The Running Thread --2025

[Disneyhanna]

Thanks all for the support and advice. I'm still not 100% but leaning toward persevering and showing up on Marathon Sunday.



Yeah I've done that math. My "conversational pace" usually averages out to a little over 12 min/mi, so I figure I could reasonably get to the 10-mile mark in 2-2.5 hours before the gravitational pull of wanting to stop and walk starts to become inescapable. In theory that gives me 4.5-5 hours to cover the remaining 16.2 (16:40 - 18:31 min/mi if my math is right), and that's not counting any head start I'd have on the Ladies. 18mm is a steady walk. Could I do that? Yeah, probably. Would be a slog but it's within the realm of doable, and I suspect that if around mile 23 or so I look back and see balloons approaching I will find some gas in the tank.

This will be my third Dopey to answer your other question @Disneyhanna, so not my first rodeo fortunately. The Disney Marathon is the only 26.2 race I've ever done, but I've done a few 13.1s outside of WDW. Actually, the fact that this is my third one is making me wonder if some of my lack of motivation is that the "first time" thrill of overcoming a challenge is no longer present.


This is true!


Oh, I definitely meet the membership requirements for this team and might very well take you up on this!


I'm hoping so. Like you said, running solo for hours does become a bit of a grind after a while. I used to enjoy the solitude but more and more I find myself just wanting to be done. I do think there's a large mental component to all of this, my "exhaustion" once I hit double digits certainly feels more in my head than my legs.


Great point. I will hope that I won't have to pull myself but if it does happen I will do my best to "give myself permission" as you said.


Thanks for the vote of confidence!

Anyway thanks again all, the advice and support means a lot, truly. Like I said barring a catastrophe in the next month I hope to see you all in all four starting corrals, and more importantly at all four finish lines.

You've totally got this then! If it was your first marathon, I'd say it's a bit harder to say, but if you've done it a few times you can absolutely make it happen again, even undertrained. Especially at a 12 minute mile pace for a chunk of the miles!

 

[jmasgat]

Did a new workout this morning called The RuSh.....you run, then shovel. (No I didn't do the driveway, that was DH with the snowblower--this stuff is wet)

 

[5xdisneyfans]

I was wondering if anyone can give me workout advice. I am an interval runner. This year I just concentrated on consistency since I was new back to running in a few years. I was doing short easy runs on my treadmill Monday and Wednesday with my longer runs outside on fridays. I want to start to step it up a bit for my SS weekend training. A few weeks ago I started to do speed workouts on my Wednesday runs. I was wondering if I should also incorporate tempo runs in my schedule? I have never done it before but from what I understand it is an easy run with no intervals right? I can’t afford a coach right now. Thanks for any advice for this unsure newer runner. Still trying to figure this out.

 

[nancipants]

I was wondering if anyone can give me workout advice. I am an interval runner. This year I just concentrated on consistency since I was new back to running in a few years. I was doing short easy runs on my treadmill Monday and Wednesday with my longer runs outside on fridays. I want to start to step it up a bit for my SS weekend training. A few weeks ago I started to do speed workouts on my Wednesday runs. I was wondering if I should also incorporate tempo runs in my schedule? I have never done it before but from what I understand it is an easy run with no intervals right? I can’t afford a coach right now. Thanks for any advice for this unsure newer runner. Still trying to figure this out.

Tempo runs can be done with run/walk intervals. It just means a faster overall pace, for example practicing your race pace. I always run/walk and my tempo workouts are usually 10 minutes at easy pace, 25 minutes at race pace, and 10 minutes at easy pace.

In my plan, speed workouts are faster than race pace but for shorter distances. For example, my next speed workout is 4 x 800s, where I run 800 meters (half a mile since I don't have access to a track) at thirty seconds faster than race pace, then walk 400 meters (quarter mile) in the same amount of time. I repeat that four times, increasing repetitions each week.

There are some decent plans you can find online.

Welcome!

 

[jrsharp21]

I was wondering if anyone can give me workout advice. I am an interval runner. This year I just concentrated on consistency since I was new back to running in a few years. I was doing short easy runs on my treadmill Monday and Wednesday with my longer runs outside on fridays. I want to start to step it up a bit for my SS weekend training. A few weeks ago I started to do speed workouts on my Wednesday runs. I was wondering if I should also incorporate tempo runs in my schedule? I have never done it before but from what I understand it is an easy run with no intervals right? I can’t afford a coach right now. Thanks for any advice for this unsure newer runner. Still trying to figure this out.

A little known secret, that I am even experimenting around with right now for triathlon training, is ChatGPT. You can feed all your time goals, training goals, time constraints, etc to ChatGPT and it will give you a detailed training plan. It is actually pretty cool. You can get as simple as you want or as detailed as you want. May be worth giving it a shot and see what training plan it gives you.

