Ran a 10k in June (3 Viewers)

[bentley]

I've been getting back in the swing of running again and I'm up to 13-15 miles a week. Going to get it in the 18-20 range in the next month or so. Next year's goals include the Austin half-marathon.

Did my first trail run at McKinney Roughs since I was at a nearby hotel for a conference and wanted a change of pace. Holy crap, trail runs are a whole 'nuther world. We've had several days of rain recently, so my shoes weighed about 4x their normal amount by the time I was done.

 

[FUBAR]

I've been getting back in the swing of running again and I'm up to 13-15 miles a week. Going to get it in the 18-20 range in the next month or so. Next year's goals include the Austin half-marathon.

Did my first trail run at McKinney Roughs since I was at a nearby hotel for a conference and wanted a change of pace. Holy crap, trail runs are a whole 'nuther world. We've had several days of rain recently, so my shoes weighed about 4x their normal amount by the time I was done.

running in the mud is always a better workout.

 

[FUBAR]

I noticed that we now have 10 for the Bourbon Chase. Like I said earlier I am ready to send the cash wherever is needed, btu we need to get signed up as soon as we can.

Have you posted info in the BC forum?

I just did, name, address, age at time of race and approximate 10K time.Is anything else needed?We need to pay 400 asap, then the other 800 can wait until July 15, 2011, according to the website. I am willing to put my 100 up now if needed, but I don't have 400.

I'm all for it if available but can't lock in yet. Consider me an alternate. I'll know by the start of '11.

 

[Darrinll40]

I went out for 8 this morning and decided to do 5 min run and 1 min walk. Everything was going great until I got to 4 miles. At that point I remembered how last Saturday I was able to run the last 2+ miles without any problem, so I decided to try it the last 4. I made it just short of 6 miles before my legs went away. I was able to finish the last 2 miles at a run/walk and surprisingly did pretty well time wise.

I think my problem was my midweek runs. I ran them both way to hard and my legs were not yet recovered. I am probably going to take the next few days and let the legs recover. I'm not going to run again until Wednesday, and that will be easy.

 

[Darrinll40]

I hit the gym for weights today and then I got on the treadmill. I did an easy treadmill getting my HR to 125-130 and burned some calories. Ended up just short of 4 miles.Came home ate dinner and went out to do some more speed work with the garmin. I did the run 1 min/ rest 2 min routine for 5 reps. Last time I did this I was walking for the 2 mins. This time out I tried to maintain a slow jog for the 2 min rest period but I ended up walking some.It was 95 out for this work 1 min 7:112 min 11:581 min 6:522 min 12:231 min 7:062 min 12:311 min 7:162 min 16:301 min 6:59I was really sucking air at points here. Heat was killing me. I hope to get up early tomorrow for 6-7 miles. My 8k is next Sunday.

You are doing good with the run/walk. I know from experience that eventually you will be able to keep up the under 8 m/m for quite a while, if you keep working on it. The only time I hate living in a warm state is when I am trying to run in the heat. But no matter how much I may complain about the heat in summer, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

 

[FUBAR]

quarters this morning,

.25 warm-up

.25 run / .25 rest X 8

.25 cool down (walk)

I jogged the first 4 rest periods, walked about 300 yards out of the .25 rest each between 5-8. I didn't go to the track, so there were plenty of hills throughout. Maintained a decent 5:50-6:20 pace during the run, 9:00-10:00 for the rests. Felt pretty good, but I have to work on my speed more. Trying to get a low 12 minute 2 mile time next month.

 

[FUBAR]

I went out for 8 this morning and decided to do 5 min run and 1 min walk. Everything was going great until I got to 4 miles. At that point I remembered how last Saturday I was able to run the last 2+ miles without any problem, so I decided to try it the last 4. I made it just short of 6 miles before my legs went away. I was able to finish the last 2 miles at a run/walk and surprisingly did pretty well time wise.

I think my problem was my midweek runs. I ran them both way to hard and my legs were not yet recovered. I am probably going to take the next few days and let the legs recover. I'm not going to run again until Wednesday, and that will be easy.

I forget where I read it, probably Runner's World magazine, but I agree with the statement: the primary problem most runners have is they run their easy runs too fast and their fast runs too slow. I know I have a real hard time taking an easy run easy, which takes something away from the hard runs. I'm doing better since I've made this a priority, but it takes discipline.

 

[Dexter]

I noticed that we now have 10 for the Bourbon Chase. Like I said earlier I am ready to send the cash wherever is needed, btu we need to get signed up as soon as we can.

Have you posted info in the BC forum?

I just did, name, address, age at time of race and approximate 10K time.Is anything else needed?We need to pay 400 asap, then the other 800 can wait until July 15, 2011, according to the website. I am willing to put my 100 up now if needed, but I don't have 400.

Is PMBrown the captain? I'd like to know what he wants.

 

[prosopis]

Has anyone ever done one of these warrior things?

http://www.warriordash.com/register2011_southwest.php

I am thinking of signing up for 4/2011. Florence is not to far from me.

 

[Third]

Mini-race report:

On the one-year anniversary of my venture into running, I ran a 5K in my wife's hometown this morning. We ran in a steady rain the entire time - not fun. I was soaked to the bone, and my shoes were squishy by the end. I was not in peak shape, but I ran okay. Legs were strong, conditioning was okay, but my lower back got tight at about 1.5 miles. I didn't run as hard as I would have liked, but I managed to keep an even pace throughout.

Finished in 23:15 (more than a minute slower than my PR from late July). Humorous thing about running in this little small-town race is that I managed to win my age group (30-39). I was almost embarrassed, buy my kids were thrilled to see me get a medal.

