The Running Thread - 2018

[Dis5150]

ATTQOTD: A/B - I actually trained for a 10k first. I don't think I ran a 5k till I had been running a year or so. But I also used the Couch to 5k app to get started and absolutely hated it! Probably because I was dumb and didn't actually look at what days I was supposed to be doing it and just increased every day! I quit the app when I joined the W&D 2015 board and just got "virtual coaching" from all the wonderful runners on there and also loosely followed the JG W&D plan.

ETA: D. Training for my first marathon was mentally awful! I doubted myself at every turn. This year's marathon at Dopey was much, much better, even though I ran sick, because I had a DB plan.

 

[Anisum]

QOTD: Which of the following did you find to the most difficult from a physical view point:
A. Zero running to 5k
B. 5k to 10k
C. 10k to Half Marathon
D. Half Marathon to Marathon
E. Marathon to Ultra

Also, using the choices above which one was more of a mental challenge?

I would say physically doing a 5k for the first time was crazy difficult simply because I went from nothing to regular running. Following that would be marathon because it was six days a week of training and I was tired a lot. Mentally I honestly think the that going from 10 miler (as opposed to 10k) to half marathon is always the most difficult for me because 10 milers are kind of my favorite distance and adding another 5k to that is like torture to me.

 

[SarahDisney]

QOTD: Which of the following did you find to the most difficult from a physical view point:
A. Zero running to 5k
B. 5k to 10k
C. 10k to Half Marathon
D. Half Marathon to Marathon
E. Marathon to Ultra

Also, using the choices above which one was more of a mental challenge?

Well, I haven't done D or E yet, so from A to C...

Physically: they all have their challenges, but I think C. Adding long runs in training wasn't bad, but I still struggle with the added distance at races. My body just doesn't seem to want to run that far in A race.

Mentally: A. Until about a week before my 5k, I wasn't confident that I could do it. For every other distance, that didn't seem to be there ... maybe because I had race experience by those longer races, so I knew I could finish a race, even if I hadn't done that particular distance before.

 

[PCFriar80]

QOTD: Which of the following did you find to the most difficult from a physical view point:
A. Zero running to 5k
B. 5k to 10k
C. 10k to Half Marathon
D. Half Marathon to Marathon
E. Marathon to Ultra

Also, using the choices above which one was more of a mental challenge?

D for me both mentally and physically. That's why I'm one and done with running a marathon [Disney 2010].

 

[LSUlakes]

This we have the following folks with a race and a good amount of them spending some time in the parks!

23 - @Bree - Princess 5k (NG / N/A)
24 - @StarGirl11 - Orange Curtain 50k (NG / N/A)
24 - @jennamfeo - Red Rock Canyon Half Marathon (2:11:12 / N/A)
24 - @The Expert - Enchanted 10k (NG / N/A)
24 - @Dis_Yoda - Enchanted 10k (NG / N/A)
24 - @DIS-OH - Enchanted 10k (NG / N/A) GSC
24 - Bree - Enchanted 10k (NG / N/A)
24 - @KSellers88 - Enchanted 10k (NG / N/A)
24 - @derekleigh - Enchanted 10k (47:50 / N/A)
24 - @txdisneygrl - Enchanted 10k (NG / N/A)
24 - @Gemini1131 - Enchanted 10k (NG / N/A) GSC
24 - @TheHamm - Enchanted 10k (NG / N/A)
25 - Gemini1131 - Princess Half Marathon (Finish / N/A) GSC
25 - txdisneygrl - Princess Half Marathon (3:00:00 / N/A)
25 - derekleigh - Princess Half Marathon (NG / N/A)
25 - Bree - Princess Half Marathon (NG / N/A)
25 - Ksellers88 - Princess Half Marathon (NG / N/A)
25 - DIS-OH - Princess Half Marathon (NG / N/A) GSC
25 - @apdebord - Princess Half Marathon (NG / N/A)
25 - @xjillianpaige - Princess Half Marathon (NG / N/A)
25 - @kleph - The Cowtown Half Marathon (NG / N/A)

Best of luck to each of you this weekend! If you would like to revise your goal time or need some other sort of a adjustment, let me know. If anyone would like to add a race for this weekend or for some time during the 2018 calendar year, let me know as well.


Side NOTE:
This morning I found a list of races that I thought I had put into the OP, but I did not. I am happy to say that, to the best of my knowledge, everyone's races are in the OP now. If I left your race out, it is a accident, and please let me know so I can add it.

