Ran a 10k in June (4 Viewers)

[pigskinliquors]

OUCH! Bike crash this morning. Lots of scrapes and bruises, but I'm actually rather lucky that the bike absorbed most of the blow.

Headed out early (6:30 a.m.) and biked through the city to Chicago's lake front. Caught the long lakefront bike path and headed south. I was a couple miles south of downtown and clipping along pretty well (19-20 mph?). It wasn't very crowded. A young gal in front of me is slowing on her run and I just stay to her left, close to the center line of the path. Normal stuff. All of a sudden, she decides she's going to turn and head back. She starts stepping left and walks right into me. Boom! She goes down, and I do a major flip and roll.

My front left handlebar actually got bent in and the wrapping got scraped loose down to the metal. So it seems the handlebar absorbed much of impact - sparing my body from the worst of it. But I scraped open the left knee a bit as well as my left elbow and hip (both covered) and a bit on my left hand (also covered with the glove). I landed hard enough to then roll and also scrape the outside of my right knee. I have a couple of scratches on my helmet, though I don't remember if I hit my head during the fall and roll. She seemed relatively unscathed (and incredibly apologetic).

I expect to be hurting more tomorrow morning as things tighten up.

I hope both you and your ride are OK. Keep us posted.

 

[Norman Einstein]

ran/jogged/walked my first 5k on my own ever. ended up with a whopping 42.10, but (there's always a "but", right?)...about halfway into it I run past a parked car and as I get by it I hear something scurry out from under it. Thinking it's a rabbit or squirrel, I just glance back to see what it was. I see this little dog running across the street with a trail of blood behind it. It looks like it has something in its mouth and when it gets across the street it turns around and looks at me...nothing in its mouth. This makes me curious as I can't just leave an injured animal if it needs help. I head back and see that it has a collar, but as I get close to it, it takes off again towards an alley...blood flowing from its leg that is obviously broken and flopping Barbaro-style. It hits the alley and rests near a dumpster, when I get close again it heads towards a house and up onto its porch. This must be it's home, but i'm not sure what to do at this point as I don't want to keep chasing it around on a bumb leg, so decide to resume my route. All of this only took a couple of minutes, so my time isn't too accurate, but it a start...

 

[Darrinll40]

I got to listen to Jeff Galloway speak tonight at a local athletic footwear store. It was very interesting to hear his views on running.

He does not believe in speedwork when training. He teaches, and claims to practice, that slow run. In fact he advises a run walk, with at most only running 4 out of every 5 minutes if you want to race at 9 miles per minute.

For long runs he says to run at least 2 m/m slower than you think you would be able to run the course on that day. He also said to slow down another 30 seconds per mile for every 5 degrees over 60 degrees. And if it is a recovery run, to slow down as much as 4 m/m.

Interestingly enough, he does not believe in stretching. I guess he never does it. He claims that he has known more distance runners injured while stretching, than while running.

On nutrition and hydration, he recommends using GU or gel during long runs, but not to extreme. And drinking only half a cup of water for every mile run. He says that if you must take water at every water stop then you should pour it over your head instead of drinking it.

As to strength training he suggests only concentrating on postural muscles. Especially ab crunches.

He does recommend tapering. He said that you can't improve your conditioning during the last two weeks so hard training then can only lead to injury.

Basically he is all about getting people to run marathons without a high risk of injury.

He did mention that his wife lost 10 pounds over 8 weeks by using fitday.com to track her weight. Of course I could not resist and mentioned to him that I had lost over 200 while using fitday. I can honestly say that I have never had an Olympic athlete bow to me before. I needed a good ego stroke then anyway.

I gave to say I was very impressed with his speaking and his program. If it didn't cost 159 dollars I would have signed up for it myself.

 

[meeka]

I got to listen to Jeff Galloway speak tonight at a local athletic footwear store. It was very interesting to hear his views on running. He does not believe in speedwork when training. He teaches, and claims to practice, that slow run. In fact he advises a run walk, with at most only running 4 out of every 5 minutes if you want to race at 9 miles per minute. For long runs he says to run at least 2 m/m slower than you think you would be able to run the course on that day. He also said to slow down another 30 seconds per mile for every 5 degrees over 60 degrees. And if it is a recovery run, to slow down as much as 4 m/m. Interestingly enough, he does not believe in stretching. I guess he never does it. He claims that he has known more distance runners injured while stretching, than while running. On nutrition and hydration, he recommends using GU or gel during long runs, but not to extreme. And drinking only half a cup of water for every mile run. He says that if you must take water at every water stop then you should pour it over your head instead of drinking it. As to strength training he suggests only concentrating on postural muscles. Especially ab crunches. He does recommend tapering. He said that you can't improve your conditioning during the last two weeks so hard training then can only lead to injury.Basically he is all about getting people to run marathons without a high risk of injury. He did mention that his wife lost 10 pounds over 8 weeks by using fitday.com to track her weight. Of course I could not resist and mentioned to him that I had lost over 200 while using fitday. I can honestly say that I have never had an Olympic athlete bow to me before. I needed a good ego stroke then anyway. I gave to say I was very impressed with his speaking and his program. If it didn't cost 159 dollars I would have signed up for it myself.

