gianmarco
Footballguy
Look at someone planting the seeds of doubt (pun intended)...I've proven otherwise in every marathon I've done.
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums
Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.
Ran a 10k - Official Thread (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Ned
- Start date
gianmarco
Footballguy
NeuroStim and EroticStim are different.
The EroticStim is patented and only takes place when @tri-man 47 travels to your city.
Last edited by a moderator:
MAC_32
Footballguy
Yep- cover the tips (hands and ears), throwaway clothes (before and during), and if you gave a support crew task them with post race clothes. Not doing that led to some scary moments post marathon, just glad we made that mistake with me and not my wife.
tri-man 47
Footballguy
In DC, the weather was rainy outside, and any direction from the hotel was sloped. So I just stimmed myself back and forth on the hotel room for five minutes. I’m sure you understand.
Go @AAABatteries!!!
gianmarco
Footballguy
I meant foot rubs, but maybe your services have expanded (if you know what I mean)...
MAC_32
Footballguy
Ahhh, the first winter weather advisory of the year. 3-5" with locally heavier amounts over night. Gonna be an interesting long run tomorrow, but whatever happens would be optimal to calling an audible to now #badlyhungover #toooldforthis#### #BH:TOFTS #suedbychef #punchedinthecovereddong
AAABatteries
Footballguy
I’m somewhat embarrassed to say but I finished 4th overall and 1st in my age group. VERY SMALL RACE. Will do a race report later.
The Iguana
Footballguy
Why would you ever be embarrassed by that? Nice work. But not sure how you leave your time out of the mini report after all the debate on what to,shoot for? Come on, man! The suspense is killing me!
I’m somewhat embarrassed to say but I finished 4th overall and 1st in my age group. VERY SMALL RACE. Will do a race report later.
Zasada
Footballguy
This!
Need the time, and congrats! Great way to kick off your racing career with an AG win!
The Iguana
Footballguy
Ok, ok... I'm adding the d back into dbap. While somewhat cold, it wasn't so bad out there this morning. Compression shorts, running shorts, sleeveless shirt, long sleeve shirt, gloves and bandana like thing I always wear. Chilly but not too bad. Next weekend likely 5 to 8 degrees colder at the start, but I'll live...
AAABatteries
Footballguy
xulf
Footballguy
Way to crush it!
I’m somewhat embarrassed to say but I finished 4th overall and 1st in my age group. VERY SMALL RACE. Will do a race report later.
I also want a report on what you ended up wearing.
The_Man
Footballguy
Just picked this up at the library and will now actually read it based on this rec
Scheduled for 13 miles today. Did I tack on 0.1 miles to make it a HM?
Yes
Did I run the back half at an increasingly faster pace so I could break 9 minutes per mile for this training run in which my time was utterly meaningless?
Also yes
gruecd
Footballguy
Classic taper run. Did 11 miles at 7:11/mile, or about 30 seconds (give or take) slower than GMP. Found myself thinking on multiple occasions, "How the F am I gonna run 2.5x this distance at 30 seconds/mile faster next weekend?"
And yet somehow it typically all comes together. I think I'd be more worried if I actually ever felt good during the taper...
#RaceDayMagic
And yet somehow it typically all comes together. I think I'd be more worried if I actually ever felt good during the taper...
#RaceDayMagic
gruecd
Footballguy
@AAABatteries - Congrats on the top-5 finish and the AG win! No reason at all for you to be embarrassed!
The Iguana
Footballguy
Then you have me, who is not a very smart or disciplined runner. Had no intention of going as fast as I did... but between wanting out of the cold and just getting lost in my head without looking at my watch, I kept going faster than I should. HR was good and felt ok. Hopefully I'll be ok next week...
AAABatteries
Footballguy
Thanks for all the comments guys - this group really is the best.
You are right that I shouldn’t say embarrassed but it just sounded so funny - I didn’t even hit my A goal (a lot more on that when I do my RR) - small race that you guys would have crushed but I had fun and I think earned some karma points (more on that later too).
You are right that I shouldn’t say embarrassed but it just sounded so funny - I didn’t even hit my A goal (a lot more on that when I do my RR) - small race that you guys would have crushed but I had fun and I think earned some karma points (more on that later too).
bushdocda
Footballguy
Nice job AAA - looking forward to reading bout your trail time.
NYC marathon on ESPN2 at 9est Sunday morn y’all.
gruecd
Footballguy
gruecd
Footballguy
That's honestly something that you need to work on, too. Do that next Saturday and it ain't gonna be pretty for you.