I really think the lower back is a core conditioning problem. I regularly do pull-ups and push-ups - usually 5x a week. I slacked off in mid-August after being out of town for work, and I think I'm feeling the effects of letting that slip. I'll be getting back on the pull-up bar on Monday and will be adding in some light core work.

Side note: After I finished, I was standing near the finish line waiting for my BIL to come in. A guy in his mid-30s is about 50 yards from the finish line, he starts really staggering around and finally falls. He tries to get up and falls over again. His body language made me think the guy had MS or something like that. Several folks ran up and helped him to his feet and basically carried him over the finish line. I was thinking, "wow - that guy has a disability and he really gutted it out and finished with a great time." Well, turns out the guy just really ran too hard for his ability and basically had muscle failure. His whole body seemed to just lock-up and he was incoherent for a minute. Don't think I've ever heard of anyone just giving out in a 5K. Bizarre.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Mini-race report:

On the one-year anniversary of my venture into running, I ran a 5K in my wife's hometown this morning. We ran in a steady rain the entire time - not fun. I was soaked to the bone, and my shoes were squishy by the end. I was not in peak shape, but I ran okay. Legs were strong, conditioning was okay, but my lower back got tight at about 1.5 miles. I didn't run as hard as I would have liked, but I managed to keep an even pace throughout.

Finished in 23:15 (more than a minute slower than my PR from late July). Humorous thing about running in this little small-town race is that I managed to win my age group (30-39). I was almost embarrassed, buy my kids were thrilled to see me get a medal.

Nice job.

Side note: After I finished, I was standing near the finish line waiting for my BIL to come in. A guy in his mid-30s is about 50 yards from the finish line, he starts really staggering around and finally falls. He tries to get up and falls over again. His body language made me think the guy had MS or something like that. Several folks ran up and helped him to his feet and basically carried him over the finish line. I was thinking, "wow - that guy has a disability and he really gutted it out and finished with a great time." Well, turns out the guy just really ran too hard for his ability and basically had muscle failure. His whole body seemed to just lock-up and he was incoherent for a minute. Don't think I've ever heard of anyone just giving out in a 5K. Bizarre.

Yeah, I can respect somebody pushing themselves to the point of breakdown during a marathon or ironman or something like that, but this is sort of a failure for a 5K.

 

[prosopis]

Mini-race report:

On the one-year anniversary of my venture into running, I ran a 5K in my wife's hometown this morning. We ran in a steady rain the entire time - not fun. I was soaked to the bone, and my shoes were squishy by the end. I was not in peak shape, but I ran okay. Legs were strong, conditioning was okay, but my lower back got tight at about 1.5 miles. I didn't run as hard as I would have liked, but I managed to keep an even pace throughout.

Finished in 23:15 (more than a minute slower than my PR from late July). Humorous thing about running in this little small-town race is that I managed to win my age group (30-39). I was almost embarrassed, buy my kids were thrilled to see me get a medal.

I really think the lower back is a core conditioning problem. I regularly do pull-ups and push-ups - usually 5x a week. I slacked off in mid-August after being out of town for work, and I think I'm feeling the effects of letting that slip. I'll be getting back on the pull-up bar on Monday and will be adding in some light core work.

Side note: After I finished, I was standing near the finish line waiting for my BIL to come in. A guy in his mid-30s is about 50 yards from the finish line, he starts really staggering around and finally falls. He tries to get up and falls over again. His body language made me think the guy had MS or something like that. Several folks ran up and helped him to his feet and basically carried him over the finish line. I was thinking, "wow - that guy has a disability and he really gutted it out and finished with a great time." Well, turns out the guy just really ran too hard for his ability and basically had muscle failure. His whole body seemed to just lock-up and he was incoherent for a minute. Don't think I've ever heard of anyone just giving out in a 5K. Bizarre.

Nice job. I would be uber happy with a 23:15 time.

 

[Darrinll40]

Mini-race report:

On the one-year anniversary of my venture into running, I ran a 5K in my wife's hometown this morning. We ran in a steady rain the entire time - not fun. I was soaked to the bone, and my shoes were squishy by the end. I was not in peak shape, but I ran okay. Legs were strong, conditioning was okay, but my lower back got tight at about 1.5 miles. I didn't run as hard as I would have liked, but I managed to keep an even pace throughout.

Finished in 23:15 (more than a minute slower than my PR from late July). Humorous thing about running in this little small-town race is that I managed to win my age group (30-39). I was almost embarrassed, buy my kids were thrilled to see me get a medal.

I really think the lower back is a core conditioning problem. I regularly do pull-ups and push-ups - usually 5x a week. I slacked off in mid-August after being out of town for work, and I think I'm feeling the effects of letting that slip. I'll be getting back on the pull-up bar on Monday and will be adding in some light core work.

Side note: After I finished, I was standing near the finish line waiting for my BIL to come in. A guy in his mid-30s is about 50 yards from the finish line, he starts really staggering around and finally falls. He tries to get up and falls over again. His body language made me think the guy had MS or something like that. Several folks ran up and helped him to his feet and basically carried him over the finish line. I was thinking, "wow - that guy has a disability and he really gutted it out and finished with a great time." Well, turns out the guy just really ran too hard for his ability and basically had muscle failure. His whole body seemed to just lock-up and he was incoherent for a minute. Don't think I've ever heard of anyone just giving out in a 5K. Bizarre.

