Ran a 10k in June (5 Viewers)

[sho nuff]

sho nuff - great job on the last minute 10K! Yup, I guess I'll pop out and race a 10K this a.m.

(and speaking of which, hope the soccer team played well, coach!)

Well, it was not quite just popping out and running one.The plan was to simulate a 10 mile race with a faster friend. When he called and had to back out but offered up the bib for the 10k...I took it because I really just wanted to race (and not just myself against a clock running the neighborhood).

 

[sho nuff]

Donelson-Hermitage Dash 10k.

This is run mostly on the Greenway that I have been running...some rollers for the first 2 miles, then some flat for almost 3 miles before a big uphill over the bridge and back to the rollers before finishing on the track.

Nice cool 40* day felt great.

Despite being stiff, a little warm up and some stretching had the legs feeling ok, but I was not sure how they would respond.

As I said, somehow left the HR monitor which bothered me a bit. Other than halfs, I have only done 5ks so I was not sure how I would fare at these paces for the 6.2ish.

8:08...thought I would try going about 8:20...so a mini-sand here.

8:18...settling in

8:22...settled and hitting the flats

8:19...this feels pretty easy today...Im amazed

8:13...would have been faster but this is where you hit the incline to the bridge.

7:37...f-it, Im going all out

1:38 for the last .23 mostly on the track.

50:39

That last mile really did not hurt that bad even on the rolling hills.

And after the way the legs felt last night after 17, Im shocked it felt so easy today.

His bib put me in the 30-34 age group (4th in the AG)

Had I been in my own age group would have been 3rd (3rd place was 50:46...or that guy would have fought me for it if we were close)

 

[beer 302]

Donelson-Hermitage Dash 10k.This is run mostly on the Greenway that I have been running...some rollers for the first 2 miles, then some flat for almost 3 miles before a big uphill over the bridge and back to the rollers before finishing on the track.Nice cool 40* day felt great.Despite being stiff, a little warm up and some stretching had the legs feeling ok, but I was not sure how they would respond.As I said, somehow left the HR monitor which bothered me a bit. Other than halfs, I have only done 5ks so I was not sure how I would fare at these paces for the 6.2ish.8:08...thought I would try going about 8:20...so a mini-sand here.8:18...settling in8:22...settled and hitting the flats8:19...this feels pretty easy today...Im amazed8:13...would have been faster but this is where you hit the incline to the bridge.7:37...f-it, Im going all out1:38 for the last .23 mostly on the track.50:39That last mile really did not hurt that bad even on the rolling hills.And after the way the legs felt last night after 17, Im shocked it felt so easy today.His bib put me in the 30-34 age group (4th in the AG)Had I been in my own age group would have been 3rd (3rd place was 50:46...or that guy would have fought me for it if we were close)

Nice race sho, that last mile is pretty impressive. Just another day chopping wood

 

[Ned]

2Y2BB - seeing your boy grow into a stud runner right before your eyes has to be bigger than any other running/tri accomplishment. So cool to see it from the sidelines here. And congrats again on the race today!!

shonuff - Must be nice to sandbag a PR after running 17 the day before!

mac - Congrats on the monthly mileage.

koby - are you moving out to SD?

grue - saw your FB post about the weather forecast. I hope it sticks. God knows mother nature owes you a perfect race day. What better timing than your first 50 miler?!?!

prosopis - Easy there, tiger. You're running those long runs pretty darn fast...Don't fall to the temptation of running your LRs so close to your HM pace. I know it's hard. Been there!

beer- Another solid week. What's your goal for the HM?

 

[Ned]

Week 16 of Pfitz 18/70 (taper week 1) is in the books. Bleh. Is it race day yet?

Tue (7mi recovery) - Ran in the left overs of Hurricane Sandy. Got soaked, but felt like I had a new lease on life after Sandy spared us. I didn't feel so hot, but didn't care. 9:57/133

Wed (12mi MLR) - Ahh, the last of the Wednesday MLRs. Pretty bleh run. Just going through the motions. 9:08/142

Thur (5mi recovery) - A nice treat to have another recovery run instead of a 2nd MLR. Felt surprisingly fresh. 9:46/130

Fri (5mi recovery) - The first real taste of tapering. I was a sluggish jittery mess. 9:56/132

Sat (8k-10k tuneup race) - I didn't want to race, so I stole Ivan's idea of running an LT run instead. 8mi with 4LT and had a friggin' blast. Windy as hell which made it pretty painful, but wow was that fun! LT miles were 7:03/175.

Sun (17mi LR) - The last LR of the cycle. Back to feeling bleh, which I guess was a factor of yesterday's fast LT run. Just grinding the miles out in the bitter wind. I was getting pretty fed up with fighting the wind around mile 10. Just wanted to get back inside and gave up on the HR 9:12/144

54 miles for the week and put me over 900 for the training cycle (913). Pretty nuts to look at it that way.

 

[tri-man 47]

prosopis - Easy there, tiger. You're running those long runs pretty darn fast...Don't fall to the temptation of running your LRs so close to your HM pace. I know it's hard. Been there!

How 'bout that, prosopis - you're being told to slow down your runs! Your evolution continues.

 

[2Young2BBald]

2Y2BB - seeing your boy grow into a stud runner right before your eyes has to be bigger than any other running/tri accomplishment. So cool to see it from the sidelines here. And congrats again on the race today!!

Thanks Man, it was a very fun morning. You are so right about enjoying this way more than anything I've done on my own. Bloomer Boogie 5K & 5-Mile Trail Run



Chilly 28 degree morning as my son and I headed out this morning. About a half hour into our 45 minute drive, my wife called my son to let him know the bag he very responsibly packed last night was still sitting on his bedroom floor. He was PANICED. I let him know there was no way we could get back home and almost impossible for my wife to get their by race time, so we just figured out what of mine he could use, as he had most of his race gear in the bag. Luckily, he did toss his good shoes in the car, but he had on thick cotton socks and a cotton shirt. So, at now 30 degrees, we were swapping clothes in the parking lot. He got my running top (with the thumb holes so he could have something close to gloves (gloves were in the bag) along with my running socks. I had doubled up a long sleeve tech shirt and a short sleeve and was FREEZING without my jacket, so I just put the race T between the two shirts. Cotton socks not so fun for a trail race and my one foot got a bit trashed, but well worth it.

