Ned
Footballguy
2:32 for Steve. Curious what the plan was. I know he mentioned it being a workout.Full Leader Board That is about the slickest live tracker I've ever seen. The athlete tracker shows the estimated mile mark between the splits.
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Ran a 10k - Official Thread (11 Viewers)
- Thread starter Ned
- Start date
prosopis
Arizona Chupacabra
I went out today for a trail run. It was a blast and I only saw one person on my 14 mile journey which made it even better. I like the sense of solitude.
Anyway 14.63 miles, avg pace 18:39, avg HR 136, elevation gain of 2,468 ft
I was doing pretty well for my first 10-11 miles. Right around the 11 mile mark I developed a shooting pain lateral left knee when ever I planted. I suspect it was from all the jarring from going up and then down hill. After 11 miles my run turned into a hike/walk and those 3.5 miles skewed my avg pace but whatever. The trail has some pretty rocky stuff in it and what I would consider some technical stuff but I dont really know how that stuff is rated. My HR certainly went up as I was climbing, I think the max was 160.
Great stuff out there in the desert and things are starting to bloom. I came across an old stone foundation about 10 miles out. It was probably from early 1900s or so and was huge. Somebody had plans for a mansion in the middle of no where.
Info is on Strava if anyone wants to look and suggest pointers.
Anyway 14.63 miles, avg pace 18:39, avg HR 136, elevation gain of 2,468 ft
I was doing pretty well for my first 10-11 miles. Right around the 11 mile mark I developed a shooting pain lateral left knee when ever I planted. I suspect it was from all the jarring from going up and then down hill. After 11 miles my run turned into a hike/walk and those 3.5 miles skewed my avg pace but whatever. The trail has some pretty rocky stuff in it and what I would consider some technical stuff but I dont really know how that stuff is rated. My HR certainly went up as I was climbing, I think the max was 160.
Great stuff out there in the desert and things are starting to bloom. I came across an old stone foundation about 10 miles out. It was probably from early 1900s or so and was huge. Somebody had plans for a mansion in the middle of no where.
Info is on Strava if anyone wants to look and suggest pointers.
tri-man 47
Footballguy
A workout appetizer before the main course race reports are ready for consumption:
24 miles today at an easy, yet robust, pace (8:10/mile, 147 HR) ...now at 75 miles for the week, with thoughts of adding 5 on Sunday.
24 miles today at an easy, yet robust, pace (8:10/mile, 147 HR) ...now at 75 miles for the week, with thoughts of adding 5 on Sunday.
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
St. Paddy's Day 5K Race Report
Goal for this one was under 18:00. PR of 18:08 was set in a race last year but most of my recent 5Ks have been in the 18:20 - 18:40 range.
I didn't have any good excuses for failure for this one. Weather was near perfect -- about 40 to start (a little colder than the forecast) with only a mild wind. I really cut back the mileage this week and noticed a distinct difference in "bounciness" of my legs yesterday and during the end of my warm up this morning. My only concern was I didn't have a lot of success running fast outside this winter. I had a number of excellent fast treadmill runs but I was worried about being able to hold the pace unassisted from a machine.
I normally set my watch to 1/2 mile splits for 5Ks. An 18:00 5K would be about a 2:53 split.
Half mile splits:
2:48, 2:50, 2:50, 2:56, 2:52, 2:55, finished at 5:17 pace for the last .1.
Overall, 17:50. 11/2055, 2/99 in AG. Ended up being double-chicked. They finished in 9th and 10th.
After the first mile, I noticed my pace accidentally slipping in the beginnings of every split! I would look at the "average lap pace" on my watch and notice I'd be at about 6:00 pace and I would have to do a gut check and speed up. I noticed this a little late on that 4th split to salvage that one but overall was glad that I could manage to speed up instead of giving up.
Very happy with the result of this one. I wanted to break 18:00 for a 5K pretty badly and, at this point at least, I don't have a burning desire to run one faster. I must admit, though, that this one didn't feel too terrible. If I were to run a series of 5Ks, I think I could improve on this. But I have some other distances I want to focus on.
By the way, I ran this one with Mama Juxt. This was her 3rd 5K (1st one being last Thanksgiving). She set a PR of 32:21. First thing she asked me afterwards is where she could find out how she fared in her AG. Amazing how quickly they turn into medal mongers! She was 2 out of 14.
Goal for this one was under 18:00. PR of 18:08 was set in a race last year but most of my recent 5Ks have been in the 18:20 - 18:40 range.
I didn't have any good excuses for failure for this one. Weather was near perfect -- about 40 to start (a little colder than the forecast) with only a mild wind. I really cut back the mileage this week and noticed a distinct difference in "bounciness" of my legs yesterday and during the end of my warm up this morning. My only concern was I didn't have a lot of success running fast outside this winter. I had a number of excellent fast treadmill runs but I was worried about being able to hold the pace unassisted from a machine.
I normally set my watch to 1/2 mile splits for 5Ks. An 18:00 5K would be about a 2:53 split.
Half mile splits:
2:48, 2:50, 2:50, 2:56, 2:52, 2:55, finished at 5:17 pace for the last .1.
Overall, 17:50. 11/2055, 2/99 in AG. Ended up being double-chicked. They finished in 9th and 10th.
After the first mile, I noticed my pace accidentally slipping in the beginnings of every split! I would look at the "average lap pace" on my watch and notice I'd be at about 6:00 pace and I would have to do a gut check and speed up. I noticed this a little late on that 4th split to salvage that one but overall was glad that I could manage to speed up instead of giving up.
Very happy with the result of this one. I wanted to break 18:00 for a 5K pretty badly and, at this point at least, I don't have a burning desire to run one faster. I must admit, though, that this one didn't feel too terrible. If I were to run a series of 5Ks, I think I could improve on this. But I have some other distances I want to focus on.
By the way, I ran this one with Mama Juxt. This was her 3rd 5K (1st one being last Thanksgiving). She set a PR of 32:21. First thing she asked me afterwards is where she could find out how she fared in her AG. Amazing how quickly they turn into medal mongers! She was 2 out of 14.
Last edited by a moderator:
tri-man 47
Footballguy
Congrats to Juxt and Mama Juxt! Yeah for sub-18:00!!! 
Great races today to Juxt and PBM.
I did in fact run the RnR Marahthon in DC this morning. The main purpose for the trip was to visit my sister and my nephew that was born last week, but the timing also worked out for me to try something I have read about for a few years and have been itching to try out for my last cycles, but just never seemed to fit it into my build-up.
The idea came from reading about the training for a few Kenyan runners, posted by their Italian coach Renato Canova on another running message board. This guy took the schedule Canova posted and converted them into slightly easier to understand formats here. (http://www.runningwritings.com/2012/06/elite-marathoning-with-renato-canova.html)
The one thing I noticed was that these runners did a 40km session about 4-6 weeks out from their goal race. The effort seemed to be at around 90-95% of goal pace. I have also know a few American elites/subelites that did this kind of stuff in recent years after Canova published the schedules. (the other popular "fad" that came about is something called a "special block" where one runs a workouts in the morning and then again later in the day, that idea doesn't appeal to me anywhere near as much).
