The Running Thread - 2016

[LSUlakes]

Congrats!! Your house-forced taper worked well.

I like the way you look at things!

It was a brutal marathon for me. I came in about an hour behind my goal time.

Sorry to hear about the run not going well. It sucks to put so much work into one event, and come race day you end up just having an off day or things happen out of your control.

Great job on the race! Though that sounds scary with the woman fainting before the race even started. I hope she was ok.

Thanks. She seemed to be ok by the time we started.

Great job on the race, @LSUlakes.

Thanks.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

My fav routes are running the value wdw resorts.. I tend to do most of my long runs there (far better than lapping my neighborhood x times..) plus there are restrooms, water, people and little to no traffic.. Usually I run my neighborhood so not near as fun..

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Good morning folks! Hope everyone had a good weekend. I wasn't able to check in on the thread to much this weekend, but it appears we did not have much traffic and a little drama. Congrats to all that had a race this weekend!

QOTD: What is your favorite training route and why?

ATTQOTD: I enjoy running around the LSU lakes. Very little car traffic and always a lot of people on the route. Having a lot of options to increase mileage without repeating similar routes is nice as well.

Sunday was my Zydeco Half Marathon. I haven't had much time to train lately so I did not have high expectations for the race and figured anything below 2 hours would be a success. I started out and just ran at a somewhat comfortable pace, and decided to try to run as long as I could by feel. Things went well and I ended up with a finish time of 1:46:50 for an average pace of 8:09 officially. Overall I was 78th of 1127 runners. Things got interesting in the starting corrals when a lady fainted before the race. Medical personal came to attend to her and before the race started, she was sitting up and seemed like she would be ok.

Congrats on your race!

My favorite running route is what the locals here call the bridge loop. It's running two bridges/causeways between the mainland and barrier island and can be as short as 5 miles or built upon to whatever distance you like. It's just beautiful scenery with the potential to see dolphins, manatees, sharks, various other wildlife (including resident parrot population), as well as both the estuary and the beach. And it's probably partially to blame for my lack of speed because I'm easily distrac...SQUIRREL!!

 

[Slogger]

Sunday was my Zydeco Half Marathon. I haven't had much time to train lately so I did not have high expectations for the race and figured anything below 2 hours would be a success. I started out and just ran at a somewhat comfortable pace, and decided to try to run as long as I could by feel. Things went well and I ended up with a finish time of 1:46:50 for an average pace of 8:09 officially.

Congrats! Sounds like you exceeded expectations and had a good run at the Zydeco.

 

[Slogger]

QOTD: What is your favorite training route and why?


Hopefully this isn't cheating because I only get to run it 4 or 5 times a year but you did say "favorite" route.
My favorite training route is at the beach in South Carolina early in the morning during vacation.
It has bike trails, palm trees, shade, sun, pelicans, kites flying, sand, boats, and the ocean. Sometimes even snakes and alligators (how about a scariest thing you've seen during a run thread?). Enjoy getting out there as the sun comes up, and it's just me and nature.

Don't need music, the scenery transforms me into Tommy Bahama in running shoes!

 

[Slogger]

ATTQOTD from a couple weeks ago: What are my running goals?

It's hard to answer because as I reach certain goals, I make new ones.
Some of the goals I've had were based on speed (run a 10k in less than an hour) or distance (complete a marathon). I've been lucky to check many goals off my list.

Long term goals would be to qualify for Boston or run in all 50 states but no pressure or expectations to make that happen.

Now my goals are centered around staying healthy and running pain free (not doing so well on that one lately), and to enjoy myself better during training and runs (need help on that one too).


Good luck to everyone whatever goals you may have.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

ATTQOTD: My favorite route is a local recreation trail in my area. It can get pretty busy when the weather is nice, and I don't get to use it too often since it doesn't run near my apartment, but I love it because I don't have to worry about car traffic. I'm hoping to use it a lot more this spring/summer/fall. I also live near Lake Michigan, so I'd also like to do more running along the lakefront (but that also gets really crowded and busy in nice weather). Basically though I just hate running in the immediate vicinity of my apartment because there are only sidewalks on the busy streets, not the side streets.

On another note, I have a race coming up this Saturday! I'm looking forward to it, because even though it's not supposed to be warm (temperatures forecasted in the 30s as of right now), it will be about 40 degrees warmer than my last race in January, when it was -2.

 

[Waiting2goback]

It was a brutal marathon for me. I came in about an hour behind my goal time. By mile 4 I could tell it was not going to be a good race. I wound up needing to take 6 potty breaks and also found myself pretty dehydrated by about mile 16. I saw a lot of people that were really struggling including the 4:15 pacer who wound up dehydrated herself and needing help to finish. While my buddies were waiting for me to finish they saw at least 3 people pass out upon crossing the finish line.

