The Running Thread - 2018

[Chaitali]

It depends on the race. For the really small, local races, I'll shoot to get there about 30 minutes in advance so I can find parking and warm up before the race starts. For slightly bigger races in DC, I'll shoot for getting there an hour in advance so I don't have to worry about parking and traffic. Or I'll get a hotel room downtown to share with friends if I'm doing the race with people. Then we'll just shoot to get there about 30 minutes before the race. I set out everything I need the night before, wake up about 60 minutes before I plan to leave so I can get ready and eat breakfast (usually peanut butter on toast). Really big races like Disney, I'll try to get there as early as possible just to be on the safe side.

 

[Dis5150]

Finally caught up! I caught another stupid cold but am feeling better today. Still coughing and snotty (sorry TMI) but hoping to be at least 95% by my marathon Sunday! I do NOT want to run another marathon sick!

ATYQOTD: I prefer the Winter Olympics. We watched all the figure skating and snowboarding, some of the skiing, bobsledding, skeleton, and speed skating. DH was a good sport because I basically took over the TV, DVRing all the figure skating and catching up when I got home from work so I could watch each evening's new broadcasts. Still, it is good practice for him as I will be taking over the TV again once baseball starts!

ATTQOTD: For a local race in my little town I will get there an hour before start time, just to get a good place to park and usually pick up my bib. For bigger races, like Little Rock, I will get there 1.5-2 hours before start time as parking is much harder and have to walk further. For my marathon Sunday I bought the VIP package for myself and DH so he will have somewhere out of the rain (yep, stupid rain in the forecast!) to wait for me while I run. So we will probably get their earlier to take advantage of all the perks.

 

[SarahDisney]

QOTD: I am curious about everyone's race day routines. For a typical race how many hours before the race do you start your day? For Disney races with the very early starts, do you adjust that time frame?

For local races, I plan to get there 30-45 minutes before the race to allow time for bag check (the lines can be long sometimes), although i have gotten there as late as 20 minutes before the race. I generally leave the house at least two hours before the race (because subways are stupid on weekends) and then get up about an hour before I leave ... So I'm usually getting up at least 3 hours before the race, more if the trains are local in queens (so, most races).
At Disney there's more to do in the start area and I get to my corral earlier, but the commute is significantly shorter, so it balances out a bit and I'm usually getting up 2.5-3 hours before the race.

 

[SunDial]

It was a warm Princess weekend. My daughter and I had a blast. A couple of the pics from the half. A couple of pics were too large to post. I really wanted a Snow White pic.

 

[Princess KP]

@SunDial Great pics!!

 

[rteetz]

It was a warm Princess weekend. My daughter and I had a blast. A couple of the pics from the half. A couple of pics were too large to post. I really wanted a Snow White pic.

View attachment 305283
View attachment 305284
View attachment 305285

That’s fantastic!

 

[avondale]

QOTD: I am curious about everyone's race day routines. For a typical race how many hours before the race do you start your day? For Disney races with the very early starts, do you adjust that time frame?

ATTQOTD: Most local races I do usually start around 7:30 (give or take 30 minutes). For those start times I will wake up around 5:30. 2 hours seem to be enough time for me to get ready for a race. For Disney races I believe the required time to leave your room and board a bus may change that, and there are other races where this is also the case. For these races the choice is made for me, but I do try to keep the timing the same for everything else other than the waking up part.

Local races usually involve parking + metro for me, and you never know about metro, so I aim to arrive at the race location 1.5 hours ahead of start time to allow for delays. Also, this gives plenty of time for a couple of trips through the potty lines. It takes me about 1 hour to wake up, eat, finish prepping equipment and get going. Overall, that means I'll get up ~2.5 hours before a local race.

More distant races for me usually involve 2 - 3 hours of driving, so add another couple hours onto the above. If I get to a race really early, I have no problem napping in the car for a bit. If the race is within that driving range, I don't like to get a hotel room the night before because: first, I'm cheap, and second, I never sleep well in a hotel room the first night, so it's not an advantage.

 

[JeffW]

ATTQOTD: How long before race start I need to wake up is a function of race distance first, then transportation/corral time. For a marathon, I have to get my banana/bagel/coffee/... into my body at least 2.5 hours before the start. For HM, I usually only have a banana/gel, so I can squeeze it down to 2 hours. For any other race type (and for HM's where I'm not trying for a PR), I generally don't eat, so 1 hour ahead works just fine. Beyond that, since I'm not a morning person, I try to get to the corral as late as possible. I grab the monorail at about 4:05 from the Contemporary on Marathon weekend. I get the last bus for my local half/full that requires transport to the start. For 5k/10k, I'll generally show up within 15 min of the start and try to do a warm-up run continually until the race starts (assuming it starts on time)

 

[cburnett11]

You're not joking! They were so mad at Carolina, they took Louisville's national title away!

Just kidding, sort of, Louisville deserved what they got. Carolina didn't get what they deserved.

As a Louisville fan/graduate, I just hope I at least get a very interesting 30 for 30 out of all the mess Pitino left behind.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

ATTQOTD: I've actually only run races at Disneyland or Disney World. Even then my routine is different. For Disneyland, I like to get to the staging area 45-60 minutes before the race. Get as much sleep as I can, but leave myself sufficient time to walk to the staging area from the hotel and not worry about arriving late. I generally eat applesauce for breakfast in the hotel and sip water or powerade throughout the morning to keep my throat wet.