So anyways, I calculated my goal pace for this session to be about 5:34-5:50. The original plan for this "race" was to start out at around 5:50s and then slowly work my way down to the 5:35-5:40 range. Given the history of the race and this plan, it should put me in a good position to win the race and I felt that should I need to, I can even run the last 4-6 miles at goal marathon pace and run someone down. Needless to say, today was quite a learning experience.
Quick race report:
At a typical rock n roll race that offers both a full marathon and a half marathon, there are two lead vehicles. I know they pretty much drive side by side until 1-2 miles into the race until they can pick out the marathon leader and then the marathon lead vehicle drops back. (except in the rare case where the marathon leader is ahead of the half marathon leader). So anyways, the gun fires and I immediately find myself behind a sea of about 40-50 runners, most of whom I assume were half marathoners (but really was hoping that ALL of them were). At 2 miles I seed the lead vehicle for the marathon on the side of the road ahead, but unfortunately before I get close to it the vehicle starts moving, signaling that it was accompanying the lead marathon runner. It takes me about 40 seconds to reach the point where I saw it started moving, so I know at this point the leader is already running about 20s/mi faster than me. Given the rarity of 2:20 runners showing up in RnR events (and the fact I knew the other runner entered in the elite division was a DNS) I was feeling pretty good about my chances of catching the clown in the lead pretty soon.
The first 10K of the race is fairly uneventful. There' s a pretty tough climb right past 6 miles, and I manage to ditch the group of half-marathoners I was running with. As we near the top I could feel my quads tighten significantly and with a little less than 20 miles to go I was obviously a little bit worried. Luckily, my legs loosened up a lot over the next mile. I even feel good enough to drop a couple of 5:30-5:35s without a lot of trouble. When I hit halfway in around 74:30 I as feeling fresh and licking my chops a bit. Around mile 15 we hit the first out-and-back section of the course and as I see the leader coming the other way I took note of the time on my watch and how long it took until I hit the turnaround.... damn, 4 minutes. Then, at mile 18 my day starts to unravel a little bit as I started having some GI issues and had to make a quick pit stop on the side of the road. (I figured at this point the leader was either going to completely crumble or I wasn't going to run him down, so the 40-45 seconds or so probably won't be the difference maker). Once I got out onto the road I noticed the same effort that was getting me 5:40-5:45s half an hour ago was turning into 5:50-55:s. The big blow came at the out-and-back between mile 20-21 when I estimated his lead to be about 5 minutes, and he looked like he was still cruising (struggling a little, but seemed controlled) at mile 21. I did the math, I can try to run 5:15s at this point and gamble that he would slow down to slower than 6:15s and I *may* run him down, but my legs were feeling pretty tight and could cramp if I pushed it too hard. I thought I would maybe maintain for another couple of miles and then see if I would see him again and maybe decide then. At mile 23 my decision was made for me as I hit the 2nd big hill on the course and slowed down to about 6:30-6:40 pace. My hips were so tight that I felt like an 80-year-old, and I was just struggling to move along despite the fact I was barely breathing. I had enough of things at this point and just decided to put things in cruise control the last 3 miles and not overdo it, and hopefully that' will mean I can recover a couple of days quicker before my next quality effort. When I crossed the line the first things I did were save my garmin data and then immediately took my pulse/HR for 10 seconds and got a count of around 22. (so roughly a HR of around 132). It basically confirmed that despite how beat up/tight my legs felt the last few miles my cardiovascular system was in fact well within control.
When I finished the race I was also given an envelope containing a pass to the race day VIP area but more importantly told to get my butt to the award ceremony in half an hour. I make it there with 5 minutes or so to spare. On my way I picked up my gear check bag, which contained my phone and a change of clothing. I started looking up results and was initially annoyed that the winner ran a time that I felt like I was capable of running today if my legs cooperated a little bit, but then during the award ceremony his coach/translator mentioned that he was a 2-time Olympian for Guatemala and had a personal best of 2:12, so I actually made the smart decision not to run him down because he most likely had quite a bit more in reserve.
As for the workout. I ended up averaging about 89-90% of my goal marathon pace, so I am chalking it up as a A-/B+ effort since it was on/slightly outside the lower end of my goal. The valuable lesson I learned though is that there's a pretty big disparity in my aerobic fitness and my neuromuscular fitness right now, with the later being by far the limiting factor. The obvious answer (especially for those that follow me on strava) is that those two systems will be more balanced had I cut back on my mileage even the last week, so I am not super worried about it, but I do feel that doing a session like the one today also will address that issue once/if my legs are recovered from today's effort. The other issue is I need to figure out my damn prerace nutrition. I think I have identified the main issue as too much fiber intake within 12-18 hours of the race, but will experiment with this a couple of more times before race day. However, the big confidence booster is that despite the fact that my legs felt about the same at 10K today as they usually do at the 20-mile mark of a race that I had tapered for, I was able to still run relatively hard on them for another 2 hours without any cramping or major issues, so the extra mileage definitely appear to be paying off. I can't wait until I can see how much abuse they can really take in 5 weeks.
I did in fact run the RnR Marahthon in DC this morning. The main purpose for the trip was to visit my sister and my nephew that was born last week, but the timing also worked out for me to try something I have read about for a few years and have been itching to try out for my last cycles, but just never seemed to fit it into my build-up.
The idea came from reading about the training for a few Kenyan runners, posted by their Italian coach Renato Canova on another running message board. This guy took the schedule Canova posted and converted them into slightly easier to understand formats here. (http://www.runningwritings.com/2012/06/elite-marathoning-with-renato-canova.html)
The one thing I noticed was that these runners did a 40km session about 4-6 weeks out from their goal race. The effort seemed to be at around 90-95% of goal pace. I have also know a few American elites/subelites that did this kind of stuff in recent years after Canova published the schedules. (the other popular "fad" that came about is something called a "special block" where one runs a workouts in the morning and then again later in the day, that idea doesn't appeal to me anywhere near as much).
So anyways, I calculated my goal pace for this session to be about 5:34-5:50. The original plan for this "race" was to start out at around 5:50s and then slowly work my way down to the 5:35-5:40 range. Given the history of the race and this plan, it should put me in a good position to win the race and I felt that should I need to, I can even run the last 4-6 miles at goal marathon pace and run someone down. Needless to say, today was quite a learning experience.
Quick race report:
At a typical rock n roll race that offers both a full marathon and a half marathon, there are two lead vehicles. I know they pretty much drive side by side until 1-2 miles into the race until they can pick out the marathon leader and then the marathon lead vehicle drops back. (except in the rare case where the marathon leader is ahead of the half marathon leader). So anyways, the gun fires and I immediately find myself behind a sea of about 40-50 runners, most of whom I assume were half marathoners (but really was hoping that ALL of them were). At 2 miles I seed the lead vehicle for the marathon on the side of the road ahead, but unfortunately before I get close to it the vehicle starts moving, signaling that it was accompanying the lead marathon runner. It takes me about 40 seconds to reach the point where I saw it started moving, so I know at this point the leader is already running about 20s/mi faster than me. Given the rarity of 2:20 runners showing up in RnR events (and the fact I knew the other runner entered in the elite division was a DNS) I was feeling pretty good about my chances of catching the clown in the lead pretty soon.
