The Running Thread - 2018

[Dis5150]

Well taking it easy wasn’t an option if I wanted to finish. Thunder, pouring rain, hail and worse weather forecast made me hustle to a big, fat new PR!! Official time of 5:55:44! And the uphills weren’t bad at all! I don’t know who did the map but my garmin didn’t agree. The one big downhill was bad though. My toenails are sore, lol! I was soaked to the skin twice during the race, miles 3-6 constant rain, then at mile 18 I think, the sky opened up with huge raindrops and hail. I have never been that wet while dressed lol! We had thunder in the distance for most of the race and the put a “red flag” warning up several times. But surprisingly (maybe stupidly?) they let us finish!

Crowd support was awesome! People out everywhere, cheering, giving out candy, muffins, donuts, fruit, beer and mimosas. I’m sure I’m forgetting something lol. I forget a baggie for my phone so dumped my Sports Beans in my pocket to use the baggie. Well they quickly all formed into one big, wet, sticky mess. So I was very glad for all the goodies on the course.

I would 100% recommend the Little Rock Marathon or half to anyone!

 

[CDKG]

Thunder, pouring rain, hail and worse weather forecast made me hustle to a big, fat new PR!! Official time of 5:55:44!

Congratulations!!! I have found that miserable weather makes me run faster too. It sounds like, despite the challenges, you had a good race. Great job!

 

[JulieODC]

Congratulations @Dis5150 - amazing job!!!

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

...made me hustle to a big, fat new PR!!

Congrats on the PR!

 

[cavepig]

Way to go @Dis5150 & congrats on the PR. Way to crush it in those soggy conditions!

 

[Waiting2goback]

QOTD: Do you have a finishers medal that means more to you than others? You may have multiple medals from the same race, but the one from a certain year means more to you... why? Feel free to post a picture of it.

ATTQOTD: I have two that mean a lot to me that I received during a very challenging time in my life. I say two, which is kinda against the rules but I will explain a bit, which will answer the why part of the question. In 2013 I ran Boston for charity. As I have mentioned before DW was pregnant with our DD and I had a unexpected career change leading up to the race. That was the only race I have ever started and did not cross the finish line because of the events that day. They ended up mailing me a finishers medal and a official finish time so I would be part of the official records. I felt like I had unfinished business and returned to run the event in 2014 and finally crossed the finish line. The 2014 race was a way to "turn the page" to our next chapter of our lives. Crossing the finish line was a very symbolic thing for both of us. By that time we had a healthy baby girl, my career was back on path, and life was treating us well. Here is a picture of my post race beer. 2014 medal, and the 2013 shirt.
View attachment 305647

Great question. This is a no brained for me and for those of you that have known me since I ran TOT this will be a repeat because I have shared this story a few times. I'll keep it shorter though. For me it's my TOT race. The medal is cool for sure but the meaning is what makes it more special.

I signed up for the race after my wife told me she wanted a divorce. I was fat and out of shape. I was trying to save my marriage so I had lost who I was those last few years because I was trying to make her happy. I was a stay-at-home dad for 7 years and 4 kids didn't allow me time to take care of me. Well, this race was me finding me. I turned to Disney to get out of my comfort zone because I previously hated running.

I decided I would sign up in Feb 2014, even though registration didn't open til April I believe. I started training right away so that gave me 7 months. I had no idea what I was doing. I had doubt the whole time. I thought for sure I would get swept. I made it on the trip and when I got to my hotel my wife (we were still living together then) called to tell me my daughter was being admitted to the hospital. Come to find out she was lying and just trying to get me to come home and keep me from running my race. so I dealt with all that crap all race weekend.

I ran the race alone. Doubted myself the whole way, and not only did I finish but I finished in 563rd place out of like 9300 finishers. Not blazingly fast but I was still shocked. That whole experience taught me so much about myself and I have never looked back.

I think I’ll with my first half medal from PHM 2017 - and the more I progress, the more meaningful it becomes. It’s sort of signals a turning point, where I turned back to focus some attention on myself (vs. motherhood, work, etc).

February was a good month - 70.3 miles running, and carried me to day 98 of my 10k steps a day streak! I PRd a 10miler, with an unofficial 10k PR as well.

I'm glad you turned the attention to yourself. It is possible to make time for ourselves and still take care of the family, isn't it.

Here’s a question for the group- anyone take any vitamins/supplements for running?

I’m training to run all 3 Dark Side races with about 55 days to go (I know it’s less now. I started roughly at the 55 day mark). I’m up to about 13 miles...a week. Currently.

