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Ran a 10k in June (6 Viewers)

Last hard workout in the books yesterday. Did my 1100 ft trail hill climb (over 2.75 to 3.0 miles) with a return trip via road.

March 1: 44'00" min climb -1'23'44 round trip

April 5: 40'30" climb - didn't do the round trip, sprained ankle

May 12: 38'40" climb - 1'08'50" round trip

Not only did I set a pr, I started the time about .15 of a mile earlier than last time. Splits were 10'32 (227 up), 13'17 (276 up), and 14'56 (571 up) on the climb. On the road downhill I set a new mile pr time at 6'56". I lost close to 300 ft over that mile so it's not real impressive, but it felt great to know what pace Steve does his recovery runs at.

Bounced back well from the 5 x 8 milers wed/thur. No real soreness and no feet issues. Legs were tired, but I think I'm mostly recovered based on yesterday's run. Did 10 miles of speed walking fri/sat and took sun off. Will get something in tonite, not sure what. May go to the track to burn some energy or possibly do a 5k in tempo range. I'm absolutely chomping at the bit to run right now.
woah buddy! be careful with those knees!

 
This week was the longest mileage week of the year. I'm going to be focusing on building the mileage back up this spring with the intent on another marathon cycle in the summer. The_Man: I'm registered for the Rehoboth Marathon. I'm really looking forward to it.

Mon: 5mi recovery @ 9:44/136. Surprised my legs felt this good after the trail half.

Tue: 6mi MLR @ 8:58/144. Legs a little heavy but felt awesome. So weird.

Thu: 8mi MLR @ 9:09/156. Muggy and sunny and I felt horrible. Was up all night pumping out our flooded basement. :hot:

Fri: 5mi recovery @ 9:35/138. Too fast for recovery, but felt good.

Sat: 12mi MLR @ 9:02/145. Legs heavy, but energy levels were great.

36mi total.
Oh, crap. Just catching up on this thread after not having run for like two more weeks. Looks like I better HTFU. I will keep you posted - but don't hold your breath, because I am still seemingly just a big lazy pile of poo.

 
BassNBrew said:
Last hard workout in the books yesterday. Did my 1100 ft trail hill climb (over 2.75 to 3.0 miles) with a return trip via road.

March 1: 44'00" min climb -1'23'44 round trip

April 5: 40'30" climb - didn't do the round trip, sprained ankle

May 12: 38'40" climb - 1'08'50" round trip

Not only did I set a pr, I started the time about .15 of a mile earlier than last time. Splits were 10'32 (227 up), 13'17 (276 up), and 14'56 (571 up) on the climb. On the road downhill I set a new mile pr time at 6'56". I lost close to 300 ft over that mile so it's not real impressive, but it felt great to know what pace Steve does his recovery runs at.

Bounced back well from the 5 x 8 milers wed/thur. No real soreness and no feet issues. Legs were tired, but I think I'm mostly recovered based on yesterday's run. Did 10 miles of speed walking fri/sat and took sun off. Will get something in tonite, not sure what. May go to the track to burn some energy or possibly do a 5k in tempo range. I'm absolutely chomping at the bit to run right now.
Beast mode.

 
parasaurolophus said:
2014 Ice Age trail Half Marathon report-

My first (real) trail race. Had no goals going into it other than to enjoy the day. Was running with a friend I hadn't seen in a while and he has been recovering from a lengthy injury. This was his longest run in 1.5 years.

I didnt really pay much attention to pacing or how the miles went. The first time I looked at my watch we were 4 miles in. It was a two loop course which at first I was annoyed with, but ended liking it as it was a very cool trail and I missed a lot of scenery on the first loop. These hills were nothing compared to what duck sees on a regular basis, but for me, they were pretty tough.

I asked my friend what the strategy was for some of these(he has run trail 50k's and has had some very decent finishes), and he immediately replied, "Walk". I was happy to hear him say that. It felt so strange being 200 yards into a race and already be walking, but I honestly don't know how else I could do it. I would have to imagine that the energy spent running some of these compared to the little time you gain is not a smart way to attack. At one point we saw a guy running one of the tougher ones. He passed us but didnt really get very far ahead and of course we passed him 200 feet later and I thought he was going to fall over if I got too close to him.

It was a pretty warm day as temps got to 80 degrees, but I loved it. I am so tired of being cold or having to think about what I wear to run. I was laughing as I heard people complain about how warm it was, and thought I never want to get to a point where I complain again when it is 80 degrees in Wisconsin.

I ran exactly zero miles on trails prior to this race this year. All the trails near me have been flooded. Just one month ago a trail run I ran had an alternate course due to trail conditions. I can definitely see me doing more of them. I enjoyed the atmosphere much more. It was the perfect scenario for me. No stress, good weather, no worries about time. I had been toying with the idea of a 50k, but the idea of running some of these inclines and declines was a bit intimidating for me. I think I am over that now. Had I run a road half in 2:12:43 I might be kind of annoyed. This one, seemed about the right time.
As you experienced, trail runs are just a different mindset than the roads. For most, walking during a road race is considered failure. On the trails, walking/hiking becomes a matter if smart tactics.

Keep the effort steady, and take what the trail gives you.

Nice job out there.

 
BassNBrew said:
Last hard workout in the books yesterday. Did my 1100 ft trail hill climb (over 2.75 to 3.0 miles) with a return trip via road.

