The Running Thread - 2016

[keahgirl8]

ATTQOTD: Nope, the worst I have seen is a lady throwing up at Princess, right before you leave Epcot at the finish. I hope she was able to finish.

I haven't actually seen someone throw up, but I was passing an aid station at Princess a couple of years ago and heard someone yell "We've got a puker!" I didn't look around to see who was puking, because I would have been next.

 

[baxter24]

My husband and I saw this girl run/fall into the bushes near the finish line during the 10k of this past Princess weekend. Not sure if she tripped or she was about to pass out. Someone helped her up and they started to get her towards the finish line.

 

[Baloo in MI]

ATTQOTD: I have seen a few falls. One on a trail where I was convinced the runner had a concussion from how hard he hit the ground. I stopped and tried to help but he did not want any, at all. When I asked are you sure your ok he got upset with me and told me to move along and to have a good race. At the next aid station I mentioned it to one of the volunteers so they could check him out. And I looked for him at the finish, but didn't see him again. I might have been too pushy but it looked like an awfully hard fall to me!

 

[Anisum]

Finished my race in 32:47. It looks like if it had been a 5k I would have PRed. Sadly while I got my growler (empty) the free beer I was promised was conditional on waiting in the rain for an hour after the run.

QOTD: Have you ever seen someone get injured during a race or event, or a type of incident?

I saw a girl throwing up a mile into a 5k that was almost 90 degrees. I've also seen a fall but they got right back up.

 

[cburnett11]

It felt great to be able to do SOMETHING. This is a sad week for me - one, my baseball team is absolutely choking away everything they worked so hard for this season - but mostly because I should be in Chicago to run the Chicago Marathon with my BFF. We had grand plans for a fun mother-daughter trip for the four of us, and I'm stuck at home when the only place on the planet I'd rather be right now, this weekend, is watching her crush the Chicago Marathon - or, even better, finishing the Marathon myself. But I'm not, and I can't - but the one thing I CAN do is do whatever it takes to get myself healthy again so I can be ready for Dopey.

Just wishing you the best and hoping you can get healthy and back to running like you want. I ran Chicago yesterday and I really wish you had been able to also. It is well done and I hope you are able to get to someday. You deserve it.

@cburnett11 is doing well so far at the Chicago Marathon. He was halfway through with an average pace of 8:39/mi. He just crossed 35k and is still at an 8:39 pace. Only 4.5 miles to go... keep it up!

Now, @cburnett11 only has 1.4 miles to go, and he's at an 8:44 pace overall, so he is looking to smash his marathon PR. GO!!!!

@cburnett11's Chicago Marathon Result

Finished in 3:49:13 (8:45/mi average pace)
PR by over 26 minutes!!!
Congratulations!

Brett, thanks for following my race. I'm very pleased with my time, but I got out a little quick at the beginning and paid for it down the stretch. I hit the halfway point right where I wanted to be for a 3:45 (I was actually a tad ahead still) but my first few miles got me too far ahead of my pace so I got dinged later for accidentally banking some time early. Thanks for pointing out it was a 26+ minute PR... it just hit me that I improved a full minute/mile.

New PR! by a lot! Don't listen to Hamilton soundtrack if you want to take it easy!!! 7th place age. Right between the two women running "with me."

My daughter and her bf went with my wife and me for my Chicago marathon this weekend and she saw Hamilton there. She said it was amazing. Yeah I'm sure I'd have some pacing issues if I listened to that in a race. lol

That's amazing! Go @cburnett11 go!!!!!!

Thanks for the encouraging thoughts!

Congratulations @cburnett11. Great job!

Thanks a lot!

So proud of you @cburnett11!

