As many of you probably saw on Instagram, I completed the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon on Sunday morning. That was my 3rd half (last year’s W&D doesn’t count because it was a shortened course), and without doubt, the least trained I’ve ever been to run a race in my entire life. Seriously. I looked at my stats on Smashrun, and prior to Sunday, I hadn’t run AT ALL in 41 days. And prior to that, I hadn’t run more than four miles in one go since August. So yeah.
For the record, I DO NOT recommend that you try to run a half marathon without training. My legs were so sore on Sunday night that I was honestly scared I had seriously injured myself. My legs and back are still stiff and sore. I have blisters like you wouldn’t believe on my feet. And I’m still tired. Oh god, am I tired. I’m sure that’s also partly due to lack of sleep, but holy hell, I feel like I got hit by a truck.
I am definitely relieved that the race is over and done with. Obviously, I haven’t really been feeling running lately. The move to Underhill means that my usual routes are no longer available to me, dance classes have kept me busy two nights a week, and I’ve been feeling a lingering burnout after the shitstorm that was this spring. Now that I don’t have any more races looming, I can just get back to running as an enjoyable outlet that I do a few times a week for as long or as short as I want. No plan. No schedule. No pressure.
I definitely feel like I’m through with distance running for a while. I just hate being beholden to a training plan when my life is already so busy. I love running, but I can’t plan my life around it right now. I like having time and energy for other things. I’ll still be here, and I’m sure I’ll still talk about running and racing and whatever else I’m up to, but I think running and racing will be a much smaller piece of this blog moving forward.
Have you ever run a race that you weren’t trained for? How did it go?
I was SO exhausted on Sunday that I only made it to 11:45pm for the after party before giving up.
I wanted to do Soarin’ and Frozen again but after almost falling asleep three times on Spaceship Earth I had to admit I was done. Very tiring day!
What did you think of Frozen and the new Soarin’? I loved them both!
Agreed! I didn’t like some of the weirder transitions in Soarin’ but other than that it was AMAZING. I’m a casual Frozen fan so I wasn’t freaking out about it but I must say it was very well done, especially the bit where Else sends you backwards with “Let It Go.”
When I ran the ‘Selfless Elf’ 5K last December I hadn’t done any real speedwork since … no clue. Just my normal daily long run. And while that sounds silly – I was *so* worried last year and the year before about running 5k! They still terrify me – just dump me into a half or full marathon and I know I’ll be OK, but a 5K … oh the pain! 🙂
One of the most important things, I think, is to try to compartmentalize life – don’t tie your identity too much to ‘things’ and jobs and activities, because it can all be fleeting. Sure they are *part* of us, but they alone don’t define who we are.
For you – I loved those Disney pics – and there were basically none (ok, the wake-up one, which was awesome) that were specifically running. You were at Disney and also ran. That is great.
Well said! The race may have been the thing that brought me to Disney, but I did SO MUCH MORE than just run a race.
I’ve done 3 half marathons and was really only well prepared for one of them. That said, in both instances I had done runs of 8-9 miles a few weeks prior, so I guess it wasn’t too too bad, but still, very under prepared.
I’m doing a 5 mile turkey trot on Thanksgiving and the last time I ran was at the end of August. Should be interesting!
My motivation just hasn’t bee there.
I was thinking about doing a Turkey Trot 5k, but we’ll see. Good luck with your 5 miler!
Last year was my first year doing a turkey trot and it was really fun. It’s a different one this year, so I’m curious to see how it goes. It’s a nice way to start the holiday.
It looks like you had a great weekend, hope the legs feel better soon! The only races I’ve done without training would be the 5k distance. I running a lot less these days but I’m finally okay with it since I’m doing Barre, Yoga and soccer once a week each! I’m getting in some good cross training!
It seems like you’ve definitely got a well-rounded fitness routine going–keep it up!
I hope the Disney experience was fun! It’ll be nice to just enjoy running for running for a while… as much as I like taking part in races, there’s a lot to be said for just running for running’s sake 🙂 The half I ran back in June I hadn’t really trained for, and while my time wasn’t terrible (for me), it wasn’t really the best experience and I was sore and tired for days afterwards. Hopefully I learned that lesson!
Same here! I don’t want a repeat of that feeling.
I think you need to just have fun runs, for the sake of running. No strings attached. Maybe have running days, but no specified amounts.
That’s what I’m working towards. I definitely miss the endorphins.