It was cool watching pre-race. There were a lot of X-Country kids doing their warm ups, stretches and stride outs. I could see my son sizing up the competition. He grabbed a spot right at the front of the start next to a couple kids I am sure he wanted to run with. The 5K he was running and the 5-Miler I was doing went off on the same gun. I was again awed by my kid. It was about 250 yards across a field until the course went to trail. My son was leading into the woods and was so dang smooth. This course was much harder and technical than I had planed on. Tons of roots and rocks covered with about 3 inches of leaves. I saw a couple of brutal grubs and heard what had to be a bad one behind me. Both races shared the same 2.9 miles or so until the 5-miler veered off. The reward for going the extra two miles was a mile run down hill, including running down a sled hill to a turn around where I had to climb back up. I really only had intentions for this to be a training type run, but got caught up at the gun. My HR was typically at or above 170, which is much higher than where I am comfortable. I finished in 42 something, not blazing, but not bad for how little I have been running the last 6-weeks (and good enough for AG 3rd). As soon as I caught my breath, I asked the volunteers if they saw the 5K finish. They described the first three finishers, where I realized my boy came in 3rd. Kind of a neat thing at the end. Instead of doing awards at the end and calling the winners out by name, they had the awards right there at the finish. They had people doing the 5-mile as a walk that would have taken forever to finish, so it was nice to not have to wait out in the cold for a ceremony.

Walking away from the finished I spotted my son returning from his cool down. We took a few pictures and headed out. He ended up winning his AG and, as I stated above, 3rd OA, finishing in 20:36. I think not having his gear might have thrown off mentally a bit and he was a bit bummed he couldn't go sub 20, but was otherwise very pleased. On the drive home I spotted a Coney Island (greasy spoon). We grabbed a huge breakfast. Thought I better teach him now that the post race celebration is almost as important as the race.

 

[beer 302]

Ned, nice job this week. Another ho hum effort, 12 @ 9:08 that's the all out, leave it on the road, dive for the finish line pace I'm shooting for in the half and its just another day at the office for you

Under 2 is the very ambitious goal and after experiencing a portion of the course yesterday, it's very ambitious. My pace rabbit sent me an email after his 13 mile run @ 9:08 today. He said he's ready. Glad one of us is, I'm nervous as hell.

 

[Ned]

Ned, nice job this week. Another ho hum effort, 12 @ 9:08 that's the all out, leave it on the road, dive for the finish line pace I'm shooting for in the half and its just another day at the office for you Under 2 is the very ambitious goal and after experiencing a portion of the course yesterday, it's very ambitious. My pace rabbit sent me an email after his 13 mile run @ 9:08 today. He said he's ready. Glad one of us is, I'm nervous as hell.

Link to the elevation chart? Unless this is a mega hilly course, I'm betting you're closer to 1:55 than 2:00.

 

[prosopis]

12 miles @ 9:31 pace this morning.

Stop it alreadyWe really need to find a half-way race sometime and run together

 

[2Young2BBald]

NYC City Marathoners Run for Storm Relief

 

[prosopis]

Donelson-Hermitage Dash 10k.This is run mostly on the Greenway that I have been running...some rollers for the first 2 miles, then some flat for almost 3 miles before a big uphill over the bridge and back to the rollers before finishing on the track.Nice cool 40* day felt great.Despite being stiff, a little warm up and some stretching had the legs feeling ok, but I was not sure how they would respond.As I said, somehow left the HR monitor which bothered me a bit. Other than halfs, I have only done 5ks so I was not sure how I would fare at these paces for the 6.2ish.8:08...thought I would try going about 8:20...so a mini-sand here.8:18...settling in8:22...settled and hitting the flats8:19...this feels pretty easy today...Im amazed8:13...would have been faster but this is where you hit the incline to the bridge.7:37...f-it, Im going all out1:38 for the last .23 mostly on the track.50:39That last mile really did not hurt that bad even on the rolling hills.And after the way the legs felt last night after 17, Im shocked it felt so easy today.His bib put me in the 30-34 age group (4th in the AG)Had I been in my own age group would have been 3rd (3rd place was 50:46...or that guy would have fought me for it if we were close)

Nice race.

 

[prosopis]

prosopis - Easy there, tiger. You're running those long runs pretty darn fast...Don't fall to the temptation of running your LRs so close to your HM pace. I know it's hard. Been there!

How 'bout that, prosopis - you're being told to slow down your runs! Your evolution continues.

 

[sho nuff]

NYC City Marathoners Run for Storm Relief

Awesome.

 

[Horses Mouth]

Managed to get a spot in Ironman Florida next November. I guess I was one of the lucky ones. Apparently it sold out in minutes online after having a huge in person sign up on site between the volunteers, this year's athletes and the public already there.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Managed to get a spot in Ironman Florida next November. I guess I was one of the lucky ones. Apparently it sold out in minutes online after having a huge in person sign up on site between the volunteers, this year's athletes and the public already there.

I've seen postings from folks that got denied. Huge congrats and look forward to tracking your progress. I tracked 5 people I've trained with yesterday and am for an update/ report from 3K.

 

[beer 302]

Ned, nice job this week. Another ho hum effort, 12 @ 9:08 that's the all out, leave it on the road, dive for the finish line pace I'm shooting for in the half and its just another day at the office for you Under 2 is the very ambitious goal and after experiencing a portion of the course yesterday, it's very ambitious. My pace rabbit sent me an email after his 13 mile run @ 9:08 today. He said he's ready. Glad one of us is, I'm nervous as hell.

Link to the elevation chart? Unless this is a mega hilly course, I'm betting you're closer to 1:55 than 2:00.

http://www.runcharlotte.com/pdf-files/map-halfmarathon.pdfI don't know what qualifies as mega hilly for everyone else but this one qualifies for me. It's not up a side of a mountain crazyness like the trail runners but there are plenty of up & downs and a couple of long uphills.Loving that NYC Marathon story Shame the city couldn't have come up with that on their own and turned this into a positive.

 

[tri-man 47]

Walking away from the finished I spotted my son returning from his cool down. We took a few pictures and headed out. He ended up winning his AG and, as I stated above, 3rd OA, finishing in 20:36. I think not having his gear might have thrown off mentally a bit and he was a bit bummed he couldn't go sub 20, but was otherwise very pleased. On the drive home I spotted a Coney Island (greasy spoon). We grabbed a huge breakfast. Thought I better teach him now that the post race celebration is almost as important as the race.