The first 10K of the race is fairly uneventful. There' s a pretty tough climb right past 6 miles, and I manage to ditch the group of half-marathoners I was running with. As we near the top I could feel my quads tighten significantly and with a little less than 20 miles to go I was obviously a little bit worried. Luckily, my legs loosened up a lot over the next mile. I even feel good enough to drop a couple of 5:30-5:35s without a lot of trouble. When I hit halfway in around 74:30 I as feeling fresh and licking my chops a bit. Around mile 15 we hit the first out-and-back section of the course and as I see the leader coming the other way I took note of the time on my watch and how long it took until I hit the turnaround.... damn, 4 minutes. Then, at mile 18 my day starts to unravel a little bit as I started having some GI issues and had to make a quick pit stop on the side of the road. (I figured at this point the leader was either going to completely crumble or I wasn't going to run him down, so the 40-45 seconds or so probably won't be the difference maker). Once I got out onto the road I noticed the same effort that was getting me 5:40-5:45s half an hour ago was turning into 5:50-55:s. The big blow came at the out-and-back between mile 20-21 when I estimated his lead to be about 5 minutes, and he looked like he was still cruising (struggling a little, but seemed controlled) at mile 21. I did the math, I can try to run 5:15s at this point and gamble that he would slow down to slower than 6:15s and I *may* run him down, but my legs were feeling pretty tight and could cramp if I pushed it too hard. I thought I would maybe maintain for another couple of miles and then see if I would see him again and maybe decide then. At mile 23 my decision was made for me as I hit the 2nd big hill on the course and slowed down to about 6:30-6:40 pace. My hips were so tight that I felt like an 80-year-old, and I was just struggling to move along despite the fact I was barely breathing. I had enough of things at this point and just decided to put things in cruise control the last 3 miles and not overdo it, and hopefully that' will mean I can recover a couple of days quicker before my next quality effort. When I crossed the line the first things I did were save my garmin data and then immediately took my pulse/HR for 10 seconds and got a count of around 22. (so roughly a HR of around 132). It basically confirmed that despite how beat up/tight my legs felt the last few miles my cardiovascular system was in fact well within control.
When I finished the race I was also given an envelope containing a pass to the race day VIP area but more importantly told to get my butt to the award ceremony in half an hour. I make it there with 5 minutes or so to spare. On my way I picked up my gear check bag, which contained my phone and a change of clothing. I started looking up results and was initially annoyed that the winner ran a time that I felt like I was capable of running today if my legs cooperated a little bit, but then during the award ceremony his coach/translator mentioned that he was a 2-time Olympian for Guatemala and had a personal best of 2:12, so I actually made the smart decision not to run him down because he most likely had quite a bit more in reserve.
As for the workout. I ended up averaging about 89-90% of my goal marathon pace, so I am chalking it up as a A-/B+ effort since it was on/slightly outside the lower end of my goal. The valuable lesson I learned though is that there's a pretty big disparity in my aerobic fitness and my neuromuscular fitness right now, with the later being by far the limiting factor. The obvious answer (especially for those that follow me on strava) is that those two systems will be more balanced had I cut back on my mileage even the last week, so I am not super worried about it, but I do feel that doing a session like the one today also will address that issue once/if my legs are recovered from today's effort. The other issue is I need to figure out my damn prerace nutrition. I think I have identified the main issue as too much fiber intake within 12-18 hours of the race, but will experiment with this a couple of more times before race day. However, the big confidence booster is that despite the fact that my legs felt about the same at 10K today as they usually do at the 20-mile mark of a race that I had tapered for, I was able to still run relatively hard on them for another 2 hours without any cramping or major issues, so the extra mileage definitely appear to be paying off. I can't wait until I can see how much abuse they can really take in 5 weeks.
MAC_32
Footballguy
St. Malachi 5 miler - 2014, 33:55 (86/2200) 2015, 34:15 (107/2300)
A month ago I knew I was in the best shape I'd been in a long time. I didn't realize how good of shape until after a trail race Valentine's Day. With hind sight, it was the confidence booster I needed as this past 3 week training cycle was the best one I've ever had. It isn't close really. I never made my goals public, I didn't even say it to my wife, but a sub 30 minute 5 miler crept into my head over the last couple weeks. I would still be thrilled with 30:__, but I felt sub 30 was viable enough to give it a shot and risk losing a few seconds off a pr if I failed.
Race day - like juxt's 5k, couldn't have asked for better weather. Mid 40's, sunny, and what little headwind there was only impacted down hills. After last Sunday's 15 I took it real easy this week, so like him I also felt like I had an extra spring in my step while I 'warmed up.' That's in quotes because I felt so good after jogging for two blocks I didn't want to waste any energy. I was already good to go.
The first mile and a half is mostly downhill with mostly climbs from 3.2-4.5 and flats in between. It's steep downhill to the finish, so to hit my goal I wanted to start with back-to-back 5:50's, really focus on lengthening my stride without increasing effort once getting to the flats, then attack the climbs as if the race ends at 4.5. (Humble brag) I'm a very strong downhill runner, so I felt I could finish strong even if I was out of gas once getting to the last peak on top of a bridge.
The boxes were checked miles 1-3. Based on the clocks (more on this later), my splits were 5:50-5:49-6:03 as I got to mile 3 at 17:42. Now for the most miserable 8 minutes of the race. Whether I would push for the sub 30 or settle into a groove to pr was dependent on getting to mile 4 in under 24:15. I thought I could, but historically I'm a bad uphill runner. Not today though. My glutes, hams, and calves were all firing. One of them usually isn't for reasons unknown to me, which causes my problems but this day - I was hauling. I had only passed one person over the last two miles and no one got to me, but I started picking people off on that first climb. Is this really happening? There's a break before the mile 4 split and the final bridge climb so I approached it a little more aggressively than the previous flat stretch. As I neared the clock and saw 23:__ that's when I began to kick and started passing people in bunches. I passed it in 24:03, but I was confident that if the bridge didn't kill me I would get enough time back on the down to go get sub 30. The bridge didn't get me, I actually passed the overall female winner, and as much as I wanted to puke I flew down the hill. For a brief moment on the second to last straight away I thought I had it until I turned the final corner and saw the clock change from 29 to 30. WTF?! My disappointment maybe lasted two seconds as I quickly reminded myself that you're still four minutes faster than last year. #### and enjoy this and then cruised through the finish.
30:09, 21st of 2500, but only 8th in my age group
Reviewing my race on Strava afterwards I realized my reliance on the race clocks and not building any contingent time into my plan were my undoing. I could have pushed mile 3 and the pre climb portion of mile 4 harder, but didn't because I thought I was on pace. I didn't run mile 2 in 5:49; I ran it in 5:59. While the 3 and 4 mile clocks were both on point it was relative to mile 2, which was short. I could have squeezed an extra couple seconds out of the final sprint, but didn't because I was already north of 30. There's your sub 30, especially because I was right about the last mile as I did it in 5:39.
