The Running Thread - 2018

[Slogger]

Just catching up and reading all the past weekend race recaps. Congrats to everyone, sounds like some great weather and results!

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: Never heard of Yasso 800.

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: I have definitely heard of Yassos but have not ever done them in a workout... also I have never run a marathon.

 

[PrincessV]

ATTQOTD: I know of Yasso 800s, but never do them. Because I can't run 800m without walk breaks, so what's the point, lol?!

 

[FFigawi]

QOTD: Have you ever done Yasso 800's to predict your marathon time? If so, how close was it? For those who do not know what Yasso 800's are, its a speed workout you perform during your marathon training plan. You run 800 meter repeats building up to 10 total before your taper. When you hit 10 of them you will take the average time of the 10 and that would be your expected marathon time. As a example, if you 10 average to 4:00 minutes, you use the minute as the hour, the seconds as minutes and no seconds. So for this example your predicated marathon time would be 4:00:00 marathon time.

I've used them before. I didn't find them as useful as many others do, mostly because I'm a terrible sprinter. Some of my friends swear by them, but they're the ones who do speedwork much more regularly than I do.

 

[GreatLakes]

QOTD: Do you take break during your long run? If so how long does it last before you start running again?

Just when I'm stopping for water either at my mailbox or a drinking fountain I pass. If I'm stopping for any other reason something went wrong.

QOTD: Have you ever done Yasso 800's to predict your marathon time? If so, how close was it?

My last full training plan had 800 repeats every week and I used the Yasso method to predict my time. They were a part of why I was pretty sure going in that I would miss my goal. I ha a bad race that really slowed me down due to some nagging foot pain so I can't really say how accurate they were for me but I plan to use them to gauge my fitness for my next full training cycle.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

ATTQOTD: I haven't done them (nor ran a marathon...) but it is interesting! I would like to give it a try.


Sunglasses: Thanks so much for everyone's feedback!! After people mentioned other brands, I may be more confused than when I started!

 

[jennamfeo]

ATTQOTD: I had never heard of these either. Sounds interesting but as I learn almost every race, anything can happen on race day, no matter what the Yasso 800s say.

 

[SheHulk]

Yasso 800s: I have never run anything on a track. I'm too self-conscious.

 

[gjramsey]

ATTQOTD: Yasso's, done them, hate them. I, personally, don't think they are that great of a predictor! I think when I did them, I usually ran them too hard, and my average was something like 3:15, my marathon was 3:57.

I think the most 800s I have done since than is 6 in a workout, and that is good enough for me.....

 

[cavepig]

While I have yeard of Yasso 800s, I have not done them ever.

 

[LdyStormy76]

For those of you that have - and use - compression socks, did you purchase based on shoe size or calf size? I want to buy a pair or two, but when I look at sizing charts I am one size based on shoe size and a different one based on calf size.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

For those of you that have - and use - compression socks, did you purchase based on shoe size or calf size? I want to buy a pair or two, but when I look at sizing charts I am one size based on shoe size and a different one based on calf size.

Calf Size

 

[Miranda]

Definitely calf size... I have no idea what what size feet mine are for, but you do not want the calf size to be too small.

 

[Chasing Dopey]

ATTQOTD: I've heard of them, but haven't implemented them. I think I would have @gjramsey's issue, though, and run them too fast. I like speed work!

Answer to the other question, "Where have YOU been?": All sorts of changes with work causing a bit of a frenzy, then bought a house! And did Whole30 with DW! (Highly recommend, btw. AMA.) There's still plenty to do on the house, of course, but things are settling down a bit and I feel like I need to reconnect with the Thread. Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[Disney at Heart]

Stopping: Not really. Walk breaks on hills really don’t count because I am moving. Only a few seconds to refill water or a minute to use the bathroom on long runs. I had a 5k that supported the local high school xcountry and track teams once on a 12 mile training day. Ran from home, paused to get the bib and continued running until start time, ran the race, and then stopped for a while as I waited for awards to be given. Thirty minutes later I started the run back home. I thought I would die! Legs hurt, feet hurt, back hurt, couldn’t breathe, and Thought those were the longest 3 miles ever!

Yassos: Not a strong enough runner to even care. I just try to cross the finish line.

 

[flav]

ATTQOTD: Never heard of Yassos.
I stop shortly for fueling, drinking, pit stop and red lights. I now feel like shopping for sunglasses!

 

[Dis5150]

Silo District Marathon: Ok, race recap while I still remember most of it! We had planned to drive as far as we could after work on Friday night but decided to wait and get up early on Saturday to leave as it would save us around $100. Plus DH was pretty tired after work. Left around 8:00 after filling up with gas and diet Dr. Pepper (should have started on the water then, came back to bite me later). Took us about 6 hours to get to Waco. The route we took to avoid driving thru Dallas took us thru Canton. As it was the first weekend of the month, they were having their famous flea market. So that took us about ½ hour to drive thru town. It looked like something fun to do sometime if you like shopping and waking!

