The Running Thread - 2016

[Mickey's sweetheart]

A post-Dumbo check in:
I'd say over all the weekend went well. I stayed at the Disneyland Hotel which was great for runners. It was so close to the start and finish lines. Maybe not so great for non-running guests because the noise from the finish line could be heard early in the morning, at least in my room in the Adventure Tower. The best part of my room was being able to watch the fireworks at night in my pajamas from my cozy bed.
I went to the expo on Thursday afternoon as soon as I got checked in at the hotel. I had no trouble finding sizes or the products I wanted. It was a little confusing figuring out where to go but that was easily solved by asking cast members who were all so cheerful and helpful.
The races went well. I was a little tired and sore the morning of the half and it took a while to really get warmed up so the second half felt better than the first half of the race. I purposely didn't have a park ticket for Saturday after the 10k so I hung out in my hotel room, took naps, sat in the hot tub, etc. I think it's just tough getting up early two days in row.
My favorite parts were running through Carsland while it was lit and all the cars lined up on the streets during the half. That really gave me a boost.
My 10k time was 1:12:? with a couple photo stops and my half time was 2:33:? again with photo stops and a slow first half of the race. I was in C for the 10k and E for the half.

 

[cburnett11]

Any discussion of Hansons training plan really needs to start with this picture.

Well done @IamTrike!!

Thanks for the input on your experience with Hansons. I made my 2nd long run 17 miles on Sunday. I'll probably do the same for my 3rd (last) one, depending on my mood/pace/effort/weather/etc. It felt pretty easy, but then again it was "only" 17 miles and it wasn't at MP. I'm just hoping for decent weather in Chicago. I feel like I've been looking towards this for months, so I want the best experience possible although I'm aware that much of it is beyond my control. Any other tips/input you have for the Chicago race specifically?

 

[keahgirl8]

It obviously differs from person-to-person and is definitely situational.

I've been hurt and really struggled this weekend at the Disneyland Half. No joking, I feel like I hit about nine walls during that damn race. I pulled out all my "mental" tricks - I changed up my playlist, I turned off the pace/interval alerts on my watch so I wouldn't feel like I was falling behind and instead would let myself naturally fall into a groove and get something going, I ate more Margarita ShotBlocs than I normally eat (again, imagining I was having a cocktail and not running), I BioFreezed, I stopped to stretch, I stopped to pet two different dogs (yes, their owners probably thought I was crazy), I went through all my mantras, I texted my friends for helpful words and when all that failed ... well, then I cried. But at least I finished, but man - it was not pretty.

I feel like "walls" are most often mental and I've found that when I hit them during training, I ask myself "Are you really hurt or are you just lazy?" and then I try to find some way to change up the run and make it fun - do dance steps for a bit instead of run or stop at a track and run laps, or run up and down a dam crossing - anything to change up my mindset. That usually works. Also, if I'm not in to a run and go in with the mindset that it's going to suck, well, it's going to suck. But lace up and get out there - garbage run or not. Do the miles. There's always another run after it. Nobody ever has a perfect training cycle.

In my case, on Sunday, the first few times when I asked myself if I was really hurt or just lazy, I convinced myself that I was just coming up with something to excuse my poor pace and downturn in effort. The fourth time I had to ask myself, it was overwhelmingly clear - I was hurt, really hurt. And at that point, it became self-preservation and just do whatever I could to make it as far as I could.

I said it on my Insta following the finish on Sunday, but I think it bears mentioning here - 13.1 miles filled mostly with an internal dialogue of "I can't do this" followed by "You've got to" is a very low and humbling experience. Luckily, I believe in #NeverEverQuit (Go Rangers!), but it was really, really, really put to the test on Sunday.

This is much more eloquent than I could have been, so I will just say...YES. With time and experience, you can usually tell the difference. Is it physical, or is it mental? Should I keep going, or should I stop? If it is pain (I don't mean soreness, I mean PAIN) or if it is my breathing, I stop. Sometimes I get really mad and really emotional when I have to stop (it's been a long hard road, people...), but I stop. If it's just the fact that I don't want to run, I keep going. That's just my brain saying, "Hey! I'm breathing heavily, and my heart rate is up! I don't like this! Stop right now!" I got good advice from a YouTuber I like (Not a running YouTuber, persay, but awesome...PrettyNeatLiving). She said that she checks her breathing and hear heart rate and make sure it's normal. Then she checks her legs to make sure there's no pain. If no, she keeps going. It's sound advice, and I have stuck to it ever since.

When I have a bad run, I like to look at everything that's going on around me. For example: your poor sleep. Maybe I didn't eat well the night before or before running? Am I sick? Hung over? Did I drink enough water? Stressed about something? As a woman, I feel like where I am in my cycle plays a big part in my energy level. Usually right before my period, I'm bone tired. Overtraining is always a big concern. I can tell I've overtrained when my resting heart rate is high, it's extremely difficult to run, I have poor appetite, and most importantly, I can't sleep. I had to take 2 weeks off running to return to normal.