That's more than enough negative though. You just PR'D a 5 miler by 4 minutes! Go enjoy this then get ready for the next one...
A month ago I knew I was in the best shape I'd been in a long time. I didn't realize how good of shape until after a trail race Valentine's Day. With hind sight, it was the confidence booster I needed as this past 3 week training cycle was the best one I've ever had. It isn't close really. I never made my goals public, I didn't even say it to my wife, but a sub 30 minute 5 miler crept into my head over the last couple weeks. I would still be thrilled with 30:__, but I felt sub 30 was viable enough to give it a shot and risk losing a few seconds off a pr if I failed.
Race day - like juxt's 5k, couldn't have asked for better weather. Mid 40's, sunny, and what little headwind there was only impacted down hills. After last Sunday's 15 I took it real easy this week, so like him I also felt like I had an extra spring in my step while I 'warmed up.' That's in quotes because I felt so good after jogging for two blocks I didn't want to waste any energy. I was already good to go.
The first mile and a half is mostly downhill with mostly climbs from 3.2-4.5 and flats in between. It's steep downhill to the finish, so to hit my goal I wanted to start with back-to-back 5:50's, really focus on lengthening my stride without increasing effort once getting to the flats, then attack the climbs as if the race ends at 4.5. (Humble brag) I'm a very strong downhill runner, so I felt I could finish strong even if I was out of gas once getting to the last peak on top of a bridge.
The boxes were checked miles 1-3. Based on the clocks (more on this later), my splits were 5:50-5:49-6:03 as I got to mile 3 at 17:42. Now for the most miserable 8 minutes of the race. Whether I would push for the sub 30 or settle into a groove to pr was dependent on getting to mile 4 in under 24:15. I thought I could, but historically I'm a bad uphill runner. Not today though. My glutes, hams, and calves were all firing. One of them usually isn't for reasons unknown to me, which causes my problems but this day - I was hauling. I had only passed one person over the last two miles and no one got to me, but I started picking people off on that first climb. Is this really happening? There's a break before the mile 4 split and the final bridge climb so I approached it a little more aggressively than the previous flat stretch. As I neared the clock and saw 23:__ that's when I began to kick and started passing people in bunches. I passed it in 24:03, but I was confident that if the bridge didn't kill me I would get enough time back on the down to go get sub 30. The bridge didn't get me, I actually passed the overall female winner, and as much as I wanted to puke I flew down the hill. For a brief moment on the second to last straight away I thought I had it until I turned the final corner and saw the clock change from 29 to 30. WTF?! My disappointment maybe lasted two seconds as I quickly reminded myself that you're still four minutes faster than last year. #### and enjoy this and then cruised through the finish.
30:09, 21st of 2500, but only 8th in my age group
Reviewing my race on Strava afterwards I realized my reliance on the race clocks and not building any contingent time into my plan were my undoing. I could have pushed mile 3 and the pre climb portion of mile 4 harder, but didn't because I thought I was on pace. I didn't run mile 2 in 5:49; I ran it in 5:59. While the 3 and 4 mile clocks were both on point it was relative to mile 2, which was short. I could have squeezed an extra couple seconds out of the final sprint, but didn't because I was already north of 30. There's your sub 30, especially because I was right about the last mile as I did it in 5:39.
That's more than enough negative though. You just PR'D a 5 miler by 4 minutes! Go enjoy this then get ready for the next one...
Last edited by a moderator:
pbm107
Footballguy
Nativity 5K Race Report
Background
I wasn’t planning on running this race, there is a much bigger more competitive race in New Jersey next weekend that I had penciled in my schedule but my wife beat me to the calendar and signed my daughter and herself up for a local 5K instead. I have no interest in running that race next weekend; I’d rather watch my daughter race.
So for a couple weeks I have been trying to find a 5K to run without much luck. I found out last week that one of my good buddies during a night of drinking made a $100 bet that he could run a 5K in under 22:00 minutes. Well my buddy was a legit athlete back in the day but he no longer is known by his name alone, everyone that knows him well calls him “Fat Jerry”. I don’t his weight these days, but I did know he had no chance to break 22. I also had to be there to see it.
This isn’t the first time Fat Jerry made a bet over running, back in 2009 he challenged me to a mile race after he got tired of me calling him fat. At the time I was probably in the worst shape of my life and this challenge was one of the things that got me back into running. In pathetic display of athletic competition I was able to run a 6:00 mile and beat Jerry by about 10 secs. For what it is worth Jerry is much fatter now, and he probably didn’t deserved to be called Fat Jerry back in 2009.
The Race
The race was held at the grade school I went to and was a lot of fun. I saw a few guys I ran cross country with in high school, my 7th grade math teacher ran, and my youth basketball coach was there cheering on his grand kids in the 1K. Two of my kids ran the 1k.
At the starting line I was very happy to see that there were 5 guys there that had the potential to push me in this race. The initial 400 meters felt fast but my legs were feeling good, two young kids took the lead and I tucked in behind them. The first mile was a net downhill and felt real easy, we got to the first mile marker at 5:42. Shortly after the first mile marker I noticed that our pace for the 2nd mile was at 5:52, knowing that a sub 18 is 5:47 pace I made a move to pass the leaders. One of the two kids went with me and we were running side by side. I asked what time he was trying to running he said he wasn’t sure, I mentioned that I wanted to run a sub 18 he said we should not have any problem during that today. He asked if I ran in college and I said no I drank in college and ran in high school. He mentioned that he was going to be a senior next year at the local public high school, and he laughed at me when I said I graduated from the local Catholic high school back in 1995. The 2nd mile split was 5:48 and it was weird that I didn’t have much trouble talking so much during the 2nd mile. I think having the kid next to me made it easier to stay relaxed and maintain my pace. The 3rd mile is a net uphill and for the first time I felt like I was working, typically I feel like this at the start of the 2nd mile of a 5K. Around the 2.5 mile point the pace car got stopped, stuck in traffic (roads weren’t shutdown for the race) and I was a little more decisive passing the pace car so I was alone in the lead for about 5 secs. The kid then decided to go and had a gear that I didn’t have. I did my best to keep up but just before the 3 mile marker I almost puked. I was able to finish fairly strong and held off on puking until after the volunteers removed the tab from bib (no chip timing).
Finished 2nd overall at 17:48 (the official results aren’t up yet), but similar to what Juxt said earlier I think I could improve on this but the 5K isn’t really an important distance for me right now.
My buddy Fat Jerry finished the 5K, but not surprisingly lost the $100 bet. He finished in a little over 29 minutes, and didn’t hurt himself in the process. He is already talking about signing up for his next 5K, and he enjoyed the experience. I am really hoping he sticks with it.
Background
I wasn’t planning on running this race, there is a much bigger more competitive race in New Jersey next weekend that I had penciled in my schedule but my wife beat me to the calendar and signed my daughter and herself up for a local 5K instead. I have no interest in running that race next weekend; I’d rather watch my daughter race.
