That was utterly terrifying and I regret having joined you (comments welcome)

[striker1064]

Congrats on Berlin! I entered but didn't get in. Looks like an awesome race!

 

[NYC_MW]

Whelps, was not okay for the next day's 16M long run. Ended up realizing ankle was swollen Sunday night, and woke up with it still tender and not happy Monday, so went on the bike instead. Didn't run for the rest of the week, but went on the elliptical for a couple sessions with usual commute walks. It stayed not happy (tender/swollen) the rest of the week, so finally got myself to urgent care today. Xrays seem normal, thank goodness, but was given an Ace bandage, told to continue to RICE, take NSAIDS, and stay off it for at least another week.

Will be okay for the half in 5 weeks and full in 14, and can't entirely say I'm not happy to not have to run , but am getting a little antsy. Though also very grateful that this is the first real injury I've had since starting running in 2015 and it's not even that bad. Looking at training plan, should work to just skip two weeks and pick back up, but will play by ear and see how things look in a week.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Oh no! Fingers crossed it's just a minor issue and will be fine in a week!

 

[GollyGadget]

Hope you're on the mend quickly!

 

[NYC_MW]

Ended up not running for another 1.5 wks, but got antsy and am back. Not quite back to 100% range of motion and can't quite do calf raises yet, but it feels okay to run (previous life me would be shocked to hear it, but it felt great to be able to go outside and just run). Am definitely watching where I'm placing my feet on runs and babying the ankle when coming off curbs. Given the long time off, and not wanting to stress myself or the ankle too much, am throwing time expectations out and just training to be able to finish the marathon. Found a 12 week training plan from Marathon Handbook that seems to fit well, so am piVOT-ing (iykyk).


Having a bum ankle did not dampen the excitement of getting to go to Disneyland and California Adventure on Christmas day with my sister and two of our cousins. We had a blast, not necessarily trying to hit everything (avoided GE completely), but just enjoying the atmosphere and each others' company. Photos put us on the tram from parking ~8AM and back ~10PM with 32114 total steps, so a successful day! With Genie+, we managed to hit (in order): Runaway Railway, photos with Sorcerer Mickey at his house, Indiana Jones(G+), Pooh's Corner, Haunted Mansion(G+), break for beignets, Big Thunder Mountain(G+), photos with Dapper Minnie on Buena Vista St, Soarin(G+), photos with Reindeer Pluto at the biplane, photos with Santa Goofy at Redwood Creek, photos with Russ from Up, The Little Mermaid, touring San Fransokyo with a break for treats (nixing the ~1hr wait for photos with Baymax), Incredicoaster(G+), Radiator Springs(SR), Monsters Inc.(G+), break for Dole Whip, Space Mountain(SR), Matterhorn (SR) [one of us watched the parade during both of these instead], Small World (longest queue time), photos at the CarsLand postcard, break for dinner, Mission Breakout(G+) [one of us rode Jumpin Jellyfish and watched WOC instead], and Luigi's Roadsters (getting to see the fireworks at a distance while in line). So much fun.



Summed up this past year's running in the 2023 Thread, but it's really been a fantastic year for running (and Disney!). Gonna be hard to beat, but looking forward to what the next year brings!

 

[Scootin'By]

Looks like a really great day! And 32k steps? WOW

 

[NYC_MW]

Happened to do 5k yesterday and 10k today in training runs, and having FOMO over not being at MW, pulled out my cheese cup from PW23 (yes, I'm a hoarder). It only expired 2 wks ago, though Pocky sticks may be one of the few things worse to eat it with than the pretzel sticks from last year

 

[NYC_MW]

Definitely been having FOMO the last two wknds reading the threads for marathon wknd and DL wknd. But also very happy that I did not have to run any of the races as they would have been disastrous given current fitness. Still thinking 2023 4 race-challenge was a one-and-done, but also keeping another marathon wknd down the line in the back of my mind (maybe Goofy?). Also still toying with signing up for the DL Halloween wknd half, but will see how things feel on registration day.

