Ran a 10k in June (5 Viewers)

[gruecd]

Roger Goodell's inbox: http://espngrantland.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/halpern_goodell_inbox_final.jpg

 

[SteveC702]

Steve - I've been 170-185 since high school.

At 6', I've never wanted to be lighter. My body fat has been measured twice in the past decade, between 4-6%.

Should I think about getting lighter?

ETA: my priorities are health and fitness. Running a sub 3 marathon would be awesome, but I'd be concerned about losing strength. I like that I can knock out 75 pushups whenever I feel compelled to.

I would say probably not, especially if you specifically tested your body fat percentage. It most likely means you are carrying quite a bit of muscle compared to other 6' / 170-185 lb guys. I have heard a long time ago that you shouldn't go below 3-5% body fat or you increase your risk of injury/illness, and like you mentioned you would also risk sacrificing strength. (because the weight loss would most likely be from muscles). Your main focus also seems to be a triathlon right? I don't know much about it, but I thought some bulk/muscle helps for biking as you care more about power output than you do in running?

 

[tri-man 47]

Steve - I've been 170-185 since high school.

At 6', I've never wanted to be lighter. My body fat has been measured twice in the past decade, between 4-6%.

Should I think about getting lighter?

ETA: my priorities are health and fitness. Running a sub 3 marathon would be awesome, but I'd be concerned about losing strength. I like that I can knock out 75 pushups whenever I feel compelled to.

I would say probably not, especially if you specifically tested your body fat percentage. It most likely means you are carrying quite a bit of muscle compared to other 6' / 170-185 lb guys. I have heard a long time ago that you shouldn't go below 3-5% body fat or you increase your risk of injury/illness, and like you mentioned you would also risk sacrificing strength. (because the weight loss would most likely be from muscles). Your main focus also seems to be a triathlon right? I don't know much about it, but I thought some bulk/muscle helps for biking as you care more about power output than you do in running?

When I moved away from triathlons to a pure running focus in 2010, I lost almost 15 pounds, and most of it was upper body muscle. I lost that swimmer's build and reverted to a body that fit the marathon training, which had became my focus at that time. I got those rather bony marathoner's shoulders. FUBAR, you're probably sacrificing some run time due to the extra muscle, but you need that muscle for the swimming and biking. Enjoy the 'look,' and do well on those triathlons!

 

[SteveC702]

Ran 9-5-5 the last three days, and oddly the groin has felt progressively better (knock on wood). Virtually no pain (just one or two little twinges) on an easy 5-miler earlier this afternoon.

Saw my chiro last Friday for a pelvic adjustment, so maybe that's helping. I'm also in the middle of a max ibuprofen regimen (3200 mg/day) per my PT's advice. If it's lingering inflammation causing the soreness, I wanna try to knock it the #### out. If it continues to feel better as the week progresses, I'll go ahead and run the indoor half on Saturday. If that goes OK (again, knock on wood), I'll seriously consider canceling the MRA next Tuesday. Insurance will cover it, but since my deductible just reset, it would cost me $1,000+ out of pocket.

Best of luck man. Last thing we need on this thread is another major injury sidelining one of us.

 

[FUBAR]

Thanks guys. Pretty much like I figured but it's good to hear from guys who have been there, done that.

Sucks not being near a pool right now. Won't be until the end of April, with a HIM in June. Hopefully I can regain enough to survive with a month of practice, then this summer will be mostly bike and swim.

 

[Ned]

Roger Goodell's inbox: http://espngrantland.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/halpern_goodell_inbox_final.jpg

at his email address.

Whoever did this took some time and paid attention to detail. Love it.

 

[koby925]

Steve, thanks for the logs and explanations. You've been doing some really great and consistent training and I'm glad to see your hard work is paying off. I do think the altitude training has been beneficial also.

Re: the losing weight and mileage. It's all about what you personally want to get out of it. Steve is in a position to really go for it and do all he can to be elite or sub-elite status or whatever you want to call it...really fast and competitive. So doing everything he can with weight, diet, mileage, etc. is smart. The rest of us may not be chasing that, but we're chasing our own personal goals. Personally, I know I could lose a few pounds (currently at 173) but don't want to really go below 165-166 or so. I don't think the benefits of possibly going slightly faster to lose more than that outweigh the health risks of being too thin for me. And I don't have the time or energy (or ability, frankly) to do the mileage Steve does, but I know that I can do more mileage and I'm trying to get there. I don't have illusions of running sub 16/34/75 or anything, but I want to go as fast as I can with the weight and time parameters I personally have and I know that there is more time out there for the taking.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Steve, thanks for the logs and explanations. You've been doing some really great and consistent training and I'm glad to see your hard work is paying off.