What you did today would be like me going out and running 10 at 6:35 pace today. There's absolutely no way I'm not still feeling that next Saturday. If I were you I'd take the next couple of days off and go super low on the volume this coming week.
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
Ran my 8 miles at 8:26 pace. About a minute slower than goal pace on Saturday.
Weather looking more and more brisk. Could be 25 degrees at the start. I think I still stick with shorts in that weather. I feel like any running pants slow me down.
gruecd
Footballguy
Worst-case scenario I'll wear a pair of UA boxer briefs under my shorts to keep the dong warm.
gruecd
Footballguy
Smart. I should've been a little slower on mine, too. Averaged 7:11, should've been more like 7:20-something.
TripleThreat
Footballguy
NYC marathon tomorrow. I don’t have the fitness I wanted to have since my foot/ankle nonsense...But that doesn’t matter for this race. My sisters are up to join my wife and kids in chasing me around the city.
Seeing their faces, memories of my Pop and all the good positive mojo will push me through.
Plan is to go out mid 10s and hold on to that as long as possible in hopes to break 5.
bib number 71638 should you wish to follow
Everything prepped ... Nothing left to do but smile smile smile.
Seeing their faces, memories of my Pop and all the good positive mojo will push me through.
Plan is to go out mid 10s and hold on to that as long as possible in hopes to break 5.
bib number 71638 should you wish to follow
Everything prepped ... Nothing left to do but smile smile smile.
ChiefD
Footballguy
Proud of you for what you are doing. The highest praise indeed is a son showing up for his father.
Get you some you #BMF!
ChiefD
Footballguy
Well la-di-da I’ll just go out on a day so cold that they renamed the city Coldlanta and my dong shriveled up into my warm places yet I go out there and just finish 4th in the whole fooking race and oh by the way first in my age group even though I have a sore knee but whatever I’ll just go out there and kick ### anyway.........
I’m somewhat embarrassed to say but I finished 4th overall and 1st in my age group. VERY SMALL RACE. Will do a race report later.
ChiefD
Footballguy
gianmarco
Footballguy
ChiefD
Footballguy
gianmarco
Footballguy
ChiefD
Footballguy
ChiefD
Footballguy
tri-man 47
Footballguy
tri-man 47
Footballguy
The Iguana
Footballguy
That's a big reason I plan to run with the pace group. As long ads I'm with/ behind them, I don't have to constantly stare at my watch or worry about letting the excitement let me get ahead of the plan.
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
Tracking you! Good luck and have a blast. It’s my favorite marathon. 26 miles of a party is waiting for you.TripleThreat said:
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
Expect to think “I can run faster than this” for the first 18-20 miles. Resist the urge to run ahead of that pace group.The Iguana said:
if you feel good at mile 20-22 and want to take off, then go for it!
gianmarco
Footballguy
Really hoping after hearing this over and over from so many of you that he listens. It's a unified voice from some talented runners with tons of experience.
Pretty sure I'm the only one here undefeated against the marathon and that's only because I haven't run one.
AAABatteries
Footballguy
Red Top Adventure Run (RTAR) 10k
Let me apologize in advance - this race report is way, way too long for just a 10k, but please indulge me as I'm pretty sure it's the first one I've done. Tl;dr - I covered my dong, ran as best as I could and finished 1st in the masters division of a really small inaugural race.
The Race
As I mentioned when I signed up, you guys and what you do in here are so motivating that I was anxious to sign up for something before the end of the year. That in and of itself was a big win in my book because of what's gone on with my knee this year. So, thank you to all you guys and this community within a community - you guys are awesome.
This was the inaugural year for the RTAR and it is two races in one - 10k and 25k. When I was looking for a race I wanted something as close to home as possible because we are in full swing with kids’ activities. In addition to my race, we had a basketball game (we won!), swim meet (where I was a timer) and 3 hours of competitive cheer practice for my youngest - busy day. Anyway, I also was hoping for a 10k and not a 5k and when I found out they were doing this trail run on what I can safely call my home course trail it was a no-brainer for me to do it and help support the community and the park. I did for half a minute consider the 25k, but I'm just not trained for that yet.
It's called an Adventure Run and honestly not knowing exactly what that meant it did make me rethink my goal times a little. So, goals going in were - A goal (sub 8:30/mi); B goal (sub 9:00/mi). With as little experience I have with running and the unknown of the course I thought these were doable and the A goal was a stretch which I wanted.
