Pandemic Running Thoughts (Comments Welcome)

So after a great tempo run yesterday, I head out today for a 5-mile easy run and what do I do after about 1/2 a mile? Twist my ankle. I got to a point in the path where there was a fork and I had to make a decision about which way to go. My ankle must have gotten confused and I went over on it. It's not bad. I ran 3 miles on it and it didn't swell up or anything when I took my shoe off. Just a bit sore at the moment, although I'm going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg with DW and the in-laws this afternoon/evening. Hopefully I'll be able to get a full night's rest and do my 6-miler tomorrow.
 
So after a great tempo run yesterday, I head out today for a 5-mile easy run and what do I do after about 1/2 a mile? Twist my ankle. I got to a point in the path where there was a fork and I had to make a decision about which way to go. My ankle must have gotten confused and I went over on it. It's not bad. I ran 3 miles on it and it didn't swell up or anything when I took my shoe off. Just a bit sore at the moment, although I'm going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg with DW and the in-laws this afternoon/evening. Hopefully I'll be able to get a full night's rest and do my 6-miler tomorrow.
Oh no! Take it easy!
 
So after a great tempo run yesterday, I head out today for a 5-mile easy run and what do I do after about 1/2 a mile? Twist my ankle. I got to a point in the path where there was a fork and I had to make a decision about which way to go. My ankle must have gotten confused and I went over on it. It's not bad. I ran 3 miles on it and it didn't swell up or anything when I took my shoe off. Just a bit sore at the moment, although I'm going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg with DW and the in-laws this afternoon/evening. Hopefully I'll be able to get a full night's rest and do my 6-miler tomorrow.

Ice it!!
 
If you decide to try tomorrow and the ankle protests, rest it some more especially this close to the marathon. Get better!
 


2 Weeks to WDW Marathon
No Turning Back!

It's coming up fast, isn't it! This week has been full of struggles, but I"ve gotten in most of the miles I expected to run.

Monday, December 24 - 3.1 miles 13:45/mile - This run was supposed to be 5 miles. I started out with my wife who's getting ready to run the 5k with me and we did one loop around the area my in-laws live in that runs about 3.25 miles, stopping once we hit the 3.1 mile mark. We peppered in a bunch of walk breaks and I deliberately went slowly so my wife could manage the distance (she can run faster, but tends to burn herself out by going to fast and running out of gas). That said, my legs were still feeling rough from the 15 miles on Saturday so I called it a day after 3.1 miles.

Tuesday, December 25 - 8.4 miles strength workout. Nothing like saying "Merry Christmas" than with 8.4 miles of running! This workout had a mile warmup, four 1.5mile intervals around 11:05/mile and .25miles of recovery in between. I used the handy "manual lap" feature for the first time on my Garmin, and, when I used it right, it worked like a charm. So at 11:05/mile, each 1.5 mile interval was supposed to run around 16:38. Interval 1: 16:16; Interval 2: 17:00; Interval 3: 16:11; Interval 4: 17:35. So not exactly even. But I lived. It was also tough to gauge pace on this particular path which has a lot of small ups and downs and you have to watch your footing with tree roots upending the asphalt frequently.

Wednesday, December 26 - rest! Happy Boxing Day!

Thursday, December 27 - 9.7 miles at 11:29/mile. This was a 10-mile tempo run and I finally felt strong after fully recovering from the 15-miler on the weekend. Tempo was supposed to be 11:25-27, but actual times per mile: 11:11, 11:05, 10:46, 11:00, 11:02, 11:11, 11:02, 11:22. I felt quite strong through this whole run, giving me a lot of confidence for the upcoming marathon.

Friday, December 28 - 3.0 miles at 13:56/mile. Uh oh. I twisted my ankle on this run and cut it short to just 3 miles after deciding that that was enough for the day. I also spent the day with my wife and in-laws at Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Christmas Town theme park. It was pretty fun but miserably raining and I thought it was a good test to go and spend a day at theme park, on your feet most of the time to get some of that experience into my legs!