So for a couple weeks I have been trying to find a 5K to run without much luck. I found out last week that one of my good buddies during a night of drinking made a $100 bet that he could run a 5K in under 22:00 minutes. Well my buddy was a legit athlete back in the day but he no longer is known by his name alone, everyone that knows him well calls him “Fat Jerry”. I don’t his weight these days, but I did know he had no chance to break 22. I also had to be there to see it.
This isn’t the first time Fat Jerry made a bet over running, back in 2009 he challenged me to a mile race after he got tired of me calling him fat. At the time I was probably in the worst shape of my life and this challenge was one of the things that got me back into running. In pathetic display of athletic competition I was able to run a 6:00 mile and beat Jerry by about 10 secs. For what it is worth Jerry is much fatter now, and he probably didn’t deserved to be called Fat Jerry back in 2009.
The Race
The race was held at the grade school I went to and was a lot of fun. I saw a few guys I ran cross country with in high school, my 7th grade math teacher ran, and my youth basketball coach was there cheering on his grand kids in the 1K. Two of my kids ran the 1k.
At the starting line I was very happy to see that there were 5 guys there that had the potential to push me in this race. The initial 400 meters felt fast but my legs were feeling good, two young kids took the lead and I tucked in behind them. The first mile was a net downhill and felt real easy, we got to the first mile marker at 5:42. Shortly after the first mile marker I noticed that our pace for the 2nd mile was at 5:52, knowing that a sub 18 is 5:47 pace I made a move to pass the leaders. One of the two kids went with me and we were running side by side. I asked what time he was trying to running he said he wasn’t sure, I mentioned that I wanted to run a sub 18 he said we should not have any problem during that today. He asked if I ran in college and I said no I drank in college and ran in high school. He mentioned that he was going to be a senior next year at the local public high school, and he laughed at me when I said I graduated from the local Catholic high school back in 1995. The 2nd mile split was 5:48 and it was weird that I didn’t have much trouble talking so much during the 2nd mile. I think having the kid next to me made it easier to stay relaxed and maintain my pace. The 3rd mile is a net uphill and for the first time I felt like I was working, typically I feel like this at the start of the 2nd mile of a 5K. Around the 2.5 mile point the pace car got stopped, stuck in traffic (roads weren’t shutdown for the race) and I was a little more decisive passing the pace car so I was alone in the lead for about 5 secs. The kid then decided to go and had a gear that I didn’t have. I did my best to keep up but just before the 3 mile marker I almost puked. I was able to finish fairly strong and held off on puking until after the volunteers removed the tab from bib (no chip timing).
Finished 2nd overall at 17:48 (the official results aren’t up yet), but similar to what Juxt said earlier I think I could improve on this but the 5K isn’t really an important distance for me right now.
My buddy Fat Jerry finished the 5K, but not surprisingly lost the $100 bet. He finished in a little over 29 minutes, and didn’t hurt himself in the process. He is already talking about signing up for his next 5K, and he enjoyed the experience. I am really hoping he sticks with it.
prosopis
Arizona Chupacabra
Greta reports in here, I really like reading them. I am amazed at how fast you guys are while keeping your HR low. I dont understand how that is even possible. PBM holding a conversation during a 17:48 5k has me 
. I am not sure I would be able to breath at that point.
. I am not sure I would be able to breath at that point.
tri-man 47
Footballguy
Steve! MAC! pbm!
MAC! pbm! 
Nigel
Footballguy
Black Cat 10M - Salem, MA
I'd been debating whether to run this or to do a scheduled 20M on Saturday. My consultants, you guys, suggested the race was the best option so I went with it. Main goal was to get a better idea of where I am and a possible goal pace for Boston. Last race was the HM in October (7:27 pace). I've had some good stretches of training since but also a couple of down periods coming off the ablation and then the ankle injury. So this would be a good test.
I spent a few days in Phoenix this week for work and had a couple of good runs there, then capped the trip with the Springsteen concert on Thurs night and got pretty banged up/stayed up very late. I was miserable on the flight home Friday and felt like crap right up until I went to bed. I drank plenty of water all day Friday though and woke up at 6:00 on Sat morning feeling pretty good. The race was exceptionally well organized, with ample parking close by and bib pick up in a hotel steps from the start line. I got there at 7:00, an hour before the 8:00 gun, with ample time for bib pick up, a very successful port potty visit and a mile warm up. When I got to the line I wasn't feeling 100% committed to going balls out. I'd tried to recruit a buddy who runs similar times as me but he declined, so I was completely solo without a real competitive motivation other than finding out where my fitness was.
The course was 4M out, 4M back and then a 2M loop to the finish, much of it along the coast. Weather was upper 30s, very little wind - perfect conditions. There were around 450 runners doing the 10M, and there was also a double loop 20M option - around 250 doing that. The race is touted as a Boston tune up. I really had no idea what pace to run, knew I wanted to be faster than the HM but no particular goal in mind. The first three miles were 7:08/7:12/7:17. Pace overall was 7:13. I decided then that I wanted to finish at or below 7:15 pace so I stayed prettty steady at that effort level. I was uncomfortable but it felt sustainable. The next three were 7:08/7:15/7:04. I felt great cardio-wise but the ball of my right foot was on fire, as usual. Felt strong otherwise. Next three were 7:09/7:07/7:17. Overall pace was down to 7:11. I planned to pick it up at the 9 mile marker and did so a little bit but kind of let myself off the hook. Last mile was 7:02. I think I could have gotten a little more out of it down the stretch but had a hard time getting myself into beast mode. I crossed the line feeling better than I have at the end of any other race I've run, gassed but no near-death experience. Official time was 1:11:52, 7:10 pace. I was 29/457 overeall and 3/22 in my 45-49 AG. I ran 3 easy cool down miles immediately after finishing to get a few extra miles in.
Felt great about the result overall. Maybe had a little more in me but I wasn't there to hurt myself. I maintained a steady, consistent pace the entire race, and the second half was a little faster than the first. What does it mean for Boston? I definitely feel more confident in running 8s or maybe a little better if the weather cooperates. McMillan suggests a 3:21:24 Marathon time based on the 10M. I think he also says to add 5 min due to it being Boston. So that puts me right in that range, and I've got a few more weeks to gain some fitness. I have one more good test in 2 weeks when I'll bus out to Hopkinton and run the first 20 miles of the course into Newton on my final long run before the taper. I'll be looking for more advice on the best way to approach that 20...
I'd been debating whether to run this or to do a scheduled 20M on Saturday. My consultants, you guys, suggested the race was the best option so I went with it. Main goal was to get a better idea of where I am and a possible goal pace for Boston. Last race was the HM in October (7:27 pace). I've had some good stretches of training since but also a couple of down periods coming off the ablation and then the ankle injury. So this would be a good test.
