The Running Thread - 2018

I don't get the Shanghai Disneyland reference :o
The people who visit Shanghai tend to not be properly trained to use a bathroom all the time. They have signs up inside the park telling people to use a bathroom yet people will still go in grassy areas and such whenever and wherever they want.

It’s quite a different culture at that park.
 
November miles - 67.5

Once I stopped training for the WDW marathon my miles just kinda dropped. :(

I AM running a half on Saturday and it is supposed to be "feels like" 32 with rain and 15 mph winds at race start and only a 1 degree warm up by the time I will finish (still raining and windy). I don't mind the cold and I don't mind the rain but I HATE running in cold rain. Totally rethinking what to wear to stay relatively warm and relatively dry. I have a long sleeve Brooks hoodie that I LOVE for running in the rain as it wicks the water away from my skin like crazy - never even feel wet. But it is thin and I don't think it will keep me very warm. And I have a long sleeve hoodie that I wear for cold runs but I don't know how water repellent it is. Sigh. First World problems I know. I just hate being cold and wet for hours.
 
Morning all!

November totals:

Distance - 101.4 mi
Duration - 13:04:17
Avg Pace - 7:46

Summary - My first month breaking 100 miles! Also completed my first HM, and my first time placing in a race (2nd in my age group for local 5k). Dropped my average pace by 46 seconds per mile compared to last month (Love running in the cold). Bring on December!
 

October Totals
Distance: 123.56 miles
Time: 16:55:43
Avg Pace: 8:13min/mi
Avg HR: 142

The last two weeks were spent road-tripping to Colorado and followed that up with a nasty cold (or something) that kinda killed a couple of weeks of workouts. Actually surprised my HR went down from Oct, since the last several runs, it has been way higher.

I don't think I ever posted I was running this, but today I ran the Rock n Roll San Antonio Half marathon. We headed over to San Antonio yesterday morning and hit the expo. Picked up my bib, and was really surprised to be in corral 6 (last year I was in 1), so not sure what was going on. After getting the bib, the family headed out to Fiesta Texas for some roller coaster action. After the park, headed back to downtown, and walked on the Riverwalk for a while.

So this morning, got into the corrals and noticed that the 1:40 and 1:45 pace groups were in 5, again, why are they so far back? Since there was no corral monitoring at all, I moved up to be in front of the the pace groups at the front of 5, and noticed that almost all the bibs in 4 were marathon bibs, and noticed a 5:00 pace group in 3. WTH. It looks like they had all marathoners in the first 4 corrals, and the half in the 19 corrals behind. Which was a royal screw-up in my mind, and many other half runners felt the same as well as I talked to some during the race. There was no break between the full and the start of the half, so we were all bobbing and weaving around the marathoners. My first mile was around 8:30, and took to around mile 5 to get to runners that were running around the same pace as myself. Meb started about 3 minutes in front of me, and his first 5k was about a 8:35 pace and he finished in 1:39:57, so it looked like even he had issues with the way this was done. I had read he was going to pace a 1:40, but never saw him on the course. bummer.

Since I was illing the week leading up to the race, I had no real goals, except to run a consistent race.

After finally getting to a spot where I could run a decent pace, I think I accomplished it.

1 - 8:32
2 - 7:56
3 - 7:51
4 - 7:46
5 - 7:29
6 - 7:39
7 - 7:36
8 - 7:30
9 - 7:34
10 - 7:34
11 - 7:40
12 - 7:50 (big stinking hill during this mile, hated it last year, still hated it this year)
13 - 7:39

Finished in 1:43:03. Pretty happy with the results and the consistency. I knew I would not be able to pick up the pace too much today, and was over 3 minutes faster than last year. If the race wants to start the marathoners in front of the half, include a decent break between the two groups, or start the race at different times, so the marathoners are more spread out.

I have race rage just from reading your recap...
 
QOTD: Which run during your week do you not look forward to doing, but do it anyway because it will make you a better runner?

ATTQOTD: The answer would be speed work. Hate it, but next to the long run, its the most important for making gains. However, since I am on this crazy plan of just getting ready for 26.2, it's been cut out for now. Will resume after marathon is complete.


Also, I want to thank all of you for the kind comments about our dog. We are waiting for the vet to call us as we have some questions to ask that will help us make whatever decisions we need to make. We told DD5 that her puppy is sick. She said she just needs some medicine or a shot. This is going to be difficult down the road as it's going to be her first experience with the whole life/death situation. My heart hurts for her.
 
