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Ran a 10k - Official Thread (14 Viewers)
- Thread starter Ned
- Start date
MAC_32
Footballguy
I would not focus on quality Thursday, but unless you're dragging a similar run to today could be in the cards. I wouldn't force a 17/14 this weekend if it's not there, but if it is? Go for it! If the energy isn't there for 14 at MP I'd treat it like a standard long run then try to fast finish and punt the MP to next week.
Weekly mileage-wise, how about 70 then 75 and top out at 77? If you're scuffling to the end of the 77 mile week I don't think there's any shame in cutting that one short in quantity if it's replaced with quality and you still knock out the last long run to finish that week off.
Hang 10
Footballguy
Good input here. I think I'll just play it by ear. I do like the fast finish long runs because you only do em when you feel it. That's probably the safe plan.
Also, before I get to ahead of myself I better see what hurricane Matthew is going to do because I'm not doing a MP run on the treadmill.
ChiefD
Footballguy
Wow, that's nuts. Wish I had time to run more. It's kind of the conundrum I am always faced with. I will never get faster if I don't run more, but I can't run more because I'm too slow and don't have the extra time right now.
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
Hang 10
Footballguy
Ned
Footballguy
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
ThreeThousand
Footballguy
IM Chattanooga Race Report
TRAINING
IM Chattanooga 2016 was to be my fifth IM. I’ve raced Florida x2, Louisville x1, and Chattanooga x1 previously. For my training plan, I again followed a plan from the book "Be Iron Fit", by Don Fink. They have 3 plans in the book: "Competitive", Intermediate" and "Just Finish". The volume for the Intermediate plan peaked at around 15 hours/week, which seemed a little light, and the Competitive around 24 hours/week, which was too heavy for my life. Instead, I integrated the two to arrive at a hybrid plan which got me to about 20 hours/week at peak. This seemed to work pretty well in terms of managing my training schedule with life. I had 3 kids at home for this build (5, 4, and 2), so life is hectic enough without trying to fit in Iron-distance training around it. To be able to race IM, I had to promise my wife that evenings were family time, which meant that I had to get in ALL my workweek training in the mornings or at lunch. All morning workouts were up at 5:15 to get in the session before work. My training loosely broke down as:
Monday: Off day from s/b/r, a job change has forced me to actually go out to lunch with our CEO every Monday.
Tuesday: Morning bike (1:45), lunch swim (1 hr)
Wednesday: Morning bike (1 hr), brick run (1 hr), lunch bike #2 (1 hr)
Thursday: Morning bike (1:45), lunch swim (1 hr)
Friday: Morning bike (1 hr), brick run (1 hr), lunch bike #2 (1 hr)
Saturday: Long bike, 3 hours base building to 6 hours with a 1 hour brick
Sunday: Long run, 1.5 hours base building to 3 hours with a 1 hour bike session beforehand
RACE WEEK
I drove up to Chattanooga at 9:00am on Thursday morning to check-in before the lines got long. Spent some time (and money) at the IM expo, but the check-in process was quick and painless. Drove back to Atlanta that afternoon to finish out the work week, prep gear bags, and generally get ready for the race. For those that don’t know, IM provides 5 different gear bags – a bike gear bag (swim to bike transition), a run gear bag (bike to run transition), a bike special needs bag (would be located at mile 52 of the bike course), a run special needs bag (at mile 13 of the run course) and a morning clothes bag for stuff you wear to the swim start.
Wife, kids, and I drove back to Chattanooga Saturday mid-day. We immediately headed to bike and gear bag (bike gear bag and run gear bag only) dropoff, which had to happen between 10:00 and 3:00pm on Saturday, so you can imagine the clusterf#$% of 3000 athletes trying to get into transition with their bikes and gear. Fortunately we found a parking spot pretty close to the back side of transition, and since I had prepacked my gear bags all I had to do was quickly rack the bike, drop the bags (and make a quick stop at the bike shop in the expo for a CO2 cartridge), then back to the car. Since we were looking for something to do to keep the kids happy, we drove up to Lookout Mountain and walked around for a couple of hours. Even living only 2 hours away in Atlanta, I actually don’t recall the last time I was on Lookout Mountain. It was kind of cool seeing the historical sites, checking out the views, etc. It was even a “free entry to a National Park” day, so it only cost us $1.50 in parking meter quarters. After a few hours (and one child meltdown), we were off to the hotel (staying at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, about 1.5 miles straight down Market Street from transition). Dinner that night was at Urban Stack, which has apparently become my go-to Chattanooga restaurant. It’s even FUBAR-approved.
The forecast for race day was heat, heat, and more heat. High of 97 (supposedly tied the record high for Chattanooga for 9/25) with a humidity adjustment to make it “feel” like 107. More on this to come – as you might imagine, this becomes very, very important.
RACE DAY
I got up at about 5:00am, aiming to be down at transition about 6:00am (transition closed at 6:30, but I wasn’t in a hurry to be in the front of the line at the swim start. I’d rather get the extra 30 minutes of sleep). I already had everything set out, so the main priorities were a cup of coffee and my bagel & peanut butter. It’s funny – my body always can tell it’s had one cup of coffee. It generally results in a quick trip to the bathroom, about 10 minutes after waking up. Of course, on race day, that doesn’t happen L. Once I got breakfast taken care of and gotten all lubed up, it was time to head down to transition. I hopped on the electric CARTA shuttle that picks up right next to the Choo-Choo, and was dropped off right by transition. I got my tires pumped, bike loaded with water/nutrition, etc, hit the porta-potty (the lines at the swim start are awfully long) then hopped the shuttle up to the swim start.
The swim start was a time trial start. The race started at 7:30 and the race organizers say they got all 2800 athletes into the water by 8:00. I believe the official water temp was 82 degrees, so there were folks swimming with wetsuits, but they had to start at the back of the swim line. I got into line around6:50 or, I think, and was almost a mile back from the start. However, I knew from prior experience, that once the line started moving, it went FAST!
I rounded a corner, cleared the trees and saw the dock where people were jumping off. The music was blaring, huge crowds were cheering, the announcer was calling names and teams and the atmosphere was absolutely electric. I was being swept along with the crowd of athletes heading toward the dock and everything was happening so fast. The next thing I know I was running out onto the dock that extended into the river. There were athletes all along the dock, finding a spot and jumping in. I looked down and tried to find a spot for myself, making sure there was an open spot in the water and I didn't jump on anyone. Finally, near the end of the dock, I found an opening and crossing the timing mat, I started the watch, jumped in, and my day had begun.
SWIM
As soon as I hit the water, my first thought was "82 degrees?!? Bulls$%! This had to be less than that!" After three strokes, though, the water was fine, and even felt warm. The buoys were setup on the left side of the main channel, so I stayed to the right of mass of humanity so that I could get more benefit from the current that was strongest in the center of the river. As I was swimming, I was mentally comparing the speed of the swim to the speed in 2014, and was a bit bummed to see that I was certainly going slower. Even with the decreased current, it felt that the sight buoys and landscape features were flying by. I was actually wondering if they had put the buoys closer together than normal. I ran into a few feet along the way but for the most part I had pretty clean water to get around slower swimmers. I got to the tip of the island (about halfway) in 36 minutes, so I was a bit slower than goal pace (<30) due to the decreased current.
There were kayaks lined up horizontally across the river, probably to keep people from getting swept past the swim exit. In the last 25 meters of the swim, it was a real cluster. Swimmers were everywhere trying to get to the steps. I was so glad that I had been in a number of crowded swim exits cause otherwise, this could have been nerve racking. As I got to the steps, I was wishing they had a few more steps that went deeper into the water so I wouldn't have to lift the legs so high. However, they did have volunteers that were literally pulling you out of the water.
