The Running Thread -- 2022

[MissLiss279]

Mount Desert Island Marathon Race Report

I loved this race! Three reasons why:

1. I wasn’t running for time.
2. It was pretty ideal marathon weather.
3. It was beautiful!

So I have a few marathons this fall, and to try and not burn myself out, I have decided to take each of them at an ‘easy’ pace. They advertise this race as ‘not easy’ with lots of hills.

Race morning was upper 40s with dense fog and relatively no wind. The night before I had thought about wearing long sleeves, but when I woke up and there was no wind, I knew I couldn’t wear long sleeves - also because it was going to be sunny and 60 by the end. I’m usually okay with pushing up long sleeves towards the end of the race, but the no wind was great to start. I was staying about a block from the start line, so I didn’t have to get up super early, or leave my room really early. I headed out about 45 minutes before race start time (8 am), so I could drop a bag with a jacket and my Oofos. The race is point to point with a shuttle from the finish back to the start. I knew I might cool down and would want to get out of my shoes after the race. I had gloves and a blanket to keep warm until the start. I dropped the blanket at the beginning, but kept the gloves. It didn’t take long to warm up enough to not be cold. It did stay foggy for about the first hour or so of the race.

Before the race I had thought about walking the hills, but was unsure if I really would or not. Although I wasn’t running for time, I didn’t want to take forever to finish. I ran the first few hills, then at a steeper one, I decided to walk. I tried to keep my walk to a ‘power walk’, and then I flew down the downhills. I have been running by power for the last year or so which helps with hills a lot. I had a ‘goal’ power number that I was trying to keep around when I wasn’t walking. This number correlates with a long run pace. I would let the number increase on downhills if I felt like I wasn’t exerting too much effort, and I tried not to ‘brake’ too much on the way down either.
The course was so pretty! It was peak leaf change time in Maine.

The sun did eventually come out and it started to warm up a bit. One section took us past a bay in the shade with a cool breeze. I had to put my gloves back on for a while. When we got back into the sun, and a little farther away from the water, it really felt like it warmed up. But then, a little bit later, we turned South for the last few miles, a nice gentle breeze picked up into my face, and kept me cool for the rest of the race. Great!!

Although the course is rolling hills for the whole race, the first half was more generally downhill, and the second half was more generally uphill. I was feeling tired towards the end, but I was able to keep my power at the level I wanted, but I could tell that I wasn’t running the downhills quite as fast. I did run a few of the gentler uphills at the end, to keep from going back and forth with other runners.

I was very surprised to finish in 4:40ish! My usual ‘easy’ paced marathons are all around 5 hours. So with walking hill, and running down them, I still did great, and felt pretty good at the end too.

Three not so great things with this race:

1. It’s not a completely closed course. We were supposed to run on the left side, and not go too far across the white line - that is where the course was measured. There were a couple sections of the course that were closed, and you could run on either side of the road - and those sections were sooo pretty! The later sections, had a little more traffic.
2. Some of the shoulder running had a little more banked road than I like. I did try and run just inside the white line when there were no cars coming. So this wasn’t ideal.
3. The race had issues with getting the shuttle buses back to the finish line. I think I waited in a line for about 1.5 hours to get on a bus. Bar Harbor traffic can be crazy (including pedestrian traffic), so I can understand that buses might have an issue getting out of there after dropping people off.

Overall great race, and I would love to do it again.

 

[GollyGadget]

Mount Desert Island Marathon Race Report

I loved this race! Three reasons why:

1. I wasn’t running for time.
2. It was pretty ideal marathon weather.
3. It was beautiful!

So I have a few marathons this fall, and to try and not burn myself out, I have decided to take each of them at an ‘easy’ pace. They advertise this race as ‘not easy’ with lots of hills.

Race morning was upper 40s with dense fog and relatively no wind. The night before I had thought about wearing long sleeves, but when I woke up and there was no wind, I knew I couldn’t wear long sleeves - also because it was going to be sunny and 60 by the end. I’m usually okay with pushing up long sleeves towards the end of the race, but the no wind was great to start. I was staying about a block from the start line, so I didn’t have to get up super early, or leave my room really early. I headed out about 45 minutes before race start time (8 am), so I could drop a bag with a jacket and my Oofos. The race is point to point with a shuttle from the finish back to the start. I knew I might cool down and would want to get out of my shoes after the race. I had gloves and a blanket to keep warm until the start. I dropped the blanket at the beginning, but kept the gloves. It didn’t take long to warm up enough to not be cold. It did stay foggy for about the first hour or so of the race.