 

[KCO5988]

A little known secret, that I am even experimenting around with right now for triathlon training, is ChatGPT. You can feed all your time goals, training goals, time constraints, etc to ChatGPT and it will give you a detailed training plan. It is actually pretty cool. You can get as simple as you want or as detailed as you want. May be worth giving it a shot and see what training plan it gives you.

I use chatgpt to analyze my runs! I put in what my pace and hr goals are for each type of run in my schedule and then after each run I input my mile splits and avg hrs and ask it to analyze based on my goal marathon pace. Chatgpt is my biggest hype-man

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I use chatgpt to analyze my runs! I put in what my pace and hr goals are for each type of run in my schedule and then after each run I input my mile splits and avg hrs and ask it to analyze based on my goal marathon pace. Chatgpt is my biggest hype-man

Curmudgeon me: We will all make good pets for the Cylons...

 

[marty3d]

A little known secret, that I am even experimenting around with right now for triathlon training, is ChatGPT. You can feed all your time goals, training goals, time constraints, etc to ChatGPT and it will give you a detailed training plan. It is actually pretty cool. You can get as simple as you want or as detailed as you want. May be worth giving it a shot and see what training plan it gives you.

While I use a training plan - I've been using ChatGPT to help me with target pace for each run in my plan for my target goal pace. Idid this for the first time while training for NYC and It worked really well for me. And it's all calculations I could do myself on a spreadsheet but it saves me the time from having to actually build it out (on the other hand, I think I'm going to lose all my excel skills )

 

[michigandergirl]

Did a new workout this morning called The RuSh.....you run, then shovel. (No I didn't do the driveway, that was DH with the snowblower--this stuff is wet)

View attachment 1030576

That was some heavy snow! Days like these I am thankful for my 20 and 22 year old sons who are at home right now to clear the driveway!

 

[GuinnessRunner]

So I finally bit the bullet and met with a PT who specializes in running today and committed to a 3-month program. My running career has been riddled with injuries (although last couple of years have been better) and my attempts to fix them have always essentially been band aids to get me through a race. After my latest issues training for Dopey I figured it was time to do something different. During initial assessment she identified two issues that are likely the cause of my current knee pain. The good news is that she thinks we can make enough progress between now and Dopey to get me to the start of each race (nothing can be done about lost endurance of course). While that’s great, I am more excited to get help putting in the work to fix things longer term. Will see how it goes. Preliminary results (i.e. one workout session) are promising. Did my required strength/mobility work yesterday and noticed that my knee, which was hurting a bit going into the workout from a run the prior day, felt much better after. I always knew about the kinetic chain and how issues in one place cause injury in another, but gratifying to see it at work on the recovery side too. Once we get through initial phase of recovery, next step will be full gait analysis with strength/mobility exercise built around that. It is definitely an investment, but one I am glad I am making. Will see how it goes.

 

[DianaMB333]

Thanks all for the support and advice. I'm still not 100% but leaning toward persevering and showing up on Marathon Sunday.



Yeah I've done that math. My "conversational pace" usually averages out to a little over 12 min/mi, so I figure I could reasonably get to the 10-mile mark in 2-2.5 hours before the gravitational pull of wanting to stop and walk starts to become inescapable. In theory that gives me 4.5-5 hours to cover the remaining 16.2 (16:40 - 18:31 min/mi if my math is right), and that's not counting any head start I'd have on the Ladies. 18mm is a steady walk. Could I do that? Yeah, probably. Would be a slog but it's within the realm of doable, and I suspect that if around mile 23 or so I look back and see balloons approaching I will find some gas in the tank.

This will be my third Dopey to answer your other question @Disneyhanna, so not my first rodeo fortunately. The Disney Marathon is the only 26.2 race I've ever done, but I've done a few 13.1s outside of WDW. Actually, the fact that this is my third one is making me wonder if some of my lack of motivation is that the "first time" thrill of overcoming a challenge is no longer present.


This is true!


Oh, I definitely meet the membership requirements for this team and might very well take you up on this!


I'm hoping so. Like you said, running solo for hours does become a bit of a grind after a while. I used to enjoy the solitude but more and more I find myself just wanting to be done. I do think there's a large mental component to all of this, my "exhaustion" once I hit double digits certainly feels more in my head than my legs.


Great point. I will hope that I won't have to pull myself but if it does happen I will do my best to "give myself permission" as you said.


Thanks for the vote of confidence!

Anyway thanks again all, the advice and support means a lot, truly. Like I said barring a catastrophe in the next month I hope to see you all in all four starting corrals, and more importantly at all four finish lines.