It was frustrating to miss my goal by so far, particular since I had run 18 ahead of marathon goal pace on this course 2 weeks ago, but I think it was a good motivation for me. It showed that I can't afford to miss my training runs and I really need to watch what I eat.

ATTQOTD. I really like making non out and back long run routes that traverse Raleigh and the surrounding cities. It's always fun to run routes in which I run past somewhere that I don't like to drive to because it's "too far" away.

Wow makes me wonder what I missed last week while I was on vacation.

I am sorry your run didn't go that well but your post is a nice reminder of exactly how hard these races are. You have run a lot and yet you struggled. These races are no joke, even the Disney races. Anyone with a few bucks can sign up for one of these races but you need to put in the proper training to not only finish, but finish safely.

My friend that ran the WDW Marathon with me. I tried to explain to him all last year that a marathon isn't just two 1/2 marathons, it is a much different beast. He now understands. You just can't take it for granted.

 

[Waiting2goback]

QOTD: I have a route I take. It is kind of broken up into 2 parts and the mileage I need for the day will determine where I go. I live near a lake so my "easy" run route is an out and back to the lake and is just under 5 miles. When I need longer mileage I can go straight, rather than taking a left up my street, and that goes down to another part of the lake. This part of the route is perfect, it has everything I need from distance to hills for hill training. There is really no traffic on either part of this route so it's safe and peaceful.

 

[camaker]

QOTD: What is your favorite training route and why?

My neighborhood adjoins a local park which is connected to another park with a nice lake and trail through a network of green ways. That allows me to customize training runs anywhere from 2-16 miles in no more than 2 laps. It also allows me to run exclusively on sidewalks and trails without having to run in the road, with the added risks that entails.

It was a brutal marathon for me. I came in about an hour behind my goal time. By mile 4 I could tell it was not going to be a good race. I wound up needing to take 6 potty breaks and also found myself pretty dehydrated by about mile 16. I saw a lot of people that were really struggling including the 4:15 pacer who wound up dehydrated herself and needing help to finish. While my buddies were waiting for me to finish they saw at least 3 people pass out upon crossing the finish line.

It was frustrating to miss my goal by so far, particular since I had run 18 ahead of marathon goal pace on this course 2 weeks ago, but I think it was a good motivation for me. It showed that I can't afford to miss my training runs and I really need to watch what I eat.

Sorry to hear that you had a rough time in the race. Is there another race on your calendar that you can get back in the groove with?

 

[dmross]

ATTQOTD:

There's a little country road that is just a single lane between cow pastures, up and down hills and around curves. It's near the home we sold in 2014. When you come around the top corner in the evening during the summer you get this gorgeous view of pastures and a lake and cows. Whenever we go back to visit family I try to run it. Sigh.

 

[bumbershoot]

Not being silly at all. Articles such as this one talk about the benefits of vitamin D in amounts beyond what you get from being outdoors. Plus, I don't get much sun over here. My apartment is on the second floor of the hotel, my office is on the first, and aside from when I'm running around the parking lot or sitting on my patio, I don't get outside. I'd love to go run in the park across the street or shop at the local markets, but security concerns dictate otherwise.

Interesting.

Also, doesn't sunblock result in an obstacle? I think the vitamin D is a result of unprotected exposure to sunlight and many of us don't have a lot of exposure without sunblock.

But we all SHOULD be getting around 20 minutes of unblocked sunlight per day, for D.

This is a huge continued conversation out here in the rainy zone.

 

[gjramsey]

ATTQOTD: Not sure it is my favorite, but the neighborhood across the street from where I live has enough roads and loops that I have built routes from 3 to 9 miles. I am sure that is my personal heat zone, since I use some of the streets for about 80% of my workouts.

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: Have you ever found anything of value while out for a run?

ATTQOTD: I found a $20.00 and that's about it.

 

[opusone]

QOTD: Have you ever found anything of value while out for a run?

I found a port-a-potty once when I really needed it... that was about as valuable as it gets!

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Other than my sanity, no unfortunately.

 

[rteetz]

QOTD: Have you ever found anything of value while out for a run?

No. Do dead animals have any value? lol

 

[Anisum]

QOTD: Have you ever found anything of value while out for a run?

I found a dollar and a dime on the same day in different spots. I also found that people leave their dogs unattended on the front lawn so that they can chase me which is awful.

 

[LSUlakes]

If any of you folks are headed down I-10 today be aware that it is now closed at the LA / TX border. There is also a chance that I10/I12 may close too, but is still open as of now. Just posting incase anyone is driving to Disney via I-10.

Floods are bad.

EDIT: And now open. DOTD in LA did not bring their A game today. As usual my state is embarrassing.

 

[DVCFan1994]

ATTQOTD: No, I've never found anything of value, unless you count peace and quiet