The Running Thread - 2018

[HomeiswhereMickeyis]

Race Report: So training was going well until October. Between some foot pain (took too long to replace my shoes), vacation, and a never-ending cold I ended up barely doing anything all month. November went a little better, but it became obvious that a 10k wasn't a good idea so about a week before the race so I switched to the 5k and planned on just making it a fun easy run.
With no pressure or plan I was the most calm I have ever been leading up to and during the race. I literally started as far back as I could which meant I walked the first little bit. After that I ran until I felt like walking and then when I felt like it would run again. I just did that on repeat until about halfway. At that point I realized I'd been keeping on pace with a woman doing intervals so I decided to do her intervals. I figured I'd let her know I was using her as my pacer and we ended up talking the rest of the race. I was kinda shocked that I could actually run and talk. Running felt easy and just a bit slow so I figured we were pretty slow but I was amazed at mile 3 when I looked at my watch to see I was going to PR!
Space Coast Turkey Trot 5k 47:44 PR of over 3 minutes! My last 5k PR was just the beginning of September!
Up next I've somehow managed to sign up for one race at each rundisney weekend next year except wine and dine which I'm probably going to sign up for when registration opens so I can say I did them all!

 

[jennamfeo]

QOTD: At what point in training do you feel like you are prepared for a race? Is it covering a distance, pace, MPW, ect?

After I finish the race.

 

[HomeiswhereMickeyis]

ATTQOTD: I'd say a bit of pace and distance combined. When I've had a run that is over half of the distance of the race that I can maintain a good pace and finish feeling like I could keep going at that pace, I tend to be as confident as I get. Although considering I've had several races where something happened just days before to keep me from being 100% healthy, I always tend to be nervous until the race starts.

 

[PrincessV]

QOTD: At what point in training do you feel like you are prepared for a race? Is it covering a distance, pace, MPW, ect?

ATTQOTD: I think probably after my last long run, whatever distance that winds up being. If I'm racing for time, that's as close as I'll get to knowing if my intended pace will work, and if I'm racing just to have fun and finish, that's the point at which I feel confident it can happen.

 

[DopeyBadger]

QOTD: At what point in training do you feel like you are prepared for a race? Is it covering a distance, pace, MPW, ect?

When I have the "it" feeling. It comes at the end of the training plan where you have that sudden feeling of being invincible. It usually only happens once or twice and the hope is that it shows up on race day as well. "It" can also be referred to as the feeling of peaking. It usually comes in 2-3 week windows (i.e. it occurs on one day and then not again for another 2-3 weeks). If I could bottle that feeling up and ran that way all the time it would be glorious!

 

[huskies90]

QOTD: At what point in training do you feel like you are prepared for a race? Is it covering a distance, pace, MPW, etc?

ATTQOTD: I have 2 voices going back and forth in my head. The first voice says I am never prepared until the race is over especially considering the “unexpected” you may have to deal with during the race or leading up to the race (injury, sickness, etc). And now training for my first marathon: Did I train correctly? Will it go how I think it will go? The second voice keeps telling me I am in great shape and have been running for years. In the case of my first marathon, I have followed the plan and just completed 18 miles without really sweating too hard. That voice is already saying “you got this!!”

 

[PrincessV]

Question: anyone else have a car key that's fob and key, all in one - where the key part folds into/out of the fob like a switchblade? If so, have you been able to have a key made that's just the key part? I love my new car, but HATE the all-in-one key/fob! It's big and bulky and heavy, and I'm sick of stuffing it into a Ziploc and then taking up a bunch of room in a pocket while running. I have a keyed lock on my passenger door, so I don't have to use the fob - I just want to use a regular key to lock it and go!

 

[Chasing Dopey]

QOTD: At what point in training do you feel like you are prepared for a race? Is it covering a distance, pace, MPW, ect?

If I get 90% or more of the planned runs and workouts in, I'll feel totally prepared regardless of how those workouts went. However, I typically hit a point during one of the specific runs (long, speed, or tempo) where everything just clicks. When that happens I start to get excited about the race, and begin thinking about how I'm going to attack it.

Side note... I gotta start setting time aside each day to check in with the thread! It is so hard to keep up when life intrudes.

 

[GollyGadget]

QOTD: At what point in training do you feel like you are prepared for a race? Is it covering a distance, pace, MPW, ect?

Interesting question. My prepared level varies greatly. Most races I feel prepared enough to complete the distance regardless how my training went. I just might need to slow it down a bit.

Prepared to meet a time goal is a whole different animal though. For those, I never feel prepared until I'm mid race and on target, even then it can be questionable.