Target time: Sub 55 minutes, actual time 1:10:28. Florida 2015 was 1:26:16, Louisville 2015 was 1:10:04 (the 1:10ish times are probably most indicative of my actual swim fitness, goal time was hoping for the current assist), Chattanooga 2014 was 55:59(!), Florida 2012 was 1:23:45. I knew going into this race that without the current, my swim times would be slower; I had deliberately focused less on swimming this offseason/training build, as I thought more significant gains could be made on the bike/run. Total meters swimming 2015 – 221,649. Total meters swimming YTD 2016 – 151,800. Prorated, that gives somewhere in the neighborhood of 202,000 meters projected for 2016, a 10% decline YOY.
T1
Decent-sized hill coming up out of the water into transition, covered with carpet to make the running easier. Grabbed the gear bag and headed into the changing tent, which was slammed. The downside to being a super-average swimmer is that the T1 tent is always mobbed. No clothes change for me, but I did have to put on my bike gear and slather on some Chamois Butt’r for the long ride.
I ran toward my bike and a volunteer joined me and ran ahead of me to grab my bike for me. Hit the bike mount line, hopped on, clipped in, and was off. Target time: 5 min, actual time 6:32. A little slower than I had wanted, but the layout of transition was such that I don’t think I could have gone much faster. Transition time here was 6:11 in 2014, so very consistent.
BIKE
The course is aptly described as a lollipop – it’s about 11 miles south out of downtown Chattanooga and into North Georgia, a rolling 2-loop 47 mile course there, and 11 miles back to Chattanooga.
The course immediately started uphill, and was very crowded to start. People were streaming out of T1 and everyone was clustered together because the swim didn’t do much to think folks out. Some train tracks on the way out of town provided a gruesome nutrition graveyard. Tons of water bottle carnage. Once you got out of town, there were a few climbs on the loops that required the small chain ring but that was maybe 6 times all day. The rest of rollers really provided plenty of opportunity to gain speed going down a hill in order to get you up and over the next one.
My steady pace on my training grounds at home (usually the Silver Comet trail) is generally in the 19-20 mph range. I was averaging 20-21 for the first 40 miles and my first thought was how I was going to blow up later. However, I took a body inventory and didn't feel like I was working too hard and my HR was in a very happy range so I just decided to roll with it.
Quick stop at Special Needs in Chickamauga to grab my Redbull, olives (yes, olives – awesome changeup from the sugar you consume the whole day, small, and super portable), contacts, and spare CO2, and was off on the second loop. I didn’t need my spare contacts and spare CO2, but we weren’t getting our special needs bags back, and I’m too much of a cheapskate to let them go to waste. So, since I was stopping anyways, I grabbed them and stashed them in my top pockets.
By the time I had hit SN, the sun was fully out and it was stinkin’ hot. It was sort of like riding into pea soup. You could just feel the heat from the air beating down on you, even at 20mph, and there was little shade on the course. My aid station routine became fill my aerobottle just before the aid station, tossing the trash, grabbing another water and Gatorade and stashing in the cages, get something to eat (selection varied), and grab another bottle of water to 100% dump all over myself. The bath cooled me off for about the next 5 minutes until it evaporated. I didn’t see much silly carnage on the first loop, but you could tell by the second loop that the heat was taking its’ toll. Marino Vanhoenacker (who won the race) came flying by me just after SN on my first loop (he on his second). He had to have been doing 30mph as I was struggling to maintain 20. Gives you a bit of perspective on how fast some of these guys are. It was about the end of the first loop, towards the beginning of the second loop, where I started to realize the toll the heat was going to take. I saw at least 5 athletes pulled over to the side of the road at aid stations, trying to get into some shade. Also heard 2 separate ambulances as I came out of Chickamauga (special needs).
The second loop was more of the first. Every aid station had athletes pulled over into the shade. I just kept the routine going, trying to keep (relatively) cool, with the head down. The 11 miles back into Chattanooga was a welcome flatter stretch, and it was nice to get off the bike.
Target time: 05:30 hours, actual time 05:55:13. Florida 2015 was 5:24:58, Louisville 2015 was 5:54:03, Chattanooga 2014 was 5:39:39, Florida 2012 was 6:12:09. The heat just sucked the will out of you here. I had put in a good base of bike training this year so I’m pretty disappointed I couldn’t put down under a 5:30 on this course. It’s super fast and I was trained up. Bike mileage 2015 – 10,528 miles. Mileage 2016 YTD – 9,114 miles. Prorated, that gives 12,152 miles for 2016 – a 20% increase YOY.
T2
Rolled into T2 in pretty good shape, and pumped about being off the bike. Handed my bike to a volunteer, grabbed my gear bag, and headed into the changing tent. Again, since I was wearing the same thing the whole day, there wasn’t much to do other than change shoes/socks, body glide the feet, and grab my race belt/sunglasses/visor. Unfortunately, I learned something today – Body Glide actually liquefies in 105 degree temperature. As I ran into the changing tent, sat down, and opened up the Glide, it literally splashed all over me, and instantly solidified like hot wax. I managed to get a bit on the key spots on the feet, pulled on fresh socks, slipped on the running shoes, and headed out.
Target time: 5 min (4:59 in Florida), actual time 6:12. Seems a tad slow, but didn’t feel like I dawdled. Difference could likely be attributed to trying to apply liquid Body Glide.
It was in T2 that the degree to which the heat would play a factor really hit me. There were 2 athletes in T2 laying down with a whole grocery (5lb) bag of ice on their chest. One volunteer was yelling for a medic. Generally, since I’m decent on the bike, I come into T2 with athletes of similar ability, and no one walks out of T2. Everyone’s adrenaline is going, you’re excited to be off the bike, and the crowds are there yelling and cheering, so even if you’re running slowly, you’re still running. Today, well over half the athletes I saw were walking out of T2, just utterly shattered already.
RUN
Similar to my bike mileage, I’d put in a decent bit more running this year, so was hoping for a solid run off the bike. The Chattanooga run course runs up Amicalola Highway about 4.5 miles, then back along the Riverwalk about 4.5 miles to (almost) transition, then you cross the river for a 4ish mile loop on the North side of town. The run up Amicalola is net uphill, the run back on the Riverwalk is net downhill, with a large hill right at the end of the Riverwalk up Battery Place. Amicalola Highway has quite literally no shade, so it was like running uphill on the surface of the sun. As I would learn later, the temperature was 97 degrees, with a heat index of another 15-20 degrees to make it feel something like 110-115 on the asphalt. Every aid station I would get a cup of ice, dump water into it, chug, then get another cup of ice for the shorts/hat/to hold in my hands until the next aid station. Gatorade was hot, cola was hot, so to cool it down you had to pair it with a cup of ice. It was no use, though, the sun just plain won. I was walking by mile 3. Once you made the turnaround onto the Riverwalk, there was at least some shade, so it cooled a little bit.
The North side of town, though, has the monster hills. You get to run up the hill on Barton twice (once on the way out, and once on the way back) on EACH LOOP, and there were some other significant hills as well. I will say, though, that the spectators on this part of the course were awesome. Nearly every house had people out in the yard cheering us on and there were a ton of lawn parties that appeared to have been going on since the first runners came through. The music was blasting, people were offering us beer, there were Hi-5's galore. The energy here was incredible. And every time an energetic runner ran up the hill there were huge cheers from the crowd. Most of the rest of the run course on this side of the bridge was pretty reasonable. Another favorite area was Riverview Dr. Here the houses were mainly older mansions on 5+ acre lots looking across the road to the river. It was a really gorgeous area, and the scenery helped with the pain.