Saturday, December 29 - 6.0 miles at 13:10/mile. Not bad. Felt a bit sluggish but treated it as I needed to get some time in on dead legs.

Sunday, December 30 - 10.0 miles at 12:47/mile. The last three miles were tough as I slowed considerably but I toughed it out. Again, telling myself that I needed to experience running on dead/tired legs to get mentally ready for the marathon. It's not all going to be sunshine and roses.

And that's the week. One more week in Virginia and we head to Florida (via Charleston to visit my wife's aunt)! Gotta make it in time for our Hoop-dee-doo reservation next Sunday!
 
Midweek Update (and possibly the last update until after the marathon)

I was going to have my last tempo run today (8 miles tempo, plus 1m WU, 1m CD) but I got a cold yesterday and, while the cold is really mild and I made it a point to get a lot of sleep last night (9 1/2 hours, been only getting 6.5-7.5 hours most of the past 2 weeks), I cut the tempo run to an easy 5 miler to get the taper into high (low) gear.

Because of travel considerations and having to leave Charleston (where I'll be visiting my wife's aunt) early in the AM Sunday to get to Orlando in time to get to Hoop-Dee-Doo, I'm thinking of moving my 8-miler for Sunday to Saturday morning and then getting in a quick, 3 miler on Sunday if I can before leaving. Then getting in short runs (3-4 miles or so) during the week will be tough with 4 days of park time.

I've also started some heat acclimatization. Tuesday's run was about 70+ degrees but I felt pretty good, except for the fact that I was running my 1 mile intervals faster than I should have and the last interval was really tough. Today (Thursday), I wore an extra layer and long pants despite not really needing to. Felt hot while I was running, so that should help prepare. I'll do the same Friday (wear the extra layer) and Saturday and then, if I run Sunday, it'll either be in Charleston or Orlando.

It's getting close!

Special thanks to @DopeyBadger for all his advice along the way!
 


I'm halfway back home to Toronto (stopped for the night after a LONG day on the road at my in-laws in Virginia). Official time was 5:39:24 and it was my worst marathon both in terms of my time and how I felt during it.

In the race recap, I'll talk about why I think things went south from a training point of view and from a race-day and race-week point of view and where I see things going from here.

On the bright side. My wife had a blast during the 5k (during the race, mind you . . . . in the cold wait for the race to start, not so much). And I felt great. We took things at a slow pace for much of the run, walking where my wife felt it was necessary and I opened up the legs for the last quarter mile or so. I think our time was around 44:00 but I forgot to stop my watch at the finish line....
 
WDW Marathon (and 5K and Trip) Recap pt. 1

Sunday, January 6, 2019:

We arrived in Orlando! Driving in from Charleston, SC where we spent the night with my wife's aunt, we arrived at our (offsite) hotel and immediately went to Fort Wilderness for Hoop-Dee-Doo! It was our first time attending and we had a blast. And OMG that fried chicken! After Hoop-Dee-Doo, we went to Walmart to get some essentials and groceries.

Monday, January 7, 2019

Hollywood Studios! We rope dropped and were near the front group of the queue waiting inside the main street area. We stayed in the first group of maybe 100 people and proceeded immediately to Slinky Dog Dash since we weren’t able to get a fastpass. Lo and behold, we were on the ride within 5 minutes of arriving at the area and rode quickly. Getting off the ride, we overheard a son saying “Let’s do it again!” whereas the father replied in a southern drawl, “I ain’t getting in that there line.”

I’m trying to be brief with this so I won’t go into a play by play of our time in Hollywood Studios but here are the highlights:

-Slinky Dog: great rollercoaster! Super fun!
-Aliens Swirling Saucers – really fun but we would have liked to have done it at night
- Tower of Terror – even better than I remembered it
-we weren’t willing to wait out the lines for Rock n’Rollercoaster
-Frozen Sing Along show was a lot of fun!-Got pictures with BB8 and Chewbacca!
-Saw Fantasmic for the first time and it was amazing! Really enjoyed it!