Before the race I had thought about walking the hills, but was unsure if I really would or not. Although I wasn’t running for time, I didn’t want to take forever to finish. I ran the first few hills, then at a steeper one, I decided to walk. I tried to keep my walk to a ‘power walk’, and then I flew down the downhills. I have been running by power for the last year or so which helps with hills a lot. I had a ‘goal’ power number that I was trying to keep around when I wasn’t walking. This number correlates with a long run pace. I would let the number increase on downhills if I felt like I wasn’t exerting too much effort, and I tried not to ‘brake’ too much on the way down either.
The course was so pretty! It was peak leaf change time in Maine.

The sun did eventually come out and it started to warm up a bit. One section took us past a bay in the shade with a cool breeze. I had to put my gloves back on for a while. When we got back into the sun, and a little farther away from the water, it really felt like it warmed up. But then, a little bit later, we turned South for the last few miles, a nice gentle breeze picked up into my face, and kept me cool for the rest of the race. Great!!

Although the course is rolling hills for the whole race, the first half was more generally downhill, and the second half was more generally uphill. I was feeling tired towards the end, but I was able to keep my power at the level I wanted, but I could tell that I wasn’t running the downhills quite as fast. I did run a few of the gentler uphills at the end, to keep from going back and forth with other runners.

I was very surprised to finish in 4:40ish! My usual ‘easy’ paced marathons are all around 5 hours. So with walking hill, and running down them, I still did great, and felt pretty good at the end too.

Three not so great things with this race:

1. It’s not a completely closed course. We were supposed to run on the left side, and not go too far across the white line - that is where the course was measured. There were a couple sections of the course that were closed, and you could run on either side of the road - and those sections were sooo pretty! The later sections, had a little more traffic.
2. Some of the shoulder running had a little more banked road than I like. I did try and run just inside the white line when there were no cars coming. So this wasn’t ideal.
3. The race had issues with getting the shuttle buses back to the finish line. I think I waited in a line for about 1.5 hours to get on a bus. Bar Harbor traffic can be crazy (including pedestrian traffic), so I can understand that buses might have an issue getting out of there after dropping people off.

Overall great race, and I would love to do it again.
View attachment 711947View attachment 711948View attachment 711949View attachment 711950View attachment 711951

Looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Mount Desert Island Marathon Race Report

I loved this race! Three reasons why:

1. I wasn’t running for time.
2. It was pretty ideal marathon weather.
3. It was beautiful!

So I have a few marathons this fall, and to try and not burn myself out, I have decided to take each of them at an ‘easy’ pace. They advertise this race as ‘not easy’ with lots of hills.

Race morning was upper 40s with dense fog and relatively no wind. The night before I had thought about wearing long sleeves, but when I woke up and there was no wind, I knew I couldn’t wear long sleeves - also because it was going to be sunny and 60 by the end. I’m usually okay with pushing up long sleeves towards the end of the race, but the no wind was great to start. I was staying about a block from the start line, so I didn’t have to get up super early, or leave my room really early. I headed out about 45 minutes before race start time (8 am), so I could drop a bag with a jacket and my Oofos. The race is point to point with a shuttle from the finish back to the start. I knew I might cool down and would want to get out of my shoes after the race. I had gloves and a blanket to keep warm until the start. I dropped the blanket at the beginning, but kept the gloves. It didn’t take long to warm up enough to not be cold. It did stay foggy for about the first hour or so of the race.

Before the race I had thought about walking the hills, but was unsure if I really would or not. Although I wasn’t running for time, I didn’t want to take forever to finish. I ran the first few hills, then at a steeper one, I decided to walk. I tried to keep my walk to a ‘power walk’, and then I flew down the downhills. I have been running by power for the last year or so which helps with hills a lot. I had a ‘goal’ power number that I was trying to keep around when I wasn’t walking. This number correlates with a long run pace. I would let the number increase on downhills if I felt like I wasn’t exerting too much effort, and I tried not to ‘brake’ too much on the way down either.
The course was so pretty! It was peak leaf change time in Maine.

