The Running Thread - 2016

[Dis5150]

That is exactly where my foot pain is right now when I put on my shoes. Right on the outside edge of my right foot where the tendon goes! Sigh indeed! I don't get a diagnosis for another week though once I see my doc.

That's exactly where my pain was. I had to give up my Nike Frees. I had my first half coming up so i got an ankle brace off amazon and ran the stupid thing in my Free's. I made it to the finish line solely because of that brace but couldn't walk for 3 weeks following the race. Just hobbled around. Then went and got fitted for new shoes. I explained my pain/problem and he had me try Brooks Transcend 3's. They are like heaven for my feet and ankles! Brooks completely revamped the 2's so they are nothing like them. And the 3's just came out in January so no sale prices and they were higher end, like $170. But so worth it! They support my ankle with something they call Guide Rails. The heel drop is the same as the Free's I had (5.0's). My only issue is they have a very wide toe box and I have narrow feet. They put some off the shelf inserts in them and that helped. I tried 5 other pairs of shoes and everything felt horrible after trying the Transcends! Just wanted to give a suggestion since they helped me 100%.

So, guess how I first got the 30+ year old injury? Ballet. Actually, I rolled my ankle badly on a step - but was at that point of my planned ballet career that I felt I couldn't afford time off, so I wrapped it and continued to dance on it. Until I simply couldn't anymore. End of planned career in the ballet.

I still do basic barre and floor work because I love the craft and it's a great workout! My doc treats some professional dancers and has a teen daughter in the ballet, so he really gets the intricacies of our strangely hyper-flexible yet super strong feet/ankles. He's the one who explained that shoe shopping will never be easy for me: I need a shoe that's flexible and doesn't push my feet in or out, but that doesn't allow too much lateral movement; that has a heel collar that supports the heck out of my ankle, but doesn't apply pressure to it; that has plenty of forefoot cushion, but isn't squishy. Uh-huh. Pretty sure I've tried 90% of the shoes on the market at this point lol!

My suggestion is to Google the KT tape instructions for peroneal tendinitis and give that a try - you should be able to tell within 1/2 a mile if it's helping. Hang in there!

That description sounds just like my Brooks Transcend 3's! I described them above. Just another suggestion to try out!

 

[Disneyland_emily]

So yeah- realized a race day (even a 5k) after returning from a 15+ mile a day (×4) walking vacation- not the smartest idea as my calves and feet were screaming at oh mile .5.. But only finished 24 seconds past goal 38:24 and had fastest mile in years..

And my husband PR'd his race 49:something with sub 16 min miles! 6 min faster than Star Wars 5k

All in all a good race-

 

[SunDial]

It may be too late for this advice since your strap is probably pretty old/worn by now, but the reason that the Garmin chest straps rub skin raw is simple - they absorb sweat and get coated with a fine layer of salt. If you rinse it after every run - EVERY run - this problem disappears. You also need to wash it with detergent once/week, but the daily rinse can be with only tap water.

I am going to have to do this. Mine doesn't rub me raw as it sometimes will not make a solid contact.

 

[Waiting2goback]

I really like Matt Fitzgerald's books. I recently read How Bad Do You Want It. Good mix of technical, science stuff and real life stories. My favorite though I think was Iron War. Really good book about the Kona Ironman. He's a smart guy.

Yeah, I am hoping this one is as good as the other, and as good as the reviews say. But I may have to get Iron War too. I read the reviews for that and it sounds really good.

 

[derekleigh]

QOTD: What are your top 5 Bucket List races in order of importance? They can be any distance for any reason.

1. Any Half contributing to covering all 50 states
2. London Marathon
3. Goofy, (maybe Dopey)
4. BAA half
5. Boston via BQ

QOTD: How do you feel about running doubles? Do you run them because of a lack of time to get the total miles required for a day? Training plan calls out for doubles? Only need for high mileage runners (60 MPW or more)? If you do run them what is your approach?

ATTQOTD: I don't mind them, but rarely do them. The school of thought on my end is its a way to achieve high number of miles in a week. I am not at that point at this time so I rarely run twice a day. On occasion I do, usually the second run is at a much more relaxed pace and treated as a recovery run. Today for example I ran 6 this morning. I will work out legs during lunch, and then after work I will try to get another 2-3 miles in to help with the soreness. So my total for the day isn't that high whereas a runner getting 70 miles in might run two 10 milers in one day. One reason it could be useful for a non high mileage runner is if you are training for a relay endurance race (Ranger type). Then you are just preparing your body for multiple runs a day to prep you for race day/days.