Tuesday, January 8, 2019:

Epcot! Rope dropped and got a great performance by the Jammitors! FP+s were Frozen Ever After (hadn’t seen it before), Mission: Space and Spaceship Earth

-Went to Test Track immediately but were told when we got there that it was opening late.
-Went to Soarin and rode that! I noticed the distortion in the images when you’re not in the middle for the first time. Bummer, but still pretty awesome
-After a Mickey Whoopie Pie at Sunshine Seasons, and Livin with the Land, we went to World Showcase and saw more of the detail in the Norway pavillion before FEA (which was great but stopped for a couple of minutes in front of Elsa).
-Did more World Showcase then went to Mission Space, the Seas, and Spaceship Earth
-Dinner at Tangierine. Yum.
-Made it a point to see more of the shows at the World Showcase like the acrobats in China and mime in Italy and rock band in England.
-Got a last-minute FP+ for Test Track and, when they got there, they were down but it sounded like they were testing it. Finally rode it for the first time! It's a big rush!
-Saw Illuminations for what will be our last time.

Wednesday, January 9 2019:

We had a bit of a sleep in then checked out of our hotel. We had an early lunch at Jerusalem Shawarma and Falafel and bought some Turkish coffee at one of the small Middle-Eastern grocery stores in that plaza. Then went to Walmart for some cheaper Disney clothes and went to the expo!

So impressed by the expo this year! Things went so smoothly and the crowds (especially getting in and out of the parking lot) were a breeze.

Checked in to Pop Century and promptly headed to our reservation at ‘Ohana. They seated us at the window overlooking the lake and we loved the view! And the food! OMG, the grilled chicken and steak were to die for. My wife loved the Lo Mein. The price tag was steep but worth it!

Then we filled our mugs with tea at Captain Cook’s and walked over to the Grand Floridian and sat in the lobby for a bit. We returned to the Polynesian to watch the fireworks and went back to Pop.

Thursday, January 10 2019:

My wife and I got up at 2:30am for the 5K (ok, I might have stayed in bed for an extra 15 minutes since it doesn't take me as long to get ready) and we breakfasted on some oatmeal. We headed out the door and caught the bus at Pop Century at around 3:45.

I was very glad for my "Arthur Dent" costume. As I turned 42 on the weekend that preceded Marathon Weekend, I decided that I would race as "Arthur Dent" from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as the #42 plays an important role in that classic piece of literature. Wearing my thrift store plaid bathrobe and carrying a towel, I accompanied my wife, wearing a tutu and tiara (in addition to many layers of clothing), we journeyed to the start line.

After going to the corrals, we waited in the cold. and waited. and waited. Fortunately, I had my bathrobe to help keep warm and my towel to use as my hand warmers while my wife had a hoodie that she was going to run in.

Once the race got under way, we continued to wait from Corral C and eventually started at 6:20am. We were off! I tried to keep my wife from running to fast and we had a nice pace going, walking only a couple of times throughout the race. Then it was into Epcot! and we got to see a gorgeous sunrise. With about .25 miles to go, I opened up the pace a bit, leading my wife to the finish of her first ever race! We joined hands and crossed the finish line together and I forgot to stop my watch until after we had gotten our medals, so our time of 44:07 on my Garmin wasn't exactly accurate.

All in all, we had fun and my wife enjoyed the experience but hated the cold and waiting around. I don't blame her for that.

After the race, we napped, then drove over to Coronado Springs for my birthday present to my wife, a massage at La Vida Spa. After the massage, we went to Disney Springs and window shopped and had lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express (taking advantage of the free fro yo for race participants). We then spent the early evening at the resort before going to Port Orleans French Quarter to have dinner at Sassagoula. Delicious!
 
