The Running Thread - 2016

[croach]

Question for everyone! Now that my I'm in my 11th week of training, I have run through my ipod music, exhausted my Pandora channels, and starting to suffer from a mild case of boredom! What say ye wise experts about specific books on tape or podcasts that are worth listening to during a run?

Most of my runs are about 60-90 minutes right now. Thank you for any suggestions.

Disney wise I like Wedway Radio. They are sproradic in putting out shows but they have a huge backlog of podcasts about Disney history. Also Disney Dish with Len Testa me Jim Hill is ok. Let's Run Disney combines running and Disney - I like to a lot. Not sure what you're into but I listen to a lot of sports, tv show reviews, and history podcasts. Happy to throw some of those out there if interested.

 

[Anisum]

So this weekend was my last indulgence (huge pizza, ice cream, sandwiches, wine, and even beer all in greater quantities than normal) before I get back on track post vacation. No vacations other than one tiny running vacation until after the new year so I'm gonna buckle down and get to work running and eating (mostly!) right.

 

[dmross]

Question for everyone! Now that my I'm in my 11th week of training, I have run through my ipod music, exhausted my Pandora channels, and starting to suffer from a mild case of boredom! What say ye wise experts about specific books on tape or podcasts that are worth listening to during a run?

Most of my runs are about 60-90 minutes right now. Thank you for any suggestions.

I've got an audible subscription that I love. But one day last month I tried listening to Game of Thrones (yes I'm late to the party) and when that evil Queen had Lady the wolf killed I stopped in the middle of the road in shock choking back tears. So I've gone back to lighter fare when running. Favorite podcasts:

Radiolab!!!!
Connecting with Walt
Freakonomics
Some of the older Tested episodes
Mickey Miles
Disney Dish with Jim Hill

I'd also recommend doing a few runs with nothing. It sort of resets your brain in the same way going without soft drinks for a while makes them taste really really amazing when you finally have one.

I'm also going to check out some of those listed above that I haven't tried yet.

 

[Miranda]

Podcasts - Last fall, I listened to all of the first season of Serial and some Radiolab. This spring I started listening to the second season of Serial, but I never got around to finishing it, because I started listening to more Radiolab instead. Last long run, there was a promo for a new(er... I think I was listening to an old episode ) podcast, 2 Dope Queens, at the end of my episode of Radiolab so I paused my run to download and queue it up because the promo was funny. It is a comedy podcast with two ladies, one of them Jessica Williams from The Daily Show, basically doing live standup, along with some other guest standup people. My SO tells me I should listen to Invisibilia, too, he thinks I'd like it because I like Radiolab.

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

Had an interesting weekend...set out bright and early Saturday morning with the intentions of doing a 100 mile ride. Nearly 50 miles in (a a loooong way from home) my rear tire blew out. Not just a flat, but a shredded tire and a loud pop, followed by a lot of fishtailing as I brought the bike to a safe stop at the side of the road.

I tried my best to get it patched using a $5 bill, but it only lasted another 10 miles before blowing again. I was a sad triathlete as I called my wife for a rescue ride.

I didn't get too down though...I just treated it as an opportunity to brush up on my flat-changing skills and realized that after nearly 60 miles of riding my legs felt amazing. The time out there flew by and I have next weekend to give it another go. I rebounded on Sunday by hitting the trails to get my 15 mile long run in...first time running with a Camelbak and it made a world of difference out there. I had an awesome run and enjoyed every minute of it. I was a happy triathlete again!

 

[LSUlakes]

Had an interesting weekend...set out bright and early Saturday morning with the intentions of doing a 100 mile ride. Nearly 50 miles in (a a loooong way from home) my rear tire blew out. Not just a flat, but a shredded tire and a loud pop, followed by a lot of fishtailing as I brought the bike to a safe stop at the side of the road.

I tried my best to get it patched using a $5 bill, but it only lasted another 10 miles before blowing again. I was a sad triathlete as I called my wife for a rescue ride.

I didn't get too down though...I just treated it as an opportunity to brush up on my flat-changing skills and realized that after nearly 60 miles of riding my legs felt amazing. The time out there flew by and I have next weekend to give it another go. I rebounded on Sunday by hitting the trails to get my 15 mile long run in...first time running with a Camelbak and it made a world of difference out there. I had an awesome run and enjoyed every minute of it. I was a happy triathlete again!

