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Ran a 10k - Official Thread (11 Viewers)
- Thread starter Ned
- Start date
Hang 10
Footballguy
JShare87
Footballguy
Ran a personal best for a 5K last night (24:44). Overall average pace 7:56.
Splits
Mile 1: 7:42
Mile 2: 7:55
Mile 3: 8:01
Mile 4: 9:13
Overall average heart rate: 172
I've been losing weight and running since January. I started at around 225 and am down to 195. The weight loss has helped the running, and the running has helped the weight loss.
Splits
Mile 1: 7:42
Mile 2: 7:55
Mile 3: 8:01
Mile 4: 9:13
Overall average heart rate: 172
I've been losing weight and running since January. I started at around 225 and am down to 195. The weight loss has helped the running, and the running has helped the weight loss.
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
Took a few, linked in the post:Sand said:Great race! Did you take pictures along the way? Congrats on the lottery entry (fingers crossed!)
And +10 pts for working in "dirtbagging" into your report. I had to look that one up.
Xterra packed and set up for sleeping
set up my backpacking stove to heat up the rice and salmon
Western States movie
start at the back
use a rope to tiptoe across some rocks in Volcano Creek.
Eric Schranz and his Alpenhorn
I paused for a quick picture
along the river
I also accidentally shot about an hour of pocket video on my phone. I listened to some of it yesterday, some audio of me talking to other runners, and some audio of me talking to myself, doing math out loud trying to predict paces, splits, etc.
phatdawg
Footballguy
One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon (Indianapolis - May 7)
Training
This was my second HM (did the same race last year) and my training was fairly similar. I had taken an extended break from running during the holidays (AKA ... lazy) and I added some weight (AKA ... fat). My training was productive over the last 16 weeks, other than the last two before the race. Unfortunately, both my grandparents died during the time I was training, including my grandmother dying two weeks before the race. I was their power of attorney, their primary resource for support and eventually the executor of their wills. I have been dealing with their gradual decline for months, but I found myself less motivated to run in the couple weeks leading up to the race. Excuses aside, I ran only three times in the three weeks before the race.
Pre-race
I stopped by the Expo on Friday to pick up my packet and browse. I got to see Meb at the autograph session, but the line was too long so I just snapped a couple pictures. We stayed at my in-laws the night before the race and I got pretty good sleep, except having to wake up once in the middle of the night with my 2-year-old. We got a late start and arrived in downtown Indy in just enough time for me to hit the porta potty and get to my corral with a full 90 seconds to spare. We stood around for the next 10 minutes before our wave started so I had some time to stretch, but I didn't get a warm-up. I wasn't too worried about it because the course is so packed during the first couple miles that I figured I would ease into it.
Note: I will be referencing times taken from my watch and phone because the official results don't list mile splits. I ended up running more than 13.3 miles because of the weaving in and out of traffic, etc.
Miles 1-5 (8:40, 8:31, 8:41, 8:35, 9:13)
I tried not to come out too fast because I think that hurt me last year, but I still may not have held back enough. As I mentioned, the beginning of the race is tightly packed and I constantly found myself weaving through traffic. I found it irritating that people were walking in the first mile that signed up in a corral in front of me. You register based on expected finish time and you are allowed to move back into a slower corral the day of the race so there really is no excuse to start too far forward (RANT OVER). I felt really comfortable during the first five miles and my pace felt good. The 9:13 for Mile 5 included a quick bathroom break in the bushes.
Miles 6-10 (8:47, 9:03, 8:58, 9:12, 9:26)
The course goes around Indianapolis Motor Speedway during this stretch of the race and most people love it. People stop to kiss the bricks at the start/finish line and take selfies. I find it boring, but it was better than last year. I actually listened to a book during the HM, so I had that to keep me entertained (A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts). My pace slowed during this section and my legs started to feel fatigued by the 9-mile mark. I walked the water stations before the 9- and 10-mile marks. My strategy going in was to get water every couple stations and walk long enough to grab the water and slug a bit down. I didn't walk at all last year and I found it difficult to drink water while running.
Miles 11-13.1 (10:00, 10:33, 10:25, 1:01)
As you can see by my splits, I am running out of gas in a hurry. My legs started to feel heavy and I was having a hard time pushing through mentally. I walked the water station before the 12-mile marker and took too much time to get going again. At this point, I knew that 1:59:59 was out of range, but I was confident I was going to beat the 2:03:47 I posted last year. I did notice that my watch and phone were hitting mile markers well before the course markers, but I didn't think it was as far of time-wise as it was. I saw my wife just before the 13-mile marker and picked it up for the last stretch.
I ran 13.1 miles (based on my watch and phone) in 2:01:05, but I didn't cross the finish line until 2:03:48 ... one second slower than last year.
