The Running Thread - 2019

ATTQOTD: I ran a small 10K in Nov 2016 and it was so miserable. The course was a boring out and back with very few 10K runners, but what made it bad was the awful WIND. All runners get a sweatshirt and a pretty decent spread post-run, so someday when I wear through my sweatshirt, I will do it again to get vengeance on that wind.
 
QOTD: Yesterday afternoon I had thought of a really great question, and of course I did not write it down and forgot it lol. So instead I offer this question. Is there a race you have done where you didn't have your best day or had not properly trained and would like another try at it? If so what is the race and is it likely you will be able to try it again?

I punked out during a Bears 5k years ago. I started out what I thought was too fast even though I felt normal and was actually on PR pace at the time. I started taking short walk breaks after mile 2 because I had convinced myself I was going too fast and was going to burn out or something. I don't fully remember. But I was so mad at myself at the end of it because in hindsight it would have been a PR. It was also really hot so maybe my brain was fried. Got a PR a few months later so don't feel the need to go back but grrrr. It was a good lesson in not getting caught up with my watch. Also that it's ok to feel terrible for a mile to get a good time.
 
QOTD: Yesterday afternoon I had thought of a really great question, and of course I did not write it down and forgot it lol. So instead I offer this question. Is there a race you have done where you didn't have your best day or had not properly trained and would like another try at it? If so what is the race and is it likely you will be able to try it again?
I can’t say that yet really. I haven’t done a ton of different races and only do a few races a year.
 
I had that with the WDW marathon - being sick in 2015 and even worse sick in 2016. All I wanted was to redo it and not be sick. I skipped 2017. So then when I ran it again in 2018 healthy I cried down Main St, silly, but I was so emotional. Otherwise, I can't think of any other races except if I could go back to some High School Cross Country races and redo them because I'm a wiser runner now, but I don't have a time machine.
 


QOTD: Yesterday afternoon I had thought of a really great question, and of course I did not write it down and forgot it lol. So instead I offer this question. Is there a race you have done where you didn't have your best day or had not properly trained and would like another try at it? If so what is the race and is it likely you will be able to try it again?

The 2018 Chicago Marathon is my "unfinished business" race. It was like a perfect storm of disastrous preparation and circumstances. Most of my training was done during an extremely hot and humid summer here in NC. That's not usually too bad, but at the time I was involved an extremely stressful and time consuming project at work, so I wasn't getting enough sleep to support my training. On top of the training deficiencies, I got bitten by a dog on my last training run 3 days before the race, had to talk the doctors out of putting me on antibiotics with a side effect of ruptured Achilles tendons and as a compromise was cleaning and re-dressing the punctures myself a couple of times a day to stave off potential infection. Race day arrived not too hot, but humid. I started the race at my target pace, not knowing what else to really do, given the training deficiencies and bite, and it turned out to be way too fast. I felt flat, like I had no jump in my legs and no adrenaline in my system. After weathering a couple of downpours during the race, the fast start began to get to me and the last 8 miles or so turned into a death march as I watched my pace bleed away as I tried desperately to hang on to whatever speed I could. It was the most frustrating and disappointing race I've run to date. Funnily enough, I ended up with a 2 minute PR, but it's been hard to truly enjoy that as an accomplishment knowing that I should have been 10+ minutes faster. I don't know if I'll get to avenge that feeling at that race, given the expense of it, but I do plan to take a run at a new marathon PR this winter to hopefully take the bad taste associated with the current PR out of my mouth.
 
QOTD: Yesterday afternoon I had thought of a really great question, and of course I did not write it down and forgot it lol. So instead I offer this question. Is there a race you have done where you didn't have your best day or had not properly trained and would like another try at it? If so what is the race and is it likely you will be able to try it again?

Last year I did this 10k that was actually a huge elevation gain for the first 3 miles and then back down, but I didn't realize it until I was racing it. That whole race sucked even if I did get a 10k PR but not hit my goal. And F no to ever doing that race again.
 


These came today!

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100% correct. Everyone is on different spots in their journey. Often times the couch to 5k is the hardest step because that person is changing habits. Once you get hooked on running the longer distances are more often a mental hurdle than anything.
I agree with this. After I had 4 or 5 half marathons under my belt and learned a lot more about running, I came to believe that I could finish a marathon. However, long training runs for half marathons made me question if I actually wanted to run a marathon.

Is there a race you have done where you didn't have your best day or had not properly trained and would like another try at it? If so what is the race and is it likely you will be able to try it again?
2018 San Francisco Giant Race. My first non runDisney event, so I knew I had a good chance at a PR. Training went fine, but a variety of life circumstances piled up especially in the last 2 weeks before the race leaving me both mentally and physically spent on race day. I ended up having to death march the race over the last 10 miles or so. Still got that PR, but felt like I had failed for a few days afterwards.