The sun did eventually come out and it started to warm up a bit. One section took us past a bay in the shade with a cool breeze. I had to put my gloves back on for a while. When we got back into the sun, and a little farther away from the water, it really felt like it warmed up. But then, a little bit later, we turned South for the last few miles, a nice gentle breeze picked up into my face, and kept me cool for the rest of the race. Great!!

Although the course is rolling hills for the whole race, the first half was more generally downhill, and the second half was more generally uphill. I was feeling tired towards the end, but I was able to keep my power at the level I wanted, but I could tell that I wasn’t running the downhills quite as fast. I did run a few of the gentler uphills at the end, to keep from going back and forth with other runners.

I was very surprised to finish in 4:40ish! My usual ‘easy’ paced marathons are all around 5 hours. So with walking hill, and running down them, I still did great, and felt pretty good at the end too.

Three not so great things with this race:

1. It’s not a completely closed course. We were supposed to run on the left side, and not go too far across the white line - that is where the course was measured. There were a couple sections of the course that were closed, and you could run on either side of the road - and those sections were sooo pretty! The later sections, had a little more traffic.
2. Some of the shoulder running had a little more banked road than I like. I did try and run just inside the white line when there were no cars coming. So this wasn’t ideal.
3. The race had issues with getting the shuttle buses back to the finish line. I think I waited in a line for about 1.5 hours to get on a bus. Bar Harbor traffic can be crazy (including pedestrian traffic), so I can understand that buses might have an issue getting out of there after dropping people off.

Overall great race, and I would love to do it again.
View attachment 711947View attachment 711948View attachment 711949View attachment 711950View attachment 711951

Thanks so much for sharing! This race is on my "maybe some day" list of races. What a beautiful setting. Congrats on a great race!

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Has anyone here run the Clearwater Running Festival races in January? I consider it every year, but it always falls too soon after Dopey/WDW Marathon. Wondering if it’s worth trying this time - it’s a “home” race for me, which is always nice!

DH and I are registered for the 5k and Half this coming January. First time doing it. I'm really looking forward to it!

 

[Naomeri]

Mount Desert Island Marathon Race Report

I loved this race! Three reasons why:

1. I wasn’t running for time.
2. It was pretty ideal marathon weather.
3. It was beautiful!

So I have a few marathons this fall, and to try and not burn myself out, I have decided to take each of them at an ‘easy’ pace. They advertise this race as ‘not easy’ with lots of hills.

Race morning was upper 40s with dense fog and relatively no wind. The night before I had thought about wearing long sleeves, but when I woke up and there was no wind, I knew I couldn’t wear long sleeves - also because it was going to be sunny and 60 by the end. I’m usually okay with pushing up long sleeves towards the end of the race, but the no wind was great to start. I was staying about a block from the start line, so I didn’t have to get up super early, or leave my room really early. I headed out about 45 minutes before race start time (8 am), so I could drop a bag with a jacket and my Oofos. The race is point to point with a shuttle from the finish back to the start. I knew I might cool down and would want to get out of my shoes after the race. I had gloves and a blanket to keep warm until the start. I dropped the blanket at the beginning, but kept the gloves. It didn’t take long to warm up enough to not be cold. It did stay foggy for about the first hour or so of the race.

Before the race I had thought about walking the hills, but was unsure if I really would or not. Although I wasn’t running for time, I didn’t want to take forever to finish. I ran the first few hills, then at a steeper one, I decided to walk. I tried to keep my walk to a ‘power walk’, and then I flew down the downhills. I have been running by power for the last year or so which helps with hills a lot. I had a ‘goal’ power number that I was trying to keep around when I wasn’t walking. This number correlates with a long run pace. I would let the number increase on downhills if I felt like I wasn’t exerting too much effort, and I tried not to ‘brake’ too much on the way down either.
The course was so pretty! It was peak leaf change time in Maine.

The sun did eventually come out and it started to warm up a bit. One section took us past a bay in the shade with a cool breeze. I had to put my gloves back on for a while. When we got back into the sun, and a little farther away from the water, it really felt like it warmed up. But then, a little bit later, we turned South for the last few miles, a nice gentle breeze picked up into my face, and kept me cool for the rest of the race. Great!!