Official time: 2:03:48
Place: 5,714/28,847
Age group: 494/1,344
I already signed up for next year.
Training
This was my second HM (did the same race last year) and my training was fairly similar. I had taken an extended break from running during the holidays (AKA ... lazy) and I added some weight (AKA ... fat). My training was productive over the last 16 weeks, other than the last two before the race. Unfortunately, both my grandparents died during the time I was training, including my grandmother dying two weeks before the race. I was their power of attorney, their primary resource for support and eventually the executor of their wills. I have been dealing with their gradual decline for months, but I found myself less motivated to run in the couple weeks leading up to the race. Excuses aside, I ran only three times in the three weeks before the race.
Pre-race
I stopped by the Expo on Friday to pick up my packet and browse. I got to see Meb at the autograph session, but the line was too long so I just snapped a couple pictures. We stayed at my in-laws the night before the race and I got pretty good sleep, except having to wake up once in the middle of the night with my 2-year-old. We got a late start and arrived in downtown Indy in just enough time for me to hit the porta potty and get to my corral with a full 90 seconds to spare. We stood around for the next 10 minutes before our wave started so I had some time to stretch, but I didn't get a warm-up. I wasn't too worried about it because the course is so packed during the first couple miles that I figured I would ease into it.
Note: I will be referencing times taken from my watch and phone because the official results don't list mile splits. I ended up running more than 13.3 miles because of the weaving in and out of traffic, etc.
Miles 1-5 (8:40, 8:31, 8:41, 8:35, 9:13)
I tried not to come out too fast because I think that hurt me last year, but I still may not have held back enough. As I mentioned, the beginning of the race is tightly packed and I constantly found myself weaving through traffic. I found it irritating that people were walking in the first mile that signed up in a corral in front of me. You register based on expected finish time and you are allowed to move back into a slower corral the day of the race so there really is no excuse to start too far forward (RANT OVER). I felt really comfortable during the first five miles and my pace felt good. The 9:13 for Mile 5 included a quick bathroom break in the bushes.
Miles 6-10 (8:47, 9:03, 8:58, 9:12, 9:26)
The course goes around Indianapolis Motor Speedway during this stretch of the race and most people love it. People stop to kiss the bricks at the start/finish line and take selfies. I find it boring, but it was better than last year. I actually listened to a book during the HM, so I had that to keep me entertained (A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts). My pace slowed during this section and my legs started to feel fatigued by the 9-mile mark. I walked the water stations before the 9- and 10-mile marks. My strategy going in was to get water every couple stations and walk long enough to grab the water and slug a bit down. I didn't walk at all last year and I found it difficult to drink water while running.
Miles 11-13.1 (10:00, 10:33, 10:25, 1:01)
As you can see by my splits, I am running out of gas in a hurry. My legs started to feel heavy and I was having a hard time pushing through mentally. I walked the water station before the 12-mile marker and took too much time to get going again. At this point, I knew that 1:59:59 was out of range, but I was confident I was going to beat the 2:03:47 I posted last year. I did notice that my watch and phone were hitting mile markers well before the course markers, but I didn't think it was as far of time-wise as it was. I saw my wife just before the 13-mile marker and picked it up for the last stretch.
I ran 13.1 miles (based on my watch and phone) in 2:01:05, but I didn't cross the finish line until 2:03:48 ... one second slower than last year.
Official time: 2:03:48
Place: 5,714/28,847
Age group: 494/1,344
I already signed up for next year.
prosopis
Arizona Chupacabra
Greta reports in here. Duck that is an incredible adventure you had, just unbelievable.
I am still trying to run by HR and it is still pretty slow.
Today I had to go out a little later so it was warmer out and I could only run four. How do you guys calculate the suck index? I forget. It was 90 out this morning when I did my four. Avg HR140, pace 15:15
I am still trying to run by HR and it is still pretty slow.
Today I had to go out a little later so it was warmer out and I could only run four. How do you guys calculate the suck index? I forget. It was 90 out this morning when I did my four. Avg HR140, pace 15:15
Sand
Footballguy
I saw o you had some issues in training before this, but I used to do this a lot. My most successful half included a couple 15-16 mile runs and I swear they made all the difference during the last stretch.
----
On my end still training for Denver. Today was a team ride (I'm not on the team) and the first ride I didn't get dropped during hard stretches. Getting better, getting stronger - finally felt I had some mojo today. Now just to drop a crapload of weight and continue to get stronger.
40 mile ride tomorrow to get me to ~165 miles for week.
@phatdawg - Nice work! Sounds like an interesting HM. So very sorry to hear about the loss of your grandparents.
