The Great Wall Marathon - May 19, 2012
中国国际长城马拉通 - 2012年5月19日

“He who does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man.” - Mao Zedong 

A day of amazing experiences started at 2:00am. I had not fully thought about what stood before me. 5,164 steps and 13.1 miles of sweat, blood, and tears. I stayed with a colleague of mine from State Department training whose apartment was located about 15 minutes away from the Beijing International Hotel, the departure point for the busses that would take us to the race location. Convenient and simple. After a quick taxi ride to the hotel, I found the parking lot filled with Westerners looking about as anxious as I felt. I filed onto a bus and we departed around 3:30am. I made it past the first hurdle!( Read more... (with pictures!) )


Bib number: F1545
Chip time: 3:00:34
Watch time: 2:54:43
Age group placement: 30 out of 107 (ages 20-29)
Sex placement: 132 out of 469
Overall placement: 418 out of 937
My Personal Map: Runkeeper
About the Great Wall Marathon

Current Mood: happy

Greetings, runners! Please tell us about your past training week and upcoming goals

**This is a weekly thread maintained by myself, posted every weekend. Runners of all ages and abilities are encouraged to use it to document their training and goals. Feedback is also encouraged, which helps keep a sense of community - thanks!

I don't generally get nervous before races, except for the minor 'what if I hurt myself getting out of the car?' type things. I'm suffering from a pretty big case of paranoid right now though for my marathon coming up Sunday.

Why? Because my last marathon (LA) which I'd run many times before, was cut short by food poisoning. I tried so hard, but realized unless I wanted to be hauled away in an ambulance, I needed to stop (8.5 miles, many porto trips and ducking around the corner to remove stomach contents).

It doesn't help that three days before the Hollywood Half, I was stricken with what I'll call the Zombie Flu that put me and my husband down for about a week. I didn't even try to start that race since I was having trouble getting out of bed.

So yes, I'm having irrational race fears at this point. I ran through a Ragnar just fine since then (yeah, I never got around to a race report on that one!). No reason I should expect that anything will go wrong with my race Sunday. Irrational means just that! Pep talk?

I had been forgetting for weeks to post my race report for Just a Short Run half-marathon near Pittsburgh, and since then I've also run the Pittsburgh half on May 6. So here are links to both on my running blog, if you are so inclined!

JASR

Pittsburgh Half-marathon


Run happy everyone! And happy ALMOST Friday!

Hey fellow runners,

I seem to have hit a major rut when it comes to my workouts (primarily my runs) and wanted to see if anyone who had  been through this before had any thoughts.

I've never really been a competitive runner; I've never entered a race (with the exception of high school cross country races).  I have generally kept running over the years due to the joy of running, how great it makes me feel and how it's kept me pretty fit over the years.  Over the last few months, though, I just really drag during my runs. I mean..I REALLY drag.  I'm running pretty slowly, my legs always feel like they're heavy and tired. It's definitely not overtraining- I only run 2-3 times a week, max (other days I do strength training).  I'll find myself needing to stop and walk after only 3/4 mile, when I used to be able to run 2 miles without stopping for a walk break. I just don't get it.  I generally have depended on running to maintain my weight, and am concerned that if my interest for it drops off completely I'll start putting on some weight.

I am guessing a big part of this is mental boredom with running. So, any suggestions welcome- for anyone who has been through this before, is a good solution to just really switch up my runs? ie, instead of doing an easy 3 miles outside a few days a week, should I sometimes aim to go longer but allow myself to go slower/take more walk  breaks? Or would one day a week of cross-training really help?  I didn't really see the point of doing interval training since I don't really intend to enter a race anytime soon, but at this point I'm up for any ideas.

Thanks. :)

A nice article with photographs of the runners and the copper canyon.

Hi, I'm Heather. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm 29, from Hampton, VA. I'm new to this running thing, but I have immersed myself in it. It's becoming a way of life for me. In the past 2 months, I have completed my first race, an 8k, and my second race, a 5k. I beat my goal time on both races, so it was pretty exciting for me. My next race that I'm signed up for is a 5k, the Rock N Roll Half Marathon Mini Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA in September. But I recently decided to train for a half marathon that's on October 7th. Big decision there! I have a lot of weight to lose and a lot of work to do but I'm determined. There's this quote I saw the other day. "I didn't change. I just found myself." That's how i feel since I've gotten into this. Now I'm not a full on runner, I mostly jog and walk but I'm working my way into it! I also have a blog, outside of LJ, about my weightloss and running: http://hncotton.wordpress.com/ if anyone wants to check it out.

