The Running Thread - 2018

The better late than never QOTD: Have you run any of the Disney races as part of a charity group? If so, which one and any cool perks of being part of that group?

I'm running Princess on a charity bib! For a few reasons, one is that it got me a bib for the half and second is because it's for a good cause. I took my time researching each available charity to find out what they do, what their minimum was, and if I could feel good supporting them.

I work for a non-profit, and I feel uncomfortable asking for money there because a lot of the people I am in contact with that use this non-profit are not in a place to give back and are receiving our support. Also a lot of who we ask are employees, and while it's not "required" to donate, full-time staff don't really feel like they have much of a choice. Part time staff have a much easier time saying no.

However, when I'm working with an organization that I believe in and am excited about, it's easier to make the ask. It's also super easy to post a photo of myself out on a run or right after a run and add a caption with a link. I easily hit my $500 thanks to friends and family who saw my post on Facebook or Instagram. I made the ask indirectly and I feel like there's less pressure that way, they don't feel like they have to donate.

That was a LONG answer and sort of not on topic. Let me read that QOTD again... perks! I think there's a pasta party the night before and maybe snacks pre/post race? I'm not super aware of the perks, to be honest. I didn't plan on taking advantage of them.
 
QOTD: Have you run any of the Disney races as part of a charity group? If so, which one and any cool perks of being part of that group?

Haven't for any race, although I've supported family doing it (American Cancer Society) and have met some lovely people supporting charities during races (was really impressed with the Crohn's/Colitis team at RNR NOLA last year). I've got similar misgivings about fundraising as others, not least of which is that it feels like I'd essentially be asking others to subsidize my entry to a race. I know that's not really the case, but that's what it feels like to me...

(At least it's a charity thing here; growing up, we'd have to do fundraising stuff for swim team and my mother always hated that the team would make us ask others for money. That definitely felt way too selfish.)

ETA: From talking with the Crohn's/Colitis folks, some of their "perks" includes support up to and throughout the race -- especially for us back-of-the-pack slowpokes, their commitment to checking rest areas/portapotties and making sure no one got left behind was really wonderful to see, they really took the "team" thing to heart.
 
I have a similar feeling to many about charity fundraising - out of my comfort zone. That said, I have no problem donating to friends and family who have done it!!

One guy in my local running group is raising $ for his Boston charity bib....the requirement is somewhere around $7500-10000. He has a ton of support from the charity, but that’s a lot!
 


@LSUlakes - Here are my times for the weekend. Thanks to my @DopeyBadger plan, I was able to get the Sextuple PR Dopey Challenge! The weather was really good running weather for me. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to PR the marathon or not; however, knowing that I might be able to PR helped my mental game late to keep pushing. I ended up with a 14 minute PR! I don’t usually go into Disney races looking to PR, but I knew that I had a chance to do it, and I still had fun. :)

WDW 5k (NG / 27:46)PR!! Dopey
WDW 10k (NG / 57:29)PR!! Dopey
WDW Half (NG / 2:08:13)PR!! Dopey
WDW Marathon (NG / 4:44:37)PR!! Dopey
 
@LSUlakes - Here are my times for the weekend. Thanks to my @DopeyBadger plan, I was able to get the Sextuple PR Dopey Challenge! The weather was really good running weather for me. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to PR the marathon or not; however, knowing that I might be able to PR helped my mental game late to keep pushing. I ended up with a 14 minute PR! I don’t usually go into Disney races looking to PR, but I knew that I had a chance to do it, and I still had fun. :)

WDW 5k (NG / 27:46)PR!! Dopey
WDW 10k (NG / 57:29)PR!! Dopey
WDW Half (NG / 2:08:13)PR!! Dopey
WDW Marathon (NG / 4:44:37)PR!! Dopey

:woohoo:
 
QOTD: How long does it take you to recover from a hard race? Which day seems to be worse?