@SFBayDuck - Congrats on the finish and incredibly impressive to negative split an ultra. A rare accomplishment indeed! Good luck in the lottery next year.
My week was interesting. Started feeling like garbage a week ago on Friday. Stayed committed to running with a friend on Saturday morning, but immediately asked my wife if she minded that I take a quick nap when I returned home. An hour later she tells me I'm burning up, and the thermometer confirms that with a temp at 103. Wanted to make sure I wasn't spreading strep to the kids, so to urgent care I went. The JV team was working...strep negative but they told me I just had a viral infection and that rest and fluids should do the trick. Fast forward three days to Tuesday night and I had little to no improvement. My temp with continual ibuprofen was still 100+, I was sleeping 18+ hours each day with no energy, sweating buckets doing nothing, and continuing to feel like garbage. Back into (a different) Urgent Care I go Tuesday night. After a battery of tests, I'm confirmed to have Influenza B. Good thing I got that flu shot this year! So I ended up home all week, with today being the first day I haven't spent the majority of in bed. Sucks though as I'm out of breath even walking the stairs in our house, and feel discouraged that this puts me squarely behind the 8-ball in my training for the 100 in September. So, has anyone had any experience bouncing back from the flu? What can I expect in getting my lungs and legs back? Any insight is greatly appreciated.
@SFBayDuck - Congrats on the finish and incredibly impressive to negative split an ultra. A rare accomplishment indeed! Good luck in the lottery next year.
My week was interesting. Started feeling like garbage a week ago on Friday. Stayed committed to running with a friend on Saturday morning, but immediately asked my wife if she minded that I take a quick nap when I returned home. An hour later she tells me I'm burning up, and the thermometer confirms that with a temp at 103. Wanted to make sure I wasn't spreading strep to the kids, so to urgent care I went. The JV team was working...strep negative but they told me I just had a viral infection and that rest and fluids should do the trick. Fast forward three days to Tuesday night and I had little to no improvement. My temp with continual ibuprofen was still 100+, I was sleeping 18+ hours each day with no energy, sweating buckets doing nothing, and continuing to feel like garbage. Back into (a different) Urgent Care I go Tuesday night. After a battery of tests, I'm confirmed to have Influenza B. Good thing I got that flu shot this year! So I ended up home all week, with today being the first day I haven't spent the majority of in bed. Sucks though as I'm out of breath even walking the stairs in our house, and feel discouraged that this puts me squarely behind the 8-ball in my training for the 100 in September. So, has anyone had any experience bouncing back from the flu? What can I expect in getting my lungs and legs back? Any insight is greatly appreciated.
igbomb
Footballguy
Man, today's run felt great. 20 mph winds, rain and even some hail and I ran way faster than I had planned.
Averaged an 8:09 pace over 9 miles. Heart rate never went above the mid-150s and average was 147. I've been planning on running a half at 8:30 pace in three weeks, now I'm wondering if that will leave too much on the table. I don't want to bonk but I never felt gassed at all today and think I could have held the pace I was for at least a couple more miles.
Averaged an 8:09 pace over 9 miles. Heart rate never went above the mid-150s and average was 147. I've been planning on running a half at 8:30 pace in three weeks, now I'm wondering if that will leave too much on the table. I don't want to bonk but I never felt gassed at all today and think I could have held the pace I was for at least a couple more miles.
Hang 10
Footballguy
I'm sure you're more than capable of handling that pace for the full half and then some. 9 miles at half marathon would be a crushing workout for most of us in here.
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
I haven't, but my daughter caught it this past winter. She is "high risk" with asthma, and still bounced back within a couple of weeks and was playing sports again.
Ned
Footballguy
@SFBayDuck - Your ability to put the reader right in the race is awesome. Loved the RR and congrats on another WS qualifier!
@JShare87 - Congrats!
@phatdawg - Congrats on the HM... I know that 1sec would bug the hell out of me too!
@SayWhat? - It took me a few weeks to be back to 100% after I had a nasty bout with the flu this year. Be patient... you'll bounce back, but you can't force it.
@prosopis - The Suck Index table is in the OP.
@JShare87 - Congrats!
@phatdawg - Congrats on the HM... I know that 1sec would bug the hell out of me too!
@SayWhat? - It took me a few weeks to be back to 100% after I had a nasty bout with the flu this year. Be patient... you'll bounce back, but you can't force it.
@prosopis - The Suck Index table is in the OP.
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Ned
Footballguy
I spent a long (and amazing) weekend in WV for a national 3D archery tournament and my running had to take a back seat. Shooting multiple days (all day) made running a near impossibility. I had a an up/down weekend, but overall I'm very happy with where I'm at... feel like I'm on the cusp of a breakthrough.
