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Ran a 10k - Official Thread (12 Viewers)

So excited for you. It makes me damn near tear up knowing you are finally running your dream.
It actually makes me hot, and not in what would be a weird and perverse way.  With temps above 100, I'm literally sweating thinking about that kind of heat.  Stay cool Duck!

 
well i missed the early bird price on that half. thought the deadline was tomorrow.  it was this morning.

price went from 50 to 100!

eta: i'm stupid. it's still $50 until tomorrow :bag:   and i'm registered now :bag:  

 
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Apologies for not posting in a really really really long time. (although I have been popping my head in once in awhile to see what's going on). Now that I sort of have a few minutes, thought I would share some highlights from the best 19 day stretch of racing that I have had in at least a couple of years, possibly ever. (Warning, pretty long post)

Background: After the 2017 Chicago marathon where I overcame a bad patch from mile 14-24 to run a solid 50 second PR to finish in 2:21:02 (including averaging 5:08 over the last 2.2K to avoid getting chicked), I went through a pretty weird 6 month stretch with my running. I took my training to another level, but unfortunate timing with injuries (not that there's ever a good time to get injured) netted me two solid DNFs in Houston and Rotterdam. I took 2 weeks to slowly ease back into running after Rotterdam, and started a half-hearted 8-week training cycle for the Garry Bjorklund half marathon with the hopes I'll at least have some sort of race result to show for my work the past few months.

Part 1 of 3 - 5/29 - The 2017 Bolder Boulder Citizen's (Open) Race:

The Bolder Boulder is usually the largest or second largest 10K road race in the U.S every year. (the other race is Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on 7/4). The funny thing about this race is that despite the fact that there is no prize money in the open race and the course actually has net elevation gain of about 90 feet from start to finish, about 80-90% of the top Colorado runners (at least the ones that don't get into the professional race) show up every Memorial Day ready to tear each other apart. I ran this race in 2014 and 2015 as a tuneup race for the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon off of a moderate taper. (usually running about 70-80% of my max weekly mileage for the training cycle) For this year's race, I did the same, and it was a cool 48-50 degrees at the start and no wind at all (why can't I get these kind of conditions racing at sea level?), so I definitely felt fairly ready to roll.

The first 3 miles of the race featured elevation gains of anywhere from 15-40 feet, with the 3rd mile being the most notorious stretch of the course. The first 2 miles was fairly uneventful with me just trying to run a hard steady effort, with the exception of this Kenyan sprinting by me right at the mile mark (more on this later). I moved up from about 23rd-25th at the mile to about 15th at 2 miles. I got a little antsy as the course started to climb at 3 miles and pulled away from a pack of about 4-5 runners that was with me, and felt surprisingly strong as I came through the 5K in about 15:55-15:56. (first 3 miles, 5:06, 5:06, 5:11). The fourth mile was uneventful and I found myself in no man's land with a pack of 4-5 guys about 50 meters ahead of me, and I was a little annoyed at myself for not taking a chance and going out with them. The 5th mile is almost always the fastest part of the course due to a ~50 feet elevation loss, but I unfortunately found myself unable to run much faster than 5:00 pace on this mile due to a combination of lack of speed work and not being fully tapered. However, I had no trouble grinding through the last mile as the course started to climb again and managed to run about a 5:05-5:06 last mile to run down almost everyone in the pack ahead of me except one person. Unfortunately, the last person I passed owned a PR of 13:56 for 5000m, and even though he was obviously having a bad day he still managed to come back and put 5 seconds on me in the last 200 meters. My goal of finishing top 10 in this race would have to wait at least one more year. 11th place - 31:50 (last 3 miles 5:08, 5:01, 5:04, Strava data - https://www.strava.com/activities/1011331108/laps ) I did manage to finally officially run under my age in minutes (34 years old, sub-32) even though I technically did this 2 years ago en route in a half marathon. I also ran 20s faster in this year's race than I did in 2015, and about 3.5 weeks after this race in 2015 I went on to run my half marathon PR in Duluth, so I was definitely cautiously optimistic even though I was still a good 5-7 lbs over my racing weight, and slightly concerned about how that was going to translate to the half marathon. :)