Pre-Race
Got up at 6:00 and did some exercises and stretching but did not go for a neurostim run - my understanding of that run is to get your system going and I think I did that somewhat with what I did. Had a cup of coffee, some oatmeal and did my business. I'm pretty fortunate that I don't have any issues in that area - my system runs like German trains. @xulf asked about what I wore - so I mentioned that it decided to go straight from early fall to Winter in 2 days’ time. Forecast was 33 and clear with absolutely no rain or wind - and that's exactly what we got.
Now us southerners still don't think a forecast like that is anything but "I'll stay indoors this morning" weather but I knew I couldn't let you guys down. I went with compression shorts, shorts, long sleeve base layer shirt that I love and gloves. I did wear an extra layer and knit hat to warm up in, but I wanted to give myself my best shot at hitting my A goal and I knew if I wore pants that wasn't happening. I would have put tights on if it was windy.
Did about a mile warmup and was doing a couple of strides when I found out the not so great news that the practice run that I did last week was not the real route and that about 2-3 of the miles we were going to be running were unknown to me. Not a big deal but I had my entire race kind of mapped out in my head and now that was out the window. As they are doing the pre-race talk the race director keeps emphasizing the adventure part of the race and how he threw a couple of surprises in there. Oh boy - not sure what to make of it but he also emphasized the course was well-marked and nobody should have any issues. He then goes on to say we are doing a 2-mile loop that is not real trail and there's one part where they kind of made a path up a huge incline and he highly recommends hiking it and not running it.
I mentioned yesterday that it was a SMALL race - turns out that combined it was 121 people across the 2 races - only 53 people finished the 10k. So, we line up on the trail and nobody is moving towards the front. I'm looking around and think, what the heck I'll start up here and try and go out a little quick and then move over to let folks past me. We begin!
Mile 1 - 8:28 - HR (high!)
I did start out a little too fast which I was worried about but had planned for. What I didn't plan for was being in 1st for the entire first mile. I'm back off after a couple of tenths of a mile where I was doing 7:30 pace (not intentionally) and got it closer to 8:00 which I wanted as I knew this first mile was relatively flat. Where is everybody - this is so weird - am I going the right way??? As we get to the end of the first mile we get to the first adventure part of the run - we head off trail on a small side trail that isn't too bad until we get to the end of it - the arrow sign points straight in to some trees, I'm in first which was completely unexpected and now I'm not able to follow anyone and have to decide what to do. I basically come to a complete stop and go through a couple of trees and some undergrowth and then dodge a couple more trees and come out on the lake shore. I finally see the next arrow - we go about 100 yards on the lake shore and then back through some tress and undergrowth for 100 feet back on to the trail.
I was feeling kind of in control until this point - the excitement of not knowing what the hell was going on and the run through the trees, on the lakeshore (kind of semi packed mud/sand) and then back through the trees made my heart rate jump to 171. Uh-oh. The first mile would have been close to 8:00 until that last part - 8:28
Mile 2 - 8:39 - HR still high!
At this point I slow myself down - I know if I don't bad things are going to happen. Finally, after about 1.25 I get passed by this kid. This kid is running very erratic. Initially I decided I would just kind of hang off him a little and see if he could pace me - no chance. He takes off a little and then keeps looking over his should at me. I'm like, dude we have 5 miles to go, just run. So, he gets a little further ahead and then stops on the trail and rest and then takes off again. He does these 3 times during the 2nd mile. I decide to just ignore him completely until we get almost to the end of the 2nd mile.
This is where my foreshadowing of karma comes in to play. We take another side trail that is a little better than the last one and we get to a part where a downed tree had a section cut out and all we had to do was run through it and keep going - it even had the ribbon on it that says "you are on the right path" - but for some unknown reason this kid makes a 90 degree turn and starts heading down to the lake shore again. I start yelling at him "KEEP GOING" and motioning to run straight. He finally hears me and figures it out - we both slow down so he can get in front and go. Now I'm right behind him but of course he takes off again.
Mile 3 - 8:49 - HR still around 170
This mile was uneventful - the kid is still doing his erratic running and I'm ignoring him and towards the end of this mile we hit the crazy part of the course - a decent uphill at the end of the mile and I take it nice and easy as I'm still worried about my HR. A "kid" passes me - some young punk probably like @JShare87 (he's a young punk, right?) and then a literal kid passes me - "how old are you kid?"