Thanks for all your help and advice. It went "mostly" according to what I planned. I tried my hardest to go slow at the beginning. GPS in downtown Chicago was making it blind (whether I wanted it to be or not)... and I still got ahead of my plan. Oh well. My pace band I was wearing was setup for me to run negative with me easing into my pace over the first 5 to 6 miles. By mile 5 I was already about 90 seconds ahead of where I wanted to be. Everything just felt too easy... as you warned me, but even easier than that. LOL. Even with a quick bathroom break at the beginning of mile 6 I still was about 45 seconds ahead at the mile 6 marker. The excitement, noise, and size of the crowds early in that race were just too much to ignore.

WOW at @cburnett11 . Congratulations!!!

Thank you!

@The Expert @roxymama @cburnett11 @mbwhitti @gjramsey amazing job this weekend, congrats!

Thank you!


To everyone:
Chicago was great. The race is super organized. The crowd support is amazing. Whoever first said the second half of the marathon begins at mile 20 was correct. That seemed like an exaggeration to me, but I lived it yesterday. It wasn't what I'd call a wall, but it was definitely a different experience in the last 10k from what I had been feeling the first 20 miles. Temperature was good, maybe a bit too sunny for me, and perhaps more wind than I'd like... but I'm sure the conditions were way above average from what Chicago has experienced the last several years.

Against better judgement, we didn't stay overnight in Chicago last night. I was able to get a late checkout and after walking "forever" back to our hotel, I cleaned up and we were on our way. My wife drove us all home in the van. It wasn't as bad as I thought and I was glad to be in my own home last night. I didn't get on this thread until a little while ago. I spent most of the ride in the van talking about my experience and simultaneously texting 3 friends about it.

I was very surprised, but pleased, to see that I was being tracked and getting positive vibes on here. This was my second marathon. My first one was January's Disney. I trained way more seriously for this one. It has borderline consumed me, but the effort paid off. I crushed my PR and came relatively close to what I was really striving for (3:45). I'm pretty certain I was physically ready, but just wasn't mentally strong enough to be patient. But the experience was great and I'm very happy with my race and the knowledge that less than 5 years ago I could not run a block without being winded.

Thanks to everyone for giving me a place to chat, learn, laugh, and share with others about running, Disney, and other random fun things.

 

[Chaitali]

Congrats to everyone who had races this weekend! It sounds like we had a lot of PRs and pushing through on tough races. I did the Army 10 miler this weekend and really enjoyed it. I was treating it as a 10 mile training run and I wasn't pushing for time, especially as I had a muscle strain in my back from the week before. Thankfully, it was a really scenic course and a lot of people were stopping to take photos and stuff. So I had fun, ran at a comfortable pace, took photos, gave all the high 5s, etc. The only bad part of the race was that miles 7-9 (or something like that) were highway back to Virginia from DC and they seemed to have a pretty steep bank. That caused some knee pain which wasn't fun. But I finished in around 2:16. I've only done one other 10 miler, the Tower of Terror race in 2014 and I finished that one in 2:30:08. So it still counts as a PR for a 10 mile race

As far as seeing people hurt during a race, I did a really hot 5k in August where someone passed out She had a couple people with her and I ran and got medical for her. At the Wine and Dine in 2015 I saw someone fall as we were coming out of Hollywood Studios.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

QOTD: Have you ever seen someone get injured during a race or event, or a type of incident?

ATTQOD-
In July, DW and I were running a 10k, where we hoped to get her a good finish to use for a better PoT. It was in the mid-80's by the start, sunny, and the heat index quickly broke 90. About a mile in, I started trading places back and forth with a woman. Every few minutes, one of us would pass the other. She was ahead, when she grabbed her leg, and pulled off the course. I asked on my way by if she was ok, and she said yes. It was an out-and-back, and I came upon her again on the inbound leg. She had turned around early, and was walking back. When I caught her, I slowed and walked with her for a while, and asked how she was doing. She, like DW and I, was using the race for a larger goal/plan. We walked together for a while, which helped me too, as the humidity had been too much for me. I saw her finish in the upright position, and she went right over to the timing table, and told them to list her as DNF, due to having to turn around early.