Although the course is rolling hills for the whole race, the first half was more generally downhill, and the second half was more generally uphill. I was feeling tired towards the end, but I was able to keep my power at the level I wanted, but I could tell that I wasn’t running the downhills quite as fast. I did run a few of the gentler uphills at the end, to keep from going back and forth with other runners.

I was very surprised to finish in 4:40ish! My usual ‘easy’ paced marathons are all around 5 hours. So with walking hill, and running down them, I still did great, and felt pretty good at the end too.

Three not so great things with this race:

1. It’s not a completely closed course. We were supposed to run on the left side, and not go too far across the white line - that is where the course was measured. There were a couple sections of the course that were closed, and you could run on either side of the road - and those sections were sooo pretty! The later sections, had a little more traffic.
2. Some of the shoulder running had a little more banked road than I like. I did try and run just inside the white line when there were no cars coming. So this wasn’t ideal.
3. The race had issues with getting the shuttle buses back to the finish line. I think I waited in a line for about 1.5 hours to get on a bus. Bar Harbor traffic can be crazy (including pedestrian traffic), so I can understand that buses might have an issue getting out of there after dropping people off.

Overall great race, and I would love to do it again.
View attachment 711947View attachment 711948View attachment 711949View attachment 711950View attachment 711951

Very pretty! Good job!

 

[Disney316]

Has anyone here run the Clearwater Running Festival races in January? I consider it every year, but it always falls too soon after Dopey/WDW Marathon. Wondering if it’s worth trying this time - it’s a “home” race for me, which is always nice!

I've not run the Clearwater races but the company that puts them on is local to me in NH (Millennium Running - not sure what the connection to FL is) and I've run a number of their races up here. They're always great events in my experience - well put together, organized, good on-course aid stations, fun after race environment and refreshments. I imagine this would be the same.

 

[avondale]

Sounds like a hash run, or hashing, to me.

https://onin.com/hhh/hhhexpl.html

https://www.hashhouseharriers.com/what-is-hashing/

That does sound a lot like it. I've never heard of that, but it fits what I witnessed pretty well. It seems that a bugle is not a requirement, but I can see it going with the theme.

 

[Cabius]

Okay this isn’t super on-point, but I just checked in for a 3-night no-park romantic anniversary getaway at Gran Destino. There’s a corporate retreat going on here; I recognized Josh D’Amaro as I stepped off the elevator, and Bob Chapek walked down the hall as we walked into the Chronos Club.

(I had kind words for Josh; I’m glad I didn’t have the chance to embarrass myself with Bob.)

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'm coming into the tail end of my personal training plan for a marathon. With that comes the taper period. I came across a recent research article about the correlation between taper type and performance. I broke it down in my training journal if you'd like to read.

The Marathon Taper

The gist of it, the length and design of the taper is correlated with an increase in performance. It's not ground breaking, but interesting nonetheless.

 

[GollyGadget]

It’s fiscal year end which means there’s been a lot of talk of goals at work lately which made me wonder....

QOTD: how's everyone doing with their 2022 running goals? On schedule? Life throw you a few wrenches? There's still two months left to see what you can accomplish!


ATTQOTD:
1. Run 1000 miles - Just under 100 miles to go
2. Earn a half PR - - Completed in April
3. Incorporate strength training - - I had a slow start but I've been really good lately about doing a few moves twice a week. It's not a lot but my main goal here is to avoid injury and so far so good.
4. Train for the WDW marathon - - The official training is just getting started so still lots of time left on this one.

 

[FFigawi]

It’s fiscal year end which means there’s been a lot of talk of goals at work lately which made me wonder....

QOTD: how's everyone doing with their 2022 running goals? On schedule? Life throw you a few wrenches? There's still two months left to see what you can accomplish!


ATTQOTD:
1. Run 1000 miles - Just under 100 miles to go
2. Earn a half PR - - Completed in April
3. Incorporate strength training - - I had a slow start but I've been really good lately about doing a few moves twice a week. It's not a lot but my main goal here is to avoid injury and so far so good.
4. Train for the WDW marathon - - The official training is just getting started so still lots of time left on this one.

