The Running Thread - 2018

[AFwifelife]

High is 90 here today (sigh...)

The Storm app changed its mind. Now showing 89 as the high with a current feels like of 92.

 

[GreatLakes]

Had a nice 7 mile run in 62 degree whether yesterday and a 5k just barely into the 50s today. We dropped something like 25 degree on the first day of spring like someone just turned down a thermostat. Now I'll find out if those hot weather miles paid off.

 

[kleph]

the torrential rains dropped temps a good 10 degrees here in north texas. so the long run to cap off peak week went remarkably well. but there were some unusual obstacles on the trail this morning.

 

[Waiting2goback]

 

[PrincessV]

It doesn't rank as "fall", but... my 7 miler Sat morning was ever so slightly more pleasant than previous weeks have been! I mean, yeah - partly because I did half of it in the dark, but even when the sun rose, it felt a degree or two cooler than the previous week. According to my app, it was 79* when I started, 82* when I ended, avg 85% humidity. Only in FL is that considered progress toward fall, amIright?!

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: I'm going to try to make this question easy to understand, but I think I am setting up for a FAIL here. Let's say you are traveling for a race and its a distance in which you could either fly or drive to. Which do you prefer? What if any changes would driving v/s flying have on your pre race plans? Post race plans?

ATTQOTD: I would prefer to drive more times than not because I am more comfortable doing so. However I have flown before and the main difference is I wear compression socks during my flight and when I drive I do not.

 

[Capang]

QOTD: fly, if it is longer than a couple hours drive. Only because I hate sitting in a car for long stretches.

 

[Slogger]

QOTD: Let's say you are traveling for a race and its a distance in which you could either fly or drive to. Which do you prefer? What if any changes would driving v/s flying have on your pre race plans? Post race plans?

.

No FAIL to the question, I think I understand.

I enjoy flying to a race destination but it involves quite a bit more planning and cost. Sometimes a "runcation" works and I will build in a few days to enjoy the trip.

I PREFER to drive to the destination. Gives me more freedom to pack whatever I want, flexibility with my time as I can control my schedule instead of adhering to the airlines, and many times I can avoid a hotel by simply getting up early to go to the race destination. I tend to get to the race and leave quickly to get home. Cuts down on the costs and time away from home. This strategy allows me to do more races instead of just a few.

One downside is the Post race beverages and parties tend to be more tame if I am driving back the same day.

 

[PrincessV]

ATTQOTD: This one's easy - I'll ALWAYS drive over flying when it's possible! I hate the flying experience with every fiber of my being, from the seats that make my back spasm, to the ridiculous amount of time it takes, to being stuck in a tube full of other people, to the TSA theater, and on and on. HATE. it. I'd very much like to travel overseas again some day, but am basically waiting to be able to afford the time and money it would take to go by boat.

ETA: I also really, really LOVE driving and my favorite kind of vacation is of the road trip variety. However, I really, really do not love driving 2 hours across I-4, which is the only traveling I do for races. But I enjoy not being limited to what I can bring with me, and I prefer to have a car to get around WDW, and I'm not aware of any flights I could take instead of driving, anyway. So I-4 it is.

 

[rteetz]

QOTD: I'm going to try to make this question easy to understand, but I think I am setting up for a FAIL here. Let's say you are traveling for a race and its a distance in which you could either fly or drive to. Which do you prefer? What if any changes would driving v/s flying have on your pre race plans? Post race plans?

Flying, it’s quicker and I don’t have to do the driving. With a running event the flight won’t allow for as much stiff-ness as driving would.

 

[AntimonyER]

ATTQOTD: Honestly, I don't think I would go to a race that I couldn't drive to. My wife and I have higher priorities than running races for our funds, so unless its a local race, or we were going to be in the area anyways I won't be traveling specifically to run a race. The exception is Disney races, I am allowed to plan a trip specifically for those, as long as I know its going to be a LOT more expensive than just the entry... hotel, tickets, food, etc. for my whole family, if I am running at Disney, we are GOING to Disney, haha.

 

[TheHamm]

ATTQOTD:
FLY for anything more than 4 hours away. I'm not above the DTW->MDW flights for work because I am not paying and I can just nap. I spent enough time flying all over for work that it is air travel is never a problem unless I have tiny people to take with me or I find myself not speaking a local language during some sort of natural disaster. I generally pack pretty light, so taking all the possible race gear with me should still be no problem. Flying does not make my eyes hurt. Flying allows me to take a nap. Flying lets my body move around more. Flying lets me watch a movie! If we could have the Japan-style trains (all Nozumi, none of that local train mis-mash) I would pick that over flying.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

ATTQOTD: I would prefer to drive- I like the flexibility that a car provides. We are in a unique spot where it takes us about 2.5 hours to get to a decent sized airport, so when we fly, we have a road trip first anyway.

A good example of this would be the distance to Chicago for us. Chi is about a 9.5 drive, but by the time we drive to the airport, park, get there early enough and fly, we invest at least 6 hours into flying. That's about the max distance I'd drive before really considering flying- if we go to Chicago for work though, we always fly.

 

[GreatLakes]

QOTD: I'm going to try to make this question easy to understand, but I think I am setting up for a FAIL here. Let's say you are traveling for a race and its a distance in which you could either fly or drive to. Which do you prefer? What if any changes would driving v/s flying have on your pre race plans? Post race plans?

I'd likely drive though there could be some extenuating circumstances around a particular trip. I'm usually traveling with someone else to a race, either the family or a friend, so the cost of a flight for each of us + rental car or public transportation (which I hate in general) + the extra time at the airport is usually not worth it. My cutoff is usually about 8 hours for that.