Keeping up with altered training plan though ankle definitely not back to 100%. Have an initial evaluation appointment at a running PT on Thursday (first time going to a PT) so hopefully can figure some things out. Rose Bowl half is a week from yesterday! We'll get to partially go down the Rose Parade route and end up in the actual stadium. Will be treating it as a catered long run (in the words of @WillRunForPizza), though will see if my friend J wants me to pace her.

 

[NYC_MW]

First PT visit on Thursday-apparently all my muscles are way too weak for what they should be, and I run almost exclusively landing on the outside of my feet (so not surprising that I'd sprain my ankle the way I did). Got homework exercises to work the inside, outside, and back calf muscles in an effort to better support the ankles, and we'll go from there. Also tried to intentionally land on the inside of my feet during Saturday's treadmill run.

Rose Bowl Half Marathon Recap
2nd race of the LA Challenge, and supposedly >15k(!!) runners for the 5k and half (starting together). Big worry was the off/on rain Saturday and whether it would continue into Sunday, but thankfully it stopped in the early hours and completely held off.

Since Pasadena is a good ~40 min drive away, I went to stay with J's partner R in Alhambra on Sat night. R was a good sport and left the house at 4:45a to drop us off. Race organizers had stressed to get there early for the 7am start, saying traffic would start at 5a. Well, we didn't realize "traffic" meant pretty much sitting at a standstill for a good hour. We started to get antsy, and seeing other people get out and walk, decided to do the same (and R got to turn around and go home). Ended up being a good warmup (~30min brisk walk), so not all lost. Felt bad for the people driving themselves, hopefully everybody got to the start on time. We managed to get our gear dropped off and through relatively short portapotty lines to the back of the self-seeded corral (ending up at the ~14min mile pace line) in the parking lots.


We had decided to go at J's pace, starting slower in the beginning, walking whichever water stops she wanted, and my job was to pace/push her at the end to try for her PR. Started out pretty well, though corral was long and narrow, the course opened up almost immediately and we settled into a pretty good pace. Bit of a climb around mile 2-3, but still doing well.

Then we stopped to get water at the 2nd water stop and promptly lost each other. Apparently I stepped off to wait for her, but missed seeing her go by, and she thought someone else was me and tried to catch up . I waited a bit, ran a bit to see if I could find her, thought she must be behind, and stopped to look again. All told, probably stopped for ~4 min looking before being convinced she must have gone ahead. So spent the next couple miles "sprinting" trying to find her. Thankfully caught sight of her at one of the out-and-backs, though she was quite a bit ahead, and ended up catching her around mile 8.5. Makes for an interesting pace chart .



Finally reunited, we settled back into a good pace, soaking up the course highlights: partially along the Rose Parade route, passing by Caltech, the Colorado Street Bridge, and ending up on Spieker Field. Lots of spectators around Old Pasadena made those parts pretty fun, but it got pretty quiet and boring after we descended back into the canyon and circled the golf course before getting back to the parking lot and stadium. With her okay, I pushed our pace the last mile and she got her PR!


They had lots of water, Electrolit, and snacks at the finish, and many ppl were sitting on the field enjoying the atmosphere (hope we didn't muck it up too badly). They had on-the-spot medal engraving for $15, and J got her PR etched in. Our bibs had one free beer voucher, but since I had to hightail it back to LA, we bypassed it (maybe next time) to head home (thank you and sorry to the Uber driver who weaved through the parking lot to pick up our sweaty gross selves).

It was a fun race and I'd recommend it. Though parking/traffic morning of is a bear, it's a great course, pretty flat except for two okay hills (watch says 732ft total elevation), and you can't beat ending up at the 50yd line at the Rose Bowl .

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Cool race and great job pacing!

 

[GollyGadget]

What a cool experience!

 

[DopeyBadger]

So pretty!

 

[NYC_MW]

Super behind on updating, but have still been training (with the exception of last week where things got a little wonky partially due to the "storm"--6 months has been enough to totally baby me weather-wise back into being an Angeleno from a New Yorker *sigh*). Have totally forgotten all the notes I was going to make, but the bones are there.