Mile 4 - 9:50 - HR is astronomical
Now we really get to the adventure part - this is old path around the old campground from years ago that has grown up, then we go down a steep rocky slope to the lakeshore - jump a tree, duck a tree, run on some rocks and then we get to what the guy was talking about in the pre-race talk. DAMN - it's straight up hill and no path at all. You have to jump some rocks just to get to the hill part and I start to jog and immediately realize there's just no way. My HR spikes to 177 and I'm starting to feel bad. I have to walk it - I go as fast as I can but it's brutal and I'm watching Strava and my mile time goes from 8:45 to over 10 minutes for that mile. It levels out and I'm doing my best to start running again without completely bonking. I manage to finish the mile in 9:50 but my HR is 175 and I've got two miles left. I'm worried.
Mile 5 - 8:20
This was my best mile, both time-wise but I was so happy with how I stayed calm, kept running at a good clip while recovering from that beast. It helped that a decent part of it was downhill.
Mile 6 - 8:36
After the 8:20 mile I had these grand plans of pushing the last mile even more and maybe hitting my A goal - nope, left hamstring starting cramping just as mile 5 ended. I'm struggling and of course, it's time for the next adventure - through the trees, down a steep hill and on to the lake shore for the longest stretch of the race on that stuff - probably about .3 of a mile on the lake shore. I can see the first kid that passed me well ahead of me. Just no chance I'm thinking I can catch him but I'm pushing as hard as I can. HR is 175, legs are wobbly, and I finally come out of the woods back on to the trail with about half a mile left. I see the kid up ahead - what is he doing?? He stops, takes off again and then as I come around a bend he's dead stopped picking stuff up off the trail. I'm not sure if he dropped his gloves or his BIB came off or what but now for the second time I feel bad for this kid. I'm almost on top of him and he takes off again.
Last push - I try and stay with him but there's just no way. I know at this point there's no one close behind me but I'm at least trying my best to catch him. And then for some inexplicable reason, other than he's never run a race, he stops before the line and is walking across. If I sprinted at that point, there's a small chance I pass him, but I just couldn't do it to him and honestly, I'm not convinced I had it in me. He finishes 3 seconds ahead of me. I would have felt like a schmuck if I passed him like that even though it would have been completely in my right to do it.
Overall
Time from the official standings - 53:11 - 8:34/mi - 4th of 53 overall, 1st in Masters
Strava had me at 53:13 - 8:47/mi as it had it short by .16 miles
Real quick on the top 3 – the “how old are you kid?” was 12 and he won the race. Really cool for him. 2nd place was a 28-year-old and the kid I helped along the way that finished 3rd was 16. I congratulated all 3 of them after and was talking to the 28-year-old. He’s telling me he’s only running because his girlfriend wanted to do the race, but he left her out on the course - He asked me how old I was and when I told him 45 he said – that’s why I’d like to start doing these, so I can be doing them when I’m your age. Me: “YOU SONOFA…..”
The good news is I came out of it feeling good, the knee hurt afterwards but that was to be expected but nothing major. The really good news is I think (or know) I left a lot of time out there due to the adventure part. Either way, I had a lot of fun, although I think my next 10k won't be an adventure run. I will definitely do this race again though as it supports my local trail and it's a beautiful location at Red Top Mountain. I have a lot more thoughts, but this is long enough already, so I'll save that for another time/post.
Let me apologize in advance - this race report is way, way too long for just a 10k, but please indulge me as I'm pretty sure it's the first one I've done. Tl;dr - I covered my dong, ran as best as I could and finished 1st in the masters division of a really small inaugural race.
The Race
As I mentioned when I signed up, you guys and what you do in here are so motivating that I was anxious to sign up for something before the end of the year. That in and of itself was a big win in my book because of what's gone on with my knee this year. So, thank you to all you guys and this community within a community - you guys are awesome.
This was the inaugural year for the RTAR and it is two races in one - 10k and 25k. When I was looking for a race I wanted something as close to home as possible because we are in full swing with kids’ activities. In addition to my race, we had a basketball game (we won!), swim meet (where I was a timer) and 3 hours of competitive cheer practice for my youngest - busy day. Anyway, I also was hoping for a 10k and not a 5k and when I found out they were doing this trail run on what I can safely call my home course trail it was a no-brainer for me to do it and help support the community and the park. I did for half a minute consider the 25k, but I'm just not trained for that yet.