I also saw a race in Harrisburg, where the start was right by a mesh decked bridge. Unfortunately, it was "pet friendly", and someone decided to start near the front in the middle with their dog. The dog got to the edge of the bridge, could look down and see the Susquehanna River below, and parked right there. Most of the pack had to take severe evasive action to avoid a major pile-up. Folks were stopping and dodging all over the place to avoid ramming into one another. I got lucky, as I'd spotted the dog prior to the start, and was well off to the one side of the course.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Finished my race in 32:47. It looks like if it had been a 5k I would have PRed. Sadly while I got my growler (empty) the free beer I was promised was conditional on waiting in the rain for an hour after the run.

What? That is absurd.

 

[Chasing Dopey]

Like @Chaitali, I too ran Army Ten Miler! It looks like a day of PRs for everyone yesterday! My foursome all had great times.

This run was off schedule for both myself and a friend who is gearing up for an ultra, so we debated whether or not we were going to treat it like a training run and enjoy the course, or go for it... We weren't running together (he's a lot faster than I am), but take a wild guess what happened.

So this was the first race I've done where I've actually raced. My others (not many) have either been Disney where the crowds prevented a serious effort even if I wanted to, or for fun with DW. I was pretty proud of myself for two reasons. One, except for miles 6 (pee break), and 8 (water station and getting around some people in a slightly clogged spot), I negative split the whole way down. My first mile was 9:10, my last was 7:28. Now, I'm not sure if your splits are supposed to have that big a swing, but at least I know I can do it! (My official time was 1:26:15.) Second, I was the oldest of my foursome, but I was the only one not limping out. That's as big a win as the time in my book.

The ATM is a great race! 10 miles is a terrific distance to enjoy a race, the course is great, and even though crowd support was supposedly way down this year, it was still pretty darn good. (Cold and windy, so I'm not surprised people passed on coming out.) There is also lots of volunteers and support crew from the army, and they just do a terrific job. The young soldiers handing out water were fun, who were claiming they had either beer or very watered down vodka, or the group at the first water station doing a "Waattteeerrr"/"Gaaatoraaaade" (a la The Waterboy) back and forth. (Apparently, they did it for the whole race.) If you have to chance to get there for it, this is a race to put on your list! We're definitely hoping to do it again!

 

[Chaitali]

@Chasing Dopey too bad I missed you! Sounds like you had a great race. I agree, this is one I'd definitely like to do again

 

[DopeyBadger]

Thanks for all your help and advice. It went "mostly" according to what I planned. I tried my hardest to go slow at the beginning. GPS in downtown Chicago was making it blind (whether I wanted it to be or not)... and I still got ahead of my plan. Oh well. My pace band I was wearing was setup for me to run negative with me easing into my pace over the first 5 to 6 miles. By mile 5 I was already about 90 seconds ahead of where I wanted to be. Everything just felt too easy... as you warned me, but even easier than that. LOL. Even with a quick bathroom break at the beginning of mile 6 I still was about 45 seconds ahead at the mile 6 marker. The excitement, noise, and size of the crowds early in that race were just too much to ignore.

Happy to help! I always enjoy going back to the first message to see where we were, what were the goals months ago, and how did everything work out?

May 24th, 2016. Goal to break 4 hours and maybe 3:45, and potentially not do another marathon until Dopey 2018 so you wanted to "go all out". I proposed to you what would be needed to meet that goal and I said if you did it you would go out and run a 3:35-3:45 under ideal conditions even though your first marathon was a 4:15. And boy howdy did you do it in training. Very impressive. And how did it turn out? A 3:49 with a WAYYYY too fast start (roughly 2.5 min too fast through the first 5 miles per Strava and that's based on even splitting but with negative split it was about 3 minutes too fast). I'm impressed you were able to compose yourself after that start and still get so close to goal race pace. You should be very proud. Based on how this training went, whenever you're ready and want to run a 3:27 for a BQ it is within your physical capabilities based on what I saw you do in training. Congrats again!