March 1: 44'00" min climb -1'23'44 round trip

April 5: 40'30" climb - didn't do the round trip, sprained ankle

May 12: 38'40" climb - 1'08'50" round trip

Not only did I set a pr, I started the time about .15 of a mile earlier than last time. Splits were 10'32 (227 up), 13'17 (276 up), and 14'56 (571 up) on the climb. On the road downhill I set a new mile pr time at 6'56". I lost close to 300 ft over that mile so it's not real impressive, but it felt great to know what pace Steve does his recovery runs at.

Bounced back well from the 5 x 8 milers wed/thur. No real soreness and no feet issues. Legs were tired, but I think I'm mostly recovered based on yesterday's run. Did 10 miles of speed walking fri/sat and took sun off. Will get something in tonite, not sure what. May go to the track to burn some energy or possibly do a 5k in tempo range. I'm absolutely chomping at the bit to run right now.
Beast mode.
Gonna steal Steve's mantra and #### some #### up this weekend until the trail turns it around and ####s me up.

 
Been reading/lurking for the past week and finally have a chance to post.

Congrats to Duck, Annyong, Para, and Juxt on very impressive showings this weekend, as well as the rest of the crew for some very solid training. BnB, that's some impressive elevation gain/loss you're racking up the past couple of weeks, I can only imagine the quads of steel that you have. Goal race is this weekend right?

Koby, good to hear your comeback is going well. Hope the doctor has more good news for you.

Ned, good work on racking up the miles. Hope your basement is back in good conditions.

I have had quite a fun weekend myself. Not sure how to title this so I'll just call it...

"I forgot I ain't 21 anymore" Trip Report:

I have been thinking for the past couple of years that I need to dedicate a training cycle to training for something a bit shorter, and for the past couple of years I have always managed to find a marathon or half-marathon race to derail that plan. Well, a couple of days after Boston, while recovering and chomping at the bit I came across a local racing schedule that listed some upcoming track meets. One of which was the Air Force Academy Twilight Meet. For some odd reason I thought it would be a great idea to get in a race with a bunch of kids at least 10 years younger than me and really see what kind of speed I have left. So after forking over $24, I officially entered myself in the 1500 and the 800. (where can you find a race for $12 anymore these days?)

Part 1: Friday night at the AF Academy

Fast forward 2 weeks, and I find myself driving to a college track meet for the first time in a decade, and honestly wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into as I have had 2 workouts since Boston, and ran a total of 2 400s at sub-5 minute mile pace. Nonetheless, I already paid the entry fee, I'm not hurt, and what do I have to lose besides my pride? After I warmup, change into my singlets and racing flats (I think I was the only one not wearing spikes), check in for the race, and watch the women's 1500 finish before us, it was time to get served a slice of humble pie.

The starter line us up and fire the gun, and immediately I find myself out the back. My plan was to try to run 70s 400s and then see what I have the last 400. Instead, I go through the first 200m in 31-32s and I am in last place by a good 4-5 steps. We hit the first lap in 67 and I am hurting already. Halfway in 2:16 and I am surprised I am not feeling worse. When we hit the homestretch for the 3rd time with a little over a lap to go I pick off a kid who went out over his head even more than I did, but I am slowing down myself and come through 1200 in about 3:27. When I hit the 200m to go mark I still had 35 seconds to get under my seed time of 4:20, but I was absolutely toasted at this point and experienced the worst "lactic acid storm" feeling I have had in over a decade where every part of my body feels like frozen blocks of lead and I am just doing whatever I can to get the race over with. I "ran" this last 200m in around 5-minute mile pace. Result - 2nd to last, 4:23.

Unlike every other track meet that I have been to in my life, this meet actually ran fast and I ended up getting about 45-50 minutes before the 800 instead of a little over an hour like I was expecting. In fact, I made it back from my cooldown/warmup run just in time to check in, and only to be informed all the women entered in the 800 before us cancelled so we're up next. Puke.

There's only 8 of us, so they do a 1-turn stagger where everyone can cut in after 100 meters. I am in lane 7, and before we even hit the first turn everyone has made up the stagger on me and I don't even bother pacing myself, just hammering as hard as i can to keep up. I come through the first lap in 64 seconds an I am pretty sure I was at least 30-40 yards behind everyone. The lactic acid feeling from the 1500 came back on the 2nd lap, and it got worse with every step. Result - DFL, 2:17.

Part II: Just another Saturday morning

The next morning there's an event hosted by the air force base where my wife works. As we were pulling into the parking lot, there's a group of college/HS kids warming up in their team jackets/sweats and my wife comments "uh oh, those guys look fast, you might have some competition". Maybe it was me getting my butt kicked the night before that bruised my pride a bit, but I just said "they're running a road race at this point in the season instead of at last chance meets or resting up for NCAAs, how good can they be?"

At the start line, I quickly chat with one of the guys from the college team and find out that they are all running the 5K. (I was entered in the 10K). The race organizers apparently made no effort to distinguish the 5K/10K runners, but did provide 2 identical pace carts for the races. The gun fires and we are off. 2 guys are about 4-5 seconds ahead at the mile and I am in a pack with 3-4 other guys. I just assume everyone else is in the 5K and they would turn off after 1.5 miles where the 5K/10K courses split. A couple of minutes later one of the carts turn off, but apparently without telling the lead runners and I find myself still behind 2 runners. I groan, but keep on running my pace and shortly before 2 miles I pass one of the two guys. The lead runner is now 10 seconds ahead but I see him keep on looking over his shoulder, and despite my lack of desire to push the pace given how tired I was I notice that he's coming back to me. Shortly after 4 miles I finally reel him in and the following exchange takes place:

Me: "Good job man. 2 more miles"

Him: "Argh, I thought I was running the 5K"

Me: "Damn, that sucks bro" (throws in a surge)

A couple of minutes later I open up a pretty sizeable gap and the race was pretty much over. At the end the margin was 20-25s. New course record - 33:53. Pretty happy with this one since i have only broken 17 in a 5K at altitude once before this, and now I averaged 2 back-to-back. I also got a measure of satisfaction knowing that I ran a faster pace than the other college kids that stayed on the 5K course (no one broke 17 in the 5K).