Doubles are nice for increasing mileage or keeping weekly mileage level. I've never use a double session in place of a long run however. I know some plans allow splitting it up, but I just don't think that serves the same purpose.

 

[DVCFan1994]

Just wanted to report back, REI took back my 6 month old 225 that was having battery issues and I got the 235 at the sale price. Kind of sad tomorrow is my rest day Excited to try it out Monday.

 

[camaker]

Today was the NCRC Classic Half Marathon here in Cary, NC. I went into it with mixed feelings and I guess I came out of it with mixed feelings, too.

Let's start with today's Word of the Day:
Hills

Hills as in nothing flat on the course. Hills as in if you don't like this hill you're on, try the next one as soon as this one ends. Hills as in "flat" is a 4-letter word. Seriously, here's the elevation profile from my Garmin:



I have previously tried to run flatter courses, but this one fit nicely into my schedule, so I figured what the heck.

Overall, the running portion of the race went pretty well. The weather was great for NC this time of year. 59deg and cloudy to start. The course itself was through Umstead Park on wide hard pack trails. I ran the front and second halves of the out and back at nearly identical paces, despite legs that we're getting increasingly annoyed with me. I ended up crossing the line at an even 2:05:00. I didn't have a goal for this race, since I knew it was going to be a new challenge with the hills, so all in all I'm pretty happy with the result.

The biggest issue I had was with the organization of the race re: porta-potties. There were a grand total of 10 at the start line to support ~600 runners. The one line feeding them was very long and I ended up using one a little too early. On the course there were all of 2 available! Not cool. Especially for a race that touts itself as the "state championship" 10k and half marathons. It's also a bit odd that the signature event of the "North Carolina Roadrunners Club" is run on park trails.

One last interesting note from this morning. Apparently superstitions are governed by the laws of multiplication, not addition. I was a bit concerned when a black cat ran across the road in front of me on the way out of the neighborhood on the way to the race. A little further down the road a second all black cat crossed right in front of me. The race was either going to be a disaster as the effects of two black cats doubled down on me or it was going to be ok if two negatives combined to make a positive. Thankfully, the math was in my favor!

 

[Miranda]

That elevation profile is cruel. Especially that last hill to the finish!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Today was the NCRC Classic Half Marathon here in Cary, NC. I went into it with mixed feelings and I guess I came out of it with mixed feelings, too.

Let's start with today's Word of the Day:
Hills

Hills as in nothing flat on the course. Hills as in if you don't like this hill you're on, try the next one as soon as this one ends. Hills as in "flat" is a 4-letter word. Seriously, here's the elevation profile from my Garmin:

View attachment 170626

I have previously tried to run flatter courses, but this one fit nicely into my schedule, so I figured what the heck.

Overall, the running portion of the race went pretty well. The weather was great for NC this time of year. 59deg and cloudy to start. The course itself was through Umstead Park on wide hard pack trails. I ran the front and second halves of the out and back at nearly identical paces, despite legs that we're getting increasingly annoyed with me. I ended up crossing the line at an even 2:05:00. I didn't have a goal for this race, since I knew it was going to be a new challenge with the hills, so all in all I'm pretty happy with the result.

The biggest issue I had was with the organization of the race re: porta-potties. There were a grand total of 10 at the start line to support ~600 runners. The one line feeding them was very long and I ended up using one a little too early. On the course there were all of 2 available! Not cool. Especially for a race that touts itself as the "state championship" 10k and half marathons. It's also a bit odd that the signature event of the "North Carolina Roadrunners Club" is run on park trails.

One last interesting note from this morning. Apparently superstitions are governed by the laws of multiplication, not addition. I was a bit concerned when a black cat ran across the road in front of me on the way out of the neighborhood on the way to the race. A little further down the road a second all black cat crossed right in front of me. The race was either going to be a disaster as the effects of two black cats doubled down on me or it was going to be ok if two negatives combined to make a positive. Thankfully, the math was in my favor!

That's intense. Congrats on completing that!

That's too bad about the porta potties. Seems like an easy fix that will hopefully be rectified for next year.

 

[camaker]

That's intense. Congrats on completing that!

That's too bad about the porta potties. Seems like an easy fix that will hopefully be rectified for next year.

This was the 18th annual running of the race, so I would've hoped they would have a better handle on things at this point. This was the least well run race that I have run so far. Everything felt a bit under-organized, for lack of a better term.