 

[camaker]

QOTD: Which of the following did you find to the most difficult from a physical view point:
A. Zero running to 5k
B. 5k to 10k
C. 10k to Half Marathon
D. Half Marathon to Marathon
E. Marathon to Ultra

Also, using the choices above which one was more of a mental challenge?

Physical: A. No running to 5k. I took a non-traditional route to the start of my running, so this one is a little different to answer. I'm going with A, though, because at the start of 2013 I could not walk more than half a mile without stopping for a rest break. As I started losing weight, I worked on pushing my walks longer and longer and after 5 months or so and working up to 6-7 mile walks, I started to throw in intervals of light jogging. Rather than go from there into a 5k or other running program I started playing Ultimate again which is a more sprint-based/burst speed workout. Still, that initial walking to get back to the point where I could start running again was by far the longest, most difficult period of my running career to date.

Mental: D. Half Marathon to Marathon. I signed up for my first marathon along with the 10k & half at Marathon Weekend 2016 on a whim. I thought it would be fun to see if I could even complete it and that it would be a great way to celebrate the 3 year anniversary of deciding to lose weight and also be a good bucket list item. Then I got injured in my 3rd half that September and couldn't train at all until Thanksgiving. I was only back up to 11-12 miles in training when Marathon Weekend rolled around. Standing in that corral listening to Jeff Galloway talk about how big an accomplishment a marathon is and the need to "respect the distance" was terrifying given my lack of training. Mentally, showing up and staying in that corral to start the race was tough. Once the race started, I thought about quitting up until I passed the MK. Something clicked and I was able to just focus on the mile I was in rather than the distance left and that race is still my most enjoyable running memory to date!

 

[apdebord]

ATTQOTD: For racing purposes, I would say A-C as I went from couch to half marathon. I was comfortable with a few miles a week, but just weeks after signing up for my first half, I fractured my tibia and heel so I lost what little training I had.

Within training though, I would say B. 5K to 10K. Mentally it just seemed like a huge jump. Now 10Ks are one of my favorite distances!

 

[Barca33Runner]

ATTQOTD:

I went couch to Half Marathon and doing that was easier than Half Marathon to Full. So D. is my answer and I never anticipate trying E. If I get comfortable enough with the marathon distance to try an ultra, I’d imagine that wouldn’t seem quite as bad.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

ATTQOTD: A-C were so long ago, I don't remember.

D Marathon is the toughest mentally, especially if you're racing.
E ultra was the toughest physically. I did a 52 milers, and that's a lot of pounding on your feet and legs. Lost my first toenail!

 

[TheHamm]

Off topic question: Do you guys run in the pouring rain for a training run? I have come to really hate the TM and the next few days we are supposed to get 2-3 inches of rain one day and 1-2 inches the next. I am wondering how horrible it would be to just run in it? It might rain during my March 4th marathon so I was thinking to just run in it and get used to it...?

Thank you for this question! We have spent the last 2 days living in a cloud of rain, now it is just rain.... and I tried in the cloud but it was yucky, my feet were cold, and things rubbed differently.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

AATQOTD:

Physical.
A. Going from being lazy to being able to do a 5K was a big life change.


Mental.
I've posted about this before but physically completing my first half marathon was a beating mentally. Like I had a mental breakdown that lasted from Mile 5 to Mile 12. After that - it got a lot easier mentally. I know I'm in a better mental place after being able to get through St Jude in December despite outside factors affecting my state. Had that been my first half marathon experience, I'm pretty sure I would have just sat down on the side of the road and abandoned the race.

 

[huggybuff]

QOTD: Which of the following did you find to the most difficult from a physical view point:
A. Zero running to 5k
B. 5k to 10k
C. 10k to Half Marathon
D. Half Marathon to Marathon
E. Marathon to Ultra

Also, using the choices above which one was more of a mental challenge?

Zero to 5k was the most difficult physically the first time I did the program. I think I’ve done it twice officially start to finish. That’s kind of where I am now physically as well. Mentally the most difficult has been 10k to Half and although I’ve finished two full halfs (not counting 2015 Wine and Dine) I have yet to overcome the mental aspect of it. Something about getting up into 9+ mile distances just freezes me mentally. So I end up going into the race undertrained and the race never ends up going how I really want it to. We’ll see how it goes this time around!

 

[FredtheDuck]

Oooh, really good question! Been enjoying reading responses.

For me, my first C25K was toughest physically. I had never been a runner and didn't know what I was doing. But I was also really proud every time I got out there.

