The Running Thread - 2020

[Sleepless Knight]

February's goal has been to just get out there and do the runs and workouts I'd scheduled for myself. So far I've just been doing them later in the day to try to teach myself that just because I get up late doesn't mean I'm not going to run. I think March's goal will be about tackling the sleep issue head on, but I'm not sure how to approach it.

I always struggle to find my groove when I get back after a long layoff, even this year with Star Wars Rival Run on the horizon after Dopey. I find it too easy to make excuses and then have to face the fear down the road that I am only holding myself back because I'm not more diligent in my training.

From the better late than never category, here's my January mileage update:

15 hours running.
58 total miles, approximately 48.6 of which came from Dopey.

 

[Kazrak]

Race recap: Bay Breeze 10k

I set my PR for the half-marathon here last February, and had a good 10k at the race here in August. I like this course - it's right along the edge of San Francisco Bay, so it's super flat and scenic. (Strava says 17 feet of elevation change.)

Unlike last year, the weather this year was pretty much perfect - sunny, starting at about 50F and going up to the mid-50s, with just a little bit of wind off the bay to help keep you cool.

My plan for this race was to run it as a supported training run for Princess Half next weekend. In particular, I was explicitly not planning to push for time.

My goals for this race:

1. Don't hurt anything.
2. Finish.
3. Finish in under 1:30.

All goals were accomplished.

I started out toward the back of the corral, intentionally. I tried to keep my running pace to about 12:00/mile, backing off if I noticed it was faster than that. The rationale was that, with the 2m/30s intervals I was running, this would keep my overall pace from getting too close to 12:00/mi. I knew that if I came in at that pace after the first mile, the overly-optimistic part of my brain would decide that maybe I should try to sustain that and try for a 1:15 PoT. I knew I would not be able to sustain it, but might hurt myself trying.

The first mile came in at about 12:30, so I knew I was on the right track. My pace slowed a bit as the race went on, which I expected.

One frustrating bit: there was a group of four women running together who ended up passing me a few times during my walk intervals, making me dodge around them once I started running again. I deliberately lagged back for one run interval to let them get far enough ahead of me.

I didn't quite hit negative splits, but mile 6 was faster than miles 4 or 5, and the final 0.24 miles (per Strava) were faster than any mile, at an 11:19/mile pace.

Final results: 1:20:48 chip time, 13:02/mile official pace. I'm very pleased with this. My wife's goal was 90 minutes (9 minute kilometers; she came in at 1:30:13. My son came in at 47:13 for the 5k, possibly a PR for him.

I'll probably do a light run with my son on Tuesday, and that'll be my final run before Princess.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

Inside on the treadmill!
I really enjoy my treadmill- it allows me the opportunity to run anytime, in any weather, and with minimal preparation.

Agreed. I’m with you.

Also, I prefer running outside when it’s sunny and hot. I hate running outside when it’s less than 60 degrees outside. Lol.

 

[SarahDisney]

Tokyo Marathon is being limited to elites and wheelchair athletes (due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Tokyo):

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_001576.html
Really curious what people's thoughts on this are. I understand the safety concerns and appreciate the fact that they're trying to get ahead of it, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who were planning to run this year who won't be able to do it next year (for scheduling or financial reasons), and it's definitely a bummer for them.

 

[FFigawi]

Tokyo Marathon is being limited to elites and wheelchair athletes (due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Tokyo):

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_001576.html
Really curious what people's thoughts on this are. I understand the safety concerns and appreciate the fact that they're trying to get ahead of it, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who were planning to run this year who won't be able to do it next year (for scheduling or financial reasons), and it's definitely a bummer for them.

It’s certainly disappointing for everyone planning to run. At least they announced the cancellation early and not once everyone was already there like NY a few years ago. One of my friends is pulling down his trip, and another is going to go for vacation anyway.

 

[jmasgat]

Tokyo Marathon is being limited to elites and wheelchair athletes (due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Tokyo):

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_001576.html
Really curious what people's thoughts on this are. I understand the safety concerns and appreciate the fact that they're trying to get ahead of it, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who were planning to run this year who won't be able to do it next year (for scheduling or financial reasons), and it's definitely a bummer for them.