Thanks for relaying the info to us. I would say that losing 200 lbs. is equivalent to an olympic feat.

 

[RoarinSonoran]

tui: as in :litter:?

It's not littering during a race.

So somebody's supposed to clean up that little scrap of foil that you rip off the top? And what about during training?

Uh, yeah. The water station volunteers are always cleaning up after the runners (at least in the races I've been in). Sometimes they're trying to stay ahead of the curve and sweeping up cups while we're running through, sometimes obstructing runners.I don't gel during training, really. The couple times I have (mainly with TNT on the 20mi runs), I've held on to the piece and then put it and the rest of the package into my used water cup (which I then carry to the next water stop).

 

[Schmegma]

He teaches, and claims to practice, that slow run. In fact he advises a run walk, with at most only running 4 out of every 5 minutes if you want to race at 9 miles per minute.

I'm thinking 540 MPH is an unrealistic goal for me.

 

[RoarinSonoran]

He teaches, and claims to practice, that slow run. In fact he advises a run walk, with at most only running 4 out of every 5 minutes if you want to race at 9 miles per minute.

I'm thinking 540 MPH is an unrealistic goal for me.

Please turn in your FBG card at the front desk.

 

[Darrinll40]

He teaches, and claims to practice, that slow run. In fact he advises a run walk, with at most only running 4 out of every 5 minutes if you want to race at 9 miles per minute.

I'm thinking 540 MPH is an unrealistic goal for me.

OK, I was pretty tired when I typed all of that out. That I made only one mistake should impress everyone posting here.

 

[Darrinll40]

This week in training:

Mon 3.6 @9:27 m/m

Tues off

Wed 5.05 @ 9.15 m/m

Thur 2.25 @ 8:52 m/m

Fri off

Sat 7.77 @ 10:03 m/m

Sun 4.3 @ 11:24 m/m

Total 22.97 @ 9:55 m/m

Overall a good week. Galloway impressed me enough last night that I am going to slow almost all of my runs down. Next week I would like to have my weekly minute/mile average to be about 10:30.

I hope everyone had a great week.

 

[2Young2BBald]

"He does not believe in speedwork when training. He teaches, and claims to practice, that slow run. In fact he advises a run walk, with at most only running 4 out of every 5 minutes if you want to race at 9 miles per minute."

I tried speedwork for the first time this past week as my wife and I committed to running a ½ marathon in October (Detroit Free Press). I have a love/hate feeling about it. The version I did was to sprint a ¼ mile, walk a ¼ mile, etc. I did it at a high school track and did 3 miles this way. I hated the first few reps until I got the hang of it. By the third rep, I was able to get my breath about 100 yards in to the walk part. The love part is two-fold. First, I did the whole run in just over 26 minutes, so I was impressed with what I did in the sprints as I really was walking at a slow, but decent pace. Second was where I felt it and where I can see myself getting stronger.

I can see where I need this. I just started playing in a coed kickball league last Monday night, and I was surprised at how sore my legs were, considering how much running I do.

Since committing to the ½, I am really pleased with the shape I am already in. Backing down my pace from my normal 3 or 4 mile run, I have had runs of 6 ½ and 7 ½ over the past week and a ½ averaging a pace of round 9+ minutes. (I have, and recommend, the Garmin 201, which makes the whole pace and tracking thing so nice).

I get a feeling that stamina will not be an issue, but rather strength and dealing with aches and pains. I have a laundry list of sports injuries and had both my feet operated on in 2001 and they ache a bit. But, I have finished all of my recent running without being winded at all. My plan is to keeping adding a mile to my long run each week and a ½ or so, so I should be at 10 miles by mid July or so. I figure I’ll do the sprint thing every week to 10 days as time permits.

I know this doesn’t jive with any training schedule, but I have to do what time permits and what mood I am in.

 

[culdeus]

Also, Jeff Galloway is going to be speaking at 6:30 tonight at the store where I bought my shoes. So I am thinking about taking that in.

