Running • Page 86

going through the same lol

 

There was something I just read that really spoke to me that some runner said. “There are days where I don’t feel like running, but never once have I regretted going for a run afterwards. It’s always made me happier after.”

I try to remember that on sluggish days because, at least for me, it’s very true.

 

I started using trail toes in addition the Dr. Scholl’s moleskin tape and while I’m not sure my big toes are getting any better (running 5 days a week isn’t going to help of course lol) they certainly don’t seem to be getting any worse so I think I may have found a solution that works for me.

just kinda sucks no longer being able to just throw on my socks and shoes and head out the door. An extra 5-10 minutes preparation needed but whatever, just happy to be able to run and not seem to be making my feet/toes worse.

 

I get that this isn’t earth shattering news and some folks in this thread probably do this on the regular but I’m pretty sure that for the first time in my life I ran 3 consecutive miles under 7 and a half minutes each mile. That was super exciting to see once my run was done (6 miles in total, all under 9 minutes, two just barely over 8 minutes so today was an unexpected speed day I guess) and makes me feel like I’m really beginning to see the results of strength training and hill-specific training days.

 

Hell yeah, man! Onward and upward.

 

I don’t know that I’ll ever run a sub-8 mile without losing a lot of weight first. I think my fastest in the last two years were 8:11 and 8:22.

 

Just finding out (probably didn’t read close enough at the time) that I paid $15 to get my bib for the SF marathon nailed to me - and it’s just the bib! I have to pick up the shirt (if I want it, which I do) after the race. As if I’ll remember that lol.

So I paid $15 to have a piece of paper mailed to me. Nice. Definitely costs that much to pack and ship, yep.

Weird the shirt is not included since both of the other marathons I’ve done this year I also had the bib mailed to me and they both came with the shirts as well. Odd that SF didn’t.

 

Pretty proud of this one. Probably the cleanest race I’ve ever run in terms of pacing and effort.

 

how

 

I was looking at the splits on Facebook and I couldn’t hit your slowest with my life on the line.

 

I think the fastest I’ve ever run was when a wasp got tangled in my shoelaces on a run and I sprinted like never before or since. And it was maybe for 2/10ths of a mile at absolute best and I was maybe around Craig’s pace for that brief moment but never will be again, unless another wasp incident comes up lol

 

Wasps are a good motivator, that's for sure.

 

Just under a week away from the San Francisco marathon. After having 2020 get cancelled, not be able to make 2021 work and signing up in December for this years race it’s been a very long time coming and I can’t believe it’s almost here.

For the longest time I told myself I wasn’t going to go in with a goal time in mind - this was just gonna be an awesome destination run with a lot of great scenery and whatnot but of course I’ve been thinking about what I was my A goal to be for a few weeks now. Gotta keep reminding myself that as great as my runs have felt the last 6-8 weeks this will be the hilliest marathon yet by far (double the elevation of my first marathon which has been the most so far), there will still be walls that get hit and shitty moments to experience but still, of course, getting the excited jitters.

Also cool that my sister is running the half and my BIL is the running the full - first event of that distance for either of them and will be very curious to see what they are like at dinner Saturday night and then Sunday night after the event lol

 

Getting bombarded with emails from the SF marathon and one that I read and am glad and yet not talks about the “Garmin half mile club challenge” where they want people to kill themselves for a watch - the goal is to “run your fastest” for the half mile at mile 12 up, what I hope, is the biggest hill of the race - 171 fucking feet of elevation gain in the half mile. 171 feet in half a mile???

I can’t even fathom what that looks like or what the incline % is lol. I’ve done hill training a lot the last two months but I have done nothing that extreme. And they want people to try and get up that the fastest, out of 15K+ people, to win a Garmin watch lol no thanks but that’s for the heads up, good god

 

Somewhere in the 6.6% grade range. Just went and compared it to some of my climbs on the Knoxville half.

 

Speaking of the Knoxville half… almost talked myself into next year’s since traveling for any is so prohibitively expensive at the moment. Won’t let myself get talked into the full, though (see above incline comment).

 

I’m gonna have to look at how many of my TOTAL runs have been less then 171 feet of elevation for fun tomorrow lol

I think the highest “hill” in my city has been maybe .20 of a mile at best and that was like… 30-40 feet of elevation so I can’t even comprehend 171 in half a mile. Maybe some of my trail runs have better segment to remember with but goddamn

 

Also yes, everything is so fucking expensive now (duh, not breaking news there). I booked my hotel for the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN next June and part of it is there is very limited hotels in the area so they can charge whatever but holy shit. On top of what I gotta pay for the Rhode Island marathon in May, it’s an expensive back to back months for races and that’s just the hotels - not even the RI flight yet and any Uber / food / whatever costs. Expensive hobby if you want it to be lol

Going to look into AirBnB’s more because there’s definitely a lot of options a lot cheaper than hotels I just gotta get comfortable with them.

 

A two mile lap of my subdivision has 176 feet of elevation gain, I just learned. No wonder it feels like my 2-3 mile runs at home suck so much more than my 5 mile runs along the river.

 

I just got back from a long weekend on the North Shore over Memorial Day. Missed the marathon by a week, I think. Highly recommend spending some time exploring the North Shore if you can afterwards. Grand Marais (hours north of Duluth) is an AWESOME small town with a great brewery on the harbor. So many cool waterfalls and easy hikes, too.

 

I just looked because I forgot I had it on my phone as a file - looking at runs between 164-178 feet of elevation and the shortest run was 4.13 miles lol the longest was 10.62 to give an example of how flat my city can be

171 in .5 miles… incredible.

 

I’m very curious of the route, haha. I was in SF in Sept of 2021 and was training for my Nashville marathon and kept thinking to myself “if you’re not running along the water, this city will destroy you.” I stayed down by the Fisherman’s Wharf and ferries to Alcatraz.

 

here’s the route and elevation map! We definitely go through the city for the second half of the marathon. No idea what the blue on the elevation map means. It’s not the gain of each mile and it’s not the difference between miles so idk lol

there’s also a super cool video they posted in a random app showing the whole route and yet they DON’T talk about this giant fucking moment before you go back on the Golden Gate Bridge



this map says 1,700 feet but the MapMyRun in their own site says like 1,900. In the end not a great variance but still will be painful

 

oh lmao I drove that hill to the viewpoint to see the GG Bridge. Godspeed

I actually love that route as a way to see the city but will be brutal. It may be going around the massive hill in the middle for the most part, though. Nashville was around 1,400 and it was manageable.

 

San Francisco marathon complete! What an experience, what a city!

Probably caught pneumonia on the Golden Gate bridge crossing since it was foggy, super windy, and kind of misting and I was only in shorts and a tank top but oh well lol

second fastest marathon time of the 4 I’ve done yet easily the most challenging course and no negative thoughts lol. If any were starting I knew “you only think this because you’re hungry, deal with it” so definitely growing mentally as well as physically as most of the hills were actually fun to run up and I kept my heart rate and pace in check on those.

now to do more sight seeing and eat eat eat.