It certainly is inspiring. He motatived me to work more on my base. I need to be getting in more miles.

 

[BassNBrew]

Congrats Steve. Some outstanding reading over the last few pages.

 

[Ned]

One of the things that isn't really talked about much is the speed of these elites and time spent on their feet. YES Steve, you're elite.....

Time on your feet has to be factored into the equation. Following an elite's workout regiment in terms of mileage for us mortals is dangerous, IMO. His 12mi easy run takes as long as my 9mi easy run. Sure, that's only 3 mi, but that's a 25% difference. Then the ante is upped when tempo and/or speed work is done.

I doubt anyone is planning to run a schedule peaking at 125mi like Steve did, but its just something that's been sticking out to me lately when I read about elite training.

Its not fair, damn it. (sarcasm)

 

[BassNBrew]

Ran 9-5-5 the last three days, and oddly the groin has felt progressively better (knock on wood). Virtually no pain (just one or two little twinges) on an easy 5-miler earlier this afternoon.

Saw my chiro last Friday for a pelvic adjustment, so maybe that's helping. I'm also in the middle of a max ibuprofen regimen (3200 mg/day) per my PT's advice. If it's lingering inflammation causing the soreness, I wanna try to knock it the #### out. If it continues to feel better as the week progresses, I'll go ahead and run the indoor half on Saturday. If that goes OK (again, knock on wood), I'll seriously consider canceling the MRA next Tuesday. Insurance will cover it, but since my deductible just reset, it would cost me $1,000+ out of pocket.

We just got an mdi done for $500. The doctor usually sends people to the mri center affiliated with the hospital for $1200 but knew we were tight on funds. The local competitor didn't have a fancy waiting room and was open 12+ hours a day to keep that machine running. You need to request a disk of the pics to get back to your docter to read.

 

[BassNBrew]

One of the things that isn't really talked about much is the speed of these elites and time spent on their feet. YES Steve, you're elite.....

Time on your feet has to be factored into the equation. Following an elite's workout regiment in terms of mileage for us mortals is dangerous, IMO. His 12mi easy run takes as long as my 9mi easy run. Sure, that's only 3 mi, but that's a 25% difference. Then the ante is upped when tempo and/or speed work is done.

I doubt anyone is planning to run a schedule peaking at 125mi like Steve did, but its just something that's been sticking out to me lately when I read about elite training.

Its not fair, damn it. (sarcasm)

Given that I got in 6 hours of running over the last three days and didn't break 30 miles, speedy guys like you aren't in a position to bring this up.

 

[Sand]

Steve, thanks for the logs and explanations. You've been doing some really great and consistent training and I'm glad to see your hard work is paying off.

It certainly is inspiring. He motatived me to work more on my base. I need to be getting in more miles.

And, not to be trite, but 125 miles in a week is more than I can imagine. Goodness, man, that's a lot of miles.

Personally I'd like to hear a bit more about recovery. That's where I struggle the most. I push, then crash a lot. Need to either get refitted for a 21 year old body or figure out how to have legs that don't want to fall off the next day.

-----

On another note, a great day yesterday. Our weather topped out at 60 with blue skies (where as it will be bloody cold all the rest of the week). Took my kid to the zoo, pigged out on Five Guys, and managed to squeeze in a 27 mile ride. Since I'm fat and out of shape I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to try to snag four KOMs. To my shock I actually got two of them! And was only 4 seconds off on another - that one will go down soon. I managed 325w for 3 1/2 minutes, which isn't awful for how much I've been riding. (On the last I need a downtube motor, I think). 216w normalized for the ride, and I went real easy on some parts. Without those easy parts not too far off from some of my brutal club rides.

So over the long weekend I got in a mile swim, 8 mile trail run, and 27 mile ride. Pretty happy with that.

 

[Brony]

It's like my honeymoon again, I skipped over 69.

Congrats!