Yes, go! ...and bring back a full report - speed work, long runs, nutrition/hydration, tapering ...just the basic FBG questions. I've got to replace my Asics soon as well.Concerning the bike, the guys at "my shop" said they'd replace the bars. I don't know how you'd bend them back without weakening the structure. Hearing other stories here, I'll say again I'm lucky it wasn't worse. Could I have avoided it? I don't think so. We were rather isolated in an open stretch and we each had enough room to maneuver. Not a situation to anticipate trouble! And I'd lose my voice calling "bike left" for every person I passed. LOL After biking about ten miles through the crime-ridden west side of Chicago, weaving through downtown Chicago, clearing some of the busiest of the lakefront bike/run traffic (including some marathon training groups), who knew I'd take a tumble just passing some young dame?

Anyway - looking to hear how Mrs. Righetti did this morning, and then BnB's report following Monday's ride! Did GStrot jump into a race this weekend, or is that coming up?

Yeah, you aren't gonna be able to bend them back. Bars are pretty much either aluminum or carbon now. Nobody makes steel bars anymore except retro grouch types.

 

[scoobygang]

Ran a 10K this weekend. I haven't been training consistently, but I have tried to get 3 miles on a treadmill a few times a week when I can and I've done a few longer weekend runs outside. Still I probably have only run 3 times in the last two weeks and my wife got me drunk the night before.

So I was happy to do it in 58minutes (probably about 56:30 chip time as my first mile split was 11:20 on the clock). I could have pushed myself harder. I was moving up the field in the second half of the race, and thought I was running faster, but I think the field just slowed down. I ran pretty identical 29 min 5Ks on the clock, which meant I must have run a slower second half despite never really feeling in trouble.

 

[tri-man 47]

Norman Einstein - about the delay due to a dog with a bloody, trailing leg ....man, if I had a nickle for every time I heard that excuse!

Darrin - thanks a lot for all the info! But I tell ya, I just can't get myself to slow down to the kind of paces he recommends. Oh well. But that's so cool hearing his awe over your weight loss, to which I again add:

2bedobedo - if you've got a love/hate over sprints, wait until we sell on the benefits of lunge steps ...

meeka - great job on the 5 miles.

and scoobygang - well done on the race!

I got out for a 7 mile run this morning (post bike crash) and actually ended up at a good pace. I had planned a run anyway, and thought that this would be a good way to train to run in pain. I wasn't as tight as I thought I'd be this morning. My right shoulder is sore (must have been the point of contact on the crash), and just behind my left hip I've got a 2" square that's shades of black and purple like I've never seen before. :X That's the most painful point.

And sorry, guys, the dame I flattened wasn't attractive. That would have been a great shark move, though:



Me on the ground, scraped and bloodied; bike a mess.

She - I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Are you OK? Are you hurt?

Me - :Joeyvoice: How you doin'?

 

[Cowboys#1]

ive been running a ton lately, really havent done a run under 8km in a few weeks as the 1/2 marathon at the end of september is looming larger..

some highlights (and lowlights).. 12km in 59 mins last saturday..

7km in 30:45 on wednesday.. 10km in 46 on thursday and yesterday 13km in 1:07.

My 7k run felt a lot faster than 30 mins as i was pushing myself hard but I guess i wasnt going as quick as i thought.. the 10k the next day was really shocking because it was quite effortless. Of course yesterdays 13km made me tap.. I almost quit about 4km into it as my legs felt like stone and there is a 1km slow incline at about 8km that I was not looking forward too.. I ran, what I thought, was painfully slow but ended up with a pretty good clip for myself.

Right now I'm at the stage where I'm really running fairly hard to see what I can tolerate and if I can do 5 minute/km for an extended time as thats what I hope to acheieve in the marathon.

I know I am not there yet but I still have 12 weeks to go, so we'll see.

 

[El Floppo]

tui: as in :litter:?

It's not littering during a race.

So somebody's supposed to clean up that little scrap of foil that you rip off the top? And what about during training?

Uh, yeah. The water station volunteers are always cleaning up after the runners (at least in the races I've been in). Sometimes they're trying to stay ahead of the curve and sweeping up cups while we're running through, sometimes obstructing runners.I don't gel during training, really. The couple times I have (mainly with TNT on the 20mi runs), I've held on to the piece and then put it and the rest of the package into my used water cup (which I then carry to the next water stop).

