The Running Thread --2025

[accm]

Finally getting around to writing my recap of the NYC Marathon.

NYC Marathon - November 2nd

I've been wanting to run NYC for almost as long as I've been running. I finally started entering the lottery in 2022 but decided my odds of getting in weren't getting any better - and I wasn't getting any younger. Since I don't live in the US, I have the option of booking guaranteed entry through an International Tour Operator and I finally pulled the trigger on it this year.

I felt really good going in. I took my marathon training more seriously than any since my first in 2014. The gorgeous fall weather here certainly helped as I never had to move any of my training indoors (I find long runs on the treadmill to be brutal and not looking forward to it in the lead up to MW). Based on my training paces and half marathon race pace, I went in knowing that I could likely hit about 4:45 on a flat marathon. NYC is not flat, plus I wanted to take my time, enjoy it - and also enjoy the 2 post marathon days we had scheduled in NYC. My target for the race was to finish in 5 to 6 hours.

Getting to NYC was a different story - with the high winds in NYC, we ended up with 2 ground stops and another 40 minutes of circling before landing. All told we arrived almost 4 hours late on Halloween.

Race Day

Unlike Friday, the weather was perfect (for me) on Sunday. I was in Wave 5 and it was about 55F and sunny at the start and the temperature seemed to remain pretty constant for the race.

• The NYC Marathon is incredibly organized - best I've seen
• Starting uphill on a bridge for the first mile was a challenge. I'm glad I was prepared and didn't try to race it.
• The crowds - I've never experienced anything like it - it's wall to wall people cheering on for almost the entire 26.2 miles - I wasn't planning on listening to music but it would have been impossible to anyway. Just incredible - NYC really knows how to party. @fatmanatee - based on your pictures I might have passed you twice along the course!
• The bridges - they were tough - but again, I was prepared and just took it easy on the uphills. This may be just my opinion but I think I'll take the NYC bridges over the WDW overpasses any day.
• We planned it out well and DW was able to see me twice (once on 1st and again in Central Park)
• Finishing in Central Park. No words.

I finished in 5:28:56. Right in the middle of my target time and also beat my previous PR by over one hour 17 minutes (to be fair - all 5 of my previous marathons were at WDW).

All in all, one of the best experiences in my life. Maybe coloured a bit by the fact that NYC was already one of my favourite cities anywhere.

Of course, now I want to do it again. I'm going to go back to entering the lottery with no expectation of getting in that way. But I do think in 3 to 5 years, I'll want to do it again - either the ITO or charity route (I think I'd try a charity next time).

One last thing - I know the medal was posted on here when it was announced. It's even nicer in person and a great example of less is more. runDisney could learn a thing here (even though I still love a lot of the rD Medals).

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Congrats on what sounds like a great race! Which tour operator did you go with, and were you overall happy with them? I’m planning on going the same route for the marathon next year

 

[marty3d]

Congrats on what sounds like a great race! Which tour operator did you go with, and were you overall happy with them? I’m planning on going the same route for the marathon next year

Dream Travel Canada. They were great - communication was fantastic and they hosted several events around the weekend. Good choice of hotels. I would definitely use them again.

Also found out they do rD events too. Might be a back up plan in the future!

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about them.

 

[5xdisneyfans]

QOTD: Have you ever used a running coach or done paid group training?

Background (apologies if you read this in my TJ already):
I've done 4 Disney marathons (3 as part of Dopey) but I've only ever trained to finish, using a variety of plans from @DopeyBadger , Galloway (modified to not do runs more than 3 hours) and TrainingPeaks. As you likely know, I’m doing Chicago next year and really want to see what I can do in the real world—not just survive the race, but train with more intention and maybe even enjoy the process a bit more. (And also without getting up at 2am after doing three other races.)

My current PR is 6:28. It was my first marathon, using a DopeyBadger plan, and I "only" did the 10K the same weekend. I feel like I have a realistic chance of a 5:30 (or better?) with a stand-alone marathon if I train properly. I have nearly a year, but I also know I can't be trusted to stick to a strict plan and push myself on my own, so I've been looking into coaching. (Virtual, since where I live has few IRL options that aren't for 25 year old BQ chasers.)

I'm torn between 1:1 coaching and customized team training, though I could do a mix of both.

The 1:1 would be more personalized, I'd get more direct attention, which (IME with strength training) is more likely to keep me not just on track, but pushing my capabilities. It's also more expensive and maybe overkill?

Group training I'm looking at would still give me a customized, flexible plan and multiple weekly group check-ins, but less individual attention. There's a social platform that I'd probably use some, but tbh I get most of that from you all here. It's about half the cost, but do I risk falling back into old patterns of skipping workouts or taking things too easy because nobody is paying close attention? There is an option with this team to switch to 1:1 at any time. which is intriguing if I end up really loving it.

That brings me to another option: start with group training now and shift to 1:1 coaching after Princess weekend (so around March), once I’ve got some momentum going.

I'm totally open to other ideas or combos I haven't thought of. Would also love any recommendations/reviews. I feel like this is a big opportunity to DO something and I don't want to mess it up by not pushing hard enough or burning myself out.