 

[SFBayDuck]

One of the things that isn't really talked about much is the speed of these elites and time spent on their feet. YES Steve, you're elite.....

Time on your feet has to be factored into the equation. Following an elite's workout regiment in terms of mileage for us mortals is dangerous, IMO. His 12mi easy run takes as long as my 9mi easy run. Sure, that's only 3 mi, but that's a 25% difference. Then the ante is upped when tempo and/or speed work is done.

I doubt anyone is planning to run a schedule peaking at 125mi like Steve did, but its just something that's been sticking out to me lately when I read about elite training.

Its not fair, damn it. (sarcasm)

Given that I got in 6 hours of running over the last three days and didn't break 30 miles, speedy guys like you aren't in a position to bring this up.

LOL...I think about this all the time. I'm so slow and with the terrain I run on in it takes me so long to run the few miles I run, that it's pretty much impossible for me to put in even 70-80 mile weeks. I would have to quit my job to do so!

Speaking of slow...my quads are pretty trashed from Saturday so I took Sunday off and then went out to try and get some blood flowing through the legs yesterday. I hit one of my standard 4-mile lake loops, and it hurt. It's all small rolling stuff, and after hiking for a full mile to get warmed up I was able to run the ups, but had to gingerly walk the downs - the quads couldn't take any more than that. I've been foam rolling a couple of times a day and taking my amino acid supplements, so hopefully all of those damaged muscle fibers in my quads will rebuild themselves quickly. I'll try for another run today as the soreness seems improved this morning.

Speaking of elites - during my run yesterday I see a guy come flying towards and by me, and realize it's Alex Varner who won the 50K on Saturday....by almost an hour in a time of 3:54. I checked out his Strava, and his run on Sunday the day after the race, which he called "Quality Recovery", was 10 miles at 7:35 pace with about 1000' of elevation gain. These elite guys like Alex (and Steve) are almost a different species, I'm convinced.

 

[worrierking]

Houston Marathon Report

Short Version: I went for it and I PRd.

Long Version:

With my strong mileage over the past year and a big half PR in December, I was targeting Houston to have a breakthrough marathon. I believed my PR of 4:12:47 was soft and that I could PR this race with any sort of decent weather.

Steve C and I met for dinner the evening before and had a good time talking running and about this thread. It was very interesting and informative to discuss racing and strategy with someone like Steve who is truly coming at this hobby with a different perspective than a mid-packer like me. Steve was very confident that I had the PR in the bag and I appreciated his support. I was a bit nervous about the weather, since I have a tendency to fade badly and cramp in warm and sunny weather. The forecast was actually great for racing early, with lows projected to be in the upper 40s, but highs on Sunday were projected around 70 and when you take as long to finish a race as I do, it gets to be close to that high. I figured I would just have to outrace the heat. Steve asked me about my plan and I told him I would try for a half around 2:03 or 2:04 and hope to have enough in the tank to hold on to 4:10 at the end. I was anticipating a fade but figured I would PR as long as I didn't cramp.

And they're off!

9:26 160 (the HR was crazy the first mile, it's not accurate)
9:11 152
9:06 156

I wore my HR strap but decided against using it as a guide for my pace. I have freaked out in the past when my HR got pretty high and decided I would just use the data afterward. I didn't check HR the whole race. It's a good thing I made this decision as I would have probably backed off the pace if I had been checking. I dealt with some minor traffic issues in the first mile but felt great. I was running in the first corral and with much faster people than usual, but I still was getting passed by a bunch of people, many of whom were not your typical elite-looking runners. There was the four-foot tall Hispanic lady who blew by, the girl with the crazy leg who would have kicked me to Dallas if I had been running next to her. There was the old guy in the t-shirt indicating that this was his 40th Houston Marathon and the fat guy in the brown bicycle shorts with garish pink and blue polka dots. A guy with longish hair and a bad 70s porn mustache went by and I thought he looked like Steve Prefontaine. No matter how much I improve, I still get passed by some of the strangest people. How do all these mutants run so fast?

I didn't exactly Sand the start, but I was ahead of my planned pace and feeling fine, so I just ran by feeling.

9:04 159
9:06 160
9:13 159

Still way ahead of pace through here. I decided to do an inventory of how I felt at every mile marker. I was banking time and thought if I started laboring at all, I would turn it down a notch. At every mile I was breathing slowly and the pace felt easy so I stayed with it.