Ok, here's my point- the ripped off tops of gels are next to impossible to clean up (unless your race volunteers are incredibly anal) and a pain in the ### to hold on to until the appropriate place to toss. Given that, an advantage to Clif gels was that they are designed so that the top stays attached to the rest of the wrapper even after it's been opened. And you had water stations for your TNT training sessions? wow, nice. No gels on your longer bricks?

 

[El Floppo]

Yeah, you aren't gonna be able to bend them back. Bars are pretty much either aluminum or carbon now. Nobody makes steel bars anymore except retro grouch types.

Thanks C.lol... lots of the those types lurking around Central Park- 60 year old dudes on ancient steel frames with downtube shifting... and to a grumpy old man, they're all faster than me.

 

[El Floppo]

He teaches, and claims to practice, that slow run. In fact he advises a run walk, with at most only running 4 out of every 5 minutes if you want to race at 9 miles per minute.

I'm thinking 540 MPH is an unrealistic goal for me.

Nancy.

 

[El Floppo]

I got to listen to Jeff Galloway speak tonight at a local athletic footwear store. It was very interesting to hear his views on running.

He does not believe in speedwork when training. He teaches, and claims to practice, that slow run. In fact he advises a run walk, with at most only running 4 out of every 5 minutes if you want to race at 9 miles per minute.

For long runs he says to run at least 2 m/m slower than you think you would be able to run the course on that day. He also said to slow down another 30 seconds per mile for every 5 degrees over 60 degrees. And if it is a recovery run, to slow down as much as 4 m/m.

Interestingly enough, he does not believe in stretching. I guess he never does it. He claims that he has known more distance runners injured while stretching, than while running.

On nutrition and hydration, he recommends using GU or gel during long runs, but not to extreme. And drinking only half a cup of water for every mile run. He says that if you must take water at every water stop then you should pour it over your head instead of drinking it.

As to strength training he suggests only concentrating on postural muscles. Especially ab crunches.

He does recommend tapering. He said that you can't improve your conditioning during the last two weeks so hard training then can only lead to injury.

Basically he is all about getting people to run marathons without a high risk of injury.

He did mention that his wife lost 10 pounds over 8 weeks by using fitday.com to track her weight. Of course I could not resist and mentioned to him that I had lost over 200 while using fitday. I can honestly say that I have never had an Olympic athlete bow to me before. I needed a good ego stroke then anyway.

I gave to say I was very impressed with his speaking and his program. If it didn't cost 159 dollars I would have signed up for it myself.

Thanks Darrin! I might have to give this a partial try as I begin training in earnest for NYC.

I'm going to ask the Marathon regualars (those who've run more than one)- Am I right in considering the above a solid method for training to finish a marathon, but not for racing a marathon (whatever racing might mean to you)?

ie: I know I can finish a marathon from my IM- but if I'm going to try and go for a goal-time, I'm thinking I probably need to throw some pace work in there too. Thoughts?

 

[El Floppo]

"He does not believe in speedwork when training. He teaches, and claims to practice, that slow run. In fact he advises a run walk, with at most only running 4 out of every 5 minutes if you want to race at 9 miles per minute."I tried speedwork for the first time this past week as my wife and I committed to running a ½ marathon in October (Detroit Free Press). I have a love/hate feeling about it. The version I did was to sprint a ¼ mile, walk a ¼ mile, etc. I did it at a high school track and did 3 miles this way. I hated the first few reps until I got the hang of it. By the third rep, I was able to get my breath about 100 yards in to the walk part. The love part is two-fold. First, I did the whole run in just over 26 minutes, so I was impressed with what I did in the sprints as I really was walking at a slow, but decent pace. Second was where I felt it and where I can see myself getting stronger.I can see where I need this. I just started playing in a coed kickball league last Monday night, and I was surprised at how sore my legs were, considering how much running I do.Since committing to the ½, I am really pleased with the shape I am already in. Backing down my pace from my normal 3 or 4 mile run, I have had runs of 6 ½ and 7 ½ over the past week and a ½ averaging a pace of round 9+ minutes. (I have, and recommend, the Garmin 201, which makes the whole pace and tracking thing so nice).I get a feeling that stamina will not be an issue, but rather strength and dealing with aches and pains. I have a laundry list of sports injuries and had both my feet operated on in 2001 and they ache a bit. But, I have finished all of my recent running without being winded at all. My plan is to keeping adding a mile to my long run each week and a ½ or so, so I should be at 10 miles by mid July or so. I figure I’ll do the sprint thing every week to 10 days as time permits.I know this doesn’t jive with any training schedule, but I have to do what time permits and what mood I am in.

