Ran a 10k in June (7 Viewers)

[jmcc]

Looks like a girl won this with 1:08:05

Is that typical? I would assume a man would win every time?

The "girl" is actually a world-class runner - Kara Goucher. This 1/2 doesn't really attract a huge world class group, at least as of now. Her finish was apparently pretty impressive as she passed the guy who took second right towards the end of the race. Four pics of the FBGs who ran the Chicago RnR 1/2 (and 2Young's lovely and charming wife in one of them) can be found here. There's also a picture of Tri and his Woody from his last trail race, which I'd failed to post previously.

I'm being summoned to play baseball with the kids, so I'll post about my race experience later tonight. Just wanted to get those pics posted.

Great pics Even though she is a world class runner isn't it unusual for a girl to win? I really dont know but I would assume that is unusual.

Looks like you guys had fun.

 

[RoarinSonoran]

Since I already did RNR Arizona in January, I'll be receiving my "I Rocked 39.3 Miles" medal 6-8 weeks after Chicago!

Yeah, I have one of those....and also the one for 2.62mi (2 halfs), 52.4mi (2 fulls), back2back (Country Music and San Diego, 5 weeks apart), Triple Crown (3 races), Grand Slam (4 races), and the piece de resistance, the Rockstar medal (5 races). I also have the Desert Star (not sure if this one is still around), running a half followed by PF Chang's. BTW, medals were coming at around 4-5weeks, but that was 2 years ago, so your mileage may vary.

I strongly second everything that's been shared by others above. The thrill is seeing the successes, and sharing a laugh or getting support from the occasional let-down (see Furley: 9 nine year smoke job ). But seriously, from Furley literally finding his stride, to Rock Lonemilk and 2Young moving from 1/2-marathons to marathons and the cross-training world of triathlons, to Darrin's (MIA) progress after losing 200 lbs (yes), to reading about the full family involvement of some and the weight loss of many ...it's all great stuff. I get to admire the speed of gruecd and Peter Griffin and now MAC and biker BnB (OK, liquors, too), and I get to envy the trail work of SF Duck and Poppa. I've actually been privileged to meet and race with several of the guys, now.

Hey what am I, chopped liver? See above pedigree. The only member of this motley crew to become a Rockstar! lolWelcome newbies! I concur, this is a great group and thread. Some are here all the time, some of us (myself included, lately) come and go and sometimes come back again. Don't hesitate to ask questions, there's a vast storehouse of knowledge and experience here.

Thinking of WTFing it and running Gopher-to-Badger half next weekend. Starts in Stillwater MN, ends in Hudson WI. Sounds like fun!

ETA: jmcc, where are you from? 110 temps? Sounds like my days in AZ. Take it easy bud, run at 5am if you must (it'll only be 95 then). Those temps will eat you up!

 

[gruecd]

Hey, guys. Busy catching up, but I just wanted to say that it was great meeting wraith and Mr. & Mrs. 2Young this weekend. Race was a lot of fun, but one thing that the others didn't mention is that it was probably 1/3-mile too long! My Garmin read 13.43 miles, and while my initial thought was that my watch just didn't work right, I talked to at least another half-dozen people who said the same thing. Not sure how this happens in a race of this size, but it kinda sucks. In any case, I'd normally be disappointed with a 1:33:06 half, but when you consider the long course, I actually averaged 6:56 pace, which is right around goal pace. So for the other guys, take their average pace and multiply it by 0.33, and you can probably subtract that many minutes from their times.

P.S. Yes, Kara is yummy. But when the race pics come out, I'm confident that I have one that will put Kara to shame!

 

[IvanKaramazov]

This is a belated race report from yesterday's Red Wing half-marathon. I was without intenet access due to being on the road.

I've been to Red Wing MN several times before, because my FIL splits his retirement between there and Tuscon and it's "onyly 5 1/2" hours away from me. I use sneer quotes around "only" because this is arguably the worst 5 1/2 hour drive ever. It's two lanes the whole way, and the route takes you through every one-horse town in southern Minnesota, a state that sets its speed limits too low and enforces them too vigorously. But I've never run a race there, and we had a free place to stay, so when Mrs. K suggested this one, I was game.

The weather was ideal, with a temp in the upper-50s at start. A little breezy, but the course is very well-sheltered so that was immaterial. It's an out-and-back course on a bike trail, about of 75% of which is surrounded by forrest or wetlands, so it was a gorgeous run. The only problem is that while the course is advertised as flat, I think what they really meant is "flat by southeast Minnesota standards." There were a couple of significant hills early on, which of couse we repeated coming back around Mile 12, and there were some other prolonged grades around the middle as well. It's a fairly small race with ~300 runners overall, but it felt more crowded than that given the out-and-back-on-a-bike-path format. It was pleasant, but this race could not handle a significant increase in enrollment without creating some real traffic problems.

Anyway, the race itself went great. My goal was to maintain an 8:20 pace and come in under 1:50. I hit this almost exactly with a 1:48:40 (8:17). Miles 11 and 12 were my slowest, partly due to my getting tired and partly due to the fact that those miles were mostly uphill, but even the "slow" miles came in at 8:23 each. I didn't reverse-split this one, but I'm happy with never being more than 6 seconds off my average pace for any particular mile. At least I was steady.

Mrs. K also pulled a PR with a 1:50x. Our son ran the 5K (26x), and our daughter did the "kids run" and won a drawing for a free pair of vasque kids shoes. So overall this event was a win for the Karamazov household.

A couple interesting sights:

1) As I approached the turnaround, I noticed that one of the guys passing me the other way was running barefoot. I'd never seen this before. This was a paved trail, but there were still enough random twigs, rocks, and dog deposits to make this a risky proposition I would think. Props to that guy though.

2) About 15 minutes after I finished, I had to very slowly make my way back to my truck to grab some cash so my kids could buy some kettle corn or something (this race is associated with a local festival going on at the same time). My son walked with me, and our path took us by the end of the course. As we passed by, a guy was making his way toward the finish line wearing a bright yellow shirt, except for two silver-dollar sized patchs of blood on his chest, each of which had bled enough to leave 6"-8" streaks all down his shirt. That poor guy is going to be in excruciating pain for the next couple of weeks and has learned the value of band-aids the hard way.

We spent today "recovering" by driving from Red Wing to Evansville, IN to visit family. My wife and son and I are doing a local 5K on Saturday.

