The Running Thread - 2018

[Dis5150]

ATTQOTD: I just spent 10 days in FL with my kids. We don't usually get to see any family for holidays, so it was nice seeing them this year so close to a holiday. It is just myself, DH and my mom (she lives with us) at home. We are cooking a ham. And when I say we I mean my mom is, lol. She bought a turkey breast also so we could have turkey gravy on our mashed potatoes. I most look forward to being off of work and shopping. I just did some early shopping at Target online with my Red card and got a 32" smart tv, a George Foreman grill and paninni maker, and a new blow dryer for $155 total.

 

[MissLiss279]

Hoka people! I know Hoka One One shoes are different than many other brands. Is there anything you wish you had known before you started running in them? Advice for someone who is new to the Hoka brand?
For people who tried Hoka shoes and didn't like them - was there something about them you didn't like? Or was it just a general feel/fit situation?
(Specifically, I'm trying out the Bondi 6, but I'm interested in general Hoka advice as well. I thought they were okay in store, but knew I couldn't make a decision on them until I actually took them out for a run. I'm switching over from New Balance.)

TIA!

So I tried the Bondi 4s a couple of years ago. The first pair I got was a half size smaller than I normally get, but it felt okay, and my toes still seemed to have plenty of room. I liked all the cushion. I wore them a few times, and ended up wearing them for a very warm half marathon. I ended up with several blisters, some under toenails (before I figured out what I needed to do to stop toe blisters) and one kind of on my arch. I pretty much stopped wearing those shoes after that. I thought that maybe they were just too small.

I found another pair of them in my size on a sale rack, so I thought I would try them again. I ended up getting a blister on the arch of my foot again, and decided that Hoka’s just aren’t for me. So I would agree with whoever said it, at least this version is too narrow (or something) for me, and they don’t agree with my feet. But I know a lot of people who love their Hoka’s, so I hope they work out for you.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I got teal-ish ones - the guy at the running store recommended a little mermaid costume to go with the shoes.
... But that was before I remembered that I was planning on doing Minnie Mouse for the marathon
So if I end up liking these shoes, I have a serious conundrum

Or a Minnie Mouse as The Little Mermaid mashup. #epic?

Sounds like you get the whole running thing and the benefits that come from it. So why would you ever dream of quitting the marathon?

A combination of two consecutive bad tempo runs including one that I chose to cut short by 3 miles because of muscle tightness and other non running related stress issues had me in a bad place mentally. Frustration and fear can be a very bad combination. I'm also working on being authentic about the ups and downs of running. I think it's very easy to see the smiling, exhausted runner beaming with joy at the finish line with that medal and mistakenly conclude that running is always wonderful and races always go perfectly. Plus, I'm beginning to realize that if I remember the difficulties during training, I can remind myself during the race if necessary that I've dealt with bad runs before so I just need to keep going and let everything sort itself out.

During the first few miles, I was having a lot of "I dunno about this race today. Maybe I should not have signed up for this? What if my foot starts to hurt? Is my foot hurting, or is it my imagination?" But, I tried to repeat positive things instead...."I feel good, the foot feels great, weather is fantastic, I am rested, I'm out here with 10,000 of my Philly friends doing what I love to do.”

I love this. Sometimes I get random, phantom pain during training runs that usually goes away eventually, but I worry about how to cope with it if it comes up during a tempo run. For years I trained at the same set pace, so I've only been doing tempo runs for about 5 months or so now.

 

[FFigawi]

QOTD: Since today is my Friday with Thanksgiving being tomorrow this will be our fun Friday ummm I mean Wednesday question. For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, what is your favorite part of the day?

My favorite part of Thanksgiving day is the whole house filling up with the aromas of a turkey roasting in the oven. And watching the Lions lose. We won't have any of the roasting turkey smells this year, though. We're heading to V&A for dinner tomorrow night.

@LSUlakes can you please add me to the list of people racing this weekend? I'm signed up for the Space Coast half on Sunday, which I seem likely to attempt on no run training for months. Let's hope the local residents are passing out lots of beer along the way.