Mentally, D. And I say that because I haven't run a marathon. I can't convince myself that it's something I can do or that I want to do. Once I finished C25k and kept running, the half started to feel like an inevitability. Not so with the jump from half to full.

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: I would probably say A as well (Zero to 5K).

I was very athletic in high school, a 3 sport school athlete and year round travel/AAU basketball player, and one of my sports was cross country. I wasn't very good at it, JV level, but I was ok (PR of 24:03 for 5K). I just grew up doing a LOT of stuff, and a lot of running was not really an issue for me, either regular cross country training, or just all day basketball tournament type stuff where I'd play just about the full game for 2-3 games a day. I never really had a zero stage as a kid.

Then I went to college for basketball, and things didn't work out, and I left the team after my freshman year, and I got REALLY sedentary. I made probably 3-4 attempts in my late 20's and 30's to get back into running via Couch to 5K, but they never stuck and I never made it past the first few weeks. What finally made it stick was signing up with a group of weight loss buddies from another forum for the 2015 Tink HM. We signed up in August of 2014 and at that time, I had not been running at all, although I was fairly consistent in some other group exercise classes (step aerobics and spinning). Having that concrete race and the knowledge that I had a training plan starting in January for it, so I better get off my butt this fall and actually make it stick this time was what really put me over the hump mentally and kept me going.

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD:

Physically - I would have to go with A. When I started running again I went from having not run in many years straight to a 5K race.

Mentally - It was my first half marathon last year. More often than not I found myself wondering what the heck I was thinking and doubting my ability to finish in a respectable (to me) time. All that fear was for nothing because I ended up doing better than I thought I would!

 

[TheHamm]

ATTQOTD:

Pre-A. The first 200 feet were nearly impossible. It hurt, I thought my body would never do it. I had never been one to run and I simply believed there were some people for whom it would be impossible. Once I got over that, the 5K was fine. I was not nervous about finishing or time as I knew plenty of people walked a 5K, and I did it all the time while pushing a stroller, so it should be easier and faster without the extra weight and needing to navigate.

B- My goal of running started with this weekend's 10K. I found this mentally daunting, and my husband was not sympathetic. He signed me up for my first 10K on little notice and informed me that I grew two kids in less time than I had to figure out how to run a 10K, so Muscle Up, Buttercup! I am no longer worried about running and finishing a 10K, but have zero time goals. I want to develop a time goal, but THAT is daunting. Committing to training is daunting.

 

[PrincessV]

QOTD: Which of the following did you find to the most difficult from a physical view point:
A. Zero running to 5k
B. 5k to 10k
C. 10k to Half Marathon
D. Half Marathon to Marathon
E. Marathon to Ultra

Also, using the choices above which one was more of a mental challenge?

ATTQOTD: Hmm... physically, I guess probably half-marathon to marathon, primarily because it meant hitting the big mileage in the worst heat of summer. I didn't know until I finally had ONE cooler training run (my final one) that I felt so awful because I was flirting with heat stroke every long distance run.

Mentally none of them from 5K to marathon - my mental game has always been way stronger than my psychical game lol! In my mind, I can totally do an ultra. Whether I'll ever be motivated to do so remains unanswered!

 

[ZellyB]

Good question!

I'd say physically going from 5K to 10K was a a challenge. I'd dabbled in running over a few years, so getting to a 5K wasn't that difficult, but I remember the first time I ran 4 miles thinking how hard that was. Funny now to think about that.

Mentally was probably the half to the full. I knew my body was capable of it if I just did the training, but 26.2 just seemed like an insurmountable number sometimes.

 

[rteetz]

QOTD: Which of the following did you find to the most difficult from a physical view point:
A. Zero running to 5k
B. 5k to 10k
C. 10k to Half Marathon
D. Half Marathon to Marathon
E. Marathon to Ultra

Also, using the choices above which one was more of a mental challenge?

D. Half to Full

It was a lot harder for me than I expected. While my actual race experiences have been great with marathons so far the training is just plain hard. I think it was also the hardest mentally because in training I would just want to be done after 15 miles. I really had no problem going from not running to 10K (I didn't start with a 5K), and 10K to half wasn't a problem either really.

 

[KSellers88]

ATTQOTD: D. Half to Full. From the training to the mental struggle, it has definitely been the hardest for me. I started with a half marathon, which is completely backwards but I think is the main reason I had no problems doing 5Ks and 10Ks afterward.