WDW Marathon (and 5K and Trip) Recap Part 2

Friday, January 11 2019:

Magic Kingdom! We were running a bit late but managed to make our Be Our Guest reservation at 8:00am. We were a bit underwhelmed by the food and felt it was a bit overpriced.

We set out to do a lot of the things we hadn’t done before at MK. We got Pirates of the Caribbean done early (practically walked on) and did old favourites the Tiki Room and rode the Aladdin Flying Carpets. Highlights:

-Space Ranger Spin was fun!
-My wife loved exploring Tom Sawyer Island which was closed last time we were there. My feet were killing me and I sat in a rocking chair while she explored.
-We always love Splash Mountain and Mickey’s Philharmagic but lines were too long for Big Thunder Mountain.
-Fireworks were amazing.
-Getting back took a lot of time as the monorail line was huge and so we went to the ferry to go back to the TTC. We also had to go to Walmart to get breakfast foods for Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday, January 12 2019:

Animal Kingdom! We got there early and my mission was to stand in as few lines as possible. With the early extra magic hour, and us getting there a little later than 8:00am, there was not way to avoid an hour wait for Flight of Passage. Fortunately we had a FP+ for it. We walked on to Navi River Journey and loved it and rode it again with about a 10 minute wait for the second time.

I decided to use our extra morning time to ride the other rides we had FP+s for (Everest and Kilimanjaro) so that we could FP+ Lion King and Nemo so that we could spend less time standing. It worked out well as we rode Everest twice with barely a wait (and we enjoyed the queue for the first time since we had FP+ed it before). Then we stood in line for 15-20 minutes for Kilimanjaro. I was successfully able to get new FP+s for Nemo and Festival of the Lion King and we were able to stay awake for Nemo this time. Last time we went, we were both so exhausted that we were drifting in and out and we loved the show!

We had some time to kill before the Lion King started and so we went to Dino Land. I love the new Donald’s Dino-Bash overlay, it makes it even more “carny” with more things to do. We rode the Triceratops Spin and after we got off, my wife realized that she had lost her magic band. We went back to the ride and the Cms couldn’t find it. We went back to Nemo and they hadn’t seen it or it hadn’t been turned in. So we went all the way back to the park entrance and stood in line for guest relations for about 30 minutes. They gave my wife a ticket card to use for the rest of the day until we could get a new magic band at the resort.

I got another FP+ for Lion King to a later show (since we missed our first one thanks to the lost magic band) and saw the show. Then we saw the UP bird show and had a dinner at the Yak and Yeti QS and both my wife and I were really happy with the food (I had the Teriyaki Beef and she had the Vegetable Tikka Masala). Both were really flavourful and well cooked.

Finally I managed to get a FP+ for Primeval Whirl, which is one of my wife's favourites, and we went before going to Rivers of Light which was beautiful. We got back to the resort and I prepared for the coming marathon. I was in bed by 8:30 and was out quickly.

Sunday, January 13 2019:


Wakeup was around 2:30. I got up, ate a peanut butter sandwich and headed out the door to the bus. Our bus driver didn’t seem to know which way to get to the drop off point but I wasn’t going to begrudge more time on the bus in a sitting position.

I checked my bag and used the porta potty and then sat, eating a power bar and watched the Green Army Man make people do pushups and jumping jacks. They were asking people to go to the corrals at this point and went to Corral E. I found a spot about 1/3 of the way back and sat down. I didn’t have to get up until about 10 minutes before they started the race.

For me, the temperature was perfect. I was wearing my running tshirt and shorts and didn’t need any throw away clothes or mylar blankets to keep warm. I was actually quite comfortable.

They started the race! I was excited and felt confident but shortly after our corral started (about 19-20 minutes after the official start), I felt some strain in my hips. I also needed to use a restroom and didn’t think I could wait so I ran down the ditch to the edge of the trees to take care of things there (yes, there are bonuses to being a guy). According to my garmin, my first mile was 12:23 (all mile intervals are via Garmin GPS so they're not the actual miles posted in the race). Slower than what I wanted to run but not too bad. I throttled up in mile 2 to right around my pace and ran an 11:22 mile which was almost exactly where I wanted to be. Mile 3 was 11:23 and mile 4 was 11:21. I was really comfortable at this point with the pace and didn’t feel like I was straining. I was trying to keep my heart rate in the mid-130s into the low 140s.