 

[Disney at Heart]

ATTQOTD: We drive about 8 hours. So I hit @GreatLakes cutoff pretty much exactly. Disclaimer - DH drives most of the time. Like @run.minnie.miles , I am a distance from an airport. If I drive to ATL, it is about 2.5 hrs and sometimes closer to 4 with Atlanta traffic. If I have to be there 1-2 hours ahead of time and then add time to get to Orlando, get on Magical Express to get to a resort or pick up bags and taxi or Uber over to WDW, I will have spent the same time as the drive. Driving is cheaper since are buying three airplane seats, we can pack all we want (including all the clothes, electronics, liquids such as toiletries and drinks), and have no set schedule as to what time we leave. I will say that traffic on I-4 from the east coast can get bad coming through Orlando, but it is a breeze compared to traveling through Atlanta. Often we leave the night before and drive about 6 hours, stop for the night at a cheap (non-Disney) hotel, travel on in the next morning, and check in and head for a park while we wait for our "Your room is ready" text.

 

[avondale]

QOTD: I'm going to try to make this question easy to understand, but I think I am setting up for a FAIL here. Let's say you are traveling for a race and its a distance in which you could either fly or drive to. Which do you prefer? What if any changes would driving v/s flying have on your pre race plans? Post race plans?

ATTQOTD: Definitely drive. More things are under my control if I drive. I hate the security lines and associated issues at the airport. Like you, I also wear compression socks when I fly because my calves are very uncomfortable if I don't. So if I had to run the same day that I flew, I would worry a bit about recovery. Also, I get pretty dehydrated when I fly, despite my best efforts, and so I would worry that would affect my race as well.

As for pre/post race...I don't usually do anything except the race, so I get there, do the race, and come home. I can't see much changing with that. If I flew, I'd probably be annoyed at the way the flight schedule didn't connect well with my race time. But I would say that flying soon after a hard run effort can make those legs even more uncomfortable.

 

[apdebord]

ATTQOTD: I would always prefer to drive. I am not a good flier. If I don't start taking Meclazine a week prior to a flight, I will get sick on the plane. I also can sadly only drink water or ginger ale prior to and during. I am the worst when it's a short flight that goes straight up and barely cruises at full altitude before starting the descent. So if we fly internationally, I prefer to drive to the airport that I'm getting the direct fly out of (typically Dulles) instead of taking the 30 minute flight from Norfolk to connect. The last time we went to Europe, our transatlantic flight was out of Newark so we flew from Richmond to Newark in a storm and I then threw up the entire way to Copenhagen in the tiny airplane bathroom. FUN!

For races, we've learned that we tend to overpack, so driving just makes more sense. Our drive to WDW is about 11 hours, sometimes we stop south of Jacksonville to break it up, but for marathon weekend I think we plan to drive straight through (but stay at Universal night 1). I tend to drive on road trips because I can't sleep in the car, so I let DH sleep. I also hate to make stops, so if he's sleeping he's not requesting I find a restroom every 5 minutes.

@LSUlakes could you please remove the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon for me from the schedule on 7 October? Because of the PF pain I've been dealing with, I'm switching to the 5K option:

October
06 - apdebord - Crawlin' Crab 5K (33:57 / N/A)

 

[TheHamm]

After following the thread for some time, I have retained some information and cannot find what I am looking for by the search function. Can anyone share their knowledge?

1. Strava- the times do not agree with my Garmin output. The garmin is consistently slower. As this is more disparate when I am in certain places on the map, I am guessing Strava considers something closer to Garmin's 'moving time.' Can anyone comment as to if this is reasonable? I do not pause for street crossings or water fountain stops as I consider them all a part of the run {an option to rest, or water that I would stop for in a race anyhow}, but I do not know that this is really a good or a bad thing.
2. Previous posts suggested fueling for runs over 1.5 hours, so I gave it a go this weekend. I realized I have no idea when or how much to use. I went for a clif bloc square at about 45 minutes because I knew I would have a drinking fountain available and another at about 1:20, also because I was passing a fountain. How early/often/much do you aim for? Does it make a difference that I go out in the AM before breakfast? Should I expect to see a difference in performance, recovery, or nothing at this time because I am not going long/far enough yet? I'm going to try something else next time because while my stomach was fine, I feel like it is still coating my teeth.
3. Somewhere after 90 minutes, I got what I can only describe as 'fuzzy buns,' which is likely not a realistic description. It was not painful, but almost like when your foot falls asleep because it was in an uncomfortable position. I found it bizarre and was concerned so I decided to turn around and head toward home so I am not sure if it would have persisted. Is this normal (ish?) and something to run through? It was fine by the time I got home.

 

[KingLlama]

Question....I haven't run a race since June, but I've got my race schedule charted out from October through next May. The first one is a trail 5k. I've never done a trail race before. in fact, I've never even done a trail run before, period. Since this one is a local 5k, I thought it might be a nice intro to it.

Do I need spikes for a trail race? Does it depend on the conditions? I realize this is a complete newbie question, but when it comes to trail running, that's exactly what I am.

 

[FFigawi]

QOTD: I'm going to try to make this question easy to understand, but I think I am setting up for a FAIL here. Let's say you are traveling for a race and its a distance in which you could either fly or drive to. Which do you prefer? What if any changes would driving v/s flying have on your pre race plans? Post race plans?

Drive, definitely drive, at least for races under 6-8 hours away by car. I love flying overseas but hate traveling domestically.