The Running Thread - 2020

[GreatLakes]

New frustration: Over the years of running, when we have signed up for races, we ran them. Over the years, two half marathons were canceled (Disney half, due to inclement weather, and the Echo half near Daytona, due to some embezzling of money I was told), and that was highly unusual. But since August, we have had three different races that were changed after we signed up: 1) a Table Rock, SC, trail race in August was moved from Saturday to Sunday of the same weekend. Luckily we had rented a cabin for the whole weekend, so we ran it. 2) DH was signed up for the Lookout Mountain 18 mile trail race that was moved from December 14 to December 21. We changed our hotel reservation and headed to Chattanooga anyway. 3) Yesterday, we got an email that the Peach Jam Half that we have run for several years has moved to a different location and on a different day, and the longest distance available is now a 10k. This was due to work being done on the greenway where it is usually staged. This time, we cancelled our registration and asked for a refund. I hope this trend doesn't continue!!!

Were these all trail races? I have only had one road race in 15 years moved or cancelled but have had a few trail races and one that was run on an APT that crossed trails. All the cancellations were due to weather washing out the trail or the permitting authority pulling the permit due to weather related problems.

While I sit on hold with Disney for new discounts released this morning... even though I was up at 4 to try to get them but the computer system at Disney stinks... lets have a QOTD: What time of the day do you run and why?

The majority of my weekday runs are after work though I will do lunchtime runs from time to time. On the weekends most runs are sometime after noon or the evening. Other than races I rarely run in the mornings. I just don't feel like getting up earlier than I already do to run and don't mind running in the dark after work this time of year.

 

[KSellers88]

ATTQOTD: I run after work (around 4:30ish) or on my lunch break if it is an easy run. I would love to get up early and get it done before work, but it just does not work with our current schedule and living situation. Once our house is built, I am hoping for early morning runs!

 

[FawnJD]

So, I will be running the WDW Marathon this weekend, and I will be running a second Marathon roughly a month later on Hilton Head Island. I realize this timing isn't ideal, but it is what it is.

I've never run two races so closely together, so I'm wondering what your thoughts are on how to manage things.

My current plan is to take it relatively easy at WDW and push myself more at HHI, knowing that the course there won't be as "fun" or congested, so I might as well race, but I'm worried that simply having the heavy mileage from WDW will put me at too much of a disadvantage at HHI and I don't want to intentionally hold myself back at WDW only to have two "mediocre" races under my belt. Does that make any sense?

So...thoughts on race day strategy? And how I should use the 4 weeks between the races?

 

[GreatLakes]

So, I will be running the WDW Marathon this weekend, and I will be running a second Marathon roughly a month later on Hilton Head Island. I realize this timing isn't ideal, but it is what it is.

I've never run two races so closely together, so I'm wondering what your thoughts are on how to manage things.

My current plan is to take it relatively easy at WDW and push myself more at HHI, knowing that the course there won't be as "fun" or congested, so I might as well race, but I'm worried that simply having the heavy mileage from WDW will put me at too much of a disadvantage at HHI and I don't want to intentionally hold myself back at WDW only to have two "mediocre" races under my belt. Does that make any sense?

So...thoughts on race day strategy? And how I should use the 4 weeks between the races?

I've never run fulls that close together but have run halves as closely as back to back weekends. I always run the first as a training run keeping my heart rate down and then race the second. The second race is always a good time in the few times I've done the back to backs.

 

[Deffenm]

ATTQOTD: What time of the day do you run and why? I run at 4:30 am. I run outside as long as the temp is above 30 with wind chill. If it is below 30 with wind chill I run inside or if there is snow/ice on the roads. I like to get it out of the way before work because if not then something will come up and I will make excuses. I also don't listen to anything while I am running so it is my time to get myself mentally prepared for the day.

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: I prefer early morning running! I find it harder to fit in a run as the day goes on and my motivation to get it done decreases. I prefer to run outdoors, but where I live now is difficult to do with how dark the mornings are. The roads are in the woods and very narrow with no lighting. I have gear I can wear to make me visible, but I worry about the driver too busy playing on their phone to notice the strobe light coming at them.

 

[TheHamm]

Good morning and happy new year!! Lets get this year long party started with a QOTD: What are you running / health related goals of 2020?