After the end of the pedestrian bridge back to transition to complete lap 1, I saw the wife and kids. I was about 2:30 into the run by then, so I told them not to wait around for the second loop, because it’s not like it would be faster L. Got a hug from each kid and a kiss from the wife, and headed back out onto the second lap while they went back to the hotel. It was crowded since a lot of the racers were starting their first loop. Probably 90% of the athletes were walking. I saw 4 or 5 people throwing up by the side of the road, every aid station had athletes sitting down by the side, trying to take advantage of the ice and little shade. There were 3 instances where race personnel were golf carting athletes back, I assume to the medical tent. I counted 5 more ambulances on the run. By the second time up Barton, my quads were totally destroyed. Strangely, it hurt way less to run uphill than it did downhill, so I’d run up each hill, passing tons of athletes walking. On the way down, they’d all repass me, walking and grimacing in pain.
Nutrition: Gel every other aid station, water and Gatorade at all. Coke added on the second loop, so took one cup of coke and one cup of water at every aid station on the second loop. One cup of chicken broth about mile 20.
Target time: 3:50 hours, actual time 5:02:55. Run mileage 2015 – 784 miles. Mileage 2016 YTD – 819 miles. Prorated, that gives 1,092 miles for 2016, an almost 40% increase. I should easily have been able to hit 3:50 based on that mileage (was 3:55 in Louisville last year).
FINISH
You could tell by the finish line that the volunteers had seen some rough stuff today. I must’ve been asked 10 times if I could walk or needed medical. Got my hat/shirt/medal, got a protein shake (nastiness that someone decided was a good substitute for good old chocolate milk) which I promptly spit out, a couple waters, and sat for a few minutes. Since the family was back at the hotel, I had to collect my race bags, bike, etc., pack them all up, then bike back to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, about 1.5 miles away. Kids were already asleep by the time I made it there, but the wife had gotten takeout, so there were some kiddo leftovers as well as my own burger to consume. After half a gallon of (real) chocolate milk and a shower, I wasn’t too hungry, but about 2:00am when I couldn’t sleep the leftovers were really, really good.
POST-RACE
Some interesting information and race stats were posted on Facebook after the race. There was, at times, an over 1.5 hour wait to get into the Medical tent. 14 athletes were taken to local emergency rooms. One was still there a week later. There was a report of one athlete that, after finishing, had a seizure due to dehydration. 2716 athletes registered for the race, 2213 finished the swim, 2036 finished the bike, 1651 finished the run. Overall DNS/DNF rate was 39.2%, which according to rumor, was the second highest rate ever.
I took a week off to go to the beach (put in very light training), but since my ultimate goal is to race in Kona, I’m trying to get to 12 IM completed. I’ve got Louisville here on Sunday (goal is to just finish) to chalk one more off the list in the current training build. It will be an interesting contrast. I’m going to need a hat/gloves/jacket/arm warmers – highs are currently looking like upper 60s with lows in the mid 40s. That’s going to be cold in the morning and coming out of the water.
TRAINING
IM Chattanooga 2016 was to be my fifth IM. I’ve raced Florida x2, Louisville x1, and Chattanooga x1 previously. For my training plan, I again followed a plan from the book "Be Iron Fit", by Don Fink. They have 3 plans in the book: "Competitive", Intermediate" and "Just Finish". The volume for the Intermediate plan peaked at around 15 hours/week, which seemed a little light, and the Competitive around 24 hours/week, which was too heavy for my life. Instead, I integrated the two to arrive at a hybrid plan which got me to about 20 hours/week at peak. This seemed to work pretty well in terms of managing my training schedule with life. I had 3 kids at home for this build (5, 4, and 2), so life is hectic enough without trying to fit in Iron-distance training around it. To be able to race IM, I had to promise my wife that evenings were family time, which meant that I had to get in ALL my workweek training in the mornings or at lunch. All morning workouts were up at 5:15 to get in the session before work. My training loosely broke down as:
Monday: Off day from s/b/r, a job change has forced me to actually go out to lunch with our CEO every Monday.
Tuesday: Morning bike (1:45), lunch swim (1 hr)
Wednesday: Morning bike (1 hr), brick run (1 hr), lunch bike #2 (1 hr)
Thursday: Morning bike (1:45), lunch swim (1 hr)
Friday: Morning bike (1 hr), brick run (1 hr), lunch bike #2 (1 hr)
Saturday: Long bike, 3 hours base building to 6 hours with a 1 hour brick
Sunday: Long run, 1.5 hours base building to 3 hours with a 1 hour bike session beforehand
RACE WEEK
I drove up to Chattanooga at 9:00am on Thursday morning to check-in before the lines got long. Spent some time (and money) at the IM expo, but the check-in process was quick and painless. Drove back to Atlanta that afternoon to finish out the work week, prep gear bags, and generally get ready for the race. For those that don’t know, IM provides 5 different gear bags – a bike gear bag (swim to bike transition), a run gear bag (bike to run transition), a bike special needs bag (would be located at mile 52 of the bike course), a run special needs bag (at mile 13 of the run course) and a morning clothes bag for stuff you wear to the swim start.
Wife, kids, and I drove back to Chattanooga Saturday mid-day. We immediately headed to bike and gear bag (bike gear bag and run gear bag only) dropoff, which had to happen between 10:00 and 3:00pm on Saturday, so you can imagine the clusterf#$% of 3000 athletes trying to get into transition with their bikes and gear. Fortunately we found a parking spot pretty close to the back side of transition, and since I had prepacked my gear bags all I had to do was quickly rack the bike, drop the bags (and make a quick stop at the bike shop in the expo for a CO2 cartridge), then back to the car. Since we were looking for something to do to keep the kids happy, we drove up to Lookout Mountain and walked around for a couple of hours. Even living only 2 hours away in Atlanta, I actually don’t recall the last time I was on Lookout Mountain. It was kind of cool seeing the historical sites, checking out the views, etc. It was even a “free entry to a National Park” day, so it only cost us $1.50 in parking meter quarters. After a few hours (and one child meltdown), we were off to the hotel (staying at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, about 1.5 miles straight down Market Street from transition). Dinner that night was at Urban Stack, which has apparently become my go-to Chattanooga restaurant. It’s even FUBAR-approved.
The forecast for race day was heat, heat, and more heat. High of 97 (supposedly tied the record high for Chattanooga for 9/25) with a humidity adjustment to make it “feel” like 107. More on this to come – as you might imagine, this becomes very, very important.
RACE DAY
I got up at about 5:00am, aiming to be down at transition about 6:00am (transition closed at 6:30, but I wasn’t in a hurry to be in the front of the line at the swim start. I’d rather get the extra 30 minutes of sleep). I already had everything set out, so the main priorities were a cup of coffee and my bagel & peanut butter. It’s funny – my body always can tell it’s had one cup of coffee. It generally results in a quick trip to the bathroom, about 10 minutes after waking up. Of course, on race day, that doesn’t happen L. Once I got breakfast taken care of and gotten all lubed up, it was time to head down to transition. I hopped on the electric CARTA shuttle that picks up right next to the Choo-Choo, and was dropped off right by transition. I got my tires pumped, bike loaded with water/nutrition, etc, hit the porta-potty (the lines at the swim start are awfully long) then hopped the shuttle up to the swim start.
The swim start was a time trial start. The race started at 7:30 and the race organizers say they got all 2800 athletes into the water by 8:00. I believe the official water temp was 82 degrees, so there were folks swimming with wetsuits, but they had to start at the back of the swim line. I got into line around6:50 or, I think, and was almost a mile back from the start. However, I knew from prior experience, that once the line started moving, it went FAST!