We got to Waco at 2:00pm and headed straight to Carl’s Jr. That is DH’s favorite fast food and we hadn’t been to one in about 5 years as they don’t have them in Arkansas. Western Bacon Cheeseburgers!



After eating I looked up the location of the free shuttle parking lot that the Silo District Marathon was providing for the race weekend. Figured out that we were just around the corner from it so finding it was super easy.

Shuttle dropped us off at the Waco Convention Center to pick up our bibs. I was running the marathon and DH was volunteering at the finish line, handing out water. We both picked up our stuff with no problems. No expo, just bib and volunteer packet pick-ups and a place to get KT taped.

When we got dropped off we noticed that the parking lot for the Convention Center was pretty empty. We decided to take the shuttle back to our truck, pick it up and drive back to park in the emptyish lot to look around. The shuttles were only running until 6: 00pm and we didn’t want to be rushed. Moved the truck no problem. It was pretty hot already and I wasn’t drinking anything at all since my iced tea at Carl’s Jr. Due to the event weekend the Downtown Waco Free Trolly was running on an alternate route and we couldn’t figure out how to catch it. The shuttle driver had told us that it was only a couple of blocks from the Convention Center to Magnolia Market at the Silo’s so we decided to just walk. Well, it was a bit farther than he made it sound. And it was hot. But we made it and walked around, checking everything out.



It was so crowded! We saw the line at the Bakery and said #NOPE! No cupcake was worth standing in line for an hour in the sun! We went into the Silo’s Market and tried looking around. I was looking for a Mother’s Day gift for my mom. It was just so crowded that we were not able to get anywhere! I saw a t-shirt I wanted so I grabbed that (#SHIPLAP) and went to get in line and it was wrapped around the store! I was going to put it back and leave when a very nice employee with an iPad grabbed me and said she could check us out if we were paying with a credit card. We were quickly checked out and she pointed us to a side door exit so we wouldn’t have to fight out way back out thru the store.

We walked around a bit outside to explore. They had a big astro turf area to play corn hole on or sit or kick balls around. That area was surrounded by picnic tables, which were surrounded by food trucks. We weren’t hungry but we spotted the Alabama Sweet Tea Company food truck and decided to wait in their very long line for an iced tea. They served it in super cute mason jars with lids and straws for $8.00. You could bring it back for $2 refills.



It was getting late in the afternoon so we headed back to our truck to go find our hotel. Long walk back in the sun. Our plan was to drive to Chipotle, get our food to go and eat it later in our room. By the time we finally got to our truck and found the Chipotle we were hot and tired. I had logged 10,000 steps on my Garmin already! Walking into the nice, cool restaurant made us change our minds to getting it to eat there and sit and relax for a while. Chipotle is my go to pre race meal when I can find one in the area.

After we got done eating and chilling, we went and found our hotel, a no frills Best Western Plus a couple miles down the highway. We were both happy with the room, no complaints. I laid out all my racing stuff, then kicked back for the night. Went to bed about 9:00pm. We had to get up at 4:00 as DH had to be there an hour before me for his volunteering assignment and we had to go park in the shuttle lot again for transportation to the race start, which was at the Silo’s. I think we were on one of the first busses as it was still pretty deserted when we were dropped off. DH checked in with the volunteer director and was told where to go. I walked him to the finish line area and told him I would see him later when I crossed the line. I waited in line for the real bathroom to kill some time. Talked to a nice lady behind me in line who was visiting from Orlando. She does Disney races so we chatted about that while waiting. After that I sun screened myself up and headed to the bag drop area. I don’t usually do bag check as DH usually carries a back pack around with my stuff while he is waiting for me to finish. Another long line! I chatted with a girl behind me who was actually from Arkansas and who currently lives in Raleigh/Durham area! I live in Arkansas and all my DD’s live in Durham so we compared where they all live and work but no connections, lol. Finally dropped off my bag and walked around to kill some more time.

On the race day instructions there was a timetable with race start times, etc. Well there was a “warm up” scheduled, which I didn’t know what it was. Well, for those of you who watch Fixer Upper, it was the girl who they did the loft in downtown Waco for. They did a whole dance/warm up routine on the astro turf area. I didn’t realize who it was until almost the end. I did not participate as I have no rhythm, lol!