So... I would have liked to have more speedwork under my belt before running my first 1500 in 13 years, but I am definitely glad I got it under my belt and with the 10-second altitude conversion the time ended up being about 7-8s slower than my PR from college so I am happy with the residual speed I still have. In fact, I might just do a speed cycle next spring and go for an (altitude converted) PR. The immediate gain is that my workout this morning felt much easier after that track session last Friday, so I think I am going to throw some quick 400s/800s in over the next couple of months at the end of workouts if I can to try to make my HM/MP runs feel more controlled.

 
Steve: friggin awesome RRs! Loved reading that stuff and super jealous you found a track meet for old fogies. You found what I've suspected all along- your speed doesn't really fade away as quickly as you'd think.

 
koby925 said:
Jux, love the speed...is this summer of speed?
Not really. I have a 10K in early June and a 5 miler in late June. Hopefully I'll PR at least one of those. I think that will be it, though. I want to train well for the Chicago marathon and I think I need to focus on my endurance before training officially starts. (Well, maybe I could run one more 5K if all the Chicagoland boys in this thread want to meet up for one.)

 
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New course record - 33:53.
Not just a victory but also a course record? Awesome, Steve.
Thanks, although to be fair... the race is held on an Air Force base and was closed to the public until 3-4 years ago. The lack of quality prizes also doesn't help attract competition, so I only really ran it so my wife can look good at work. Kinda disappointed I didn't at least score some gift certificates to some of the sponsors (Chick Fil a or Tucanos (the local Brazilian Steakhouse)).

Steve: friggin awesome RRs! Loved reading that stuff and super jealous you found a track meet for old fogies. You found what I've suspected all along- your speed doesn't really fade away as quickly as you'd think.
As you can see from my placing, maybe the track meet wasn't really for us old fogies. :lol: But I know what you meant. I also agree that "speed" tends to stick around more than you think, although I like to think if I dedicated a couple of months to it, I can bring my mile/1500 time down a few seconds as well.

 
koby925 said:
Jux, love the speed...is this summer of speed?
Not really. I have a 10K in early June and a 5 miler in late June. Hopefully I'll PR at least one of those. I think that will be it, though. I want to train well for the Chicago marathon and I think I need to focus on my endurance before training officially starts. (Well, maybe I could run one more 5K if all the Chicagoland boys in this thread want to meet up for one.)
A question about endurance training. Someone mentioned after my recent race post I need to focus more on endurance training, so I'm wondering what are some things I can do to increase endurance? My next half won't be until the fall, so I have some time to work on things. Any ideas?

 
koby925 said:
Jux, love the speed...is this summer of speed?
Not really. I have a 10K in early June and a 5 miler in late June. Hopefully I'll PR at least one of those. I think that will be it, though. I want to train well for the Chicago marathon and I think I need to focus on my endurance before training officially starts. (Well, maybe I could run one more 5K if all the Chicagoland boys in this thread want to meet up for one.)
A question about endurance training. Someone mentioned after my recent race post I need to focus more on endurance training, so I'm wondering what are some things I can do to increase endurance? My next half won't be until the fall, so I have some time to work on things. Any ideas?
For me, nothing too complex. Just more miles in the lower heart rate zones. And a weekly run in the teens.
 
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BassNBrew said:
On the road downhill I set a new mile pr time at 6'56". I lost close to 300 ft over that mile so it's not real impressive, but it felt great to know what pace Steve does his recovery runs at.
Well that pr lasted all of 24 hours. Banged out a 6'54" mile at the track tonite.

 
Chief, my advice is just try to get faster. Short races. You bring your 5k and 10k times down and guarantee you PR the half in the fall. Just keep your long runs between 8-10 miles and you'll be way ahead of the curve when it's time to start focusing on your half marathon training.

 
Chief, my advice is just try to get faster. Short races. You bring your 5k and 10k times down and guarantee you PR the half in the fall. Just keep your long runs between 8-10 miles and you'll be way ahead of the curve when it's time to start focusing on your half marathon training.
I agree 100%.

 
Chief, my advice is just try to get faster. Short races. You bring your 5k and 10k times down and guarantee you PR the half in the fall. Just keep your long runs between 8-10 miles and you'll be way ahead of the curve when it's time to start focusing on your half marathon training.
I agree 100%.
I just had a discussion with a friend about this same exact topic (getting faster in the half). You definitely need more 5K/10K speed than you would for a marathon, and a long run is a lot less important.

Here is an article I came across recently that summarizes a lot of what the guys here are saying pretty well:

http://running.competitor.com/2014/05/training/13-1-tips-for-running-your-best-half-marathon_95975

I especially agree with 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13.