9:09 159
9:03 159
9:12 160

At Mile seven I was at 1:05 something and the gun time clock showed 1:09. I was thinking Steve was probably just kicking it home about now (little did I know he was already heading to the airport!). I was enjoying the changes they made to the course through here. Also, the sun came up and I noticed I was sweating a bit. I still felt okay and my breathing was slow, so I just started pouring water on myself at every water stop to try to keep the heat at bay. Plus, it looks very cool. Looking at the data now, I am thrilled with the way my HR stayed steady for this part of the race.

9:01 162
9:22 162
9:07 163

Mile 12 features the biggest hill on the course, a Railroad overpass. I kept pace easily.

9:21 161
9:09 163
9:32 162

I hit the half at 2:00:21, ridiculously ahead of pace, and the thought occurred to me to go for the sub four, since I still felt fine. I told myself not to get greedy.

9:22 163
9:16 166
9:27 168

I saw some friends along the course here and it really lifted my spirits. I started to feel the first signs of fatigue at about mile 17. It's probably indicated by the rise in HR from 163 to 168. Again, I decided to just run by feel and while I was slowing slightly I knew I had the PR in the bag if I could just prevent cramping. So I made a concerted effort to run as relaxed as possible. I also started doing the math on what kind of pace I could slow down to if things got rough. A 10:00 mile is a pace I feel like I can always handle and since it's easy to do the math using that pace I started thinking about what my time would be if I had to slow down to 10:00. At mile 16 I knew it was 1:42 to the finish at 10:00, so I was looking at 4:09. by mile 18 I was set-up for 4:08.

9:29 169
9:08 168
9:32 168

At mile 19 the course turns east and it begins the long journey back to downtown. It's a big psychological checkpoint and I passed with flying colors. It was bright sunshine through here and the combination of fatigue, warmth and a decision to be a bit conservative, slowed things down a notch.

9:19 170
9:27 169
9:38 168

The heart rate is remarkably steady from 22-24. There are a couple of irritating underpasses through Allen Parkway that can mess with your mind, but they only slowed me a little.

9:23 169

I passed Prefontaine here. He probably thought I was the mutant. How is that gangly 50-year-old passing me?

As I hit mile 25 I did the math one more time. I was at 3:52x with 1.2 to go. A 10:00 pace would get me in at 4:04. I had a brief devil/angel-on-my-shoulders argument with myself. The angel telling me to keep things calm and coast on in and the devil telling me to pick things up and I could get there in 4:03. The devil won and I picked up the pace

8:58 172
1:43 178 (7:37)

Apparently I still had something left in the tank. I stopped my garmin after the finish and it showed 4:02:43 (official time 4:02:40). Heck Yeah!

5K 00:28:37 28:37 09:13
10K 00:57:03 28:26 09:09
15K 1:25:11 28:08 09:04
HALF 02:00:21 35:10 09:17
25K 02:23:04 22:43 09:22
30K 02:52:00 28:56 09:19
35K 03:21:15 29:15 09:25
40K 03:51:03 29:48 09:36
Finish Net 04:02:40 11:37 08:32

Heart Rate: Average: 163 / Max: 179

Field Placement: 2342 / 7048 (33.2%)

Age group: 50 – 54 Group Placement: 189 / 522 (36.2%)

Gender Placement: 1755 / 4408 (39.8%)

I am thrilled with the race as a whole. The HR data is indicative of how far I have come in the last two years. At Houston in 2012 I set a PR at 4:17 and my HR average for that race was 164. I ran this race 15 minutes faster at a lower HR.

Tri-Man, yes I started thinking about sub 4:00 a few minutes after the race.

Thanks everybody for all the encouragement.

 

[Juxtatarot]

I started to feel the first signs of fatigue at about mile 17. It's probably indicated by the rise in HR from 163 to 168. Again, I decided to just run by feel and while I was slowing slightly I knew I had the PR in the bag if I could just prevent cramping.

Incredible job hanging on for those last 9! You only slowed down a tiny bit despite the high heart rate and rising temperatures. Impressive willpower!

 

[Annyong]

Oh man, I really wanna run a marathon now.

 

[SFBayDuck]

I started to feel the first signs of fatigue at about mile 17. It's probably indicated by the rise in HR from 163 to 168. Again, I decided to just run by feel and while I was slowing slightly I knew I had the PR in the bag if I could just prevent cramping.

