The Running Thread - 2018

[PrincessV]

QOTD: Picking up from last weeks question of the day a bit. When running a race do you let the GPS pick up each mile, or manually hit the lap button when you cross a mile marker?

ATTQOTD: Both... and neither?! I let my phone's app run on its own - I even start it a little before I cross the start mat. I don't use that to track my pace during a race, only to get the basic info into the app - later I'll edit it to add my real time. But if I'm racing for time, I'll wear a basic digital watch and use the chrono function, and I'll wear a pace band on the same wrist with the times I want to hit at each mile. So still no using a lap button, but I do check my time at each "lap" if that makes sense.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

QOTD: Picking up from last weeks question of the day a bit. When running a race do you let the GPS pick up each mile, or manually hit the lap button when you cross a mile marker?

Let the GPS Watch do it.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

ATTQOTD: I do it manually. To me, it's too confusing when the watch doesn't agree with the course. I'm used to manually marking laps after years (well decades) with the Timex Ironman.

 

[gjramsey]

ATTQOTD: I used to do it manually until I got confused at the Chevron Houston marathon, where they have K markers as well as Mile markers. I really thought the first mile marker was really really early....oops.

I have used the Race Screen @FFigawi mentioned last week when I had a time goal for the marathon, since it would calculate est finishing time, and it really works best with you hitting the lap button at the mile marker.

Lately, i have just let the watch do its thing every mile. The half series that is in Houston is notorious for the mile markers being off and they never put up a Mile 13 banner, so hitting the button at the mile markers really did not help.

 

[Dis5150]

ATTQOTD: I always let my watch do it. I am very bad at even seeing mile markers so I can't imagine how messed up my time would be if my watch didn't do it for me!

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: I just let the watch do it. I am not that invested in being THAT accurate, and also I often miss the mile markers.

 

[Chaitali]

I let the watch do it.

 

[SarahDisney]

ATTQOTD: I let the watch do it. Sometimes I also try to look down at my watch when I see the mile markers and make a mental note (which I then write down) so that I have a record, but more often than not I miss a mile marker, so I dont really do that so often.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

ATTQOTD: I also just let my watch do it's thing. I do look at it during races, but I try not to mess with it too much and just enjoy the race. I would probably mess up something trying to do the lap at mile markers!

 

[Wendy98]

Leaving for WDW tomorrow...Has anyone attempted running at BLT/Contemporary? It has been awhile since I've stayed here and I don't recall much runnable land. Most likely will do the treadmill...

 

[Sailormoon2]

Picking up from last weeks question of the day a bit. When running a race do you let the GPS pick up each mile, or manually hit the lap button when you cross a mile marker?

GPS!! There is no way I would remember to hit the button with any consistency!

 

[AFwifelife]

ATTQOTD: I let the watch do it. Even with the intention of doing it manually, I'll forget a mile or two then feel all messed up.

 

[TCB in FLA]

QOTD: I’ve always let the watch do it, but doing it manually is something I need to consider!

I ran the Mnts to Main St half in Greenville SC about 10 days ago, was shooting for a PR, but according to my Garmin, the course was .25 miles long and my time was about 2 min more than expected. If I had been paying attention to their mile markers, I would have pushed accordingly to hit that time goal. (Yes, I know it’s impossible to run a perfect 13.1, hitting all the tangents, but this was 80% a straight course down a paved trail. .25 miles is excessive. I was not the only person questioning the distance.)

 

[MissLiss279]

ATTQOTD:
I used to just let the watch do it, but ever since Chicago, I have tried to remember to change it and lap it manually. Chicago and city races or races with tunnels, don’t pick up GPS, correctly and it throws everything off! I think I had a mile or two in under 5 minutes?!?!
I also used a data screen (Race Screen) on my Garmin for my last marathon that shows current pace (averaged by however many seconds you want it to), average pace for whole race, HR, Distance, maybe cadence, and estimated finish based on average pace. When you lap it, it adjust the distance shown to the closest mile, and adjusts the estimated finish. (Actual distance is still kept, but not shown on this screen.) I think this worked great for my marathon. I could see my estimated finish continue to come down - based on my racing strategy, and I didn’t freak out over how much extra I was running - or how far off I was at each mile.
Maybe this is the same thing @FFigawi and @gjramsey mentioned - I missed that info.

 

[KSellers88]

Leaving for WDW tomorrow...Has anyone attempted running at BLT/Contemporary? It has been awhile since I've stayed here and I don't recall much runnable land. Most likely will do the treadmill...

I ran there after the Princess half this year. The "running track" is basically a big figure 8 around each building and is on the sidewalks shared by people not running. It got a little chaotic at times with people walking around taking pictures and construction workers, but was not horrible. The path is not even one mile long, so if it is a longer run I'd stick to the treadmill.

 

[KSellers88]

ATTQOTD: I let the watch do it, because I'd be guaranteed to miss a marker.

Edited to add: My Run Across Georgia recap is up here if anyone cares to read it. We got incredibly lucky with the weather and did not get rained on at all. Amazing experience!

 

[jennamfeo]

ATTQOTD: I am with everyone else who said they would probably miss a mile marker. I just let my watch do the work.

 

[apdebord]

ATTQOTD: I don't wear a watch, so I just run Strava. Most of our local races are ocean/bay/river front and can get pretty windy, so we either lose a few markers here and there, or they decide to just not even set any up along the course. It's nice to have something telling me distance in those instances.

 

[FFigawi]

QOTD: Picking up from last weeks question of the day a bit. When running a race do you let the GPS pick up each mile, or manually hit the lap button when you cross a mile marker?

I normally let the watch do its thing, mostly because I never run the exact pace needed to hit a time goal. If I want to go sub-4, for example, I'll run 8:50-8:55 instead of 9:07 to give myself a bit of a buffer. Assuming one runs an extra 0.2 miles due to weaving, missed tangents, etc., the pace required to go sub-4 is really 9:05. Why not skip all the math and run 8:55 to give yourself plenty of cushion? I'm looking forward to more experimentation with Race Screen because I think it's pretty useful if the mile markers are in the correct location and you need to hit a very specific time goal. Sure would've made our lives easier when running Comrades, where the markers are in km and they indicate how many are left, not how many have been run.

 

[TheHamm]

Leaving for WDW tomorrow...Has anyone attempted running at BLT/Contemporary? It has been awhile since I've stayed here and I don't recall much runnable land. Most likely will do the treadmill...

There is not a lot of space.
I would suggest sticking to the treadmill in its air conditioned glory. If you desire running with swamp bugs you could take the boat to Ft. Wilderness and get a longer path in- I think it was closer to a 3 mile loop.