Nicely done on all counts!! Father/son race stalking might get a little weird, so we'll give you a pass on that aspect.

 

[gruecd]

A great read for you guys on this Monday morning: Long Run Pain: A Staten Islander's View on Why the Marathon Should Not Have Been Canceled

He basically says everything that I've been saying all along, but he does it a lot more eloquently. This paragraph sums up the essence of my argument:

If the marathon was to be an exercise in frivolity, what are we to make of vitriolic editorials and self-righteous Facebook groups? Are we now to forgo all activity just because someone is less fortunate? 46,000 New Yorkers are homeless every day – should the rest of us give up our homes? If others are hungry, should we not eat? If a neighbor is unemployed, are we to quit our jobs, too?

 

[Sand]

Anyone have tracking info and/of FB updates from IMFL for ThreeThousand? I thought I recalled seeing a bib number, but I am not finding anything.

I'm hoping this went well for him. Definitely need an update!

 

[koby925]

koby - are you moving out to SD?

Ned, no I am moving to the Raleigh area December 1. We were in San Diego for my sisters wedding. Not a bad place to be stuck. It's been hectic and will be for awhile since we are moving out there into temp housing with 2 kids until we figure out where to live, but can't wait. I lived in that area right out of college for a cup of coffee and have always wanted to returnThe good news with limited but hilly running in San Diego is my legs have felt great the last couple runs. Did 7 miles today in 6:55 pace and it felt like 7:30 pace.

 

[sho nuff]

Memphis Marathon opened up a few spots to their sold out event for runners that were entered for NYC...

 

[Ned]

Ned, nice job this week. Another ho hum effort, 12 @ 9:08 that's the all out, leave it on the road, dive for the finish line pace I'm shooting for in the half and its just another day at the office for you Under 2 is the very ambitious goal and after experiencing a portion of the course yesterday, it's very ambitious. My pace rabbit sent me an email after his 13 mile run @ 9:08 today. He said he's ready. Glad one of us is, I'm nervous as hell.

Link to the elevation chart? Unless this is a mega hilly course, I'm betting you're closer to 1:55 than 2:00.

http://www.runcharlotte.com/pdf-files/map-halfmarathon.pdfI don't know what qualifies as mega hilly for everyone else but this one qualifies for me. It's not up a side of a mountain crazyness like the trail runners but there are plenty of up & downs and a couple of long uphills.Loving that NYC Marathon story Shame the city couldn't have come up with that on their own and turned this into a positive.

680' ain't bad, but far from easy too. Resist all urges to go out fast at the start. The downhill is going to feel awesome coupled with the pre-race vibe. It's going to feel stupid easy. Keep it that way. Just go out at your target pace. You'll pass a bunch of people who hammered the start on the hill at mile 2.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

My doctor gave me a second round of azithromycin, and it made a big difference in clearing up my remaining chest congestion. Last Friday's 10-miler just about killed me, but yesterday I did 10 on the TM and it was easy as pie, as it should have been. Hopefully that means I've finally kicked this thing and I can fall back into my offseason routine.

Funny anecdote from yesterday's run. Some college student got on the TM next to me, and literally couldn't make it more than 15 seconds at a time without grasping the handrails and/or almost falling off the back. He also stepped away 4-5 times, leaving the TM running, to get water or towel off. He racked up a total of about 3 miles, but by my reckoning he only actually ran about half of that unassisted while actually on the machine. How fast was this guy going, you ask? 7.6 mph, just under an 8:00 mile. I don't want to be that guy who tells other people how to use gym equipment, but I was this far away from turning to him and saying "Guy, if you can't handle an 8-minute mile without flying off the back of your machine, maybe you should set it for something you can handle." My biggest worry was that he would fall off the back of the TM, and then I would start laughing at him, and then I would fall off my mill too.

 

[beer 302]

Memphis Marathon opened up a few spots to their sold out event for runners that were entered for NYC...

Thunder Road did the same

Ned, nice job this week. Another ho hum effort, 12 @ 9:08 that's the all out, leave it on the road, dive for the finish line pace I'm shooting for in the half and its just another day at the office for you Under 2 is the very ambitious goal and after experiencing a portion of the course yesterday, it's very ambitious. My pace rabbit sent me an email after his 13 mile run @ 9:08 today. He said he's ready. Glad one of us is, I'm nervous as hell.

Link to the elevation chart? Unless this is a mega hilly course, I'm betting you're closer to 1:55 than 2:00.

http://www.runcharlotte.com/pdf-files/map-halfmarathon.pdfI don't know what qualifies as mega hilly for everyone else but this one qualifies for me. It's not up a side of a mountain crazyness like the trail runners but there are plenty of up & downs and a couple of long uphills.Loving that NYC Marathon story Shame the city couldn't have come up with that on their own and turned this into a positive.

680' ain't bad, but far from easy too. Resist all urges to go out fast at the start. The downhill is going to feel awesome coupled with the pre-race vibe. It's going to feel stupid easy. Keep it that way. Just go out at your target pace. You'll pass a bunch of people who hammered the start on the hill at mile 2.

Thanks Ned, will do. That's actually my biggest worry, going out too fast and being spent by mile 6. I'm running with a guy that is my pacer of sorts. I think between the two of us we should be ok but it's going to be tough for me. I ran 8 in the hills today and held 9:04 but I didn't have a lot left in the tank and finished the last two on a flatter end of the course. Gonna be close but I'm hoping the race vibe (like you said) covers some of that for me and I've got enough kick for that final 5k to get in under 2 hours.Ivan - I think that guy was at my gym last week. Hanging on to the hand rails for dear life and hoping on the sides every 30 seconds or so. I was lifting so I was actually rooting for him to go flying off the back or at the least have to break out the defibrillator but it was not to be

 

[ThreeThousand]

Anyone have tracking info and/of FB updates from IMFL for ThreeThousand? I thought I recalled seeing a bib number, but I am not finding anything.

I'm hoping this went well for him. Definitely need an update!

OK guys, I made it back home alive and am at work today. I'll be getting around to writing a full RR here over the next couple days, but it probably won't be today. Awesome race, great day, and perfect weather except for the swells in the ocean. High was low 80s, so it was awesome race weather. Swam 1:23:45, biked 6:12:09, ran 4:32:56, with just under 15 minutes of transitions, for a total finish time of 12:23:01. Beat all my goals (my stretch goal was to beat my buddy's time from last year of 12:25). It's amazing that 12.5 hours of racing can go by so fast.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Anyone have tracking info and/of FB updates from IMFL for ThreeThousand? I thought I recalled seeing a bib number, but I am not finding anything.