Incredible job hanging on for those last 9! You only slowed down a tiny bit despite the high heart rate and rising temperatures. Impressive willpower!

. Great job finishing the race strong, really impressive. Congrats on the PR!

 

[Ned]

I started to feel the first signs of fatigue at about mile 17. It's probably indicated by the rise in HR from 163 to 168. Again, I decided to just run by feel and while I was slowing slightly I knew I had the PR in the bag if I could just prevent cramping.

Incredible job hanging on for those last 9! You only slowed down a tiny bit despite the high heart rate and rising temperatures. Impressive willpower!

. Great job finishing the race strong, really impressive. Congrats on the PR!

Awesome work, worrier!!

 

[Ned]

Oh man, I really wanna run a marathon now.

Remember this when you're at mile 23 of your marathon.

 

[Annyong]

Oh man, I really wanna run a marathon now.

Remember this when you're at mile 23 of your marathon.

yeah really easy to say when im sitting at my desk

 

[Juxtatarot]

Oh man, I really wanna run a marathon now.

Remember this when you're at mile 23 of your marathon.

Or when the alarm goes off race day morning (actually, night, because it's still pitch dark) and you've only managed a few hours sleep and you tell yourself, "Wait....I'm doing what today? What did I get myself into?!"

 

[SteveC702]

Steve, thanks for the logs and explanations. You've been doing some really great and consistent training and I'm glad to see your hard work is paying off.

It certainly is inspiring. He motatived me to work more on my base. I need to be getting in more miles.

Thanks, but be careful adding on the miles. As you can see on p.916 I posted another training segment I did in the summer/fall of 2009 where I averaged about 50-55 mpw with a max of 74 mpw and it took me 4 years to build up to this last cycle where I averaged 80 mpw with a few crazy weeks in there. (I''ll be the first to admit those weeks were supposed to be 110-115 but I had some time to sneak in a few miles here and there because work was slow during that time of the year, and also that I know I probably sacrificed my quality days those weeks a little bit because I was definitely not as recovered as I should have been going into my hard days)

Re: the losing weight and mileage. It's all about what you personally want to get out of it.

I want to go as fast as I can with the weight and time parameters I personally have and I know that there is more time out there for the taking.

I agree with this as well. And really it's all just a spectrum where you have people running 1-2 times a week to stay fit and the real elites/pros that do nothing but run/train/eat/sleep/stretch and have every meal carefully planned by professional nutritionists. I think the key thing is to have the balance you desire but most importantly really enjoy what you do.

One of the things that isn't really talked about much is the speed of these elites and time spent on their feet. YES Steve, you're elite.....

Time on your feet has to be factored into the equation. Following an elite's workout regiment in terms of mileage for us mortals is dangerous, IMO. His 12mi easy run takes as long as my 9mi easy run. Sure, that's only 3 mi, but that's a 25% difference. Then the ante is upped when tempo and/or speed work is done.

Thanks again for the first part, but as I explained to my wife... had I been in the championship race on Sunday, I would have been hitting the 1 mile to go mark right around the same time Meb had a U.S. flag draped around his shoulders and posing for the camera. Or when she asked me if I had a shot at winning the Gate River Run in a couple of months, I said "sure, I just have to run my high school mile PR about 9 times in a row without stopping". I do feel last weekend was a big step towards the level that I want to reach before my best running days are behind me though.

Also, if you don't feel like I have thrown enough numbers at you guys the last few days. Here's my average pace for the weeks. I don't run nearly as fast on my easy days as you might think. The pace/mile is skewed by the fast runs / workout days too, I generally start my runs at 7:30-8 min pace and I have to be feeling awesome to get anywhere near 7 minute pace. Also about once a week I'll do a recovery run with my wife at about 9-9:30 pace, yes I do think I still benefit from runs at that pace.

Week Miles Minutes Pace/Mi

1) 50 400.00 8:00

2) 51 397.00 7:47

3) 55 445.00 8:05

4) 70 533.25 7:37

5) 82 633.30 7:43

6) 77 591.50 7:41

7) 80 627.50 7:51

8) 101 791.50 7:50

9) 108 817.00 7:34

10) 81 607.90 7:30

11) 65 475.55 7:19

12) 72 570.00 7:55

13) 76 567.20 7:28

14) 63 440.75 7:00

15) 80 568.95 7:07

16) 125 881.92 7:03

17) 117 888.05 7:35

18) 106 769.55 7:16

19) 103 762.20 7:24

20) 82 589.33 7:11

Oh man, I really wanna run a marathon now.