 
Chief, my advice is just try to get faster. Short races. You bring your 5k and 10k times down and guarantee you PR the half in the fall. Just keep your long runs between 8-10 miles and you'll be way ahead of the curve when it's time to start focusing on your half marathon training.
I agree 100%.
I just had a discussion with a friend about this same exact topic (getting faster in the half). You definitely need more 5K/10K speed than you would for a marathon, and a long run is a lot less important.Here is an article I came across recently that summarizes a lot of what the guys here are saying pretty well:

http://running.competitor.com/2014/05/training/13-1-tips-for-running-your-best-half-marathon_95975

I especially agree with 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13.
10 is a plan I like to use even in marathons.

 
As you can see from my placing, maybe the track meet wasn't really for us old fogies. :lol: But I know what you meant. I also agree that "speed" tends to stick around more than you think, although I like to think if I dedicated a couple of months to it, I can bring my mile/1500 time down a few seconds as well.
Yeah, my kid was reading over my shoulder and said "Dad, am I going to get that slow when I get old" :rolleyes: & of course kidding. Thanks for the great RRx2 read.

 
Great reports (Duck, para, Steve), training (Hang10, BnB), and healthy running (koby)! I love the image of 2Young and LittleYoung reading Steve's report together.

 
Me: "Good job man. 2 more miles"

Him: "Argh, I thought I was running the 5K"

Me: "Damn, that sucks bro" (throws in a surge)
:lmao:

That's awesome.

------

On my end a lovely ride tonight. Every fast ####er in the city was there, including a couple guest appearances midway through the ride with more fast people. Suck index 155 or so - really humid (supposed to get nasty storms tomorrow). So my goal is just to hang with the fast folks. Roll out is fine. Once we get to the start of the real hard stuff it ####### pours. Cats and dogs. It is an interesting experience riding at 26-28mph in pouring rain, in a tight group, with glasses that are soaked outside and fogged inside. After that one road the rain stopped and everything else was bone dry. Very odd. Hung in there good until a van decided to take a right from the left lane and cut off the front of the group (as we were turning right). I hit the brakes and lost them for a bit, but managed to latch back on later. Hung on until the very top of the last hill as the lead pack whittled down to 3, but all in all a great ride.

Over the meat of the ride (15 miles) averaged 250w, 265w normalized. Set a new power PR(barely) for 30 minutes at 263w. If not for a couple lights I would have smashed that. Not bad for a really hot, humid night - and on the tri bike which tends to have a bit lower power output than the roadie.

For Ned - my HR over that 15 miles (41 minutes) averaged 170. For me on the bike that is just inside Z5 the whole way. Hopefully I can get out of bed in the morning.

 
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Me: "Good job man. 2 more miles"

Him: "Argh, I thought I was running the 5K"

Me: "Damn, that sucks bro" (throws in a surge)
:lmao:

That's awesome.

------

On my end a lovely ride tonight. Every fast ####er in the city was there, including a couple guest appearances midway through the ride with more fast people. Suck index 155 or so - really humid (supposed to get nasty storms tomorrow). So my goal is just to hang with the fast folks. Roll out is fine. Once we get to the start of the real hard stuff it ####### pours. Cats and dogs. It is an interesting experience riding at 26-28mph in pouring rain, in a tight group, with glasses that are soaked outside and fogged inside. After that one road the rain stopped and everything else was bone dry. Very odd. Hung in there good until a van decided to take a right from the left lane and cut off the front of the group (as we were turning right). I hit the brakes and lost them for a bit, but managed to latch back on later. Hung on until the very top of the last hill as the lead pack whittled down to 3, but all in all a great ride.

Over the meat of the ride (15 miles) averaged 250w, 265w normalized. Set a new power PR(barely) for 30 minutes at 263w. If not for a couple lights I would have smashed that. Not bad for a really hot, humid night - and on the tri bike which tends to have a bit lower power output than the roadie.

For Ned - my HR over that 15 miles (41 minutes) averaged 170. For me on the bike that is just inside Z5 the whole way. Hopefully I can get out of bed in the morning.
Glad you lived to tell about it after taking a tri bike out to a rainy group ride. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word lived as 41 mins in Z5 is borderline pushing death. By the way, that would be the perfect effort to crush Snake Mt.

 
Glad you lived to tell about it after taking a tri bike out to a rainy group ride. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word lived as 41 mins in Z5 is borderline pushing death. By the way, that would be the perfect effort to crush Snake Mt.
After the rain I hit the brakes to turn and it was more like "a hint of a suggestion to slow down a tad". :lol:

It wasn't Z5 all the way, but in reality bouncing between solid Z4 and solid Z5 the whole way there. Still it was a tough ride. And I officially had a higher normalized power than the fastest guy (though he can torch me at will).

 
Glad you lived to tell about it after taking a tri bike out to a rainy group ride. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word lived as 41 mins in Z5 is borderline pushing death. By the way, that would be the perfect effort to crush Snake Mt.
After the rain I hit the brakes to turn and it was more like "a hint of a suggestion to slow down a tad". :lol:

It wasn't Z5 all the way, but in reality bouncing between solid Z4 and solid Z5 the whole way there. Still it was a tough ride. And I officially had a higher normalized power than the fastest guy (though he can torch me at will).
I got caught in one of those situations during the sprint to the "county line". Won't do it again. No faith in riding virtually blind in a shoulder to shoulder pack loaded with guys with different agendas. I'm on one extreme being self-employed with a kid riding with kids who ride 20 miles one way to their part time job in the dark in between a occasional community college class while tuning up for their weekend downhill salmon race.