I'm hoping this went well for him. Definitely need an update!

OK guys, I made it back home alive and am at work today. I'll be getting around to writing a full RR here over the next couple days, but it probably won't be today. Awesome race, great day, and perfect weather except for the swells in the ocean. High was low 80s, so it was awesome race weather. Swam 1:23:45, biked 6:12:09, ran 4:32:56, with just under 15 minutes of transitions, for a total finish time of 12:23:01. Beat all my goals (my stretch goal was to beat my buddy's time from last year of 12:25). It's amazing that 12.5 hours of racing can go by so fast.

Wow, fantastic times all around. Obviously a very well planned and executed race. Congratulations Ironman. Can't wait for the RR. BTW, a guy I've trained with a few times is a 10+ time Ironman, including a few in the mid 10 hour range. He went 12+ there this weekend, just adding context to how spectacular your overall time is!!!!

 

[Sand]

Anyone have tracking info and/of FB updates from IMFL for ThreeThousand? I thought I recalled seeing a bib number, but I am not finding anything.

I'm hoping this went well for him. Definitely need an update!

OK guys, I made it back home alive and am at work today. I'll be getting around to writing a full RR here over the next couple days, but it probably won't be today. Awesome race, great day, and perfect weather except for the swells in the ocean. High was low 80s, so it was awesome race weather. Swam 1:23:45, biked 6:12:09, ran 4:32:56, with just under 15 minutes of transitions, for a total finish time of 12:23:01. Beat all my goals (my stretch goal was to beat my buddy's time from last year of 12:25). It's amazing that 12.5 hours of racing can go by so fast.

That is a great day of racing.

 

[DanFouts]

Thanks for all the advice! Great thread!

Just curious...any of you east coast guys ever run this race in Philly? Schuykill River Run

Looks like it's 8.4 miles along the river around Nov 10

Just wondering if it's a good course, how cold Philly is in Nov 10, and whether I should try it!

I'm from the area (DE), but haven't run this race. I have run parts of this course, since it looks like it's overlapping the second part marathon course. That section is super flat/easy. Very nice area too. I say go for it! Don't worry about the weather, it may get into the 30s, but thats no biggie.

Just signed up for it! Back to the training...have about 3 weeks to get my self from 6 mile range to 8.4 mile range.....thinking just to add a few more long runs in?

Race this weekend..looks like good weather in Philly!So in the last 2 weeks, I ran two long runs (8.4 miles each, last one on Sunday), several intermediates (4-6), and a few fast (2-3 miles)

I have two more runs in me before race on Saturday (today and Thursday)

What distance do you think I should run today and Thursday to maximize my race???

 

[sho nuff]

Anyone have tracking info and/of FB updates from IMFL for ThreeThousand? I thought I recalled seeing a bib number, but I am not finding anything.

I'm hoping this went well for him. Definitely need an update!

OK guys, I made it back home alive and am at work today. I'll be getting around to writing a full RR here over the next couple days, but it probably won't be today. Awesome race, great day, and perfect weather except for the swells in the ocean. High was low 80s, so it was awesome race weather. Swam 1:23:45, biked 6:12:09, ran 4:32:56, with just under 15 minutes of transitions, for a total finish time of 12:23:01. Beat all my goals (my stretch goal was to beat my buddy's time from last year of 12:25). It's amazing that 12.5 hours of racing can go by so fast.

Incredible man...congrats.

 

[Sand]

What distance do you think I should run today and Thursday to maximize my race???

5 today, normal pace3 Thursday, super easy shakeout run.

 

[2Young2BBald]

What distance do you think I should run today and Thursday to maximize my race???

5 today, normal pace3 Thursday, super easy shakeout run.

This is around what I would do too, with a good hard swim in between. But, if you are feeling fatigued and/or sore, knock a mile off the five on Tuesday and make Thursday's 3 a walk. You can't really gain much the week before a race.

 

[DanFouts]

What distance do you think I should run today and Thursday to maximize my race???

5 today, normal pace3 Thursday, super easy shakeout run.

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[MAC_32]

My experiment results, full report should be ready next week sometime. Refresher, there's a 4 hour break between run #1 (1 hour 30 mins at 70% mHR) and run #2 (12 mins at 90% mHR) in which we're only allowed to consume water and whatever recovery drink is slated for that day. Certain amount of that recovery drink we're supposed to drink too, it's calculated based on our weight.

Ht - 6'1

Age - 29

Resting heart rate - 60

calculated mHR - 191

Week 1 - Water

Wt before - 192

Wt after - 188

90 mins at 70% mHR, end rate - 138

Distance ran - 10 miles

12 mins at 90%mHR, end rate - 190

Distance ran - 2.05 miles

Notes: this was miserable, I was starving 2 hours before running part 2. Definitely negatively effected speed. I felt like garbage during and wanted to pass out, after looking at results on other days my HR told me everything I already assumed.

Week 2 - Gatorade

Wt before - 190

Wt after - 187

90 mins at 70% mHR, end rate - 134

Distance ran - 9.5 miles

12 mins at 90%mHR, end rate - 171

Distance ran - 2.15 miles

Notes: heavy legs effected distance traveled, outside of some cramping towards the end of run 2 I felt good otherwise. Feel like if my legs were fresher I'd have done better.

Week 3 - Chocolate Milk

Wt before - 189

Wt after - 188

90 mins at 70% mHR, end rate - 144

Distance ran - 10.5 miles

12 mins at 90%mHR, end rate - 182

Distance ran - 2.25 miles

Notes: best I felt during the whole experiment, more energy for run #2 than any other one. Heart rate was elevated, but never felt overly uncomfortable.

Week 4 - Coconut water

Wt before - 190

Wt after - 187

90 mins at 70% mHR, end rate - 146

Distance ran - 10.25 miles

12 mins at 90%mHR, end rate - 188

Distance ran - 2.1 miles

Notes: I hate coconut water, never again. Looking back I think my being miserable having to drink that stuff negatively effected run #2 performance. I was irritated and not focused, probably could have gone harder and further. Felt closer to the water run than Gatorade or Chocolate Milk though, felt like I lacked energy and was uncomfortably hungry for the last hour before run #2.