Wait til your penis starts hurting at mile 22. You'll be thinking angry thoughts about all of us.

 

[Annyong]

What have you guys gotten me into?

 

[SteveC702]

I started to feel the first signs of fatigue at about mile 17. It's probably indicated by the rise in HR from 163 to 168. Again, I decided to just run by feel and while I was slowing slightly I knew I had the PR in the bag if I could just prevent cramping.

Incredible job hanging on for those last 9! You only slowed down a tiny bit despite the high heart rate and rising temperatures. Impressive willpower!

. Great job finishing the race strong, really impressive. Congrats on the PR!

Awesome race (and report) Worrieking. Again it was a pleasure meeting you and glad you at least went out at 4-hr pace so you have a sense of what that pace/effort feels like for your next one. Congrats on the huge PR and I'm sure you'll be able to make a similar jump in your next one with your half-marathon speed and a little bit more marathon specific work.

 

[Sand]

I started to feel the first signs of fatigue at about mile 17. It's probably indicated by the rise in HR from 163 to 168. Again, I decided to just run by feel and while I was slowing slightly I knew I had the PR in the bag if I could just prevent cramping.

Incredible job hanging on for those last 9! You only slowed down a tiny bit despite the high heart rate and rising temperatures. Impressive willpower!

What this guy said - awesome!

I did have to laugh at this:

Mile 12 features the biggest hill on the course, a Railroad overpass. I kept pace easily.

As a native New Orleanite, I appreciate the comedy here.

 

[Sand]

What have you guys gotten me into?

 

[2Young2BBald]

What have you guys gotten me into?

In all seriousness, though, check your head and be sure you are doing this for all the right reasons for you. The one and only marathon I did, I did for all the wrong reasons and, frankly, I hated every minute of the training and the race. In fact, its was drove me away from running anything longer than a 1/2 and pointed towards multi-sport and trail racing. Not trying to discourage you by any means, in fact, the exact opposite.

 

[Sand]

What have you guys gotten me into?

In all seriousness, though, check your head and be sure you are doing this for all the right reasons for you. The one and only marathon I did, I did for all the wrong reasons and, frankly, I hated every minute of the training and the race. In fact, its was drove me away from running anything longer than a 1/2 and pointed towards multi-sport and trail racing. Not trying to discourage you by any means, in fact, the exact opposite.

Speaking of doing crazy things - I wonder how many people have signed up for Waterloo? I still have it on the calendar and hope I can do it. Hoping the thing goes.

 

[worrierking]

I started to feel the first signs of fatigue at about mile 17. It's probably indicated by the rise in HR from 163 to 168. Again, I decided to just run by feel and while I was slowing slightly I knew I had the PR in the bag if I could just prevent cramping.

Incredible job hanging on for those last 9! You only slowed down a tiny bit despite the high heart rate and rising temperatures. Impressive willpower!

Thanks guys. I would really like to take credit for fortitude and courage but it never got difficult. I kept things easy and the pace slowed a tiny bit. I had it in my mind that it was going to be hard and that I was determined to fight through it but I never had to.

Thanks again, Steve. I would like you to be available for pre-race dinner for my next race to continue the powerful mojo. We will order the Kobe beef burgers as an appetizer and the not-so-great penne pasta and chicken again. Hopefully the service will be every bit as bad as we don't want to interrupt the karma.

 

[2Young2BBald]

What have you guys gotten me into?

In all seriousness, though, check your head and be sure you are doing this for all the right reasons for you. The one and only marathon I did, I did for all the wrong reasons and, frankly, I hated every minute of the training and the race. In fact, its was drove me away from running anything longer than a 1/2 and pointed towards multi-sport and trail racing. Not trying to discourage you by any means, in fact, the exact opposite.

Speaking of doing crazy things - I wonder how many people have signed up for Waterloo? I still have it on the calendar and hope I can do it. Hoping the thing goes.