Part 2 of 3 - 6/10 - The Portland Track Festival 10,000 (Track 10,000 Debut)

If I had to list my top 3-5 most impulsive races when it comes to running, the 2017 Portland Track festival would definitely be near if not at the top of the list. In the 24 hours after the Bolder Boulder, I had a couple of interesting discussions with close friends on what my 31:50 might be worth at sea level in a fast race. The rough estimate was 30:20-30:30 (about 60-65 seconds for the altitude adjustment based on some NCAA track conversion charts I saw, and a rough estimate of 15-25 seconds for the elevation change). I knew about this race for a long time, and running a 10,000 on the track has actually been a bucketlist item of my for awhile now, but the race would also be a little less than 1 week before my goal half marathon. I could probably write about 3 paragraphs explaining my thought process for/against running this race, but I basically had a sudden change of heart the day after the Bolder Boulder and emailed the race director to see if I could get into the race. That evening, I got a reply and within an hour I had booked my flight, hotel, and rental car.

This was definitely one of the cooler race experiences I have had. Before the race, I went for a ~3 mile warmup jog with one of the guys I was rooming with and two guys who run for Zap Fitness and was trying to hit the USATF championship standard of 28:30 (I knew one of the guys from a race a couple of years ago where we roomed together). When we got back to the track to sign in for our race the women's race was halfway through and Shalane Flanagan had begun taking it to the field. Since there were only about 40 of us racing, we basically had the entire warmup area to ourselves and I hit the bathroom about 5 times in the last 15 minutes. (I really have to figure out this hydrating for a night time race thing for the future).

Then after the women's race ended shortly after 9 PM, they brought us out onto the track and the announcer started introducing everyone on the entry list. Starting with Galen Rupp and down to the last 2-3 of us that haven't run under 30 minutes, or run a 10,000 before at all. My original plan was to go right in the back and just tuck in, figuring even the slowest person in the field would be trying to break 30 minutes. That plan right out the window halfway down the backstretch of the first lap when I passed some dude running for Strava TC (he ended up running 31:00). Then, I basically ended up swapping the lead with some other guy through about 4 miles. I originally joked before the race with a couple of friends that if I was on pace at halfway, I would probably throw in a surge just to say I have run under 15 minutes for the 5K. Unfortunately, I was already falling off pace before we were even 10 laps in and I ended up coming through 5000 meters in about 15:03.xx. The last half of that race was a blur, I was basically trying to hang on as well as I could while trying to break the other guy running with me. A little after 4 miles the leaders came by and lapped me and then I was all by myself again. I wasn't thinking clearly for the last couple of miles though and thought that if I don't stop the bleeding I might get lapped again, not realizing that if it took almost 17 laps for me to get lapped once, it probably wasn't going to happen within the next 8 laps. Rough 1600m splits - 4:47, 4:49, 4:52, 4:53, 4:53, 4:52. (then 71.9 for my last 400 "kick") - 30:18. 5K splits were ~ 15:03.8 and 15:14.7. One thing that was sort of fun was that I realized after the race that those were probably the two fastest 5000s I have ever run - I ran 15:07 at a downhill 5K at altitude 2 years ago, but my GPS had that race at 3.07 or 3.08 or something and based on the size of that race I am not even sure if it was a full 5K, as for prior track times that race definitely blew my 15:52 from college out of the water.

Part 3 of 3 - 6/17 - The 2017 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon

I have run this race for the last 4 years, and I wasn't planning on the streak ending anytime soon. I was slightly disappointed to see the race day forecast - 60-61 at the start and 64 at the finish with about 85% humidity, but it was significantly better than last year. I had also finally managed to feel recovered from my 10,000 last weekend by about Thursday/Friday (I originally thought I might be able to do a 2-3 mile tempo midweek, but that plan went out the window when I still felt like a 10 pound bag of crap on Tuesday). Somehow, I lined up and was optimistic (dumb?) enough to think I had a shot at a PR.