I rounded a corner, cleared the trees and saw the dock where people were jumping off. The music was blaring, huge crowds were cheering, the announcer was calling names and teams and the atmosphere was absolutely electric. I was being swept along with the crowd of athletes heading toward the dock and everything was happening so fast. The next thing I know I was running out onto the dock that extended into the river. There were athletes all along the dock, finding a spot and jumping in. I looked down and tried to find a spot for myself, making sure there was an open spot in the water and I didn't jump on anyone. Finally, near the end of the dock, I found an opening and crossing the timing mat, I started the watch, jumped in, and my day had begun.
SWIM
As soon as I hit the water, my first thought was "82 degrees?!? Bulls$%! This had to be less than that!" After three strokes, though, the water was fine, and even felt warm. The buoys were setup on the left side of the main channel, so I stayed to the right of mass of humanity so that I could get more benefit from the current that was strongest in the center of the river. As I was swimming, I was mentally comparing the speed of the swim to the speed in 2014, and was a bit bummed to see that I was certainly going slower. Even with the decreased current, it felt that the sight buoys and landscape features were flying by. I was actually wondering if they had put the buoys closer together than normal. I ran into a few feet along the way but for the most part I had pretty clean water to get around slower swimmers. I got to the tip of the island (about halfway) in 36 minutes, so I was a bit slower than goal pace (<30) due to the decreased current.
There were kayaks lined up horizontally across the river, probably to keep people from getting swept past the swim exit. In the last 25 meters of the swim, it was a real cluster. Swimmers were everywhere trying to get to the steps. I was so glad that I had been in a number of crowded swim exits cause otherwise, this could have been nerve racking. As I got to the steps, I was wishing they had a few more steps that went deeper into the water so I wouldn't have to lift the legs so high. However, they did have volunteers that were literally pulling you out of the water.
Target time: Sub 55 minutes, actual time 1:10:28. Florida 2015 was 1:26:16, Louisville 2015 was 1:10:04 (the 1:10ish times are probably most indicative of my actual swim fitness, goal time was hoping for the current assist), Chattanooga 2014 was 55:59(!), Florida 2012 was 1:23:45. I knew going into this race that without the current, my swim times would be slower; I had deliberately focused less on swimming this offseason/training build, as I thought more significant gains could be made on the bike/run. Total meters swimming 2015 – 221,649. Total meters swimming YTD 2016 – 151,800. Prorated, that gives somewhere in the neighborhood of 202,000 meters projected for 2016, a 10% decline YOY.
T1
Decent-sized hill coming up out of the water into transition, covered with carpet to make the running easier. Grabbed the gear bag and headed into the changing tent, which was slammed. The downside to being a super-average swimmer is that the T1 tent is always mobbed. No clothes change for me, but I did have to put on my bike gear and slather on some Chamois Butt’r for the long ride.
I ran toward my bike and a volunteer joined me and ran ahead of me to grab my bike for me. Hit the bike mount line, hopped on, clipped in, and was off. Target time: 5 min, actual time 6:32. A little slower than I had wanted, but the layout of transition was such that I don’t think I could have gone much faster. Transition time here was 6:11 in 2014, so very consistent.
BIKE
The course is aptly described as a lollipop – it’s about 11 miles south out of downtown Chattanooga and into North Georgia, a rolling 2-loop 47 mile course there, and 11 miles back to Chattanooga.
The course immediately started uphill, and was very crowded to start. People were streaming out of T1 and everyone was clustered together because the swim didn’t do much to think folks out. Some train tracks on the way out of town provided a gruesome nutrition graveyard. Tons of water bottle carnage. Once you got out of town, there were a few climbs on the loops that required the small chain ring but that was maybe 6 times all day. The rest of rollers really provided plenty of opportunity to gain speed going down a hill in order to get you up and over the next one.
My steady pace on my training grounds at home (usually the Silver Comet trail) is generally in the 19-20 mph range. I was averaging 20-21 for the first 40 miles and my first thought was how I was going to blow up later. However, I took a body inventory and didn't feel like I was working too hard and my HR was in a very happy range so I just decided to roll with it.
Quick stop at Special Needs in Chickamauga to grab my Redbull, olives (yes, olives – awesome changeup from the sugar you consume the whole day, small, and super portable), contacts, and spare CO2, and was off on the second loop. I didn’t need my spare contacts and spare CO2, but we weren’t getting our special needs bags back, and I’m too much of a cheapskate to let them go to waste. So, since I was stopping anyways, I grabbed them and stashed them in my top pockets.
By the time I had hit SN, the sun was fully out and it was stinkin’ hot. It was sort of like riding into pea soup. You could just feel the heat from the air beating down on you, even at 20mph, and there was little shade on the course. My aid station routine became fill my aerobottle just before the aid station, tossing the trash, grabbing another water and Gatorade and stashing in the cages, get something to eat (selection varied), and grab another bottle of water to 100% dump all over myself. The bath cooled me off for about the next 5 minutes until it evaporated. I didn’t see much silly carnage on the first loop, but you could tell by the second loop that the heat was taking its’ toll. Marino Vanhoenacker (who won the race) came flying by me just after SN on my first loop (he on his second). He had to have been doing 30mph as I was struggling to maintain 20. Gives you a bit of perspective on how fast some of these guys are. It was about the end of the first loop, towards the beginning of the second loop, where I started to realize the toll the heat was going to take. I saw at least 5 athletes pulled over to the side of the road at aid stations, trying to get into some shade. Also heard 2 separate ambulances as I came out of Chickamauga (special needs).
The second loop was more of the first. Every aid station had athletes pulled over into the shade. I just kept the routine going, trying to keep (relatively) cool, with the head down. The 11 miles back into Chattanooga was a welcome flatter stretch, and it was nice to get off the bike.
Target time: 05:30 hours, actual time 05:55:13. Florida 2015 was 5:24:58, Louisville 2015 was 5:54:03, Chattanooga 2014 was 5:39:39, Florida 2012 was 6:12:09. The heat just sucked the will out of you here. I had put in a good base of bike training this year so I’m pretty disappointed I couldn’t put down under a 5:30 on this course. It’s super fast and I was trained up. Bike mileage 2015 – 10,528 miles. Mileage 2016 YTD – 9,114 miles. Prorated, that gives 12,152 miles for 2016 – a 20% increase YOY.
T2
Rolled into T2 in pretty good shape, and pumped about being off the bike. Handed my bike to a volunteer, grabbed my gear bag, and headed into the changing tent. Again, since I was wearing the same thing the whole day, there wasn’t much to do other than change shoes/socks, body glide the feet, and grab my race belt/sunglasses/visor. Unfortunately, I learned something today – Body Glide actually liquefies in 105 degree temperature. As I ran into the changing tent, sat down, and opened up the Glide, it literally splashed all over me, and instantly solidified like hot wax. I managed to get a bit on the key spots on the feet, pulled on fresh socks, slipped on the running shoes, and headed out.
Target time: 5 min (4:59 in Florida), actual time 6:12. Seems a tad slow, but didn’t feel like I dawdled. Difference could likely be attributed to trying to apply liquid Body Glide.
It was in T2 that the degree to which the heat would play a factor really hit me. There were 2 athletes in T2 laying down with a whole grocery (5lb) bag of ice on their chest. One volunteer was yelling for a medic. Generally, since I’m decent on the bike, I come into T2 with athletes of similar ability, and no one walks out of T2. Everyone’s adrenaline is going, you’re excited to be off the bike, and the crowds are there yelling and cheering, so even if you’re running slowly, you’re still running. Today, well over half the athletes I saw were walking out of T2, just utterly shattered already.
