The Running Thread - 2018

[DopeyBadger]

Thank you for the nutrition guidance. I have lots of time to figure it out, but having more of an idea where to start is helpful!





Thank you for taking a shot at my questions, this should not bother me, but it really does. The data is collected via the garmin, which uploads to Garmin Connect, and Strava pulls data from there, so the collection frequency and error in distance should be the same. The interpretation and presentation of the data is a mystery to me. The total time for the run and the distance are the same. The points on the map where it states I have hit a mile are the same. The split time seems pretty far off, and that is the part I do not understand. I am already discounting the elevation data on both as it is not correct (The starting elevation out my door is not suddenly decreased by 200 ft by the time I get home), but cannot make sense of 13:39 vs 12:23, similarly off in miles 5 and 8.
View attachment 353671

This sounds like this then:

1) I don't have a Garmin, but I do use Strava. I have to save each run in Strava as a "race" in order to get my actual pace and time; because I do intervals, it sometimes won't include my walking time.

Where Strava is "deleting" some time from the splits where it thinks you are walking/not running. Like you said, "moving pace" as Garmin calls it. So the total time, and distance would be the same. Only the splits would be different then. Try manually adding up the splits. I bet Garmin is 100% of total time, and Strava is less than 100%. Sound like if you change it to a "race" in Strava it won't delete what it interprets as walking or stopping per @apdebord. And since it's something you can do after the fact, try doing it to the splits you just showed us.

 

[kbenson13]

Unfortunately, not seeing anything listed under the city of Houston and a 10k distance for "Run Houston" for a certified course. (link) Could be missing it though on my cursory scan through.

I measured it on Google Maps and it's at least reasonable.

View attachment 353661

The trace on Strava looks to be off in this section around mile 0.5/3.6. Course map makes it look like it should have been on the road. Where you on the road, because that could account for some distance lost there. Were you running on sidewalks or roads for most of the race? Because my measurements were more from street running, but running on sidewalks would definitely cut some distance in some areas.

View attachment 353658

Always hard to feel confident when the GPS comes back less than 6.22. But this might be a case where the distance of the race was correct depending on how you actually went about running it.

Regardless a great race!

I went back and read the race's website more closely, and they say they are USAT&F "sanctioned" but not "certified". I guess that means their results can't be used to enter other races?

In any event, a fair portion of the race was on sidewalks, but I wasn't running on sidewalks when the course was on the road. I was super diligent not to cut corners or do anything other than run a completely legit race. Interestingly, there didn't appear to be race monitors posted at the switchbacks, and at least one guy in front of me cut one switchback by 15-20 feet. That was super lame.

Looking at my Strava map again, there are some clear corners that I ran that got cut out by the GPS, so that may explain some of the lost distance, especially when you run over those "lost" corners multiple times.

Given your mapping (wish I thought to do that) I'm going to call this a legal distance race or close enough for this to be a legit result. Thanks as always for your insight. I will be reaching out to you about training for the Houston Marathon!

 

[KSellers88]

ATTQOTD: Driving, for sure. I haven't flown since our honeymoon 7 years ago because my husband is not a big fan. I am hoping to change that in the next few years and get him back on an airplane and crossing my fingers for a better experience! Luckily Alabama is somewhat centrally located for all the runs I've wanted to do so far. That will become more complicated for places like NYC, Las Vegas, Chicago and so on.

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

And I loved drinking 100 margaritas while you cycled 100 miles!!!!!

Now that's commitment.
(In my best Mike Reilly voice) "Keels, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"

 

[TheHamm]

This sounds like this then:



Where Strava is "deleting" some time from the splits where it thinks you are walking/not running. Like you said, "moving pace" as Garmin calls it. So the total time, and distance would be the same. Only the splits would be different then. Try manually adding up the splits. I bet Garmin is 100% of total time, and Strava is less than 100%. Sound like if you change it to a "race" in Strava it won't delete what it interprets as walking or stopping per @apdebord. And since it's something you can do after the fact, try doing it to the splits you just showed us.

Mystery Solved. It now matches the Garmin, which makes me feel a bit better.

 

[huskies90]

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 pretty much always prefer flying over driving for any distance over 5 hours. I am not against driving, if needed. For me, flying is just easier.

 

[Keels]

Now that's commitment.
(In my best Mike Reilly voice) "Keels, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"

Team Player, really ...

Maybe in 2019 I’ll get to be half an IronMan if my heel and Achilles is fixed.

 

[Jules76126]

I wouldn't drive for anything over 4 hours (can get to most places in NY and NE within this time frame). But I don't love driving. If we are heading to NYC or DC, we will take the train over flying. Anywhere else - flying.

 

[ZellyB]

ATTQOTD: Fly for sure. The older I get the more I hate road trips.

 

[YawningDodo]

6 hours is probably the cutoff point for me before I'd fly somewhere rather than drive, but that's less about me being thrilled to drive 6 hours and more about there not being any point in trying to fly to anywhere closer--you can't get direct flights from here unless you're going to a major airline hub. For instance, when I've gone to Spokane I've checked for flights and they all route through Seattle, effectively tripling the distance covered. By the time you do that you spend as much time on the plane and doing the layover as you would spend on the road, and that's not even counting time spent getting to the airport.

The bigger concern for me is that I don't want to drive more than half an hour to a run if I can't spend the night in a hotel and go straight to the start. The half marathon I'm doing next June is only a 90 minute drive from home and that would normally be a day trip, but with a 6 AM start there is no way in heck I'm driving from home that morning. I'd rather do fewer races and budget to stay at least one night every time I go out of town for one.

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: Drive for me. I don't really care for flying. Plus when I drive, I like knowing that me and all my "stuff" are under my control in my car. Plus if I'm driving, my dog can come.