Now to go back and read everybody elses's reports.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Chicago sounds awesome. I am really looking forward to doing an "event" race one of these days. The biggest race I've ever done was last year's Evansville YMCA 5K (the same race I'm doing again this weekend) with ~800 entrants or so IIRC. Every other race I've done has had 300 or fewer entrants, and some have been as small as 60ish. I don't think I would want to run in fields of 10,000+ all the time, but it sounds like it would be a lot of fun as a change of pace.

 

[2Young2BBald]

We're finally home, safe & sound (and sleepy & sore) from one of the best weekends my wife have had together, EVER. Made even better by hooking up with Tri-Man, Wraith & gruecd (dudes are freaking tall). We'll all have to hook up for an event again real soon. Tri-Man, thank you for being the perfect Chicago host!

As for the race, we could not have ordered up better weather (AND, there had to be a porta-potty for every 3 runners at the start ). I missed a PR by only 43 seconds, so if gruecd is right, I had my best 13.1 mile run to date. I gave a bunch back though, over the last 4 miles or so and should have had the PR no matter what. I was dead on 8MM all the way to mile 9. Then, it felt like my right achilles got about 3" longer. It didn't really hurt, I was just a bit worried if I pushed it, it would end up injured (and I was dying anyway as I just have not had the chance to do longs runs lately). Very cool course, plenty to look at while running (girls running = 9,700, guys running = who cares, out of 14,700 runners) and free beer after. We had about a 1.5 mile walk back to the hotel after the race. I had to sit down a couple times just to make it back .

Tri-Man, do the Tri next weekend. You've gotta get some more use out of those old school laces. Plus, I can give you sprint transition pointers

ETA: Searchable Results Here - (Tri-Man RnRs to an AG 30th PLace!)

 

[gruecd]

Realized that I just hit 1,000 miles for the year last week. Finally made up for the downtime this spring and turned positive year-over-year (+2%).

 

[jmcc]

This is a belated race report from yesterday's Red Wing half-marathon. I was without intenet access due to being on the road.I've been to Red Wing MN several times before, because my FIL splits his retirement between there and Tuscon and it's "onyly 5 1/2" hours away from me. I use sneer quotes around "only" because this is arguably the worst 5 1/2 hour drive ever. It's two lanes the whole way, and the route takes you through every one-horse town in southern Minnesota, a state that sets its speed limits too low and enforces them too vigorously. But I've never run a race there, and we had a free place to stay, so when Mrs. K suggested this one, I was game. The weather was ideal, with a temp in the upper-50s at start. A little breezy, but the course is very well-sheltered so that was immaterial. It's an out-and-back course on a bike trail, about of 75% of which is surrounded by forrest or wetlands, so it was a gorgeous run. The only problem is that while the course is advertised as flat, I think what they really meant is "flat by southeast Minnesota standards." There were a couple of significant hills early on, which of couse we repeated coming back around Mile 12, and there were some other prolonged grades around the middle as well. It's a fairly small race with ~300 runners overall, but it felt more crowded than that given the out-and-back-on-a-bike-path format. It was pleasant, but this race could not handle a significant increase in enrollment without creating some real traffic problems.Anyway, the race itself went great. My goal was to maintain an 8:20 pace and come in under 1:50. I hit this almost exactly with a 1:48:40 (8:17). Miles 11 and 12 were my slowest, partly due to my getting tired and partly due to the fact that those miles were mostly uphill, but even the "slow" miles came in at 8:23 each. I didn't reverse-split this one, but I'm happy with never being more than 6 seconds off my average pace for any particular mile. At least I was steady. Mrs. K also pulled a PR with a 1:50x. Our son ran the 5K (26x), and our daughter did the "kids run" and won a drawing for a free pair of vasque kids shoes. So overall this event was a win for the Karamazov household.A couple interesting sights:1) As I approached the turnaround, I noticed that one of the guys passing me the other way was running barefoot. I'd never seen this before. This was a paved trail, but there were still enough random twigs, rocks, and dog deposits to make this a risky proposition I would think. Props to that guy though.2) About 15 minutes after I finished, I had to very slowly make my way back to my truck to grab some cash so my kids could buy some kettle corn or something (this race is associated with a local festival going on at the same time). My son walked with me, and our path took us by the end of the course. As we passed by, a guy was making his way toward the finish line wearing a bright yellow shirt, except for two silver-dollar sized patchs of blood on his chest, each of which had bled enough to leave 6"-8" streaks all down his shirt. That poor guy is going to be in excruciating pain for the next couple of weeks and has learned the value of band-aids the hard way.We spent today "recovering" by driving from Red Wing to Evansville, IN to visit family. My wife and son and I are doing a local 5K on Saturday. Now to go back and read everybody elses's reports.

Sounds awesome. Wow to the guy running in bare feet. I think if you look at some of my first posts in this thread you will see I was trying to do all of this in sandals with the goal of going barefoot. That did not work out for me at all. Props to the bare foot guy. I would still like to try that at some point.

 

[jmcc]

Hey, guys. Busy catching up, but I just wanted to say that it was great meeting wraith and Mr. & Mrs. 2Young this weekend. Race was a lot of fun, but one thing that the others didn't mention is that it was probably 1/3-mile too long! My Garmin read 13.43 miles, and while my initial thought was that my watch just didn't work right, I talked to at least another half-dozen people who said the same thing. Not sure how this happens in a race of this size, but it kinda sucks. In any case, I'd normally be disappointed with a 1:33:06 half, but when you consider the long course, I actually averaged 6:56 pace, which is right around goal pace. So for the other guys, take their average pace and multiply it by 0.33, and you can probably subtract that many minutes from their times.P.S. Yes, Kara is yummy. But when the race pics come out, I'm confident that I have one that will put Kara to shame!

Looking forward to those pics.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Great reports, hope to one day run with some of you...or at least see you at the start line, and wave as you take off 2-3:00/mile faster than me!

mmmm, Kara Goucher....makes me long for my hometown of Portland where she trains under Alberto Salazar, and with her husband (dammit), and the Ducks' (and all of the NCAA's, for that matter) finest, Galen Rupp.

After 2 weeks got back on the trails this morning, following up yesterday's 4 miler with a 6 mile nice trail run. My legs still aren't quite back to normal, and 2 weeks off the trail had me noticing some of the stability muscles that I haven't noticed in quite some time, but found my stride about half way through and felt pretty good.

 

[jmcc]

The_Man and Keggers - how are you guys deciding what speedwork to do, and what pace?