ATTQOTD:
1. Add more running to my swimming and cycling - I completed 2 70.3 triathlons and have a full IM coming up fast. I’ll consider this one complete.
2. Keep up with the stretching - stretching, yes. Strength & conditioning, not so much.
3. Add something to my event calendar on top of the Oceanman swim and Ride London 100 - See #1 above, plus the Oceanman world championships.
4. Keep my yearly streak of a half under 2 going - three under 2 already this year

 

[Jillfo]

ATTQOTD: My only goal for the year was to run 1,000 miles. I should hit that goal by the end of October.

 

[steph0808]

I bought a Garmin Fenix 6s during last week's Prime Early Access Sale.

I like the watch and everything it can do, but I'm having significant trouble with instantaneous pace, especially compared to my at-least-six-years-old 235.

I ran my usual trail today, and there is one mile where I always ignore pace because of tree cover and weak GPS signal. However, my 235 did fine everywhere else but the Fenix was significantly off - listing me at 11 or even 13 minutes/mile when I was really under 10. It really threw off my entire 12 mile run because I'd speed up thinking I was slow and then it would switch from 11min/mile to 8mm, which is way too fast!

I don't really want to add a foot pod on top of a $400 watch. Is there anyway to correct this or maybe a better garmin option? I'd almost sooner go back to my 235 than deal with this!

 

[DopeyBadger]

So onto my 2022 goals.

1) In October 2017, I wrote out 102 Goals that I wanted to achieve. In February 2022 at the Princess Weekend, I will hopefully cross off goal #4:

4. Run a 5k or longer with my daughter, Gigi

2) Run a healthy marathon.
3) 2021 was the first year in which I did not PR a single distance (mile to M). In 2022, my running confidence is near an all time high. So I aim to PR all five distances this year (officially or unofficially): mile, 5k, 10k, HM, and M.

#1 was achieved in February 2022. We've since run 3 total 5ks, and have signed up for a 4th/5th.
#2 still has about three weeks to go, but I've stayed healthy through the first 27 weeks of the training plan.
#3 is unlikely to happen. I switched plans to focus solely on the November marathon. So I don't have plans to do any other races in 2022.

 

[FFigawi]

I bought a Garmin Fenix 6s during last week's Prime Early Access Sale.

I like the watch and everything it can do, but I'm having significant trouble with instantaneous pace, especially compared to my at-least-six-years-old 235.

I ran my usual trail today, and there is one mile where I always ignore pace because of tree cover and weak GPS signal. However, my 235 did fine everywhere else but the Fenix was significantly off - listing me at 11 or even 13 minutes/mile when I was really under 10. It really threw off my entire 12 mile run because I'd speed up thinking I was slow and then it would switch from 11min/mile to 8mm, which is way too fast!

I don't really want to add a foot pod on top of a $400 watch. Is there anyway to correct this or maybe a better garmin option? I'd almost sooner go back to my 235 than deal with this!

Garmin's instantaneous pace is not great on most of their devices unless you have one that uses multiple GPS sources. Even then, the accuracy is not spot on. Using lap pace is usually the better option because it smooths out pretty well. A foot pod like a Stryd is typically the best way to get pace that’s accurate at any given point in time.

 

[camaker]

I bought a Garmin Fenix 6s during last week's Prime Early Access Sale.

I like the watch and everything it can do, but I'm having significant trouble with instantaneous pace, especially compared to my at-least-six-years-old 235.

I ran my usual trail today, and there is one mile where I always ignore pace because of tree cover and weak GPS signal. However, my 235 did fine everywhere else but the Fenix was significantly off - listing me at 11 or even 13 minutes/mile when I was really under 10. It really threw off my entire 12 mile run because I'd speed up thinking I was slow and then it would switch from 11min/mile to 8mm, which is way too fast!

I don't really want to add a foot pod on top of a $400 watch. Is there anyway to correct this or maybe a better garmin option? I'd almost sooner go back to my 235 than deal with this!

I've never been impressed by the instantaneous pace on any of my Garmin models, so I pretty much ignore it. Instead, I set my watch to auto-lap every 1/4 mile and use that to gauge and adjust my pace. I find 1/4 mile increments to be long enough to give a nicely smoothed out pace where I'm not overreacting to slowdowns due to isolated hills or unnaturally fast paces on downhill stretches while still giving me feedback frequently enough that I don't get too far off track if my pace starts to drift.