Congrats and Happy Anniversary.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Mini-race report:

On the one-year anniversary of my venture into running, I ran a 5K in my wife's hometown this morning. We ran in a steady rain the entire time - not fun. I was soaked to the bone, and my shoes were squishy by the end. I was not in peak shape, but I ran okay. Legs were strong, conditioning was okay, but my lower back got tight at about 1.5 miles. I didn't run as hard as I would have liked, but I managed to keep an even pace throughout.

Finished in 23:15 (more than a minute slower than my PR from late July). Humorous thing about running in this little small-town race is that I managed to win my age group (30-39). I was almost embarrassed, buy my kids were thrilled to see me get a medal.

I really think the lower back is a core conditioning problem. I regularly do pull-ups and push-ups - usually 5x a week. I slacked off in mid-August after being out of town for work, and I think I'm feeling the effects of letting that slip. I'll be getting back on the pull-up bar on Monday and will be adding in some light core work.

Side note: After I finished, I was standing near the finish line waiting for my BIL to come in. A guy in his mid-30s is about 50 yards from the finish line, he starts really staggering around and finally falls. He tries to get up and falls over again. His body language made me think the guy had MS or something like that. Several folks ran up and helped him to his feet and basically carried him over the finish line. I was thinking, "wow - that guy has a disability and he really gutted it out and finished with a great time." Well, turns out the guy just really ran too hard for his ability and basically had muscle failure. His whole body seemed to just lock-up and he was incoherent for a minute. Don't think I've ever heard of anyone just giving out in a 5K. Bizarre.

Hardware is hardware, and made even better that your kids were there to see you medal!!! Congrats.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Ran the open event at the end of a HUGE X-Country Meet this morning that my daughter and her team competed in. 5K course that included racing through corn fields, hurdling hay bales and trees, 3 river crossings and tons of mud. I'd have thought they, maybe, would have had 20 or so do the race. I was way wrong, there had to be 70 to 80 people.

It was a BLAST. The kids from the teams lined the course cheering on their parents, coaches and other family members doing the event. A local HS football team did the event as a group too. The course was waaaaaaay tougher than I expected. The start for about a 1/2 mile was uphill, it to a strong wind. Circling the corn field is where the hay bales and trees came in to play. At mile two was where we hit the river. I was very happy to have on trail runners and folks were slipping and sliding all over the place. I was able to grab some spots climbing out of the rivers just due to the shoes. Each climb out of the river was a mess as they had 8 races already come through the course. Finished in just over 24 minutes. I think I am really starting to sour to pure pavement racing as trail racing has taken me on so many more unique and fun courses. My wife ran too, hopefully there will be some pics to share of the family!

 

[Ned]

Ran the open event at the end of a HUGE X-Country Meet this morning that my daughter and her team competed in. 5K course that included racing through corn fields, hurdling hay bales and trees, 3 river crossings and tons of mud. I'd have thought they, maybe, would have had 20 or so do the race. I was way wrong, there had to be 70 to 80 people. It was a BLAST. The kids from the teams lined the course cheering on their parents, coaches and other family members doing the event. A local HS football team did the event as a group too. The course was waaaaaaay tougher than I expected. The start for about a 1/2 mile was uphill, it to a strong wind. Circling the corn field is where the hay bales and trees came in to play. At mile two was where we hit the river. I was very happy to have on trail runners and folks were slipping and sliding all over the place. I was able to grab some spots climbing out of the rivers just due to the shoes. Each climb out of the river was a mess as they had 8 races already come through the course. Finished in just over 24 minutes. I think I am really starting to sour to pure pavement racing as trail racing has taken me on so many more unique and fun courses. My wife ran too, hopefully there will be some pics to share of the family!

That sounds like a blast! I missed out on a mud run this morning because I wanted to stick to my scheduled 7 miler today. I was pretty tempted to blow it off and go have fun in the mud....Today's 7 was the longest run I've ever done, and it felt awesome. I met up with my running buddy at 7am to run a local cross country course x 2 and then run the extra ~1mi around the dirt track that they have. We kept it super easy and just talked NFL the whole time and before we knew it, we were wrapping up the 2nd lap. We did push the hills every once in a while, but for the most part HR was down in the low 140s. It was interesting to see my HR spike to the 160's when we pushed the hills and then watch it quickly recover back to the 140's. I'm really resisting the urge to test my max HR to figure out my ranges, but it's still interesting to see.1 - avg 129/max 1362- 138/1613 - 147/1674 - 138/1515 - 140/1626 - 140/1647 - 141/154I definitely had a lot more in me, but thinking about basically doing this twice still makes me . I'm sure as I build my long runs up it'll seem easier, but 13.1 still sounds crazy far to me.

 

[Sand]

Today's 7 was the longest run I've ever done, and it felt awesome.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Today's 7 was the longest run I've ever done, and it felt awesome. I met up with my running buddy at 7am to run a local cross country course x 2 and then run the extra ~1mi around the dirt track that they have. We kept it super easy and just talked NFL the whole time and before we knew it, we were wrapping up the 2nd lap. We did push the hills every once in a while, but for the most part HR was down in the low 140s. It was interesting to see my HR spike to the 160's when we pushed the hills and then watch it quickly recover back to the 140's. I'm really resisting the urge to test my max HR to figure out my ranges, but it's still interesting to see.1 - avg 129/max 1362- 138/1613 - 147/1674 - 138/1515 - 140/1626 - 140/1647 - 141/154I definitely had a lot more in me, but thinking about basically doing this twice still makes me . I'm sure as I build my long runs up it'll seem easier, but 13.1 still sounds crazy far to me.

