Marathon thread

[steph08]

Ya, this year I did the marathon in January. 2014 I am doing the Princess Half Marathon (it is actually called the Glass Slipper Challenge - 10k on Saturday and Half on Sunday).

[NancysSummerSip]

Nov 5, 2013 13:40:47 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Ya, this year I did the marathon in January. 2014 I am doing the Princess Half Marathon (it is actually called the Glass Slipper Challenge - 10k on Saturday and Half on Sunday).

OK, you win. I just went

[steph08]

Nov 5, 2013 13:53:45 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Nov 5, 2013 13:40:47 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Ya, this year I did the marathon in January. 2014 I am doing the Princess Half Marathon (it is actually called the Glass Slipper Challenge - 10k on Saturday and Half on Sunday).

OK, you win. I just went

That's nothing! At the WDW Marathon Weekend in January - they have the Goofy Challenge. You do the half marathon on Saturday and then the full marathon on Sunday. I am in awe of those people.

And because that isn't insane enough, they added a new thing this year - the Dopey Challenge. A 5k on Thursday, 10k on Friday, half marathon on Saturday, and full marathon on Sunday. 

[NancysSummerSip]

Nov 5, 2013 14:25:22 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Nov 5, 2013 13:53:45 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

OK, you win. I just went

That's nothing! At the WDW Marathon Weekend in January - they have the Goofy Challenge. You do the half marathon on Saturday and then the full marathon on Sunday. I am in awe of those people.

And because that isn't insane enough, they added a new thing this year - the Dopey Challenge. A 5k on Thursday, 10k on Friday, half marathon on Saturday, and full marathon on Sunday. 

I cannot possibly imagine why they call it the Dopey Challenge. I feel dopey just reading that. And lazy.

[steph08]

I had my half marathon today. I did awesome, if I do say so myself. I ran 1:58:59! My goal has always been to run a sub-2:00 half, and I really didn't think I had it in me since I didn't train too seriously (been doing the miles but no speedwork, etc.). It was cold and windy and rained a little bit. If it hadn't been gusting 25 mph winds right in my face on and off during the last two miles, I might have shaved a few more seconds off my time!

Now I'm just taking it easy. I might do a 5k next month (I am trying to get my mom to walk it, but she is out of shape ) but other than that, just my 10k and half marathon in Disney in February, and I don't race those because I stop for pictures with characters.

[NancysSummerSip]

Steph - I checked in to see if you had posted about your half - dang, that's incredible! That's a nine-minute mile for 13.1 miles!

I did a 5K this weekend, finished fourth out of 11 in my age group. Did well, with my pace around 12:30. Very warm and windy out there; the heat is not an issue for me, but since I am not the most aerodynamically-built person, the wind never helps when I am running into it.

I have a 10 mile run next Saturday for practice, a four-mile race on Thanksgiving, and a 10K December 14. I'll put at least one more 10-mile run in December somewhere. That's it for the year for races and long runs. I still do my speed work on Wednesdays and recovery run Mondays. I'm still debating the swim meet on December 15, the day after the 10K. If I do it, it will be for two, or at the most, three events.

[NancysSummerSip]

So I attempted another 10-miler. Better this time, but still fell short. Got 9.2 miles in. OK, better than last month, where I did about 7 and walked the rest due to pain and nausea. No issues this time, though I am taking in a lot of fluids this afternoon.

[NancysSummerSip]

Hiya Ratchets....I was wondering how that went. Good for you for celebrating the accomplishment, regardless of the time. And yes, the long runs matter. I get in at least two a month right now.

I have a four-mile race Thursday; I've never, in all the years I've done this event, bothered to check my time/place in it. I knew it wasn't good, and it's the only four-mile race I do, so I have nothing to compare it against. But this year, having moved up another age group, could be different.

[steph08]

Good job Ratchets! That is a great time considering you have only been running one day a week!

Good luck on your four-miler Nancy!

I was going to do a turkey trot, but the race closest to me (about 25 minutes away) sold out at the end of October before I had time to make my decision, and I'm not driving an hour on Thanksgiving morning just to run a 5k.

My next "race" is a 5k on the 7th - but I am just walking it with my mom (we'll probably come in last ). It's at a local park and it's run at night when all the Christmas decorations are lit up so that will be nice. She always wants to go there to drive through the park to see the decorations, which we've never done, now I've forced her to walk the park and see them!

[NancysSummerSip]

Aw, what a nice idea - a run/walk so you can see the holiday lights! We have one of those, but it's about an hour's drive south in a big park near the Turnpike.