Sorry about the tire going out. The good news is you kept the bike under control and didn't injure yourself.

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: What is the difference between your first marathon (or longest race) and your fastest? If you have only done one, then what is your goal?

ATTQOTD: My goal for the first one was to hopefully finish and to do so under 4 hour. I did not get to that sub 4 hour mark that day. The total time difference is around 30 minutes between my first and fastest time. I hope to have a big PR this year of somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 minutes.

 

[LSUlakes]

I have a few races to add.

July 9 - mrsgryphon - Red Dress for Women 5k (NG / N/A)
September 17 - mrsgryphon - Gulf Beach Half Marathon (2:12:09 / N/A)
October 8 - mrsgryphon - Hartford Half Marathon (2:12:09 / N/A)

Is the July date a typo or a race you did this weekend? If so how did it go?

 

[Mickey's sweetheart]

I'm glad you didn't wreck and you found some silver linings.

 

[dis_or_dat]

After spending hours googling "best podcasts" and listening to a few (like others, "serial" is what got me hooked), here are my recommendations (none are running related):

-are you a Democrat? You might like "keepin' it 1600". Interesting political commentary from 2 people (Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer) who used to work on Obama's campaign. Can sound a little frat bro at times with occasional obsessions about twitter feeds, but my friend is a Republican and helped run a few presidential campaigns and he said they were "good guys" although he claims to never have listened to it. I never used to closely follow politics but it's pretty fascinating.
-do you like the Real Housewives? "b***h sesh" ... you're welcome. Carrie Wilson (Happy Endings) and Danielle Schneider are hysterical. I'll often laugh in the middle of my run
-"how did this get made" is a hilarious breakdown of terrible movies (Howard the Duck, Batman and Robin, the Room, etc). Again, will often laugh in the middle of a run.
-channel 33/the ringer have a bunch of different podcasts - mostly sports and pop culture centric. I personally enjoy "the watch" and "jam session". I believe "After the Game of Thrones" on HBO came from the podcast from Channel 33.
-if you're interested in how songs are made, check out "song exploder". It goes through the process (with interviews) on specific songs by a wide range of artists: the postal service, tUnE-yArDs, U2, spoon, ghost face killah, iggy pop ....

The first 2 recommendations are my favorites. I can't wait 'til Thursday when the next podcast comes out! I probably look deranged when I'm listening to "b***h sesh" and "how did this get made" since I'm grinning and laughing throughout my run. I tend to want levity when I'm running, so I might check out @Miranda 's suggestions. I've downloaded a few Rebel Force Radio podcasts that breakdown the Star Wars soundtracks, but haven't listened to them yet.

If anyone knows a good CFB podcast (more PAC 12 oriented). Please let me know. Excited about the upcoming season.

Also just saw that if you're an Amazon Prime member, you can get a 3 month Audible trial for free (new to Audible only), buuuuut if you wait until tomorrow (7/12 aka Amazon Prime Day) you also get a $10 credit.

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

QOTD: What is the difference between your first marathon (or longest race) and your fastest? If you have only done one, then what is your goal?

My first marathon was Chicago in 2013, where I ran 3:15:29. My fastest marathon was just over 17 minutes quicker.

Current status: sitting in my kitchen waiting to see if my skin changes from red to normal or if I just sun-burnt myself during my late afternoon long run. The joys of being a fair Irish runner :/

Update: not burnt, no longer red.

As a fair Scottish/Irish runner I feel your pain. I like the sun, but the sun doesn't like me.

 

[Miranda]

I tend to want levity when I'm running, so I might check out @Miranda 's suggestions.

2 Dope Queens is the only comedy one on there. I have only listened to the first episode but I enjoyed it... it was the first time I'd listened to comedy while I was running and I think I will do that more. I really enjoy Radiolab, but sometimes my brain just gets tired of all the learning and analyzing on long runs, especially since the episode length varies, so sometimes I'm listening to 2-3 episodes a run.

 

[r2d2_runner]

Last week there was a discussion here about the benefits of slowing down your training paces, especially for the "easy" and "long" runs. I had previously held the belief that I basically had a single running speed - I couldn't run much faster and I definitely didn't want to run much slower. But I have been finding it harder to get to the end of my long runs without feeling completely exhausted, so I thought I would try the advice of slowing it down ... and it worked! My recent long run felt so much better than previous ones, and I managed to complete my longest run to date and still felt good at the end. Yay! Thank you for the tips!