Wow. Really too bad. On the plus side, they at least gave people two weeks notice. I was registered for NY in 2012, and they gave people two days notice of the cancellation. That caused "friction" with many, to put it mildly. On the minus side, Tokyo should have offered a refund or a free deferral for 2021.

As to whether they should have done this at all.....who knows. At this point, even the epidemiologists don't have the answers yet.

 

[flav]

Tokyo Marathon is being limited to elites and wheelchair athletes (due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Tokyo):

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_001576.html
Really curious what people's thoughts on this are. I understand the safety concerns and appreciate the fact that they're trying to get ahead of it, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who were planning to run this year who won't be able to do it next year (for scheduling or financial reasons), and it's definitely a bummer for them.

I guess it depends what the demographics are on that Marathon. If mostly local and people from Asia, I can understand them trying to discourage travel. For sure the impact on people coming from far is great: Not everyone can reschedule a trip to Japan to the next year. I wonder how many will go to Tokyo anyway. Is it any better to have the same people in the metro instead of in a race corral or expo?

 

[camaker]

Tokyo Marathon is being limited to elites and wheelchair athletes (due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Tokyo):

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_001576.html
Really curious what people's thoughts on this are. I understand the safety concerns and appreciate the fact that they're trying to get ahead of it, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who were planning to run this year who won't be able to do it next year (for scheduling or financial reasons), and it's definitely a bummer for them.

I think this is a massive overreaction. Japan has already implemented a travel ban on people from China (not sure if it's across the board or just runners), isolating the major source. If the disease was running rampant across the world, I could potentially see it, but not under the current circumstances.

Wow. Really too bad. On the plus side, they at least gave people two weeks notice. I was registered for NY in 2012, and they gave people two days notice of the cancellation. That caused "friction" with many, to put it mildly. On the minus side, Tokyo should have offered a refund or a free deferral for 2021.

As to whether they should have done this at all.....who knows. At this point, even the epidemiologists don't have the answers yet.

I don't think two weeks makes much of a difference versus two days. Runners are already stuck with non-refundable plane tickets and other travel arrangements. That means they either eat a lot of costs or make the trip into a non-running vacation. If they make the trip anyway, what's the point in cancelling the race? The same risk of people coming into the country bringing the disease exists as if the marathon were run. It all feels knee-jerk and poorly thought out.

 

[rteetz]

This is one of those no wonder situations I think. Cancel it and you have plenty of upset people and issues going forward. Don’t cancel it and you have other risks. I certainly would be upset myself if I was going. I’m not too familiar with how the coronavirus is impacting Japan either. If it’s similar to the US where it’s more isolated/contained then I think it may be an overreaction to cancel.

 

[CDKG]

Tokyo Marathon is being limited to elites and wheelchair athletes (due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Tokyo):

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_001576.html
Really curious what people's thoughts on this are. I understand the safety concerns and appreciate the fact that they're trying to get ahead of it, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who were planning to run this year who won't be able to do it next year (for scheduling or financial reasons), and it's definitely a bummer for them.

I think this is a massive overreaction. Japan has already implemented a travel ban on people from China (not sure if it's across the board or just runners), isolating the major source. If the disease was running rampant across the world, I could potentially see it, but not under the current circumstances.

I agree with @camaker this sounds like a massive overreaction. The risk is still very specific to individuals traveling from China (not Asia) and if there is already a travel ban, the risk is very low. The flu is a much higher risk (just ask many of the runners here who attended marathon weekend!)

This also makes me wonder about the summer Olympics. They are only 5 months away!

 

[TheHamm]

Tokyo Marathon is being limited to elites and wheelchair athletes (due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Tokyo):

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_001576.html
Really curious what people's thoughts on this are. I understand the safety concerns and appreciate the fact that they're trying to get ahead of it, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who were planning to run this year who won't be able to do it next year (for scheduling or financial reasons), and it's definitely a bummer for them.