RUN
Similar to my bike mileage, I’d put in a decent bit more running this year, so was hoping for a solid run off the bike. The Chattanooga run course runs up Amicalola Highway about 4.5 miles, then back along the Riverwalk about 4.5 miles to (almost) transition, then you cross the river for a 4ish mile loop on the North side of town. The run up Amicalola is net uphill, the run back on the Riverwalk is net downhill, with a large hill right at the end of the Riverwalk up Battery Place. Amicalola Highway has quite literally no shade, so it was like running uphill on the surface of the sun. As I would learn later, the temperature was 97 degrees, with a heat index of another 15-20 degrees to make it feel something like 110-115 on the asphalt. Every aid station I would get a cup of ice, dump water into it, chug, then get another cup of ice for the shorts/hat/to hold in my hands until the next aid station. Gatorade was hot, cola was hot, so to cool it down you had to pair it with a cup of ice. It was no use, though, the sun just plain won. I was walking by mile 3. Once you made the turnaround onto the Riverwalk, there was at least some shade, so it cooled a little bit.
The North side of town, though, has the monster hills. You get to run up the hill on Barton twice (once on the way out, and once on the way back) on EACH LOOP, and there were some other significant hills as well. I will say, though, that the spectators on this part of the course were awesome. Nearly every house had people out in the yard cheering us on and there were a ton of lawn parties that appeared to have been going on since the first runners came through. The music was blasting, people were offering us beer, there were Hi-5's galore. The energy here was incredible. And every time an energetic runner ran up the hill there were huge cheers from the crowd. Most of the rest of the run course on this side of the bridge was pretty reasonable. Another favorite area was Riverview Dr. Here the houses were mainly older mansions on 5+ acre lots looking across the road to the river. It was a really gorgeous area, and the scenery helped with the pain.
After the end of the pedestrian bridge back to transition to complete lap 1, I saw the wife and kids. I was about 2:30 into the run by then, so I told them not to wait around for the second loop, because it’s not like it would be faster L. Got a hug from each kid and a kiss from the wife, and headed back out onto the second lap while they went back to the hotel. It was crowded since a lot of the racers were starting their first loop. Probably 90% of the athletes were walking. I saw 4 or 5 people throwing up by the side of the road, every aid station had athletes sitting down by the side, trying to take advantage of the ice and little shade. There were 3 instances where race personnel were golf carting athletes back, I assume to the medical tent. I counted 5 more ambulances on the run. By the second time up Barton, my quads were totally destroyed. Strangely, it hurt way less to run uphill than it did downhill, so I’d run up each hill, passing tons of athletes walking. On the way down, they’d all repass me, walking and grimacing in pain.
Nutrition: Gel every other aid station, water and Gatorade at all. Coke added on the second loop, so took one cup of coke and one cup of water at every aid station on the second loop. One cup of chicken broth about mile 20.
Target time: 3:50 hours, actual time 5:02:55. Run mileage 2015 – 784 miles. Mileage 2016 YTD – 819 miles. Prorated, that gives 1,092 miles for 2016, an almost 40% increase. I should easily have been able to hit 3:50 based on that mileage (was 3:55 in Louisville last year).
FINISH
You could tell by the finish line that the volunteers had seen some rough stuff today. I must’ve been asked 10 times if I could walk or needed medical. Got my hat/shirt/medal, got a protein shake (nastiness that someone decided was a good substitute for good old chocolate milk) which I promptly spit out, a couple waters, and sat for a few minutes. Since the family was back at the hotel, I had to collect my race bags, bike, etc., pack them all up, then bike back to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, about 1.5 miles away. Kids were already asleep by the time I made it there, but the wife had gotten takeout, so there were some kiddo leftovers as well as my own burger to consume. After half a gallon of (real) chocolate milk and a shower, I wasn’t too hungry, but about 2:00am when I couldn’t sleep the leftovers were really, really good.
POST-RACE
Some interesting information and race stats were posted on Facebook after the race. There was, at times, an over 1.5 hour wait to get into the Medical tent. 14 athletes were taken to local emergency rooms. One was still there a week later. There was a report of one athlete that, after finishing, had a seizure due to dehydration. 2716 athletes registered for the race, 2213 finished the swim, 2036 finished the bike, 1651 finished the run. Overall DNS/DNF rate was 39.2%, which according to rumor, was the second highest rate ever.
I took a week off to go to the beach (put in very light training), but since my ultimate goal is to race in Kona, I’m trying to get to 12 IM completed. I’ve got Louisville here on Sunday (goal is to just finish) to chalk one more off the list in the current training build. It will be an interesting contrast. I’m going to need a hat/gloves/jacket/arm warmers – highs are currently looking like upper 60s with lows in the mid 40s. That’s going to be cold in the morning and coming out of the water.
Ned
Footballguy
pbm107
Footballguy
No other than I am still a moron. I missed my doctors apt because I didn't read my wife's text (she scheduled the apt). I rescheduled for next week.
Have you decided on a Spring marathon? If I am able to start base building in December I am thinking about the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach (March 19) @Hang 10 or the Rock N Roll DC (March 12). I don't like the late marathon start for the Shamrock, so I was leaning towards the DC race.
@ThreeThousand - I almost stopped reading at "High of 97"...that's insane, especially with so much time on the asphalt. Incredible race report and major props for gutting that out and finishing. 
Hang 10
Footballguy
Dood...would be really cool if you did Shamrock! That was my first marathon back in 2012. Obviously it's a flat fast course. The late start time does kinda suck but hope that's not a deal breaker.
ETA: The after party is off the chain though! It more than makes up for the late start.
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Juxtatarot
Footballguy
There aren't many early spring marathons in the Midwest. I was leaning towards the Wisconsin Marathon (May 6). But....my brother lives in suburban DC. Hmmm....
ChiefD
Footballguy
Holy Hell @ThreeThousand. What a day that must have been.
Congrats on toughing it through that. Wow.
Congrats on toughing it through that. Wow.
ChiefD
Footballguy
Hmmmm, that's tempting. Would love to try a spring marathon to see the difference in training over the winter. And my uncle lives about 4 hours from there. Could run on Saturday and go to his place and hopefully hit the walleye run on Sunday.
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
I can't vouch for the quality of the marathon. I've never talked to anyone who has ran it. It did make this list however (whatever that's worth).
ChiefD
Footballguy
My brother who lives in Libertyville ran the 1/2 about 4 years ago and said it was great. A brat and beer at the end. That's good enough for me. (plus I would get to see some family)
tri-man 47
Footballguy
@ChiefD that'd be great! The course map is posted below. Good thing I checked - this is not the course that I was anticipating (same race name, but totally new location)! The HM starts at 8:30 a.m. I'll probably arrive around 7:30 a.m. to check in and then run at least 2 easy miles to loosen up. What's your timing? Would you want to head over and join me for those couple of miles starting around 7:45-7:50 a.m.? If so, we could work out the logistics.
https://www.allcommunityevents.com/fall_marathon/prairie-state-half-marathon-course-map.pdf
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
Sorry about the backlog in reports but I got behind. Trying to get myself caught up. Races in Sunday on week 11 and Friday of week 12. Neither was a PR but both were close!
Hanson week 11 training for NYC Marathon
M: 8 @ 9:10/123. Cooler weather is helping make these runs easy. A lot less sweat. Easy run with zero issues. Had to hold back the legs at times.
T: 11 @ 8:13/137 These are mile repeats at 10 seconds faster than MP with a quick ¼ recovery. Did the intervals at 7:19, 7:18, 7:17, 7:18, 7:15, 7:18. The rest was warm up and cool down. It was hard especially on tired legs but not overwhelming. Solid workout.
W: Scheduled Day off
T: 10 @ 7:51/149 10 miles at which 8 are at MP (7:30/mile pace). Did it and worked some hills into it as I prepare for the bridges of NYC. Generally pleased but the uphills were tough.