So, while this is great, I am now also wondering how to transition from this slower pace on long runs to my "race pace". Do I keep training at a slow pace and then on race day just start running faster (I'm assuming my tempo runs will help)? Or do I slowly start increasing my "slow pace" in my training runs until I am doing my long training runs at my goal race pace? I am currently prepping for my first 10k at the end of summer ... and I think I will be running that distance within the next 2-3 weeks and will still have 2-3 weeks before my first race, so I can try to use that extra time to work on increasing my pace a bit ... but once I start my half marathon training plan I don't think I will have much time left at the end of the plan to work on increasing my pace, so I assume that has to happen during the training at some point?

 

[Barca33Runner]

QOTD: What is the difference between your first marathon (or longest race) and your fastest? If you have only done one, then what is your goal?

ATTQOTD: My goal for the first one was to hopefully finish and to do so under 4 hour. I did not get to that sub 4 hour mark that day. The total time difference is around 30 minutes between my first and fastest time. I hope to have a big PR this year of somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 minutes.

My first marathon was WDW in 2013. My goal was to finish and I was able to accomplish that goal, just barely. I finished in 7:11:38. I came back the following year and finished the 2014 marathon as the final portion of the Dopey in 5:22:45. I have improved on that time by a few minutes in the last couple years, but improving by almost 2 hours between my first and second marathon was pretty cool. I am training to finish the entire Dopey in under 7:11 this year.

 

[ZellyB]

QOTD: What is the difference between your first marathon (or longest race) and your fastest? If you have only done one, then what is your goal?

ATTQOTD: My first marathon was at Disney and I had no goal other than to finish and get lots of pictures. I achieved both with a crazy time of 7:08:04. My best time was a local marathon I ran here in 2014, but it was a big disappointment. I had plans to finish under 5:30, but a big groin pull that sidelined much of my training and then later in the training, IT band pain (with a rough flair-up during the race) finished me with 5:55:14. I'm running it again this year and my initial goal was a sub 5, but injuries again this year have me recalibrating my goal. So, shooting for a sub 5:30 with a stretch of 5:15.

 

[opusone]

What is the difference between your first marathon (or longest race) and your fastest? If you have only done one, then what is your goal?

Interestingly enough, my first marathon and fastest marathon are the same. Although I was training "just to finish," the weather was perfect, and I felt good (and was in good shape back then), so I ran a 3:12:28 in the 1993 San Antonio Marathon. Every marathon since then has been slower, although I haven't tried one in the last 12 years. If I was to try one for speed now, my aggressive goal would probably be about 3:30. I would give myself 50/50 odds on achieving that.

 

[camaker]

QOTD: What is the difference between your first marathon (or longest race) and your fastest? If you have only done one, then what is your goal?.

I have only run one marathon thus far. It was at Disney during this year's WDWMW and was run as part of a 10k + Goofy combo. My training was sidelined from Sept-Nov by a torn hamstring and by the time I got back to running I was using intervals to recondition my legs and prevent reinjury. The longest training run I had prior to the marathon was 12 miles and I'd never exceeded 13.1. I finished in 5:48:48. My goal is now to see what I can do when trained properly for a marathon. Right now, I have 2 goals for my upcoming November marathon: If I can break 5:00, I'll be OK with it, but the real stretch goal is under 4:30. I'm still in the "not sure what I can do healthy" place, but (fingers crossed) I am healthy now heading into training and have been able to return to full running and ditch the thigh sleeve in the past month!

 

[Anisum]

What say ye wise experts about specific books on tape or podcasts that are worth listening to during a run?

I generally just run to a playlist but I was at a race where two women swore by the really awful regency romances. Apparently it worked wonders because they didn't have to worry about losing the plot and some of the dialogue is really witty. I haven't tried that yet.

QOTD: What is the difference between your first marathon (or longest race) and your fastest? If you have only done one, then what is your goal?

I've only done two halfs and they were both Disney (though I'm looking forward to my third which will be non-Disney) so I think the major differences between the first and the second were during the first (GSC) I knew I had trained hard enough that logically I knew I could do it but was still super nervous about being swept. It went from cool to hot and I had spent far more time than was probably good wandering the parks the day before. I was also run walking with friends and one started to get overheated which led to a slow down and extra refueling. The finish time was too embarrassing to post. The second one (PDC) was better because of the lack of humidity, the increased shade, and a serious effort to decrease the amount I walked. I also had to tape my feet because they were wrecked after the 10k for some odd reason. I finished over a half hour faster than my initial time. My goal would be to cut off another half hour (since I won't be distracted by the wonders of Disney) or at least improve just to see how well I could do during a 'normal' half marathon.