 

[Baloo in MI]

@KingLlama I would not recommend spikes for a trail run. Others may have already shared this but there are a number of really great trail shoes that provide great traction. Try a specialty/local running store. Many will often let you try different types of shoes on a run to find the best fit and feel. Enjoy the trail run!!!

ATTQOTD: I am all about driving if it will save money. I have driven from Michigan to WDW because flights had gotten too expensive. However if the costs are pretty close then flying is my choice to get more time at the destination.

 

[AFwifelife]

ATTQOTD: fly for sure. I would be a terrible pilot’s wife if I hated air travel It is nice that we are in driving distance to Disney though because I can bring a ton of extra stuff for making meals (like my Instant Pot).

 

[garneska]

I am driving 12 hours to Chicago, however that is because Mallory has to come with us so need to drive or I would be flying. (Mallory is my avatar).

 

[flav]

ATTQOTD: I prefer being driven or flown... I either
- Choose races max two hours away and drive,
- Plan a full weekend with an hotel stay and brind family-driver (DM or DH) with me,
- Would consider a bus/flight package for international runners for Boston (5h) or New York (7h) if the above option is not available,
- Fly anywhere farther than that, but that eats up in my race budget so it doesn’t happen often. I loved my direct flights to Orlando: Leave home by 5AM and be at the resort by 11AM, rested and yet already trained for early wakeup call for rope-dropping and runDisneying!

 

[flav]

Montreal Rock’n’Roll Remix Challenge Recap

Before Race Weekend
We registered in February for this September event through Active at reasonable prices.
The new courses were announced later in the year and past runners all seemed happy about them.
With Ironman buying Rock’n’Roll, there was a few hiccups in terms of pre-race communications (corral definition, gel brand, etc.) but the new organization (always the same lady it seems) was answering emails nicely and timely.

Expo
I went on Friday at lunch to pickup our four packets. That went well but I had to ask around many times to know where to get the Challenge bracelet (to be exchanged with the medal). Some people never figured it out by the questions I got on race day. The T-shirts were a perfect fit and of good quality but failed on the graphic design of the 5k and 10k shirts. There were very few vendors and the Expo was just boring.

The 5k
DD10yo, DH and I parked in a mall downtown and easily walked to the race area in the Quartier des Spectacles. After an quick bag drop off and a real warm-up (it was 50F outside), we took our place in the first of the four corrals. We talked with our 30min rabbit and DD jumped when they shot the departure gun at 8AM. After the first km, both the pacer and I said that we were easily 20sec late. DD said bye to “her” rabbit and accelerate to a consistent pace (corresponding to my target half-Marathon pace!). There was almost no spectators except at the very end but the course through the city was well chosen for that distance, especially the return on Ste-Catherine through the Village. It was possible to see the end from very far and that motivated DD to overcome the exhaustion and struggle she seemed to be silently experiencing at that point. She really managed her race well, we are very proud parents. We all completed in 27m10s, which is an amazing result for our family run!

The Half-Marathon
With major road closures because of the event, I used an incentive parking and used the Metro to get to the same race area. The Marathon and Half-Marathon were both starting together so there were 11k people dropping their bags and using the bathrooms. After a warmup, I took my place near the 2hours pacer in corral 4 out of 10. The course was very congested, especially the first mile or so. We took a one minute hit on the pace. I was using a Paceband attached to my belt for the first time and it worked like a charm. I was prompting my Nike App to tell me the time (just touched the locked screen of my phone) when I was passing markers.

After a while, I decided to catchup on that missing minute but to spread the effort over the next few km. There were more spectators than the previous day (but nowhere near what I experienced at Ottawaj Race Weekend). The course was pretty, going in the Old Port then near Lachine canal. There were many parts where both directions followed the same path but in a good way. I am pretty sure that the majority of the runners crossed path with the Marathon leaders at some point, that was neat.

At 10km, I was back on plan both pace and fuel wise. As mentioned in previous posts, I used my own and never took the sample SIS, I did not wan’t to carry it.

I really started struggling in the last 3km (2 miles) and had to talk to myself to keep running.

I finished in… Drumroll please… 01:55:49

That is well under my goal of running the Half under two hours and it is a PR by 20min!

After the race
After getting both medals and taking pictures, I waited to see if I could congratulate some friends. The Rock’n’Roll App was well done (a skin over RTRT.me realtime tracker) and it was promising me “Sweaty Hugs” whenever one of my trackee was finishing. Then, some food was provided: A banana, an apple, a juice box, a yogurt and a granola bar. I was getting chilly so time to pickup my stuff… And that took over 1 hour and a half! Major major issue! I ended up changed and ready to leave three hours after I finished running. At that point, I was just starved for real warm food so I grabbed a burger at McDonalds. Not the celebratory meal I had envisioned but it did the trick.

Here is the shirts and medals I got. The Remix Challenge guitar is the best

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

I finished in… Drumroll please… 01:55:49

That is well under my goal of running the Half under two hours and it is a PR by 20min!

Wow, 20 minutes is HUGE! Congrats on the PR and sub 2!

 

[Keels]

Way to go, @flav!!!!! Super proud of you!!!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

ATTQOTD: I’ll drive up to 8 hours because that is about when the flight/drive estimate goes over for us since our airport only flies to major connection sites and we have few non-stops to pick from.

Luckily we’re lazy people and only really do races at Disney or closure to home unless we were already traveling unless it’s something specially planned.

 

[captaindavidhook]

Everybody I had a general question about a running sneaker a wonder if anybody could help me. Has anybody ever run with running flats? I have never and was wondering if they're worth buying and getting in do they feel like they help you run in a marathon or half-marathon much faster because there are a little bit lightweight. Do they help on the Cavs or needs take less pressure off and them since they're like way as well? Thanks in advance.