ATTQOTD: The duration for recovery varies for me. Shorter races typically dont have the long lasting effects of the marathon distance, but do require some easy runs. Post marathon, I find it take about two weeks before I am ready to start any hard running again. The day after the marathon is usually the worse for me. Coming in second is about 2-3 hours after the race. I deal with frequent leg cramps during both despite my best efforts to take fluids and nutrients. The sore legs the next day only add to it. By day 3 I am usually over the soreness, and will try a easy run by day 4.
 


ATTQOTD: It seems the more races I do, the easier recovery has gotten. After my first half - I was pathetic for the first 3 days post race with the worst day being 2 days afterwards. Now it seems I"m good within 24 hours.
 
ATTQOTD: The evening after the marathon is probably the worst for me, especially any time I sit down for a few minutes and then try to get moving again. (Bus ride anyone?) I have learned to walk, walk, walk as much as I possibly can post-marathon and then the next day I walk some more.

First day post-marathon I can usually pass for a normal person unless stairs or bending are involved. I think this has to do with the walking as much as being properly trained for the distance.

Sometimes I have pain after shorter distances and sometimes I don’t. Makes me wonder how much more I may have been able to push myself.
 
I guess it is time to rejoin the real world after the Xmas Cruise and the Disney Dopey thing. Not surprised I am behind in this thread!!

WDW 5k (NG / 26:33) Dopey (1 Character)
WDW 10k (NG / 50:47) Dopey (3 Characters. should've been 4, but photopass was not out yet for Rapunzel)
WDW Half (NG / 1:58:07) Dopey (13 Characters)
WDW Marathon (NG / 4:22:46) Dopey (19 characters)

Proud to say I am officially Dopey!

When we left Texas before Christmas, the long range forecast for Orlando was 70s/50s, so we did not pack a lot of cold weather clothing. Getting of the ship on the 31st, we were stunned to see how cold the race week was going to be, and had to hit Target/Wal-Mart/Costco for some extra cold weather clothing.
 
ATTQOTD: Like others have said, it depends on the distance for me. Despite my feet killing me for the first two hours after finishing the marathon on Sunday, I feel good today! It is so important to keep moving even though the thought of stairs is terrifying. It took me longer last year to recover from the marathon compared to Dopey this year so I am super happy about that!
 
QOTD: How long does it take you to recover from a hard race? Which day seems to be worse?

For a 5K or 10K, I'm generally fine right after.
Half I need a day or two ... it generally gets worse before it gets better. The last day of pain also tends to be the worst day.
I've never done anything longer than that, so I don't know about that.
 
ATTQOTD:

Marathons hit me the worst when I race hard. I will be wiped out most of the day of, and the soreness will hit the next two days. I usually take off most of the week following a marathon before trying to run again.

For other races, the day of will be the hardest and usually ok the next days.


@LSUlakes Here are a couple more races for me this year to add to the list

Feb 03 - Katy Half (NG / N/A)
Apr 08 - Vintage Park Half (NG / N/A)
 
QOTD: How long does it take you to recover from a hard race? Which day seems to be worse?

Like most others have said, recovery time varies based on the distance. Anything under a half I don't really need much for recovery time. For a half I may take a couple of days. After the one marathon I've run I took two weeks off running to let my body fully heal after a year plus training for Dopey. The afternoon after a race tends to be the worst for me. I've long had issues with my calves and they always seem to flair up after a race.
 
I’m a bit behind this week.

ATTQOTD Mon: I have not had experience yet running for a charity, so stay tuned for my recap in October. Like some have mentioned, I have registered with Girls on the Run for the Chicago Marathon 2018. I was very close to signing up with them even prior to the lottery because I have stopped at their expo booths on at least three or four occasions because I’ve just be drawn to their charity/programs. But I decided to go the lottery route and was not accepted that way. It didn’t take me long to decide this was my year to both run the marathon but also to get involved. By waiting until after the lottery, my minimum went up $500 so I probably should have just signed up from the get-go, but at least now the charity will get more from me.