 

[croach]

After spending hours googling "best podcasts" and listening to a few (like others, "serial" is what got me hooked), here are my recommendations (none are running related):

-are you a Democrat? You might like "keepin' it 1600". Interesting political commentary from 2 people (Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer) who used to work on Obama's campaign. Can sound a little frat bro at times with occasional obsessions about twitter feeds, but my friend is a Republican and helped run a few presidential campaigns and he said they were "good guys" although he claims to never have listened to it. I never used to closely follow politics but it's pretty fascinating.
-do you like the Real Housewives? "b***h sesh" ... you're welcome. Carrie Wilson (Happy Endings) and Danielle Schneider are hysterical. I'll often laugh in the middle of my run
-"how did this get made" is a hilarious breakdown of terrible movies (Howard the Duck, Batman and Robin, the Room, etc). Again, will often laugh in the middle of a run.
-channel 33/the ringer have a bunch of different podcasts - mostly sports and pop culture centric. I personally enjoy "the watch" and "jam session". I believe "After the Game of Thrones" on HBO came from the podcast from Channel 33.
-if you're interested in how songs are made, check out "song exploder". It goes through the process (with interviews) on specific songs by a wide range of artists: the postal service, tUnE-yArDs, U2, spoon, ghost face killah, iggy pop ....

The first 2 recommendations are my favorites. I can't wait 'til Thursday when the next podcast comes out! I probably look deranged when I'm listening to "b***h sesh" and "how did this get made" since I'm grinning and laughing throughout my run. I tend to want levity when I'm running, so I might check out @Miranda 's suggestions. I've downloaded a few Rebel Force Radio podcasts that breakdown the Star Wars soundtracks, but haven't listened to them yet.

If anyone knows a good CFB podcast (more PAC 12 oriented). Please let me know. Excited about the upcoming season.

Also just saw that if you're an Amazon Prime member, you can get a 3 month Audible trial for free (new to Audible only), buuuuut if you wait until tomorrow (7/12 aka Amazon Prime Day) you also get a $10 credit.

You're right - After the Thrones did come from a Channel 33 podcast. Those guys are pretty funny. Solid Verbal is a pretty good CFB podcast I used to listen to but they are necessarily Pac 12 specific.

Last week there was a discussion here about the benefits of slowing down your training paces, especially for the "easy" and "long" runs. I had previously held the belief that I basically had a single running speed - I couldn't run much faster and I definitely didn't want to run much slower. But I have been finding it harder to get to the end of my long runs without feeling completely exhausted, so I thought I would try the advice of slowing it down ... and it worked! My recent long run felt so much better than previous ones, and I managed to complete my longest run to date and still felt good at the end. Yay! Thank you for the tips!

So, while this is great, I am now also wondering how to transition from this slower pace on long runs to my "race pace". Do I keep training at a slow pace and then on race day just start running faster (I'm assuming my tempo runs will help)? Or do I slowly start increasing my "slow pace" in my training runs until I am doing my long training runs at my goal race pace? I am currently prepping for my first 10k at the end of summer ... and I think I will be running that distance within the next 2-3 weeks and will still have 2-3 weeks before my first race, so I can try to use that extra time to work on increasing my pace a bit ... but once I start my half marathon training plan I don't think I will have much time left at the end of the plan to work on increasing my pace, so I assume that has to happen during the training at some point?

My thought on this is that you want to vary your training paces during the week. Some runs such as your long runs or recovery runs should be done at an easy pace but tempo runs can be done at race pace or closer to that. Then you have different paces for intervals, repeats, etc. Basically every run has a purpose and each run has a pace. Following a plan will spell which days are which.

 

[Dis5150]

QOTD: What is the difference between your first marathon (or longest race) and your fastest? If you have only done one, then what is your goal?

My longest race so far is a HM. My first was in December with a 2:57:02. My latest HM was in May and it was also my fastest at 2:48:35. My goal for that one was 2:45 but it was in Branson and while I was expecting hills, I wasn't expecting mountains!