 
Glad you lived to tell about it after taking a tri bike out to a rainy group ride. Maybe I shouldn't have used the word lived as 41 mins in Z5 is borderline pushing death. By the way, that would be the perfect effort to crush Snake Mt.
After the rain I hit the brakes to turn and it was more like "a hint of a suggestion to slow down a tad". :lol:

It wasn't Z5 all the way, but in reality bouncing between solid Z4 and solid Z5 the whole way there. Still it was a tough ride. And I officially had a higher normalized power than the fastest guy (though he can torch me at will).
I got caught in one of those situations during the sprint to the "county line". Won't do it again. No faith in riding virtually blind in a shoulder to shoulder pack loaded with guys with different agendas. I'm on one extreme being self-employed with a kid riding with kids who ride 20 miles one way to their part time job in the dark in between a occasional community college class while tuning up for their weekend downhill salmon race.
Yeah - it wasn't the best. Though it was single file and not a big group, and I ended up taking the glasses off. Other than finding out that I had little in the way of braking and hitting a couple more bumps/holes it wasn't horrible. This is a flat 4 mile road with no turns. And it helps the guys I was with knew what they were doing (in general this is the safest fast ride in town). No jackasses on the ride is always a good thing.

I puckered a lot more on the century a couple weeks ago where we had a steep straight downhill with some nasty sidewinds.

 
Chief, my advice is just try to get faster. Short races. You bring your 5k and 10k times down and guarantee you PR the half in the fall. Just keep your long runs between 8-10 miles and you'll be way ahead of the curve when it's time to start focusing on your half marathon training.
I agree 100%.
I'd agree more if chief was a more experienced runner. IIRC, he's still barely a year into this. He's going to get more bang for the buck working on his endurance vs speed. He definitely will benefit from some speed work, but I don't think it should be his focus.
 
Sand, that's an awesome ride!

Dentist yesterday, measured blood pressure and heart rate, 107/68 and 48bpm. That's after getting X-rays and walking around a bit. 42bpm this morning.

Swam an hour and half after that, need to improve endurance big time.

 
Chief, my advice is just try to get faster. Short races. You bring your 5k and 10k times down and guarantee you PR the half in the fall. Just keep your long runs between 8-10 miles and you'll be way ahead of the curve when it's time to start focusing on your half marathon training.
I agree 100%.
I'd agree more if chief was a more experienced runner. IIRC, he's still barely a year into this. He's going to get more bang for the buck working on his endurance vs speed. He definitely will benefit from some speed work, but I don't think it should be his focus.
Agreed. Build the base first. Lots of maf type runs, add some 5 and 10k races.

 
Steve you're a beast, still hate you but you are a beast.

BnB, in mid-season form in less than a month, meh :coffee: You are a beast of a different ilk.

 
It's still early on, but I'm starting to really hit a stride right now that I didn't foresee coming.... and I think its due to my change in diet. It certainly isn't the training I've been doing since that's been subpar at best and relatively low volume. For the past week I've really noticed a difference in my energy levels; I feel like I'm in mid-marathon cycle shape. I've noticed a gradual decline in my HR with a gradual increase in my pace. This morning's 6 miler was sheer bliss @ 8:44/141. I could've easily carried that pace thru 10mi at that HR today. Just one of those runs where the miles just melt away.

I doubt many are reading the Otis diet thread, but I've been tracking my calories on myfitnesspal and making a concerted effort to eat a cleaner and more balanced diet. It's downright sucked at times, but I feel like things are really starting to turn around. I've lost 3.8lbs in 3 weeks and my shorts are starting to fall off of me. I've always carried some extra flab around my abs/hips that I just couldn't get rid of even running 70mi/week. Deep down I knew diet was the key, but I just wasn't willing to put in the effort to change how I ate.

I've since cut a ton of garbage out of my diet..... cut way back on the breads, tossed the chips (extremely hard for me to do), eating more natural foods, eating more greens (spinach kicks ###), etc. Tracking my calories really opened my eyes to what I was consuming on a daily basis. Instead of thinking "bah I ran 10mi today, I can eat this extra bowl of crap cereal" I'm now thinking "well I'm already at my calorie max today and I'm not really hungry, I just want to eat".

This is going to become increasingly difficult as my mileage continues to ramp up, but these early benefits are super encouraging.

 
It's still early on, but I'm starting to really hit a stride right now that I didn't foresee coming.... and I think its due to my change in diet. It certainly isn't the training I've been doing since that's been subpar at best and relatively low volume. For the past week I've really noticed a difference in my energy levels; I feel like I'm in mid-marathon cycle shape. I've noticed a gradual decline in my HR with a gradual increase in my pace. This morning's 6 miler was sheer bliss @ 8:44/141. I could've easily carried that pace thru 10mi at that HR today. Just one of those runs where the miles just melt away.

I doubt many are reading the Otis diet thread, but I've been tracking my calories on myfitnesspal and making a concerted effort to eat a cleaner and more balanced diet. It's downright sucked at times, but I feel like things are really starting to turn around. I've lost 3.8lbs in 3 weeks and my shorts are starting to fall off of me. I've always carried some extra flab around my abs/hips that I just couldn't get rid of even running 70mi/week. Deep down I knew diet was the key, but I just wasn't willing to put in the effort to change how I ate.

I've since cut a ton of garbage out of my diet..... cut way back on the breads, tossed the chips (extremely hard for me to do), eating more natural foods, eating more greens (spinach kicks ###), etc. Tracking my calories really opened my eyes to what I was consuming on a daily basis. Instead of thinking "bah I ran 10mi today, I can eat this extra bowl of crap cereal" I'm now thinking "well I'm already at my calorie max today and I'm not really hungry, I just want to eat".