Remind me, when and where is the 1/2 ? If it is more than two months out, is there a fall 10-miler you can race as a test run? I ran one about 45 days before my 1st 1/2 and think it set me up very well for a great race. It gave me the chance to test what to eat, pacing and an overall feel for running a longer distance.

 

[prosopis]

Bad run for me today. It was over 90 and windy when I headed out. I did ok the first two miles but I was hurting going into the third. About qrtr of a mile in I was rushed by about 3 dogs. I was already mad about the heat/wind and these dogs rushing me really pissed me off. Owner was out there and I was throwing f bombs like I had tourettes :X

Any way it is over but it sucked. I want some cooler weather I am tired of running in 90 + every time I go out.

mile 1 9:26

mile 2 9:30

mile 3 12:26 (this is dog related and me going tourettes on the owner which turned into walking/jogging)

mile .48 8:16 (walk of shame and pist off)

 

[Ned]

Today's 7 was the longest run I've ever done, and it felt awesome. I met up with my running buddy at 7am to run a local cross country course x 2 and then run the extra ~1mi around the dirt track that they have. We kept it super easy and just talked NFL the whole time and before we knew it, we were wrapping up the 2nd lap. We did push the hills every once in a while, but for the most part HR was down in the low 140s. It was interesting to see my HR spike to the 160's when we pushed the hills and then watch it quickly recover back to the 140's. I'm really resisting the urge to test my max HR to figure out my ranges, but it's still interesting to see.1 - avg 129/max 1362- 138/1613 - 147/1674 - 138/1515 - 140/1626 - 140/1647 - 141/154I definitely had a lot more in me, but thinking about basically doing this twice still makes me . I'm sure as I build my long runs up it'll seem easier, but 13.1 still sounds crazy far to me.

:X Remind me, when and where is the 1/2 ? If it is more than two months out, is there a fall 10-miler you can race as a test run? I ran one about 45 days before my 1st 1/2 and think it set me up very well for a great race. It gave me the chance to test what to eat, pacing and an overall feel for running a longer distance.

It's in Philly on 11/21 so I have exactly 8 weeks left. Part of my apprehension is the pace I should race at. I've looked at all of the calculators, but at the end of the day I've just been marching to the beat of just finish the thing. I think I can get it done in under 2 hours, but honestly?

 

[Workhorse]

Decent 17 miler this AM in the rain. 8:45 pace and still had a little bit left in the tank at the end.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Update: that attempted sprint/run combo training for soccer didn't really work. I played the full 90 minutes yesterday and I can barely ####### walk today. I'm starting to think that other than just playing an actual game, there is no real training.

 

[Dexter]

Didn't do any activities Friday or Saturday, but for some reason I'm really sore today.

I need to put in my 8 mile run either today or tomorrow.

 

[gruecd]

No tri-man for the Bourbon Chase???

Since FUBAR only wants to be an alternate anyway, perhaps we should check and see if he wants that 10th spot? Where the heck has he been anyway?

 

[gruecd]

Back from a weekend in the Wisconsin northwoods....

Had an AWESOME 16-mile run on Saturday morning on the Bearskin State Trail in Minocqua. It was probably 40-something degrees when I started, and I ran the first 8 miles in 1:02:39 (7:50 pace). Turned around, felt good, and decided to push it a little bit. Felt good and relaxed, but strong. Kept pushing, and hit miles 13-16 in 7:32, 7:21, 7:09, and 6:55. Total for the second half was 59:28 (7:26), and overall for the 16 was 2:02:07 (7:38).

Followed up the run with an easy 5 this morning in even cooler temps. Loving this weather!

 

[Sand]

Back from a weekend in the Wisconsin northwoods....Had an AWESOME 16-mile run on Saturday morning on the Bearskin State Trail in Minocqua. It was probably 40-something degrees when I started, and I ran the first 8 miles in 1:02:39 (7:50 pace). Turned around, felt good, and decided to push it a little bit. Felt good and relaxed, but strong. Kept pushing, and hit miles 13-16 in 7:32, 7:21, 7:09, and 6:55. Total for the second half was 59:28 (7:26), and overall for the 16 was 2:02:07 (7:38).Followed up the run with an easy 5 this morning in even cooler temps. Loving this weather!

Gotta love this weather. Today at 3:30 the temperature was 68. Unreal. I suited up and headed out. Wanted to get into double digits, but ended up doing 8 as my calf started twinging. Started with an 8:17 mile and ended with an 8:17 mile. Averaged 8:29/mile. Pretty decent for a long run (of which I've not done many lately).And it isn't supposed to get over 88 this week. Running bliss!!

 

[wraith5]

Nice runs Ned, Workhorse, gruecd and Sand!

 

[pmbrown_22]

Certainly can agree with the weather getting cooler. It is so much easier to get out there and run.

Friday night was what I am hoping will be the last heat I had to run in until next year. It was about 85 and humid, but temps were falling for this weekend. I had a very slow 8 miler with 8 x 100m strides. My legs were dead and I contemplated just quiting early and skipping the 5 mile recovery run on Saturday to get legs for Sundays 20 miler.

Well I toughed out the 8 miler and decided to try something different after my run. I sat in our jaccuzi tub for about 20 minutes with the jets on to loosen up my legs. I told myself that i would play Saturday by ear and wait and see how I felt when I woke up.

Up at 6:30 and was feeling great. Coupled with the fact that it was 55 out and a nice breeze, I decided to go ahead and do it. I went out and did the recovery run and took it extra easy. We were heading out to the zoo as well so I knew my legs would get more of a workout later in the day. Finished feeling good. Legs were a lot better than expected.