Running into Magic Kingdom while it was still dark was breathtaking! But I was needing a bathroom and took about a 2-minute washroom break in Fantasyland. Mile 5 was 11:51 and Mile 6 was 11:47.

At Mile 7 I was really cruising, running 10:58 and 11:07 for mile 8 although I noticed that I was having trouble monitoring my effort level and pace. I was starting to feel tired but was still going strong. I knew that I could keep a solid pace when tired for a half marathon, dating back to the half I ran at the end of September.

Mile 9 was still strong at 11:17 and Mile 10 came in at 11:23. Here I was starting to really feel fatigue and the feeling that things just weren’t right, while my times were still holding steady, I knew something would have to give and that my legs weren't feeling as good as they should be at this point in the race. Mile 11 was 11:36 and mile 12 was 11:14 with Mile 13 at 11:33.

When I hit the halfway point, at 2:33:41, I knew things were going downhill. I was having fairly bad pain in both feet, right where the ball of the foot meets the toes, around the middle three toes, on every stride. I knew a 5-hour marathon was out of the question at this point and I was ready to slow down and just get through it. Someone in Animal Kingdom or in the parking lot had a sign that said “Embrace the Suck” and that was just what I was going to have to do.

Mile 14: 11:51
Mile 15: 11:49

Then I started walking more. I took a couple of Tylenol from the medical tent I think around Mile 14.

Mile 16: 12:50
Mile 17: 12:12

ESPN WWOS – Here is where my legs really started to go. I was started to cramp in my quads. I remember this feeling from 2017 but that happened around mile 24 or 25, not mile 17. I was also chafing pretty badly in my inner thighs. That left a mark.



Mile 18: 12:14

Mile 19: 13:10



I was walking more and more. I remember saying to myself that I would run the entire distance of the track and then the baseball field, but I was finding it hard to muster the strength to run more than .33 miles at a time.

Mile 20: 14:26
Mile 21: 13:43
Mile 22: 14:24



Things were getting bad. By now, I was just walking to get through most of the race. I had gotten some Biofreeze on my quads and they were feeling a little better but now it was just about getting through the race upright. I also got some vaseline from the medical tent for my inner thighs. I also got some sunscreen. I didn't burn, so that was a good choice.

Mile 23: 16:29
Mile 24: 16:22

I did stop in Hollywood Studios to use the restroom again. Noting that it was a good sign that I had to pee, meaning that I wasn’t severely dehydrated. I also texted my wife saying where I was and how I was feeling.

Mile 25: 14:53
Mile 26: 15:27
Mile 26.75 (according to my Garmin): 13:39/mile pace

Yeah, I was trying to run the last bit through Epcot but it was tough. I felt awful. My legs felt like they’d just give out and there were times that I thought that I would just fall at a couple of points through the last few miles because my legs couldn’t support me.

At certain points, I was actually running not because I had the energy to but because I knew my feet would hurt for less time the more I ran.

I finished. Final time 5:39:24 (Official). That time is about 11 minutes worse than my 2017 time. My third marathon and my worst one.

Where did things go wrong? I trained to run a 5:00-5:15 marathon and felt confident. I was running tempo runs with 11:15 miles for 8 miles at a time and felt fine.

Well, my first inclination is to blame all the park touring in the week before, plus a lot of walking even the days we didn’t go to the parks. It was a lot of standing and a lot of walking. It didn’t really feel like a “taper” and I definitely wasn’t feeling my best early in the race.

I also think that I wasn’t completely ready for the Hansons Marathon Method training that started after my half marathon on September 30. While I had a built a base, it wasn’t enough and as the speed work and tempo work added up, I had trouble keeping up the mileage/timings for the easier runs, especially the Saturday runs that were designed to add fatigue for the long runs and my long runs suffered even though I didn't really add enough fatigue.