So I ran a little under 16mi yesterday to salvage some weekly volume and was fully expecting it to suck. I rarely run well when taking more than 2 days off from running (I took off 4). Started out easy and felt really good, so I kept adding miles (originally planned 10ish). I still felt good at 14 and decided to finish fast. Last 2 splits were 6:55 and 6:53. I was very surprised I felt as good as I did. Very motivating...
So I ran a little under 16mi yesterday to salvage some weekly volume and was fully expecting it to suck. I rarely run well when taking more than 2 days off from running (I took off 4). Started out easy and felt really good, so I kept adding miles (originally planned 10ish). I still felt good at 14 and decided to finish fast. Last 2 splits were 6:55 and 6:53. I was very surprised I felt as good as I did. Very motivating...
igbomb
Footballguy
Thanks for the advice. I still struggle to figure out smart paces on runs/races. After I get through my half in three weeks I'm going to take a couple weeks off to let all of my lingering aches heal up and then sort out my HR zones. Then I'll let the HR dictate training for a while.
Hang 10
Footballguy
I think the best way to figure out your race/training paces is your past race performance. That's why many of us use tune-up races before our goal race. Running a hard 5/10K before your half will give you a great idea of what's realistic for your half marathon.
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beer 30
Footballguy
This is your year man. Y'all should be making plans for pacing now cause Duck is getting in this time around! WRITE IT DOWN!!!!
FUBAR
Footballguy
6 days from IM CHOO 70.3 and I'm not ready, at all. Sure my swim and bike will be solid if not good, but I can barely run. Went out yesterday for an easy 40 minutes to test the left leg after taking 10 days off from running, it's stiff, slow and aches. I don't think I'll get injured badly by doing the race but this might see my bike time and run times be entirely too close. 
I'll see the doctor on the 25th.
I'll see the doctor on the 25th.
Ned
Footballguy
No real idea why; I just seem to get rusty very quickly. I think a big part of this time being different was due to being on my feet and probably hiking 6-8mi during the shoot. There was some steep terrain that had my quads burning.
Bummer about your left leg! :(
pbm107
Footballguy
If I were in your position, injured before a big race, I hope I'd skip the race. If you can barely run, I don't see the point of attempting an IM.
MAC_32
Footballguy
Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon
It was a historically awful mid-May weekend in Cleveland. Saturday's was unusual, but not unprecedented. Sunday though? I'll get to that.
Saturday was our K-2 all schools track meet. 5 hours in windy and steadily dropping temp's (started at 51, finished at 43) with more and more rain as the meet progressed, culminating with a nice frigid downpour. Why is this relevant to my race Sunday? Well, I noticed during one of my pre race rounds that one of our best runner's, a 2nd grader named Emma, was noticeably irritated before running her 100. I don't think she's lost a race all year, so I wanted to get to whatever was bothering her before the gun went off. She looked at me and just said - 'I'm cold, I'm wet, and I want to go home.' I asked her if the weather is any different for the others running this race. She predictably dropped her head and said no. I then said 'the weather only bothers you if you let it bother you. Now gimme that jacket and you can get it back after you cross the finish line and win this thing.' Which Emma did. And her attitude was much brighter heading into the 200, which she also won. My words though...they would come back to bite me.
To be fair, our weather reports had been poor for race day all week, so mentally we were ready (my wife ran the 10K) for whatever mother nature threw at us. That's what we said to ourselves anyway. I tried something a little different this year and went to bed early 2 days before the race. Going to bed before the sun was weird, but doing it Friday (then getting up at 5 Saturday) made Saturday night/Sunday morning easier to adjust to. Alarm went off at 4:30, preset coffee was already ready, popped a 1/2 bagel in the toaster, nuked my pre made oatmeal, diced up a banana, smothered the finished bagel w/almond butter, then poured the diced up banana into the oatmeal. I was sitting by the porch window by 4:34 w/breakfast ready. And got to enjoy the sight of snow in the middle of May. I don't know if this is going to be fun, but this is going to be an experience I'll never forget.
I actually arrived to the start line a little early (for me), a whole 5 minutes before the gun. I found a spot a notch behind the 1:30 pacer on the outside then waited for this show to get on the road. I had clothes to disrobe, so I was still only ready to run maybe a minute before the gun though. I had an old pair of running tights that were on their last legs over my race shorts, so I wore them to the corral then left them on the rails. It was just 35 degrees, but morning precipitation had faded and the winds were actually fairly tolerable so I wasn't terribly uncomfortable. I also had an old fleece over my sleeveless, but I decided to wear that until I was warm enough to let 'er fly. Despite the temps it didn't even make it to mile 1 (starting with a tail wind helped though). I could tell almost immediately that my body was ready to go today, as evident by mile one.