Saturday was up at 5: 30 for my last 20 miler of the cycle. I wanted to do around 8:00s for the entire thing. I started off feeling really well and just kept going. I averaged 7:56 for the entire run and I even hit a few miles where I ran 7:30s. I was feeling it a bit at the end, but I know with rested legs, I feel that 7:30 for the marathon is probably doable. Maybe even a bit faster. The best thing is that I will not have to carry my camelbak which is necessary, but I am growing tired of it on the long runs.

So now I am on the downhill to the marathon and ready to go. I can't wait to start getting more rest and letting my legs heal up from this cycle. This has been a good one and I have learned a ton about myself. This week I covered 68 miles.

-----------------------

Bourbon Chase:

Guys, I honestly will do whatever you guys want to do. If you guys want to commit and send money, i have no problem being the captain and all of that. I just want to make sure that we are clear that if you send money, then you are in. No refunds on this, so we just have to come to an understanding.

I guess we are calling out an APB for Tri-man as he has expressed interest in it as well. He needs to put money where his mouth is and show up in his pink tights. I have spoken to a few people as fill-ins if we need them and one guy is on the fence right now. I think I can get him to commit eventually. First preference is fellow FBGs and the people I have talked to know this.

Any othere thoughts.

One more thing, Google Groups is not allowing the Pages and Files anymore so we may have to go to an alternate source for these things. I am thinking that we should have at least a picture of ourselves out there with real names and such so we can start to kind of get to know each other for those of us that have not met.

Sorry for the boot, but just trying to cover a lot of bases here.

 

[The_Man]

Third - great job on the race and the proud kids.

2Y2B - trail race sounds great, and again it's so cool to have the kids involved. My 7th grade son, who is a musician and not really an athlete just signed up for the running club at school. I didn't make a thing out of it, but I know it's because he's seen all my running and now he wants to try it out. Parents, don't ever ever doubt for a second the incredibly powerful influence your behavior - good or bad - has on your kids.

Ned - Awesome job on the 7-miler. Don't worry too much about your goal HM pace yet. That will come. But keep putting in the miles like you are and I think your HM time might suprise you.

Prosopis - sounds like you and Darrin are the last ones dealing with the heat. Plus killer dogs on top of it. Way to put in the work anyway!

Workhorse - Nice job on 17.

Sand - good job. Cool weather makes a difference.

Gruecd - you are locked and loaded. Now don't get crazy and overdo it in the taper. Save your best run for 10/10.

PMB - incredible job on the 20-miler. Sounds like a real confidence builder. You are going to have a great race, and it sounds like you're poised to take it to the next level in the next training cycle.

I had kind of a bummer of a running weekend. I had an all-day retreat for my new job on Saturday (which I don't even start for another couple of weeks) so I was up super early that a.m. to do 5 miles at Marathon pace. It's hard for me to go that fast without a good warm-up, but I didn't have a choice, so I banged them out at 7:33 pace - a second per mile better than my goal, but it required a really hard effort.

My first-ever 20-miler was scheduled for Sunday. But I had to pull the plug after 17. Pretty disappointing and a blow to my confidence. I blame it on 2 things - my legs still being tired from the HM last weekend, and a stupidly botched fueling strategy.

My normal strategy is to drink 6 oz. of Powerade every two miles. I normally do my Long Runs on a 6-mile loop - I carry a 12 oz. bottle with me, so I drink 6 oz. at Mile 2, 6 oz. at Mile 4, then come back home at Mile 6, drink 6 more oz from a big bottle there, and pick up another full 12 oz. botle to drink at Miles 8 and 10, and repeat for each loop as needed.

This time, I didn't want to do the 6-mile loop because it involves a big uphill at the end, and instead did an 8.5 mile loop. But I didn't adjust my fueling strategy, which means when I got to the 6 mile mark, I had no fuel for the next 2.5 miles until I finished the loop.

This meant I didn't fuel at Mile 6, or 14, or 16, and by the time I get back home at mile 17, my legs were so cramped that I had to quit the run. I probably could have continued, but I was feeling a twinge in my right leg for the first time EVER. My injury and all subsequent problems have been in my left leg, so it was pretty unnerving to have the right leg pain.

I realize now that I shouldn't have done my HM during a step-back week, because I would have benefitted from having a stepback week to recover, instead of diving into a week that peaked with my longest run ever. I've heard that following a race, you can expect your recovery time to last a day for every mile raced. Not that you shouldn't run during that time, just that your training won't be as good. I will say that once you're past 40, it's not the activity that hurts you it's the recovery (at least with running and drinking).

So now I'm in a stepback week again, and hopefully my legs will be fully back by the end of it.

 

[pmbrown_22]

Third - great job on the race and the proud kids.

2Y2B - trail race sounds great, and again it's so cool to have the kids involved. My 7th grade son, who is a musician and not really an athlete just signed up for the running club at school. I didn't make a thing out of it, but I know it's because he's seen all my running and now he wants to try it out. Parents, don't ever ever doubt for a second the incredibly powerful influence your behavior - good or bad - has on your kids.

Ned - Awesome job on the 7-miler. Don't worry too much about your goal HM pace yet. That will come. But keep putting in the miles like you are and I think your HM time might suprise you.

Prosopis - sounds like you and Darrin are the last ones dealing with the heat. Plus killer dogs on top of it. Way to put in the work anyway!

Workhorse - Nice job on 17.

Sand - good job. Cool weather makes a difference.

Gruecd - you are locked and loaded. Now don't get crazy and overdo it in the taper. Save your best run for 10/10.

PMB - incredible job on the 20-miler. Sounds like a real confidence builder. You are going to have a great race, and it sounds like you're poised to take it to the next level in the next training cycle.