I spent a few days in Phoenix this week for work and had a couple of good runs there, then capped the trip with the Springsteen concert on Thurs night and got pretty banged up/stayed up very late. I was miserable on the flight home Friday and felt like crap right up until I went to bed. I drank plenty of water all day Friday though and woke up at 6:00 on Sat morning feeling pretty good. The race was exceptionally well organized, with ample parking close by and bib pick up in a hotel steps from the start line. I got there at 7:00, an hour before the 8:00 gun, with ample time for bib pick up, a very successful port potty visit and a mile warm up. When I got to the line I wasn't feeling 100% committed to going balls out. I'd tried to recruit a buddy who runs similar times as me but he declined, so I was completely solo without a real competitive motivation other than finding out where my fitness was.
The course was 4M out, 4M back and then a 2M loop to the finish, much of it along the coast. Weather was upper 30s, very little wind - perfect conditions. There were around 450 runners doing the 10M, and there was also a double loop 20M option - around 250 doing that. The race is touted as a Boston tune up. I really had no idea what pace to run, knew I wanted to be faster than the HM but no particular goal in mind. The first three miles were 7:08/7:12/7:17. Pace overall was 7:13. I decided then that I wanted to finish at or below 7:15 pace so I stayed prettty steady at that effort level. I was uncomfortable but it felt sustainable. The next three were 7:08/7:15/7:04. I felt great cardio-wise but the ball of my right foot was on fire, as usual. Felt strong otherwise. Next three were 7:09/7:07/7:17. Overall pace was down to 7:11. I planned to pick it up at the 9 mile marker and did so a little bit but kind of let myself off the hook. Last mile was 7:02. I think I could have gotten a little more out of it down the stretch but had a hard time getting myself into beast mode. I crossed the line feeling better than I have at the end of any other race I've run, gassed but no near-death experience. Official time was 1:11:52, 7:10 pace. I was 29/457 overeall and 3/22 in my 45-49 AG. I ran 3 easy cool down miles immediately after finishing to get a few extra miles in.
Felt great about the result overall. Maybe had a little more in me but I wasn't there to hurt myself. I maintained a steady, consistent pace the entire race, and the second half was a little faster than the first. What does it mean for Boston? I definitely feel more confident in running 8s or maybe a little better if the weather cooperates. McMillan suggests a 3:21:24 Marathon time based on the 10M. I think he also says to add 5 min due to it being Boston. So that puts me right in that range, and I've got a few more weeks to gain some fitness. I have one more good test in 2 weeks when I'll bus out to Hopkinton and run the first 20 miles of the course into Newton on my final long run before the taper. I'll be looking for more advice on the best way to approach that 20...
JShare87
Footballguy
It is crazy to see some of the times posted in here. I have continued running since my 5k in January and have went from 215 lbs to 200 lbs in the past 2 months. I'm 29 years old and 6 feet tall. My build is more toward an athletic build as opposed to a runner's build. I have been trying to go on longer runs to get my heart rate down. I've been running around 5 miles every other night and keep my heart rate between 135-145. My average pace per mile is around 10 minutes and 30 seconds. My goals are to continue to lose weight and get faster. Is this the best route to go? Should I mix up the runs or stick with longer runs in my aerobic zone? Any help would be appreciated.
FUBAR
Footballguy
Ned
Footballguy
I can't remember a collection of RRs over a single weekend being as impressive as what you guys just laid down. Wow........
@pbm107, @Juxtatarot, @MAC_32, @SteveC702, @Nigel
@pbm107, @Juxtatarot, @MAC_32, @SteveC702, @Nigel
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
You'll keep improving as long as you keep running, but if you have an itch to run faster every once in a while, go for it. Running fast helps your speed and the challenge of testing yourself can be fun and rewarding.JShare87 said:
Brony
Footballguy
This.I can't remember a collection of RRs over a single weekend being as impressive as what you guys just laid down. Wow........
@pbm107, @Juxtatarot, @MAC_32, @SteveC702, @Nigel
Yes
prosopis
Arizona Chupacabra
Pretty amazing stuff going on here.I can't remember a collection of RRs over a single weekend being as impressive as what you guys just laid down. Wow........
@pbm107, @Juxtatarot, @MAC_32, @SteveC702, @Nigel
Nigel
Footballguy
So running in the 5:40s is conversational/joking around pace for you? I had a guy without a watch ask me at the 6M mark what my pace was and I could barely eek out "seven...thir...teen"...
Sometimes I hate you guys.
tri-man 47
Footballguy
I agree with what Juxt said. Now that you've dropped a bit of weight and have a base of miles, you can push things a little bit. Any track nearby to do some intervals, or hills to push up? Or just add some accelerations into your regular runs (push the end of the run, or accelerate for short stretches during the run).JShare87 said:
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Well, at least you didn't puke a mile later!So running in the 5:40s is conversational/joking around pace for you? I had a guy without a watch ask me at the 6M mark what my pace was and I could barely eek out "seven...thir...teen"...
Sometimes I hate you guys.
tri-man 47
Footballguy
Nigel, I think you've got a shot at an 8 minute pace at Boston, as you mention ...given your HM time and that very speedy 10 miler! I'm not sure what the best approach will be for the 20 mile course trial. Similar to what Steve was saying about a hard effort before a goal race, and with the logic of 'race your way into shape,' you could consider pushing a low 8
x pace.
My training continues to astound me! Good stuff is happening:
M: 10 miles (out at comfortable 8:10/mi; then hard tempo 4 miles - 7:07/mi)
T: 6 miles of nasty hills (9:15/mile) - the big bluffs overlooking downtown Dubuque, IA
W: 18 miles w/ 17 mi @ 8:02/mi, HR-155 at the hilly Arboretum. Pace was relaxed.
Th: 10 miles
F: 7 miles
S: 24 miles @ 8:10/mi, HR-147 HR popped higher later in the run ..no surprise, given the week's work. Pace, again, was relaxed. No trouble pushing some 7:30 pacing over the final half-mile.
A new record 75 miles for the week! I thought of running on Sunday, but I've lost so much weight lately that I decided to rest and eat instead (on a rainy day). 2 1/2 more weeks of hard training to go. Looking forward to some more long tempo work and intervals to set myself up for a fast pace at Boston.
x pace.My training continues to astound me! Good stuff is happening:
M: 10 miles (out at comfortable 8:10/mi; then hard tempo 4 miles - 7:07/mi)
T: 6 miles of nasty hills (9:15/mile) - the big bluffs overlooking downtown Dubuque, IA
W: 18 miles w/ 17 mi @ 8:02/mi, HR-155 at the hilly Arboretum. Pace was relaxed.
Th: 10 miles
F: 7 miles
S: 24 miles @ 8:10/mi, HR-147 HR popped higher later in the run ..no surprise, given the week's work. Pace, again, was relaxed. No trouble pushing some 7:30 pacing over the final half-mile.
A new record 75 miles for the week! I thought of running on Sunday, but I've lost so much weight lately that I decided to rest and eat instead (on a rainy day). 2 1/2 more weeks of hard training to go. Looking forward to some more long tempo work and intervals to set myself up for a fast pace at Boston.
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The_Man
Footballguy
Hey, guys - long time no run. But happy to jump in here and tell you how awesome it is to see so many of you kicking butt.
I'm signed up to do the Cherry Blossom 10-miler with my wife on April 3. So I dragged myself through 7 yesterday. Took it very easy and it went surprisingly well. Hope to do 8 next weekend, then 9, and then get through 10 on race day. Not gonna be pretty thought.