It's called an Adventure Run and honestly not knowing exactly what that meant it did make me rethink my goal times a little. So, goals going in were - A goal (sub 8:30/mi); B goal (sub 9:00/mi). With as little experience I have with running and the unknown of the course I thought these were doable and the A goal was a stretch which I wanted.
Pre-Race
Got up at 6:00 and did some exercises and stretching but did not go for a neurostim run - my understanding of that run is to get your system going and I think I did that somewhat with what I did. Had a cup of coffee, some oatmeal and did my business. I'm pretty fortunate that I don't have any issues in that area - my system runs like German trains. @xulf asked about what I wore - so I mentioned that it decided to go straight from early fall to Winter in 2 days’ time. Forecast was 33 and clear with absolutely no rain or wind - and that's exactly what we got.
Now us southerners still don't think a forecast like that is anything but "I'll stay indoors this morning" weather but I knew I couldn't let you guys down. I went with compression shorts, shorts, long sleeve base layer shirt that I love and gloves. I did wear an extra layer and knit hat to warm up in, but I wanted to give myself my best shot at hitting my A goal and I knew if I wore pants that wasn't happening. I would have put tights on if it was windy.
Did about a mile warmup and was doing a couple of strides when I found out the not so great news that the practice run that I did last week was not the real route and that about 2-3 of the miles we were going to be running were unknown to me. Not a big deal but I had my entire race kind of mapped out in my head and now that was out the window. As they are doing the pre-race talk the race director keeps emphasizing the adventure part of the race and how he threw a couple of surprises in there. Oh boy - not sure what to make of it but he also emphasized the course was well-marked and nobody should have any issues. He then goes on to say we are doing a 2-mile loop that is not real trail and there's one part where they kind of made a path up a huge incline and he highly recommends hiking it and not running it.
I mentioned yesterday that it was a SMALL race - turns out that combined it was 121 people across the 2 races - only 53 people finished the 10k. So, we line up on the trail and nobody is moving towards the front. I'm looking around and think, what the heck I'll start up here and try and go out a little quick and then move over to let folks past me. We begin!
Mile 1 - 8:28 - HR (high!)
I did start out a little too fast which I was worried about but had planned for. What I didn't plan for was being in 1st for the entire first mile. I'm back off after a couple of tenths of a mile where I was doing 7:30 pace (not intentionally) and got it closer to 8:00 which I wanted as I knew this first mile was relatively flat. Where is everybody - this is so weird - am I going the right way??? As we get to the end of the first mile we get to the first adventure part of the run - we head off trail on a small side trail that isn't too bad until we get to the end of it - the arrow sign points straight in to some trees, I'm in first which was completely unexpected and now I'm not able to follow anyone and have to decide what to do. I basically come to a complete stop and go through a couple of trees and some undergrowth and then dodge a couple more trees and come out on the lake shore. I finally see the next arrow - we go about 100 yards on the lake shore and then back through some tress and undergrowth for 100 feet back on to the trail.
I was feeling kind of in control until this point - the excitement of not knowing what the hell was going on and the run through the trees, on the lakeshore (kind of semi packed mud/sand) and then back through the trees made my heart rate jump to 171. Uh-oh. The first mile would have been close to 8:00 until that last part - 8:28
Mile 2 - 8:39 - HR still high!
At this point I slow myself down - I know if I don't bad things are going to happen. Finally, after about 1.25 I get passed by this kid. This kid is running very erratic. Initially I decided I would just kind of hang off him a little and see if he could pace me - no chance. He takes off a little and then keeps looking over his should at me. I'm like, dude we have 5 miles to go, just run. So, he gets a little further ahead and then stops on the trail and rest and then takes off again. He does these 3 times during the 2nd mile. I decide to just ignore him completely until we get almost to the end of the 2nd mile.
This is where my foreshadowing of karma comes in to play. We take another side trail that is a little better than the last one and we get to a part where a downed tree had a section cut out and all we had to do was run through it and keep going - it even had the ribbon on it that says "you are on the right path" - but for some unknown reason this kid makes a 90 degree turn and starts heading down to the lake shore again. I start yelling at him "KEEP GOING" and motioning to run straight. He finally hears me and figures it out - we both slow down so he can get in front and go. Now I'm right behind him but of course he takes off again.
