The Running Thread - 2019

All of this race talk has me dreaming of future races!
For those that have ran both marathons, would you recommend Chicago or NYC?

I have done both Chicago (3 times) and NYC (2 times), and they are both worth being on your marathon bucket list. The crowds are absolutely amazing at both. Chicago is flat and fast, so a good PR opportunity. Chicago is also neat in that you get a good look at the various neighborhoods. NYC is unique and fun (although highly unlikely to be a PR opportunity)... hitting all five boroughs, running bridges, turning onto 1st Ave, and ending in Central Park (although you may curse the hills once or twice at the end of the race). Both are awesome events and have great energy!
 
Boo, I just got an email that I didn't get in through the 50 for 50 drawing at NYC. I mean, of course not, but still. Maybe I can pull out of the NYC lottery and do Chicago instead? Seems flatter and maybe funner? I know so many people who have done NYC and say it's tougher than you think. And I'm the World's Laziest Distance Runner TM so maybe Chicago is more my speed.

I've a fairly lazy run and have done Chicago and NY. While I had a lot of fun with Chicago I think NY is just at a whole different level.

Pros: Chicago
Much easier logistically. We stayed at the Hilton across the street so it was really easy to get to the start. (NY requires a bus or a ferry/bus to the start and there is a really long walk post race.)
Normal Start Time. (Chicago has a typical morning start it's not as early as Disney, but most people can treat it like a normal run with their routines) NY requires a fairly early morning to get out to the bridge. It takes a little more planning to be up at 5 and out the door 4+ hours before you start running.
Fast course.
Less crowded Course

Pros NY:
Views from the bridges of the city are really incredible
Both have good crowd support, but NY is over the top it's like a 26.2 mile party.
NY has a great atmosphere.

I like both races, but I've spent money to run NY 3 times and I've only run Chicago once.
 
I've only ran Chicago once and it was a rainy morning. There was still a ton of crowd support, but as a Chicagoan I know how much bigger the field of spectators gets on a nice day because I have been one before.

I'm sure NYC would be pretty great for me since it would be a brand new experience, but if I do another out of town marathon it's gonna be in Orlando. And then if for some reason I felt compelled to do another one it'd be at the Flying Pig bc family is there.
 




Black Friday heads up.....In case anyone is looking to order a new device, Best Buy ad preview is showing the Garmin 35 ($100) 235 ($150) Fenix 5x ($300). I expect others will discount similarly.

This mention of Garmin reminded me... are others still having trouble posting to Garmin from the phone app? This has been going on for at least a week for me. Very annoying. I have heard that you can post from the website, but the whole point of the phone app is convenience.

And I may have to keep an eye out for a sale on the Fenixes. I've been annoyed lately at the relatively short battery life on my VA3.
 
This mention of Garmin reminded me... are others still having trouble posting to Garmin from the phone app? This has been going on for at least a week for me. Very annoying. I have heard that you can post from the website, but the whole point of the phone app is convenience.

And I may have to keep an eye out for a sale on the Fenixes. I've been annoyed lately at the relatively short battery life on my VA3.

I still have to turn the phone off after every run and force close the Garmin Connect app. After restarting both (phone, then Connect), the run will download. It's annoying, but I'm not going to be too upset as long as the workaround is successful. I think @OldSlowGoofyGuy reported his troubles started after an update. Hopefully, they're working on a fix for that.
 
ATTQOTD Throwaway Clothes: I used to just deal with it in the corrals before races since once I start, I warm up pretty fast. But then I tried the cheap fleece hoodie from Walmart before a race and loved it. So now if a race might have cold weather I just do that knowing that it will be donated. For that reason alone, I always try to buy normal colors.

Race reports from @michigandergirl and others over the years have me tempted to enter the lottery but I haven't done it yet...
So many race reports were what finally pushed me into seriously considering the marathon.
Every year I am like "This is my last runDisney race for *a while*"..... But Marathon Weekend and Wine & Dine are just too much fun. Can they just bring back Disneyland races now or what.
Amen to that sentiment. Back in the early fall of 2017 I was contemplating "retiring" from races altogether after the cancellation of Disneyland races. I had achieved my Star Wars race dreams, so I was content there and could go out on top with my final race being the Star Wars Dark Side which also gave me Kessel Run and 10th Anniversary Coast to Coast. Next thing you know, I signed up for Avengers with just 3 weeks to train for it, and wound up registering for 2018 Dark Side even before I ran Avengers. And then 2018 Dark Side wound up being a test of sorts for Dopey 2019.

With the 2021 schedule out, I may only do the Star Wars Virtual Race. Rival Run weekend is definitely out because of the timing. Maybe marathon weekend, but I'm currently not in the mood to contemplate another marathon. I suppose Wine & Dine is still possible (and might be a great excuse to see WDW during its 50th anniversary, but that depends on when that race weekend falls.
 
This mention of Garmin reminded me... are others still having trouble posting to Garmin from the phone app? This has been going on for at least a week for me. Very annoying. I have heard that you can post from the website, but the whole point of the phone app is convenience.

And I may have to keep an eye out for a sale on the Fenixes. I've been annoyed lately at the relatively short battery life on my VA3.
So, I’m still unable to connect to the app. It looks like it is probably a problem from their last app update/iOS 13. My last phone sync was before my race on October 27th, which I think may have been the day of their last update. After I read the reviews on the Apple App Store, I realized that I’m definitely not the only one with this issue. I got a response from Garmin, and they are apparently working on it. They indicated that they added me to their system and will notify me when fixed.
 
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So, I’m still unable to connect to the app. It looks like it is probably a problem from their last app update/iOS 13. My last phone sync was before my race on October 27th.l, which I think may have been the day of their last update. After I read the reviews on the Apple App Store, I realized that I’m definitely not the only one with this issue. I got a response from Garmin, and they are apparently working on it. They indicated that they added me to their system and will notify me when fixed.

I haven't been able to sync since the last update either. I hope they fix it soon. My techy DH was able to get it to sync once somehow, but we've not been able to do it again. Super frustrating!
 
New Garmin app update appeared on my iPhone this morning. I wasn't having the kinds of problems @MissLiss279 is but worth a try updating your Garmin app
Yep. I was just coming to say that Garmin emailed me that there was an update. I’m in the process of trying to sync. It’s taking a while, but there is almost two weeks of stuff to sync...
 
This mention of Garmin reminded me... are others still having trouble posting to Garmin from the phone app? This has been going on for at least a week for me. Very annoying. I have heard that you can post from the website, but the whole point of the phone app is convenience.

And I may have to keep an eye out for a sale on the Fenixes. I've been annoyed lately at the relatively short battery life on my VA3.

Quoting myself, because I just realized that I meant "posting comments to Garmin from the phone app". Sheesh. Fortunately my activities are posting. But still, the fun part is cheering each other on.
 
I have to restart my Garmin to get it to sync a run to the iPhone app. It’s not all the time though. Weird.

Just last night, my Garmin wouldn't sync my activity. Re-starting the Garmin did fix that. But fortunately that's the first time it's happened for me. I have an Android phone.
 

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