This is going to become increasingly difficult as my mileage continues to ramp up, but these early benefits are super encouraging.
I've been following along with that thread, just out of curiosity. Realistically I'm not going to make any dietary changes -- I'd rather run a little slower but eat what I like than change my diet to squeeze out slightly better race performance. This is just a hobby after all, albeit a competitive one. But that's just me. Glad to see that this is working out for you.

 
Chief, my advice is just try to get faster. Short races. You bring your 5k and 10k times down and guarantee you PR the half in the fall. Just keep your long runs between 8-10 miles and you'll be way ahead of the curve when it's time to start focusing on your half marathon training.
I agree 100%.
I'd agree more if chief was a more experienced runner. IIRC, he's still barely a year into this. He's going to get more bang for the buck working on his endurance vs speed. He definitely will benefit from some speed work, but I don't think it should be his focus.
It's a race focus not necessarily a training focus. Looking at non-beginner training plans, the 5K plans are quite similar to the half marathon plans. He'll still be working on his endurance. (Not that Chief needs to strictly follow a training plan for now but they are good to look at to see what a good training week looks like.)

There's also the mental aspect of learning what effort your body can handle. Pushing through that last mile of a short distance race is great for that. It's also great for confidence. And, of course, there are those physical adaptations the body makes when running faster.

Don't get me wrong, though. I agree that he'd benefit by the approach you suggest too. There are different roads to getting better.

 
Steve you're a beast, still hate you but you are a beast.

BnB, in mid-season form in less than a month, meh :coffee: You are a beast of a different ilk.
yeah, we have some impressive dudes around here.

Ned - agreed, nutrition is the often overlooked aspect of fitness. It's harder to do now that I'm back with the family, but eating higher quality meat, more veggies, and less refined sugar and processed food is my diet focus. Don't want to lose weight, but health is important.

Written as I eat a bowl of Bulgar Wheat, blueberries, almonds and honey.

 
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It's still early on, but I'm starting to really hit a stride right now that I didn't foresee coming.... and I think its due to my change in diet. It certainly isn't the training I've been doing since that's been subpar at best and relatively low volume. For the past week I've really noticed a difference in my energy levels; I feel like I'm in mid-marathon cycle shape. I've noticed a gradual decline in my HR with a gradual increase in my pace. This morning's 6 miler was sheer bliss @ 8:44/141. I could've easily carried that pace thru 10mi at that HR today. Just one of those runs where the miles just melt away.

I doubt many are reading the Otis diet thread, but I've been tracking my calories on myfitnesspal and making a concerted effort to eat a cleaner and more balanced diet. It's downright sucked at times, but I feel like things are really starting to turn around. I've lost 3.8lbs in 3 weeks and my shorts are starting to fall off of me. I've always carried some extra flab around my abs/hips that I just couldn't get rid of even running 70mi/week. Deep down I knew diet was the key, but I just wasn't willing to put in the effort to change how I ate.

I've since cut a ton of garbage out of my diet..... cut way back on the breads, tossed the chips (extremely hard for me to do), eating more natural foods, eating more greens (spinach kicks ###), etc. Tracking my calories really opened my eyes to what I was consuming on a daily basis. Instead of thinking "bah I ran 10mi today, I can eat this extra bowl of crap cereal" I'm now thinking "well I'm already at my calorie max today and I'm not really hungry, I just want to eat".

This is going to become increasingly difficult as my mileage continues to ramp up, but these early benefits are super encouraging.
Awesome job...I need to be eating a bit better (chips are my thing too...and with 2 kids we typically have some around...need to just cut myself off of them).

I have changed my breakfast routine to a banana and some steel cut oats with cinnamon.

 
Chief, my advice is just try to get faster. Short races. You bring your 5k and 10k times down and guarantee you PR the half in the fall. Just keep your long runs between 8-10 miles and you'll be way ahead of the curve when it's time to start focusing on your half marathon training.
I agree 100%.
I'd agree more if chief was a more experienced runner. IIRC, he's still barely a year into this. He's going to get more bang for the buck working on his endurance vs speed. He definitely will benefit from some speed work, but I don't think it should be his focus.
It's a race focus not necessarily a training focus. Looking at non-beginner training plans, the 5K plans are quite similar to the half marathon plans. He'll still be working on his endurance. (Not that Chief needs to strictly follow a training plan for now but they are good to look at to see what a good training week looks like.)

There's also the mental aspect of learning what effort your body can handle. Pushing through that last mile of a short distance race is great for that. It's also great for confidence. And, of course, there are those physical adaptations the body makes when running faster.

Don't get me wrong, though. I agree that he'd benefit by the approach you suggest too. There are different roads to getting better.
I think when you are fairly new just about any area of focus will probably be helpful and Chief is probably new enough to qualify. Just find a real plan and execute it. But for me, the long slow miles have been the most beneficial and I think they are important long-term, so that's what I would do.

Steve, great write-up. Congrats on the course record!

 
Just to mention again for those fighting the battle against chips: The Quaker Popped snack chips are very tasty ..the crunchiness of chips, but no oily fingers.

 
Steve you're a beast, still hate you but you are a beast.

BnB, in mid-season form in less than a month, meh :coffee: You are a beast of a different ilk.
yeah, we have some impressive dudes around here.

Ned - agreed, nutrition is the often overlooked aspect of fitness. It's harder to do now that I'm back with the family, but eating higher quality meat, more veggies, and less refined sugar and processed food is my diet focus. Don't want to lose weight, but health is important.