I'm doing the Hal Higdon intermediate plan for a 10K -- might be a little ambitious for where I am, but want to do something more than 5K and the beginner plan wasn't quite ambitious enough.So today called for 8 x 400 (could only do 6). I just sent out to run them as fast as I could and still be doing what I consider "running" vs. "sprinting." It kicked my butt. Funny that doing only 1.5 miles of running has left me hurting today in a way that 6 miles at my slow run pace has not.

Luckily the next run like that isn't for 2 weeks, and the 400s are only meant to be done at 5K pace.

I'm doing a combination of two things. 1) Runner's World on-line has a training progam for various distances. Click on the Training tab...then Smart Coach. You can customize this plan based on your criteria/goals/etc. I like it because it tells you what pace your training runs should be in order to finish a race at your goal pace.

2) I found an article about Ryan Hall's training. I've been using this one: Ryan Hall

These two mirror each other fairly close...Ryan's has longer distances.

I want to do an 8 mile race labor day. I believe this is a 12K?I went to runners world and tried the above. It seems to easy. On race day it has me 12k@13:37 Time 1:41:36.

The training seems to easy. day 1 tomorrow run 2 miles @ 15:36 ?

I am no gruecd but I am better then 15:36 a mile.I did 11 min mile on Saturday and that was with some walk breaks over 3 miles. Any suggestions for my level? I want a training program to keep me focused and have a goal. The race I am looking at apears to have a hell of a hill on it.

http://www.azroadrunners.org/events/saguaro.html

Thanks for any help.

 

[jmcc]

Reading the runners world stuff and maybe that training program is right for me. Maybe I should just use it? I am starting to get confused with paceing.

 

[jmcc]

Here is the training smart coach gives me. Does this make sense to you guys?

Wk Dat Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Sat Sun Total

1 8/3

8/9 Easy Run

Dist: 2 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT Tempo Run

Dist: 5 mi, inc

Warm; 3 mi @ 14:01; Cool Rest

/ XT Rest

/ XT Long Run

Dist: 6 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT 13 miles

wk 2 8/10

8/16

Easy Run

Dist: 2 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT Speedwork

Dist: 5 mi, inc

Warm; 3x800 in 6:17

w/400 jogs; Cool Rest

/ XT Rest

/ XT Long Run

Dist: 6 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT 13 miles

wk 3 8/17

8/23 Easy Run

Dist: 2 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT Tempo Run

Dist: 5 mi, inc

Warm; 3 mi @ 14:01; Cool Rest

/ XT Rest

/ XT Long Run

Dist: 7 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT 14 miles

wk 4 8/24

8/30 Easy Run

Dist: 2 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT Tempo Run

Dist: 6 mi, inc

Warm; 4 mi @ 14:09; Cool Easy Run

Dist: 2 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT Long Run

Dist: 7 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT 17 miles

wk 5 8/31

9/6 Rest

/ XT Easy Run

Dist: 2 mi

@15:36 Rest

/ XT Tempo Run

Dist: 5 mi, inc

Warm; 3 mi @ 14:01; Cool Rest

/ XT Rest

/ XT Race Day

Dist: 12 K

@13:37

Time: 1:41:36 15 miles

 

[wraith5]

OK, kids are asleep, house is quiet, and frankly I have no idea why I'm still awake (been up since 4am!). Finally I can share my race experience for the day:

1) Meeting up with Tri-Man, Gruecd, and Mr & Mrs 2Young was really great - from the expo though our beers and pictures after the race, it was a total blast. I feel like there is a lot I can learn about running and triathalons from those folks, but more importantly they are all really good people. Most of the time, I run races by myself, which is fine during the race, but can be a little lonely at the expo and immediately after the race is over. This was one of the best overall race experiences I've had.

2) As others have touched on, RnR (Elite) did a really outstanding job running this race. Plenty of porta-johns, plenty of hydration on the course, cold wet sponges at more than one spot towards the end, and FREE BEER!! Did I mention the almost 2:1 ratio of women to men?

3) Gruecd mentioned the distance - my Garmin says I ran 13.34 miles. You think the race officials will be willing to change my splits? It's a 1.8% difference in miles, and I suppose some of that could have been taking wide corners or weaving on the straightaways.

4) My race: I went in with a plan to do the race in 4 segments, 4/4/4/1.1. I thought I could do each of those at a pace of 8:40, 8:30, 8:20, and 8, respectively. Made sense last night...

first 4 (4.04) was at 8:35's. Held myself back, felt great. Aware of everything around me and having fun.

next 4 (4.14) was at 8:21's. Got a little ahead of myself but still felt strong at the end of 8. Started to get excited about my time.

next 4 (4.02) was at 8:54's. Took a sudden turn at about mile 9, when I started struggling with my pace and slowing down. At mile 11, I was still below 8:40s, but it was all I could do to keep running mile 12. People were passing me starting with about mile 10 for the first time in the race.

last 1.1 (1.14) was at 8:52's. Really wanted to push at the end, but didn't have the legs for it, and was a little thrown off by the "added" distance. When I hit mile 12 I switched from the lap view on my Garmin to the total run view, so I was counting down the overall mileage. From that perspective mile 13 showed up almost a 1/4 mile later than I expected!!

For my first 1/2 in 2 years, I'm pretty happy with 1:55. When I factor in my Garmin mileage, my ave. pace was 8:38, which isn't too far off my target (but well off my 1:47:52PR I set on that same basic course three years ago). Some things I've been chewing on this afternoon to learn from:

1) In June and July I've "only" run 156 miles - and only 3 runs were 13+ miles. That's not really enough for racing a 1/2.

2) Hydration - I thought I drank enough water during the race (drank 16oz right before start, drank about 1.2 liters from my Camelbak during) but since the race ended about 14 hrs ago I've drank about a gallon of liquid, and only pee'd three times total - each was cloudy yellow.

3) Heart rate - on the first three 4 mile splits, my ave HR was only 165, 168, and 170. My max HR the last stretch only hit 184! I had nothing left in the tank, yet I really wasn't working that hard at all. This HR thing really surprised me - I just don't know what to do with the information!

Speaking of nothing left in the tank - I'm there. G'night!!