I look forward to getting to know you all.

Current Music: Fireflight - The Love We Had Before | Powered by Last.fm

I ran last night. First run in 6 months, for the grand distance of 2.25 miles. I was sort of hoping for 1.5mi but I felt good and kept going, and I'm paying for it today - the ankles are *not* happy. I think I'll be icing them in a little bit.

Hey, all. It's been quite awhile since I've posted here. I took a break from running after the half I did in November. I'm getting back into things, slowly but surely (back to Couch to 5k- woohoo!).

Anyway, this time around, my feet and calves feel like they're in constant pain and I'm looking for a foam roller. Can you offer any help in brands/rollers that work for you? They seem pretty expensive, so I really want to make an investment in a piece that's going to work for me. Obviously it's completely subjective, but if you can give me ideas of where to start and what to look for, I'd be super-grateful! Thanks in advance!

tehkate posted a sign she saw at a race, so I thought I'd share one I recently saw.

"Tangerines are oranges that didn't try hard enough. DON'T BE A TANGERINE!"

What are some of the best signs you've seen at races?

“If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.” - John Bingham

Greetings, runners! Please tell us about your past training week and upcoming goals

**This is a weekly thread maintained by myself, posted every weekend. Runners of all ages and abilities are encouraged to use it to document their training and goals. Feedback is also encouraged, which helps keep a sense of community - thanks!

So I don't normally consider myself as much of a runner. I admire runners and see the benefits of the sports but haven't done too much of it myself until relatively recently. In school, I was a good sprinter but 400m was my max distance! Since then I have been a cyclist, which seems to come more naturally as I have heavier legs than most.

Anyway, a few years ago I started running on/off for a few kms. I was held up a lot by ITB pain (started by cycling) which eventually spread to both legs. Very frustrating-this made me feel like I could never be a runner and would mean that I would stop and start running depending on my symptoms and not due to a lack of fitness. Since I am a Physio though, I thought I should conquer my ITBs and started running in a more structured way. (Interestingly I think running has been the cure for them. I anyone is struggling with this problem, I would be happy to share what I have found).

I saw a 10km run advertised a few months ago and thought I would try it as a challenge. I'd never run this far in my life. I looked up a training program on a great website and got started :

http://www.endurancetraining.com.au/articles.aspx

As where I live is hilly, this is where have been doing most of my training. Last Saturday I ran 11km for the first time in my life. Surprisingly it wasn't hard. Then on Tuesday I ran 10km. (This was supposed to be my easy run which turned out to be faster than Sat).

The 10km fun run I did today was for Teen Challenge, which is a not for profit drug and alcohol rehab organisation.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to raise money for this organisation as they help many people to overcome challenges much more significant than me running. I really can't imagine how difficult it would be to be fighting an addiction.

Pre race I met some nice people and got chatting with them. One was an older lady who I will call V. She was saying how she is 50 but wants to keep running till at least 70. She is also planning on doing another 8km charity run tomorrow! She was awesome during the run with me. I was able to run alongside her a lot of the way, which was a great encouragement.

Interestingly I didn't really feel puffed or out of breath much. The thing that was holding me back was my legs. They weren't really hurting but I didn't really feel like I could sustain going much faster. As I am still getting experience over this distance I guess I was holding back a bit. V stopped for water and to take an undershirt off but still was able to sprint and catch me up again. I knew that if I stopped I wouldn't get going in the same way so I just kept cruising along. We were running together close to the end. The tendons in my legs were feeling the strain a bit as we were keeping a good pace. It is so nice to run with someone, especially after doing all my training alone.

Finally, I saw the finish line and made a good sprint home. I love sprinting and this was probably the best part of my run! I finished in about 48 min so that was cool. I am happy as I was aiming to do it under 1 hr (I have been jogging 10km in about 1 hr). Now I am feeling ok, other than a bruised big toenail.