That said, I’m disappointed in the result but not disheartened. I’m actually raring to go to begin running and training again and am planning a local marathon in October. I’m going to spend the winter time recovering, training for shorter races while trying to maintain a 30-40 mile per week base. I plan on running a 10k in May and will shoot for breaking an hour. The fact that I could maintain a 11:15 pace in 8-mile tempo runs (plus warmup and cool down) and hold under 11:00/mile for up to 2 miles at a time in strength work with 3 intervals, has me convinced that the 1-hour flat time is in within reach.

After mid-May, I’ll go back to marathon training for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October, looking to build a complete Hansons training schedule with the base to be able to handle the training.

That said, 3 days after the race, I feel like there are no structural injuries. The legs are still sore and will likely continue to be so for another day or two and my back muscles are a bit sore. But my joints are fine (knock on wood). I’ll hold off running for two weeks but will get to the gym tonight to swim a bit or use the recumbent bike and probably just warm up and then stretch. I’m also planning to re-introduce more resistance training, at least until mid-May.
 
Congratulations!! I know it wasn’t the race you were hoping for but you still did amazing and it was so hot during the second half! I know the heat affected my run.

Are you running the Sporting Life 10K? I’ll probably do that one too and the Toronto one in October, but just the half.

Congrats again!
 
Congratulations!! I know it wasn’t the race you were hoping for but you still did amazing and it was so hot during the second half! I know the heat affected my run.

Are you running the Sporting Life 10K? I’ll probably do that one too and the Toronto one in October, but just the half.

Congrats again!

Thanks! It's funny but I don't think the heat affected me as much as others. I was generally fine at the end of the race except for my legs and feet, but I never felt any heatstroke or borderline symptoms like nausea, dizzyness, or feeling like I would pass out. I think all my difficulties were self-inflicted.

I am planning to run the Sporting Life 10K! I think I've run it four times now and it's always a blast! I missed it last year thanks to an injury that cropped up a few weeks before.

Congrats on your run! How did it go for you?
 
Thanks! It's funny but I don't think the heat affected me as much as others. I was generally fine at the end of the race except for my legs and feet, but I never felt any heatstroke or borderline symptoms like nausea, dizzyness, or feeling like I would pass out. I think all my difficulties were self-inflicted.

I am planning to run the Sporting Life 10K! I think I've run it four times now and it's always a blast! I missed it last year thanks to an injury that cropped up a few weeks before.

Congrats on your run! How did it go for you?
Good! Stopped for a bunch of characters, margarita break just after the halfway mark in AK and was first in line for Expedition Everest. :)
 
Congratulations and loved your recap. I'm sorry it didn't go as planned for you, but it was really hot out there later in the race! Great job in tough conditions!!
 
I was very glad for my "Arthur Dent" costume. As I turned 42 on the weekend that preceded Marathon Weekend, I decided that I would race as "Arthur Dent" from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as the #42 plays an important role in that classic piece of literature. Wearing my thrift store plaid bathrobe and carrying a towel, I accompanied my wife, wearing a tutu and tiara (in addition to many layers of clothing), we journeyed to the start line.
I saw you during that race, but since I've never actually read the book, I only knew the 42 reference. If I had known it was you, I would have said hello.

Congratulations on finishing. Sometimes, the real victory comes in making it through the race even when it didn't go the way you hoped and dreamed it would.
 
I saw you during that race, but since I've never actually read the book, I only knew the 42 reference. If I had known it was you, I would have said hello.

Congratulations on finishing. Sometimes, the real victory comes in making it through the race even when it didn't go the way you hoped and dreamed it would.

Aww shucks, you should have said hello! There weren't many who figured out the costume, or so it seems. I got one thumbs up from someone before going to the corrals but that was about it.

If you want a hilarious read(s), read the book(s)!
 

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