Mile 3 - 8:49 - HR still around 170
This mile was uneventful - the kid is still doing his erratic running and I'm ignoring him and towards the end of this mile we hit the crazy part of the course - a decent uphill at the end of the mile and I take it nice and easy as I'm still worried about my HR. A "kid" passes me - some young punk probably like @JShare87 (he's a young punk, right?) and then a literal kid passes me - "how old are you kid?"
Mile 4 - 9:50 - HR is astronomical
Now we really get to the adventure part - this is old path around the old campground from years ago that has grown up, then we go down a steep rocky slope to the lakeshore - jump a tree, duck a tree, run on some rocks and then we get to what the guy was talking about in the pre-race talk. DAMN - it's straight up hill and no path at all. You have to jump some rocks just to get to the hill part and I start to jog and immediately realize there's just no way. My HR spikes to 177 and I'm starting to feel bad. I have to walk it - I go as fast as I can but it's brutal and I'm watching Strava and my mile time goes from 8:45 to over 10 minutes for that mile. It levels out and I'm doing my best to start running again without completely bonking. I manage to finish the mile in 9:50 but my HR is 175 and I've got two miles left. I'm worried.
Mile 5 - 8:20
This was my best mile, both time-wise but I was so happy with how I stayed calm, kept running at a good clip while recovering from that beast. It helped that a decent part of it was downhill.
Mile 6 - 8:36
After the 8:20 mile I had these grand plans of pushing the last mile even more and maybe hitting my A goal - nope, left hamstring starting cramping just as mile 5 ended. I'm struggling and of course, it's time for the next adventure - through the trees, down a steep hill and on to the lake shore for the longest stretch of the race on that stuff - probably about .3 of a mile on the lake shore. I can see the first kid that passed me well ahead of me. Just no chance I'm thinking I can catch him but I'm pushing as hard as I can. HR is 175, legs are wobbly, and I finally come out of the woods back on to the trail with about half a mile left. I see the kid up ahead - what is he doing?? He stops, takes off again and then as I come around a bend he's dead stopped picking stuff up off the trail. I'm not sure if he dropped his gloves or his BIB came off or what but now for the second time I feel bad for this kid. I'm almost on top of him and he takes off again.
Last push - I try and stay with him but there's just no way. I know at this point there's no one close behind me but I'm at least trying my best to catch him. And then for some inexplicable reason, other than he's never run a race, he stops before the line and is walking across. If I sprinted at that point, there's a small chance I pass him, but I just couldn't do it to him and honestly, I'm not convinced I had it in me. He finishes 3 seconds ahead of me. I would have felt like a schmuck if I passed him like that even though it would have been completely in my right to do it.
Overall
Time from the official standings - 53:11 - 8:34/mi - 4th of 53 overall, 1st in Masters
Strava had me at 53:13 - 8:47/mi as it had it short by .16 miles
Real quick on the top 3 – the “how old are you kid?” was 12 and he won the race. Really cool for him. 2nd place was a 28-year-old and the kid I helped along the way that finished 3rd was 16. I congratulated all 3 of them after and was talking to the 28-year-old. He’s telling me he’s only running because his girlfriend wanted to do the race, but he left her out on the course
- He asked me how old I was and when I told him 45 he said – that’s why I’d like to start doing these, so I can be doing them when I’m your age. Me: “YOU SONOFA…..”The good news is I came out of it feeling good, the knee hurt afterwards but that was to be expected but nothing major. The really good news is I think (or know) I left a lot of time out there due to the adventure part. Either way, I had a lot of fun, although I think my next 10k won't be an adventure run. I will definitely do this race again though as it supports my local trail and it's a beautiful location at Red Top Mountain. I have a lot more thoughts, but this is long enough already, so I'll save that for another time/post.
Last edited by a moderator:
We just bought a Sole F80 treadmill.
Anyone know how to get music to play through the speakers via Bluetooth?
The owners manual doesn't help (Link to owners manual). I was able to download the Sole app and connect to the machine via Bluetooth but this was only for workout data.
How da frig do I play music on this damn thing??!?!? Do I have go old school and plug in my phone to it with a cord?
Anyone know how to get music to play through the speakers via Bluetooth?
The owners manual doesn't help (Link to owners manual). I was able to download the Sole app and connect to the machine via Bluetooth but this was only for workout data.
How da frig do I play music on this damn thing??!?!? Do I have go old school and plug in my phone to it with a cord?
Last edited by a moderator:
ChiefD
Footballguy
Can’t help with that but interested to hear about that treadmill. I am in the market for one and have been looking at that one. Need to decide in the next few days.