 

[baxter24]

Today was the NCRC Classic Half Marathon here in Cary, NC. I went into it with mixed feelings and I guess I came out of it with mixed feelings, too.

Let's start with today's Word of the Day:
Hills

Hills as in nothing flat on the course. Hills as in if you don't like this hill you're on, try the next one as soon as this one ends. Hills as in "flat" is a 4-letter word. Seriously, here's the elevation profile from my Garmin:

View attachment 170626

I have previously tried to run flatter courses, but this one fit nicely into my schedule, so I figured what the heck.

Overall, the running portion of the race went pretty well. The weather was great for NC this time of year. 59deg and cloudy to start. The course itself was through Umstead Park on wide hard pack trails. I ran the front and second halves of the out and back at nearly identical paces, despite legs that we're getting increasingly annoyed with me. I ended up crossing the line at an even 2:05:00. I didn't have a goal for this race, since I knew it was going to be a new challenge with the hills, so all in all I'm pretty happy with the result.

The biggest issue I had was with the organization of the race re: porta-potties. There were a grand total of 10 at the start line to support ~600 runners. The one line feeding them was very long and I ended up using one a little too early. On the course there were all of 2 available! Not cool. Especially for a race that touts itself as the "state championship" 10k and half marathons. It's also a bit odd that the signature event of the "North Carolina Roadrunners Club" is run on park trails.

One last interesting note from this morning. Apparently superstitions are governed by the laws of multiplication, not addition. I was a bit concerned when a black cat ran across the road in front of me on the way out of the neighborhood on the way to the race. A little further down the road a second all black cat crossed right in front of me. The race was either going to be a disaster as the effects of two black cats doubled down on me or it was going to be ok if two negatives combined to make a positive. Thankfully, the math was in my favor!

That picture is the very reason I stay away from running at Umstead! Had a few friends do races through there and said the hills were brutal. Congrats on getting it done!

I did the NC Roadrunner club 10 miler last October and that was on the Tobacco Trial so maybe they do favor the trails?

 

[Anisum]

QOTD: What is the longest distance you have traveled for a race in terms of both miles and travel time?

PHL to LAX + 45min to Anaheim for a total of 2475 air miles + 33 car miles = 2503 total miles and 6.5hrs because as much as I'd love to drive it that would take 40 hours IF we didn't stop anywhere.

 

[DopeyBadger]

@LSUlakes

I've got some races to add to the list:

June
18 - DopeyBadger - Hot2Trot 10K (Top 5 / N/A)

October
02 - DopeyBadger - Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon (3:17:49 / N/A)

January
05 - DopeyBadger - WDW 5k (0:21:00 / N/A) Dopey
06 - DopeyBadger - WDW 10k (0:43:00 / N/A) Dopey
07 - DopeyBadger - WDW Half Marathon (1:40:00 / N/A) Dopey
08 - DopeyBadger - WDW Marathon (3:46:00 / N/A) Dopey
08 - DopeyBadger - Goofy Challenge (5:26:00 / N/A) Dopey
08 - DopeyBadger - Dopey Challenge (6:30:00 / N/A) Dopey

Hot2Trot's a small local race just outside my front door. Figured I have to defend my home turf (LOL!). Only top 3 in each age division (by 10 year increments) get a trophy in the Hot2Trot 10K. In my division (M 30-39) they overall placed 1st, 4th, and 5th. So if I want a trophy I need to go top 5. Guess we'll see.

Milwaukee Lakefront is the 1st marathon I broke 4 hours at (last year) so I'm hoping to recapture the magic.

Thanks!

 

[Chaitali]

Wow, the elevation for that race looks tough! Way to go on such a hard course. Though it's a shame that they haven't figured out the portapotty situation after 18 years

My 5k went much better than expected. It rained the whole time, pretty hard at some points, but the wind was minimal. And I did make my goal of sub-35. My official time was 34:39. If anyone is looking for a flat and fast 5k in DC in May, I would highly recommend the Semper Fi 5k. And the logistics are always well organized. It's obviously more fun when it's not raining but they still did a good job in the rain. The only downside tends to be that it's not really that close to either parking or the metro so getting there can be a bit of a chore. We always just go really early so that we can find a good parking spot and walk. We ended up being about a 15-20 minute walk away from the start line.