Running
The goal comes from a bit of reflection that I originally started running to keep up with two tots running away in separate directions and to improve my health. (1) Speed- I was reminded over the holiday break that incorporating a bit more speed into running would help me manage the kid with impulse control issues. I previously wanted to be faster, but I think I have new motivation. Next up I suppose I need a plan. I have some time/distance goals in my head, but I am not sure why any of those numbers are there nor if they are realistic so I am not willing to set a target for this yet. I am also unsure how to decide what is achievable. (2) consistency- I can pull off 3-4 shortish runs a week if I am home/working but all of this goes out the window when my routine is shaken up. As there has been the equivalent of a earthquake & tsunami at work, there is a lot of inconsistency, a lot of travel, and a lot of chaos in my 2020. Some of this is exciting, some of it not, but my first objective is to maintain my sanity at home and running will help this. I just need to figure out how to run in cold/wet/ice/dark and while on the road. I anticipate this will be a disaster until at least mid-February.

Health
I scaled back on running for a few reasons mid december (see above), and was happy to have maintained a steady mass and sleep schedule. I would like to continue the sleep achievements and I recognize that weight reduction would probably make me feel better and run faster. While the internet seems to love dry January, it is not for me. However, I do drink a lot of tea and I have come to realize that my favorite one has some side effects when consumed in mass quantity, so I need to branch out in my non-water beverage choices.

While I sit on hold with Disney for new discounts released this morning... even though I was up at 4 to try to get them but the computer system at Disney stinks... lets have a QOTD: What time of the day do you run and why?

I am about to go out for a lunchtime run! This is my normal time to get in 3-5 miles when it is not summer. I have access to a hilly path and showers, and it is a good break from work. When it warms up and there is a bit of daylight AM becomes an option. If I do not run before lunch whether weekday or weekend, I am not going to make it out. I just cannot. Something always distracts me.

 

[jmasgat]

ATTQOTD: I'm lucky in that I'm retired, so I run when I want. This usually means 9ish in the morning. In the summer, if I have a really long run to do, I will go earlier. Goal regardless is always an a.m. run. Otherwise, it aint gonna happen from a motivational standpoint.

 

[The Expert]

ATTQOTD: Without the adrenaline of race day, my body just doesn't like to run early in the morning, as convenient as it is to just get it out of the way for the day. I work from home and many of my coworkers are east of me, so I tend to log on early and am done by 3pm most days, so I tend to run between 3 and 5pm. That also means most of summer I'm doing so on a treadmill, which I honestly don't mind.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

ATTQOTD: I almost always run after work because I have a difficult enough time getting up in the morning to go to work and don't really want to do it earlier. I do my weekend runs in the morning, but what time those occur depends on how long the run is and how much I want to sleep in.

 

[DopeyBadger]

So, I will be running the WDW Marathon this weekend, and I will be running a second Marathon roughly a month later on Hilton Head Island. I realize this timing isn't ideal, but it is what it is.

I've never run two races so closely together, so I'm wondering what your thoughts are on how to manage things.

My current plan is to take it relatively easy at WDW and push myself more at HHI, knowing that the course there won't be as "fun" or congested, so I might as well race, but I'm worried that simply having the heavy mileage from WDW will put me at too much of a disadvantage at HHI and I don't want to intentionally hold myself back at WDW only to have two "mediocre" races under my belt. Does that make any sense?

So...thoughts on race day strategy? And how I should use the 4 weeks between the races?

1/12/20 - Disney Marathon
1/19/20 -
1/26/20 -
2/2/20 -
2/8/20 - Hilton Head Island Marathon

I think since you're taking the Disney Marathon as relatively easy (like 20-28% slower than relative fitness marathon pace?), then it should work out to treat Disney as your last long training run for Hilton Head (the other bonus is hopefully the HHI weather is more ideal than Disney is currently forecasted for). Since the mileage is much longer than a typical LR, having the pace be much much slower than a normal training run should help mitigate some of the excess training load. The harder part will be maintaining the peak between the races such that you can get in a good effort at HHI. How much and what you do is going to be partially dependent on what kind of training you've done up to the Disney marathon. But I would imagine a scenario where the week of 1/19 is treated like a recovery week from your previous plan, the week of 1/26 as something with some pace work and a moderate LR (not nearly the peak though, maybe something like 75-80% of normal peak), and then the week of 2/2 is definite taper time but continuing to include some intensity (just at a lower overall volume). If you let me know what plan you've been following I can try and be more specific.