I had a running coach back in 2019 when I was working towards my first and only 10k race. I was new to running and needed direction. It was great to not have to think about what I needed to do and talk about things when I was struggling.

I am very curious about the runna app. Trying to decide if I want to try it next year for my first half. Although it isn’t much cheaper than my actual running coach was back then.

 

[5xdisneyfans]

Mini Race Report: Minneapolis Hot Chocolate 15K

I don't think I would do this race again. The parking is kind of crap, the start/finish village is kind of spread out, and I'm sick to death of this route along the river that basically every race in Minneapolis uses--the hills are killer, and it's out and back on that stretch, so you get to do them in both directions And if they take you over to the East Bank at all, you spend at least half a mile on bricks with really treacherous footing.

I started out super well, the first 3 miles were 11:55, 12:45, and 12:21, and then I hit the first big uphill, and walked up it. After I hit the turnaround for the 15K, my left knee started giving me fits and I basically had to walk from that point on. I managed to finish, and not last in any category either, so that's something.

The other weird thing about this race was the corral system. First, the fact that there was a corral system at all for only about 1200 people (just under 500 in the 15K and around 750 for the 10K) instead of just self-seeding; second, the bibs were lettered A-K, but they brought G-K to the front and the lettering was kinda random. Like, I was in I (and I put in an accurate 13:00 pace), and so was a guy who was doing hill sprints and jumping jacks as a warm-up.

Anyway, I finished the race on my feet and with a smile on my face. And I didn't get run over by the sweep van that had dropped people off in the finish area and then had to try to make a super awkward K-turn right in front of me.


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Sorry to hear it wasn’t a great experience. I am doing my first hat chocolate run next weekend. Love your outfit.

 

[The Expert]

am very curious about the runna app.

My research brought up a bunch of complaints about runna being too focused on speed work and tempo runs -- more of a 50/50 easy run split versus the 70/30 or 80/20 most experts recommend. I've learned I really need more recovery after a hard effort to avoid injury, so runna does not seem like a good fit for me. YMMV

 

[Naomeri]

I had a running coach back in 2019 when I was working towards my first and only 10k race. I was new to running and needed direction. It was great to not have to think about what I needed to do and talk about things when I was struggling.

I am very curious about the runna app. Trying to decide if I want to try it next year for my first half. Although it isn’t much cheaper than my actual running coach was back then.

My research brought up a bunch of complaints about runna being too focused on speed work and tempo runs -- more of a 50/50 easy run split versus the 70/30 or 80/20 most experts recommend. I've learned I really need more recovery after a hard effort to avoid injury, so runna does not seem like a good fit for me. YMMV

I tried the Runna app and found it irritating because you couldn't set it up for run/walk intervals, so I was constantly getting alerts "you're going too fast/slow" even though I would be getting the right average pace, and there wasn't a way to program in any planned races you might want to use as catered long runs or progress checks during training.

 

[marty3d]

My research brought up a bunch of complaints about runna being too focused on speed work and tempo runs -- more of a 50/50 easy run split versus the 70/30 or 80/20 most experts recommend. I've learned I really need more recovery after a hard effort to avoid injury, so runna does not seem like a good fit for me. YMMV

I don't use a coach (but following this because I am interested in maybe doing that in the future) bit I'm with you on Tempo / Speed runs - the plan I follow is 1 Speed run per week. Unless you really want to be a sub-4 marathoner I'm not sure any more than 1 speed run per week is valuable.

 

[KCO5988]

My research brought up a bunch of complaints about runna being too focused on speed work and tempo runs -- more of a 50/50 easy run split versus the 70/30 or 80/20 most experts recommend. I've learned I really need more recovery after a hard effort to avoid injury, so runna does not seem like a good fit for me. YMMV

I used Runna for my last two marathons. The app has gotten some upgrades to the personalization of the runs. You can now select one hard run, one or two hard runs (it alternates every other week with 1 or 2), or two hard runs per week. You can also select if you want to have "hard" long runs sometimes (marathon pace, progression, etc). I did enjoy it but you really need to know and listen to your body when it's time to skip a harder run or if the paces it gives are too fast. You can somewhat select how long you want your longest weekday runs and long runs to get.

I tried the Runna app and found it irritating because you couldn't set it up for run/walk intervals, so I was constantly getting alerts "you're going too fast/slow" even though I would be getting the right average pace, and there wasn't a way to program in any planned races you might want to use as catered long runs or progress checks during training.

They now have a B race feature where you can set up anything from a 5k to a half marathon as a B race and select what effort level you want it to be. It then potentially modifies the week leading up to and after that race depending on the effort you select for it.

My dislike for the app is the lack of a midweek medium long run. It rarely gives you more than an 8-9 mile run midweek, but I wanted a plan that peaked more at the 12 mile mark for a midweek medium long run. I'm going with Pfitz 18/55 this training block.

But my ATTQOTD: I have not used a run coach yet other than when I did team in training years ago. I have set some pretty hard long-term goals for myself that I may decide to bite the bullet and hire a coach for. We'll see how my February marathon goes.