The Running Thread - 2018

[JeffW]

ATTQOTD: There is a HM series locally that is based on the equinoxes (spring and fall). I love the fall race. Around $100 includes a nice medal, long sleeve quarter-zip pullover, a pint glass, beer to go in the glass, and a scenic finish area with a nice breakfast including breakfast burritos. And the run is downhill in a river canyon, point to point.

 

[BikeFan]

I understand the urge to get that last 0.3. Did you do it?

Congrats on the PW Half, sounds like you had a great run.

Thanks, and I did not get that extra .3. I was too sore from my half! I decided the smarter option was to rest/recover.

Speaking of tiny numbers, I was looking at the age group results later yesterday, and 5th place in my AG beat me by .4 seconds! If only I'd gone a little faster! Not that it really mattered, since AG prizes didn't go five deep, but it was shocking it was that close!

 

[PCFriar80]

the latter would be me! i'm flying in the day before so i'll be running this one blind. any suggestions/tips regarding this race and course?

It's a relatively flat course, with the first 12/13 miles taking you through Hartford and E. Hartford. A lot of twists and turns to keep the scenery changing and a nice run along the CT. River. Miles 13 - 21 are somewhat of a challenge being an out and back, 4 miles out and 4 miles back. Can be tedious at this juncture of the race. The finishing 5 are more diverse with the same twists and turns you had doing the first half. Crowd support is very good. Keep an eye on the weather. It can be very warm this time of year or pretty chilly. Headwinds could be a factor too as the northwesterly's tend to pick up this time of year. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Sanchez]

Fall races: I like both the James Island Connector Run and the Isle of Palms Connector Run. Each has a 5k and 10k option. The Kiawah marathon (and half) are nice as well.

On the tri side there is not much going on in South Carolina except for the Kiawah Tri (Olympic) in September and the Dam Tri in the midlands. I like the Dam Tri which is a bit shorter than the Olympic distance. The ride and run are over the Lake Murray Dam and it is a well-organized event. I will be running this on October 13.

 

[baxter24]

September miles:66
I took a week off at the beginning of the month and dropped down from the Richmond full to the half. Life was kicking me in the butt and training for the marathon proved to be too much. A tiny bit disappointed in myself for dropping down but ultimately happy knowing it was the right decision

Fall goals: Stay healthy and have a good training season for Goofy in January. Would be cool to earn either a half marathon PR or 10k PR for my races in November but it’s ok if that doesn’t happen.

ATTQOTD: My favorite fall race is probably Richmond. This will be my third time running the half in November and I’ve really been impressed with the on course support and organization of the race.

 

[apdebord]

ATTQOTD: I tend to try new running events in the Fall so I don't have a "repeat" race that I gravitate towards each year.
Maybe the Surfin' Santa 5 miler in December. I've done it two of last three years and may sign the family up to do it this year too.

Everyone dresses up in Santa suits, eats gingerbread cookies, and drinks beer (21+).
What's not to like?

Wicked 10k is such a great event. Some of the best costumes I've seen, people really get into it.

My wife and I will be at Richmond Half this year too. Did the full a few years ago and enjoy the crowd support and after party. It's a nice event.
Maybe we will see you there!!

Yay for Richmond! We love Surfin' Santa too. It's always the same day as the 50K my husband does every year on a trail further down Atlantic, and I don't know if he'll have it in him to do both this year. Maybe I can talk him into it for the gingerbread!

 

[BikeFan]

Fall? What is this thing called "fall" you speak of?

My favorite fall race is the Richmond marathon. Haven't done it in many years, but the course is beautiful as the leaves are in full color as you run along the river. I need to do it again one of these years. Other fall races I've enjoyed are the Rocketman Tri (RIP, little race) held at the Kennedy Space Center, and Ironman Florida which, rumor has it, @CheapRunnerMike and I will be doing together in 2019.

ATTQOTD: I do the Wicked 10K in Viriginia Beach almost every year. Fun environment and very creative costumes. I'm taking this year off to focus on marthon training, but maybe I'll be back next year!

I am looking forward to Richmond! I've done the 8K but this year will be my first time running the half. I loved everything about the 8K. It's my husband's marathon PR and he will be running the full again this year. He'll be 3 weeks away from his first 100 though, so probably no PRs. I don't think I've heard anything negative about this race, so maybe this will be something we do every year...should be a fun weekend!

Wicked 10k is such a great event. Some of the best costumes I've seen, people really get into it.

My wife and I will be at Richmond Half this year too. Did the full a few years ago and enjoy the crowd support and after party. It's a nice event.
Maybe we will see you there!!

Another for the Richmond marathon. I've run it every year since 2012, and it's my current PR. Great race I've always enjoyed, and plan to run annually.

ATTQOTD: I tend to try new running events in the Fall so I don't have a "repeat" race that I gravitate towards each year.
Maybe the Surfin' Santa 5 miler in December. I've done it two of last three years and may sign the family up to do it this year too.

Everyone dresses up in Santa suits, eats gingerbread cookies, and drinks beer (21+).
What's not to like?

I'm finally doing Surfin Santa this year! That race looks like too much fun to miss, and I'm finally free that weekend to do it. J&A Racing seems to put on some great fun races down there in the Tidewater area, and I hope to do more in the future. The Wicked 10K is definitely on my bucket list. Halloween-themed races are a hoot!

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

Fall? What is this thing called "fall" you speak of?

My favorite fall race is the Richmond marathon. Haven't done it in many years, but the course is beautiful as the leaves are in full color as you run along the river. I need to do it again one of these years. Other fall races I've enjoyed are the Rocketman Tri (RIP, little race) held at the Kennedy Space Center, and Ironman Florida which, rumor has it, @CheapRunnerMike and I will be doing together in 2019.