 

[apdebord]

ATTQOTD: I think typically when I’m 75% of the way through the plan, I’m like “yeah, I can do this” but I still have anxiety until the race is over. Tomorrow I’m running 17 miles, so I’m hoping I feel ready after that. Maybe because I know it’s just 9 more miles for a marathon, but 17 just seems like a pivotal moment for me with my first marathon.

Question: anyone else have a car key that's fob and key, all in one - where the key part folds into/out of the fob like a switchblade? If so, have you been able to have a key made that's just the key part? I love my new car, but HATE the all-in-one key/fob! It's big and bulky and heavy, and I'm sick of stuffing it into a Ziploc and then taking up a bunch of room in a pocket while running. I have a keyed lock on my passenger door, so I don't have to use the fob - I just want to use a regular key to lock it and go!

I’m no help but I feel your pain. It’s SO ANNOYING. My previous cars both had the valet key or the option to pop the key out of the fob. But not this one. Do you ever run with a vest or handheld? There’s one zippered pocket on my vest that works, and on my handheld I put it in the pocket on the front of the bottle...but then I have nowhere for nutrition unless I use a belt.

 

[roxymama]

So far behind after the holiday week!!!
ATTQOTD: I usually have a very very very good long run towards the end of my training plan and/or a tempo type run that feels easier than it should. I also can pencil in at least one or two total garbage runs thereafter. But now that I know they are coming I just tell myself it's a good sign. At this point I know I'll finish any race I start, but the that one or two insanely good runs that tell me I'm ready.

 

[Smilelea]

QOTD: At what point in training do you feel like you are prepared for a race? Is it covering a distance, pace, MPW, ect?

ATTQOTD: I'm going with meeting most if not all of my goals with training runs (which I have done up until mid-November) as well as covering the distance. This very thing is what is killing me right now. No running due to shin splints and then short easy runs after 2 weeks is not what is on my original training plan. I most likely will not hit my longest run in my plan before the half and I'm starting to freak out.

I ran my first marathon on very little training due to injury (10-12 mile long run max), so completing that has given me a lot of confidence that I can complete the marathon if training has gone reasonably well.

This gives me some hope for the half in January.

 

[PrincessV]

I’m no help but I feel your pain. It’s SO ANNOYING. My previous cars both had the valet key or the option to pop the key out of the fob. But not this one. Do you ever run with a vest or handheld? There’s one zippered pocket on my vest that works, and on my handheld I put it in the pocket on the front of the bottle...but then I have nowhere for nutrition unless I use a belt.

It's the worst, isn't it?! I don't trust myself not to lose it if it's in any pocket not attached to me or that I use for other things, so it goes into the zippered pocket in the waist of my skirt/tights/capris. But that thing is so heavy, it pulls down my waistband! I, too, miss having a separate valet key. I need to go to Home Depot soon - I may just ask if they can make a duplicate of the key part.

 

[LdyStormy76]

Once again I let DH talk me into the dining plan for this trip. Yes, I should know better at this point. Made all my dining reservations when the window opened, but was aware at the time at some of my choices were "not accepting" the 2019 plan. Talked to a CM in August and she said all the contracts should be finalized by early November, but as of today both Yak & Yeti and all of the Disney Springs restaurants are still "not accepting" the 2019 plan. I'm ready to just change my reservations to an AKL restaurant one of the first two nights (no park pass for those days) and Tusker House (lunch; not thrilled with a buffet idea, but it is what it is) for the day I'm at Animal Kingdom. Anyone run into this situation before? Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

ATTQOTD: For my marathon last December, it happened the morning of the race. I felt tired during the taper. Magically, I woke up around 4 AM on race day, stretched, and thought (and felt) 'I'm ready'. @DopeyBadger had it planned perfectly: I peaked on race morning. I met my goal for the day.

Other times, it has probably been during the last week before the race. No specific event or distance, just completing the plan and healing/recovering during the taper.

 

[FFigawi]

QOTD: At what point in training do you feel like you are prepared for a race? Is it covering a distance, pace, MPW, ect?

I need two thing to know I'm ready for my A race. One, a solid performance on one of my last hard key workouts. For a marathon, this is usually a long run with 3 x 5-mile intervals descending to at or slightly faster than race pace. Two, an absolutely terrible run just before or just after the last hard key workout. I need to have that awful run where nothing goes right happen near the end of training so I can put it behind me and nail the rest.

Question: anyone else have a car key that's fob and key, all in one - where the key part folds into/out of the fob like a switchblade? If so, have you been able to have a key made that's just the key part? I love my new car, but HATE the all-in-one key/fob! It's big and bulky and heavy, and I'm sick of stuffing it into a Ziploc and then taking up a bunch of room in a pocket while running. I have a keyed lock on my passenger door, so I don't have to use the fob - I just want to use a regular key to lock it and go!