Based on my memory of the reaction of bird flu 10ish years ago (it was a pain to get into NRT, the only time I think it was worse was around the Fukushima incident), my gut feeling was that the government would start putting in place more insular measures. There is so much that is unknown about this, it is hard to make a good choice, but I think they are rather risk adverse. I also imagine having the largest cluster of cases outside of Wuhan stuck in port in Yokohama has given their government and healthcare system pause to evaluate just what they can handle.

While I think the race allowing deferrals would have been the correct choice, there are clearly other travel arrangements that are non-refundable, and planning for a large international trip as well as marathon training are not something that can be refunded. While there are plenty of people who will still go and do other things, there are others who will eat the cost and not go. There are also plenty of people in Japan that will not travel to Tokyo that weekend to race or spectate. While there will still be a small influx of visitors, it will be smaller and I think that is the point.

As for the olympics, I think there are already people waiting on booking their trips.

ETA: I state they should be able to defer, which they can. They do not have to wonder if they have the opportunity to pay to get in in 2021, but their money from 2020 is gone.

 

[StarGirl11]

Based on my memory of the reaction of bird flu 10ish years ago (it was a pain to get into NRT, the only time I think it was worse was around the Fukushima incident), my gut feeling was that the government would start putting in place more insular measures. There is so much that is unknown about this, it is hard to make a good choice, but I think they are rather risk adverse. I also imagine having the largest cluster of cases outside of Wuhan stuck in port in Yokohama has given their government and healthcare system pause to evaluate just what they can handle.

This. I don't think a lot of people are realizing just how much the impact of whats happening with the Princess Diamond is having. They just had another 90 cases confirmed today most of which don't have symptoms. And at this point we still don't know if the asymptomatic people can actually spread the virus. I saw people cancelling their Tokyo Marathon trips on Twitter a few days before this announcement came through. That was before all of this happened in the past 12 hours.

I honestly feel like some of this reaction may deal with them not wanting to allocate all of the emergency services that come with a 38,000 people race.

As for the Olympics its going to be interesting to see what happens. A lot can change in 5 months so I think it will be okay ultimately since some of the factors here should have died down by then. But if they can't host it then most likely it will lead to 2020 being cancelled outright which did happen before during the World Wars. The scale of the Olympics can't be understated, and I don't think they can just move host cities on a whim. Theres a lot more at play with them then even when compared to just the Tokyo Marathon.

Either way getting a 2021 bib just got a lot more interesting with the cancellation.

 

[Baloo in MI]

Seems like this is a lose if you do and lose if you don’t type of situation. By cancelling for all but the Elites there are a ton of people who have worked for so long and put forth a lot of money and that sucks for them. I just think back to 2017 WDW MW and the Half being cancelled due to weather. It was very upsetting and disappointing. Now runDisney did a good job with options for those runners and that helped. Is anything like that happening for the Tokyo Marathon? But bottom line if, and clearly this is only an if, the illness spread from this event could you imagine the outcry that would take place. And I believe I heard on the news that 36,000 people were registered. I do not think they had much of a choice in the end.

 

[flav]

Regarding the Tokyo Marathon cancellation, am I understanding it right that someone registered will have the right to reregister next year (not having to qualify again one way or another) but will have to pay the full registration amount again?

That seems to be common race policies. I was surprised at first because when they canceled Montreal Marathon 2017, RnR offered full reimbursement as an option. It seems that it was also the case for NYC 2012.

I am now very nervous about most of my 2020 races: I entered the NYC lottery, will it go like Tokyo? I registered to RnR Montreal, and the organizers do not seem to come to an agreement with the city regarding permits. I declined insurance when I registered to multiple races at Ottawa Marathon Weekend. Granted, if all of my upcoming 2020 races were canceled, I would be out 600USD but it would also mean that the world would have huge problems (or that I would be gravely injured). Just reminding me to breathe and pur things in perspective.