I am happy I could support Teen Challenge to support others to face their challenges and reach their potential. If you are in Perth, considering doing this next year! I am also interested in getting a running buddy/maybe joining a club.
Thanks everyone for the support of this community :)

Just joining this community, so I thought I'd say Hello. :)

Started running in summer 2008. First HM in Oct 2010; second HM in Feb 2011; first marathon (Cape Cod, MA, USA) in Oct 2011. Just punched my HM PR (2:04:11) in Feb 2012 and my 5K PR (25:01) this spring, so yay, progress. :)

I'm just starting to wake up about training for the Hartford, CT marathon. Goal time is 3:59. :) We'll see. My running club's coach says that is ambitious but doable, which sounds like the right kind of goal for me.

On the one hand, it's all very cool that I've turned into a runner. On the other hand, looking at my easy runs be 5-7 miles (last fall, they were 3-5) is... daunting. I think I need to figure out how to make running fill multiple boxes besides "good for myself" -- e.g., also fulfill "be social with people" or somesuch. I do belong to a running club; I go 1x/week, and that's a lot of fun. But for my other runs, especially my recovery runs, I think I need to find a running buddy so that it doesn't feel like work, but rather, is fun-chat-with-people time.

If people have suggestions on how to make training runs be more fun and less like work, I'm all ears. Or even if it's just "yep, I hear you", it'd be nice to know I'm not alone. Sometimes it feels like I'm surrounded by people who not only go faster than me, but effortlessly crack out 5x/week workouts, whereas I find it noticeably challenging to go from 3x/week to 4x. :)

(crossposted from here)

I ran my second 50k last weekend, the Greenland Trail 50k near Colorado Springs, in 7:48. This was a PR by almost 3 hours, largely due to running this race on a dry trail instead of the mud and ice I dealt with on my first 50k. I still think this is a pretty soft PR for me, though, because I made some errors which turned this into a learning race. Maybe at some point I should do a 50k that does not have challenging conditions!

( the long story )

I am signed up for my first 50-mile race in a month. I have to admit that my enthusiasm for that has waned slightly after this tough experience, but on the other hand this was an ideal training run for that 50-mile race! Plus the 50-miler will be just north of where I live, so there should be no dryness or elevation issues. It has pretty tight time cut-offs, for my speed at least, but I figure if I ever want to be able to do 50 miles, I should start trying, and timing out with anything more than 50k run would be a victory for me. And once that race is over, I can examine what I learned from that race, and this one, and figure out what things to change in my training to improve my performance. I love doing these trail races, and I love training for them, and I love how I feel after finishing a run that was hard. Hopefully I will still feel that way after attempting 50 miles!

RW Autopsy write up.

This post is only to express my excitement that the husband and I just signed up for our second marathon. We decided we enjoyed the Mount Desert Island Marathon so much last October that we'd do it again this year. My dad and sister are coming to Boston for two weeks, including over the weekend that the race is, so they agreed to come up to Bar Harbor, ME, with us. They'll watch the kids during the race, and we'll actually have someone to cheer for us on the course and at the finish! I'm very excited.

Now, here is to 5 months of training without getting injured. :)

Oh, and I'll just add, the race was great. Well organized, beautiful, good support. Registration closes June 1 if it doesn't sell out before that, if anyone is interested (mdimarathon.org)

Current Mood: excited

Ran the Long Island half marathon this past weekend. This was the third time I ran this race and while I ran my best this time, the ending turned into a bit of a nightmare. 


( Read more... )

Ok, I finally have a moment to sit down and write up my race report from my first half marathon on Saturday. I ran in the New River Half Marathon. It was in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, which is why I picked it. The pictures on the website were just amazing and it was a decent sized, but not an insanely big race. For the 5k, 1/2 and full marathon a thousand people ran.

Quick details: My first time ever running 13.1 miles (highest was a little over 12 in training.) I started running for the first time with couch to 5k about a year and a half ago. I achieved my goals - which was to have fun, finish and enjoy myself. :)

That means my time was a pretty slow, 3 hrs 8 minutes. In my defense I chatted with people, stopped to take pictures, and even took a few moments to just breath in the fresh air on the river banks. It was a great time. It was how running should be (in my opinion!)