The gun fired and two packs immediately formed - there was a lead pack of about 8 Africans and 2-3 Americans, and then the rest of the Americans were in the 2nd pack of about 10 or so running about 3-5s/mi slower, and I tucked myself in right behind the second pack. For the first 10-15 minutes of the race it was still on the cooler side and perhaps running ~5:00/mi pace felt significantly easier after running close to 4:50s last weekend, but I felt pretty comfortable through 5k (4:58, 5:04, 4:57) and even started entertaining thoughts of squeaking out a small PR since I came through 3 miles in around the same time 2 years ago while feeling just a tad more comfortable this year. Then, shortly after mile 4 (5:05) our pack splintered and through a combination of me not responding in time and also knowing a couple of the other guys who had fallen back, I ended up running with the 2-3 guys that fell off the pack and just hoped that it was because the guys in the front picked up the pace and not because we slowed down. About halfway through the 5th mile I realized it was unfortunately the later (the guys that got dropped slowed down) and I put in a surge to try to get back with the pack, but after running the next 2 miles in 5:08 and 5:00 (the 6th mile has a slight elevation loss, so it should have been faster) and watching the pack in front of me pull away I realized I was probably going to have to run the last half of this race on my own.  I basically grinded through the next 5 miles (5:10, 5:12, 5:07, 5:12, 5:09) with the hope of at least breaking 67 minutes and putting up a respectable time. Then, when we got into the city of Duluth with 2 miles to go I somehow magically found another gear. I threw in a 5:03 and passed about 2-3 guys. I didn't know what place I was in at this point (top 10 got paid $$$) but I could see too many white dudes at this point and not enough Africans on the side of the road the last few miles, so I knew I probably wasn't in the money. I could, however, see about 3-4 more guys about 50m in front of me with a mile to go and I managed to run every single one of them down except one of the Africans that blew past me with 400 meters to go. (After I crossed the line I saw he had bib number 2, so I felt a little bit better about that). The results initially had me at 13th, but after a couple of hours they put someone back in the results that they had missed and I was 14th, which was still by far the highest I have finished at this race. (Rough mile splits - 4:58, 5:04, 4:57, 5:05, 5:08, 5:00, 5:10, 5:12, 5:07, 5:12, 5:09, 5:03, 4:51, 40 - 66:38). I think the 13th mile was short though and it was closer to a 4:56-4:57.

I looked at the times later and realized that even the guys in front of me that ran well were still about 45-90s off of their PRs, and there were some guys right behind me that had run 63:xx-64:xx that didn't run well. So I feel like it was arguably the best/fastest race I have run even though on paper I ran 31 seconds slower than my PR, definitely a bittersweet feeling but I'll find a few more races in the next 6-7 months and hopefully get the time once/if the weather cooperates. Also, still gotta get rid of these extra 5-6 lbs or so and get back down to race weight. (Well, it's more like 8-10 now after my customary post race binge)

TL:DR - Ran 3 races within 19 days and put up 3 of my top 5 performances on the VDOT scale..

5/29 - Bolder Boulder 10K - 31:50 / 11th place - (conservative altitude conversion of 30:30 at sea level) - Vdot 71.4

6/10 - Portland Track Festival 10,000m - 30:18 / 33rd place - Vdot 71.9

6/17 - Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon - 66:38 / 14th place - Vdot 72.1
 

 
I hit a bit of a lull post mile, but given all that was happening in real life I kinda figured that'd happen.  Bounced back well the last two days, first time I've really felt strong in about 3 weeks. 

I had my first good lift in a while Monday, so I had some DOMS going on yesterday but sore muscles aside my energy levels were the highest they've been in some time.  So I did a DOMS version of the tempo.  Effort was tempo'ish throughout, but my pace looks more like a progression run because the muscle soreness was slowly working itself out.