F: 10 @ 9:30/119 Easy slow miles as I prepared to race on Sunday. Nothing extraordinary but it was a cool 45 degrees so I pulled the gloves out for this run.
S: 5.3 @ 9:21/126 This was run #2 in NYC. This one was after a night of drinking and about 5 hours of sleep. It was humid and really steamy. It wasn’t a huge issue though as I just cruised slowly through Central Park.
S: RACEDAY! Easy 2 mile warmup at 9:31 pace. Then it was racetime. Muggy conditions with temps in the mid to upper 60’s. Far from ideal but it was cloudy so the sun wasn’t really going to be a concern. Flat course and I was gonna give a PR a shot. I didn’t taper at all so legs weren’t completely fresh but wanted to see how I felt. Plan was to go out at PR pace 7:04ish and see how it felt. PR is 1:32:50.
Miles 1-4 --6:56, 7:00, 6:59 and 6:59. Felt decent and in mile 4 I passed the lead woman. I think the half marathon is a bit like the 5K. In the 5K, you get to mile 1 and if you are running in right, you say to yourself, “I’m not sure I can hold this for 2 more miles.” I think a half marathon is somewhat similar. You get to mile 2 or 3 and say “I don’t think I can do another 10 miles at this pace.” I was thinking it but wanted to grind and see how I could do.
Mile 5-9 –7:07, 7:07, 7:01, 6:58, 7:11. Although the paces slowed some, there were more rolling hills that contributed to this. I was pushing though and felt like I may not be able to keep the pace. I was working hard and sweating hard. I was, however, still passing people, slowly but steadily.
Mile 10 and 11 – 7:33 and 7:22. I was using this race to practice fueling and trying some new things. Things went poorly here. I fueled with something I hadn’t tried at race pace before and it didn’t go well. I can’t say that is solely why my paces slowed, but it contributed. I was burping and digestion was happening but not smoothly. I actually walked for 20 seconds through a water stop to try to reset and get myself going.
Mile 12 and 13 – 7:05 and 7:13. At this point, I was holding on for dear life. I heard footsteps and then I heard the crowd yelling to the person “First female….go lady!” Ugh. The top woman was right behind me. I pushed harder. I wanted to finish in front of her. I picked off another guy who looked my age (found out later he was). A light rain started to fall which was refreshing as it wasn’t a soaking rain….more like a cooling shower.
0.1 – 5:10 pace. Knowing it was near the end, I didn’t want this woman to pass me. I pushed it hard and beat her by 7 seconds.
Time – 1:33:12 (missed PR by 22 seconds)/162 HR
Overall – 11/284
AG – 1/21 -- got a decent sized trophy. What does someone in the mid 40’s do with a trophy?
Thrilled I was able to almost PR on tired legs on a humid day. Speaks well to my fitness.
Did a one mile cool down at 9:29.
Weekly total – 60.4 miles
Hanson week 12 training for NYC Marathon – I knew this week would be tough as I was traveling for a work conference. As you can see, it was a messy week.
M: 6.2 @ 9:19/130. Rainy skies made this a treadmill run. I definitely dislike treadmills so much. Legs were heavy from the race the day prior, but got this one done. Kept the incline at anywhere between 2 and 3%. Monotonous. Boring. Dreadful.
T: 11 @ 9:09/130 Normally this is a speed day, but after racing on Sunday, I made it an easy day. Ran it late morning on a nice bike trail that ran from the city up to the suburbs. Nice run but really flat. Legs felt ok but were definitely tired.
W: 5.3 @9:23/127 – easy run after a late night out. Nothing extraordinary except I got up and did it.
T: Scheduled day off.
F: Race! First ran a simple 2 miles at 9:09/125 to warm up.
5K race. Admittedly, this race is part of a conference for work. Its in the evening after a long day of meetings, several days of little sleep, a fair amount of alcohol consumed, and did I mention it was 87 degrees? My PR was 20:36 and I didn’t think that was realistic. It was an out and back on a bikepath with small rolling hills along the side of a river. Ran 6:50 first mile and felt pretty tired from it. In retrospect, not a surprise as I didn’t really get a full warmup in due to lack of time. I was running a few seconds behind the first two women. In the early part of mile 2, I passed one of the women. At the turnaround, I was right behind the lead woman. Near the end of mile 2, I passed the lead woman. Mile 2 was 6:43. I then was working to stay ahead of her throughout the rest of the race. I realized partway through, she had faded back. My mile 3 was 6:32 and the 0.1 was 6:13. Overall time was 20:50 good enough for 6th place out of 146. The top female came in about 35 seconds after me. Overall very pleased and even though it wasn’t a PR, I’m definitely feeling like I’m in the best shape of my life.
Did a one mile cool down at 9:18 pace.
S: Busy all day and had literally zero time to run. GRRRR.
S: 2.5 @ 9.28/130 Was gonna try to make this a longer run of some sort, however, my wife wasn’t gonna have any of it. I finally had a quick opening so I arranged a playdate for my youngest with a neighbors kid. Unfortunately it was a quick one. I was venturing out and she texted and told me she had to cut the playdate short so the best I could do is 2.5 miles. Ugh. This week was a complete mess.
Weekly total – 31.1 miles
Hanson week 13 training for NYC Marathon
M: 10 @ 8:51/136 Easy run at home. With refreshed legs, I had to hold back the legs from wanting to run faster.
T: 10.3@ 7:59/149 I was in NYC for work so I was able to run in Central Park. It was a drizzly and raw morning. The plan called for 3 sets of 2 mile strength runs which are run at 10 seconds per mile faster than MP. Completed those with very little problem. I did a ½ jog in between each session. Add a warm up and cool down and you have 10.3 miles!
W: 6 @ 9:10/137 Normally it’s a scheduled day off, but since last week was a mess, I decided to throw and easy 6 miler in. No biggie as the legs were feeling fresh.
T: 11 @ 7:47/150 This was a MP run for the middle 9 miles. All paces were below MP (7:30) except for 2….one was a decent sized hill (7:36) and the other was me not paying attention. (7:32).
F: 9.1 @ 9:16/128 Dodging raindrops in this run helped to make sure I got it done. I ran an extra mile at the end as I wasn’t sure how the weather would be the following day. Very steady pacing.
S: 7 @ 9:16/128 Nice and easy run to get done. Added a hill in there as I try to continue to prep for the NYC hills.
S: 20.6 @ 8:14/147. Tired legs and this run was designed to be 16 at long run pace which is 30 slower than MP. Due to tired legs, Hanson says it recreates the last 16 miles of a marathon. After a couple warmup miles, I worked through my first 14 with all between 7:56 and 8:01 (including several decent hills). I decided to do the last 2 of 16 at MP and banged those out at 7:27 and 7:25. Then a couple cool down miles. Added the extra 0.6 so I could get to an even 74 miles for the week.
Pain update – the piriformis is still acting up. Ned’s stretching suggestions helped some but gonna try to do some yoga focused on my back. Hopefully will help stretch things out for me.
Weekly total – 74 miles – all time high for me!
Hanson week 11 training for NYC Marathon
M: 8 @ 9:10/123. Cooler weather is helping make these runs easy. A lot less sweat. Easy run with zero issues. Had to hold back the legs at times.
T: 11 @ 8:13/137 These are mile repeats at 10 seconds faster than MP with a quick ¼ recovery. Did the intervals at 7:19, 7:18, 7:17, 7:18, 7:15, 7:18. The rest was warm up and cool down. It was hard especially on tired legs but not overwhelming. Solid workout.