 

[jmcc]

OK, kids are asleep, house is quiet, and frankly I have no idea why I'm still awake (been up since 4am!). Finally I can share my race experience for the day: 1) Meeting up with Tri-Man, Gruecd, and Mr & Mrs 2Young was really great - from the expo though our beers and pictures after the race, it was a total blast. I feel like there is a lot I can learn about running and triathalons from those folks, but more importantly they are all really good people. Most of the time, I run races by myself, which is fine during the race, but can be a little lonely at the expo and immediately after the race is over. This was one of the best overall race experiences I've had. 2) As others have touched on, RnR (Elite) did a really outstanding job running this race. Plenty of porta-johns, plenty of hydration on the course, cold wet sponges at more than one spot towards the end, and FREE BEER!! Did I mention the almost 2:1 ratio of women to men? 3) Gruecd mentioned the distance - my Garmin says I ran 13.34 miles. You think the race officials will be willing to change my splits? It's a 1.8% difference in miles, and I suppose some of that could have been taking wide corners or weaving on the straightaways. 4) My race: I went in with a plan to do the race in 4 segments, 4/4/4/1.1. I thought I could do each of those at a pace of 8:40, 8:30, 8:20, and 8, respectively. Made sense last night... first 4 (4.04) was at 8:35's. Held myself back, felt great. Aware of everything around me and having fun. next 4 (4.14) was at 8:21's. Got a little ahead of myself but still felt strong at the end of 8. Started to get excited about my time.next 4 (4.02) was at 8:54's. Took a sudden turn at about mile 9, when I started struggling with my pace and slowing down. At mile 11, I was still below 8:40s, but it was all I could do to keep running mile 12. People were passing me starting with about mile 10 for the first time in the race. last 1.1 (1.14) was at 8:52's. Really wanted to push at the end, but didn't have the legs for it, and was a little thrown off by the "added" distance. When I hit mile 12 I switched from the lap view on my Garmin to the total run view, so I was counting down the overall mileage. From that perspective mile 13 showed up almost a 1/4 mile later than I expected!! For my first 1/2 in 2 years, I'm pretty happy with 1:55. When I factor in my Garmin mileage, my ave. pace was 8:38, which isn't too far off my target (but well off my 1:47:52PR I set on that same basic course three years ago). Some things I've been chewing on this afternoon to learn from: 1) In June and July I've "only" run 156 miles - and only 3 runs were 13+ miles. That's not really enough for racing a 1/2. 2) Hydration - I thought I drank enough water during the race (drank 16oz right before start, drank about 1.2 liters from my Camelbak during) but since the race ended about 14 hrs ago I've drank about a gallon of liquid, and only pee'd three times total - each was cloudy yellow. 3) Heart rate - on the first three 4 mile splits, my ave HR was only 165, 168, and 170. My max HR the last stretch only hit 184! I had nothing left in the tank, yet I really wasn't working that hard at all. This HR thing really surprised me - I just don't know what to do with the information! Speaking of nothing left in the tank - I'm there. G'night!!

Nice update, thanks.

 

[tri-man 47]

Congrats to the Family Karamazov for a great race day! Always love to read about those full-family experiences. Maybe you can join us next year. It'd be fun to make this a FBG tradition!

RoarinS, don't feel left out. I hesitated mentioning any specific memories because there are so many. You'll always be our first, full Rock Star!

BTW, in the race pics, if you don't know, gruecd is the tall bald one, 2Young is the shorter, Kenyanish bald one, I'm the old, gray one, and Wraith is the the Great Goatee'd one. Too funny that Wraith thought to bring HTFU signage ...and then the 'd for an H'dTFU afterwards! And too funny when 2Young grabbed a chair as a height equalizer for the after-race picture. Good times for sure.

At the expo, I had the chance to connect with Greg Myers, who is the last American to win Boston. He's my age and was at a rival high school for cross country (we at least shared the same starting line). Friendly guy, and it turns out he works at an affiliated Catholic university up in Grand Rapids (my home town). I've got an open invite to join him for lunch when I'm back in town. Maybe he knows Kara Goucher and ...

 

[jmcc]

Congrats to the Family Karamazov for a great race day! Always love to read about those full-family experiences. Maybe you can join us next year. It'd be fun to make this a FBG tradition!RoarinS, don't feel left out. I hesitated mentioning any specific memories because there are so many. You'll always be our first, full Rock Star!BTW, in the race pics, if you don't know, gruecd is the tall bald one, 2Young is the shorter, Kenyanish bald one, I'm the old, gray one, and Wraith is the the Great Goatee'd one. Too funny that Wraith thought to bring HTFU signage ...and then the 'd for an H'dTFU afterwards! And too funny when 2Young grabbed a chair as a height equalizer for the after-race picture. Good times for sure. At the expo, I had the chance to connect with Greg Myers, who is the last American to win Boston. He's my age and was at a rival high school for cross country (we at least shared the same starting line). Friendly guy, and it turns out he works at an affiliated Catholic university up in Grand Rapids (my home town). I've got an open invite to join him for lunch when I'm back in town. Maybe he knows Kara Goucher and ...

Awesome!

 

[jmcc]

Is 12k an unusual race to train for?

I have been searching Active and runners world for training and the only thing I can find is the custom one I have above. I looked under Higdon and did not see one. Have a good day guys. After the half you should be walking a little taller and have a little more giddy up in your step.

 

[tri-man 47]

Is 12k an unusual race to train for?I have been searching Active and runners world for training and the only thing I can find is the custom one I have above. I looked under Higdon and did not see one. Have a good day guys. After the half you should be walking a little taller and have a little more giddy up in your step.

I'd say the training for 10K to 10 mile would be rather similar ...get in appropriate distance runs (I like to do some training above the race distance; others say get close to it) ...do tempo runs to acclimate to the desired pace ...do 'speed' work that's appropriate (I'd say for the longer distances, focus more on repeat 1/2 miles or miles ..and/or do a couple more than you might training for a shorter distance race). For this length race, if it's more about completing the distance, just get in your miles, some at tempo.

 

[Keggers]

The_Man and Keggers - how are you guys deciding what speedwork to do, and what pace?

I'm doing the Hal Higdon intermediate plan for a 10K -- might be a little ambitious for where I am, but want to do something more than 5K and the beginner plan wasn't quite ambitious enough.So today called for 8 x 400 (could only do 6). I just sent out to run them as fast as I could and still be doing what I consider "running" vs. "sprinting." It kicked my butt. Funny that doing only 1.5 miles of running has left me hurting today in a way that 6 miles at my slow run pace has not.

Luckily the next run like that isn't for 2 weeks, and the 400s are only meant to be done at 5K pace.

I'm doing a combination of two things. 1) Runner's World on-line has a training progam for various distances. Click on the Training tab...then Smart Coach. You can customize this plan based on your criteria/goals/etc. I like it because it tells you what pace your training runs should be in order to finish a race at your goal pace.

2) I found an article about Ryan Hall's training. I've been using this one: Ryan Hall

These two mirror each other fairly close...Ryan's has longer distances.