 

[roxymama]

ATTQOTD: pretty late at night. Weekdays usually start at about 8:30 or 9pm. Which means treadmill. Weekends whenever the temp is best. So earlier in summer and afternoon in cold weather. Husband has early mornings locked in for his workouts and we both work full time, so I'm never running before 8am unless it's race day. Sometimes I get lucky and get to run on weekdays outside at 7pm.
I also ride my indoor bike a lot now, but that's always 8:30-9pm as well.

 

[jennamfeo]

ATTQOTD: I prefer running in the morning but once I break that cycle it's hard to get back into, then you can find me running during my lunch break. But I am trying to get back into my before work routine. So far, so good, unless you count me almost getting hit by a car this morning.

 

[FawnJD]

1/12/20 - Disney Marathon
1/19/20 -
1/26/20 -
2/2/20 -
2/8/20 - Hilton Head Island Marathon

I think since you're taking the Disney Marathon as relatively easy (like 20-28% slower than relative fitness marathon pace?), then it should work out to treat Disney as your last long training run for Hilton Head (the other bonus is hopefully the HHI weather is more ideal than Disney is currently forecasted for). Since the mileage is much longer than a typical LR, having the pace be much much slower than a normal training run should help mitigate some of the excess training load. The harder part will be maintaining the peak between the races such that you can get in a good effort at HHI. How much and what you do is going to be partially dependent on what kind of training you've done up to the Disney marathon. But I would imagine a scenario where the week of 1/19 is treated like a recovery week from your previous plan, the week of 1/26 as something with some pace work and a moderate LR (not nearly the peak though, maybe something like 75-80% of normal peak), and then the week of 2/2 is definite taper time but continuing to include some intensity (just at a lower overall volume). If you let me know what plan you've been following I can try and be more specific.

So, this is the plan I've been following, with the following paces:

Easy: 10:00-11:00
Long Run: 9:45-10:45
Tempo: 8:45
Marathon Pace: 9:45

Note: I've done ZERO cross training, so any XT days on the plan have been rest days.

It might be a bit of a reach, seeing as how my most recent race time is a 2:16 half-marathon, but I've been hitting the targets pretty well in training. And that half I ran was brutally hot and humid.
After this race in February, I plan to reevaluate, set some new goals, and get a new plan in place, depending on how things go.

And, yeah, I'm hoping for temps between 40 and 60 for the February race--so, MUCH friendlier than this next weekend!

 

[FFigawi]

So, I will be running the WDW Marathon this weekend, and I will be running a second Marathon roughly a month later on Hilton Head Island. I realize this timing isn't ideal, but it is what it is.

I've never run two races so closely together, so I'm wondering what your thoughts are on how to manage things.

My current plan is to take it relatively easy at WDW and push myself more at HHI, knowing that the course there won't be as "fun" or congested, so I might as well race, but I'm worried that simply having the heavy mileage from WDW will put me at too much of a disadvantage at HHI and I don't want to intentionally hold myself back at WDW only to have two "mediocre" races under my belt. Does that make any sense?

So...thoughts on race day strategy? And how I should use the 4 weeks between the races?

I agree with the excellent advice @DopeyBadger has already given you. Take it relatively easy during Disney (easy to do if the heat and humidity are up as forecast) and treat it as one of your long runs in getting ready for Hilton Head. Not many long runs come with characters, rides, and booze.

 

[softball chick]

ATTQOTD: My answer is basically that I have no real time set - it all depends on what time of year/day of the week/etc. it is (teacher life). During the summer, I started off my day with my run so it was somewhere around 8am. Now that school is back in session and I leave the house by 5:40am for work, I have to find time to run after work (4pm-ish) during the week, but can still do a morning run on the weekends. However now that it's winter and cold, I'm also at the mercy of when I have time to go to the gym and so far that has varied greatly. I definitely miss the morning runs of summer though and I'm definitely counting down the days until the last day of school so they can return.

 

[FawnJD]

I agree with the excellent advice @DopeyBadger has already given you. Take it relatively easy during Disney (easy to do if the heat and humidity are up as forecast) and treat it as one of your long runs in getting ready for Hilton Head. Not many long runs come with characters, rides, and booze.

