The Running Thread - 2021

[JulieODC]

September miles were 98.7. I’m kicking myself for not hitting 100, but we were living in a hotel the last 9 nights of the month due to a house reno - so it was all I could do!

 

[corn princess]

September miles - 0

However this was for a very good reason. My baby arrived two days past her due date on September 15, 2021. We did not find out gender ahead of time, so it was quite the surprise to find out she was a girl. Totally was getting boy vibes. Waiting for my 6 week appointment before I can start running. But Madeline and I are starting stroller walks for now.

Congratulations!! Greatest reason for no miles!!

 

[Naomeri]

I had my first in-person race today! I set a new personal best for a 10K, though I don’t know exactly how much of personal best because my watch measured the race as 6.37 miles, not 6.2, so it’s hard to compare properly to my previous 6.2 mile run, but since this run was faster than that other 6.2 run, I definitely did better.

Here’s a link to the full race report (with pictures!) in my training journal: TC 10K Full Report

 

[Dopey 2020]

Race report: MountainOne Steel Rail Marathon

A small local half that has been running almost ten years ran their inaugural full marathon today 10/3/21

The short story - great race!

The long story - 55* and cloudy at the start, 55* and cloudy at the finish, a bit humid but really near perfection on a shaded bike path running through the Berkshires by some beautiful mountains and lakes.
I went into this as my ‘A’ race looking for a sub 4 marathon. My training is my own version of what works for me based on Galloway and runDisney as well as the large amounts of info posted here by @DopeyBadger. I’ve kept my running going through all the cancellations and am currently at 5 miles M-Th with a long run on Saturday. 90% are continuous even though I use intervals for PR attempts. My plan today was run 2:30 and walk :30 with a running pace between 7:45 and 8 with fuel every 3.5 miles.
The race was capped at 100 for the full, 300 for the half, 100 for an 8k with different start times, and at some point all 500 would be spread out over the miles. The support from volunteers and local police was fantastic! Water, Gatorade, and Gu packs ~every 2 miles and about a half dozen road crossings where no one waited, any and all traffic was stopped for even one lone runner.
What happened? I started way too fast, but that’s not quite as big a problem with intervals as without. Just slow down… oops still fast at mile 3…
OK, let’s see how much I can push it, so slowed a bit and went for it a little faster than planned, stuck to my fuel, and made sure to get water EVERY stop. Let’s see where the wall is…
Mile 24, oof the last couple miles were when I found out that I wasn’t going to leave anything out there, but by then it was too late, I win! No wall is going to beat me with only 2 to go.
Absolutely crushed it!

Former PR 4:22
Race goal 3:59:xx

New PR 3:48:43

 

[Herding_Cats]

QOTD:
What does the recovery period after a marathon look like for you? What are your go-to things you do?

 

[jmasgat]

ATTQOTD:
Immediately after: hydrate, eat.
Later that day: Walk....as much as possible to stay "loose". I am not into ice baths, massage, etc.
First few days afterwards: Rest--no running, walk to move my body, maybe some easy restorative yoga.
After that, it depends on how I feel. After an "easier" marathon, I may be ready to go for easy, short runs in a few days. For a real hard effort, I may not run for a week or two. I don't have a fixed plan.

 

[DopeyBadger]

What does the recovery period after a marathon look like for you? What are your go-to things you do?

How long does it take for me to recover from a marathon?

My only go to item are my Zensah compression calf sleeves. They've worked wonders every time I've worn them.

 

[flav]

Marathon du P’tit train du nord race report

I registered for this race in 2019, trained for it in 2020 when it was cancelled 16 days prior and finally ran it today, October 3rd 2021!

Packet pick-up was at a sporting store. The runners had to present their vaccine passport (it is the law here, those who don’t have proof of vaccination will get their bib and medal shipped to them after the race for a virtual version) to get into the area and a bracelet was put on their wrist to prove that this validation had been done. I got my bib and shirt very rapidly. It was super efficient and the volunteers were cheerful.

The rest of the race logistics was also impeccable. They had to spread the event over two days (half on Saturday and full on Sunday) to respect the current rules.

This is a point to point course on a linear path where there used to be train tracks. It is a slight down hill the entire way.

I drove to the arrival site and boarded the bus bringing us to the start area. They had announced rain all week but the only time I got some was while in the car. It was a gorgeous Fall day, the conditions for running cannot get better than that.

The starting area had two pre-departure sections where they would get the next corrals ready. Each wave was limited to 250 participants, as per regulations. I was in the 8 out of 12 corral so, at 8:35AM it was my turn to pass the starting line. We were reminded to take off our mask a minute before that.