Mile 1 (5:38) - EASY, KILLER! I usually never watch my splits, but I thought I started too fast so I checked this one. I didn't check any others, but I made corrections.
Miles 2 + 3 (6:33, 6:40) - I began to settle into a groove, but just as that happened the wind picked up. And then the sleet started. We turned to the west into the wind at mile 2.6 and it both hit almost immediately. It's early, I feel great, I'm not letting this get the best of me - so I trudged on and passed a few along the way. Then we turned onto the bridge at mile 3.5 And the sleet really started pelting us. It hurt. This was when my words from the day before crept into my head - 'the weather only bothers you if you let it bother you.' If Emma can do it then I can ####### do it too. Then Ramrod came on my playlist and I went into my happy place as the image of Springsteen dancing with his 90 year old mom to this song last month popped into my head - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXzHHS7Ae7U. I'm not going to let the weather beat me today.
Miles 4 + 5 (6:46, 6:28) - No, the weather is not going to beat me today. And the guy that passed me on the down side of the bridge would be the last one to pass me until mile 13.05. Of course, the sleet subsided almost as soon as I finished the mile plus long bridge as we turned down wind and made our way into one of the more popular neighborhoods in town. Not as many spectators as most years (who could blame them), but there's enough activity over the next few miles to keep you going without thinking too much about how you're feeling.
Miles 6 + 7 (6:23, 6:13) - As evident by many of my workouts, the problem with mentally checking out like I did - I have a tendency to speed up. The neighborhood crowds allowed me to do just that. The only part of this stretch I even remember is the one short incline during mile 6 when I consciously told my glutes and hams to fire up and give the rest of my legs a break. It's probably a good thing I didn't check my splits because I would have really over corrected, but I knew I was going too fast. The next stretch is the most sparsely populated, so it'd be a good time to really hone in on keeping my heart rate under control for the finish.
Miles 8 + 9 + 10 (6:45, 6:32, 6:29) - A little too slow? Maybe, but I knew I was ahead of pace and I did not want to flame out pushing too hard when I didn't need to. What was cool looking at this afterwards though - my GAP's (grad adjusted pace) were very consistent miles 6-9. With hind sight, I guess I didn't speed up miles 6 + 7, but focusing on technique miles 8 +9 really re-fueled me for the final push as my heart rate seemed much more in control. Once turning downwind I finally unloaded my hand warmers and happy that I hadn't gotten into them yet I devoured my chews towards the end of this stretch for the final push. But then...
Miles 11 + 12 (6:20, 6:17) - ...HERE COMES THE HAIL STORM! I wish I were kidding. I had totally forgotten about the sleet on the bridge back on mile 4 as there had just been periodic spitting rain between then and now, but this one came with a vengance. It was borderline blinding and most of mile 12 was dead into the wind. The sleet earlier hurt, but this was like a death by 1,000 papercuts. I had several people waiting for me at a bar at mile 11.5, but since visibility was near zero while being pelted with hail stones and I was negative splitting (they thought I was still another 3-5 minutes away) they all missed me. To be fair, I missed most of them too. I saw one for an instant, but when I went to yell out her name nothing came out. Mentally fried I guess, connection from my brain to mouth was faulty - kinda like the more sparse crowds than usual, can't blame them! A truly historically awful weather moment in the race's history. But it looks like it drove me to faster times. I just wanted to get the #### outta there!
Mile 13 (6:14) - Those looking at strava, that is not a 98' decline; that's an incline. Strava only does actual elevation, it doesn't account for bridges, which is all mile 13 is. I don't know how much we climbed on this bridge, but it's called a 'death march' by many for a reason - it's probably 200-300' up in their air totally exposed to whatever Lake Erie has in store for that day. Obviously on this day that was a lot. To do it in 6:14? I'm still amazed. But I'm more amazed at the 40-something guy that passed me on the way off the bridge. I felt like I was hauling as I picked a handful of people off and then this guy left me in the dust.
The finish is down an off ramp and a 2 block sprint into downtown. I didn't see my wife, but once we connected towards the end of the chute she said she'd never seen a #### eating grin like I had when I saw my time as I neared the finish line. Then we cooled down faster than we've ever cooled down before back to the car. Wanted to enjoy the moment, but I wanted a hot shower more.
Official time: 1:25:56, 29th of 4,500+, 4th in age group (3 seconds from placing) - a PR by more than 8 minutes.
Holy ####### ####.
It was a historically awful mid-May weekend in Cleveland. Saturday's was unusual, but not unprecedented. Sunday though? I'll get to that.