Ned, you asked about figuring out my own mHR ignoring the generic calculation. Well, I did my trial 5k today in 18:20. Splits were 5:40/6:00/6:10, heart rates were 180/187/196 (at finish, not 3 miles). 196 was the highest I saw, but I was in the 190's for most of mile 3. I felt like there was a 5th gear there if I were in a race, but also felt like if I tried to hit it today I would throw up. I'd push the envelope race day, but thought it'd be best to continue at an uncomfortable pace but not so uncomfortable that I'd yack all over the sidewalk today. Still, it was one of those finish then lay on one towel on the basement floor with another one over my face covered in a blanket types of runs. I didn't have much of anything left. So, not sure exactly what my mHR is, but I think my original estimate of around and just over 200 is probably a good guess. Probably would tip over 200 if I made a run at 5th gear, here's hoping I can do it without upchucking and that can push me below 18 mins race day!

 

[tri-man 47]

Anyone have tracking info and/of FB updates from IMFL for ThreeThousand? I thought I recalled seeing a bib number, but I am not finding anything.

I'm hoping this went well for him. Definitely need an update!

OK guys, I made it back home alive and am at work today. I'll be getting around to writing a full RR here over the next couple days, but it probably won't be today. Awesome race, great day, and perfect weather except for the swells in the ocean. High was low 80s, so it was awesome race weather. Swam 1:23:45, biked 6:12:09, ran 4:32:56, with just under 15 minutes of transitions, for a total finish time of 12:23:01. Beat all my goals (my stretch goal was to beat my buddy's time from last year of 12:25). It's amazing that 12.5 hours of racing can go by so fast.

That is a great day of racing.

!!!

 

[Ned]

Anyone have tracking info and/of FB updates from IMFL for ThreeThousand? I thought I recalled seeing a bib number, but I am not finding anything.

I'm hoping this went well for him. Definitely need an update!

OK guys, I made it back home alive and am at work today. I'll be getting around to writing a full RR here over the next couple days, but it probably won't be today. Awesome race, great day, and perfect weather except for the swells in the ocean. High was low 80s, so it was awesome race weather. Swam 1:23:45, biked 6:12:09, ran 4:32:56, with just under 15 minutes of transitions, for a total finish time of 12:23:01. Beat all my goals (my stretch goal was to beat my buddy's time from last year of 12:25). It's amazing that 12.5 hours of racing can go by so fast.

That is a great day of racing.

!!!

Phenomenal that you can run a 4:32 marathon after racing for over 7 hours in the water and on the bike!

 

[Ned]

My experiment results, full report should be ready next week sometime. Refresher, there's a 4 hour break between run #1 (1 hour 30 mins at 70% mHR) and run #2 (12 mins at 90% mHR) in which we're only allowed to consume water and whatever recovery drink is slated for that day. Certain amount of that recovery drink we're supposed to drink too, it's calculated based on our weight.

Ht - 6'1

Age - 29

Resting heart rate - 60

calculated mHR - 191

Week 1 - Water

Wt before - 192

Wt after - 188

90 mins at 70% mHR, end rate - 138

Distance ran - 10 miles

12 mins at 90%mHR, end rate - 190

Distance ran - 2.05 miles

Notes: this was miserable, I was starving 2 hours before running part 2. Definitely negatively effected speed. I felt like garbage during and wanted to pass out, after looking at results on other days my HR told me everything I already assumed.

Week 2 - Gatorade

Wt before - 190

Wt after - 187

90 mins at 70% mHR, end rate - 134

Distance ran - 9.5 miles

12 mins at 90%mHR, end rate - 171

Distance ran - 2.15 miles

Notes: heavy legs effected distance traveled, outside of some cramping towards the end of run 2 I felt good otherwise. Feel like if my legs were fresher I'd have done better.

Week 3 - Chocolate Milk

Wt before - 189

Wt after - 188

90 mins at 70% mHR, end rate - 144

Distance ran - 10.5 miles

12 mins at 90%mHR, end rate - 182

Distance ran - 2.25 miles

Notes: best I felt during the whole experiment, more energy for run #2 than any other one. Heart rate was elevated, but never felt overly uncomfortable.

Week 4 - Coconut water

Wt before - 190

Wt after - 187

90 mins at 70% mHR, end rate - 146

Distance ran - 10.25 miles

12 mins at 90%mHR, end rate - 188

Distance ran - 2.1 miles

Notes: I hate coconut water, never again. Looking back I think my being miserable having to drink that stuff negatively effected run #2 performance. I was irritated and not focused, probably could have gone harder and further. Felt closer to the water run than Gatorade or Chocolate Milk though, felt like I lacked energy and was uncomfortably hungry for the last hour before run #2.

Ned, you asked about figuring out my own mHR ignoring the generic calculation. Well, I did my trial 5k today in 18:20. Splits were 5:40/6:00/6:10, heart rates were 180/187/196 (at finish, not 3 miles). 196 was the highest I saw, but I was in the 190's for most of mile 3. I felt like there was a 5th gear there if I were in a race, but also felt like if I tried to hit it today I would throw up. I'd push the envelope race day, but thought it'd be best to continue at an uncomfortable pace but not so uncomfortable that I'd yack all over the sidewalk today. Still, it was one of those finish then lay on one towel on the basement floor with another one over my face covered in a blanket types of runs. I didn't have much of anything left. So, not sure exactly what my mHR is, but I think my original estimate of around and just over 200 is probably a good guess. Probably would tip over 200 if I made a run at 5th gear, here's hoping I can do it without upchucking and that can push me below 18 mins race day!

Not surprised that choc milk came out on top. RE: bolded. That yack on the sidewalk feeling is a safe bet that you've hit your mHR. figure that mHR out and you'll be able to train so much smarter/efficient.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Anyone have tracking info and/of FB updates from IMFL for ThreeThousand? I thought I recalled seeing a bib number, but I am not finding anything.

I'm hoping this went well for him. Definitely need an update!

OK guys, I made it back home alive and am at work today. I'll be getting around to writing a full RR here over the next couple days, but it probably won't be today. Awesome race, great day, and perfect weather except for the swells in the ocean. High was low 80s, so it was awesome race weather. Swam 1:23:45, biked 6:12:09, ran 4:32:56, with just under 15 minutes of transitions, for a total finish time of 12:23:01. Beat all my goals (my stretch goal was to beat my buddy's time from last year of 12:25). It's amazing that 12.5 hours of racing can go by so fast.

That is a great day of racing.

!!!