I had kind of a bummer of a running weekend. I had an all-day retreat for my new job on Saturday (which I don't even start for another couple of weeks) so I was up super early that a.m. to do 5 miles at Marathon pace. It's hard for me to go that fast without a good warm-up, but I didn't have a choice, so I banged them out at 7:33 pace - a second per mile better than my goal, but it required a really hard effort.

My first-ever 20-miler was scheduled for Sunday. But I had to pull the plug after 17. Pretty disappointing and a blow to my confidence. I blame it on 2 things - my legs still being tired from the HM last weekend, and a stupidly botched fueling strategy.

My normal strategy is to drink 6 oz. of Powerade every two miles. I normally do my Long Runs on a 6-mile loop - I carry a 12 oz. bottle with me, so I drink 6 oz. at Mile 2, 6 oz. at Mile 4, then come back home at Mile 6, drink 6 more oz from a big bottle there, and pick up another full 12 oz. botle to drink at Miles 8 and 10, and repeat for each loop as needed.

This time, I didn't want to do the 6-mile loop because it involves a big uphill at the end, and instead did an 8.5 mile loop. But I didn't adjust my fueling strategy, which means when I got to the 6 mile mark, I had no fuel for the next 2.5 miles until I finished the loop.

This meant I didn't fuel at Mile 6, or 14, or 16, and by the time I get back home at mile 17, my legs were so cramped that I had to quit the run. I probably could have continued, but I was feeling a twinge in my right leg for the first time EVER. My injury and all subsequent problems have been in my left leg, so it was pretty unnerving to have the right leg pain.

I realize now that I shouldn't have done my HM during a step-back week, because I would have benefitted from having a stepback week to recover, instead of diving into a week that peaked with my longest run ever. I've heard that following a race, you can expect your recovery time to last a day for every mile raced. Not that you shouldn't run during that time, just that your training won't be as good. I will say that once you're past 40, it's not the activity that hurts you it's the recovery (at least with running and drinking).

So now I'm in a stepback week again, and hopefully my legs will be fully back by the end of it.

I am thinking that you could use an extra day of rest this week. Better if it would have been last week, but another day of no stress on your legs would do them good. Maybe just go out for a walk instead of a run, but let them get back into it.Great point on the kids watching and picking up things. My boys truly enjoy seeing me come back from a run and always ask how it went. They are always wanting to race me here and there. They think I am a world class runner who wins tons of races. Who am I to dash there dreams? Plus the confidence boost (even though temporary) is nice too.

 

[gruecd]

One more thing, Google Groups is not allowing the Pages and Files anymore so we may have to go to an alternate source for these things. I am thinking that we should have at least a picture of ourselves out there with real names and such so we can start to kind of get to know each other for those of us that have not met.

I think most of us are on Facebook, so I could definitely create a group page on there for us. Those of you who don't have pages (pmbrown ) would just need to get with the program and create one.

 

[The_Man]

I am thinking that you could use an extra day of rest this week. Better if it would have been last week, but another day of no stress on your legs would do them good. Maybe just go out for a walk instead of a run, but let them get back into it.

Thanks - this is a good call. I think two days off in a row would feel like heaven. I'm supposed to do 5 miles on Tues., Wed., and Thursday. If it's raining tomorrow a.m. (as forecast) and/or my legs still feel tired, I'll take tomorrow off. Otherwise, I'll take Thursday off. Either option gives me two consecutive days off.Just looked back at my running log. At the end of Week 4, I cut my 11-mile Long Run off at 9 because of brutal heat. At the end of my Week 8 15-mile LR, I posted a whiny message here about how dead my legs felt and how I could never run 11 more miles than that on Race Day.Now, at the end of Week 13, I cut a off a Long Run again. I just need to remind myself that I'm running more miles than I ever have in my life, that every 4-5 weeks it's going to catch up with me as my body adapts, and that in the past I've followed those "down" weeks with even better running than ever before.I'm just a little bummed to come up short on my first attempt at a milestone like 20 miles; it probably wouldn't bother me as much psychologically if this had been a planned 19-miler and I only did 16.

 

[pmbrown_22]

One more thing, Google Groups is not allowing the Pages and Files anymore so we may have to go to an alternate source for these things. I am thinking that we should have at least a picture of ourselves out there with real names and such so we can start to kind of get to know each other for those of us that have not met.

I think most of us are on Facebook, so I could definitely create a group page on there for us. Those of you who don't have pages (pmbrown ) would just need to get with the program and create one.

Oh come on now. You are going to make me do this about 3 months ahead of schedule. January 2011 was going to be the year for social networking for PMBrown. I honestly don't even text and was going to get a more text ready phone. I work in computers all day and I have no desire to do anything with them at night. I guess I can just for you guys. I will joing soon. I just need a little time at home to get started.

 

[BassNBrew]

What up, everybody?! I apologize in advance for the drive-by, but I'm heading out of town this weekend, so I'm only working a half-day, which I really shouldn't be doing because I'm up to my eyeballs in work. Oh, well, c'est la vie....

Ended going with a (an?) USRD yesterday because of the aforementioned pile of work, which I guess isn't so bad during the taper. Did 6 this morning including a mile at MP which felt really good and easy, and I'll do 16 tomorrow.

Looking forward to Packers/Bears on MNF. Any of you Bears fans wanna make it interesting???

wraith - Hope you have a good long run this weekend. You're due.

Won't be online 'til Sunday night, so I hope you all have a great weekend. Later.