Let me know your initial reviews (other than the music thing).
xulf
Footballguy
@AAAABatteries awesome RR! The course sounded like a ton of fun and it's even cooler that it's your home course. And of course, way to bring home the hardware.
Your outfit seemed spot on for the weather.
Your outfit seemed spot on for the weather.
Last edited by a moderator:
So far, it feels pretty solid. Nice big deck (22x60) and a strong motor (3.5 hp). It's fairly heavy so keep this in mind if you are moving it. Also, it didn't fit well through doorway so we had to take apart the deck from the console section. Aside from the music issues (I'll probably just plug a cord in) and it not having a lot of bells and whistles, it seems like a really solid treadmill. I think it will get the job done.
gianmarco
Footballguy
I love this RR so hard. Fantastic debut. Can't wait for future ones...Red Top Adventure Run (RTAR) 10k
Let me apologize in advance - this race report is way, way too long for just a 10k, but please indulge me as I'm pretty sure it's the first one I've done. Tl;dr - I covered my dong, ran as best as I could and finished 1st in the masters division of a really small inaugural race.
The Race
As I mentioned when I signed up, you guys and what you do in here are so motivating that I was anxious to sign up for something before the end of the year. That in and of itself was a big win in my book because of what's gone on with my knee this year. So, thank you to all you guys and this community within a community - you guys are awesome.
This was the inaugural year for the RTAR and it is two races in one - 10k and 25k. When I was looking for a race I wanted something as close to home as possible because we are in full swing with kids’ activities. In addition to my race, we had a basketball game (we won!), swim meet (where I was a timer) and 3 hours of competitive cheer practice for my youngest - busy day. Anyway, I also was hoping for a 10k and not a 5k and when I found out they were doing this trail run on what I can safely call my home course trail it was a no-brainer for me to do it and help support the community and the park. I did for half a minute consider the 25k, but I'm just not trained for that yet.
It's called an Adventure Run and honestly not knowing exactly what that meant it did make me rethink my goal times a little. So, goals going in were - A goal (sub 8:30/mi); B goal (sub 9:00/mi). With as little experience I have with running and the unknown of the course I thought these were doable and the A goal was a stretch which I wanted.
Pre-Race
Got up at 6:00 and did some exercises and stretching but did not go for a neurostim run - my understanding of that run is to get your system going and I think I did that somewhat with what I did. Had a cup of coffee, some oatmeal and did my business. I'm pretty fortunate that I don't have any issues in that area - my system runs like German trains. @xulf asked about what I wore - so I mentioned that it decided to go straight from early fall to Winter in 2 days’ time. Forecast was 33 and clear with absolutely no rain or wind - and that's exactly what we got.
Now us southerners still don't think a forecast like that is anything but "I'll stay indoors this morning" weather but I knew I couldn't let you guys down. I went with compression shorts, shorts, long sleeve base layer shirt that I love and gloves. I did wear an extra layer and knit hat to warm up in, but I wanted to give myself my best shot at hitting my A goal and I knew if I wore pants that wasn't happening. I would have put tights on if it was windy.
Did about a mile warmup and was doing a couple of strides when I found out the not so great news that the practice run that I did last week was not the real route and that about 2-3 of the miles we were going to be running were unknown to me. Not a big deal but I had my entire race kind of mapped out in my head and now that was out the window. As they are doing the pre-race talk the race director keeps emphasizing the adventure part of the race and how he threw a couple of surprises in there. Oh boy - not sure what to make of it but he also emphasized the course was well-marked and nobody should have any issues. He then goes on to say we are doing a 2-mile loop that is not real trail and there's one part where they kind of made a path up a huge incline and he highly recommends hiking it and not running it.
I mentioned yesterday that it was a SMALL race - turns out that combined it was 121 people across the 2 races - only 53 people finished the 10k. So, we line up on the trail and nobody is moving towards the front. I'm looking around and think, what the heck I'll start up here and try and go out a little quick and then move over to let folks past me. We begin!
Mile 1 - 8:28 - HR (high!)