Saturday was our K-2 all schools track meet. 5 hours in windy and steadily dropping temp's (started at 51, finished at 43) with more and more rain as the meet progressed, culminating with a nice frigid downpour. Why is this relevant to my race Sunday? Well, I noticed during one of my pre race rounds that one of our best runner's, a 2nd grader named Emma, was noticeably irritated before running her 100. I don't think she's lost a race all year, so I wanted to get to whatever was bothering her before the gun went off. She looked at me and just said - 'I'm cold, I'm wet, and I want to go home.' I asked her if the weather is any different for the others running this race. She predictably dropped her head and said no. I then said 'the weather only bothers you if you let it bother you. Now gimme that jacket and you can get it back after you cross the finish line and win this thing.' Which Emma did. And her attitude was much brighter heading into the 200, which she also won. My words though...they would come back to bite me.
To be fair, our weather reports had been poor for race day all week, so mentally we were ready (my wife ran the 10K) for whatever mother nature threw at us. That's what we said to ourselves anyway. I tried something a little different this year and went to bed early 2 days before the race. Going to bed before the sun was weird, but doing it Friday (then getting up at 5 Saturday) made Saturday night/Sunday morning easier to adjust to. Alarm went off at 4:30, preset coffee was already ready, popped a 1/2 bagel in the toaster, nuked my pre made oatmeal, diced up a banana, smothered the finished bagel w/almond butter, then poured the diced up banana into the oatmeal. I was sitting by the porch window by 4:34 w/breakfast ready. And got to enjoy the sight of snow in the middle of May. I don't know if this is going to be fun, but this is going to be an experience I'll never forget.
I actually arrived to the start line a little early (for me), a whole 5 minutes before the gun. I found a spot a notch behind the 1:30 pacer on the outside then waited for this show to get on the road. I had clothes to disrobe, so I was still only ready to run maybe a minute before the gun though. I had an old pair of running tights that were on their last legs over my race shorts, so I wore them to the corral then left them on the rails. It was just 35 degrees, but morning precipitation had faded and the winds were actually fairly tolerable so I wasn't terribly uncomfortable. I also had an old fleece over my sleeveless, but I decided to wear that until I was warm enough to let 'er fly. Despite the temps it didn't even make it to mile 1 (starting with a tail wind helped though). I could tell almost immediately that my body was ready to go today, as evident by mile one.
Mile 1 (5:38) - EASY, KILLER! I usually never watch my splits, but I thought I started too fast so I checked this one. I didn't check any others, but I made corrections.
Miles 2 + 3 (6:33, 6:40) - I began to settle into a groove, but just as that happened the wind picked up. And then the sleet started. We turned to the west into the wind at mile 2.6 and it both hit almost immediately. It's early, I feel great, I'm not letting this get the best of me - so I trudged on and passed a few along the way. Then we turned onto the bridge at mile 3.5 And the sleet really started pelting us. It hurt. This was when my words from the day before crept into my head - 'the weather only bothers you if you let it bother you.' If Emma can do it then I can ####### do it too. Then Ramrod came on my playlist and I went into my happy place as the image of Springsteen dancing with his 90 year old mom to this song last month popped into my head - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXzHHS7Ae7U. I'm not going to let the weather beat me today.
Miles 4 + 5 (6:46, 6:28) - No, the weather is not going to beat me today. And the guy that passed me on the down side of the bridge would be the last one to pass me until mile 13.05. Of course, the sleet subsided almost as soon as I finished the mile plus long bridge as we turned down wind and made our way into one of the more popular neighborhoods in town. Not as many spectators as most years (who could blame them), but there's enough activity over the next few miles to keep you going without thinking too much about how you're feeling.
Miles 6 + 7 (6:23, 6:13) - As evident by many of my workouts, the problem with mentally checking out like I did - I have a tendency to speed up. The neighborhood crowds allowed me to do just that. The only part of this stretch I even remember is the one short incline during mile 6 when I consciously told my glutes and hams to fire up and give the rest of my legs a break. It's probably a good thing I didn't check my splits because I would have really over corrected, but I knew I was going too fast. The next stretch is the most sparsely populated, so it'd be a good time to really hone in on keeping my heart rate under control for the finish.
Miles 8 + 9 + 10 (6:45, 6:32, 6:29) - A little too slow? Maybe, but I knew I was ahead of pace and I did not want to flame out pushing too hard when I didn't need to. What was cool looking at this afterwards though - my GAP's (grad adjusted pace) were very consistent miles 6-9. With hind sight, I guess I didn't speed up miles 6 + 7, but focusing on technique miles 8 +9 really re-fueled me for the final push as my heart rate seemed much more in control. Once turning downwind I finally unloaded my hand warmers and happy that I hadn't gotten into them yet I devoured my chews towards the end of this stretch for the final push. But then...