Would love to...but given how good you guys are and the fact we have Cutler and Martz, you'd have to spot me a mile headstart over 5k.

 

[gruecd]

Facebook group created and invites sent to Darrin, Sand, 2Young, The_Man, Wraith, and tri-man.

PMB, I sent you an invite via E-mail.

Dexter and turkishharem - Either friend me on Facebook, or else PM me with with your E-mail addresses.

FUBAR - I know you said you want to be an alternate at this point, but LMK if you want to be part of the group, too.

Later dudes!!

 

[wraith5]

OK, I need some input here:

Saturday was supposed to be 13 at MP (8:25) but after 2 troubling long runs in a row, I decided to do 15 at 8:40s (closer to my actual planned MP for Chicago) as a confidence booster. It was 55 degrees out and overcast. A touch humid but damn near perfect.

The first 10 miles I hit 8:39s just fine, but I slowed towards the end and averaged 8:54s for the last 5 miles, for an overall average of 8:44. The pace itself would be fine if I wasn't tired and slowing down towards the end - the end being just over 1/2 way through the marathon.

So here are the past 5 weeks of long runs for me:

8/28 (60 w/80% humidity): 15 at 8:38 - 5 @ 8:49s, 9 @ 8:35s, 8:12 last. Nice & strong, felt great.

9/4 (65 w/80% humidity): 20 at 8:53 (PR) - 7 @ 8:48s, 7 @ 8:47s, 6 @ 9:05s. faded at end but overall very good run.

9/11 (50 and raining): 15 at 9:16s on a target of 8:35s, thought I might pass out early then recovered(ish) after mile 3. 9s through 14 then 13 minute last.

9/18 (60 w/80%): supported 20 miler @ 9:28s on 8:40 target, 5 @ 8:39, 5 @ 8:41, 5 @ 9:29, 5 @ 11:05. Obviously miserable.

9/25 (55 and 65%): 15 at 8:44 on 8:40 target, 10 @ 8:39, 5 at 8:54s.

2 good runs followed by 2 miserable runs and finally a better but still not great run. So my question is - what gives??? What could possibly cause this?

My only real thought is my allergies - the mold count has been very high for most of the month in Chicago. But would that manifest itself as fatigue? And if that's the issue, what can I do about it? I suppose it could be stress (my mom, work, even the race itself) but that would surprise me. I don't think I'm trying to run too fast, and I don't think it's cumulative miles or lack of sleep or even that I'm just wussing out and not pushing enough. SOMETHING changed with me physically. And I really want to know what it is!!

Any thoughts / suggestions / rude comments are welcome.

 

[gruecd]

OK, I need some input here:

Call me. We'll talk.

 

[FUBAR]

FUBAR - I know you said you want to be an alternate at this point, but LMK if you want to be part of the group, too.

Later dudes!!

sure!

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Four very easy miles today over lunch. I felt kind of sluggish, but I'm sure that's just from the mileage reduction during the taper.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Hey All! I've been on the road (home --> Korea --> Taiwan --> Home for one day --> Vegas --> Utah --> Vegas --> back home late last night. I'm pretty freakin' exhausted to put it mildly. I did get a few runs in and one swim on my one day at home in the middle. Add to that a bunch of emotionally draining crap in my personal life (ex wife doing all that she can to take the ex out of her name), and I'm pretty beaten down. My blood pressure is still up, and I have to figure my personal life out pretty fast if I'm going to be able to have a training life at all. I'm not making excuses , but it has put my training on hold, which is making my life pretty darn miserable. Our weather finally cooled yesterday, so I am hoping the change will assist me in keeping my HR down, even with my blood pressure up, in the meantime.

I hope I'm on the list for the Bourbon Chase as I so want to do it!

 

[pmbrown_22]

Hey All! I've been on the road (home --> Korea --> Taiwan --> Home for one day --> Vegas --> Utah --> Vegas --> back home late last night. I'm pretty freakin' exhausted to put it mildly. I did get a few runs in and one swim on my one day at home in the middle. Add to that a bunch of emotionally draining crap in my personal life (ex wife doing all that she can to take the ex out of her name), and I'm pretty beaten down. My blood pressure is still up, and I have to figure my personal life out pretty fast if I'm going to be able to have a training life at all. I'm not making excuses , but it has put my training on hold, which is making my life pretty darn miserable. Our weather finally cooled yesterday, so I am hoping the change will assist me in keeping my HR down, even with my blood pressure up, in the meantime. I hope I'm on the list for the Bourbon Chase as I so want to do it!

There is still enough room. I think we have switched from Google to Facebook for the group. Grue can add you if you have a Facebook account.

 

[FUBAR]

rest yesterday, I'm not sure why but my legs felt extremely heavy, it's not like I put a lot of miles in friday and saturday although maybe the hills friday evening and sprints saturday morning made a back b2b combo?

today was a weight room day

12 minutes on the eliptical

chest, back, abs - 3 exercises and 3 sets each, high reps

12 minutes expresso bike

tomorrow, 1 hour trail run if it's not too wet.

 

[gruecd]

There is still enough room. I think we have switched from Google to Facebook for the group. Grue can add you if you have a Facebook account.

Yep, I'll send the invite tonight. That takes us to 11 (not including FUBAR--for now at least). Who wants to be lucky #12?