After consulting and discussing with coach Billy, I had settled on conservative and achievable objectives for my third marathon, my first with a time goal which we set to 4:20:00. That is half an hour above what would be optimal performance, because my training peak had been clipped.

The race plan was steady pace @ 6:09/km except a bit faster km 10-15 and a bit slower km 27-30 to adjust to the grade of the course. To account for walking the water stops and stopping for potential port-a-potty breaks, I had to run between my long run pace 5:55/km and my easy pace 6:05/km. It was easy to spot someone that was doing the same. In general, I found that using unofficial pacers like that really helped me not going too fast, or at least not faster if I was going too fast.

I realized that I prefer running in a tourist kind of way, taking pictures along the way and cheering the supporters, more than focusing on time. The thing is though, even if I was taking selfies and texting them , it is uncanny how well I can follow a race plan: Average paces were 6:07, 6:07, 6:12, 6:05 for an overall of 6:08! Apparently, I am also enjoying myself more than I think because I got so many people commenting on my smile while running.

There were a surprising amount of supporters and volunteers spread along the course and I greatly appreciated their presence and cheers. But the best were a cousin and his family that I had not seen in years who came to cheer me. My cousin had run the half yesterday and was waiting for me at km 42. He ran a hundred fifty meters with me and let me go through the finish. It gave me wings and will remain the highlight of this marathon forever.

Official time is 4:18:51 which is a PR by over 31 minutes.

After I said goodbye, I grabbed my bag and the provided snacks: Water, juice boxes, banana, apple, chocolate, protein bars and granola.

I was welcomed home with balloons and flowers, thanks to DH and DDs.

 

[FFigawi]

QOTD:
What does the recovery period after a marathon look like for you? What are your go-to things you do?

Recovery starts with parking lot beers after the race
Other recovery steps I take include:
- ice bath once back to my house or hotel (open beer, climb in, leave when beer is gone)
- a bit of rest and relaxation while wearing my compression socks or tights, depending on how hard I worked during the race/how sore I am
- lots of walking that afternoon and the next few days
- first recovery run sometime during the first few days after the race
- a gentle swim sometime in the 1-3 days after the race
- deep tissue sports massage within the first week
- easy spins on the bike trainer
- regular running starts again by the end of the first week after the race (shorter runs, very easy pace)

Congrats to @Dopey 2020 and @flav for their new PRs

 

[Dopey 2020]

QOTD:
What does the recovery period after a marathon look like for you? What are your go-to things you do?

At the finish is drink a water and look for the beer tent (hopefully)
Then it’s light stretching and walking to avoid tightening of everything. Yesterday was stretch then walk a half mile 4 times over the afternoon, Disney is hit a park and go easy. I think if I were to lay down I wouldn’t be able to move for a couple days.

My only every long run go to is salt, a lot of it, usually salt and vinegar potato chips as well as a ton of protein and carb heavy foods a short while later.

The next day is a regular life and work day, whatever that may be that day with nothing extra. Then it’s walk or jog depending on how my body feels about it until I’m back to my usual, typically within a week.
This one is going to tough though, before races came back I signed up for the Boston virtual so I’m going to be walk/jog for a long day this coming weekend

 

[Dopey 2020]

@flav congratulations on a great race

 

[steph0808]

Congrats to everyone who completely crushed their races this weekend!

On the other hand, I completely, totally, and utterly bombed the Wineglass Maratjon this weekend after my hardest and my best training cycle.

It rained hard for the first 10 miles, and besides wet shoes, I didn't mind. But I was getting awfully sore by mile 13 and knew that shouldn't happen. Through mile 15, I was right on track with 9:27-ish miles. Then I slowed and blew up by mile 17. It was failure on a whole new level!

But great comraderie as I picked up a new friend, Annett, who also had her best training, was running her seventh marathon (this was my sixth), and was suffering the same stuff as me. We pulled each other through the last six miles or so.

Goal was to PR (4:19), wanted sub-4:10, ended at 4:55.

Super disappointing. Still going to do Disney in January, hopefully Dopey for the anniversary in 2023, and then maybe just stick to half marathons. I can't take the disappointment of working so hard for so long and not even coming close to my goal. At least my only goal at Disney is to take pictures, have fun, and finish without worrying about time.

 

[azrivest]

Marathon du P’tit train du nord race report

Official time is 4:18:51 which is a PR by over 31 minutes.

Congrats on another PR. Hoping to do that race also next year. I was with you in spirit enjoying the colors in Tremblant.

 

[MissLiss279]

I ran the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon yesterday. They required proof of vaccination or a negative test within 72 hours of the race to pick up your bib and get a wrist band. This year they also started the marathon an hour earlier than the half marathon to spread people out more. This is also usually an April race.