Yeah, I tried to explain the "Thirsty River" concept to my father (a former marathoner himself), and he looked at me like I was nuts, but then recollected that he was pretty sure he chugged a beer during the Chicago Marathon back in the early 80's, so...

 

[DopeyBadger]

So, this is the plan I've been following, with the following paces:

Easy: 10:00-11:00
Long Run: 9:45-10:45
Tempo: 8:45
Marathon Pace: 9:45

Note: I've done ZERO cross training, so any XT days on the plan have been rest days.

It might be a bit of a reach, seeing as how my most recent race time is a 2:16 half-marathon, but I've been hitting the targets pretty well in training. And that half I ran was brutally hot and humid.
After this race in February, I plan to reevaluate, set some new goals, and get a new plan in place, depending on how things go.

And, yeah, I'm hoping for temps between 40 and 60 for the February race--so, MUCH friendlier than this next weekend!

That's certainly a fairly aggressive pace scheme for a 2:16 HM, but like you said hotter conditions on race day meant a slower time and harder to interpret training paces. Although based on the pace scheme I usually follow (LR = MT * 1.09), the slow end of your LR pacing tree would be the equivalent of a 2:04 HM, and the Marathon pace of 9:45 more like someone of 2:02:30 HM fitness. But that's a discussion for a different day.

Looking at the plan, I'd suggest the following:

1/12/20 - Disney Marathon
1/19/20 - WEEK 11 from plan. But convert all runs to easy pace.
1/26/20 - WEEK 13 from plan. But do the Tues from WEEK 14
2/2/20 - WEEK 15 from plan. As is.
2/8/20 - Hilton Head Island Marathon

This should hopefully balance the training load from the Disney Marathon with the desire to be peaking come HHI Marathon.

 

[FawnJD]

That's certainly a fairly aggressive pace scheme for a 2:16 HM, but like you said hotter conditions on race day meant a slower time and harder to interpret training paces. Although based on the pace scheme I usually follow (LR = MT * 1.09), the slow end of your LR pacing tree would be the equivalent of a 2:04 HM, and the Marathon pace of 9:45 more like someone of 2:02:30 HM fitness. But that's a discussion for a different day.

Looking at the plan, I'd suggest the following:

1/12/20 - Disney Marathon
1/19/20 - WEEK 11 from plan. But convert all runs to easy pace.
1/26/20 - WEEK 13 from plan. But do the Tues from WEEK 14
2/2/20 - WEEK 15 from plan. As is.
2/8/20 - Hilton Head Island Marathon

This should hopefully balance the training load from the Disney Marathon with the desire to be peaking come HHI Marathon.

Thank you for looking it over!

Yes, I'll be the first to admit that, were I to start over, it would be with a bit more strategy in mind with regard to pacing! I settled on these based on what "felt" right in the early weeks, and it's left me a little lost along the way. But, I'm definitely faster and stronger than I was when I started, so I'll take that mark in the "win" column and see how these races go. lol

At the very least, I feel like I'll be in a much better position to assess my current skill level by the end of February, and start then with a more thorough, thoughtful training plan.

I will say that, as opposed to you and your brilliant mind for numbers @DopeyBadger, I'm an attorney, so I spend a lot of my time avoiding anything that looks like math, and a failure to crunch the numbers on the front-end on my part is pretty in line with my general approach to life.

 

[avondale]

While I sit on hold with Disney for new discounts released this morning... even though I was up at 4 to try to get them but the computer system at Disney stinks... lets have a QOTD: What time of the day do you run and why?

I usually run in the late afternoon/evening. On weekends, this is more "late afternoon" - this time of year, I time it to finish at sunset; when it stays light longer, I'll time it to finish between 6 - 7pm so dinner isn't too late. Depends on what DH wants to do.

On weekdays, I run after work. At this time of year, that means it's dark out, so I run routes on the sidewalks near my house or at the HS track. When it is still light at that time, I run some local multi-use trails that I do also on the weekends.

I would love to run in the mornings, because I love the sunrise and the stillness of that time of day. However, I play a lot of tennis and the league matches are most often 9 - 11pm (no kidding). If I play a couple of matches per week, it makes it really hard to shift around the sleep schedule for morning runs. Whenever I travel, I usually run in the mornings.