PT has been helping the ankle, though still have yet to regain full range of motion. She's also helping adjust my poor running form to prevent future injuries, which is more important, but geez, these exercises lead to sore muscles. Again, had been diligent until the last week or so. Need to get back on that. Listing exercises here to help me remember to do them.
ANKLE DORSIFLEXION MOBILIZATION - BAND (20 Reps, 2 X Day, 7 X week)
ANKLE PLANTARFLEXION AND INVERSION - BAND (2 Sets, 20 Reps, 2 X Day, 7 X week)
ANKLE EVERSION - BAND (2 Sets, 20 Reps, 2 X Day, 7 X week)
SINGLE LEG PALLOF PRESS - OUTSIDE LEG (2 Sets, 15 Reps, 1 X Day, 7 X week)
HEEL RAISE – BALL SQUEEZE (3 Sets, 15 Reps, 1 X Day, 3 X week)
SINGLE LEG RDL - SHORTFOOT, BAND (3 Sets, 10 Reps, 1 X Day, 3 X week)
SEATED SINGLE LEG HEEL RAISE - WEIGHT (3 Sets, 10 Reps, #25 Weight, 1 X Day, 3 X week)
SINGLE LEG FIRE HYDRANT - BAND (3 Sets, 15 Reps, 1 X Day, 3 X week)
CURTSEY LUNGE (3 Sets, 12 Reps, #12 ea Weight, 1 X Day, 3 X week)
LATERAL LUNGE (3 Sets, 12 Reps, #12 Weight, 1 X Day, 3 X week)

Stupidly forgot that race registration is 10AM ET and I'm now in a different time zone, so logged on at 9:30AM PT to find all the Halloween races sold out (oops). But, probably better for my wallet and training-wise for Berlin. Instead, got to check out Pixar Place Hotel today (plus walk around the Disneyland Hotel, GCH, and Downtown Disney since it had been awhile) when going to Goofy's Kitchen for a special family meal.

 

[NYC_MW]

Another week that went off program, but last week was pretty on, including the peak long run of this training cycle. Felt alright (especially nice with the rain) until ~mile17, and then it was just plodding along solely based on stubbornness. Stopping at the end was actually more painful, but after much foam rolling, felt better a day or two later.

Taper has begun and starting to think about race day strategies. This went from being a PR attempt to just wanting to finish after December's sprained ankle, and my paces have steadily gotten slower (why does it seem that with each marathon I get less prepared?). I'm okay with that, and am probably aiming for an A goal of ~4:45 and B goal of 5hrs. But how to figure the paces? Training in LA has involved many more stoplights (that take much longer) than in NYC and a majority of training runs have elapsed paces 1min/mi or more longer than moving paces. So tentatively planning on a moving pace of ~10:30 with full stops at the ends of water stations (rather than walking through them) to better match up with training. I'm in the last POT corral (which had a cutoff of 5hr marathon), so thinking of starting close to the back (which I prefer), which will also force me to start slower, since the 1st six miles are supposed to be the hilliest, and then picking up speed after that. Been lucky to have trained along the last ~13 miles a lot, so that should also make the back half better than the front. Two weeks to go, looking forward to the shiny shamrock medal at the end of the rainbow

 

[GollyGadget]

Don't let the taper drive you crazy don't forget to have some fun!

 

[Marebear_runs]

Training in LA has involved many more stoplights (that take much longer) than in NYC and a majority of training runs have elapsed paces 1min/mi or more longer than moving paces.

This is so painfully true! Some of those lights seriously take about 2 minutes.

Best of luck next week! I hope your ankle feels strong and everything goes well for race day. It looks like we’re going to have a warm sunny one

 

[NYC_MW]

To start off:

Loving the shamrock medal, very shiny, with the pot of gold in the top left corner and rainbow in the bottom right. The Conquer LA one (for doing the Santa Monica Classic 10K in September, the Rose Bowl Half in January, and the Marathon) is also very pretty, with a spinning center circle. Plus the bonus Double Play (for doing the LA Big 5K on Sat + the marathon). Definitely validates signing up for all the races just for the bling .

But to backtrack, last two week of training (taper) went well, so nice to have only 3 mile runs on the docket. Went for a PT session the Thursday before races, with mostly ankle mobility exercises but also her massaging out the knots (so painful, why?!?!) and also trying out cupping on the lower outer shin over the ankle, since I might have been overusing that muscle (the peroneal?). So the muscle was quite sore Friday (and Saturday), which was a little worrying, but, if it saves the ankle, that's a good thing, right?