Then I woke up today and did not feel like I did a tempo yesterday.  So I took my hybrid run up a notch over lunch today.  There are a lot of little hills around where I work, so I'd jog to the top of one, do 25 push up's, stride down the hill, do 50 lunges, then sprint back up the nearest incline.  I mixed up which inclines and declines, so my body wouldn't adapt to the same one over time.  I probably should have stopped at 7, but #8 wasn't much of a decline/incline anyway.  I also like round numbers.  It wasn't a good one, but it was a done one!

Going to take my time on a recovery run in a short while though.  Hoping for a steady finish to the month, so I can more confidently ramp up the mileage in July.

 
Just finished running 5.2 in the middle of Tropical Storm Cindy.  Had a blast.   :headbang:
Monday night, was coaching soccer, saw a bolt of lightning.. that ends the game instantly.

we had about 1 minute to get in cars before the heavens opened up with sheets of rain.

about halfway home i saw some dude in running gear :thumbup: powering through an absolute whiteout downpour.  felt a twinge of envy in that moment... if only there weren't lightning in the air.

 
Brutal.

The death of local attorney Benjamin R. Green following a 5K run Tuesday evening prompted an outpouring of grief and shocked reaction online and from others in the legal profession. 

"He was in great shape, living a clean lifestyle and being family focused," attorney Bobby Cloud, friends with Greene for seven years, said Wednesday.

"It's just stunning," he said. 

Greene, 48, died after participating in a 5K run at Hart Park around 7 p.m. in which temperatures were still a torrid 107 degrees.

According to the Kern County Sheriff's Office, Greene began experiencing medical complications during the run and went to a first aid station. He was receiving treatment when he collapsed.

An off-duty firefighter performed CPR on Greene until an ambulance arrived and rushed him to Kern Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 8:32 p.m.

Before the 5K, Greene wrote on Facebook regarding his unease about the run, sponsored by the Bakersfield Track Club. 

"OK, well, I am nervous but here goes: a 5k run in 110 degree heat," Greene wrote. "I have no idea how difficult this is going to be. I have never run long distance in heat like this.

"Maybe it won't be as hard as I think. Or maybe it will be absolutely brutal."

Greene's wife, Michelle Greene, posted on Facebook confirmation of her husband's death and asked for privacy.

 
(Rough mile splits - 4:58, 5:04, 4:57, 5:05, 5:08, 5:00, 5:10, 5:12, 5:07, 5:12, 5:09, 5:03, 4:51, 40 - 66:38). I think the 13th mile was short though and it was closer to a 4:56-4:57.
:eek: :jawdrop:

Add a 1 in front of each of those, and I'd be very happy doing that for many, many....many miles this weekend.

 
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well, that's horrifying

you know the guy?
No but my brother and his wife belong to that track club.  It's been 110F over the last few days. Brother said a few days before the race there was no way he was running it.  His wife, who is gung-ho said she was doing it.  My brother told her to feel free. Then the day before he asked her not too for her own safety.  She didn't run it.

 
No but my brother and his wife belong to that track club.  It's been 110F over the last few days. Brother said a few days before the race there was no way he was running it.  His wife, who is gung-ho said she was doing it.  My brother told her to feel free. Then the day before he asked her not too for her own safety.  She didn't run it.
last Friday i ran in about.... mid 80s, 60 something dew point. 

plan was to clock 6-7.  around mile 4 i started getting delirious, stopped sweating and had to walk 2+ miles home. running in 100+ is absolutely out of the question. no ####### way. not even a 5k. 

RIP to that dude

 
last Friday i ran in about.... mid 80s, 60 something dew point. 

plan was to clock 6-7.  around mile 4 i started getting delirious, stopped sweating and had to walk 2+ miles home. running in 100+ is absolutely out of the question. no ####### way. not even a 5k. 

RIP to that dude
No humidity here.  Just "standing next to an open oven" heat.  And the air quality is for ####.  

 
No humidity here.  Just "standing next to an open oven" heat.  And the air quality is for ####.  
It's a shame he decided to push through the run.  Just too dangerous.