I want to do an 8 mile race labor day. I believe this is a 12K?I went to runners world and tried the above. It seems to easy. On race day it has me 12k@13:37 Time 1:41:36.

The training seems to easy. day 1 tomorrow run 2 miles @ 15:36 ?

I am no gruecd but I am better then 15:36 a mile.I did 11 min mile on Saturday and that was with some walk breaks over 3 miles. Any suggestions for my level? I want a training program to keep me focused and have a goal. The race I am looking at apears to have a hell of a hill on it.

http://www.azroadrunners.org/events/saguaro.html

Thanks for any help.

Using Runner's World Smart Coach, the first entry says "Please supply a recent race time*" Instead, enter your GOAL time...this will alter the paces. Keep in mind, easy days are supposed to be easy. I'm a running newbie but it seems that actually running easy days at an easy pace is something that a lot of people struggle with.

 

[pigskinliquors]

PaceGruecd 7:07Triman 7:422Y2BB 8:25Wraith 8:48Man those numbers make me feel like a woos. I need to work harder.

Awesome, awesome race and reports!!!!!!!! Jealous to have missed out on it. Maybe next year?! Sounds like you all had a blast, and the HTFU's made me spit up some coffee! My tiny update:I got a nine miler in yesterday at a slower than slow pace. It was 86 degrees with high humidity, and I was sweating before I even left our driveway. I was able to keep my HR under 178 the entire time, and while it was an effort, it felt good considering the conditions. I drank 60 oz of water during the run from my Camelback, but it wasn't nearly enough. I did a pre and post weigh in, and lost just over 4 lbs. during the run (= not good). If I'm going to keep pushing for this Ultra, I'm going to most likely have to create rest stops with some electrolytes until it cools down a bit.

 

[wraith5]

Pace

Gruecd 7:07

Triman 7:42

2Y2BB 8:25

Wraith 8:48

Man those numbers make me feel like a woos. I need to work harder.

Awesome, awesome race and reports!!!!!!!! Jealous to have missed out on it. Maybe next year?! Sounds like you all had a blast, and the HTFU's made me spit up some coffee!

My mission has been accomplished - I really hoped folks around here would get a kick out of that.

My tiny update:

I got a nine miler in yesterday at a slower than slow pace. It was 86 degrees with high humidity, and I was sweating before I even left our driveway. I was able to keep my HR under 178 the entire time, and while it was an effort, it felt good considering the conditions. I drank 60 oz of water during the run from my Camelback, but it wasn't nearly enough. I did a pre and post weigh in, and lost just over 4 lbs. during the run (= not good). If I'm going to keep pushing for this Ultra, I'm going to most likely have to create rest stops with some electrolytes until it cools down a bit.

Great job on the run! Sounds like you and I may have a similar hydration issue to work through on the longer runs. 60oz seems like a lot of water, but when the sweat is really flowing it's obviously not enough. I'm going to try to do some reading on the subject and learn something I can incorporate into my training - if anyone has any ideas/suggestions I'd love to hear them. On a related note, as has become customary 24 hours after a long run my body started dumping liquid again, so no more dark yellow pee. Sometimes it's the small things in life...

My quads are REALLY sore today. Nothing else seems to be too bad.

 

[gruecd]

My quads are REALLY sore today. Nothing else seems to be too bad.

Me, too. I've got swimming lessons tonight and then an easy, SLOW 6-mile recovery run. Hopefully those two things will help work out the soreness!

 

[BassNBrew]

Hey, guys. Busy catching up, but I just wanted to say that it was great meeting wraith and Mr. & Mrs. 2Young this weekend. Race was a lot of fun, but one thing that the others didn't mention is that it was probably 1/3-mile too long! My Garmin read 13.43 miles, and while my initial thought was that my watch just didn't work right, I talked to at least another half-dozen people who said the same thing. Not sure how this happens in a race of this size, but it kinda sucks. In any case, I'd normally be disappointed with a 1:33:06 half, but when you consider the long course, I actually averaged 6:56 pace, which is right around goal pace. So for the other guys, take their average pace and multiply it by 0.33, and you can probably subtract that many minutes from their times.P.S. Yes, Kara is yummy. But when the race pics come out, I'm confident that I have one that will put Kara to shame!

Run the tangents.

 

[gruecd]

Hey, guys. Busy catching up, but I just wanted to say that it was great meeting wraith and Mr. & Mrs. 2Young this weekend. Race was a lot of fun, but one thing that the others didn't mention is that it was probably 1/3-mile too long! My Garmin read 13.43 miles, and while my initial thought was that my watch just didn't work right, I talked to at least another half-dozen people who said the same thing. Not sure how this happens in a race of this size, but it kinda sucks. In any case, I'd normally be disappointed with a 1:33:06 half, but when you consider the long course, I actually averaged 6:56 pace, which is right around goal pace. So for the other guys, take their average pace and multiply it by 0.33, and you can probably subtract that many minutes from their times.

P.S. Yes, Kara is yummy. But when the race pics come out, I'm confident that I have one that will put Kara to shame!

Run the tangents.

BTW, check out this thread at RWOL, and you'll see that I'm not the only one!

 

[BassNBrew]

Hey, guys. Busy catching up, but I just wanted to say that it was great meeting wraith and Mr. & Mrs. 2Young this weekend. Race was a lot of fun, but one thing that the others didn't mention is that it was probably 1/3-mile too long! My Garmin read 13.43 miles, and while my initial thought was that my watch just didn't work right, I talked to at least another half-dozen people who said the same thing. Not sure how this happens in a race of this size, but it kinda sucks. In any case, I'd normally be disappointed with a 1:33:06 half, but when you consider the long course, I actually averaged 6:56 pace, which is right around goal pace. So for the other guys, take their average pace and multiply it by 0.33, and you can probably subtract that many minutes from their times.

P.S. Yes, Kara is yummy. But when the race pics come out, I'm confident that I have one that will put Kara to shame!

Run the tangents.

BTW, check out this thread at RWOL, and you'll see that I'm not the only one!

If you guys would spend more time running a straight line instead of following the zig-zag tail around you would be surprised how short these distances are....

 

[SFBayDuck]

Pace

Gruecd 7:07

Triman 7:42

2Y2BB 8:25

Wraith 8:48

Man those numbers make me feel like a woos. I need to work harder.

Awesome, awesome race and reports!!!!!!!! Jealous to have missed out on it. Maybe next year?! Sounds like you all had a blast, and the HTFU's made me spit up some coffee!

My mission has been accomplished - I really hoped folks around here would get a kick out of that.

