waves from light to downpour for the first 7h 45m of the race. The course quickly had areas of both standing water and overflowing water that we had to run through and shoes and socks were saturated.

Rain aside, things were going very well and the race supplied a huge variety of foods (from hot and fresh to pre-packaged) and beverages at its aid station. I was able to try a number of different things with a couple of surprising favorites being fresh hot grilled cheese sandwiches and oatmeal cream pies. Both sat extremely well on my stomach and I ended up not needing any of the nutrition I'd brought with me.

By the time the rain ended it had set in motion a number of issues, though. The first two issues to strike in tandem were the onset of a migraine from the weather's passage coupled with my tibialis flaring up. Remarkably, the Campbell University Department of Osteopathic Medicine had sent a doctor and group of med students to assist at the race. What a great resource to have! They massaged out my tibialis and stretched my hamstrings to completely resolve that issue. Unfortunately, the migraine just wouldn't pass and I was forced to medicate it. One of the side effects from the medication is sensitization of my joints, so now every stride made my feet, ankles and knees ache. Still better than having the migraine and the joint discomfort eventually passed.

I had changed out my socks and shoes for dry ones as soon as the standing water on the course had subsided, but it turned out to be too little too late as I developed a severe blister on the bottom of my right forefoot. My pace had been slowed significantly by the rain, headache/side effects and time spent at the med station, so 100 miles had long since moved from "long shot" to impossibility. I was at ~49 miles, so I resolved to get through to the 100k mark, collect my medal, and call it a day (or two). It was back to the med station for what repairs they could offer my blisters.

The last 13 miles were not any that I'll look back fondly on, with a couple of extended breaks being taken to rest my feet. I finally crossed the finish line after my 105th lap just after 2am, having been on course for a little over 18 hours. I had no desire to push further to see if I could set a new distance PR, afraid if I pushed too far on the blistered feet I might do enough damage to put Dopey in jeopardy. It was a personal worst for the distance by ~3.5 hours, but given the circumstances and the fact that I completed my 3rd 100k I still consider it a mostly successful day. Final position was 46th overall out of 146 runners.

The race organization and set up were fantastic. I would 100% recommend this race and will strongly consider running it again in the future. The volunteers, food and drinks were top notch all day! Having the doctor and med students on hand kept a lot of runners going when they might otherwise have had to drop out.

I worry sometimes that reports like this can come across too negatively and I don't want to give the impression that it was all bad. I learned a lot about my ability to take in more fluids and calories during an ultra this weekend. I didn't experience any of the crash and burn hypothermic effects that I've run into as a result of insufficient calories in the past. Finally and most importantly I was able to overcome a combination of a terrible summer of training that limited my pace and distance (14m max long run) and race day conditions to complete a 100k!

As always, thanks for reading if you've made it this far! I hope this has been entertaining and maybe pointed out some mistakes that you don't have to make because I made them first. My favorite demotivational poster is the sinking ship captioned: "It could be that your purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others."

 

[Sara W]

I’m about to start training for a spring marathon. I did a local run club marathon training program for my last full and by the end I was just doing the runs on my own to fit my schedule, so I’m not going to do it this time. This time I’m trying to decide between doing an app like Runna or use Hansons beginner. I really want to incorporate strength training and I like that Runna is in your ear during the workout to help you adjust pace. However, I know a lot of people have found great success with Hansons.

For reference- I’m a full time working mother of 2, last marathon was 4:01 and I really want to break that 4 hr mark with some time to spare. Thanks for any insights!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Race Report - Cape Fear 24 Hour Endurance Challenge
[You spin me right round]

I ran the Cape Fear 24 hour Endurance Challenge in Lillington, NC this weekend. The race is run entirely on a flat 0.59 mile asphalt paved loop in a local park. My goal was to see how far I could go in 24 hours, setting a new distance PR with an unlikely outside shot at 100 miles, while seeing if I could expand my ability to eat real foods during an ultra and get past the 18 hour mark or so without a repeat of the hypothermic incident I had a couple of years ago in a different race.

Race day temperatures were very nice, projected to be in the 60s all day. Unfortunately, it was rain and cloud cover projected to keep the temps down, although the rain was forecast to pass by 10am or so. We started promptly at 8am under a light drizzle and set off around the course. There's not too much to report on a loop that size, other than running the laps was not nearly as onerous as I had feared. The forecasters had, however, missed the metaphorical boat with their prediction. The rain came in waves from light to downpour for the first 7h 45m of the race. The course quickly had areas of both standing water and overflowing water that we had to run through and shoes and socks were saturated.