I’m going to try and keep this short. The plan was to run this one easy, because I have several marathons this fall. I met up with a few friends, and their main goal was to finish in under 5 - and that fit with my wanting to run easy, so I had friends to run with the whole way. Race start temp was about 60 and it was about 75 and full sun when we finished - which felt really HOT! There are a lot of hills in OKC or at least a lot more than our normal training area. OKC has great crowd support and there were several neighborhoods that came out strong with block parties/bouncy houses for the kids, and just made it more fun to run through. There were areas on the marathon course that didn’t have any spectators, but overall compared to a lot of races, OKC does a good job of getting people out to cheer runners on. It is a race that I would recommend. (Although weather is usually not ideal and there are hills.) The last several miles did start to get hard with the sun and hills. I’m not sure which is easier: running faster and finishing faster or running easier and taking longer to finish - maybe they are both equivalent in the end. We finished in around 4:58, which is right around what we wanted. So good race overall.

 

[MissLiss279]

ATTQOTD:
Recovery - I usually try and make sure I eat something right away after I finish. The bananas that they hand out are usually the first thing I eat, plus whatever salty snack they have. I try to keep walking around, and make sure I get up and walk around occasionally to work out the soreness that day. Usually all soreness for me is gone by about two days after a race.

 

[GreatLakes]

QOTD:
What does the recovery period after a marathon look like for you? What are your go-to things you do?

Immediately after keep moving. I try to stay on my feet and walk around for at least 30 minutes before even attempting to sit. I also try to get into an ice bath as quickly as I can after back at home or the hotel. I've started drinking a collagen protein shake after my long runs and will try and do the same after the race to get a jump start on the repair process.

Longer term I might take off a few days and then try very slow jogging for a few miles to keep the legs loose, I'm talking 3 or 4 minutes slower than recovery pace, and I will do a lot of foam rolling.

 

[garneska]

@flav and @Dopey 2020 congrats on the great races and PRs.

@MissLiss279 congrats on being able follow a plan. Sometimes you can't go for a PR.

@steph0808 sorry to hear you blew up. Unfortunately sometimes it happens, but get out there and do it better in Jan .

 

[Herding_Cats]

Race Report! Sleeping Bear Marathon on Saturday, October 2. First ever full for myself and SIL (DH ran the 5k). I finished in 6:11:16, which was just off of my DopeyBadger-predicted "average" finish time. 154 marathoners finished, 607 half marathoners, and 548 5k runners.

What a great experience! I wrote way too much in my training journal, but honestly it's all kind of a blur at this point. Certain things stick out, but much like childbirth, my brain is already forgetting the worst of it. If they held this race a week later the fall colors would be AMAZING, but because our weather can be so crazy they keep that first Saturday. I don't know if I'll have the time to devote to training for a full next year, so I'm really happy I talked my SIL into running this with me (and that she was the first one to upgrade her registration so I couldn't chicken out.)

This could be a pretty decent "destination race" if you're into nature, fall color tours (the colors change later along the lake shore, but they're getting really nice once you get inland), or wineries and microbreweries.

 

[jmasgat]

Super disappointing. Still going to do Disney in January, hopefully Dopey for the anniversary in 2023, and then maybe just stick to half marathons. I can't take the disappointment of working so hard for so long and not even coming close to my goal

I totally get this. Marathons--for most of us mortals, anyway--are not a race that you can do frequently. The payback for a hard training cycle can also be wrecked by any number of factors. For me, add that to being an older runner, and I feel less motivation to do marathons.

Sorry that your result was not as hoped. I hope you have a good recovery. Join the Goof Troop Roving Road Party (TM) in January and just have fun!

 

[PrincessV]

QOTD:
What does the recovery period after a marathon look like for you? What are your go-to things you do?

I have some autoimmune disorders that really impact recovery from distance running, so YMMV. Immediately after finishing, I need glucose, STAT, so I keep a Sprite, chocolate milk, and a Clif Bar in my car: Sprite first to get glucose up from rock bottom, then milk so I don't bottom out again, and some Clif to get something solid in me. Back in my room, I eat a bagel, then it's my usual post-run foam roll/dynamic stretching routine, followed by a bath with Epsom salt and eucalyptus oil. Lounging horizontally, hopefully a short nap, with compression socks on. I'll wander back out for dinner, and then it's an early night because sleep is critical for me.

Long-term, I won't run again for at least a week, sometimes two. I'll do some yoga and Pilates, take walks - I listen to what my body tells me it can handle. And plenty of sleep. And good nutrition.