Running • Page 103

same, tbh.

just did seven more treadmill miles and you’d think I was swimming

 

Six weeks out. Feeling very good and feeling very nervous about feeling so good about it.

Dealing with some niggling plantar fasciitis developing, but managing it quite well and not hurting my training at all.

 

You can tell we’re hitting marathon season because my entire Strava feed today is spicy distance long runs.

if I hold my training pace from today’s 20-miler, I’ll be sub 4:15, which would be thirty minutes off my first.

If I hold my nineteenth mile pace, I’ll be sub-4. I need that taper to hit me with so much energy, haha.

 

8 miles in a dogshit blizzard this morning. would not recommend

 

I was wondering who that was on Strava. Hard pass on running in that.

 

Tomorrow’s the day! Besides some lingering hip tightness in my left hip, I’m feeling great. Slept ten hours last night. Aiming for eight tonight. On my way to packet pick up now!

Stretch Goal: 3:40-3:50
Realistic Goal: 3:50-3:59
In the Bag*: Sub-4:15

*barring an unforeseen catastrophe

 

go forth and crush it. good luck!

 

anyone have experience/success with ktape for managing injuries? got some nagging achilles tendonitis that has been holding me out for the last month or so. got recommended to try it by a running friend. no experience

 

3:58:35 if you haven’t seen on Strava.

lost 3:45 at the 19th mile. quads and hamstrings were twitching the final four. so damn proud. That was so hard. That course should be illegal.

 

Well done, @Garrett! A 50-minute PR is a hell of a thing. Shows how much you can unlock by dialing it in and committing to some really good, solid, consistent training. Now give yourself a flat marathon to race next time!!

 

DC in October has 300 feet total of elevation change. Today had 1500.

 

All my marathons so far have been mostly flat. That streak ends a week from tomorrow.

 

HEARTBREAK HILL BABY

 

It’s gonna hurt so good.

 

Hot take: I’d rather have elevation gain than flat courses. I like mixing it up with different muscle groups and pacing / running cadence.

to that extreme: the 100 miler I’m signed up for in December has 20,000 feet elevation gain and I realized a few weeks ago that that’s basically what I do in an ENTIRE YEAR for elevation gain so I think I’m gonna have to drop down to the 50 mile or 50K because no amount of training in the 10ish months from sign up to event day is gonna have my legs ready.

 

I live in East Tennessee so both marathons and all the halves I’ve done have been extremely challenging. Which has been good and I feel super accomplished about it. But I wouldn’t mind one feeling “easy” for a moment, haha.

Reading this made my quads spasm again.

 

Ironically enough, my most painful event so far was the full i did in Iowa in 2022 because it was so flat (like 400 feet total). My quads were shot and I walked like I had a set of wooden pirate legs for almost a week because of it.

Looking back, that will forever be a great accomplishment for me as it was A) Iowa in fucking March, B) a looped course so after 13 miles I get to see the same dreary shit all over again and C) there was like, 50 people doing the full so it was a mix of bad/boring weather, boring/flat empty course and almost no one to briefly talk with or at least interact with which also meant almost no crowd support.

And then I read about marathons that are almost all downhill with like 1K to 3K in elevation loss and those make me wince and shake my head saying “oh god no” lol

 

I am gonna be utilizing the wheels on my office chair this week for certain. I can feel it all tightening.

A downhill marathon would be WILD. I feel like there’s only so much downhill I can control before it would be a constant risk of injury.

 

With Providence getting cancelled (and Maine Coast filling up immediately because of it) I’m actually thinking about running a -2350ft elevation change marathon in New Hampshire early May. No idea what that would be like honestly

 

Looks like I might’ve strained or torn a muscle in my hip (the tensor fasciae latea) during my last speed workout (only 3 miles) before the race… then still raced on it. Whoops.

Still completely overwhelmed with pride for the fact I hit sub-4. It really felt out of reach when I started this cycle and I was totally prepared to be happy with 4:15.

 

Yikes. Hope the needed rest helps in the recovery process.

 

Yeah. I actually ran the race with my PT so we've been texting daily. Keeping blood flow, but not exerting and manual massage and whatnot. Which sucks, because the weather is so nice I want to get back out there, haha.

 

what is the recovery for that? Just a mix of rest / heat / icing / stretching? Hopefully nothing more significant or expensive?

 

Anyone carry any protective equipment with them like a spray?

I had my first instance with a dog today. Had a 7.5m tempo run and at the tail end during the cool down a pit bull mix ran across a 4 lane road and lunged at me. Thankfully I’m fine and people stopped to try and get the dog away from me and the owner eventually ran across the road to take it back home but it was scary as shit and I’d like to have something I can put in my hydration pack if it happens again

 

damn, that’s scary to read. I’ve had a few sketchy situations with dogs lately after usually either having nothing happen or only ending up with very good boys and girls introduce themselves to me.

I don’t personally run with one and haven’t tried it but I know some folks who say that a whistle works well! Lightweight, limited space and won’t hurt the dog but the noise usually gets them to stop/slow down if not outright turn away, but certainly not foolproof.

I also have read of people having a small spray bottle of bug spray or something along those lines but less strong than bear spray or mace, to at least get the animal to stop or be agitated/distracted by something other than you.