When I've hit walls during races, it's always 2 things. I ran too fast and couldn't sustain my pace and perhaps didn't fuel correctly. My true wall around mile 10 was tough because I wasn't mentally prepared for it and got really down that my pace had jumped up a whole minute and couldn't will my legs to move any faster.

But hitting a wall 5 min into a run is probably one of the earlier things I listed. Also, perhaps you increased mileage too rapidly?

More good advice. The original poster of this question (I'm sorry, I lost your post in all of this awesome advice) said they didn't sleep well. Don't minimize that. Sleep makes a HUGE difference, as does overtraining.

I have used Honey Stinger chews and would take one every 20 minutes right from the start. I like every flavour I have tried so far, with my favourites being Limeade & Pink Lemonade.

I love pink lemonade Honey Stingers! I have recently switched to Sport Beans. They take up less space in my belt, are less sticky, and faster to chew. I like all of the flavors so far, but fruit punch and lemon lime are my favorites.

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

My 10K training for Princess starts soon. I want to start it sooner rather than later to give myself some wiggle room, since I know I'm going to have to take it slowly. I am going to be using the Jeff Galloway runDisney plan. He hasn't let me down yet!

 

[RunDisneyDad]

ATTQOTD: Another MMMbop'er (Hansons Advanced) here. I officially start my training next week for January's Houston Marathon.

Last year I used Pfitzinger's 18/70 and had a really good experience with it, but want to try Hanson's to see how I respond. I’m definitely concerned about hitting such a high frequency of aggressive paces during training, but figure I’ll give it a shot as I’ve heard lots of great things about the program.

 

[JulieODC]

I am running a 10K in October -- but am not currently following any specific plan (besides running 3x week, ~3 miles twice during the week, and a longer run on the weekend -- I've run longer than a 10k a few weekends, so I feel ok about completing the distance --- but it is a small race, so I am not a little more worried about being slow!)

After that, I plan to follow Galloway's training plan for the PHM in February.

 

[dis_or_dat]

I'm actually at the tail end of my training cycle as my goal race for the fall is in 1.5 weeks! I've been following Hal Higdon's intermediate half marathon plan. It's the first time I've really faithfully followed a plan (rather than just sort of make something up on my own) and I've really liked it (although the true test will be race day). Before the plan started, I repeated Weeks 1 and 2 of the plan over a couple of times to solidify my base.

Im in the same boat! Like many others, I'm doing Hansons. It's a lot of time commitment - 6 days a week of running. Beforehand, I had no real training plan. Just run when I had time and slowly add miles to my long runs and do it at a slow pace. So Hansons had been interesting with its speed/strength/tempo and even its long runs. As some may know, I had a lot of difficulty with strength and it really brought me down a bit and made me question my paces. Also had some issues with HR being more elevated than I would like. But I had a lot of fun doing speed, since I've never run on a track before! But yes, 6 days a week is difficult when it comes to vacations and family obligations. But sometimes running can be obsessive. Here I am on vacation and still checking up on the boards! What's wrong with me!?

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

It obviously differs from person-to-person and is definitely situational.

I've been hurt and really struggled this weekend at the Disneyland Half. No joking, I feel like I hit about nine walls during that damn race. I pulled out all my "mental" tricks - I changed up my playlist, I turned off the pace/interval alerts on my watch so I wouldn't feel like I was falling behind and instead would let myself naturally fall into a groove and get something going, I ate more Margarita ShotBlocs than I normally eat (again, imagining I was having a cocktail and not running), I BioFreezed, I stopped to stretch, I stopped to pet two different dogs (yes, their owners probably thought I was crazy), I went through all my mantras, I texted my friends for helpful words and when all that failed ... well, then I cried. But at least I finished, but man - it was not pretty.

I feel like "walls" are most often mental and I've found that when I hit them during training, I ask myself "Are you really hurt or are you just lazy?" and then I try to find some way to change up the run and make it fun - do dance steps for a bit instead of run or stop at a track and run laps, or run up and down a dam crossing - anything to change up my mindset. That usually works. Also, if I'm not in to a run and go in with the mindset that it's going to suck, well, it's going to suck. But lace up and get out there - garbage run or not. Do the miles. There's always another run after it. Nobody ever has a perfect training cycle.

In my case, on Sunday, the first few times when I asked myself if I was really hurt or just lazy, I convinced myself that I was just coming up with something to excuse my poor pace and downturn in effort. The fourth time I had to ask myself, it was overwhelmingly clear - I was hurt, really hurt. And at that point, it became self-preservation and just do whatever I could to make it as far as I could.