Written as I eat a bowl of Bulgar Wheat, blueberries, almonds and honey.
Blueberries and almonds are at the very top of my list of awesome foods when considering nutrition and taste. :hifive:

One thing that is so apparent when tracking your intake is just how hard it is to get clean protein, but its oh so easy to get a ton of carbohydrates. My go to breakfast has been eggs, turkey sausage or chicken breast, half slice of american/swiss cheese, and hot salsa. That gives you roughly 25-30gr in protein. Add just a simple whole grain english muffin and you get 26gr in carbs. Who here eats just one english muffin?? I do now, but god I always ate at least 2 of them with eggs, or a bagel, etc.

It's going to take me a while to find my body's ideal carb/protein/fat ratio (I'm about 55/25/20 right now), but man was it surprising just how easy it is to really overload the carbs. It's amazing I ever bonked in a race with all the carbs I consumed. :lol:

 
Blueberries and almonds are at the very top of my list of awesome foods when considering nutrition and taste. :hifive:

One thing that is so apparent when tracking your intake is just how hard it is to get clean protein, but its oh so easy to get a ton of carbohydrates. My go to breakfast has been eggs, turkey sausage or chicken breast, half slice of american/swiss cheese, and hot salsa. That gives you roughly 25-30gr in protein. Add just a simple whole grain english muffin and you get 26gr in carbs. Who here eats just one english muffin?? I do now, but god I always ate at least 2 of them with eggs, or a bagel, etc.

It's going to take me a while to find my body's ideal carb/protein/fat ratio (I'm about 55/25/20 right now), but man was it surprising just how easy it is to really overload the carbs. It's amazing I ever bonked in a race with all the carbs I consumed. :lol:
Eating right is not easy, not cheap and difficult to maintain. The whole running thing developed from me starting MFP a few years ago to drop weight. I was religious with tracking my intake and like you Ned, was shocked at the #### I ate. It quickly become a game of how far do I need to run today to eat what I want to eat. That morphed into a more healthy eating cycle and lifestyle. You quickly find that you are a repetitive eater (or you should be to make it work). It's a matter of making that repetition something healthy as opposed to a bag of chips or an extra value meal. I've kinda gotten off the MFP thing in the last two months because I know the caloric intake of about everything I eat so well I don't really need to track it anymore. Down about 40lbs and could always use to lose more but I'm not in a training cycle now so I've been a little more lax eatingwise & workoutwise.
 
Blueberries and almonds are at the very top of my list of awesome foods when considering nutrition and taste. :hifive:

One thing that is so apparent when tracking your intake is just how hard it is to get clean protein, but its oh so easy to get a ton of carbohydrates. My go to breakfast has been eggs, turkey sausage or chicken breast, half slice of american/swiss cheese, and hot salsa. That gives you roughly 25-30gr in protein. Add just a simple whole grain english muffin and you get 26gr in carbs. Who here eats just one english muffin??
Agreed on the almonds ..I buy a bulk size at Costco and use that for my mid-morning snack.

And: Who eats a half-slice of cheese??

<Beetlejuice>I'll save this other half-slice for later</Beetlejuice>

 
Blueberries and almonds are at the very top of my list of awesome foods when considering nutrition and taste. :hifive:

One thing that is so apparent when tracking your intake is just how hard it is to get clean protein, but its oh so easy to get a ton of carbohydrates. My go to breakfast has been eggs, turkey sausage or chicken breast, half slice of american/swiss cheese, and hot salsa. That gives you roughly 25-30gr in protein. Add just a simple whole grain english muffin and you get 26gr in carbs. Who here eats just one english muffin?? I do now, but god I always ate at least 2 of them with eggs, or a bagel, etc.

It's going to take me a while to find my body's ideal carb/protein/fat ratio (I'm about 55/25/20 right now), but man was it surprising just how easy it is to really overload the carbs. It's amazing I ever bonked in a race with all the carbs I consumed. :lol:
Eating right is not easy, not cheap and difficult to maintain. The whole running thing developed from me starting MFP a few years ago to drop weight. I was religious with tracking my intake and like you Ned, was shocked at the #### I ate. It quickly become a game of how far do I need to run today to eat what I want to eat. That morphed into a more healthy eating cycle and lifestyle. You quickly find that you are a repetitive eater (or you should be to make it work). It's a matter of making that repetition something healthy as opposed to a bag of chips or an extra value meal. I've kinda gotten off the MFP thing in the last two months because I know the caloric intake of about everything I eat so well I don't really need to track it anymore. Down about 40lbs and could always use to lose more but I'm not in a training cycle now so I've been a little more lax eatingwise & workoutwise.
My question has almost always been how much do I need to eat to not lose weight.

I only mention that in certain circles.

 
Blueberries and almonds are at the very top of my list of awesome foods when considering nutrition and taste. :hifive:

One thing that is so apparent when tracking your intake is just how hard it is to get clean protein, but its oh so easy to get a ton of carbohydrates. My go to breakfast has been eggs, turkey sausage or chicken breast, half slice of american/swiss cheese, and hot salsa. That gives you roughly 25-30gr in protein. Add just a simple whole grain english muffin and you get 26gr in carbs. Who here eats just one english muffin??
Agreed on the almonds ..I buy a bulk size at Costco and use that for my mid-morning snack.

And: Who eats a half-slice of cheese??

<Beetlejuice>I'll save this other half-slice for later</Beetlejuice>
:lol: Easy now..... I'm still learning. I'm a tad paranoid about all the sodium in everything right now, so I've been trying to cut back on things that are packed with sodium. Cheese is way up that list.