@avondale I was at the race in Baltimore too and agree with your assessment! I did the half, and I also did the half in 2016. I feel like they changed the course a bit so that less of it was by the water for the 10k. It was less by the water for the half too but I'm ok with the change because it allowed us to avoid a bridge (with a big hill) at the turn around point since we turned around sooner. I agree it was very well organized but the course was a bit confusing with all the turns. There was one part for the half marathon where you had to double back and do a loop, there were signs saying half marathon first loop go to the left and second loop go straight but I know I saw people cut the course there, and I don't even think they did it on purpose. It was just hard to tell which way to go. They were probably disappointed at the end because they were probably close to 2 miles short on their GPS.

This race went really well for me but I wasn't doing it for time. I was doing it to practice not going out too fast at the start of a race. My Dopey Badger plan was to go at an easy pace for 8 miles, marathon pace for 4 miles and then half marathon pace for the last mile. It went according to plan and even too fast for the last mile! I was also able to practice nutrition because I think I didn't take enough on my last race and that went well too. Splits were 14:40, 15:00, 14:33, 15:07, 14:26, 14:49, 15:25 and 15:08 for the easy miles. 13:57, 14:16, 13:13 and 13:55 for the marathon pace miles (I was shooting for 14). The last mile and change were 12:57 and 12:32 when I was shooting for 13:30. Overall pace was 14:22.

I would highly recommend this race. It's pretty flat, unlike most Baltimore halfs. It's well organized, on the small side, and does have pretty water views for a lot of the half.
 
It's kind of a thing there, people just "go" wherever.
It’s quite a different culture at that park.

Yes, and the kids wear "split pants" for elimination convenience. o_O

QOTD: Which run during your week do you not look forward to doing, but do it anyway because it will make you a better runner?

Speed work, especially during hot & humid summers. I like tempo runs, but not a fan of any other speed work.

November miles: 37.3 miles

Not a great running month for me. My treadmill broke, but should be getting fixed this week, hopefully. I've only been running about twice a week, but have also been getting on the elliptical twice a week, plus yoga twice a week. I'm starting to feel the need for a training plan again, by January for sure I'll have to get at it.
 
ATTQOTD: Lord have mercy, tempo runs. Give me track work, progression runs, long runs, hill repeats or anything but tempo miles. I know how beneficial they are, but I truly dread doing them.

Edited to add: :wave:Hey Coach! Thanks for liking my post, nothing to see here though! :rotfl::rotfl2:
 
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November Totals:
Miles Ran - 109.48
Average Pace - 10:47
Time Spent - 18:57:59
Miles YTD - 1077.03

ATTQOTD: I feel like the easy run after a day off is always hard for me because it's slow and I just don't feel like doing it. But once I get going I am fine. I actually like speedwork because the intervals tend to make the run go by faster. (Lol puns...) I am going to agree with @KSellers88 that some of those tempo runs are killer. Whew.
 
November Training Summary
Running duration = 0 hours
Running mileage = 0 miles
Indoor Cycling duration = 21:12 hours
Indoor Cycling mileage = unknown miles
21 Day Fix = 8 workouts (4 hours)
Total Training Time = 25:12 hours

Still no running for me. Still on a self prescribed running hiatus due to the ankle injury that was giving me fits from August to October in the buildup to the Chicago Marathon. Just got my new Wahoo Kickr Core bike trainer and so I've mapped out some indoor cycling from here until February. I've also started doing 21 Day Fix with my wife because she wanted to do that after finishing her 80 Day Obsession with her sister. Now that we're not living with my SIL anymore, my wife wanted a partner. So we're doing 21 Day Fix and then later this month starting 80 Day Obsession. So hoping that between the biking and increase in strength work than I normally do, that I'll be ready to attack the run training come mid-February.
 
ATTQOTD: I dread the after work runs the most. I know they are always fine and I feel great afterwards, but it’s hard to get out the door after working all day then commuting home.

Thanks for all the encouragement during my husband’s 100 miler this weekend. Shortly after I posted, he texted me and said he was done. He sat in a heated tent for an hour and ate but couldn’t warm up and his muscles were starting to seize from shivering. It was in the low 40s and rained all day and that really got to him. We haven’t had weather like that at home this year so it was a bit of a shock. He dropped at the 100K mark, so I’m very proud of him for getting to that point in tough conditions. Of the 117 people that started, only 51 finished. He definitely made the smart call. He has a 50K in 2 weeks and it’s one of his favorite races. Plus he’s pacing me to my first marathon in less than 6 weeks! So he really needs to be healthy for those. These ultras are no joke!
 



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