Sounds like you're ready to do that thing now, let alone in October.But I'm right there with you in terms of sports-injuries and trying to find that balance between consistent training and staying healthy. I haven't found it yet, so I'll be interested in seeing how things work for you.fwiw- I love the Garmin 201, but it has very limited capabilities in NYC (too many buildings or trees blocking the satellites) so I gave it up for my Polar HR and speed pod monitior.

 

[El Floppo]

Training:

Did my 40 minute run. Terribly.

On the 20 out, I stupidly came up on a guy with an Escape from Alactraz T-shirt from the same year I did it. Started asking him questions about the fuel-belt his was running with and got sucked into a tri conversation with him until my turnaround point.

Problem is- we were going a lot faster than I should have been going (back to the problem with training with other people). Add to that that I was already a little spent from my longer than usual ride yesterday and I knew I wasn't going to make it home in 20. But I also didn't want to push the return home and risk reinjury, so I just settled into a comfortable pace and got about a block (long, Avenue block) from home when my time ran out. Walked the rest of the way.

Enduroxed it at home and feel pretty good.

 

[El Floppo]

I got out for a 7 mile run this morning (post bike crash) and actually ended up at a good pace. I had planned a run anyway, and thought that this would be a good way to train to run in pain. I wasn't as tight as I thought I'd be this morning. My right shoulder is sore (must have been the point of contact on the crash), and just behind my left hip I've got a 2" square that's shades of black and purple like I've never seen before. That's the most painful point.

REALLY glad there's nothing structurally wrong with you after that crash- that's great news, t-m! It's crazy the colors your body turns after one fo those things... who knew?

 

[SteveUK]

Thanks Darrin!

I might have to give this a partial try as I begin training in earnest for NYC.

I'm going to ask the Marathon regualars (those who've run more than one)- Am I right in considering the above a solid method for training to finish a marathon, but not for racing a marathon (whatever racing might mean to you)?

ie: I know I can finish a marathon from my IM- but if I'm going to try and go for a goal-time, I'm thinking I probably need to throw some pace work in there too. Thoughts?

I totally agree with you. Galloway's method (obviously) works for novice marathoners as well as those who are content simply to get to the finish line. If you set out with the idea you will walk 20% or more of the marathon, clearly, you are not looking for the best time you can do.As I understand it, Galloway advocates 1 extremely long run and not very much the rest of the week. That may be the way to run injury free. but it's no way to even approach the best time you can do for a marathon.

 

[BassNBrew]

I LOVE carb loading and hydrating.

11 pounds since yesterday after my light ride.

 

[El Floppo]

I LOVE carb loading and hydrating. 11 pounds since yesterday after my light ride.

.... Hey B&B- if I don't "see"you before tomorrow- best of luck on your ride. That race course looks pretty sick- I can't wait to hear all about it. Knock it dead for the FFA!

 

[SFBayDuck]

Tough weekend for me. I played hoops Wednesday and was going to take Thursday and Friday off, do a 4.5 mile run on Saturday (my longest by .5 mile to date), and then play basketball this morning.

Well Friday was boring as hell at work, the boss left at noon, and at 2:00 I decided to go for the 5k Embarcadero run I do when I'm at work. That went fine, ran my normal pace for that run, which is right under 10:00 miles.

So Saturday I head out to do my 4.5 mile run. Felt a little tired, but figured I didn't have too much trouble w/ 4 m last week so I should be good. About 3 miles into it, I toed a tree root coming up through a sidewalk and bit it. Managed to roll with the fall and popped up without injury, but it just threw me off. I walked for a bit after that, and then ended up walking/running the rest of the way, just didn't have the juice, although I made sure to run the final 1/2 mile. Finished in 48:00, so even with walking mixed in it wasn't too far off my normal 10:00 pace, but it was the the first time I've had to walk in a while, so a bit frustrating.

Went to play hoops this morning, and rolled my ankle first game. Kept playing for another hour and a half 'cause it felt alright, but 30 min after I stopped, it started throbbing. I've been icing it, and I pretty much have titanium ankles so I think it'll be alright, but just not what I was looking for obviously!

I think I just overdid it last week, coming off getting all excited reading this entire thread the week before. Went from doing something (run or hoops) 2-3 times a week with no more than 6 miles run in a week to 6 workouts (including 4 runs for 18 miles) in the last 9 days.

 

[RoarinSonoran]

And you had water stations for your TNT training sessions? wow, nice. No gels on your longer bricks?