Then they told us it was time for the marathoners to head to the start line. There were A & B corrals. I was in B. Probably the only time in my life I will be in B corral! There was about 8000 total runners but only 494 in the marathon! I started getting worried at that point. I am a solid mid/back of the pack runner. And when I race with 1000+ people that does not stand out. They had a 6 hour cut off and my goal was 5:54:59 to get a PR. We all waited at the start line then this guy came out and talked to us ( I don’t know if you can see but he is wearing long pants and a tool belt, both of which he ran the marathon in!):



So fun! Then we all lined up to start but had to wait about 10 minutes as they were making sure the course was all shut down. This was their inaugural race and they were trying to get everything right. Chip went to the front of the corrals and did a crowd selfie. I was in the back and you can’t see me, lol. Finally got the all clear to start and this lady got up and counted us down:



Chip and his family and entourage waited till everyone else had started, then they started in the back. They passed me at about .5 miles in. Then a golf cart passed me by with Joanna on the back. She came right up beside me and waved and gave me a thumbs up! And I know it was for me as I was all alone at that point. That would be a reoccurring theme for a while. There were a couple of people way back behind me, with the “parade bus” following them. Being in the very back made me run much faster than DB and I had talked about me running this race. I was so worried that I was not going to finish in time, or that everyone would be standing around for an hour, waiting for me to finish. Crowd support was good but it is kind of embarrassing when you are the only person they are cheering for, way in the back.

The full started at 7:00 and the half started at 7:30. Well, with our delayed start we actually started at 7:10. So when I was about 2 miles in guys on bikes told me to get to the side as the half leaders were about to pass me. Let me tell you nothing makes you feel slower than runners passing you like you are standing still! These races had big purses ($15000, $7,000 and $2500 I believe?) and had attracted some elite runners. After they passed me I started being passed by the rest of the faster half runners. I took this picture to show that all the people you can see are half runners. And as they passed me they would say, “good job” or “you can do it!” I know they meant well but it feels very bad to hear when you are in the very back.

After they passed me I came to the first water stop. And that is all it was, a water stop. The race was sponsored by Gatorade but none available. Took some water and kept running. When I passed the mile 4 marker I checked my Garmin and I was at 4.49! I actually cried a little bit because if I was a half mile off at mile 4 how far off would I be at the end? I thought I was doing very badly. Second water stop was right after this and they too only had water. I thought that was strange as every race I have ever been in had water and an electrolyte drink at every stop. The volunteers manning the booth were very apologetic that they had no Gatorade to offer us. It was in the mid to upper 70’s by then and I for one could have really used it. Right after the 10k mat the half runners split off from the full runners and I was very happy to see a few people up in front of me. They must have gone out fast and started slowing down as the half people caught up to them. I was making great time. My 10k time was 1:18:38. The course had been relatively flat up to this point but soon after the course split we started climbing some hills. I was feeling pretty good at this point and stuck to my :30run/:30walk intervals, even on the hills. I was passing people here and there. All of these miles were out of town on hills and they kind of all blend together in my memory. I used a porta potty around mile 9. I know at about mile 10 they started having Gatorade at the water stops. They also offered Gatorade gels but I didn’t take any. I ate half a Kind bar at my 1 hour time and the other half at 2 hours. Then I started eating my Jelly Beans, about 100 calories every half hour.

My half marathon time was 02:58:39.I was actually on track to get a big PR at that point. But I hit the half mark at the airport and that is when my mile times started going down. I had been averaging around a 12:30-12:40 mm the first half of the race. But once we hit the airport we had no shade whatsoever for miles! And it was hot! After running thru the airport we ran across a dike/dam. It was about 2.7 miles across. There were no water stops but there was an ice stop in the middle. I was so happy to get that cup of ice! I put it in my sports bra, under my visor, etc. Then I sucked on the rest of the ice all the way across the dam. I think it was supposed to be a water stop and they ran out of water as a volunteer was running across the dam, coming towards us, carrying 4 gallon jugs of water. And he looked wiped out! Also crossing the dam there were half full bottles of Gatorade lining the railing. I think they passed out full bottles at that water stop and they ran out of those too before I got there. Because I passed dozens of hall full bottles people had ditched, all the ice blue flavor.