It was not an easy decision because of all the reasons everyone listed here already. I sell stuff all day at work, but this is different. I never wanted to get to a point where I was being pushy so I’ve left everything very open (and I will never get upset that any particular person does not donate…I’m more surprised by how many people have donated!) I also told myself that I would only do it if I was OK with fronting ANY cost I could not raise. And I 100% want to be involved way more than just running with a bib and special singlet. So I will be volunteering at all of their 5k races this year, mentoring, and if I can find a program close enough I’d like to commit to an assistant coach role if possible. That part may need to wait until post October, but I’d like to be involved past my race anyways. I’m at 70% of my goal and I have a lot of people here to thank. I never expected that. I have family, my company, and soon my husband’s company to thank too and then I think I’ll be at my 100% before the end of the month. But I’m still going to volunteer and mentor…that’s super important to me!!

I’ll get back to you all on perks…since I haven’t done it yet.


ATTQOTD TUES: The day off I tend to be running on some kind of adrenaline. I usually feel it more the day after a race. When I stick to training I tend to recover very well. Even after my last two halfs, I didn’t feel demolished. It took me what felt like a month (but less) to recover from my first 10k because I had been sick leading up to it and wore shoes that were way too old.

I still like to take it easy for a few days and definitely with running – just easy miles – and on the easy end of my paces for a little while!!!
 
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charity bibs for Boston. Those are intense as usually the goal is 10k per runner.

WOW! When I ran with a charity bib in 2013 the min. was $4,000 plus some fees and entry into the race. I was lucky and had a few people make most of the contribution, but if they had not I was prepared to pay whatever mark I did not make. 10k is a lot and fundraising is not a easy task.

@LSUlakes - Here are my times for the weekend. Thanks to my @DopeyBadger plan, I was able to get the Sextuple PR Dopey Challenge! The weather was really good running weather for me. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to PR the marathon or not; however, knowing that I might be able to PR helped my mental game late to keep pushing. I ended up with a 14 minute PR! I don’t usually go into Disney races looking to PR, but I knew that I had a chance to do it, and I still had fun. :)

WDW 5k (NG / 27:46)PR!! Dopey
WDW 10k (NG / 57:29)PR!! Dopey
WDW Half (NG / 2:08:13)PR!! Dopey
WDW Marathon (NG / 4:44:37)PR!! Dopey

Congrats!!!! Thats a awesome weekend!
 
ATTQOTD: I generally feel pretty good after everything up to a half marathon. After a hard marathon, it takes me 3-4 days to get all the soreness out. The worst parts are the evening of the race after everything has cooled off and the next morning.

Also, here are my results from this past weekend. Let's just say things didn't go very well at all due to illness. The 5k and 10k were pretty well what I'd planned to run, but the half marathon is a personal worst by a pretty good margin and the marathon is my second slowest when I had planned to be shooting for a PR...

WDW 5k (NG / 31:43) Dopey
WDW 10k (NG / 1:05:45) Dopey
WDW Half (NG / 3:06:59) Dopey
WDW Marathon (NG / 5:33:33) Dopey
 
On the topic of fundraising -- it is very difficult. Someone had mentioned that being passionate about the cause helps and that is SO true. Last March, I raised money for St. Baldrick's who provides money to Childhood Cancer research. I am a mom but I haven't personally known a child with cancer, I can only imagine how I would feel if mine did. I was raising money and in turn to the money being donated, I would be shaving my head, to show solidarity to the children who have to shave their heads for treatment purposes. I ended up raising $6000. It was an amazing and humbling feeling. I mostly used social media and just annoyed every person on my instagram and facebook. I didn't really care because the money was for something that I cared about.
stb2.jpg stb.jpg
 
ATTQOTD: The first time I ran the Disneyland Half, I immediately got in a car and drove down to San Diego. I didn't know that my legs should have kept moving, so when I got out of the car I could barely walk. It was AWFUL and probably what put a bad taste in my mouth for half marathons. Now I know better and it's just a lot of walking and movement for me, which is why Disney races are the best because you race and then you go to the parks!
 

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