My tiny update:

I got a nine miler in yesterday at a slower than slow pace. It was 86 degrees with high humidity, and I was sweating before I even left our driveway. I was able to keep my HR under 178 the entire time, and while it was an effort, it felt good considering the conditions. I drank 60 oz of water during the run from my Camelback, but it wasn't nearly enough. I did a pre and post weigh in, and lost just over 4 lbs. during the run (= not good). If I'm going to keep pushing for this Ultra, I'm going to most likely have to create rest stops with some electrolytes until it cools down a bit.

Great job on the run! Sounds like you and I may have a similar hydration issue to work through on the longer runs. 60oz seems like a lot of water, but when the sweat is really flowing it's obviously not enough. I'm going to try to do some reading on the subject and learn something I can incorporate into my training - if anyone has any ideas/suggestions I'd love to hear them. On a related note, as has become customary 24 hours after a long run my body started dumping liquid again, so no more dark yellow pee. Sometimes it's the small things in life...

My quads are REALLY sore today. Nothing else seems to be too bad.

I'm reading the Lore of Running right now, which is a huge (900+ pages) dense (written by an MD) book full of references to clinical studies and the like, a few too many references to rectal temperature if you ask me, but interesting nontheless. Reading right now about hydration, and the changing of thinking regarding that over the years. Back in the eary-mid 1900s, marathoners didn't drink at all. In fact there were rules against it before a certain distance (like no water before the 12K mark), and limiting how often they could (no more than every 5K). But most didn't at all, considering it a sign of fitness to not need to hydrate during a run. Ask tri-man, I'm sure he remembers. Then it swung the other way, with the idea that runners should aim to consume as much liquid as they lost to sweat, measured by weighing yourself before and after. I've seen that referenced here a few times. But that turned out to not be based on science at all, and ignored weight lost that doesn't impact hydration - for example the water released when your body burns stored carbs. Plus, studies showed that most people physically couldn't consume enough water comfortably to maintain weight. Then there's the whole concept of how much liquid your body can process anyway. Finally, studies showed that there wasn't a measurable increase in performance with those who were forced to drink larger amounts that those who just drank "ad libitum" - whenever they felt like it.

Including electrolytes and carbs seems to help as well, although I don't fully undersand all of that yet.

Still trying to weed through all this to get an idea of what's practical, but it seems that the basic premise is that we are designed to operate in a semi-dehydrated state, and it seemed that most studies, and what people were comfortable with, showed that above about 500ml/hour (about 17 oz) wasn't doing you any good. The recommendation seemed to be to be hydrated the day before, stop drinking about 2 hours before the race/run, then drink a fair amount right at the start of the run, and then drink steadily throughout (having some volume in the stomach increases the rate at which your body processes it).

I know I drink more than that anytime I run an hour or more, so I'm still trying to get my head around how to practically use this to help me.

I'll update once I'm through the chapter to see if there is any more practical info there.

 

[2Young2BBald]

My quads are REALLY sore today. Nothing else seems to be too bad.

Me, too. I've got swimming lessons tonight and then an easy, SLOW 6-mile recovery run. Hopefully those two things will help work out the soreness!

Me 3, I went for a 5 mile ride just to shake some of the funk from my legs. After stretching I feel much better. Hopefully, I can get back in the pool tomorrow as this always seems to help. Duck, great post on hydration. I'm not sure I can sit still long enough to read a 900+ page book, but look forward to what you'll post (how long before Garmin has a watch that will track rectal temprature?)

 

[tri-man 47]

Back in the early-mid 1900s, marathoners didn't drink at all. In fact there were rules against it before a certain distance (like no water before the 12K mark), and limiting how often they could (no more than every 5K). But most didn't at all, considering it a sign of fitness to not need to hydrate during a run. Ask tri-man, I'm sure he remembers.

As I recall, however, this was, in fact, the case. The other interesting aspect? No Garmins. They just ran hard. And my quads are OK, thank you very much.

 

[jmcc]

Is 12k an unusual race to train for?I have been searching Active and runners world for training and the only thing I can find is the custom one I have above. I looked under Higdon and did not see one. Have a good day guys. After the half you should be walking a little taller and have a little more giddy up in your step.

I'd say the training for 10K to 10 mile would be rather similar ...get in appropriate distance runs (I like to do some training above the race distance; others say get close to it) ...do tempo runs to acclimate to the desired pace ...do 'speed' work that's appropriate (I'd say for the longer distances, focus more on repeat 1/2 miles or miles ..and/or do a couple more than you might training for a shorter distance race). For this length race, if it's more about completing the distance, just get in your miles, some at tempo.

tempo = pace I want to run at and speed work is as fast as i can for a while?Is that correct? I tried the reccomended easy run (2 miles@15:36) at the Y today and I could not do it. I ended up going to 3 miles @ 12:00. I did this pretty easily on the treadmill. I also did weights today. Burned 425 calories on the treadmill.

 

[wraith5]

Is 12k an unusual race to train for?

I have been searching Active and runners world for training and the only thing I can find is the custom one I have above. I looked under Higdon and did not see one. Have a good day guys. After the half you should be walking a little taller and have a little more giddy up in your step.

I'd say the training for 10K to 10 mile would be rather similar ...get in appropriate distance runs (I like to do some training above the race distance; others say get close to it) ...do tempo runs to acclimate to the desired pace ...do 'speed' work that's appropriate (I'd say for the longer distances, focus more on repeat 1/2 miles or miles ..and/or do a couple more than you might training for a shorter distance race). For this length race, if it's more about completing the distance, just get in your miles, some at tempo.

tempo = pace I want to run at and speed work is as fast as i can for a while?Is that correct?

I tried the reccomended easy run (2 miles@15:36) at the Y today and I could not do it. I ended up going to 3 miles @ 12:00. I did this pretty easily on the treadmill. I also did weights today. Burned 425 calories on the treadmill.

The training program that I use is called the FIRST program - there is a training worksheet here that touches on some aspects of tempo & speed work. Somewhere on their site they have a more in depth discussion of the purpose of each of their three "key" runs - speed work, tempo, and long run. But I can't find it right now. I'll have to look again another time, but this is at least a start.

 

[wraith5]

Duck, great post on hydration.