After we got off the dam we started hitting the hills. I had been good up to this point about running up the hills if I was on a run interval but that first hill coming off the dam I walked. And it was steep! Miles 17-23 were all up and down hills thru neighborhoods. They had 3 water stops between those miles, l guess because they knew we would feel like we were going to die by then! And trust me, I did feel like it! At mile 22 I threw up a couple of times. It was hot, full sun, and I had not had enough electrolytes. I was sweating and had chills at the same time. By mile 24 I was walking and for the first time since I started running races I considered not finishing. I just wanted to go lie down in the shade. But I was pretty much alone on the course at this point, actually having passed a bunch of people, and I figured I had a better chance of getting to the finish line faster if I just kept walking than if I lay down and waited for a medic to find me. Around there DH texted me that they pulled him off passing out water to start tearing stuff down. I texted him back ok but actually started crying as seeing him at the finish with a water for me was all that had been keeping me going. I heard another runner coming up behind me and he asked some people on the side of the road if they had any jelly beans. They said no, sorry, so when he caught up to me I offered him some and we walked and chatted for a bit. It was his first marathon and he looked as wiped out as I felt. He thanked me for the jelly beans and started running again. Somewhere towards the finish, after we had crossed the suspension bridges, I decided to try doing my intervals again and managed for a few minutes before I started walking again. The last mile of the race was on one street so I could see the finish line but it seemed like I was never going to get there! I kept trudging along and when I got to mile 26 I started running again, so I could at least run over the finish line for my pics! Important stuff, right?? My time was 5:58:49, 4 minutes over what I was hoping for. I was so happy to cross that finish line though and see DH standing there with a water for me! He had told the people he was helping that I would be coming in and they cut him loose and told him to go wait for me. I collected my medal and DH collected all the goodies they had, banana, some chocolate pb bar thing, and sugar cookies from the Silo Bakery. The lady handing those out gave me like 8 of them. She wanted me to take the whole box as they had so many left! But there was no Gatorade at the finish line! DH said people came across all day asking for a Gatorade when they finished. A lady walked up to me and asked if she could take a picture of me with her husband. It was the man I gave the jelly beans to! She said my jelly beans saved his marathon and she wanted my picture with him, lol!



We made it out of the chute after that and walked to the Silo area to the picnic tables to sit and eat/drink. I went and got my bag from bag check so I could change my shoes. And DH went and bought me a Coke for my stomach which help A LOT! We had planned on going in the shop and looking around but all I wanted was to go back to the hotel so we left soon after. Turns out that Chip finished the race about 30 minutes ahead of me and I never saw him or his family after I finished. It was 87 degrees by then and I have no idea what the “real feel” was but somewhere in the upper 90’s. I was completely wiped!

We took the shuttle back to our truck then drove back to our hotel. I took a long bath with a recovery bath bomb, then took a shower. DH took a nap, lol! He said they worked him harder than he works at work! He had to lug cases of water and haul bags of ice to the finish line all day. Then break down signs and load them on trucks. All while standing in the direct sunlight. After he woke up we went to Chili’s for dinner. And I pigged out!

The next day we slept in (haha, 6:00!) got around, then went to Starbucks and planned our day. While checking out at our hotel we found a trolly map on the counter. We had to drive home later so we decided to try and see everything that we couldn’t see on Saturday due to the crowds. We drove back to the Convention Center, parked and walked to the trolly stop. Waited a few minutes and one showed up so took it to the Silo’s. We wanted to try the bakery but same, long line again. #NOPE again, lol! We went in the Silo Market and shopped. DH got a Magnolia hat and a t-shirt and I got a Silo District Marathon t-shirt. We found a cute galvanized steel bucket with a handle, stamped with the Magnolia Farms logo for my mom for Mother’s Day. Then DH went and sat in the shade while I got in line to get another Alabama Sweet Tea mason jar for my mom. Then we caught the trolly back to Spice Village, a huge indoor store/market and shopped there for a while before heading home. Only took us 5.5 hours to drive home as the flea market we drove thru getting there ended on Sunday. Got home around 7:30pm.



Final thoughts: All in all we had a fun trip. I would definitely go back for the races but would not do the marathon again. I found the course too brutal with all the hills and no shade. Not at this time of year. I would do the half though. I would also stay at a hotel right in the downtown area so we could just park and take the free transportation everywhere. And iIf they do a survey or ask for input on the race I will suggest having an electrolyte drink offered at every water station plus have full bottles at the finish line. Plus more people on the course checking on runners in the heat. But for an inaugural race they did an ok job.

 

[jennamfeo]

@Dis5150 - GREAT recap. That sucks about the weather and the lack of electrolytes! Not good. They will get enough complaints to have that fixed next year, for sure. Jo's little bump in that picture of her is soooo cute. Omg. Ugh, and I totally teared up when you said that your DH got pulled away from the finish before you got there but then WAS STILL THERE at the end because he is awesome and so are you and I am so jealous that you did this race and I should have just done it. Haha.

 

[Goofed98]

One thing to keep in mind about the Yassos....whatever you run the 800 in, that's how long you have to recover. So, if you go and crank out a speedy 800, you won't have a lot of time to recover before your next 800, which then may be a lot slower, which is why you average.

Having said all of that, my experience was closer to that of DopeyBadger. I think I did my Yassos a bit faster than my marathon, but that's pretty much par for the course (1:42 PR for the half, 4:08 for the full)