I said it on my Insta following the finish on Sunday, but I think it bears mentioning here - 13.1 miles filled mostly with an internal dialogue of "I can't do this" followed by "You've got to" is a very low and humbling experience. Luckily, I believe in #NeverEverQuit (Go Rangers!), but it was really, really, really put to the test on Sunday.

This was perfect, @Keels

QOTD: So its that time of year, when we are starting our "official" training for our big race of the season. Some of yall may already be in full training mode for a fall race and could provide even better answers. For those of us with a late December / early January race we are somewhere around 18-20 weeks to go. Which training plan are you going to follow for this training cycle? How do you feel about your base miles leading up to the training program?

I've been following a made up program for my October half marathon. I've just scheduled on the calendar an increase of mileage of around 10% with my long runs gaining 1 mile every other week and the rest of my increase spread throughout my 4 other days of running (I like to do 4 short runs and then one long run). After my October half though I will not have any races on the docket until Spring! This will be the longest time I will have gone without training for a race in a long time, but I'm looking forward to maintaining a base of about 10-12 miles a week and then adding in some group exercise classes. I think that will be a better choice for me to get me through the winter here.

Any discussion of Hansons training plan really needs to start with this picture.
View attachment 192997

Long live Hanson!

 

[LSUlakes]

This week we have the following folks with races:

10 - @*DisneyDreamer - Milwaukee Brewers 10k (1:15:00 / N/A)
10 - @Baloo in MI - Woodstock Ultra - 50k (Just Finish / N/A)
10 - @surfde22 - Running of the Bays Half Marathon (1:45:00 / N/A)
10 - @ZellyB - Run the Rock 6 Miler (NG / N/A)
10 - @Miranda - Fox Point Sunset 5 Miler (NG / N/A)
10 - @Waiting2goback - Race to the Rock Half Marathon (NG / N/A)
10 - @huggybuff - Rock the 80's 10K (1:30:00 / N/A)
11 - @CheapRunnerMike - Lakeside Olympic Triathlon (2:20:00 / N/A)
11 - @dmross - Carowinds Run and Ride Half Marathon (NG / N/A)
11 - @SFGamerBabe - The Giant Race Half Marathon (2:05:00 / N/A)
11 - @PaDisneyCouple - (Mr.) Harrisburg Half Marathon (2:10:00 / N/A)

Let me know if you would like to revise your goal for this weekends race. Good luck to all of you and I look forward to reading about how the race went!

 

[Anisum]

@Anisum Just an FYI - I believe the Black Cherry bloks have caffeine in them, and the Margarita flavor has extra sodium. You may have to test those out to see how you do with them. I prefer the strawberry flavor.

I was definitely going to test them before using them in an actual race. Black Cherry was the only ones in stock at my local running store until their next shipment so I figured I'd try them out. I'm more likely to switch to one of the ones without caffeine in the long run though. Not sure how the sodium will effect me so I may wait until next training cycle to try it out. Strawberry is not my favorite flavor usually but I'll give it a try if I see them since you recommended them.

Ziploc bag, SPI belt. Done and dusted.

Hmm... now I feel like I have to give it a try. I don't usually run with a belt though so I may have to stick them in my camelback.

 

[dis_or_dat]

Sort of running related:
No headphone jack?! Noooooooooo! I rely on my cheap $9 headphones.

 

[camaker]

Sort of running related:
No headphone jack?! Noooooooooo! I rely on my cheap $9 headphones.

There'll be an adapter. There'll have to be an adapter...

 

[BuckeyeBama]

There'll be an adapter. There'll have to be an adapter...

Correct - they will plug into the power receptacle.

 

[r2d2_runner]

First of all - thank to everyone who gave advice on my side-cramp question yesterday. I feel like I have lots of new things to try now (hydrating properly, breathing techniques, etc). Just when I think I'm starting to figure out this running thing something new like this comes along ... but that's what makes it interesting I guess!

ATTQOTD: I am doing Star Wars Light Side Half Marathon in January and I am still figuring out which plan to use. I have spent the last several months working my way from not running at all to being able to run 10k. Most of the half marathon plans I have seen seem to start "at the beginning" with a 3 or 4 mile "long run" each week and slowly build from there. What do others do with these plans when they have already been building up their base to run longer than 3 or 4 miles? For example, if I can already run 6 miles ... should I just substitute the 3 mile long run with a 6 mile long run until the plan catches up? Or start the plan a few weeks in when it gets up to the 6 mile long run? Or just start at the beginning again with a 3 or 4 mile long run each week but maybe try to run it at a slightly faster pace? Or do I just need to choose a different plan that is better suited to where I am at with right now? I feel like I am probably over-thinking this ... but given all the different plans and options that are out there I guess I am not the only one thinking about these details

 

[WhereInFlorida]

Hanson's here too, week 1 getting underway. Worried as well about the intensity of the workouts as have been building back base mileage from injury earlier in the summer. And the heat...that is making some of these runs not fun.