Very good post, Duck!! I just rested today. Tomorrow morning I'll run 4 or 5 miles and hopefully hit the pool later in the day as well. Although I'm not ready to commit, I am going to train for the Tucson Marathon (Sunday Dec 13). I have 19 weeks to prepare, and I'm going to follow the FIRST "FIRST to the Finish" Advanced marathon program. That program contains FIVE 20 mile runs + THREE 17 or 18 mile runs. I've never come close to that many high mileage runs before, so it should be interesting (and more to the point, effective). Out of curiosity, I downloaded the split times for all of the M35-39 category (853 total) from yesterday's race. My splits for the race: 5k - 26:51 (8:39/mile) - 370/8536M - 51:52 (8:39/mile) - 347/85310M - 1:26:52 (8:41/mile) - 337/853 13.1M - 1:55:09 (8:47/mile) - 339/853 I was consistent, albeit a bit slower than I thought, through 10 miles of the race. Despite really slowing down those last 3.1 (9:07 ave) I only got passed by 2 guys in my age group (Net). If I'd been able to stay consistent, my time would have been 1:53:45 - good enough for 319th, but still nowhere near a PR or anything.

 

[gruecd]

Ran out of time, so my 6 recovery miles + strides turned into 5 recovery miles tonight. Quads feeling a little bit better. I hope they feel better tomorrow, 'cuz I'm doing a 12-miler with a buddy tomorrow night.

Didn't realize how humid it was on Sunday morning. According to weather.com, it was 78% humidity in Chicago at 7 AM. Probably contributed to the fact that my pace felt a little harder than it should've.

Finally, I was saying the other day that I want to race Chicago at 208-210 lbs. I'm normally around 215. I read today that every pound of weight lost can equate to 1 second/mile off your marathon time. So 5 pounds = 5 sec/mile = 2:10 off my time!

 

[BassNBrew]

Thru 8-3

Swim Total 4.03

Bike Total 3042.42

Run Total 170.30

2009 Total 3216.75

 

[2Young2BBald]

Out of curiosity, I downloaded the split times for all of the M35-39 category (853 total) from yesterday's race.

How? That is a cool look at things and I'd like to do the same.

 

[TenTimes]

What can I do about shin splints?

 

[jmcc]

Is 12k an unusual race to train for?

I have been searching Active and runners world for training and the only thing I can find is the custom one I have above. I looked under Higdon and did not see one. Have a good day guys. After the half you should be walking a little taller and have a little more giddy up in your step.

I'd say the training for 10K to 10 mile would be rather similar ...get in appropriate distance runs (I like to do some training above the race distance; others say get close to it) ...do tempo runs to acclimate to the desired pace ...do 'speed' work that's appropriate (I'd say for the longer distances, focus more on repeat 1/2 miles or miles ..and/or do a couple more than you might training for a shorter distance race). For this length race, if it's more about completing the distance, just get in your miles, some at tempo.

tempo = pace I want to run at and speed work is as fast as i can for a while?Is that correct?

I tried the reccomended easy run (2 miles@15:36) at the Y today and I could not do it. I ended up going to 3 miles @ 12:00. I did this pretty easily on the treadmill. I also did weights today. Burned 425 calories on the treadmill.

The training program that I use is called the FIRST program - there is a training worksheet here that touches on some aspects of tempo & speed work. Somewhere on their site they have a more in depth discussion of the purpose of each of their three "key" runs - speed work, tempo, and long run. But I can't find it right now. I'll have to look again another time, but this is at least a start.

Thanks for the link.

 

[tri-man 47]

Race pics are out. I like the shot with the Shedd Aquarium in the background. In two shots near the finish where I'm in front of a guy in a blue shirt, you can also see her in the background. I had actually accelerated during mile 2 to get her number and another look at those abs, but then she moved ahead of me during the middle miles. I hadn't realized I caught and passed her at the end. Had I known, I would have done the immediate post-race pic with her instead of with gruecd!

---

Back in the pool today for 40 minutes. Did 5 x 100 at a Sand-inspired 1:42-1:45 pace (51-53 sec per lap).

---

eta: I signed up for the tri on Sunday. 2Young, it's an Olympic distance, so you won't be able to help me out much.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Race pics are out. I like the shot with the Shedd Aquarium in the background. In two shots near the finish where I'm in front of a guy in a blue shirt, you can also see her in the background. I had actually accelerated during mile 2 to get her number and another look at those abs, but then she moved ahead of me during the middle miles. I hadn't realized I caught and passed her at the end. Had I known, I would have done the immediate post-race pic with her instead of with gruecd!

---

Back in the pool today for 40 minutes. Did 5 x 100 at a Sand-inspired 1:42-1:45 pace (51-53 sec per lap).

---

eta: I signed up for the tri on Sunday. 2Young, it's an Olympic distance, so you won't be able to help me out much.

Great Googly Moogly! That was some of the easiest and best race stalking this board has seen!! A pic with her would certainly have been more exiting that a pic with Gruecd. Giddy'up on signing up for the tri!

 

[wraith5]

Out of curiosity, I downloaded the split times for all of the M35-39 category (853 total) from yesterday's race.

How? That is a cool look at things and I'd like to do the same.

It was a somewhat manual process, but in my opinion worth it: 1) search the results page for your age group - looks like 624 for yours.2) change the drop down from 25 results to 1003) click "Show More Columns" to get all of the splits3) highlight all 100 (including the header bar the first time) and copy it 4) Open Excel, paste5) Rinse and repeat with the next 100 finishers (no header bar) and so on. 6) Add columns after the 5k, 6m, and 10m times, sort those results (the 6m is tricky because of the way Excel views time entries), then add in the rankings. Or, in your particular case, you could check your email.

 

[wraith5]

eta: I signed up for the tri on Sunday. 2Young, it's an Olympic distance, so you won't be able to help me out much.

Are you still running the trail race on Saturday? That's a whole lot of racin' on one weekend!!I went out to do an "easy" 5 miler this morning, and got it in my head to see if my 5k pace I used for training so far was still accurate. So after a mile warm-up, I ran 5k in 23:51 (7:42/mile). Not bad for tired legs, and right at the pace I already had targeted (24:00) based on a run in May. So I'll stick with my current pace chart and roll.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Back in the early-mid 1900s, marathoners didn't drink at all. In fact there were rules against it before a certain distance (like no water before the 12K mark), and limiting how often they could (no more than every 5K). But most didn't at all, considering it a sign of fitness to not need to hydrate during a run. Ask tri-man, I'm sure he remembers.

As I recall, however, this was, in fact, the case. The other interesting aspect? No Garmins. They just ran hard. And my quads are OK, thank you very much.

Sorry, had to throw that in there! Tried doing a couple of planks last night, figuring I need to up my incredibly inconsistent core work a bit over the next month. Now my hip hurts. Sweet.