(Long story short, I’ve had knee issues since last summer. I ran through them until it was unbearable. Caused more damage and finally got the insurance to get the help I need. PT just okay’d Me to run,but I realize my time is short to try to run so much)

Trying to determine if adding some extra vitamins in my diet might make me a little more super human... or at least aide in recovery as I try to squish a bunch of training miles

(And yes I know, this isn’t ideal or excellent for my body... but I ran a half marathon untrained last October and didn’t die. So at the very least, I know I can finish all the races as a fast walker, if need be)

Nope. I have researched vitamins and supplements in great detail before and pretty much found they are a fraud. There are some legit ones but in general they are a waste of money. I go with the real, balanced, diet.

 

[Dis5150]

Didn’t realize my medal pics didn’t post. And that’s the best part! Trying again!

 

[LilyJC]

View attachment 306854 View attachment 306852 View attachment 306853 View attachment 306852 View attachment 306853 Didn’t realize my medal pics didn’t post. And that’s the best part! Trying again!

Wow! Fantastic medal! Congratulations!

 

[FredtheDuck]

@Dis5150 congrats on the PR!!! That medal really is HUGE!

 

[DopeyBadger]

View attachment 306731 View attachment 306732 View attachment 306733 View attachment 306734 Well taking it easy wasn’t an option if I wanted to finish. Thunder, pouring rain, hail and worse weather forecast made me hustle to a big, fat new PR!! Official time of 5:55:44! And the uphills weren’t bad at all! I don’t know who did the map but my garmin didn’t agree. The one big downhill was bad though. My toenails are sore, lol! I was soaked to the skin twice during the race, miles 3-6 constant rain, then at mile 18 I think, the sky opened up with huge raindrops and hail. I have never been that wet while dressed lol! We had thunder in the distance for most of the race and the put a “red flag” warning up several times. But surprisingly (maybe stupidly?) they let us finish!

Crowd support was awesome! People out everywhere, cheering, giving out candy, muffins, donuts, fruit, beer and mimosas. I’m sure I’m forgetting something lol. I forget a baggie for my phone so dumped my Sports Beans in my pocket to use the baggie. Well they quickly all formed into one big, wet, sticky mess. So I was very glad for all the goodies on the course.

I would 100% recommend the Little Rock Marathon or half to anyone!

Well done! Glad to hear you were not only able to finish but set a PR at the same time. 2 down and 3 to go!

 

[KingLlama]

Flava Flav thinks that medal is big.

 

[ZellyB]

Congrats @Dis5150 . Great job and a PR under some horrible conditions. YIKES!! That medal is insane, but I know that is Little Rock's thing. That one is on my list to do at some point just to earn one of those monster medals.

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: What is the worse running idea you have ever had?

ATTQOTD: The worse decision I have made are the ones when I decided to skip a run. It's a downward spiral of excuses, do not do it.

 

[ZellyB]

ATTQOTD: Choosing to run with a minor injury that subsequently turned into a bigger injury. I'm trying to be better about listening to my body and not be such a slave to a schedule, but it's hard!

 

[kleph]

QOTD: What is the worse running idea you have ever had?

trying to BQ on my first marathon ever.

 

[rteetz]

QOTD: What is the worse running idea you have ever had?

I don't know if I have had a bad running idea really but not listening to my body would be probably the worst thing I have done. I have had crazy ideas about running such as running Dopey first the first time. My family and friends thought I was nuts. I don't consider that a bad idea though.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

QOTD: What is the worse running idea you have ever had?

I'm going to answer for my husband as I may strangle him today.

Refusing to go to the doctor after falling during a run where he thinks he may have broken his arm. He doesn't want to not to be able to run.

Myself - doing races without training.

 

[PrincessV]

Thunder, pouring rain, hail and worse weather forecast made me hustle to a big, fat new PR!! Official time of 5:55:44!

So awesome - CONGRATS!!!

QOTD: What is the worse running idea you have ever had?

ATTQOTD: Oh, it's a toss-up between running my first TOT on a very bad case of ITBS, or doing PHM again this year after swearing it off several years ago, lol!

 

[camaker]

QOTD: What is the worse running idea you have ever had?

This one's easy, and has multiple components:

Bad Decision #1: Running the day after a PR effort in a hot half marathon. Strained a hamstring.
Bad Decision #1a: Running another half marathon one week after the strain.
Bad Decision #1b: Deciding that the hamstring felt good enough to run full pace after 2 miles of the race. Strained it further.
Bad Decision #1c: No way am I going to stop running during this race! I'll just slow down a little. Tore it at mile 8.
Bad Decision #1d: Still finished the race

Can you see the snowball picking up size and speed as it rolls down the slope of bad decisions? Ultimately ended up with 6 weeks of no running and 6 months of rehab using intervals before I could run fully again.

 

[Capang]

QOTD: What is the worse running idea you have ever had?

ATTQOTD: The worse decision I have made are the ones when I decided to skip a run. It's a downward spiral of excuses, do not do it.

This is mine as well.