--

Speaking of heat ...I'm packed and ready to fly to California in the a.m. to meet Duck in Squaw on Friday and then help to support him through his inaugural Western States 100 mile race starting Saturday morning!  What an experience this will be!   :headbang:    :tebow:

 
Speaking of heat ...I'm packed and ready to fly to California in the a.m. to meet Duck in Squaw on Friday and then help to support him through his inaugural Western States 100 mile race starting Saturday morning!  What an experience this will be!   :headbang:    :tebow:
Yup, 100 degrees in Auburn means The Canyons will be 110-115 on race day.  I hope they have all the ice at the aid stations.  

You guys pretty much know all of this as you've followed along with my journey here, but I updated my blog for the first time in awhile:  I Am Ready

2 days, 9 hours.  #seeyouinsquaw

 
Yup, 100 degrees in Auburn means The Canyons will be 110-115 on race day.  I hope they have all the ice at the aid stations.  

You guys pretty much know all of this as you've followed along with my journey here, but I updated my blog for the first time in awhile:  I Am Ready

2 days, 9 hours.  #seeyouinsquaw
So awesome Duck. That video was great. My wife is wondering what the hell I am smiling at.  :lol:

 
Damn. 110 even in dry heat is horrible, partly because you don't really know how much hydration you lose.  To the point where while deployed with the 82nd airborne (the most "hardcore" division in the army, meaning they do some stupid #### in the name of proving their manliness) we didn't even do the apft because of the heat and risk.  (We planned ahead so we wouldn't have to).  And I didn't run outside most of the time there. 

Go duck!  We're all pulling for you!  (Autocorrect made that puking at first, which kinda also works)

 
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Right leg was bothering me a bit yesterday and cindy is a ##### (not bad wind but lots of rain and t storm) so today is yoga and core strength day.  

 
Yup, 100 degrees in Auburn means The Canyons will be 110-115 on race day.  I hope they have all the ice at the aid stations.  

You guys pretty much know all of this as you've followed along with my journey here, but I updated my blog for the first time in awhile:  I Am Ready

2 days, 9 hours.  #seeyouinsquaw
Just literally got the chills.  So awesome.

 
Yup, 100 degrees in Auburn means The Canyons will be 110-115 on race day.  I hope they have all the ice at the aid stations.  

You guys pretty much know all of this as you've followed along with my journey here, but I updated my blog for the first time in awhile:  I Am Ready

2 days, 9 hours.  #seeyouinsquaw
100 miles at 110 degrees?  You might want to think about staying hydrated.   That's all I got. 

Love following this.  We'll be following this adventure all weekend and hope it's a satisfying culmination of everything you've done to get ready.  Good luck @SFBayDuck!

 
Yup, 100 degrees in Auburn means The Canyons will be 110-115 on race day.  I hope they have all the ice at the aid stations.  

You guys pretty much know all of this as you've followed along with my journey here, but I updated my blog for the first time in awhile:  I Am Ready

2 days, 9 hours.  #seeyouinsquaw
Do you have any kind of times you are looking to be at for the various splits?

I clicked your link for the tracking, and saw the various stations. Just curious on where you expect to be time-wise so we can follow along to see if you are staying on your plan. 

 
100 miles at 110 degrees?  You might want to think about staying hydrated.   That's all I got. 

Love following this.  We'll be following this adventure all weekend and hope it's a satisfying culmination of everything you've done to get ready.  Good luck @SFBayDuck!
But recognize that the race starts at higher elevation (Squaw Valley), climbs further into the mountains, and then descends during the night.  If Duck makes decent time, he could avoid some of the midday heat on Sunday.

As to timing, we have pace charts for 24, 27, and 30 hours.  Start time is 5 am on Saturday.  (I figure I'll respond on this so Duck can stay focused on his logistics.)

I'll give updates on Saturday, to the extent I have reception in the mountains.

Go Duck!  See you in Squaw.

 
Do you have any kind of times you are looking to be at for the various splits?