57 registered, which is about 50 more than the same time in 2012. I was hanging out watching football and comparing race calendars with a few guys Sunday afternoon. The few I've talked to that want to do this are the same one watch to see where the numbers go. I'd put it at only 60/40 that this thing happen, which is a ##### because you kind of have to train for it and I am not seeing a "B" event to fall back to (unless I can get into Steelhead late, which I doubt).

 

[CGRdrJoe]

I started getting ready today for my April 1/2 marathon by breaking in a new pair of shoes (the ones I hope to wear) and at mile 5 I realized I had a blister forming under my big toe. I struggled through the last 2.25 miles and ended with what amounted to a bad time for me (1:04). When you guys break in shoes do you wear them as a normal shoe for a few days before running in them? I love that I get the opportunity to run each day while at work but the environment makes for all street runs which is brutal on my feet and legs. I'm even debating running in my old shoes and maybe doing some short 2-4 miles at night in my new ones to break them in.

 

[Juxtatarot]

You shouldn't have problems like that with new shoes. They shouldn't need to be broken in. Have you been fitted properly?

 

[Sand]

What have you guys gotten me into?

In all seriousness, though, check your head and be sure you are doing this for all the right reasons for you. The one and only marathon I did, I did for all the wrong reasons and, frankly, I hated every minute of the training and the race. In fact, its was drove me away from running anything longer than a 1/2 and pointed towards multi-sport and trail racing. Not trying to discourage you by any means, in fact, the exact opposite.

Speaking of doing crazy things - I wonder how many people have signed up for Waterloo? I still have it on the calendar and hope I can do it. Hoping the thing goes.

57 registered, which is about 50 more than the same time in 2012. I was hanging out watching football and comparing race calendars with a few guys Sunday afternoon. The few I've talked to that want to do this are the same one watch to see where the numbers go. I'd put it at only 60/40 that this thing happen, which is a ##### because you kind of have to train for it and I am not seeing a "B" event to fall back to (unless I can get into Steelhead late, which I doubt).

No joke. If this thing goes off I foresee a number of pool/run/pool/run type workouts.

Where did you find the registration number? I need to keep an eye on that. I want to wait until latter part of April just to look at the flight costs. They seem to be very expensive at the moment.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

That was some awesome reading over the last few pages. I really enjoyed Steve's material and the eye into what it's like to be in the elites. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around running seven days a week with doubles on most days.

Obviously I can relate more to worrierking. Congrats on passing "Prefontaine" back toward the end. One of the joys of being a mid-packer is making a note of some of the people who pass you during the first 5K, knowing that you'll be seeing them again in 20 miles.

Great write-ups and commentary, guys.

 

[2Young2BBald]

What have you guys gotten me into?

In all seriousness, though, check your head and be sure you are doing this for all the right reasons for you. The one and only marathon I did, I did for all the wrong reasons and, frankly, I hated every minute of the training and the race. In fact, its was drove me away from running anything longer than a 1/2 and pointed towards multi-sport and trail racing. Not trying to discourage you by any means, in fact, the exact opposite.

Speaking of doing crazy things - I wonder how many people have signed up for Waterloo? I still have it on the calendar and hope I can do it. Hoping the thing goes.

57 registered, which is about 50 more than the same time in 2012. I was hanging out watching football and comparing race calendars with a few guys Sunday afternoon. The few I've talked to that want to do this are the same one watch to see where the numbers go. I'd put it at only 60/40 that this thing happen, which is a ##### because you kind of have to train for it and I am not seeing a "B" event to fall back to (unless I can get into Steelhead late, which I doubt).

No joke. If this thing goes off I foresee a number of pool/run/pool/run type workouts.

Where did you find the registration number? I need to keep an eye on that. I want to wait until latter part of April just to look at the flight costs. They seem to be very expensive at the moment.

Try here: https://www.imathlete.com/events/EventParticipantsList.aspx?fEID=17494 for the registration #s. It gave me a link when I registered, let me know if it doesn't work and I'll keep you posted. My favorite training race in prep for The Battle is the mile swim and aquathon I do each year. Other than this, its more bike/run bricks. I can't explain it, but the swims seem to get progressively easier even though the 3rd one is close to (if not a bit more than) a mile.

 

[tri-man 47]

That was some awesome reading over the last few pages. I really enjoyed Steve's material and the eye into what it's like to be in the elites. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around running seven days a week with doubles on most days.