Oh yeah, TNT's really good about providing water/Gatorade. Then you throw in the "1st Marathon" group, "Team Diabetes", etc, there's almost as much water/Gatorade on the course as during a race. lol (the Phoenix area is criss-crossed by a network of canals operated by Salt River Project, bringing water and electricity to a parched desert oasis; they keep the canal banks well-maintained for recreational use such as running and biking)Yes, I gel during the longer runs. I suppose I'm just not anal about it, so I actually forgot that I was gelling in recent weeks. lol In those recent runs, most were loops that came back to my house, so I was able to tui: in my own driveway. (yes, I picked up the piece myself and disposed of it properly )

(I have, and recommend, the Garmin 201, which makes the whole pace and tracking thing so nice).

fwiw- I love the Garmin 201, but it has very limited capabilities in NYC (too many buildings or trees blocking the satellites) so I gave it up for my Polar HR and speed pod monitior.

I'm beginning to wonder about my 201. Nashville Marathon was off by a 1/4mile, and San Diego was off by 0.4 by mile 8 (0.6 overall). It keeps good time, but it's becoming a bit useless if the distances are continually off. Guess I'll have to see if there's a software upgrade to download. (ETA: software was up-to-date :( )

 

[El Floppo]

I'm beginning to wonder about my 201. Nashville Marathon was off by a 1/4mile, and San Diego was off by 0.4 by mile 8 (0.6 overall). It keeps good time, but it's becoming a bit useless if the distances are continually off. Guess I'll have to see if there's a software upgrade to download.

Maybe you're a magnetic anomoly, like the Mystery Spot.

 

[El Floppo]

Oh yeah, TNT's really good about providing water/Gatorade. Then you throw in the "1st Marathon" group, "Team Diabetes", etc, there's almost as much water/Gatorade on the course as during a race. lol (the Phoenix area is criss-crossed by a network of canals operated by Salt River Project, bringing water and electricity to a parched desert oasis; they keep the canal banks well-maintained for recreational use such as running and biking)

Wow- I guess it's a necessity in Phoenix. I've seen the NYC TnT marathoners out on their long runs, and they're SOL, in terms of water.dThose Phoenix canals look like nice areas for training- we were out there the week after the inaugural IM Phoenix and I did some nice training runs and stationary bike/bricks by Saddleback(?)... Camelback(?). Something back. Really nice. And the roads all seemed like they were in good quality- not the potholed nightmare in NYC.

 

[RustyFA]

Great job guys!! Especially meeka. Way to hit the 5 mile point. So I am still doing the 3 milers 4 times a week. BUT, in just one short week my training starts. I have been running since December but am about to prepare for my October 7th Chicacgo marathon. Wish me luck. Also please post a link to the gels everyone here relies apon. And explain the running diet. IE carbs and hydrating etc. Thank you and good luck.

 

[BassNBrew]

I LOVE carb loading and hydrating. 11 pounds since yesterday after my light ride.

.... Hey B&B- if I don't "see"you before tomorrow- best of luck on your ride. That race course looks pretty sick- I can't wait to hear all about it. Knock it dead for the FFA!

Thanks man. Thanks everyone for all the tips.OK, I'm done hydrating and card loading. Weighed in at 198 yesterday after my ride. Just checked in at 213. Hope I can get into my biking attire. :( I suspect 5 of that will be dropped by the morning and hopefully another 5 before the real ascent begins at mile 80.

 

[Darrinll40]

I LOVE carb loading and hydrating. 11 pounds since yesterday after my light ride.

.... Hey B&B- if I don't "see"you before tomorrow- best of luck on your ride. That race course looks pretty sick- I can't wait to hear all about it. Knock it dead for the FFA!

Thanks man. Thanks everyone for all the tips.OK, I'm done hydrating and card loading. Weighed in at 198 yesterday after my ride. Just checked in at 213. Hope I can get into my biking attire. I suspect 5 of that will be dropped by the morning and hopefully another 5 before the real ascent begins at mile 80.

Good luck. And have a great time.

 

[mr. furley]

IN

 

[DolphinsPhan]

IN

Furley >>>> Welcome aboard. Lots of motivation in this thread. You will get hooked!

 

[mr. furley]

here's to it

 

[DolphinsPhan]

Ran 8 miles yesterday at 9m/m on the treadmill. My longest run ever atsselfonback: It was pretty easy except for the stupid treadmill automatically shutting off after 60 minutes and then having to start it up again Well on my way to my 1/2 marathon in October.

Legs are a little sore today, but it is a rest day so who cares!

 

[Dash]

I'm not going to respond to every update individually, but want to say how great it is everyone is working hard and smart.

Tri-Man, glad to hear you only have soreness from the crash. Way to use the pain from soreness as a way to strengthen yourself.