Steve, I really want you to run the Baltimore Marathon. Since Under Armour pulled support, there are no Kenyans and this local guy wins it every year. He's actually a very nice guy, but the whole race is shown live on the local NBC station and they act like he's some kind of superstar. It would be so cool if you just show up on the line, then run to the front and get a solid 2.5 hours of TV hype as the mystery runner taking on the local hero - and I know you're from around here originally anyway. Just something to think about!
I'm signed up to do the Cherry Blossom 10-miler with my wife on April 3. So I dragged myself through 7 yesterday. Took it very easy and it went surprisingly well. Hope to do 8 next weekend, then 9, and then get through 10 on race day. Not gonna be pretty thought.
Steve, I really want you to run the Baltimore Marathon. Since Under Armour pulled support, there are no Kenyans and this local guy wins it every year. He's actually a very nice guy, but the whole race is shown live on the local NBC station and they act like he's some kind of superstar. It would be so cool if you just show up on the line, then run to the front and get a solid 2.5 hours of TV hype as the mystery runner taking on the local hero - and I know you're from around here originally anyway. Just something to think about!
pbm107
Footballguy
It was really weird, up until I got the 2 mile marker I was fairly comfortable talking and breathing but I don't think I could have made my legs move much faster. This isn't typical for me at all usually I want to quit a mile in. During mile 3 things got difficult real quick when I tried to pick it up.So running in the 5:40s is conversational/joking around pace for you? I had a guy without a watch ask me at the 6M mark what my pace was and I could barely eek out "seven...thir...teen"...
Sometimes I hate you guys.
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
This. Great racing fellas!I can't remember a collection of RRs over a single weekend being as impressive as what you guys just laid down. Wow........
@pbm107, @Juxtatarot, @MAC_32, @SteveC702, @Nigel
Nigel
Footballguy
That is a phenomenal week Tri! I'm guessing your goal pace is rapidly trending downward.Nigel, I think you've got a shot at an 8 minute pace at Boston, as you mention ...given your HM time and that very speedy 10 miler! I'm not sure what the best approach will be for the 20 mile course trial. Similar to what Steve was saying about a hard effort before a goal race, and with the logic of 'race your way into shape,' you could consider pushing a low 8
My training continues to astound me! Good stuff is happening:
M: 10 miles (out at comfortable 8:10/mi; then hard tempo 4 miles - 7:07/mi)
T: 6 miles of nasty hills (9:15/mile) - the big bluffs overlooking downtown Dubuque, IA
W: 18 miles w/ 17 mi @ 8:02/mi, HR-155 at the hilly Arboretum. Pace was relaxed.
Th: 10 miles
F: 7 miles
S: 24 miles @ 8:10/mi, HR-147 HR popped higher later in the run ..no surprise, given the week's work. Pace, again, was relaxed. No trouble pushing some 7:30 pacing over the final half-mile.
A new record 75 miles for the week! I thought of running on Sunday, but I've lost so much weight lately that I decided to rest and eat instead (on a rainy day). 2 1/2 more weeks of hard training to go. Looking forward to some more long tempo work and intervals to set myself up for a fast pace at Boston.
speaking of weight loss I've shed a few myself lately. Post run an hour ago (easy 6M) I weighed in at 160, have not seen that number in 30 years! I ran Boston last year at 170, didn't lose any weight during training. And I've kept up with weight training so no loss there. It's got to help.
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
Little bit of everything this weekend, just need Duck to chime in with a 50k training run and I think that would cover it.
Good stuff guys, some awesome running going on in here
LOL, I wish. I did have a decent weekend for me compared to where I've been lately. Discouraging MAF test on Saturday followed by 6 miles on muddy trails gave me 11 that day, and then went out for a 5 mile slip and slide hike in the mud yesterday with a few uphill hiking "intervals" thrown in. Good news is the achilles feels better than it has in months, it wasn't even stiff this morning when I woke up. I've been stepping up the consistency on my eccentric heel raises (even bought one of those aerobic steps to put right next to my standing desk in my home office), and continue to avoid any uphill running for now and I (fingers crossed) think I may have finally turned the corner.
It's a good thing, too, as I'm down to 8 weeks until my 100K. I mapped out the plan for the next 7 weeks yesterday, and I'm really hoping my achilles will continue to improve and I'll be able to stick to it. I'll be way undertrained for a 63 mile race with 14,000' of gain, but I just need to finish the damn thing in under 20 hours to get my WS100 qualifier. I can hike the course at that pace, so I really am just going to focus on hiking up hills and specific running hard downhill workouts to condition my quads. If I get through the next 8 weeks and the race without injury, I'll be in a good spot for 100M training in June and July to get ready for Cascade Crest in August.
tri-man 47
Footballguy
Best wishes for the recovery, Duck!
ChiefD
Footballguy
No kidding. Well done everyone. Wow.I can't remember a collection of RRs over a single weekend being as impressive as what you guys just laid down. Wow........
@pbm107, @Juxtatarot, @MAC_32, @SteveC702, @Nigel
On vacation in Naples, so just saw all of these. Unbelievable collection of results.
Ran 6.1 ish today, and let me say it's a bit hot and humid here right now. Was great to get out, and will run the next 3 days before the drive back to KC. Also got in some awesome hiking at Mammoth Cave national park and a cave tour, so it's been great.
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JShare87
Footballguy
There is a track I could go to. What's the general consensus for that? 2 laps at aerobic pace and 1 at a quicker pace. No hills that I can think of. We have some bridges, but I'd rather not run there. I always accelerate the last minute of every run. It basically turns into an all out sprint for the last minute. I live in south Florida, so the weather is about to get ridiculous. The good thing is I am sticking with it, and I enjoy seeing the numbers on the scale and watch shrink a little each day. Thanks for all the advice.
tri-man 47
Footballguy
JShare - For true intervals, the recovery time can vary, but it's often anywhere from 1-3 minutes of a walk/slow jog ...enough to feel recovered and ready for the next interval. For example, if you do 400 meter repeats, you could run one quite hard (not all out!), then jog a lap in between. You can choose whether to keep a continuous motion or to walk briefly after the hard pace before moving into a jog. The idea is to stay in control so that you can do anywhere from 6 to 12 repeats (maybe 6-8 as you get used to intervals). You'll probably progress from uncomfortably-comfortable to comfortably-uncomfortable, if that makes sense.JShare87 said:
Many variations exist ...feel free to create your own workout. Maybe it's repeat 400s or 800s. Maybe it's a ladder from 200-400-600-800 and back down. You might do this once a week, and see how it translates to your distance running. And during your longer runs, you might use one run a week to add a harder tempo for the second half or last mile. This would give you a desirable mix: intervals, tempo, and distance. [I worry about the "all out" finish ...that's likely not with very good running form. Maybe back that off a bit so you can focus on a nice, light, quick stride ...a carryover from your track work!]