I clicked your link for the tracking, and saw the various stations. Just curious on where you expect to be time-wise so we can follow along to see if you are staying on your plan. 
Just figured I'd wing it...... ;)

Or I may have spent hours pouring over the past 5 years of finishers to come up with average times at the aid stations, and extrapolating extra time for the two AS that have moved a bit further up the course, all to come up with a pace chart for 24 hours (pie-in-the-sky A+++ goal), 27 hours (my target time), and 30 hours (stay ahead of the cutoffs).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j0RU3IljMPctTrz0XC0s7DHJCrfZZO8Y69C29iEvjhI/edit?usp=sharing

 
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Just figured I'd wing it...... ;)

Or I may have spent hours pouring over the past 5 years of finishers to come up with average times at the aid stations, and extrapolating extra time for the two AS that have moved a bit further up the course, all to come up with a pace chart for 24 hours (pie-in-the-sky A+++ goal), 27 hours (my target time), and 30 hours (stay ahead of the cutoffs).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j0RU3IljMPctTrz0XC0s7DHJCrfZZO8Y69C29iEvjhI/edit?usp=sharing
Awesome. The spreadsheet nerd in me appreciates this.  :thumbup:

 
Right leg was bothering me a bit yesterday and cindy is a ##### (not bad wind but lots of rain and t storm) so today is yoga and core strength day.  
or maybe a 9 mile tempo day.  whatever. 

rain let up this afternoon and I needed to get out.  

 
Just figured I'd wing it...... ;)

Or I may have spent hours pouring over the past 5 years of finishers to come up with average times at the aid stations, and extrapolating extra time for the two AS that have moved a bit further up the course, all to come up with a pace chart for 24 hours (pie-in-the-sky A+++ goal), 27 hours (my target time), and 30 hours (stay ahead of the cutoffs).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j0RU3IljMPctTrz0XC0s7DHJCrfZZO8Y69C29iEvjhI/edit?usp=sharing
I'm starting to think you put more time into planning than training ;)   (kidding!  really that's awesome) 

 
Just figured I'd wing it...... ;)

Or I may have spent hours pouring over the past 5 years of finishers to come up with average times at the aid stations, and extrapolating extra time for the two AS that have moved a bit further up the course, all to come up with a pace chart for 24 hours (pie-in-the-sky A+++ goal), 27 hours (my target time), and 30 hours (stay ahead of the cutoffs).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j0RU3IljMPctTrz0XC0s7DHJCrfZZO8Y69C29iEvjhI/edit?usp=sharing
:nerd:   Be assured Tri-Man has memorized all of this and rechecked the math with an abacus.  When we team dirt race in the fall, we don't bother maps or GPS, we just deploy the WPS (Wally Positioning System).  

 
I'll give updates on Saturday, to the extent I have reception in the mountains.
Reception schmeception Tri-Man.  You climb to the top of the highest peak if you need to.  You do realize that you're contractually obligated to provide aid station by aid station updates to the FBG brotherhood, right?   I'm going to be F5ing this thread and Duck's ultralive page all day tomorrow.  :thumbup:

 
Reception schmeception Tri-Man.  You climb to the top of the highest peak if you need to.  You do realize that you're contractually obligated to provide aid station by aid station updates to the FBG brotherhood, right?   I'm going to be F5ing this thread and Duck's ultralive page all day tomorrow.  :thumbup:
Yes sir!  Meeting Duck here on Squaw in a few minutes.  One of the ski slopes is still open! I've heard of skiers in bikinis.  No pics.

 
Best of luck Duck! And so awesome that our boy Tri is there to witness/assist.  :thumbup:
Little did he know what he was getting in to - @tri-man 47 will be pacing me from Foresthill (62) to the river crossing (78), all after dark!  He's probably in his hotel room right now practicing Jedi mind tricks designed to keep me moving....at least I hope so. 

The first 15 miles are supposed to be really sloppy with snow, slush, and mud.  We should have lost enough elevation by then to be out of the snow, and of course by the time I hit The Canyons it'll be 110-115.  They call it a "Fire and Ice" year, which hasn't happened in awhile.

As always, thank you all for the support. I'll be thinking about it out there tomorrow...and Sunday. 

See you on the other side, aka Auburn. 

 

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