 

[Wendy98]

I am one of the registered runners affected by the cancellation of the Tokyo Marathon. I have experienced every emotion in the past 24 hours. I did a 20 mile run yesterday that I was on the fence about since I just started running regularly 3 weeks ago (I was recovering from another fracture in my leg that was probably from NYC marathon). It was on the slower side yesterday, but I was on top of the world and regained some confidence. I was traveling to Tokyo alone and needed to know that I could pull this off without seriously injuring myself. I had heard the rumors last night, but it was just speculation. I woke up this morning late since I had a puking kid all night. I am in several Tokyo Marathon forums and I saw it there, along with a text from a friend who was also running it, simply stating, "I'm devastated". I am too. I have been busy cancelling so much today. Hotels were easy. I used Skymiles for flights. I will most likely get the miles back and fees waived (thankful to have a friend that works in reservations who will try to get her supervisor to sign off on the fee waiving). There are other things I am waiting to hear back from. My JR Pass is my biggest expense still out there. I am so sad to not get to go to Tokyo Disney--I already bought my ticket for my first full day in Japan (another expense I am not sure I will recoup). I could still go but I won't. Without the race, there is no point for me to be away from my family and responsibilities to go sight seeing.

I will be able to defer to next year but that isn't a huge deal. I would have been able to get in anyway though Tokyo Run as One. It is based on times and they only take about 300 people total (men had to be under 2:43 wish to get in, not sure about women--I submitted a 3:03). Now I get to pay the fee again. This year's race was going to be my 5th star and I was going to claim my 6th star in London this April. In the end, it isn't the end of the world. My kids are disappointed also and they weren't even going! I did tell them that I will take them next year (might be kicking myself for putting that out there).

Again, I am so, so sad. It has taken months for me to mentally prep myself for this and traveling alone. I worry that my body is breaking down and not sure how many marathons I have left in me.

 

[StarGirl11]

Regarding the Tokyo Marathon cancellation, am I understanding it right that someone registered will have the right to reregister next year (not having to qualify again one way or another) but will have to pay the full registration amount again?

That seems to be common race policies. I was surprised at first because when they canceled Montreal Marathon 2017, RnR offered full reimbursement as an option. It seems that it was also the case for NYC 2012.

I am now very nervous about most of my 2020 races: I entered the NYC lottery, will it go like Tokyo? I registered to RnR Montreal, and the organizers do not seem to come to an agreement with the city regarding permits. I declined insurance when I registered to multiple races at Ottawa Marathon Weekend. Granted, if all of my upcoming 2020 races were canceled, I would be out 600USD but it would also mean that the world would have huge problems (or that I would be gravely injured). Just reminding me to breathe and pur things in perspective.

I feel like fretting about NYC at this point is just causing more stress then necessary. We’re 8 months out. Most don’t know if they’re in yet. And a lot can change in treating this before then.

Also maybe it’s just me but I don’t feel like it’s going to be as much of a problem with the remaining majors. It’s having a bigger impact in Asia due to proximity.

Admittedly Montreal sounds like it’s less ConVid related and more RnR being its usual bratty self. This kind of behavior is what ultimately cost them the full marathon in Denver.

The cancellation is a weird spot for me. I was one of those that was involved in the now defunct method of charity bibs fiasco back in July. And never got to even try to pay for it. It still kind of stings what happened with the website. But knowing now even if I hadn’t been blocked I wouldn’t be running regardless does make the whole thing sting a little less.

@Wendy98 So sorry to hear about you being one of the ones impacted.

 

[jmasgat]

@Wendy98 So sorry about Tokyo. It sucks that this is happening....on the bright side, your body gets extra recovery/training time for London. How did you get your entry for that? I'm going to try the lottery for next year's.

 

[StarGirl11]

@Wendy98 So sorry about Tokyo. It sucks that this is happening....on the bright side, your body gets extra recovery/training time for London. How did you get your entry for that? I'm going to try the lottery for next year's.

I know this wasn’t directed at me. And maybe Wendy got lucky. But lottery, more particularly the overseas lottery, is considered the worst way to try and gain London entry. The odds of scoring a bib via that method are so stacked against you it’s almost worth not trying. Does it happen? Yes. But the overseas bib field is small enough that it’s incredibly unlikely. Your best options are tour operator or charity.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

Ugh my sympathies to all the runners affected by Tokyo being canceled!! Wow, this virus has taken a massive toll on their economy I’m sure!

 

[dtrain]

Anyone ever tried these GO2 devices? https://go2devices.com

A friend of mine sent me one to try out, she uses it for CrossFit stuff and swears by it.