 

[camaker]

I only have a couple of 2022 goals at this point:

• Complete Blackbeard’s Revenge 100 miler on the NC outer banks at the end of March
• Keep my running volume up and stay healthy

ATTQOTD: I have to say it's a mixed bag here, but trending in the wrong direction.

I already took a DNF after 76 miles at Blackbeard's Revenge, so there's strike one.

Volume and health have been great until recently. I started having trouble with my posterior tibialis muscle last month, though, and took a week off after having it dry needled. Thursday I ran a 10 mile run with 6 at marathon tempo with no real issues, but yesterday it flared up on me less than a mile into a walk, which I had to cut short. Today I couldn't make it a tenth of a mile into my run before it didn't want to bear weight. Honestly not sure what to do at this point. PT is on vacation for a week and Dopey is starting to loom if any kind of layoff is going to be needed. Very frustrated right now.

 

[Naomeri]

QOTD: I didn’t have a concrete goal for 2021, beyond getting into better health. I never thought that it would include running though! I definitely succeeded on getting healthier, going from 215 lbs on January 1 2021 to 178 lbs on January 1 2022, and getting 237 hours of dedicated, deliberate exercise in the year.

My goals for 2022 are: continue gaining health, keep up with my exercise goals, and enjoy all my planned runDisney weekends.

ATTQOTD: I haven’t lost any more weight, but I haven’t gained any either. I’ve kept up on my exercise, closing all of my Apple Watch rings everyday. I enjoyed Princess and Springtime Surprise, and I’me really excited for Wine & Dine

 

[SheHulk]

As for 2022 goals, I'm a little lost. After reaching that marathon goal, I am on a little bit of a downer. Hoping Marathon Weekend will perk me up a little. I'd like to get excited to set some half marathon goals, like a sub 2:10 or even (really stretching) a sub 2-hr. Maybe in the spring I will have had enough time off of training hard, to be ready to start again.
My 2022 goal *should* be to really, finally, get on a good core/strength training routine. We'll see what I can do.

ATTQOTD:
Sub 2:10 half marathon: Check, got that in May with a 2:05:08
Sub 2:00 half. marathon: Gunning for that in the Philadelphia Half Marathon next month. So TBD
Good core/strength training plan: I had a good run over the summer, my doctor even told me my arms looked muscular when I went in for a checkup! But then work got crazy-busy and I started training in earnest for this half and it went to the wayside. I still have a month in 2022 after the race to get back on track.

Other than goals, it's been a great year: Had a great time at Marathon Weekend running Goofy and Princess Weekend running the challenge, had a 13-minute PR in that half marathon in May, stayed injury free (hopefully not jinxing myself). I will definitely finish with over 1000 miles this year, and will probably just miss 2022km. After this race in November, I will not have a single race on my calendar. Very strange for me and I don't know what's next.

 

[striker1064]

ATTQOTD (also appreciated from a person who dealt with FY-end!):

I didn't post in the 2021 thread, so I'll just go ahead to 2022 goals!

1. Cut back on my weight. I creeped up with some pandemic pounds that I have yet to shed. I'd like to get down 8-10 pounds.
2. 1000 miles run in 2022. I ended 2021 with ~990 miles and this annoyed me more than I'd prefer to admit.
3. Be more positive overall about my running. I had a bad attitude at points last year and it led to suboptimal training and races. None of that helped me. I've been doing much better recently, but I know some times will always be harder than others.
4. Register for and begin training for my first marathon - and possibly run it. I haven't decided if my first will be WDW 2023 or something else, possibly Marine Corps in the fall or another one.

1. Achieved, then reversed! Story of my life. I got to one of my lowest adult weights earlier this year, but then went up a few pounds during my marathon training cycle. I'm actually not that concerned about this, as I've read it's pretty common for marathon training.
2. Done! I crossed 1,000 miles at the very end of September. Currently at 1,181 and counting.
3. Done! So far. This doesn't count until I do it all year and I have a big race coming.
4. Registered and training - race comes in Philadelphia on November 20.