Weather should be perfect tomorrow - in the low 60s at race time. And to top it all off...one of the neighbors is hosting a Bloody Mary bar from 10 a.m. to noon tomorrow. Isn't that nice of them? I'll be back just in time to drink breakfast!

[NancysSummerSip]

Goodness, everyone is busy (or hibernating)!

Next run is a 10K on the 14th and a (short) swim meet on the 15th. Never tried these back-to-back before, so I hope I'm not going off the deep end with this.

I had lunch with my Disney half-marathon friend a couple of weeks ago, and should see him for breakfast on the 15th, after the meet. Oh, freaking, heck. No racing yet, and nowhere near enough running/training.

[steph08]

Nancy, good luck on the 10k! Sorry about your friend. He really should have at least done a 10k to submit a time for Disney. If you don't submit a time, you are in the last few corrals. Submitting any time at all will move you forward, which in turn gives you a lot more time on the course. Example: Disney requires a 16 minute/mile pace. However, they start sweeping those behind that pace after the last corral starts. If you are 10 corrals ahead of the last corral and each corral has 5 minutes in between, you get an extra 50 minutes on the course. So while 3.25 hours should be the time limit for you to finish, you actually have over 4 hours because they don't start sweeping until the last person crosses the start line.

I finished within the 7 hour window for the marathon in January, but I was glad that I had a time that put me in corral C once I got the flu and could not run anywhere near my normal pace. I really had something like 8 hours to finish because of the time buffer.

[NancysSummerSip]

Tell me about it. I did point that out to him. I would hate to be swept off the course. ANY course. It's just a pride thing, yanno?

Anyhoo, there's a marathon/1/2 marathon this weekend, which I am not running, but did volunteer to come in early and work setup. I was planning to get up and run anyway, so why not? I  figure I'll do the work, go run and go home.

[steph08]

Did my 5k this past Saturday with my mom. She is out of shape. Even walking, I probably could have shaved at least 5 minutes off my time if I had left her behind. But I'm a good daughter.

We had fun, though the parts of the course were dark and they were still letting cars drive through the lights display (they couldn't have held them off for an hour?) so it was dangerous at times! It was cold, but I was dressed warmly and it wasn't too bad.

Our time was a little after 1:05 for the 5k. I can run that almost 40 minutes faster, so I kind of felt like a slacker. Plus if I had run my previous 5k time, I would have placed 2nd in my age group out of 35 runners! Argh! Oh well. More than 400 participants, and we weren't last, so that was good.

[NancysSummerSip]

Aw, Steph, that was nice of you to go with your mom. I did exactly one race with my DH. I ran, he walked. He said he'd never do another one, because he felt like crap about being last. Really? You walked a 5K, and you felt bad about it?

I've got my last race of the year (10K) Saturday and a swim meet Sunday. I normally do not do these things back-to-back, but then again, this is it for the year. I've also joined the board of the local road runners club.

[Cookies Galore]

I guess everyone has been taking the winter off?

I just did my first run/walk since early December. I somehow managed to get pertussis last month so I have been out of commission for five weeks. Who gets whooping cough anymore?! Luckily, I did get the Tdap booster earlier in 2013 so I didn't have it as bad as I could have (so my doctor told me), but I don't want to know how it could have been worse! Anyway, I'm glad I was on rest for a little over a month as opposed to the two months I was worried about. This was supposed to be my ass kicking year and starting 2014 on my ass was not what I wanted! I tried going to for a walk a couple of weeks ago but after a couple of miles I started coughing hard enough to throw up and hubs had to pick me up, lol.

Onward to today. I decided today was the day I was going to ease back into running. I was so happy to be outside on the trail (we live along a fantastic bike/runner trail that leads into Philly) that I ended up doing four miles! The first two I felt great, the second two were a big mistake, lol, but I managed to run/walk those four miles without any major issues! Once I got home I had a mild coughing fit, so I probably have to resign myself to the elliptical machine at the gym for a little bit, but I am ready to start kicking some running ass this year!

[steph08]

Good job Meghan, just don't overdo it after being so sick!

I am still running, with some walking mixed in. I've been on the treadmill for a month or so because of the cold and snow. Plus, I went and got myself knocked up, so I am not risking a fall.

DH is being really protective and won't let me run my 10k/half marathon combo races at Disney next month. Ok, by "won't let me," I mean he would really prefer that I didn't run them and that "couldn't I just this once please do something he asks?"  I finally agreed to defer to next year, though I am still in fine shape to run them. That's what makes me mad, but I really never listen to him so I might as well this time since I am carrying his spawn.

But my mom and I are still going to take a short vacation and do the 5k. I need to get out of this frozen tundra!