LA Big 5K (Saturday)
Met J (whom I had somehow convinced to do all the LA races with me and for whom Sunday would be her first marathon) and R at Dodger Stadium bright and early at 6AM. She had been scared by all the traffic at the Rose Bowl half so they ended up being one of the 1st 10 ppl to arrive at 5:30. Thankfully they let me warm up in their car after we picked up our bibs (lots of people in line already even before they opened bib pickup). Self-seeded corrals, and she wanted to run it, so we lined up between the 9 and 10 minute/mi flags. Well, that did not happen. Lots of not smart self-seeding in the corrals and bottlenecking at the start meant the first couple yards were basically all walking. Walkers, people running with strollers, and kiddos racing ahead then stopping on a dime to turn around and find their parents meant it was a little dangerous almost the whole course. Fine with me since I wasn't really racing it, but could have been really annoyed if trying to PR. But it was a fun atmosphere, hilly but pretty course starting and ending in the Dodger Stadium parking lots, and great medal shot hehe. 32:15 official finish time (10:22 pace). Not bad for a shakeout 5k before the marathon.

Then they let us enter the Expo for Sunday bib pickup early. Nicely set up, and since we were early, it was pretty empty and much more manageable than when we were leaving (and that was still just when it opened for general public). Picked up some extra marathon shirts (tradition now to buy matching sets for the family) and a nice green running hat with a shamrock. Got home around noon to prep for Sunday and get some rest. R dropped J off since I live very close to the finish so she and I could grab one of the complimentary shuttles from the finish to the start (Dodger Stadium) at 4AM the next morning.

LA Marathon (Sunday)--Birthday Race
3AM wakeup (not quite as early as rD, but close), got everything ready, and grabbed an Uber to Century City. I messed up and got us dropped off a looong block away from the shuttle pickup so we had a bit of a warmup walk uphill. Repurposed city bus left almost at 4 on the dot; they seemed to be doing rolling shuttles as they got filled up, and people were just starting to trickle in. Bit of a mishap when the shuttles couldn't figure out how to get to the right dropoff (but at least I wasn't driving so no anxiety on my part). Again, since we were on the early side, was easy to walk through the start area, grab some free pre-fuel noshes (to save for after the race) and sit down to wait in the gear check area as it was cold and I didn't have throwaway clothes. Ate an eggo waffle + Peanut Butter ~5:15A, and finally braved the cold to drop everything off at gear check ~5:45, followed by porta-potty stop (when lines were still short) and then standing just outside corrals. Crowds definitely starting to show up (shuttles seemed to still be dropping ppl off as corrals were closing, which I would have been super anxious if I were them), and though @Marebear_runs and I tried to meet up, it didn't work out (0 for 2 for trying non rD meetups so far). Corrals were closing ~6:40 so J and I split up ~6:25, her to go to the open corrals, and me to the last POT corral (E). Hung around the back of the corral along the fences for some dynamic stretching (could see the front of the open corral behind me was very full and crowded with the estimated 7min/mi people) and was very glad to have it be pretty chill and loose around me; ate a Honey Stinger Waffle ~6:45; over the course of pre-race, drank ~15oz of water. Some interesting facts: this was the 39th LA Marathon (they never had to skip for COVID because timing worked out), and 95 people were running it for the 39th time ; 4 of those 95 have never finished in >4hrs; they have a tradition of starting the pro women ahead of the pro men to see who breaks the tape first in real time; there's a program called SRLA where local high-schoolers from underserved communities get training and mentoring over the school year both for running and beyond, and there were a ton of kids running the marathon.


Everything started off pretty on time, and I was surprised there were no waves for the 5 POT corrals, we just all got to go, and everybody was quite polite with no pushing (maybe because I was in the back?). A goal was 4:45 and B goal was 5:00, so just started out easy. First 6ish miles were a lot of turns and circling around the downtown area (Chinatown, City Hall, Disney Hall, Echo Park etc), a big down hill right at the start out of Dodger Stadium, and the steepest hill around mile 5, and I was surprised that watch kept saying ~10min/mi throughout even when trying to dial it back a little. Even the big hill wasn't all that bad as I jogged up it.