Ned
Footballguy
This is where @BassNBrew's comments about freshness over fitness make sense for the 5K.pbm107 said:
Ned
Footballguy
To the bold - it's a common mistake a lot of people make. Everyone thinks the run needs to feel like you had a workout, but that's a dangerous game to play. You're asking to get hurt if you keep increasing your mileage and finishing each run with 100% sprint. It's a good idea to finish relatively strong on your runs, but going into an all out sprint after every run... ouch.JShare87 said:
Everyone's going to be a bit different, but there's a general consensus no matter who you are: Your aerobic runs should be the base of your training regardless if you're a weekend warrior or an Olympic hopeful. Keep the bulk of your running in that easy effort. We can argue about it being 80% or 90% of your weekly mileage, but that's nit picking for when you become a seasoned runner.
It sounds like you're at the point where you can mix in some tempo work (a pace in which you could race at for 1 hour). IMO, intervals are the last thing you need to work on as a runner; get the tempo running under your belt first. If you were to look at running in a pyramid, intervals would be the very tip of the pyramid with tempos in the middle and aerobic runs as the base.
To run a tempo: Go for a run where you run the first 1-2mi at your normal easy effort, and then pick up the pace to where you're uncomfortable, but manageable (this is the tempo portion). Maintain that pace for 2mi, and then slow it back down for a 1mi cooldown at your normal easy effort. You may not nail this the first time out, so don't get discouraged if you went out too fast and crashed. Just learn from it for the next time. If done right, you should feel like you've done some work, but not completely gassed either. Mix these workouts in once a week or so for a bit and see how it goes. As you get stronger, you'll be able to carry that tempo pace longer and longer.
As you get good at tempos, you can start to think about doing some intervals to add a different stimulus.
JShare87
Footballguy
Ned
Footballguy
Mixed week for me last week; some good, some not so good. Happy to be doing some decent volume!
Mon: Dipped my toe into some intervals - 3x400, 2x800, 3x400. Felt surprisingly good. 7mi total with warm/cool. The 400s were especially fun.
400 = 77, 78, 79
800 = 2:53, 2:56
400 = 82, 85, 82
Tue: Easy 8mi @ 8:22/149. Didn't feel too bad, but need to get that HR down.
Wed: Recovery 4mi @ 9:04/136.
Thu: Sluggish 6mi @ 8:25/147. Hello my old friend, DOMS.
Fri: Sluggish 6mi @ 8:17/149. Fighting some anxiety from work, but legs felt a little better.
Sat: Recovery 4mi @ 9:17/134. Additional 30mins of focused stretching, foam roller, and stick work.
Sun: Easy 12mi @ 8:21/147. Ran to my brother's house which has a hilly finish. Felt so much better - wanted to go longer.
47mi for the week
Mon: Dipped my toe into some intervals - 3x400, 2x800, 3x400. Felt surprisingly good. 7mi total with warm/cool. The 400s were especially fun.
400 = 77, 78, 79
800 = 2:53, 2:56
400 = 82, 85, 82
Tue: Easy 8mi @ 8:22/149. Didn't feel too bad, but need to get that HR down.
Wed: Recovery 4mi @ 9:04/136.
Thu: Sluggish 6mi @ 8:25/147. Hello my old friend, DOMS.
Fri: Sluggish 6mi @ 8:17/149. Fighting some anxiety from work, but legs felt a little better.
Sat: Recovery 4mi @ 9:17/134. Additional 30mins of focused stretching, foam roller, and stick work.
Sun: Easy 12mi @ 8:21/147. Ran to my brother's house which has a hilly finish. Felt so much better - wanted to go longer.
47mi for the week
koby925
Footballguy
Hang 10
Footballguy
Phenomenal weekend around here for sure.
Not at all surprised with @Juxtatarot and @pbm107's sub 18 5k's. That was the lock of the weekend.
@SteveC702 proves once again that he's not human by using a major marathon as a workout and finishing 2nd overall.
@Nigel with a great tuneup race. Splits were pretty much perfect. Looking forward to seeing your marathon.
@MAC_32 The thing that surprised me most about this race (other than the fact I didn't realize you were racing) was that it took you so long to finally put that speed to good use! I could never understand the 5k times you'd lay down and then the struggles you had with anything longer. It looks like you've finally put it all together and it appears your goal of a sub 90 minute half is WAY too conservative. You're going to crush that thing!
It's race for me now and of course my sinuses are a mess. I've had a headache for the past 3 days and I'm taking every over the counter cold medicine we have in the house. Hopefully, I'll have this thing kicked by Sunday. Forecast looks pretty crappy with high winds, rain and upper 40's. Still early though...can only get better...:fingerscrossed: Ran 8 miles with a couple at HM pace today and my pacing sucked and my HR was WAY too high. 2 miles @ 6:22 (184 & 188). I was probably about 10 seconds or so too fast per mile. Obviously the cold and medicine ain't helping the HR any either. Anyway, at least the remainder of the week is all easy.
Not at all surprised with @Juxtatarot and @pbm107's sub 18 5k's. That was the lock of the weekend.
@SteveC702 proves once again that he's not human by using a major marathon as a workout and finishing 2nd overall.
@Nigel with a great tuneup race. Splits were pretty much perfect. Looking forward to seeing your marathon.
@MAC_32 The thing that surprised me most about this race (other than the fact I didn't realize you were racing) was that it took you so long to finally put that speed to good use! I could never understand the 5k times you'd lay down and then the struggles you had with anything longer. It looks like you've finally put it all together and it appears your goal of a sub 90 minute half is WAY too conservative. You're going to crush that thing!
It's race for me now and of course my sinuses are a mess. I've had a headache for the past 3 days and I'm taking every over the counter cold medicine we have in the house. Hopefully, I'll have this thing kicked by Sunday. Forecast looks pretty crappy with high winds, rain and upper 40's. Still early though...can only get better...:fingerscrossed: Ran 8 miles with a couple at HM pace today and my pacing sucked and my HR was WAY too high. 2 miles @ 6:22 (184 & 188). I was probably about 10 seconds or so too fast per mile. Obviously the cold and medicine ain't helping the HR any either. Anyway, at least the remainder of the week is all easy.
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tri-man 47
Footballguy
Perfect! Boston waves/corrals were just released. I've been nervous, having not heard back about their acceptance of my Houston marathon time improvement. The great news is that they did use that time, and as a result, I've landed in Wave 3, Corral 1. Theoretically, there will be about a 3 1/2 minute gap from the end of wave 2. (gruecd or others, does that actually work out?) As a result of all this, (a) I'll be starting with runners in my desired pace range, and (b) we should have a bit of open road to work with instead of very crowded first miles.
FUBAR
Footballguy
Really enjoying getting back on the bike over the past couple weeks. Probably won't PR the HM in April because of the slight change in focus but that's very much a B race anyway.
My sister texted me this weekend after getting her PR in a 10k. That was great to hear, especially as a year ago she was fighting breast cancer and was barely running (she kept doing some which was impressive as all get out).
My sister texted me this weekend after getting her PR in a 10k. That was great to hear, especially as a year ago she was fighting breast cancer and was barely running (she kept doing some which was impressive as all get out).
FUBAR
Footballguy