A couple friends did Ironman Maryland this past weekend and it is safe to say that the Ironman bug is biting me right now...this just might happen!

 

[flav]

ATTQOTD: I am still in the process of trying different races through the year but, if I had infinite means, the WnD Two Course Challenge is one I would gladly repeat.

 

[jennamfeo]

September Miles: 111.5 -- Happy that I broke 100 miles this month despite the ebb and flow of wanting to run.

ATTQOTD: Fall means all the local 5ks are starting up. I did one this past Saturday. But the one I am looking forward to is our annual Turkey Trot! I got second place in my AG last year. Looking to hold on to that title. No way I will beat the HS Cross Country coach with her 22 minute 5k time while I need to be focusing on training for a Marathon.
I am also hoping to do the Rock N Roll Las Vegas race but we haven't signed up for it yet...

 

[KSellers88]

ATTQOTD: I always do our local Soldier half marathon in the fall. It is normally around Veteran's Day and half of the course is run on Fort Benning. They have drill sergeants on one of the really big hills "encouraging" people to run up it instead of walking. It starts and ends at the National Infantry Museum here in Columbus and I just love the focus on the military of the event.

Edited to add: The drill sergeants are kinda like the Toy Soldiers at Disney World, but they're the real thing. Sadly I just made this connection. LOL.

September Totals:
163 Miles
9:37 Average Pace
155 Average HR

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: I haven't done the same fall race since I started running again more than once, except last year and the year before I did do the Turkey Trot 5K in my city. Maybe I'll do it again this year even though I've been on outdoor running hiatus since early August.

 

[JulieODC]

No favorite fall race.

The Ocean Road 10k happened yesterday in RI - I can last year, and seeing all the race photos yesterday made me want to do it again....maybe next year!

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: I've never run a fall race. I'm running a half on Saturday in Georgia, but it's still going to be warm and humid. 5K season is upon us here in central FL. My town has one every month and sometimes two through spring.

 

[Dis5150]

ATTQOTD: I do not do fall races as that would mean training in the summer. And with that, my September totals: 30.0 miles.

 

[avondale]

September:
running: 122.1 miles
tennis: 9 hours

This was almost the same amount of miles as July for me. Just completed the DC Ragnar this past weekend, so the mileage had been ramping up.

For tennis, we're in between seasons and we've had WAY too much rain that has canceled play, so this is a low for the year. Blah.

 

[avondale]

As I said in my previous post, I just did the DC Ragnar Relay this past weekend! It was my first Ragnar. It was definitely a lot of fun, and exhausting.

With such an involved race, I'm sure every Ragnar has its hiccups and problems. For this race, there was a lot of heavy rain the night before, leading to flooding of some of the first exchanges and roads. Rural Maryland doesn't exactly have a lot of roads for detours, so they ended up canceling the first 9 legs and moving everyone up to start at the beginning of leg 10 about 8 hours later.

Big bummer! All of us in Van 1 missed our first legs and so did half of Van 2. Ragnar said we could double up and run with others to get our missing miles in, but it's still not quite the same. (Nevertheless, three of us in Van 1 ended up doing that. No non-runners that I tell about this understands why we would do that! )

I was Runner 6. I ended up running Runner 3's 2nd leg with her - it was her night leg, and she was nervous about doing it alone. That was 6 miles, which made up for my missing 6 miles in my first leg. She was faster than me, so she said she'd slow down a bit since she appreciated me running with her. Nope - she blasted out a leg that I barely hung on to with my fingertips.

Then I ran my own night leg alone (3.5 miles) just before midnight. It was only a couple of hours after that previous leg, so I took this one slow. It also had major hills - 500 ft of gain in about 1.5 miles. Honestly, it was so quiet and dark and peaceful that I really rather enjoyed it. Bonus of a clear sky with lots of planets and stars.

My last leg was 8.2 miles around noon the next day. I didn't have much left, but hit a speed I was happy with and even passed 4 people. Overall, I didn't hit all the paces I was hoping for, but was happy with my performance. Turns out that Van 2 slowed down quite a bit, especially in the last legs...our team finished the race ahead of only two other teams! Well, that leaves lots of room for improvement!

It was a lot of fun and I found the relay/team aspect to be even more motivating than I expected. If you're interested, I wrote a very detailed description of my experience here so that I'll remember it. Some pics included.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Do it! I'll be handing out water in the 5k & want to spot Dis-runners, which could be totally impossible!

We should really have a DIS runner badge or something to identify each other along the course.

ATTQOTD: It's not a lot, but I have a fondness for the Fountain Hills Turkey Trot. Usually a 5k, although they did a 5-mile version one year for the 25th anniversary. It's a good start to Thanksgiving day.

The other one I liked a couple times but haven't been able to run recently was the 49ers Rush, now called the Golden Heart Run. It's a 4.9km run (because 49ers) through and around Levi's Stadium.

I could do it when it was in September/October, but they moved it to the weekend before Thanksgiving, and we're heading down to Phoenix to spend Thanksgiving with the in-laws by then.

I may have to look into that run. Although given the parking situation around the stadium, I'm a little scared what that could look like.

 

[DustyWA]

September totals:

175.7 Miles
26:28:35 Duration
9:02 Average Pace
142 Average Heart Rate

 

[camaker]

We should really have a DIS runner badge or something to identify each other along the course.

We tried tying a green ribbon in the corner of our bibs a couple of years ago as an identifier. It didn't really work out to be that visible, though.