Glad that you got the encouragement to do it!
I would just focus on being healthy at finish line - dont push much on the remaining training days-; focus on enjoying being alive being there and doing your best…

Walking is good when you need. It is a victory lap and you decide the goal.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

I was wondering if anyone can give me workout advice. I am an interval runner. This year I just concentrated on consistency since I was new back to running in a few years. I was doing short easy runs on my treadmill Monday and Wednesday with my longer runs outside on fridays. I want to start to step it up a bit for my SS weekend training. A few weeks ago I started to do speed workouts on my Wednesday runs. I was wondering if I should also incorporate tempo runs in my schedule? I have never done it before but from what I understand it is an easy run with no intervals right? I can’t afford a coach right now. Thanks for any advice for this unsure newer runner. Still trying to figure this out.

The one thing I would add to the advice you've already gotten is that you probably don't want to do a speed workout and a tempo run in the same week, especially if you're only running three days per week. Ideally you want at least 80% of your running to be easy (zone 1/2 if you know your individual HR zones), and if you're doing two days of harder efforts and only one day of easy, that's probably not going to work out. You could definitely alternate weeks, though - have a speed workout one week and a tempo run the next.

Okay, one more thing - know what you mean by "tempo" going out. That means race pace for whatever you're training for to some people, threshold (60-min race pace) to others, something slightly faster than marathon pace to others...."tempo" is unfortunately one of the most confusing terms in running because nobody agrees on what it's supposed to be.

 

[Disneyhanna]

So I finally bit the bullet and met with a PT who specializes in running today and committed to a 3-month program. My running career has been riddled with injuries (although last couple of years have been better) and my attempts to fix them have always essentially been band aids to get me through a race. After my latest issues training for Dopey I figured it was time to do something different. During initial assessment she identified two issues that are likely the cause of my current knee pain. The good news is that she thinks we can make enough progress between now and Dopey to get me to the start of each race (nothing can be done about lost endurance of course). While that’s great, I am more excited to get help putting in the work to fix things longer term. Will see how it goes. Preliminary results (i.e. one workout session) are promising. Did my required strength/mobility work yesterday and noticed that my knee, which was hurting a bit going into the workout from a run the prior day, felt much better after. I always knew about the kinetic chain and how issues in one place cause injury in another, but gratifying to see it at work on the recovery side too. Once we get through initial phase of recovery, next step will be full gait analysis with strength/mobility exercise built around that. It is definitely an investment, but one I am glad I am making. Will see how it goes.

I started working with a running PT and so far it has been amazing. I was diagnosed with a torn hip labrum and some hip impingement in October and had been experiencing pain for over a month without it getting better. I could not even hop on my left leg. After just over a month of PT, I am running pain free and feeling stronger than ever. It is expensive but sometimes you just need a professional to tell you what areas to target and to personalize it to match your needs. Sometimes I think, oh, I could find a lot of these same exercises online, but would I actually do that without going to a PT? Probably not I hope that it is valuable for you as well!

 

[Naomeri]

Did a new workout this morning called The RuSh.....you run, then shovel. (No I didn't do the driveway, that was DH with the snowblower--this stuff is wet)

View attachment 1030576

I skipped the run part of that workout (because my left knee was still misbehaving at my Turkey Trot 5K last month and so I'm taking off from running until after the new year) but I did spend nearly 2 hours last night clearing the driveway. Our snowblower is gigantic and obnoxious and stinky (think Tomorrowland Speedway on steroids), but we got a little battery-powered shovel/thrower that works great and I can do about half our driveway on a single charge (but the recharge takes forever, hence the rest of the workout time)

 

[FFigawi]

An interesting and possibly cautionary story about using ChatGPT for training plans.

https://www.wsj.com/sports/nyc-mara...1?st=itSZei&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

 

[Herding_Cats]

I despise AI. It essentially steals all sorts of information to do all of it's "learning" and it uses so.much.water. to function.

 

[The Expert]

I despise AI. It essentially steals all sorts of information to do all of it's "learning" and it uses so.much.water. to function.

As a photographer and writer, this.

 

[AZMermaid]

Chicago.

Oh snap…. I checked, pending. Went to make copies (teacher). Came back- refreshed. Selected. Mixed of excitement and omg what did I do.

 

[marty3d]

Chicago.

Oh snap…. I checked, pending. Went to make copies (teacher). Came back- refreshed. Selected. Mixed of excitement and omg what did I do.

Congratulations!

 

[KCO5988]

Chicago.

Oh snap…. I checked, pending. Went to make copies (teacher). Came back- refreshed. Selected. Mixed of excitement and omg what did I do.

Congrats!!!