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

ATTQOTD: I didn't see the incident itself so I don't know exactly what happened, but at the Big Ten 10K in Chicago in August, I saw a girl on the ground at about mile 5. She had some people around her checking to see if she was okay. Fortunately she was conscious, but I don't know if she tripped and fell or passed out or what. I hope she was okay and was able to finish.

 

[cburnett11]

Happy to help! I always enjoy going back to the first message to see where we were, what were the goals months ago, and how did everything work out?

May 24th, 2016. Goal to break 4 hours and maybe 3:45, and potentially not do another marathon until Dopey 2018 so you wanted to "go all out". I proposed to you what would be needed to meet that goal and I said if you did it you would go out and run a 3:35-3:45 under ideal conditions even though your first marathon was a 4:15. And boy howdy did you do it in training. Very impressive. And how did it turn out? A 3:49 with a WAYYYY too fast start (roughly 2.5 min too fast through the first 5 miles per Strava and that's based on even splitting but with negative split it was about 3 minutes too fast). I'm impressed you were able to compose yourself after that start and still get so close to goal race pace. You should be very proud. Based on how this training went, whenever you're ready and want to run a 3:27 for a BQ it is within your physical capabilities based on what I saw you do in training. Congrats again!

You're too kind... that 3:27 seems out of reach.

Those Strava results aren't too reliable. Too many buildings early and a tunnel. I was way ahead of my plan, but not quite that much. I just sent you a wordy email giving you the play by play of my race. I probably did the best I could after that start. I was never in duress though until that last few miles. I knew I got out too quickly so I did my best to sorta settle down... but it was just too easy early.

 

[FFigawi]

I knew I got out too quickly so I did my best to sorta settle down... but it was just too easy early.

If it's not too easy early, it's going to be a very hard day.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Aqotd: quite a few and most were during the 2 years I've run wine n dine... So many people falling, tripping & passing out.

The oddest was last year at space coast when a good 1/2 mile into the race we saw the ambulances- turns out a biker crashed n burned on the course. He was okay but it was strange with a good 3000 runners barreling towards them and streaming on both sides (biker was up, talking etc)

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

Great race @cburnett11! Chicago is an amazing race and the energy there is palpable the entire time. Congrats on the big PR!

Awesome results by everyone racing this past weekend, good work folks!

 

[Anisum]

What? That is absurd.

My thoughts exactly! Apparently this is an issue with this race series although I'm not sure why or how. Apparently the breweries don't open enough of the bar or bring in enough staff to accommodate the number of runners. I don't know the details of the contract but I would think the breweries would be in contact with the race director about how many people are running and how many staff members are needed to make it run smoothly. I run at wineries with a different race series and they usually have far more entrants and I never have to wait in a line of more than three or four people to get my free glass.

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: Todays question is a suggestion from a fellow poster here. The poster is asking this question on behalf of someone else that doesn't post. That will explain the way the question is posted. He is thinking about doing a local trail run group's 5k race that has "first time trail runner-friendly" in the race description. It is in two weeks, so he wouldn't have time to train on any trails. He wanted to know if anyone here does a lot of trail runs and has any advise for someone who is only used to road running.

ATTQOTD: My first experience running was in the form of my high school cross country team. We trained on roads and some grass areas. What I learned is that the trail runs will slow you down a little, but could be more depending on the trail you run on. If its well maintained and doesn't have a lot of crazy turns and rocks/tree stumps one can still run a very fast time. I wouldn't say he needs to train so much for the trails, but more so for hills if the course has them. Sure it would help to be familiar with trail running but I don't think it should stop him from running it. Hope this helps some.

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: My first experience really running was also for cross country, and I would say the same as what LSUlakes said. And also add, just make sure you pick up your feet, it's really easy to trip over roots if you shuffle while you run. Ask me how I know.

 

[Ariel484]

ATTQOTD: Never done any trail runs. Good luck!