Miles 11 + 12 (6:20, 6:17) - ...HERE COMES THE HAIL STORM! I wish I were kidding. I had totally forgotten about the sleet on the bridge back on mile 4 as there had just been periodic spitting rain between then and now, but this one came with a vengance. It was borderline blinding and most of mile 12 was dead into the wind. The sleet earlier hurt, but this was like a death by 1,000 papercuts. I had several people waiting for me at a bar at mile 11.5, but since visibility was near zero while being pelted with hail stones and I was negative splitting (they thought I was still another 3-5 minutes away) they all missed me. To be fair, I missed most of them too. I saw one for an instant, but when I went to yell out her name nothing came out. Mentally fried I guess, connection from my brain to mouth was faulty - kinda like the more sparse crowds than usual, can't blame them! A truly historically awful weather moment in the race's history. But it looks like it drove me to faster times. I just wanted to get the #### outta there!
Mile 13 (6:14) - Those looking at strava, that is not a 98' decline; that's an incline. Strava only does actual elevation, it doesn't account for bridges, which is all mile 13 is. I don't know how much we climbed on this bridge, but it's called a 'death march' by many for a reason - it's probably 200-300' up in their air totally exposed to whatever Lake Erie has in store for that day. Obviously on this day that was a lot. To do it in 6:14? I'm still amazed. But I'm more amazed at the 40-something guy that passed me on the way off the bridge. I felt like I was hauling as I picked a handful of people off and then this guy left me in the dust.
The finish is down an off ramp and a 2 block sprint into downtown. I didn't see my wife, but once we connected towards the end of the chute she said she'd never seen a #### eating grin like I had when I saw my time as I neared the finish line. Then we cooled down faster than we've ever cooled down before back to the car. Wanted to enjoy the moment, but I wanted a hot shower more.
Official time: 1:25:56, 29th of 4,500+, 4th in age group (3 seconds from placing) - a PR by more than 8 minutes.
Holy ####### ####.
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MAC_32
Footballguy
My sports doc was right, he has no idea how I trained as much as I did with my hamstrings in the state that they were in when I first saw him in November. It took him almost 2 months, but he fixed them. As a result, I've not needed to take as many rest days during this training cycle. Less rest days led to burning off the excess weight I've been carrying and being able to maintain my plan instead of constantly needing to make amendments (i.e. not increasing mileage like I wanted to). Successful training (and those early year accomplishments in races) also led to better eating and less drinking. It goes without saying but it's easier to stay on track when things are going well. I've gone into the new year in the 200-205 range the last couple of years then struggled to get to the low-mid 190's during racing season. This year? My starting point wasn't much different, but I was into the 190's by February and the 180's a month later. When I checked last week I was 182, I haven't been that low since I was personal training full time 6 years ago.
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Ned
Footballguy
Haha, I actually yelled out 'DUMB ###' when I looked down at that split. I got some puzzled looks from spectators.Excellent race and report, @MAC_32. You're a different and talented runner, 5:38 first mile.
that instantly jumped out at me when I saw it on Strava and thought "only MAC would do something like this".Awesome job, GB!
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
FUBAR
Footballguy
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Congrats again Mac! Exciting to see you crush these races this year! Which marathon are you looking at for your Boston Qualifier? Have you decided on a training plan?
Sand
Footballguy
Sucks. I hope the wheels come back in time for you. If not hopefully you can defer.6 days from IM CHOO 70.3 and I'm not ready, at all. Sure my swim and bike will be solid if not good, but I can barely run. Went out yesterday for an easy 40 minutes to test the left leg after taking 10 days off from running, it's stiff, slow and aches. I don't think I'll get injured badly by doing the race but this might see my bike time and run times be entirely too close.
I'll see the doctor on the 25th.
Sand
Footballguy
Perfect start and obviously the reason for the 8 minute PR. (BTW - an 8 ####### minute PR in a HM - good grief, man! That's incredible!)
MAC_32
Footballguy
If I'm making a run at in Fall it will probably be Columbus or Detroit. Both are the same day (October 16th), 5 days before my brother-in-law gets married, 22 weeks from now. That gives me 2 weeks to rest (physically and mentally) before I start a 20 week plan. I had no intentions on trying to qualify until a few weeks ago, in large part because there is no good time this Fall, but this seems to be the best option. The problem is I have bachelor parties two of three weekends in Vegas and New Orleans right in the middle of when I would be doing peak training for a race at this time. I'm not sure I want to look for one in November though. If it were just 2 degrees colder yesterday I'd have come nowhere close to what I did as it'd have been snow/ice, which is what we got at my house 10 miles away, and I'd have suffered through something similar to what you did last month. That's obviously much more likely to happen in November.