W: Scheduled Day off
T: 10 @ 7:51/149 10 miles at which 8 are at MP (7:30/mile pace). Did it and worked some hills into it as I prepare for the bridges of NYC. Generally pleased but the uphills were tough.
F: 10 @ 9:30/119 Easy slow miles as I prepared to race on Sunday. Nothing extraordinary but it was a cool 45 degrees so I pulled the gloves out for this run.
S: 5.3 @ 9:21/126 This was run #2 in NYC. This one was after a night of drinking and about 5 hours of sleep. It was humid and really steamy. It wasn’t a huge issue though as I just cruised slowly through Central Park.
S: RACEDAY! Easy 2 mile warmup at 9:31 pace. Then it was racetime. Muggy conditions with temps in the mid to upper 60’s. Far from ideal but it was cloudy so the sun wasn’t really going to be a concern. Flat course and I was gonna give a PR a shot. I didn’t taper at all so legs weren’t completely fresh but wanted to see how I felt. Plan was to go out at PR pace 7:04ish and see how it felt. PR is 1:32:50.
Miles 1-4 --6:56, 7:00, 6:59 and 6:59. Felt decent and in mile 4 I passed the lead woman. I think the half marathon is a bit like the 5K. In the 5K, you get to mile 1 and if you are running in right, you say to yourself, “I’m not sure I can hold this for 2 more miles.” I think a half marathon is somewhat similar. You get to mile 2 or 3 and say “I don’t think I can do another 10 miles at this pace.” I was thinking it but wanted to grind and see how I could do.
Mile 5-9 –7:07, 7:07, 7:01, 6:58, 7:11. Although the paces slowed some, there were more rolling hills that contributed to this. I was pushing though and felt like I may not be able to keep the pace. I was working hard and sweating hard. I was, however, still passing people, slowly but steadily.
Mile 10 and 11 – 7:33 and 7:22. I was using this race to practice fueling and trying some new things. Things went poorly here. I fueled with something I hadn’t tried at race pace before and it didn’t go well. I can’t say that is solely why my paces slowed, but it contributed. I was burping and digestion was happening but not smoothly. I actually walked for 20 seconds through a water stop to try to reset and get myself going.
Mile 12 and 13 – 7:05 and 7:13. At this point, I was holding on for dear life. I heard footsteps and then I heard the crowd yelling to the person “First female….go lady!” Ugh. The top woman was right behind me. I pushed harder. I wanted to finish in front of her. I picked off another guy who looked my age (found out later he was). A light rain started to fall which was refreshing as it wasn’t a soaking rain….more like a cooling shower.
0.1 – 5:10 pace. Knowing it was near the end, I didn’t want this woman to pass me. I pushed it hard and beat her by 7 seconds.
Time – 1:33:12 (missed PR by 22 seconds)/162 HR
Overall – 11/284
AG – 1/21 -- got a decent sized trophy. What does someone in the mid 40’s do with a trophy?
Thrilled I was able to almost PR on tired legs on a humid day. Speaks well to my fitness.
Did a one mile cool down at 9:29.
Weekly total – 60.4 miles
Hanson week 12 training for NYC Marathon – I knew this week would be tough as I was traveling for a work conference. As you can see, it was a messy week.
M: 6.2 @ 9:19/130. Rainy skies made this a treadmill run. I definitely dislike treadmills so much. Legs were heavy from the race the day prior, but got this one done. Kept the incline at anywhere between 2 and 3%. Monotonous. Boring. Dreadful.
T: 11 @ 9:09/130 Normally this is a speed day, but after racing on Sunday, I made it an easy day. Ran it late morning on a nice bike trail that ran from the city up to the suburbs. Nice run but really flat. Legs felt ok but were definitely tired.
W: 5.3 @9:23/127 – easy run after a late night out. Nothing extraordinary except I got up and did it.
T: Scheduled day off.
F: Race! First ran a simple 2 miles at 9:09/125 to warm up.
5K race. Admittedly, this race is part of a conference for work. Its in the evening after a long day of meetings, several days of little sleep, a fair amount of alcohol consumed, and did I mention it was 87 degrees? My PR was 20:36 and I didn’t think that was realistic. It was an out and back on a bikepath with small rolling hills along the side of a river. Ran 6:50 first mile and felt pretty tired from it. In retrospect, not a surprise as I didn’t really get a full warmup in due to lack of time. I was running a few seconds behind the first two women. In the early part of mile 2, I passed one of the women. At the turnaround, I was right behind the lead woman. Near the end of mile 2, I passed the lead woman. Mile 2 was 6:43. I then was working to stay ahead of her throughout the rest of the race. I realized partway through, she had faded back. My mile 3 was 6:32 and the 0.1 was 6:13. Overall time was 20:50 good enough for 6th place out of 146. The top female came in about 35 seconds after me. Overall very pleased and even though it wasn’t a PR, I’m definitely feeling like I’m in the best shape of my life.
Did a one mile cool down at 9:18 pace.
S: Busy all day and had literally zero time to run. GRRRR.
S: 2.5 @ 9.28/130 Was gonna try to make this a longer run of some sort, however, my wife wasn’t gonna have any of it. I finally had a quick opening so I arranged a playdate for my youngest with a neighbors kid. Unfortunately it was a quick one. I was venturing out and she texted and told me she had to cut the playdate short so the best I could do is 2.5 miles. Ugh. This week was a complete mess.
Weekly total – 31.1 miles
Hanson week 13 training for NYC Marathon
M: 10 @ 8:51/136 Easy run at home. With refreshed legs, I had to hold back the legs from wanting to run faster.
T: 10.3@ 7:59/149 I was in NYC for work so I was able to run in Central Park. It was a drizzly and raw morning. The plan called for 3 sets of 2 mile strength runs which are run at 10 seconds per mile faster than MP. Completed those with very little problem. I did a ½ jog in between each session. Add a warm up and cool down and you have 10.3 miles!
W: 6 @ 9:10/137 Normally it’s a scheduled day off, but since last week was a mess, I decided to throw and easy 6 miler in. No biggie as the legs were feeling fresh.
T: 11 @ 7:47/150 This was a MP run for the middle 9 miles. All paces were below MP (7:30) except for 2….one was a decent sized hill (7:36) and the other was me not paying attention. (7:32).
F: 9.1 @ 9:16/128 Dodging raindrops in this run helped to make sure I got it done. I ran an extra mile at the end as I wasn’t sure how the weather would be the following day. Very steady pacing.
S: 7 @ 9:16/128 Nice and easy run to get done. Added a hill in there as I try to continue to prep for the NYC hills.
S: 20.6 @ 8:14/147. Tired legs and this run was designed to be 16 at long run pace which is 30 slower than MP. Due to tired legs, Hanson says it recreates the last 16 miles of a marathon. After a couple warmup miles, I worked through my first 14 with all between 7:56 and 8:01 (including several decent hills). I decided to do the last 2 of 16 at MP and banged those out at 7:27 and 7:25. Then a couple cool down miles. Added the extra 0.6 so I could get to an even 74 miles for the week.
Pain update – the piriformis is still acting up. Ned’s stretching suggestions helped some but gonna try to do some yoga focused on my back. Hopefully will help stretch things out for me.
Weekly total – 74 miles – all time high for me!
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
ChiefD
Footballguy
This is actually a possibility. My wife and I were going to leave my brothers at 9 to head downtown to get my race packet, so I might be able to drive down there, run a couple of miles with you, and then go back and pick her up. The logistics might work out pretty good.
I can send you a PM tomorrow while we are driving to Chicago once I talk to her.
FUBAR
Footballguy
alright alright alright. I get it, get off my lazy ### and get moving.