 

[LSUlakes]

Ran 10 miles this weekend... well I went out for 10 miles. My legs were still soar from my leg day and I was pushing my 2.5 year old. Those two factors caught up with me around mile 8.5, which began a walk/run for me. It isn't always pretty, but its done. Even after that experience, I am toying with the idea of going for 18-20 miles one weekend during June/July. With the heat here, I think ill need to start around 4:30 AM....

So yeah- realized a race day (even a 5k) after returning from a 15+ mile a day (×4) walking vacation- not the smartest idea as my calves and feet were screaming at oh mile .5.. But only finished 24 seconds past goal 38:24 and had fastest mile in years..

And my husband PR'd his race 49:something with sub 16 min miles! 6 min faster than Star Wars 5k

All in all a good race-

Congrats on the race! Tired legs make it difficult.

Today was the NCRC Classic Half Marathon here in Cary, NC. I went into it with mixed feelings and I guess I came out of it with mixed feelings, too.

Let's start with today's Word of the Day:
Hills

Hills as in nothing flat on the course. Hills as in if you don't like this hill you're on, try the next one as soon as this one ends. Hills as in "flat" is a 4-letter word. Seriously, here's the elevation profile from my Garmin:

View attachment 170626

I have previously tried to run flatter courses, but this one fit nicely into my schedule, so I figured what the heck.

Overall, the running portion of the race went pretty well. The weather was great for NC this time of year. 59deg and cloudy to start. The course itself was through Umstead Park on wide hard pack trails. I ran the front and second halves of the out and back at nearly identical paces, despite legs that we're getting increasingly annoyed with me. I ended up crossing the line at an even 2:05:00. I didn't have a goal for this race, since I knew it was going to be a new challenge with the hills, so all in all I'm pretty happy with the result.

The biggest issue I had was with the organization of the race re: porta-potties. There were a grand total of 10 at the start line to support ~600 runners. The one line feeding them was very long and I ended up using one a little too early. On the course there were all of 2 available! Not cool. Especially for a race that touts itself as the "state championship" 10k and half marathons. It's also a bit odd that the signature event of the "North Carolina Roadrunners Club" is run on park trails.

One last interesting note from this morning. Apparently superstitions are governed by the laws of multiplication, not addition. I was a bit concerned when a black cat ran across the road in front of me on the way out of the neighborhood on the way to the race. A little further down the road a second all black cat crossed right in front of me. The race was either going to be a disaster as the effects of two black cats doubled down on me or it was going to be ok if two negatives combined to make a positive. Thankfully, the math was in my favor!

DO NOT WANT! Looks like a challenging course. Congrats on a strong outing!

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: What role does self-doubt play in your running, if any? Does it keep you from trying a new distance or going for a certain time goal, for example?

ATTQOTD: I don't think it keeps me from any race distance or any challenge. I would like to complete a Iron Man one day, but if I was to attempt that now I would be single. Maybe when we are done having babys and they are grown up some. I think self-doubt may hold me back at times from going for a goal pace. I think I may not actually be ready for that attempt, but that is usually a thought based on my training leading up to the event.

 

[FFigawi]

QOTD: What role does self-doubt play in your running, if any? Does it keep you from trying a new distance or going for a certain time goal, for example?

None. I am always willing to take on a new challenge (see: IMFL) or distance. The thing that does keep me from trying for a certain time goal is my love of pizza and beer. I'm positive I could run faster if I was willing to completely change my dietary habits. To date, I'm not willing to do so. Training is hard enough as it is without depriving myself of some of life's pleasures.

 

[Chaitali]

Interesting QOTD! I don't know that it's necessarily self doubt but fear of injury or pain does keep me from pushing the speed sometimes. And it has kept me from challenges so far but I may try one next year.

 

[nickyfielding]

QOTD: What role does self-doubt play in your running, if any? Does it keep you from trying a new distance or going for a certain time goal, for example.

I find myself easily doubting myself before I run but can usually push through it once I get started.

Having a major stress as I haven't ran for over 2 weeks due to a chest infection and due to start my half marathon training program today and just feel like when I can finally start running again it will be starting from square 1 again.

 

[LSUlakes]

I find myself easily doubting myself before I run but can usually push through it once I get started.

Having a major stress as I haven't ran for over 2 weeks due to a chest infection and due to start my half marathon training program today and just feel like when I can finally start running again it will be starting from square 1 again.

Depending on how your training was going prior to injury, odds are you wont be starting over from day 1. Missing 1-2 weeks and you wont have to change anything. 3-4 weeks, may require a change of goal but stay with plan. More than 4 weeks, revise goal and plan.