God help me, but my 5yr old inspired me to try carrot juice (he loves it). Yuck. It's got a weird smell, then suddenly tastes just like carrots as you drink it.

 
Steve you're a beast, still hate you but you are a beast.

BnB, in mid-season form in less than a month, meh :coffee: You are a beast of a different ilk.
yeah, we have some impressive dudes around here.

Ned - agreed, nutrition is the often overlooked aspect of fitness. It's harder to do now that I'm back with the family, but eating higher quality meat, more veggies, and less refined sugar and processed food is my diet focus. Don't want to lose weight, but health is important.

Written as I eat a bowl of Bulgar Wheat, blueberries, almonds and honey.
Blueberries and almonds are at the very top of my list of awesome foods when considering nutrition and taste. :hifive:

One thing that is so apparent when tracking your intake is just how hard it is to get clean protein, but its oh so easy to get a ton of carbohydrates. My go to breakfast has been eggs, turkey sausage or chicken breast, half slice of american/swiss cheese, and hot salsa. That gives you roughly 25-30gr in protein. Add just a simple whole grain english muffin and you get 26gr in carbs. Who here eats just one english muffin?? I do now, but god I always ate at least 2 of them with eggs, or a bagel, etc.

It's going to take me a while to find my body's ideal carb/protein/fat ratio (I'm about 55/25/20 right now), but man was it surprising just how easy it is to really overload the carbs. It's amazing I ever bonked in a race with all the carbs I consumed. :lol:
you're likely joking, but that's probably why you bonked.

 
Blueberries and almonds are at the very top of my list of awesome foods when considering nutrition and taste. :hifive: One thing that is so apparent when tracking your intake is just how hard it is to get clean protein, but its oh so easy to get a ton of carbohydrates. My go to breakfast has been eggs, turkey sausage or chicken breast, half slice of american/swiss cheese, and hot salsa. That gives you roughly 25-30gr in protein. Add just a simple whole grain english muffin and you get 26gr in carbs. Who here eats just one english muffin??
Agreed on the almonds ..I buy a bulk size at Costco and use that for my mid-morning snack.

And: Who eats a half-slice of cheese??

<Beetlejuice>I'll save this other half-slice for later</Beetlejuice>
:lol: Easy now..... I'm still learning. I'm a tad paranoid about all the sodium in everything right now, so I've been trying to cut back on things that are packed with sodium. Cheese is way up that list.God help me, but my 5yr old inspired me to try carrot juice (he loves it). Yuck. It's got a weird smell, then suddenly tastes just like carrots as you drink it.
Big fan of Almond Milk these days. Don't ever, I MEAN EVER, just drink it to drink it but if you mix it up in a protein shake or pour it over oatmeal it's a great low calorie sub for milk. At 30 calories per 8oz and 50% more protein than milk it's hard to beat. Tastes like somebody took an oz of skim milk and added 7oz of water to it with a hint of almond if you do it straight but it mixes great with everything.
 
Steve - great 10k. Especially after the double track work the night before. Given your history and '14 accomplishments, I would've pegged you for high teens or 4:20 1500 shape also, but 4:23 is no joke. Doubling back in a half in less than an hour as a teenager was just cruel. can't imagine it at 30+ :X

And thanks for that article. I'm going to have to read it more closely. I still have visions of running more Halfs. I never thought I'd say this but that was probably my favorite race that I've run in awhile. Speaking of, the doc confirmed what I hoped. I am clear! To pick up sensibly with the training. Cool news to hear. He doesn't think (nor do I) that I'm out of the woods altogether but if it's something that only requires a shot every 6+ months or (hopefully much) longer, he doesn't recommend surgery.

Can't wait to get back out tonight - suckex be damned!

Also interesting conversations on diet. I am trying to cut out carbs and gluten myself lately. For health and weight reasons. I think without doing that and not being able to run I would've gained more weight than I did. Carbs are tough, though as others said. I could never eat sweets and candy again and not care. But carbs and salty foods are my weakness.

 
Blueberries and almonds are at the very top of my list of awesome foods when considering nutrition and taste. :hifive: One thing that is so apparent when tracking your intake is just how hard it is to get clean protein, but its oh so easy to get a ton of carbohydrates. My go to breakfast has been eggs, turkey sausage or chicken breast, half slice of american/swiss cheese, and hot salsa. That gives you roughly 25-30gr in protein. Add just a simple whole grain english muffin and you get 26gr in carbs. Who here eats just one english muffin??
Agreed on the almonds ..I buy a bulk size at Costco and use that for my mid-morning snack.

And: Who eats a half-slice of cheese??

<Beetlejuice>I'll save this other half-slice for later</Beetlejuice>
:lol: Easy now..... I'm still learning. I'm a tad paranoid about all the sodium in everything right now, so I've been trying to cut back on things that are packed with sodium. Cheese is way up that list.God help me, but my 5yr old inspired me to try carrot juice (he loves it). Yuck. It's got a weird smell, then suddenly tastes just like carrots as you drink it.
Big fan of Almond Milk these days. Don't ever, I MEAN EVER, just drink it to drink it but if you mix it up in a protein shake or pour it over oatmeal it's a great low calorie sub for milk. At 30 calories per 8oz and 50% more protein than milk it's hard to beat. Tastes like somebody took an oz of skim milk and added 7oz of water to it with a hint of almond if you do it straight but it mixes great with everything.
Almond-coconut milk is much better.

Still won't drink much of it, but for a post-workout drink, it's fairly decent.

 

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