 

[Chaitali]

First of all - thank to everyone who gave advice on my side-cramp question yesterday. I feel like I have lots of new things to try now (hydrating properly, breathing techniques, etc). Just when I think I'm starting to figure out this running thing something new like this comes along ... but that's what makes it interesting I guess!

ATTQOTD: I am doing Star Wars Light Side Half Marathon in January and I am still figuring out which plan to use. I have spent the last several months working my way from not running at all to being able to run 10k. Most of the half marathon plans I have seen seem to start "at the beginning" with a 3 or 4 mile "long run" each week and slowly build from there. What do others do with these plans when they have already been building up their base to run longer than 3 or 4 miles? For example, if I can already run 6 miles ... should I just substitute the 3 mile long run with a 6 mile long run until the plan catches up? Or start the plan a few weeks in when it gets up to the 6 mile long run? Or just start at the beginning again with a 3 or 4 mile long run each week but maybe try to run it at a slightly faster pace? Or do I just need to choose a different plan that is better suited to where I am at with right now? I feel like I am probably over-thinking this ... but given all the different plans and options that are out there I guess I am not the only one thinking about these details

I think any of the options you mentioned would probably work For my first half marathon I started back at 3 miles even though I had just done a 10k. For my second one, I trained with a group that started their training plan with a 7 mile long run. For my third one, I just started the plan a few weeks in at the week which had a 6 mile long run. I wouldn't try to run the long run at a faster pace, especially if the plan already has speedwork built in. Each of the run paces serves a purpose.

 

[WhereInFlorida]

First of all - thank to everyone who gave advice on my side-cramp question yesterday. I feel like I have lots of new things to try now (hydrating properly, breathing techniques, etc). Just when I think I'm starting to figure out this running thing something new like this comes along ... but that's what makes it interesting I guess!

ATTQOTD: I am doing Star Wars Light Side Half Marathon in January and I am still figuring out which plan to use. I have spent the last several months working my way from not running at all to being able to run 10k. Most of the half marathon plans I have seen seem to start "at the beginning" with a 3 or 4 mile "long run" each week and slowly build from there. What do others do with these plans when they have already been building up their base to run longer than 3 or 4 miles? For example, if I can already run 6 miles ... should I just substitute the 3 mile long run with a 6 mile long run until the plan catches up? Or start the plan a few weeks in when it gets up to the 6 mile long run? Or just start at the beginning again with a 3 or 4 mile long run each week but maybe try to run it at a slightly faster pace? Or do I just need to choose a different plan that is better suited to where I am at with right now? I feel like I am probably over-thinking this ... but given all the different plans and options that are out there I guess I am not the only one thinking about these details

Many plans are this way and if I use them simply add in mileage on runs and after a few weeks the plan(s) have ramped up intensity that completing the weekly mileage is more than enough. Look at the plan and if you think you will still have to add in mileage several weeks into the plan then you might want to look at a more advanced plan.

 

[Jenn_niven]

I've been lurking here all summer. Everyone seems very supportive. I'm training for the PHM. I just started running this summer and completed a C25k program last week. This week I have started a 5k2 10k program. Tomorrow's run calls for a 3 minute tempo run. I have looked up tempo runs, and if I understand it, it's supposed to be faster than my normal run. I am already running at 95% of my max HR. Am I missing something?

 

[dmross]

I've been lurking here all summer. Everyone seems very supportive. I'm training for the PHM. I just started running this summer and completed a C25k program last week. This week I have started a 5k2 10k program. Tomorrow's run calls for a 3 minute tempo run. I have looked up tempo runs, and if I understand it, it's supposed to be faster than my normal run. I am already running at 95% of my max HR. Am I missing something?

Welcome! This was my first year to use Temp runs in training, and I'm still getting a handle on exactly what that means for me as a 11-12 min miler. There's less of a difference between my tempo effort and my regular effort, for instance. Right now my descriptor of tempo pace is "I really WANT to slow down but I don't HAVE to slow down yet." This weekend I ordered a HRM to go with my Garmin because I'm ready to get more technical about effort. I'll be looking for answers to what you posted as well.

 

[Kathymford]

There'll be an adapter. There'll have to be an adapter...

And it's even included!!

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

ATTQOTD: I had picked out the Hal Higdon Dopey plan and made some modifications to it since I am only doing Goofy. But right now I am having issues with pain, seems like it could be my hamstring. It gets worse when I sit for a long time. I had no problems with it at Dumbo and I was walking nonstop so I thought it was gone but then today has been the worse day yet. I guess I need to find a doctor in the morning.