 

[SFBayDuck]

What can I do about shin splints?

Did you recently up the intensity/mileage or change the type of surface you run on? That seems to often be the cause.I haven't had a problem since I first started running a couple of years ago, and I just sort of worked through it. I've heard people say ice and advil can help treat. To help prevent, I'm a stretching advocate, particularly of the calves, and do so before and after runs. Sorry, don't feel like I've got a lot to add here as I've not had to deal with them much, anyone else?

 

[wraith5]

What can I do about shin splints?

Did you recently up the intensity/mileage or change the type of surface you run on? That seems to often be the cause.I haven't had a problem since I first started running a couple of years ago, and I just sort of worked through it. I've heard people say ice and advil can help treat. To help prevent, I'm a stretching advocate, particularly of the calves, and do so before and after runs. Sorry, don't feel like I've got a lot to add here as I've not had to deal with them much, anyone else?

I'm more and more impressed with Duck - he's right on target with his treatment ideas (ice, advil, and stretching): link

 

[TenTimes]

What can I do about shin splints?

Did you recently up the intensity/mileage or change the type of surface you run on? That seems to often be the cause.I haven't had a problem since I first started running a couple of years ago, and I just sort of worked through it. I've heard people say ice and advil can help treat. To help prevent, I'm a stretching advocate, particularly of the calves, and do so before and after runs. Sorry, don't feel like I've got a lot to add here as I've not had to deal with them much, anyone else?

Not really, its gone way down actually. I grew up playing tennis and from middle school through college I ran 5 miles a day during summer and the occassional weekend run during the school year, but for the past three years or so I've been using exercise bikes and ellipticals at the gym.Now if I go out for a job I feel okay, but on the third day of doing so after about a mile it gets pretty painful and I can't run again for at least a week. I stretch and wear proper shoes but have almost always run on sidewalks and tennis courts and figured it was all those years (20+) of hard surfaces catching up with me.Also, it doesn't matter if I run on sidewalk, asphalt, dirt, treadmill, I always have pain after about 3 runs in a short period of time.I do tend to wear my adidas' until they are begging for mercy, sometimes longer, I've had my current ones about 3-4 years, but the sole isn't completely worn yet and they still feel/look good

 

[The_Man]

I started running two months ago after 20+ years of inactivity, and the shin splints started right away -- and I never had them once back when I used to run track in high school. I went to the hard core running store in town and was properly fitted for a pair of good shoes, and the shin splints went away almost immediately. I would really recommend looking at upgrading your shoes.

Congrats to all the Chicago guys -- looks like you all fared well, and I appreciated the photo (though I wasn't sure what face went with what name).

I had my best run yet Saturday -- did 4 miles in 33:20 (an 8:20 pace). Was shooting for an 8:30 pace, but went all out in the 4th mile, which I did in 7:40. Sunday, I was out of town, and cut my long run from 6 down to 4. Didn't really know any of the mileage checkpoints, other than my start/finish line, so for once I really just went out and focused on running a comfortable pace on my long run, rather than getting caught up in my time -- at the end, I found I had been running a 9:15 pace. Last Sunday when I did 6 and was all conscious of my time, I ran a 9:19 pace (albeit for 2 extra miles), so I guess I'm going split the difference and adopt 9:17 as my baseline "moderate" pace.

 

[culdeus]

PaceGruecd 7:07Triman 7:422Y2BB 8:25Wraith 8:48Man those numbers make me feel like a woos. I need to work harder.

Awesome, awesome race and reports!!!!!!!! Jealous to have missed out on it. Maybe next year?! Sounds like you all had a blast, and the HTFU's made me spit up some coffee! My tiny update:I got a nine miler in yesterday at a slower than slow pace. It was 86 degrees with high humidity, and I was sweating before I even left our driveway. I was able to keep my HR under 178 the entire time, and while it was an effort, it felt good considering the conditions. I drank 60 oz of water during the run from my Camelback, but it wasn't nearly enough. I did a pre and post weigh in, and lost just over 4 lbs. during the run (= not good). If I'm going to keep pushing for this Ultra, I'm going to most likely have to create rest stops with some electrolytes until it cools down a bit.

I signed up for the hotter than hell. You up for it GB? Someone else on here threatened to join in if gas prices were cheap. Still plenty of spots available........

 

[tri-man 47]

eta: I signed up for the tri on Sunday. 2Young, it's an Olympic distance, so you won't be able to help me out much.

Are you still running the trail race on Saturday? That's a whole lot of racin' on one weekend!!

Yup ...doubling up. But I gotta finish the trail series and share one more run through the woods with you ...and hopefully get another woody (when gruecd stayed over, I forgot to take him down to my basement and show him my woody!). And I want to get in another tri, and this is the best local opportunity. HTFU!---eta: TenTimes, I really don't have any experience with shin splints ...hopefully the advice as given above will help out. New shoes would be good. While your old shoes may not be worn, they've most certainly lost the cushioning/bounce. Think about/focus on how your foot strikes the pavement, too. Hard on the heel? Too much on the ball of the foot? Do you run quietly (not a noisy step)?Good speed work for a couple of you guys! Adding it in is helpful to improving overall pace. Prosopis, your repeats shouldn't be all out ...maybe 80-90% of max (depending how many you're doing).

 

[wraith5]

eta: I signed up for the tri on Sunday. 2Young, it's an Olympic distance, so you won't be able to help me out much.

Are you still running the trail race on Saturday? That's a whole lot of racin' on one weekend!!

Yup ...doubling up. But I gotta finish the trail series and share one more run through the woods with you ...and hopefully get another woody (when gruecd stayed over, I forgot to take him down to my basement and show him my woody!). And I want to get in another tri, and this is the best local opportunity. HTFU!

HTFU, indeed. I'd have been pretty bummed if I didn't spend one last time in the forest preserve with you (and your woody).

 

[TenTimes]

What can I do about shin splints?

Did you recently up the intensity/mileage or change the type of surface you run on? That seems to often be the cause.I haven't had a problem since I first started running a couple of years ago, and I just sort of worked through it. I've heard people say ice and advil can help treat. To help prevent, I'm a stretching advocate, particularly of the calves, and do so before and after runs. Sorry, don't feel like I've got a lot to add here as I've not had to deal with them much, anyone else?

I'm more and more impressed with Duck - he's right on target with his treatment ideas (ice, advil, and stretching): link

Thanks for this link. It sounds like my best bet for prevention is to invest in a good running shoe. I hate not being able to run for a couple weeks when it starts to flare up.