First run with tailwind this morning. I'm guessing it was mostly placebo effect but the 8@MP felt pretty good. Considering when I got up I really didn't want to run hard, gave myself an easy out of having driven 9 hours yesterday (We left Hilton Head Island yesterday due to Hurricane Matthew
) it would be okay to just do 8 easy and do the marathon pace run tomorrow. But I decided to try it anyway and it worked well. @SteelCurtain - love reading your progression and thinking I can get there in 6 weeks. You're looking strong.
@ThreeThousand - awesome stuff at IM CHOO, you certainly HTFU'd
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Brony
Footballguy
Make sure to hit Firkin's. Good spot! (I work right by Libertyville)
Good luck on the race!!
ChiefD
Footballguy
@SteveC702, any idea when you are planning on hitting the expo?
I'm leaving KC at about 8:15 tomorrow morning and driving. We will be hitting the Chicago area probably around 5 or so. We are thinking of just hitting the expo around 5:30 or so, since it's not too much farther off down the highway where we turn to go north to where we are staying.
Otherwise, the other possible plan is to hook up with @tri-man 47 Saturday morning for a shake out run before his race (will do this regardless), and then head that way. Which would put us at the expo around 10 or so.
Need to get both of your phone numbers if you all want to hook up. I will send you PM's with my info. And if you have plans already or it doesn't shake out, no worries.
I'm leaving KC at about 8:15 tomorrow morning and driving. We will be hitting the Chicago area probably around 5 or so. We are thinking of just hitting the expo around 5:30 or so, since it's not too much farther off down the highway where we turn to go north to where we are staying.
Otherwise, the other possible plan is to hook up with @tri-man 47 Saturday morning for a shake out run before his race (will do this regardless), and then head that way. Which would put us at the expo around 10 or so.
Need to get both of your phone numbers if you all want to hook up. I will send you PM's with my info. And if you have plans already or it doesn't shake out, no worries.
@ChiefD - messaged you back man. Looks like there might be a small window that tomorrow could work. (if my travel plans go a bit more smooth or if you guys are running slightly late). I'll keep you updated on where I am at, but don't wait around too long since if I recall correctly you have a bit of traveling after the expo to get to where you are staying.
tri-man 47
Footballguy
ThreeThousand - Incredible performance and toughness. Wow, wow, wow.
Steel Curtain - great training and racing!!!
I'm looking forward to meeting ChiefD on Saturday morning before my HM race in the suburb where he's staying. I'd love to catch ChiefD and Steve during the marathon, but I have commitments at church. Steve, what's your goal for this race?
Steel Curtain - great training and racing!!!
I'm looking forward to meeting ChiefD on Saturday morning before my HM race in the suburb where he's staying. I'd love to catch ChiefD and Steve during the marathon, but I have commitments at church. Steve, what's your goal for this race?
Ned
Footballguy
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Good luck to Steve, Chief, Ned, Tri-man, and any other racers this weekend! Looks like great running weather for the three of you in and around Chicago.
ChiefD
Footballguy
Yeah, this is definitely a go. Wife is not coming to run - didn't like the early wake up call.
Outside shot at meeting SteveC at the expo tonight if our schedules work out. I'll be pulling into town right about the time his plane lands, so it might actually work out.
Good luck @Ned at your race. I'll give @tri-man 47 a good luck when I see him, and good luck to @SteveC702 as well. Should be fun. Hitting the road now.
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Ned
Footballguy
Yeah. It's a very fast flat out and back course with minimal turns, but does have 1 hill at the 10K mark that will knock you off pace for a bit. If all goes well, I'm pretty confident I can get close to 59:30, but anything under 60 will be a big win and likely a PR (59:57).
I won't lie - I'm expecting to PR. I feel like I'm in similar, if not better, shape than I was when I ran this race in 2014. I left some time out on the course when my right hamstring tightened up and I backed off the last 5K.
Biggest hurdle will be the wind. 15-25mph winds from the N should be more of a crosswind than anything else, but you know how reliable that can be. SI is 108 at the gun, so that's good!
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
Ned
Footballguy
MAC_32
Footballguy
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
Good luck to all the runners. Is there any tracking I can do this weekend? Would love to "watch" @SteveC702 and @ChiefD kill it in Chicago. As well as any others who's races may have tracking.
I guess I could Strava-stalk.....but not nearly as fun as in-race stalking.
I guess I could Strava-stalk.....but not nearly as fun as in-race stalking.
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MAC_32
Footballguy
I won't download until the morning, but there is runner tracking via the mobile app on the Chicago marathon website. I imagine we'll be able to search by name as that's what I've done tracking others in the past at small races.
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
I've stayed out of the thread the past few days until I knew I'd have some time to read this. Unbelievable, what a battle out there against the heat. Did you have stomach issues at all? That's what really gets to me when it heats up.
Congrats, just a great report and race in those conditions!
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
Damn dude! Busy three weeks! Congrats on the hardware.
Question on the fueling (open to others as well) - do you feel you need to fuel for a half marathon, especially when you're finishing in 93 minutes? I would think that water/electrolyte would be sufficient, but then again I don't run fast like all you bastards do. Just curious.
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
@SayWhat?, I listened this morning to the Ian Corless interview on Talk Ultra (episode 119) with the dude who won Superior. Good stuff and thought you might find it interesting.
He also interviewed Karl Meltzer about his Fastest Known Time on the Appalachian Trail, that was pretty cool.
And speaking of FKTs.....this week Jim Walmsley absolutely crushed the Grand Canyon R2R...and then decided to go back and crush the R2R2R record as well. The record for the 42 miles with almost 25K in elevation gain was 6:21, set by bad ### Rob Krar....and Jim knocked it out in 5:55:19! His Strava data is ridiculous. I especially like that 5:38 mile 32. I've never been in the Canyon, but the R2R2R in a day is a bucket list item for me, for sure. This video of Walmsley's run captures a lot of it...amazing.
He also interviewed Karl Meltzer about his Fastest Known Time on the Appalachian Trail, that was pretty cool.
And speaking of FKTs.....this week Jim Walmsley absolutely crushed the Grand Canyon R2R...and then decided to go back and crush the R2R2R record as well. The record for the 42 miles with almost 25K in elevation gain was 6:21, set by bad ### Rob Krar....and Jim knocked it out in 5:55:19! His Strava data is ridiculous. I especially like that 5:38 mile 32. I've never been in the Canyon, but the R2R2R in a day is a bucket list item for me, for sure. This video of Walmsley's run captures a lot of it...amazing.
MAC_32
Footballguy
Need? Probably not, but I keep a few chews in a ziplock bag in my pocket for all races just in case I feel I need a boost. I usually end up taking at least some of them at some point. Hell, my 2nd 20 miler I did without any fueling. The bag fell out of my pocket sometime before mile 12 when I went digging for it. It was the hilly 20, so I guess I need to secure it more when I'm not on flat ground. I had to really pace myself on the hand held water, but I don't think my performance was negatively impacted too much. Whatever negatives there were I'll bet were offset by now knowing I can go that long without any fueling.
ThreeThousand
Footballguy
Appreciated. No stomach issues - I generally think I've got a stomach of iron. I (knock on wood) have literally never had GI issues at a race, no matter what I consume.
ThreeThousand
Footballguy
A 5:38 is faster than any mile I've run....ever. And to think he did it at mile 32 is just ridiculous.
SFBayDuck
Footballguy
He broke Strava's GAP (Grade Adjusted Pace) algorithm, since he shows GAPs of 2:50, 2:55, and 3:05. It's probably actually faulty GPS elevation data down in The Canyon...but still.
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
I think it's more of a mental thing for some. (Which is fine.) From a glycogen depletion standpoint, runners should be fine after only 93 minutes.
I think last year's marathon is the last time I've had a gel or sports drink during a run.