As planned, took water at almost all water stations (they were very well placed, almost every 1.5 miles and there were a lot of volunteers, mostly looking like local high-schoolers) and mostly just stopped for a couple seconds at the last table to drink (though some of them were a slow walk-through instead). Most cups were ~3/4 full so quite enough. Definitely a better strategy than carrying my own on a waist-pack at NYC and Chicago. Ankle a little dicey at the beginning, and got a little worried when feet started getting tired and a blister felt like it was forming ~mi12, but then it all went away. Also, realized that I definitely do better with some up and downhills (as here and in NYC) than when it's mostly flat (as in Chicago), as it breaks up the monotony and helps my legs not get too tired with repetition.

There was cheering almost the entire course, though definitely portions where it was more sparse versus super crowded and amped up (fun either way). Along the way there were people handing out orange slices, red vines, extra water/gatorade, beer, shots at one point, and many many kids and dogs (including one cutie who tried to run after their racer confused as to why they were getting left behind haha). Many racers and cheerers definitely dialed into the St Patrick's Day theme. I had taped "Birthday Girl" on my shirt so got a good number of "Happy Birthdays" along the way . As we passed by the El Capitan theater, they even had a very Disney appropriate marquee that I had to snap for the forum. My sister and cousin were going to be out cheering ~mile 16, which meant that mile was one of the fastest as I anticipated seeing them, and it was a great pick-me-up. Plus knowing that from there on out, I'd run the course multiple times, things felt pretty good. I was still averaging ~10 min paces and pleasantly surprised. Definitely feeling the miles, but not super tired. The weather had also been amazing, which helped a TON. The course used to go all the way out to the beach at Santa Monica, but SM became too expensive, so a couple of years ago it switched to where you passed the finish at ~mile 18 then looped back ~mile 22. Had been a little worried about the out (especially since around there was where I had to walk for both NYC and Chicago), but also got a boost since a coworker was planning to be at the turnaround point. Stopped at ~mile 20.5 to eat a Maurten (had also stopped at ~mile 6.5 for a Maurten and ~14.5 for a Honey Stinger Strawberry Kiwi gel), which ended up being the longest split. After the turnaround, it was just willpower the rest of the way. A nice distraction was trying to spot J coming out in the opposite direction but never caught her. Around then is also when I realized 4:30 was a wild possibility if I really put in the effort. The last mile or so I really had no idea what was going on around me, just tucking my head in and running as fast as I could (the last ~0.4 miles are uphill, rude). Didn't quite make it, but super super jazzed: 4:31:49 official finish time (10:22 pace, exactly the same as the previous day's 5k haha). Not a PR, but given A goal was 4:45, I'll definitely take it!


Had planned to try to watch J finish her first marathon, but the finish was a cluster. Too many ppl all trying to find each other meant cell reception was non-existent, and the tracker app was pretty much useless. Ended up hobbling through the finish chute, well stocked with finish water/electrolit/chocolate milk/bananas/chips/pocky!/mango gummies, getting the 3 medals, a finisher pic, and very happily switching to flipflops and pulling back on the jacket and long pants. Given all the reception issues, it took forever, but somehow my sister was able to find me in the finish festival madness after much sitting on various benches and sidewalks on my end. We headed towards the CC Mall where reception got a little better and were able reconnect with J and R (who tried to come out and cheer for both of us but couldn't due to the tracker fail, R had even tried using air tags on J, but that didn't work either). Again didn't partake of the free beer, but took some pictures with our medals and slowly made our way home.

Surprisingly okay today, stiff every time I get up, but after a couple steps, things loosen up. Planning on no running for the next week or two, then thinking about ~3 easy runs a week plus signing up for a beginner ballet class next quarter and maybe getting back to some swimming before starting up training for Berlin in June. Sorry this ended up being so long, props if you got this far .

 

[GollyGadget]

woo hoo! Sounds like you had an awesome race!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Awesome job, congrats! Sounds like a fun race weekend. And happy belated birthday!

 

[michigandergirl]

Congrats and happy birthday!! Love all that bling!!