Short version - I may wait until April/May next year. That said, even if a Fall BQ doesn't appear to be in the cards it may still be best to pop a cherry this Fall then make the serious BQ run next Spring.
In the meantime, true mileage building begins next Saturday. I'm on schedule for 175 miles this month and my tentative calendar has 200 miles for June and 225 in July. I figure I can punt unofficial final decision making until that time.
beer 30
Footballguy
Great job Mac! Love the hat tip to Sand first mile then just crushing it in #### weather. You're a little more accustomed to it but I had some friends drive up from SC to run what I assume was the marathon portion of this race. His comment on the conditions: Coldest most miserable marathon ever. 38 deg. 18-20 mph winds, sleet, snow and rain the whole time.MAC_32 said:
Congrats man!
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
I'm planning to race a 10K on June 4 (a 10K in June!). Over the last week or two, I've been less focused on mileage and trying to run more workouts. I think I'm going to take the easy-hard thing literally for a while and run something hard (intervals, tempo, fast-finish long run, fartlek, whatever) every other day with easy runs in between. My plan is to keep that up for this week and next then take in easy race week. If it seems to work, I'm considering extending this practice for a few months.
I've always considered doing something like this but never have. Usually I run hard no more than twice a week. The concern, of course, is I won't recover properly from the workouts and I'll start performing poorly or even get injured. However, I've noticed I haven't been improving much this year which makes me want to try to mix things up. This kind of training just seems to feel like the right thing to do for some reason. I also think I've worked enough on my endurance base that I can neglect it a little for a while. Besides, I'll still get in around 50 miles a week. Thoughts? Does this sound stupid?
I've always considered doing something like this but never have. Usually I run hard no more than twice a week. The concern, of course, is I won't recover properly from the workouts and I'll start performing poorly or even get injured. However, I've noticed I haven't been improving much this year which makes me want to try to mix things up. This kind of training just seems to feel like the right thing to do for some reason. I also think I've worked enough on my endurance base that I can neglect it a little for a while. Besides, I'll still get in around 50 miles a week. Thoughts? Does this sound stupid?
MAC_32
Footballguy
From a high level, no. You're taking standard strength training methodology and just incorporating it into running. The only thing you may need to do differently is actually taking a day off every now and then.
FUBAR
Footballguy
Only a few of you would be able to say 50 miles / week is ignoring your endurance.
ETA: ran again this morning, feeling better. Not 100% yet but I figure if I take it easy but keep the blood flowing this week (taper week anyway), it should be fine. Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Ned
Footballguy
Is it really the same since you're working the same parts over and over again? I'm not a lifter, but do you really bench on say Monday, Wednesday, and Friday?
I'm curious what the actual plan looks like. Are you still going to be running 7 days/week? Doing 4 hard workouts per week? The thought of stacking intervals - recovery - tempo in a 3 day span makes my hamstrings cringe. Doing it for a few months sounds like you're asking to go on the shelf.
MAC_32
Footballguy
Depends on what you're trying to do. Hypertrophy? Absolutely not. Full body workout? Sure thing. Will it work if each of his 'hard workouts' are different? Maybe. I'm certainly curious. I know our buddy doesn't want to break his streakIs it really the same since you're working the same parts over and over again? I'm not a lifter, but do you really bench on say Monday, Wednesday, and Friday?
I'm curious what the actual plan looks like. Are you still going to be running 7 days/week? Doing 4 hard workouts per week? The thought of stacking intervals - recovery - tempo in a 3 day span makes my hamstrings cringe. Doing it for a few months sounds like you're asking to go on the shelf.
, but I cannot imagine this working if actual rest days aren't part of the plan though.
FUBAR
Footballguy
if there's one thing I've learned over the past few months, it's to take a rest day now and then. I couldn't imagine running every day, the repetition/overuse injuries are starting to hit even doing tri training.Depends on what you're trying to do. Hypertrophy? Absolutely not. Full body workout? Sure thing. Will it work if each of his 'hard workouts' are different? Maybe. I'm certainly curious. I know our buddy doesn't want to break his streak
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Yes, 7 days. I'm trying to run by feel more and if it feels too difficult to back off. I think that will be important. My last 7 days on Strava would be a good example of what I'm considering although I've started this a little conservatively (only 400s for intervals, 4 mile tempos). However, you've probably right that I shouldn't do this. I guess it's easy enough to stop if I notice myself struggling.
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
By the way, a 5 or 6 mile easy run feels like a rest day.
FUBAR
Footballguy
goes back to what I said earlier:
Wouldn't it be worth testing the theory that rest makes you faster?
I sort of get it though, a swim day is somewhat of a rest day for me.
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