The Running Thread - 2019

[AntimonyER]

ATTQOTD: No emotional outbursts for me yet. Would take a lot, I am not an (outwardly) emotional person.

 

[Dis5150]

ATTQOTD: I cried when I crossed the finish line of my first race and my first marathon. I also ran an absolutely horrid 1/2 that was hot and ran out of water/gatorade with 4 miles left in the race. I lost it, just broke down in tears. Texted DH who was so concerned about me he started walking the course backwards to find me. I think heat exhaustion contributed to my emotional meltdown, lol.

 

[camaker]

ATTQOTD: I’ve been emotional any number of times during races. One of the more recent and intense was during my 50k in December. The course ran through/past salt marshes, with their signature smells. I grew up fishing and flounder gigging with my father during summer in the NC salt marshes. Those smells bring back intense memories of those times. We lost him to breast cancer in 2009, well before I started running and I regret that he never got to see the changes I managed to make. I think about him often during runs/races.

On a lighter note, as the sun set during the final leg of my 51 miler on the beach I had an overwhelming feeling that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing what I was supposed to do!

 

[rteetz]

QOTD: In keeping with yesterdays theme a bit, have you ever been emotional during a race? It could be for any reason from pure joy or pain. Tell us about it if you would like.

Yes, end of my first marathon. It was joy and made it feel worth it.

Side note: go see Endgame folks. It’s awesome.

 

[canglim52]

ATTQOTD: Lol nope. I tend to get my self in the zone for my races, and I’m probably in my happiest place on earth so even a bad race is an amazing experience for me. Depending on the distance I’m either crazy happy/chatty or quietly focused. Even after the race it takes a few days for my to process the emotionally side of it all. Kudos to those that can experience that in the moment, jealous

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: During this year's WDW marathon I was teary eyed. I'm usually not very emotional over stuff like that so I was surprised.

 

[surfde22]

Side note: go see Endgame folks. It’s awesome.

There shall be no more mention of this movie on the runDisney boards. The wife and I weren't able to line up a babysitter until mid-May. Can't risk having it spoiled.

 

[rteetz]

There shall be no more mention of this movie on the runDisney boards. The wife and I weren't able to line up a babysitter until mid-May. Can't risk having it spoiled.

That’s a long wait. Worth it but I don’t think I could wait that long

 

[surfde22]

That’s a long wait. Worth it but I don’t think I could wait that long

We're not waiting that long by choice. It was the first weekend Grandma and Grandpa were available to babysit, and we certainly weren't going to attempt to have a 2 year old sit through a three hour movie, especially since he could barely make it through Captain Marvel last weekend.

 

[dis_or_dat]

Runner's high: occasionally after running a fast short distance or moderately paced long distance. I was riding high on my marathon for 2 weeks though. It was just an amazing combo of training, weather, nutrition, flat course ... I don't think I'll ever experience that again. Never felt so amazing through an entire race.

Runner's emotion: running always lifts me out of a bad mood - even if I dread putting on my shoes. I've teared up at my last half when I was thinking about giving up as I was fading and heard my husband encourage me to keep going, I gritted my teeth and pushed to my PR. I've been overwhelmed seeing all the spectators at the Tinkerbell half. At my marathon, I wanted to cry when I saw the finish line and kicked as hard as I could thinking my kids would see me (of course they were at the bouncy house )

 

[JulieODC]

Yes - at the finish of my first half, but not to a huge extent.

I actually get more emotional watching others race - I’ve cried during every recent podcast episode I’ve listened to about the Boston Marathon (Another another Runner, I’m looking at you.)

In other news, a friend is running London this weekend - completing her 6th/last world major! So impressive - and she’s being featured during the weekend by Abbot!

 

[TheHamm]

QOTD: In keeping with yesterdays theme a bit, have you ever been emotional during a race? It could be for any reason from pure joy or pain. Tell us about it if you would like.

Yes, two incidents stand out. I think it stems more from my mind being free to observe things and not at all due to the running itself.

Pure Joy:

My husband wheeled our small children out to watch me go by at the 2018 Princess 10K. As an adult onset runner, this race got me started. I spent a year fearing I could not do it. I was thrilled to run past beach club and get a kiss from one kid, be told I was too sweaty from the other, and get a high five from a stuffed baby Simba.


All the feelings: A few pages back I briefly described this. I spent a chunk of my pregnancy hanging out in medical facilities, and there was a reasonable chance that either I or one of my kids would not come out of the hospital with the rest of the family. I have given the hospital great berth as I traverse town, but it was impossible to ignore it for 2+ miles of a recent race, and all the feelings came out. I was mad as I think processes and procedures there were inefficient and made my condition worse, joy and gratitude that we did all make it out, and amazement that while I had been in the hospital I looked out on the trail I was on and would have never believed I would run on it.