Obviously I can relate more to worrierking. Congrats on passing "Prefontaine" back toward the end. One of the joys of being a mid-packer is making a note of some of the people who pass you during the first 5K, knowing that you'll be seeing them again in 20 miles.

Great write-ups and commentary, guys.

I'll second all that!

Really impressed with your improved time, worrierking! Great consistency with the pacing and HR. Maybe you can use this to build confidence in monitoring your HR, which might allow you to push a little harder for that sub-4:00.

 

[jb1020]

I'm struggling to even comprehend what some guys are doing in this thread these days.

Quick injury question. My right knee has been stiffening up on my the past month or two. But its odd, there is absolutely no pain when I run or walk around or ride my bike. It only hurts when I get out of the car after a long drive or when I play with kids on the floor and pretty much sitting on my knees.

Is this where I need to familiarize myself with a foam roller? Been trying to take it easy lately, but I'm ready to get past this.

thanks

 

[Sand]

Well, I guess it is a good thing you guys run instead of ride up in there in Wisconsin. This poor guy got hit and a ride home - while stuck in the windshield.

 

[gruecd]

Well, I guess it is a good thing you guys run instead of ride up in there in Wisconsin. This poor guy got hit and a ride home - while stuck in the windshield.

Can't believe that made the DC news.

 

[sho nuff]

I'm struggling to even comprehend what some guys are doing in this thread these days.

Quick injury question. My right knee has been stiffening up on my the past month or two. But its odd, there is absolutely no pain when I run or walk around or ride my bike. It only hurts when I get out of the car after a long drive or when I play with kids on the floor and pretty much sitting on my knees.

Is this where I need to familiarize myself with a foam roller? Been trying to take it easy lately, but I'm ready to get past this.

thanks

I get that too (though, mine do bug me from time to time during and right after running).

Got checked out, scanned, xrayed and all that. Turns out my joints look great, but have a mild case of arthritis (thanks Mom and Grandpa)

And I second your motion about not being able to comprehend what some people in here are doing. Just some amazing stuff.

 

[sho nuff]

Well, I guess it is a good thing you guys run instead of ride up in there in Wisconsin. This poor guy got hit and a ride home - while stuck in the windshield.

Wow...and I feel bad that Im laughing at this as it is serious.

But the "hi, Im the guy you hit" line has me rolling.

 

[sho nuff]

Been just sort of plugging along with my running and adding some new things to the mix.

Got to the point where the little bit of adjustable weights I have around the house just were not cutting it anymore.

Have a friend who its the gym 3 times a week now with me in the mornings...so added in a bit more strength training to my running (also some elliptical work to reduce the pounding on my arthritic knees).

Going well so far and feeling better and more energized when I do get out there and run.

Today sucked...but in a good way. Squats, lunges and all that good stuff on some already tired legs from a decent few days of running. Hurts so good.

 

[beer 302]

Pretty cool memorial if you haven't seen it yet.

 

[FUBAR]

"suspicion of drunken driving, suspicion of hit-and-run causing injury and suspicion of failing to render aid."

You think?

 

[gruecd]

Annyong & koby - I emailed both of you the "Hips of Death" exercises. Did you get them?

Worrierking - Great write-up and an even better race. Definitely good things to come for you!

Steve - Still super impressed. You're definitely one of the fastest guys I know.

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

Personally, knock on wood, but the groin/hip is feeling pretty good. Continuing for a couple more days with the ibuprofen, also getting a massage and seeing my chiro tomorrow. Barring a setback, I'm gonna go ahead with the half marathon on Saturday morning at the Pettit....47.5 laps around the 443-meter track. No idea what I'm gonna do for pacing. I averaged sub-6:50 for the 15K in December, so I'm thinking I'll start out at 7:00 pace and go from there.

More than anything, just hoping to come out of it feeling no worse for the wear. If that's the case, I'll likely cancel my MRI.

 

[Annyong]

Annyong & koby - I emailed both of you the "Hips of Death" exercises. Did you get them?

I did, thanks man!

 

[koby925]

Annyong & koby - I emailed both of you the "Hips of Death" exercises. Did you get them?

I did, thanks man!

So did I. Thanks!

 

[Annyong]

Annyong & koby - I emailed both of you the "Hips of Death" exercises. Did you get them?

I did, thanks man!

So did I. Thanks!

Me three!