Phenomenal that you can run a 4:32 marathon after racing for over 7 hours in the water and on the bike!

That's just amazing. Great job. I'm envious.

 

[prosopis]

7 miles @ 9:49 today.

Feel sick about Obama getting reelected.

 

[beer 302]

36 degrees, felt like 31 this morning. Little Elvis darn near went back in the man cave

 

[ThreeThousand]

IMFL 2012 Race Report

GENERAL INFORMATION

Ironman Florida 2012 was my 1st Ironman, thus, the below report has no frame of reference. I did, however, volunteer last year to register for this year, so I can speak a little bit to the difference in weather. Last year’s conditions were very mild, seas were very calm, almost like glass, but the weather was chilly both in the morning and at night (I volunteered at the finish line). Temperatures reached high 60s in late afternoon on the run course.

In preparation for this year’s event, I based most things on getting similar conditions to last year but always kept my race strategies upon on the off chance that conditions would be different. They certainly were.

All week long, forecasts were predicting highs in the low 80s with humidity between 60% and 95% all day and potentially high winds. Come race morning, the temperature forecasts were holding but the winds looked to be calming, seas still seemed pretty challenging to me. I am a pretty MOP swimmer, and not much of that is in open water, so my frame of reference may be a little off but I felt like we had some pretty big rolling waves (three or four feet rolling past the breakers).

One thing that is really strange, at least for a first-time IM, is that you have to have your T1 and T2 stuff (all helmets, shoes, visors, socks, etc.) all bagged up and dropped off the night before with your bike. I can’t tell you how many times I packed and repacked these bags, hoping I wasn’t forgetting something crucial.

PRE RACE

Race morning went almost according to plan; I got a solid night of sleep, woke up at around 4:15am and started checking things off the list. Hopped in the shower to wake up, body glided all the nether bits, ankles, underarms, etc., tossed on my De Soto Forza Riviera shorts (love these things) and a 2XU top. For breakfast was a bagel with peanut butter and 32 oz of Gatorade.

Once prepped up I headed down to race site, got body marked, and dropped of special needs bags. Even with a huge race, with many first timers, Ironman does a great job making sure you can find where you need to go. Dropping the special needs off was a breeze, even though I had to go back and get my bike SN bag out to get out my sunscreen, apply it, and put it back in my bag. With the sun forecast to be strong, I wanted to make sure I could reapply sunscreen halfway through the bike. My bike SN bag had a spare tube, spare CO2, stick of body glide, spare contact lenses, a Redbull, and a can of V8. Run SN bag had a change of socks, a pair of arm warmers, spare contact lenses, a light for my run visor, and a Redbull.

With special needs dropped off, it was off to the bike to make final preparations, it had rained a little over night, so I toweled everything off, aired up my tires, filled my aero bottle, and I was done. I now had about an hour to sit inside and freak out before the swim started. My friend that was down there volunteering met me inside the Boardwalk hotel atrium and we sat and chatted until it was time to head out to the beach.

I hit the bathroom one more time to make sure the lower digestive system is on empty and then I grab the wetsuit to lube it up and get it ready. While air temperatures are going to be high this day, the water temperature is still looking at just under 70 so thankfully we are wetsuit legal. On the way out to the beach, I ran into my parents/brother, put on the wetsuit, and took some pictures. Was hoping to find the wife, who had the kids with her, and take some pictures, but I got caught up in the mass of humanity trying to get out to the beach along two little walkways, and couldn’t meet up with her. Oh well, I’ll see her at the finish.

The next 15 minutes is a blur, as the pro male/paratriathletes started at 6:45, and the pro females started at 6:50, before the age group start at 7:00. Much to my surprise, I hear the 1 minute to go call and notice that there are still a bunch of people out near waist deep. Apparently, this is not going to be a beach start this year. I seed myself to the far right, about 10 rows back from the front, and look around. The sheer number of athletes starting was amazing – there were pink and green swim caps everywhere.

SWIM START

I hit my watch start button about 2 seconds after the cannon fires and we are off. I immediately notice that my goggles are a little more foggy than I am used to and that the dark mirror is making it hard to see since we are only a couple of minutes past dawn. I will want the mirror later, so I must deal with it early on.

I tried to start pretty far to the right of the swim to let the current bring me to the first turn (this is a two loop rectangular swim that goes out south 0.5 miles, east 0.25 miles, north 0.5 miles and then along the beach over the timing mat and do it again.

The contact was terrible for me this year, I was getting my ### kicked and punched and all beat to hell. Even after getting through the breakers, the rolling waves still felt pretty huge to me, I would try to sight when at the crest of the wave, but it still seemed tough to see from buoy to buoy. This was seriously the worst part of the race – I actually thought that I wouldn’t be able to finish the swim. A few thoughts of getting pulled out of the water by a boat or kayak. I can handle the contact, and I can handle the swells, but dealing with both I seriously thought I might drown a couple times. A few times kicked in the face, a few times dragged by the feet, a few times tangled in the arms, a couple times fixing the goggles after a good kick, a couple of breast strokes to see where the hell I was and I make the first turn buoy. I took it super-wide to avoid the pileup, and after that it was just swimming, thankfully. I found some clean water, and after the turn we were swimming with the current, so it got a ton easier very quickly.

After an uneventful way back because I’m way wide right, I get into shallow water and see people walking in, I am usually the guy that swims until I literally can’t swim anymore, but the small breakers were crashing on me and I was not making the progress that I had hoped, so on my feet and I am running.

Per usual when running after swim, my heart rate spikes and I feel like I am in the last 100 yards of a 5k. I run as far to the west as the crowd and volunteers will allow, which is almost back to the start and I am back in the water (where I instantly settle back in to a groove and no longer feel like I am sprinting a 5k). Second lap was pretty uneventful, but I could tell about halfway through that I was getting tired and my form was slipping, so I slowed down a bit. Goal time for the swim was under 1:20, and I finished the swim in 1:23:45, but was pretty pumped just to be out of the water and on my bike.

Split Time Pace

1.2 miles 39:31 2:02/100m

2.4 miles 44:14 2:17/100m

T1

I ran hard up the beach, skipped the wetsuit strippers because I didn’t want to get sandy, but did hit the freshwater showers since I wouldn’t be changing clothes. I didn’t want to have salt chafing, so I lingered longer than I probably should have in the showers. Saw my parents and wife in the chute between the swim and the T1 bag pickup. Grab my bag and head into the men’s changing tent, and the first bare ### greets me as I turn the corner into the tent. That didn’t take long, lol.