 

[SarahDisney]

So I tried the Bondi 4s a couple of years ago. The first pair I got was a half size smaller than I normally get, but it felt okay, and my toes still seemed to have plenty of room. I liked all the cushion. I wore them a few times, and ended up wearing them for a very warm half marathon. I ended up with several blisters, some under toenails (before I figured out what I needed to do to stop toe blisters) and one kind of on my arch. I pretty much stopped wearing those shoes after that. I thought that maybe they were just too small.

I found another pair of them in my size on a sale rack, so I thought I would try them again. I ended up getting a blister on the arch of my foot again, and decided that Hoka’s just aren’t for me. So I would agree with whoever said it, at least this version is too narrow (or something) for me, and they don’t agree with my feet. But I know a lot of people who love their Hoka’s, so I hope they work out for you.

I hate blisters. Yuck.
Yet another thing to think about.
Thanks!

Or a Minnie Mouse as The Little Mermaid mashup. #epic?

Hard no. I don't do mashups. I'm a purist.
But I do have some thoughts brewing. Stay tuned.

 

[Waiting2goback]

Or a Minnie Mouse as The Little Mermaid mashup. #epic?

A combination of two consecutive bad tempo runs including one that I chose to cut short by 3 miles because of muscle tightness and other non running related stress issues had me in a bad place mentally. Frustration and fear can be a very bad combination. I'm also working on being authentic about the ups and downs of running. I think it's very easy to see the smiling, exhausted runner beaming with joy at the finish line with that medal and mistakenly conclude that running is always wonderful and races always go perfectly. Plus, I'm beginning to realize that if I remember the difficulties during training, I can remind myself during the race if necessary that I've dealt with bad runs before so I just need to keep going and let everything sort itself out.

I love this. Sometimes I get random, phantom pain during training runs that usually goes away eventually, but I worry about how to cope with it if it comes up during a tempo run. For years I trained at the same set pace, so I've only been doing tempo runs for about 5 months or so now.

All makes so much sense. You are going to be just fine with this race. Sounds like your mental game is ready!

Have you looked into the R8 recovery roller? It does wonders for knots in my calves. Hurts like heck but it loosens everything up!

 

[LdyStormy76]

Follow-up question: most people said chip time. Am I the only one that runs races that aren't chip timed? Sometimes gun time is all you have.

You are not alone. I have had two that were gun time only. Both had someone at the finish line pushing a button denoting a runner finishing and someone else pulling bib tags off to record finish order. Each race had a small field, one was a 5k and one a half marathon. However, most races around me seem to advertise being chip timed.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Hard no. I don't do mashups. I'm a purist.

Not running related, but it was a mashup that I will never forget. And it won't surprise anyone. I was going to Disneyland with a good friend from college. His daughter wanted to do Jedi Training Academy and at that time, you had to get yourself noticed. So I was tasked with finding clip art of the Disney Princesses on the internet and then photoshopping lightsabers into their hands for a sign to get my friend's daughter chosen for the show. It worked. After the show, my friend's daughter wanted to meet the princesses and show them her sign. I will never forget hearing the princess look at the sign and ask my friend's daughter "what am I holding?"

All makes so much sense. You are going to be just fine with this race. Sounds like your mental game is ready!

Have you looked into the R8 recovery roller? It does wonders for knots in my calves. Hurts like heck but it loosens everything up!

Well, I don't know if my mental game is ready quite yet, but I am working on it.

I've been using The Stick roller for tightness. It does hurt, but I can also feel it helping afterwards. I rarely experience the extreme tightness that caused me to cut the one run short.

 

[Keels]

ATTQOTD: Cowboys football and turkey. A (not always) winning combination my entire life!

At least you can (usually) count on the turkey!

 

[flav]

Follow-up question: most people said chip time. Am I the only one that runs races that aren't chip timed? Sometimes gun time is all you have. Interesting note: age group awards are often based on gun rather than chip time.

I have the reverse: Sportstats in Canada sometimes gives me Official Time (Chip) and the hours at which I cross the mats (5k,10k, 15k, 21.1k) but not when the « gun » was blasted.

ATTQOTD Thanksgiving:
Canadian Thanksgiving (over a month ago): Turkey with family.
USA Thanksgiving: Black Friday sales which pretty much go for a week here in Canada.