My second day on the bike was, as expected, more difficult than the first. I was able to do 17 miles and, other than heavy legs on the hills, felt good. Resting today so I don't over do it.

 

[tri-man 47]

Ran 8 miles yesterday at 9m/m on the treadmill. My longest run ever atsselfonback: It was pretty easy except for the stupid treadmill automatically shutting off after 60 minutes and then having to start it up again Well on my way to my 1/2 marathon in October.Legs are a little sore today, but it is a rest day so who cares!

Will you be getting off the treadmill and out on the roads/paths soon? I worry about longer distances on the treadmill ...it strikes me that you'll find a better stride when you're running 'normal.' I'm guessing the 1/2 marathon isn't on a treadmill!

 

[GStrot]

here's to it

nice.

 

[DolphinsPhan]

Ran 8 miles yesterday at 9m/m on the treadmill. My longest run ever atsselfonback: It was pretty easy except for the stupid treadmill automatically shutting off after 60 minutes and then having to start it up again Well on my way to my 1/2 marathon in October.Legs are a little sore today, but it is a rest day so who cares!

Will you be getting off the treadmill and out on the roads/paths soon? I worry about longer distances on the treadmill ...it strikes me that you'll find a better stride when you're running 'normal.' I'm guessing the 1/2 marathon isn't on a treadmill!

I run outside about twice a week. I do my long runs and speed work on the treadmill right now just b/c of pacing. If I run outside I know I will go too fast from the start. I also need to find a good distance route around my house. I have been using mapmyrun, but still need to find a good route. I also think right now it is more mental with my comfort zone on the treadmill. I don't have to worry about pace, just need to keep my legs moving.

 

[GStrot]

I just finished my second 7.77 mile run. I took 2 minutes 48 seconds off of my last time, for a total of 78:03. I ran the first half pretty easy and at the halfway point I started increasing my pace. At the end I felt like I was flying. I have to admit that right now I feel great. Looking forward to my 4.3 mile recovery run tomorrow morning.

Good luck to any racers, and everyone have a great weekend.

Nice job Darrin! Isn't it amazing how the miles start adding up? Can you believe your 4.3m run is your recovery run?!

I agree nice job!

 

[GStrot]

OUCH! Bike crash this morning. Lots of scrapes and bruises, but I'm actually rather lucky that the bike absorbed most of the blow.

Headed out early (6:30 a.m.) and biked through the city to Chicago's lake front. Caught the long lakefront bike path and headed south. I was a couple miles south of downtown and clipping along pretty well (19-20 mph?). It wasn't very crowded. A young gal in front of me is slowing on her run and I just stay to her left, close to the center line of the path. Normal stuff. All of a sudden, she decides she's going to turn and head back. She starts stepping left and walks right into me. Boom! She goes down, and I do a major flip and roll.

My front left handlebar actually got bent in and the wrapping got scraped loose down to the metal. So it seems the handlebar absorbed much of impact - sparing my body from the worst of it. But I scraped open the left knee a bit as well as my left elbow and hip (both covered) and a bit on my left hand (also covered with the glove). I landed hard enough to then roll and also scrape the outside of my right knee. I have a couple of scratches on my helmet, though I don't remember if I hit my head during the fall and roll. She seemed relatively unscathed (and incredibly apologetic).

I expect to be hurting more tomorrow morning as things tighten up.

I have heard nothing but bad things about the lake front. Although I have heard it has gotten better as roller blading has become less popular.

 

[GStrot]

Also, Jeff Galloway is going to be speaking at 6:30 tonight at the store where I bought my shoes. So I am thinking about taking that in.

Yes, go! ...and bring back a full report - speed work, long runs, nutrition/hydration, tapering ...just the basic FBG questions. I've got to replace my Asics soon as well.Concerning the bike, the guys at "my shop" said they'd replace the bars. I don't know how you'd bend them back without weakening the structure. Hearing other stories here, I'll say again I'm lucky it wasn't worse. Could I have avoided it? I don't think so. We were rather isolated in an open stretch and we each had enough room to maneuver. Not a situation to anticipate trouble! And I'd lose my voice calling "bike left" for every person I passed. LOL After biking about ten miles through the crime-ridden west side of Chicago, weaving through downtown Chicago, clearing some of the busiest of the lakefront bike/run traffic (including some marathon training groups), who knew I'd take a tumble just passing some young dame?

Anyway - looking to hear how Mrs. Righetti did this morning, and then BnB's report following Monday's ride! Did GStrot jump into a race this weekend, or is that coming up?