Despite the madness of the changing tent I manage to find a spot next to the wall pretty quickly, open my bag, and dump it out. Put on socks/shoes, helmet, toss my gels in my pocket, put on the sunglasses, and I’m off. Running toward racks, I have a long circuitous run to my rack, but I can see the volunteers standing by it so I start yelling my number at him. By the time I reach my rack he is moving toward my bike, I bend over put my shoes on, he hands me the bike right in time, I gingerly run the rest of way in cleats and I mount just past the mount line and I am OUT. T1 time 9:12

BIKE

I was hoping to average approximately 18mph on the course, but avoid going out too fast and dying the second half. I wanted to maintain between 17-19mph the whole ride. This meant, however, I was going backwards through the field for the first 2-3 hours. Huge packs of riders were passing me like I’m standing still, while I’m pedaling away in my small chain ring. One big hill on the first half of the course, the bridge at about mile 11. I took that opportunity to get up out of the saddle, even though I didn’t need to, and stretch everything out. It would be the last opportunity to do so for 50 miles.

Brief note about nutrition – my plan was to race off of the course offerings, which were Perform, Gu, and Bonk Breakers. At the Augusta 70.3 I managed to snag about 10 extra bottles of ready-to-drink Perform (it’s not sold in the US any more) to use on my final training rides, and had been training with Gu and BB for months. Had a couple spare/emergency gels and bars with me, just in case, but essentially lived off the course. I had pre-filled my aero bottle with water, grabbed a water bottle at every aid station, and filled it up. Drank to thirst, which was about a bottle of water/hr, had a gel or half a bar every 20-30 minutes, and used Perform to switch things up when I wanted something other than water. Seemed to work perfectly for me – I didn’t have to carry much, and I never seemed to have an energy issue. Took a couple extra-strength Tylenol at about mile 25, and one more about mile 70, as the back of my neck tends to act up on long aero rides, but that was about it.

This course is pretty crowded, especially since I came out of the swim behind schedule. I give the guys a free pass in the first 20 miles or so, but after that, the packs are obviously intentionally cheating. We roll up on special needs (this is the only part of the course with poor pavement conditions for about 10 miles) and I had to pee, so I quickly stopped. Grabbed the Redbull out of my bag, applied some sunscreen, and drank my Redbull while waiting for the porta-potty. I am seeing some people that cheated early on now in the penalty tent, I also see some of the cheaters pass me again with a slash on their bib (of course they pass me the 2nd time cheating again), no fuss for me, I am riding my race and I am riding it clean.

Rest of bike is pretty uneventful, there’s another out and back about mile 90, but other than that it’s just heading back to PCB. Back up over the bride at mile 100, and the last 8miles or so are pretty easy, as we’re back on Front Beach Road heading back to transition.

Bike Numbers:

Split Distance Time RaceTime Pace

15 mi 15 mi 48:46 2:21:43 18.46 mi/h

33 mi 18 mi 1:01:39 3:23:22 17.52 mi/h

55 mi 22 mi 1:07:18 4:30:40 19.61 mi/h

72 mi 17 mi 1:04:27 5:35:07 15.83 mi/h (incl special needs stop)

94.7 mi 22.7 mi 1:12:53 6:48:00 18.69 mi/h

112 mi 17.3 mi 57:06 7:45:06 18.18 mi/h

Total 112 mi 6:12:09 7:45:06 18.06 mi/h

T2

Ran into room where gear bags were and grabbed mine with no issue, bag was open before I got to change tent. The madness, as I’m sure you’d figure, was far less. I actually found a seat, and had a helpful volunteer. Off with the cycling shoes/socks, re-body glided the feet, put back on some fresh socks, and new sunglasses. Grabbed my visor, and I was out. Hit the sunscreen volunteers this time (because there was a cute girl who offered to lube me up ), and I was out the run exit. T2 time 4:59

RUN

I am off to run, I put in some pretty decent run mileage this year in the hopes of having a very solid run at this race. As I’m out the door at 7:55 race time, I thought that if I could throw down a 4 hr marathon, I could break 12 hours.

The heat again threw me for a loop regarding my race plan, so I adjusted things some prior to race day and decided to BE PATIENT. This is exactly how I wanted to feel. I knew this progression, 9 minute miles would feel ridiculously easy, at some point it would feel like I was in a groove, and then at some point I would have to work hard to hold it.

Run nutrition plan was a gel every 30 minutes, supplemented with water, Perform, and cola to thirst. This plan made it to about mile 10. I was at the mile 10 aid station and wanted a gel – they only had non-caffeinated, peanut butter gels. Normally I love these things, but I needed the caffeine at this point. So, I skipped the gel. Bad, bad move. Aid station at mile 11 didn’t have gels, that I could see. By the time I make it to mile 12, I’m starving. The aid stations on an Ironman are like a buffet – they’ve got basically everything you want. I grab a cookie (and these aren’t like little oreos, these are huge chocolate chip cookies, like 4 inches in diameter) and wolf it down, followed by a pack of Gu Chomps. The cookie tasted freakin’ awesome, but unfortunately that’s like 400-500 calories at a time when my stomach wanted like 100 calories, and neither the cookie nor the Chomps I had trained with.

The course is essentially an out and back to the state park that you do twice. The first (and last) 1.5 miles of each loop are along Thomas Drive, so there are plenty of spectators cheering, music playing, etc. Tons of crowd support. The next 3.5-4 miles, though, are through residential neighborhoods in PCB that never seem to end. Then, there’s about another mile to 1.5 miles up to the park and into the park for the turnaround.

I hit mile 13 and the course is rocking, people are screaming, at 13.1 I see the wife and the family that came out and I get a surge and start to speed up a hair. I come through special needs at Alvin’s Island, make a quick stop to change my socks (they were drenched) and grab my run Redbull and visor light. I got about 3 sips of the Redbull in (it was warm by this time) and decided it was nasty.

By the time I hit mile 13.5, though, my stomach is in revolt from the cookie. All I wanted to do was yak, but thought that I’d really regret it if I did. The next 3 miles were a sufferfest as I try to keep my cookie/Chomps down.