Obviously Disney World is a different situation entirely. I still eat in my resort, but I'm waking up a lot earlier to be on one of the first buses. At least I got photos with BB-8, Darth Vader, and Jabba the Hutt before the races last year. Being a night owl and running early morning races challenges me. One great thing about running multi race challenges is that I've learned the secret to falling asleep early the night before a half. Namely, running a 10K that morning.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

ATTQOTD: I'm an early riser and even more so on race day. I have to have lots of coffee and don't want to be rushed.

For a local race (30 minute travel time), I'd say I'm up 3-3.5 hours before the start.

For example:
8:00 Race
7:15 Arrive at race location
6:45 Leave Home
4:30 Wake up

I may give myself less time if I've run the race before and know the location/layout. I've seen the pre-registered line take longer than the race-day registration line, so I make no allowance for that, unless I already have number and shirt in hand.

For marathon weekend, I think I got up around 2:00, pretty much following the 3.5 hour rule.

No matter how early the alarm is set, I almost always wake up a few minutes before it goes off.

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: Depends on what kind of race. I have rolled out of bed 45 min before a start before for a 5K that was a half mile down the road. Usually I try and be up about an hour before I need to leave for the race, though, and I try to be at the race at least 30-45 min before it starts unless I know that parking will be an issue, then I might try for an hour or more. So that obviously is variable depending on how far away the race is how early I'm getting up... but let's say 2 hours + drive time is when I get up before a race usually. Sometimes for a 5K I don't do anything before the race but have some water, but for longer races I will either make some peanut butter toast and a banana at home and grab a coffee on the way to the race, or I might just grab the banana and get an oatmeal with the coffee on the way to the race (we have a local coffee/drive thru place that sells Umpqua oatmeal cups).

 

[Dis5150]

@IamTrike did you see this?

http://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a58433/chip-and-jo-magnolia-table-now-open/

I am thinking a Tuesday morning breakfast/brunch before we hit the road for home.

 

[FFigawi]

The NCAA is coming in strong as #2.

I don't think the NCAA itself is corrupt. I think they're greedy, parochial, rigid, and unwilling to get with the times. FIFA and the IOC, on the other hand, are pretty much textbook examples of corrupt organizations.

QOTD: I am curious about everyone's race day routines. For a typical race how many hours before the race do you start your day? For Disney races with the very early starts, do you adjust that time frame?

My race day for A races begins 3 hours before the start of the race. This gives me time to eat and drink enough calories to cross the start line fully charged and ready to go. For Disney, I wake up at 4, leave the hotel by 430, and get into my corral as close to the start time as possible.

 

[Wendy98]

Races where I have to catch provided transportation, it is easy. They tell me when I need to be ready (I am up usually an hour before bus leaves). Local races--I really push the envelope sometimes and get there with just enough time to get my start position (although I try to leave enough time for warming up). I also have a crazy, pre-race nervous bladder. I always try to go "one more time". I did that in WDW last year and got in my corral at 5:23. For Flying Pig this year, bathroom lines were awful. Finally I chose to go in some weeds not far from the start (as did several other women). I think I entered my corral as the anthem was playing. I get a lot of anxiety before races and drive myself nuts if I have a ton of idle time.

 

[ZellyB]

@SunDial Love those pics!!

 

[jennamfeo]

It was a warm Princess weekend. My daughter and I had a blast. A couple of the pics from the half. A couple of pics were too large to post. I really wanted a Snow White pic.

View attachment 305283
View attachment 305284
View attachment 305285

THIS IS AWESOME.

 

[hauntedcity]

ATTQOTD: For some of the x-game style sports, they give you no clue how the scores are tabulated or what gets marked down, just some blabber about how judges like to see "amplitude". I have been a curling fan for the last 3 or 4 Winter Olympics.

What? You're not a fan of the backside fakie mctwist for major amps? Dude!

I agree about scoring. It's especially frustrating when the announcers (who are our supposed expert window into the scoring) have no clue why certain marks were given. The winter games have lots of great objectively scored competitions, though. Curling FTW!

 

[hauntedcity]

QOTD: I am curious about everyone's race day routines. For a typical race how many hours before the race do you start your day? For Disney races with the very early starts, do you adjust that time frame?
.

Wake up; bagel with peanut butter; last water about an hour before start time; gentle stretching for about 10 minutes waiting in a corral; bathroom stop as close to start time as possible... and that's about it.

For a Disney race, the time between steps may be longer (and throw in the bus trip as opposed to driving), but the routine is pretty much the same for local and Disney.

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: I haven’t run any local races since 2015. But it was pretty much wake up, get dressed, eat, drive there about an hour before start, get my bib, go to the bathroom then go to starting area. Disney is it’s own beast. I prep all my stuff the night before so I don’t forget anything. For 5K and 10K I get up around 3am and get to the bus stop around 3:30. I go straight to my corral and eat my breakfast (banana & protein bar of some sort). For a half it’s a 2:45am wake up and at the bus stop by 3:15. I’ve always had race retreat for Princess so I usually eat in the tent area, go to the bathroom then head to the corral. I like the long walk to the corrals, but this year sucked with having to walk forever in wet, uneven and barely illuminated tall grass. I need to figure out how to keep my body from stiffening up in the corrals. If I stand my feet hurt, but if I sit my muscles get tight.