I ran my own 10k. 58:23. I did a 3.1 loop twice just so I would have one frame of reference for pacing. I finished the first 3.1 in 27:08 which was way too fast so I slowed down and, as expected, started to feel it in the last mile or so. 31:15 in the second half (for the math impaired). I am looking at a 10k at the end of July as I want to take a week off this week and the only 10ks before July are this weekend. So, instead of running w 10ks in a row, I will take a week off and start up again for the July 10k and possibly a fall half marathon just have to decide which one. I am posting that so you all hold me to it.

 

[GStrot]

OK this is the first time in about a month I have some good news to post. (some of you may remember me)

For the first time in my life today I ran for 5 miles.

Man was that awesome. I decided on the way to the gym that today I was going to run 5 miles. My previous high has been 4 miles, and I was getting sort of intimidated by the 5 mile barrier. I did not really know if I could do 5 miles, but today I was going to try. My body really cooperated with me. I did not really have any weird aches or pains, so I think all the other cardio (arc, basketball) have been paying some dividends. When I got to 4 miles I could really tell that I was starting to tire a little, but nothing too bad. I hit 2 really good and fairly long songs on my ipod at that point and when the second song was over I was less than a tenth of a mile from the 5 mile distance. I ran the 5 miles in 46:34. Not bad for a first time at 5 miles. I ran at 6.5 mph for most of the time. I finished with walking so that I was on the treadmill for an hour.

I did some stretching after I ran and 2 hours later I feel great. This may be the kick in the pants I needed. I figure if I am going to follow through with my goal of running a 10K this year I better start running more than 4 miles. Time to look for an event.

Nice job. 10ks are easy if you can do 5 miles. Let us know when you are running it.

 

[Dash]

I ran my own 10k. 58:23.

Nice!

 

[DolphinsPhan]

I ran my own 10k. 58:23.

Nice!

You will go even faster with a crowd and people cheering you on!!

 

[GStrot]

ran/jogged/walked my first 5k on my own ever. ended up with a whopping 42.10, but (there's always a "but", right?)...about halfway into it I run past a parked car and as I get by it I hear something scurry out from under it. Thinking it's a rabbit or squirrel, I just glance back to see what it was. I see this little dog running across the street with a trail of blood behind it. It looks like it has something in its mouth and when it gets across the street it turns around and looks at me...nothing in its mouth. This makes me curious as I can't just leave an injured animal if it needs help. I head back and see that it has a collar, but as I get close to it, it takes off again towards an alley...blood flowing from its leg that is obviously broken and flopping Barbaro-style. It hits the alley and rests near a dumpster, when I get close again it heads towards a house and up onto its porch. This must be it's home, but i'm not sure what to do at this point as I don't want to keep chasing it around on a bumb leg, so decide to resume my route. All of this only took a couple of minutes, so my time isn't too accurate, but it a start...

Now you know you can do 5k.

 

[Darrinll40]

I ran my own 10k. 58:23.

Nice!

That's about the time I would love to have on July 1. Good job.

 

[GStrot]

Ran a 10K this weekend. I haven't been training consistently, but I have tried to get 3 miles on a treadmill a few times a week when I can and I've done a few longer weekend runs outside. Still I probably have only run 3 times in the last two weeks and my wife got me drunk the night before.So I was happy to do it in 58minutes (probably about 56:30 chip time as my first mile split was 11:20 on the clock). I could have pushed myself harder. I was moving up the field in the second half of the race, and thought I was running faster, but I think the field just slowed down. I ran pretty identical 29 min 5Ks on the clock, which meant I must have run a slower second half despite never really feeling in trouble.

nice time. [motivation]Imagine what you can do if you trained consistently.[/motivation]

 

[GStrot]

Trainingid my 40 minute run. Terribly.On the 20 out, I stupidly came up on a guy with an Escape from Alactraz T-shirt from the same year I did it. Started asking him questions about the fuel-belt his was running with and got sucked into a tri conversation with him until my turnaround point. Problem is- we were going a lot faster than I should have been going (back to the problem with training with other people). Add to that that I was already a little spent from my longer than usual ride yesterday and I knew I wasn't going to make it home in 20. But I also didn't want to push the return home and risk reinjury, so I just settled into a comfortable pace and got about a block (long, Avenue block) from home when my time ran out. Walked the rest of the way.Enduroxed it at home and feel pretty good.

Seems like the right decision to me to shut it down and live to fight another day.

 

[GStrot]

I ran my own 10k. 58:23.

Nice!

You will go even faster with a crowd and people cheering you on!!

Thanks, guys. I was pretty satisfied with it. It will be interesting to see what happens when I do an "official" one.