After finally making it to the park, and my stomach settling down, I turn around at 19.5 or so and am heading for home. As I’m leaving the park, it basically falls into full nightfall. The next 3.5-4 miles, through dark neighborhoods, were the worst part of the run. It was very lonely, I was the only person running (for the most part, some people would run for a few steps and then lapse back into a walk). It’s very true, what you hear, that an Ironman run course is littered with the carnage of people who buggered their bike pacing. That second lap, I’d say 90% of the athletes were walking.

Once you get out of the neighborhoods, though, the crowds pick back up. I’d say that the crowd support, by this time, is getting pretty raucous. Crazy ladies (and dudes) are out in full costume. I make the turn to go past Alvin’s Island and I can hear the finish line announcer, and see the lights. After a long finisher chute, it’s done. I am tired.

Run Numbers:

Split Distance Time RaceTime Pace

2 mi 2 mi 18:26 8:08:31 9:13/mi

4 mi 2 mi 19:21 8:27:52 9:40/mi

6.6 mi 2.6 mi 25:14 8:53:06 9:51/mi

9.1 mi 2.5 mi 25:28 9:18:34 10:01/mi

11.1 mi 2 mi 19:51 9:38:25 9:55/mi

13 mi 1.9 mi 19:52 9:58:17 10:17/mi

15 mi 1.9 mi 21:38 10:19:55 11:12/mi

17 mi 2 mi 22:26 10:42:21 11:13/mi

19.5 mi 2.6 mi 27:57 11:10:18 10:55/mi

22.1 mi 2.6 mi 29:03 11:39:21 11:15/mi

24.1 mi 2 mi 20:59 12:00:20 10:29/mi

26.2 mi 2.1 mi 22:41 12:23:01 10:48/mi

Total 26.2 mi 4:32:56 12:23:01 10:25/mi

Overall time 12:23:01 – pretty pleased with that for an IM debut. I am still sore today. Great race overall, many thanks to IMFL crew and all the volunteers. We had over 3,000 volunteers out there, how awesome is that?

 

[gruecd]

36 degrees, felt like 31 this morning. Little Elvis darn near went back in the man cave

At 31 degrees? Wind chills in the mid- to upper-20s here this morning, and I ran in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt (with gloves).

 

[2Young2BBald]

So ####### AWESOME 3K. Your mental training and prep was so damn good. Have you made your appointment to get the M--Dot Tat?

 

[sho nuff]

36 degrees, felt like 31 this morning. Little Elvis darn near went back in the man cave

At 31 degrees? Wind chills in the mid- to upper-20s here this morning, and I ran in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt (with gloves).

No offense...but you are...well, not normal. Been in the high 30s low 40s here for the past week or so of morning runs.Start out in a LS tech over a SS tech for the longer runs and lose the LS shirt half way through as it has been warming close to 50 pretty quickly.Gloves have been the key as the winds have been pretty biting on the fingers.Only one day did it really stay down in the 30s and those days I usually just go for the compression sleeveless underneath the LS shirt...helps with the wind...plus the wife digs how I look in the compression stuff now (could not say that 2 years ago...looked more like crescent roll dough trying to pop out of the can).

 

[beer 302]

36 degrees, felt like 31 this morning. Little Elvis darn near went back in the man cave

At 31 degrees? Wind chills in the mid- to upper-20s here this morning, and I ran in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt (with gloves).

Oh kiss my ### roborunner I live in SOUTH Carolina, 31 blows

 

[walnutz]

36 degrees, felt like 31 this morning. Little Elvis darn near went back in the man cave

At 31 degrees? Wind chills in the mid- to upper-20s here this morning, and I ran in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt (with gloves).

Oh kiss my ### roborunner I live in SOUTH Carolina, 31 blows

I live in Missouri and 31 still blows. Gruce, with all due respect, you are not right man. I hate the cold and as such my training really suffers during the winter. I am giving it a try to stay outside this year and run. Will see how it works.

 

[beer 302]

36 degrees, felt like 31 this morning. Little Elvis darn near went back in the man cave

At 31 degrees? Wind chills in the mid- to upper-20s here this morning, and I ran in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt (with gloves).

Oh kiss my ### roborunner I live in SOUTH Carolina, 31 blows

I live in Missouri and 31 still blows. Gruce, with all due respect, you are not right man. I hate the cold and as such my training really suffers during the winter. I am giving it a try to stay outside this year and run. Will see how it works.

I came from OH so I'm accustomed to cold but have been here long enough that my OH blood is long gone. I intentionally went out today just to see what it was like.

 

[gruecd]

36 degrees, felt like 31 this morning. Little Elvis darn near went back in the man cave

At 31 degrees? Wind chills in the mid- to upper-20s here this morning, and I ran in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt (with gloves).

Oh kiss my ### roborunner I live in SOUTH Carolina, 31 blows

I live in Missouri and 31 still blows. Gruce, with all due respect, you are not right man. I hate the cold and as such my training really suffers during the winter. I am giving it a try to stay outside this year and run. Will see how it works.

Hahahaha. No worries, man. I'm hoping that I'm running against a bunch of softies like you when it's nice and cold at JFK next Saturday.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

36 degrees, felt like 31 this morning. Little Elvis darn near went back in the man cave

At 31 degrees? Wind chills in the mid- to upper-20s here this morning, and I ran in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt (with gloves).

Oh kiss my ### roborunner I live in SOUTH Carolina, 31 blows

I live in Missouri and 31 still blows. Gruce, with all due respect, you are not right man. I hate the cold and as such my training really suffers during the winter. I am giving it a try to stay outside this year and run. Will see how it works.

I gotta admit, in the upper 20s I'm wearing long pants and probably two t-shirts (one long-sleeve, one short-sleeve). __________________

The next couple of days are very busy for me, so I got in my second 10-miler of the week today. It was a little more tiring than Monday's run, but not any big deal. It feels like I didn't lose much fitness after taking almost three full weeks off. Intellectually I knew that would be the case, but it's reassuring to get out there and actually verify it first-hand.

 

[Ned]

36 degrees, felt like 31 this morning. Little Elvis darn near went back in the man cave

At 31 degrees? Wind chills in the mid- to upper-20s here this morning, and I ran in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt (with gloves).

Oh kiss my ### roborunner I live in SOUTH Carolina, 31 blows

I live in Missouri and 31 still blows. Gruce, with all due respect, you are not right man. I hate the cold and as such my training really suffers during the winter. I am giving it a try to stay outside this year and run. Will see how it works.

Hahahaha. No worries, man. I'm hoping that I'm running against a bunch of softies like you when it's nice and cold at JFK next Saturday.

That's the spirit!