 

[Sand]

Hey All! I've been on the road (home --> Korea --> Taiwan --> Home for one day --> Vegas --> Utah --> Vegas --> back home late last night. I'm pretty freakin' exhausted to put it mildly. I did get a few runs in and one swim on my one day at home in the middle. Add to that a bunch of emotionally draining crap in my personal life (ex wife doing all that she can to take the ex out of her name), and I'm pretty beaten down. My blood pressure is still up, and I have to figure my personal life out pretty fast if I'm going to be able to have a training life at all. I'm not making excuses , but it has put my training on hold, which is making my life pretty darn miserable. Our weather finally cooled yesterday, so I am hoping the change will assist me in keeping my HR down, even with my blood pressure up, in the meantime.

I hope I'm on the list for the Bourbon Chase as I so want to do it!

Not sure if this means with you or someone else (and I'm not going to cheer either way despite the other thread), but I can see the issue. GL GB.

 

[Sand]

There is still enough room. I think we have switched from Google to Facebook for the group. Grue can add you if you have a Facebook account.

Yep, I'll send the invite tonight. That takes us to 11 (not including FUBAR--for now at least). Who wants to be lucky #12?

Now we need a snappy name.Our resident aged, wizened metrosexual is MIA, so it is going to be tough... BTW, is PM Brown our team captain? I have money ready to send to get us registered. Just need some instruction.

 

[gruecd]

Good morning, everybody. Great game last night, but the result SUCKED. I now owe one guy a beer, I owe Wraith a case of beer, and worst of all, I have to wear a Bears shirt to the post-race FE. Somebody please remind me to drink WAY too much so at least I can puke on the stupid thing.

Did a solid 7-miles yesterday including 8 x 100M strides. Averaged 7:35 pace. Today I'm supposed to do 8 including 3 x 1600M. Had a few beers during the game last night and didn't get to bed until late, so I didn't even try getting up early to do it this morning. It'll have to be tonight.

As far as the Bourbon Chase is concerned, we really need to get moving on this. We need to confirm that tri-man is game, and we should also nail down a 12th person.

 

[pmbrown_22]

Good morning, everybody. Great game last night, but the result SUCKED. I now owe one guy a beer, I owe Wraith a case of beer, and worst of all, I have to wear a Bears shirt to the post-race FE. Somebody please remind me to drink WAY too much so at least I can puke on the stupid thing.

Did a solid 7-miles yesterday including 8 x 100M strides. Averaged 7:35 pace. Today I'm supposed to do 8 including 3 x 1600M. Had a few beers during the game last night and didn't get to bed until late, so I didn't even try getting up early to do it this morning. It'll have to be tonight.

As far as the Bourbon Chase is concerned, we really need to get moving on this. We need to confirm that tri-man is game, and we should also nail down a 12th person.

Grue - I agree that we need to get going. Where the heck is Tri-Man anyway? I can be the captain and I will try and get things ready today. I am going to the Reds game tonight so I will not have much time for it. May have some time at work today, but no promises. I never got the invite you sent me for the Facebook Group.I joined Facebook last night (Oh the horror!), but did not do much other than. I am out there and exposed, so be gentle.

As far as payment goes, i have to get some approval from my CFO before I just slap it on the credit card, but should not be too big of an issue if I am getting money to come in to offset it, she will be happier.

-------------

Doing 7 miles recovery tonight after work and before the game.

 

[gruecd]

Grue - I agree that we need to get going. Where the heck is Tri-Man anyway? I can be the captain and I will try and get things ready today. I am going to the Reds game tonight so I will not have much time for it. May have some time at work today, but no promises. I never got the invite you sent me for the Facebook Group.

I joined Facebook last night (Oh the horror!), but did not do much other than. I am out there and exposed, so be gentle.

Welcome to the club. I'll send you an invite via Facebook tonight. And I'll E-mail tri-man r.e. the Chase.

 

[D_House]

20 mile run fail on Sunday. I got to mile 17 and couldn't take the pain so I called it a run. :wimp:

I think I need new running shoes. I switched to a new pair after my 20K race a few weeks ago and since then I've had issues with left hip pain and soreness in my feet, both during my runs. Also I'm getting blisters that I didn't get with the old pair. On the plus side my knees aren't killing me after runs as they were with my old worn out pair.

I'll see if I can get someone that knows what they're doing to help me pick the right shoes.

 

[The_Man]

My first-ever 20-miler was scheduled for Sunday. But I had to pull the plug after 17.

20 mile run fail on Sunday. I got to mile 17 and couldn't take the pain so I called it a run. :wimp:

You and me both.

Today, I took the good advice offered here and skipped my first scheduled run since June 25. My legs are already thanking me.

I'm going to apply the staircase test from now on when deciding whether or not I need a day off. If I can get up, get out of bed, and make it down the stairs with no pain, then I'm good to go. If I ache so much that I need to hold the handrail, or have to put both feet on the same stair before taking the next step, then it's probably time for a day off.

Of the 5 miles I missed today, I will try to make up a couple by adding a mile to my next couple of runs, but I'm not going to worry about it otherwise.

Still thinking over the whole question of goal marathon pace. This week I'm leaning toward going out slightly slower than BQ pace for the first 15, with the idea that I can go for it with a big negative split if I'm feeling good, or just maintain the prior pace if I'm not. I'm looking at the 20-miler a week from this Sunday as a good test - not only do I want to finish it this time, I plan to run the last 4 or 5 miles at close to goal pace. If I can handle that, I'll plan to shoot for the BQ. If it's a struggle, I'll probably back off.

Looking ahead to the next training cycle, wth the experience of training for this one, combined with the more flexible schedule at my new job, I feel like I can handle the Pfitz 18/55 and shoot for Boston in 2012. It would be awesome to BQ in my first marathon, but it's starting to look like 40 mpw on the Higdon Intermediate I plan might not be quite enough to get me there. Already starting to target some Spring marathons ...