My cars with the kind of key fob you mention both came with a small valet key that is just a key. I never use it for the valet, but do use it when running or cycling if necessary.

 

[Novatrix]

It's the worst, isn't it?! I don't trust myself not to lose it if it's in any pocket not attached to me or that I use for other things, so it goes into the zippered pocket in the waist of my skirt/tights/capris. But that thing is so heavy, it pulls down my waistband! I, too, miss having a separate valet key. I need to go to Home Depot soon - I may just ask if they can make a duplicate of the key part.

I have the same type of key and pretty much no choice but to store it in either my "phone pocket" or "nutrition pocket". To help alleive my paranoia of accidentally dropping the key while rummaging for something else, I safety pin it to the insidea of my pocket. Hasn't come undone yet!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I'm going with meeting most if not all of my goals with training runs (which I have done up until mid-November) as well as covering the distance. This very thing is what is killing me right now. No running due to shin splints and then short easy runs after 2 weeks is not what is on my original training plan. I most likely will not hit my longest run in my plan before the half and I'm starting to freak out.

If it helps at all, here's what I did in the summer of 2017. After Dark Side that year, I planned to start training for Light Side 2018 with the goal of increasing my speed for real. Every other time I attempted to increase my speed, I failed but since training would not start until September, I knew I had a few months to experiment. But as no further information from runDisney about the race came, I began to get discouraged. I basically dropped down to running twice a week, but no speed work at all. Then about mid September life got really crazy and I stopped running altogether. And once the cancellation of all west coast races was announced, I didn't have a reason to care just then.

Well, 3 weeks before the Avengers race last year, I decided to do something really insane and quite possibly stupid. Despite having not run at all in 6 weeks and not having run over 4 miles since April, I registered for the Avengers Half Marathon and modified a one month training plan to fit the 3 weeks I had. I'm not particularly fast. My PR is 3:02 and that was at a non Disney race that I set this year. My 3 long runs were approximately 6, 8, and 10 miles on Saturdays and runs anywhere from 3 miles to 5 miles Monday through Friday. I always took Sunday off. I entered the race feeling weirdly confident. I hoped that muscle memory would help carry me across the final 3 miles since I had managed 10 the week before the race. Including some photo stops, I finished.

A couple of months later, my attempts at increasing speed once again met disaster with severe knee pain in mid January and nearly derailed my hopes to finish all 3 Dark Side races in April. Well, with taking roughly 2 weeks off running altogether and returning at slower speeds once I did come back, I had time to recover and finish all 3 Dark Side races.

So that's my longer way of saying that consistent training before your injury will help you keep some, though probably not all fitness, once you return and that you have some time to get back to where you want to be for your race. You may have to adjust any time goals, but you can still finish.

ATTQOTD: That's an interesting one for me. I used to essentially feel prepared after my longest run. But with a @DopeyBadger plan that has me running much shorter than the final race distance, I'm not sure what that will feel like for me this time. As this will be my first marathon, I was probably going to always feel some lack of preparation regardless of how consistent I tried to be in training. But I know I could handle the other components of Dopey this week if I had to, so I hope I'm progressing. I'm glad you asked the question though as it has helped me continue to work through feeling confident in my preparation when that time comes. I know the marathon will challenge me, but I want to believe that having prepared for it using a plan that has worked for many others will give me a reason to have earned the right to be confident. Or at least feel like I can do this even though it may be difficult as opposed to feeling like I'm going to fail.

 

[Disney at Heart]

Question: anyone else have a car key that's fob and key, all in one - where the key part folds into/out of the fob like a switchblade? If so, have you been able to have a key made that's just the key part? I love my new car, but HATE the all-in-one key/fob! It's big and bulky and heavy, and I'm sick of stuffing it into a Ziploc and then taking up a bunch of room in a pocket while running. I have a keyed lock on my passenger door, so I don't have to use the fob - I just want to use a regular key to lock it and go!

I have a fob. I keep it wrapped in plastic wrap because it takes less room than a Zip-lock bag. When I take the car in for service, the service manager looks at me strangely until I say I’m a runner and have to keep the sweat out of it!

 

[flav]

Question: anyone else have a car key that's fob and key, all in one - where the key part folds into/out of the fob like a switchblade? If so, have you been able to have a key made that's just the key part? I love my new car, but HATE the all-in-one key/fob! It's big and bulky and heavy, and I'm sick of stuffing it into a Ziploc and then taking up a bunch of room in a pocket while running. I have a keyed lock on my passenger door, so I don't have to use the fob - I just want to use a regular key to lock it and go!

I used to have a car key like that but the dealer had also provided a « valet » key that was jost a key.

My car now has a key that is like a credit card size and I can take the key apart if I want to.