( Click for more details and PICTURES! )

In desperation, just before my scheduled half-marathon, I went to urgent care to see what was wrong with my foot. Honestly, I was hoping that the doctor would offer a miraculous steroid shot to get rid of my self-diagnosed extensor tendinitis, and I'd be able to run the half on Saturday, but I also knew that if something worse was wrong, it would be bad to tape up my foot and try to run anyway, and knowing something was wrong would prevent me from doing something that stupid.

Something worse was wrong.
( Read more... )

I have registered for a race (which is this Saturday) and it turns out that in this race headphones are 'strongly discouraged'.  It goes on to further say that anyone who is competing (i.e. running to actually win the race or their age group) cannot use music/headphones because that is perceived as 'assistance', which is illegal.   Otherwise, individuals can use earphones, but they cannot be loud.

How common is this in races?  I did 10 races last year, and none of them had this prohibition.  I can understand it, but it seems out of place at this race (the race premium is a beer stein, and at the end they invite all participants to have a brew or two on the race providers), as the entire atmosphere sounds kind of laid back.

I ran the Broad Street 10 Miler this morning, finishing in 65:36, which was good enough for 5th in my age group.  So that was nice.

I'm actually a bit ambivalent about the time (I concede that "a bit ambivalent" is duplicative).  I ran 65:31 at Cherry Blossom last month, and Broad Street is a faster course, so I had some hopes of beating that time by a bit.  On the other hand, I can honestly say that I ran the best race I had in me today, both mentally and physically..you really can't be too upset with that.  And it's REALLY cool to be in a place in my running where I feel like 65:36 is a meh time.
( Read more... )

Greetings, runners! Please tell us about your past training week and upcoming goals

**This is a weekly thread maintained by myself, posted every weekend. Runners of all ages and abilities are encouraged to use it to document their training and goals. Feedback is also encouraged, which helps keep a sense of community - thanks!

I remember when these things came out and the consensus here was to stay away from them (especially for running). Looks like others out there are finding out the hard way via injury. There are commercials on TV now about law suits for injuries from these (and internet searches turn up links, too). Was a podiatrist (or any doctor) consulted when these were made? I wonder how much of this the creators foresaw?

How many people here saw this coming?

Current Mood: curious

Recently, I asked if anyone had tried Newton shoes. Thanks to all who responded.

I have now been using them for a few weeks - really since mid-March. I am pleased with the change. I have been experiencing more inclination to run longer because I do not have the niggling discomforts that my old shoes gave me.

. I believe that my injuries are resolving slowly... But steadily. My massage therapist thinks she is seeing less of my old issues. The key to me is the slight improvement in pace. Go figure.

My mileage is up...

I am seeing wear on the front treads which one would expect. But all in all, I am happy with the experience so far. Now I am just doing seasonal adjustments to the southeast Texas heating and transition to summertime...

Thanks to all who passed along their experiences with Newtons!

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.

Hi all,

Just wondering have any of you tried or heard of DDP yoga? I found out about it through this you tube story (which is inspirational in it's own right):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448

I am curious about it and so wonder if anyone has any comments about it. Thanks

Anyone catch the article in the latest Runners World about Scott Jurek's diet? I didn't realize he was coming out with a book, but it's an excerpt from it. Pretty damn fascinating and inspiring! Might consider eating exclusively plant-based from now on.

( This got too long )

I ran the "Pikes Peek" 10K today, finishing in a time of 39:16. No report about this race is complete without the elevation profile. Here it ism, below the cut.
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I never take my phone on a run. Ever.

Except, today I did. I had a friend dropping by who had never been to my house before, I was aware that I was cutting it fine to get back by the time he'd said he should arrive, and I thought that I ought to be able at least to answer the phone if he called to say he was on my doorstep.

I took a route through a park that I've run through only once before -- and that time was two miles in the middle of the Great Scottish Run, and, you know, it's pretty difficult to get lost when you're running behind 8000 people. I had to consult two maps and stop for directions twice, just to get OUT of the park, and, once I did, I realised that I had no idea at all where I was in relation to my street and that there were no longer really any people about.

And that is why they invented phones with Google Maps.