 

[PrincessV]

ATTQOTD: Never. I can feel happy, angry, miserable, energetic, you name it in a race, but the whole "losing it" over-the-top emotional break has never happened. (I have several times totally fallen apart 10-20 mins after finishing, but that was 100% due to a massive blood sugar crash.) At risk of sounding dramatic, I've been through some heavy, horrible stuff in my life and running a race has never come close to approaching the same level of emotional upheaval.

 

[Neon Cactus]

ATTQOTD: Yes, twice. The first was WDW Marathon in 2016, my first one. I hadn't run farther than a 5k and while I prepared, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I told myself that the once I hit the Studios, I knew I'd finish because then it was just a normal day in the parks for me. So my focal point of the race was the Tower of Terror and when I made the turn into the Studios and saw it right in front of me, I started to tear up. And then again when I saw the finish line in front of me.

The second time was the LA Marathon in 2017. I had been fighting IT band issues a lot and right about the halfway point, they flared up and I had a hard time running from that point on. Right after Mile 23, my body was telling me to stop. I thought I'd hit the wall at Disney World, but this was by far the hardest wall I'd hit. I looked to my left and saw a street sign that said 26th Street and then the next one was 25th. So I told myself to count down the street numbers and when it got to 1, that was Ocean Drive and the final turn to the finish line in Santa Monica. So when I got to that turn and realized I was going to make it, it was joy and relief mixed together.

Agree with @rteetz on Endgame!!

 

[jennamfeo]

ATTQOTD: I am literally a walking ball of emotion. It would probably be easier for me to tell you the times I ~didn't~ get emotional during or after a race. I am probably part of the reason @Bree teared up, haha. And poor @rteetz, my emotional support Panda, was there when I completely broke down after Dopey this year.

 

[garneska]

ATTQOTD: I am not very emotional usually and like @canglim52 i am jealous of all the people who do. However i was really happy at the RnR New Orleans Marathon in 2017. I was fists pumping in the air when i finished under 4 hours. I thought I might cry if i did it, but when i got to the finish I was so happy. No tears but elation. I did cry at after i got passed the finish line at the Chicago Marathon in Oct. I PR'd, I BQ'd and the last 2 miles hurt like hell but i was not willing to give up. I cried from emotion, pain, fatigue, joy and freezing cold. While i did cry i was not a huge mess. I got it together before i met the dis group.

 

[michigandergirl]

ATTQOTD: I'm not one to get overly emotional, but I did tear up a little after finishing my first marathon. I also felt absolutely giddy after finishing Dopey, but the beer I guzzled on my victory lap around Epcot might have had something to do with that.

 

[Barca33Runner]

ATTQOTD:

I got very emotional during the 2018 WDW Marathon. I was not as prepared as I should have been and then proceeded to get sick the night before the Half Marathon. I finished the Half, but my illness got worse. I couldn’t eat anything the rest of the day, I think a few french fries were all I had on my stomach. Were it not for my desire to keep my Perfect Dopey I probably wouldn’t have started the race on Sunday morning, but I was determined to give it a go.

Right around entering Animal Kingdom I had nothing left in the tank. I transitioned to about 18-20 minute miles and was in a very bad place. Upon reaching WWoS I had decided to search for the easiest way out of the race. To be honest, if it wasn’t so hard to quit a Disney race I probably would have. I stopped at the med station at mile 19 and had resolved that I was done. But I got thinking that I had no idea when I would actually be swept and when I’d make it back to my family. I decided toughing out the last 7 miles was a better option than waiting in disappointment and misery. (I’ll add a special thanks to Dis’ers @ZellyB and @Keels who provided encouragement to me while I was in my shame/disappointment spiral)

The next four miles were some of my best in the race. I was able to mix back in some jogging and hit some 13-14 minute miles. I hit the wall again at HS and by the time I reached Epcot I was an emotional mess. Upon crossing the finish line I could barely feel my lower legs from the pain (not blisters, just pain), I broke down when I got through picking up my medals and saw my parents and sister. I was so relieved to be able to get off of my feet.

The oddest thing, still, to me about the race was how I felt Monday morning. My legs and whole body have never felt better after a Marathon. I think I was so exhausted throughout the entire thing that I never expended any type of tasking effort on my muscles. It remains the only race I’ve ever done where I haven’t had some type of muscle soreness in the succeeding days after the race.

 

[QueenFernando]

ATTQOTD: this year at the Princess HM was about as emotional as I ever get. My friend and I have been running that weekend together. Our first was 2015. It was horrible. We didn't stick together and made the rookie mistake of going out way too fast so the finish was very rough for both of us. It has also been our best HM time. Sigh. This always bothered me. So for 2019 I made a plan and didn't tell her. I knew the run/walk intervals she was comfortable with and used that with a comfortable pacing. Right before we crossed the finish line I told her we were going to beat that time by 10min. Neither of us are very emotional, but when she said she might cry it made me almost cry.

 

[QueenFernando]

Oh, @LSUlakes take my Run for the Trees 5k off the list. Decided I've had enough races for the spring and just stick with training runs.
That. And the fact that Sat morning was the only time I could get Endgame tickets for the 4 of us.