 

[LSUlakes]

Thank for adding "for those who celebrate." I hope this becomes a continuing trend with holiday-related questions.

Well it's an American Holiday, and we have a few posters who live in other regions of the world. For December the word Christmas will be included. I can include any religious celebration you or others would like as part of that topic as well, just let me know. In fact I think it would be very interesting to learn of others culture, beliefs and traditions. However, I am not going to call it a holiday season or some other form of it. The mouse has a party on various days for the next 2 months with the word Christmas in it, so if the term is used in the parks, I will use it here.

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: I think it's just kinda gonna be another regular day here for us this year for the most part.

My favorite part is usually having leftovers that I cooked for the next week. AND PIE. But my SO's mom's health is constantly in question the past couple years so we decided to just make reservations at a restaurant this year. So, it will just be lukewarm buffet food and no yummy leftovers for us, plus we have to go to an 11:00 sitting because it was the only one left... I am not ok with that time for a large meal. My personal cut off about when it's acceptable to stop eating breakfast food and/or light lunch foods like sandwiches and chips or salads and start eating "dinner" food is about 2pm.

I am going to a 90 minute class at OTF at 6:30 AM instead of Turkey Trotting this year, which in hindsight seems like a pretty marvelous idea, as the forecast for tomorrow will be a T+D of.... 8. It will be 10F at racetime with a dewpoint of -2F and a "feels like" temp of -7F with the 15mph wind. It's a 90 minute 3 person partner workout, so I'm going with 2 of my running group buddies... that should be fun.

Other than that, I'll probably just watch the National Dog Show when we get home from the restaurant.

 

[Smilelea]

I'm finally getting a moment to do a very short update of my 5K last Saturday.

Crosspoint 5K 11/17/18

The weather was beautiful but a cold temp of 42 degrees. I started off strong but realized very quickly this was a bad idea. So I started walking. The first mile is all down hill. The second mile is all uphill (my app says 913ft). The third mile is back down that hill and then a short uphill for the last .10.

I made a new friend that started off with 2 other friends that were run/walking and she couldn't hang. She had decided 3 days before the race to register. This was her very first race. So we walked over 2 miles of it. We did push it to a slow jog to cross the finish line.

Time: 45:49

That's a far cry from my goal but shin splints are no joke and I've got to be healthy for January. I'll try for a PR again next year.

 

[KevM]

ATTQOTD: Food & Football.

 

[KevM]

ATTQOTD: Cowboys football and turkey. A (not always) winning combination my entire life!

 

[kleph]

If anyone has a smoker, my husband made this amazing smoked asparagus soup for dinner and it was too good not to share!

https://www.traegergrills.com/recipes/vegetables/smoked-asparagus-soup

Thanks for this. My holiday weekend will be making and smoking a bunch of andouille sausage which will be my Christmas gift to folks. While the smoker is running I plan to whip up a few regular meals and this fits in nicely.

 

[camaker]

QOTD: Since today is my Friday with Thanksgiving being tomorrow this will be our fun Friday ummm I mean Wednesday question. For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, what is your favorite part of the day?

Thanksgiving Day itself is blessedly quiet in my house. My ex-wife has always been very particular about celebrating holidays on the specific day. I’m not so rigid, so our Thanksgiving Day is always today, so my daughters can spend Thursday with their mother. We just got done with our full blown family meal with my daughters, one of their boyfriends, and my brother and mother. It was a nice family get together.

Now tomorrow can be filled with a quiet house, video games, running and football. That’s a day I can truly be thankful for!

 

[PkbaughAR]

ATTQOTD: My favorite part of the day is visiting with family. I used to be a big Black Friday shopper, but the crowds and attitudes don't thrill me like they used to. I like having a season where we are encouraged to reflect and be thankful. Life may be hard, and life may be good, but most often it seems to be a combination of both. Focusing on the good in a hard season helps me realize I am stronger than I think.

 

[CDKG]

QOTD: Since today is my Friday with Thanksgiving being tomorrow this will be our fun Friday ummm I mean Wednesday question. For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, what is your favorite part of the day?

Mashed potatoes!

 

[PkbaughAR]

On this day I am thankful for a group of people who motivate me, inspire me, and always keep it real!!!