Nancy - how did your friend do at the WDW Half Marathon yesterday?!

[NancysSummerSip]

Hiya Steph...glad to hear all is well with you.

He did it! Finished close to the end (around 18,000 out of 20,000 or so runners) with a net time of 3:36:35. His clock time was close the 4 1/2 hours, but it's the actual running time that matters. I am pretty impressed, given that he never did run a qualifier, or any other race for that matter, prior to Disney.

[Cookies Galore]

Good job on getting knocked up Steph!

[NancysSummerSip]

I never thought of Steph as someone looking for an excuse to get out of a run. Getting preggers sure seems a tad drastic, no?

Got an email from my friend. He's tired (he had to drive three hours home and go back to work the day after Disney) but not bad otherwise. And of course, NOW he says he wishes he'd trained a little more.

[steph08]

Jan 14, 2014 10:37:11 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I never thought of Steph as someone looking for an excuse to get out of a run. Getting preggers sure seems a tad drastic, no?

Got an email from my friend. He's tired (he had to drive three hours home and go back to work the day after Disney) but not bad otherwise. And of course, NOW he says he wishes he'd trained a little more.

Hey - I want to run, badly. And I'm trained. But I am trying to take my husband's opinion into consideration (for once in my life).

[NancysSummerSip]

Jan 14, 2014 10:55:26 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Jan 14, 2014 10:37:11 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I never thought of Steph as someone looking for an excuse to get out of a run. Getting preggers sure seems a tad drastic, no?

Got an email from my friend. He's tired (he had to drive three hours home and go back to work the day after Disney) but not bad otherwise. And of course, NOW he says he wishes he'd trained a little more.

Hey - I want to run, badly. And I'm trained. But I am trying to take my husband's opinion into consideration (for once in my life).

Why? I mean, he's just the spawn (sperm) donor, after all. He's done his bit, now all he has to do is wait until delivery.

But seriously, you have to do what you and your body and your doctor figure is right. I've seen pregnant women run, and run very well. And I know it's controversial. But I think it's up to the individual. You do whatever is good for you. And are you going to name the little one Nike or Adidas, by the way?

[steph08]

My doctor says I can keep running, and I still am doing anywhere between 10 and 20 miles/week.  I haven't had any problems, so I just keep chugging along.

Hmmmm, Nike or Adidas. I only wear New Balance shoes, but that isn't a good name.  

[NancysSummerSip]

Jan 14, 2014 11:07:01 GMT -5 steph08 said:

My doctor says I can keep running, and I still am doing anywhere between 10 and 20 miles/week.  I haven't had any problems, so I just keep chugging along.

Hmmmm, Nike or Adidas. I only wear New Balance shoes, but that isn't a good name.  

How about NewBee (NB, the initials)?

I mean, the Kardashian chick calls her kid Nori (short for North), so why not go with something odd?

Of course, if it's a boy, go with something obvious, like SweatSock.

[steph08]

SmartWool it is!

[NancysSummerSip]

Jan 14, 2014 11:36:26 GMT -5 steph08 said:

SmartWool it is!

OMG! LMAO!!!!!!!!!! I can see it now:

Mr. and Mrs. SeasonalSteph would like to announce the birth of their bouncing baby boy SmartWool.

Seven pounds, six ounces, plus a few extra ounces for his baby New Balance shoes, which he was born with, of course.

Mom and baby are off and running. Dad is exhausted and planning to take a few months off to recover from all the stress.

[NancysSummerSip]

OK, so my last long run will be next Sunday, the 26th. Then, with three weeks until the half-marathon, I'll still be running, but tapering down. And watching what I eat. I cannot really improve on much of anything at this point, but I can keep from being stupid, I guess.

[NancysSummerSip]

OK, I might be screwed. I was hoping to get 12 miles in. But a sick stomach Saturday shortened my Sunday run to only 9 miles. Crap. Literally and figuratively. I still have next Sunday to try again.

[steph08]

Nancy - if you can do 9/10, you can do 13.1.

My latest half marathon, where I got my PR, I only did up to 11.  First time, I also only trained up to 11.

[NancysSummerSip]

Jan 27, 2014 15:40:30 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Nancy - if you can do 9/10, you can do 13.1.

My latest half marathon, where I got my PR, I only did up to 11.  First time, I also only trained up to 11.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Steph. I still plan to give the 12 miler one more shot next Sunday. I'll make sure I eat only what's familiar and homemade on Saturday. I ate at a restaurant last Saturday afternoon; one I did not know, but part of a chain I've been to before. An hour or so later, I was viciously sick. And could not eat anything else that day to reload my energy, so by nine miles, I was just out of fuel, yanno?