I suppose you could say I have a 2 part plan to avenge that race. Part 1 came at the WDW Marathon/Dopey. Mostly because I came to realize that my failures at the Giant Race became invaluable preparation for my first marathon. It exposed a lot of little things that I had been doing for years in half marathons that could have been disastrous in the marathon.

It's a learning process folks. Some people like me just take longer to learn than others.
Very true. There's so much more I can learn, but I have come to believe that when you accept the learning curve and the patience that comes with figuring it out, you can have much more enjoyable races.

My feeling with races (so far) has been as long as I finish, I am pretty happy.
I struggle to balance the reality of this belief with my wondering if I can get better.

but I do plan to take a run at a new marathon PR this winter to hopefully take the bad taste associated with the current PR out of my mouth.
And now we come to part 2 of my above mentioned plan. I'm running the Giant Race this year and hope to have the race I dreamed of this time around through applying all the lessons I learned from last year. Then again, I also signed up for the Giant Race 5K that starts at 11:00am since it comes with a shiny new challenge medal if you finish both races, so maybe I'll need to conserve for that race.

These came today!
Those are cool. Congratulations!
 
ATTQOTD: Crawlin’ Crab Half 2017. It was a training run technically so I can’t be to hard on myself, but it was unseasonably hot and humid for Columbus Day weekend. I can typically handle it but those combined with no cloud coverage made for a miserable day. First and only race I’ve ever had leg cramps and dumped water on my head. I signed up for it again in 2018 to seek my revenge but it was the same forecast, so I dropped to the 5K option. Someday though I will return!
 
ATTQOTD: Tobacco Road Marathon a couple years ago. It was a perfect storm of bad race stuff. I went into the race knowing I was slightly undertrained, but I still tried to hold my target pace, it was warmer than usual, I didn't properly fuel and I had GI issues. The first 10 or 12 miles were great but it went down hill fast. I had 4 or 5 port a potty visits in the last half of the race and I was dehydrated. I finished but miles 12-24 ish were absolutely terrible.
 
ATTQOTD: RNR San Francisco 2015. First race I ever had IT band issues. Took the down hills (mountains, I think they were mountains) too fast. By mile 6 I had to walk the downhills backwards. Only race I’ve ever truly thought about quitting. I didn’t though. I pushed through and finished but it was ugly. I got redemption in 2016 and shaved 30 minutes off my time.
 
I struggle to balance the reality of this belief with my wondering if I can get better.
Don't get me wrong. I am all for setting goals and getting better. I turned 50 last summer and since then I have ran my fastest half marathon in November, ran my first marathon in January and I am shooting to break my November half PR next month. As long as I finish a race without issues/injuries, I guess I just don't get down on myself when I miss out on a goal. Which also happens like it did in April when I was trying to PR the Star Wars 10K and place in my age group but hit a wall at mile 4 and came up short. Of course now that @dtrain posted pics of the awesome plaque I didn't get, I feel a bit worse. Thanks @dtrain :(

Just kidding...Congratulations. The plaques are really cool!! :)
 
ATTQOTD: Still fresh....I want a redo of Boston.....without a stress fracture in my hip. I would be totally okay with running it at an easy-ish pace, but I want to RUN the entire thing and not walk any of it like I did last month. I specifically trained to be prepared for the hills, and I am still angry/disappointed/frustrated that I could not compete the way that I wanted. And it doesn't matter that I have run Boston before. All that matters is the crappy race I had and the prospect of not running any more marathons that has me totally dissatisfied.
 
Don't get me wrong. I am all for setting goals and getting better. I turned 50 last summer and since then I have ran my fastest half marathon in November, ran my first marathon in January and I am shooting to break my November half PR next month. As long as I finish a race without issues/injuries, I guess I just don't get down on myself when I miss out on a goal.
I think you encapsulated it well. I think it's important to set goals in running so as to provide motivation when motivation is waning or a push in the right direction when we need it. I hit a rough spot in marathon training last November that had me really down on myself for a while. I wound up deciding to skip a day of training just to get my mind right. Honestly, had I not been registered for the marathon already, that skipped day might well have turned into skipped weeks and/or never attempting the marathon at all. So I think part of setting goals is making sure they're the right goals and learning how to better cope when those goals aren't met. Improvement is good. Getting down on ourselves can cause more problems.
 
ATTQOTD: The Bolingbrook St. Paddy Half Marathon. When I signed up for it I figured that 8 weeks post marathon, with a pretty flat course, pacers and most likely decent cold weather and I would have a good shot at being able to drop my half marathon time a few minutes. Never dreamed that I would end up with a blister courtesy of WWOS that would take 3 weeks to heal enough that I could put non-sandal or soft side shoes on and 2 more weeks for the skin underneath to stop needing to be bandaged while in regular shoes. While my race was not a disgrace it was not what I hoped for. If DH is agreeable, and if I can get my training back in gear, I might get a do over in 2020 if we can organize other reasons for me to be back in the Chicago area that weekend (moving sucks).
 

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