Rain aside, things were going very well and the race supplied a huge variety of foods (from hot and fresh to pre-packaged) and beverages at its aid station. I was able to try a number of different things with a couple of surprising favorites being fresh hot grilled cheese sandwiches and oatmeal cream pies. Both sat extremely well on my stomach and I ended up not needing any of the nutrition I'd brought with me.

By the time the rain ended it had set in motion a number of issues, though. The first two issues to strike in tandem were the onset of a migraine from the weather's passage coupled with my tibialis flaring up. Remarkably, the Campbell University Department of Osteopathic Medicine had sent a doctor and group of med students to assist at the race. What a great resource to have! They massaged out my tibialis and stretched my hamstrings to completely resolve that issue. Unfortunately, the migraine just wouldn't pass and I was forced to medicate it. One of the side effects from the medication is sensitization of my joints, so now every stride made my feet, ankles and knees ache. Still better than having the migraine and the joint discomfort eventually passed.

I had changed out my socks and shoes for dry ones as soon as the standing water on the course had subsided, but it turned out to be too little too late as I developed a severe blister on the bottom of my right forefoot. My pace had been slowed significantly by the rain, headache/side effects and time spent at the med station, so 100 miles had long since moved from "long shot" to impossibility. I was at ~49 miles, so I resolved to get through to the 100k mark, collect my medal, and call it a day (or two). It was back to the med station for what repairs they could offer my blisters.

The last 13 miles were not any that I'll look back fondly on, with a couple of extended breaks being taken to rest my feet. I finally crossed the finish line after my 105th lap just after 2am, having been on course for a little over 18 hours. I had no desire to push further to see if I could set a new distance PR, afraid if I pushed too far on the blistered feet I might do enough damage to put Dopey in jeopardy. It was a personal worst for the distance by ~3.5 hours, but given the circumstances and the fact that I completed my 3rd 100k I still consider it a mostly successful day. Final position was 46th overall out of 146 runners.

The race organization and set up were fantastic. I would 100% recommend this race and will strongly consider running it again in the future. The volunteers, food and drinks were top notch all day! Having the doctor and med students on hand kept a lot of runners going when they might otherwise have had to drop out.

I worry sometimes that reports like this can come across too negatively and I don't want to give the impression that it was all bad. I learned a lot about my ability to take in more fluids and calories during an ultra this weekend. I didn't experience any of the crash and burn hypothermic effects that I've run into as a result of insufficient calories in the past. Finally and most importantly I was able to overcome a combination of a terrible summer of training that limited my pace and distance (14m max long run) and race day conditions to complete a 100k!

As always, thanks for reading if you've made it this far! I hope this has been entertaining and maybe pointed out some mistakes that you don't have to make because I made them first. My favorite demotivational poster is the sinking ship captioned: "It could be that your purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others."

I don't think it came across negatively at all.
Congrats on the finish, especially after having to deal with all the rain early on.

 

[azrivest]

given the circumstances and the fact that I completed my 3rd 100k I still consider it a mostly successful day.

Beyond amazing. Many others would have stopped before, having to deal with a migraine or aches. Congratulations on your perseverance. A 100k is an astonishing feat.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I’m about to start training for a spring marathon. I did a local run club marathon training program for my last full and by the end I was just doing the runs on my own to fit my schedule, so I’m not going to do it this time. This time I’m trying to decide between doing an app like Runna or use Hansons beginner. I really want to incorporate strength training and I like that Runna is in your ear during the workout to help you adjust pace. However, I know a lot of people have found great success with Hansons.

For reference- I’m a full time working mother of 2, last marathon was 4:01 and I really want to break that 4 hr mark with some time to spare. Thanks for any insights!

I have no experience with running for that type of a PR, but I do know what it's like to be a busy mom trying to train for a marathon.

Which plan fits your life better? For me, this is the biggest hurdle in every training block.

Is one more or fewer days per week of running? By "strength training" do you mean weight lifting, or do you mean runs centered around strength (such as hill repeats)? You didn't list it, but the Higdon plans usually incorporate "cross training" days which could be used for strength training (and he also has the "run with hal" app if that's an attractive feature for you.)