I did start out a little too fast which I was worried about but had planned for. What I didn't plan for was being in 1st for the entire first mile. I'm back off after a couple of tenths of a mile where I was doing 7:30 pace (not intentionally) and got it closer to 8:00 which I wanted as I knew this first mile was relatively flat. Where is everybody - this is so weird - am I going the right way??? As we get to the end of the first mile we get to the first adventure part of the run - we head off trail on a small side trail that isn't too bad until we get to the end of it - the arrow sign points straight in to some trees, I'm in first which was completely unexpected and now I'm not able to follow anyone and have to decide what to do. I basically come to a complete stop and go through a couple of trees and some undergrowth and then dodge a couple more trees and come out on the lake shore. I finally see the next arrow - we go about 100 yards on the lake shore and then back through some tress and undergrowth for 100 feet back on to the trail.
I was feeling kind of in control until this point - the excitement of not knowing what the hell was going on and the run through the trees, on the lakeshore (kind of semi packed mud/sand) and then back through the trees made my heart rate jump to 171. Uh-oh. The first mile would have been close to 8:00 until that last part - 8:28
Mile 2 - 8:39 - HR still high!
At this point I slow myself down - I know if I don't bad things are going to happen. Finally, after about 1.25 I get passed by this kid. This kid is running very erratic. Initially I decided I would just kind of hang off him a little and see if he could pace me - no chance. He takes off a little and then keeps looking over his should at me. I'm like, dude we have 5 miles to go, just run. So, he gets a little further ahead and then stops on the trail and rest and then takes off again. He does these 3 times during the 2nd mile. I decide to just ignore him completely until we get almost to the end of the 2nd mile.
This is where my foreshadowing of karma comes in to play. We take another side trail that is a little better than the last one and we get to a part where a downed tree had a section cut out and all we had to do was run through it and keep going - it even had the ribbon on it that says "you are on the right path" - but for some unknown reason this kid makes a 90 degree turn and starts heading down to the lake shore again. I start yelling at him "KEEP GOING" and motioning to run straight. He finally hears me and figures it out - we both slow down so he can get in front and go. Now I'm right behind him but of course he takes off again.
Mile 3 - 8:49 - HR still around 170
This mile was uneventful - the kid is still doing his erratic running and I'm ignoring him and towards the end of this mile we hit the crazy part of the course - a decent uphill at the end of the mile and I take it nice and easy as I'm still worried about my HR. A "kid" passes me - some young punk probably like @JShare87 (he's a young punk, right?) and then a literal kid passes me - "how old are you kid?"
Mile 4 - 9:50 - HR is astronomical
Now we really get to the adventure part - this is old path around the old campground from years ago that has grown up, then we go down a steep rocky slope to the lakeshore - jump a tree, duck a tree, run on some rocks and then we get to what the guy was talking about in the pre-race talk. DAMN - it's straight up hill and no path at all. You have to jump some rocks just to get to the hill part and I start to jog and immediately realize there's just no way. My HR spikes to 177 and I'm starting to feel bad. I have to walk it - I go as fast as I can but it's brutal and I'm watching Strava and my mile time goes from 8:45 to over 10 minutes for that mile. It levels out and I'm doing my best to start running again without completely bonking. I manage to finish the mile in 9:50 but my HR is 175 and I've got two miles left. I'm worried.
Mile 5 - 8:20
This was my best mile, both time-wise but I was so happy with how I stayed calm, kept running at a good clip while recovering from that beast. It helped that a decent part of it was downhill.
Mile 6 - 8:36
After the 8:20 mile I had these grand plans of pushing the last mile even more and maybe hitting my A goal - nope, left hamstring starting cramping just as mile 5 ended. I'm struggling and of course, it's time for the next adventure - through the trees, down a steep hill and on to the lake shore for the longest stretch of the race on that stuff - probably about .3 of a mile on the lake shore. I can see the first kid that passed me well ahead of me. Just no chance I'm thinking I can catch him but I'm pushing as hard as I can. HR is 175, legs are wobbly, and I finally come out of the woods back on to the trail with about half a mile left. I see the kid up ahead - what is he doing?? He stops, takes off again and then as I come around a bend he's dead stopped picking stuff up off the trail. I'm not sure if he dropped his gloves or his BIB came off or what but now for the second time I feel bad for this kid. I'm almost on top of him and he takes off again.
Last push - I try and stay with him but there's just no way. I know at this point there's no one close behind me but I'm at least trying my best to catch him. And then for some inexplicable reason, other than he's never run a race, he stops before the line and is walking across. If I sprinted at that point, there's a small chance I pass him, but I just couldn't do it to him and honestly, I'm not convinced I had it in me. He finishes 3 seconds ahead of me. I would have felt like a schmuck if I passed him like that even though it would have been completely in my right to do it.
Overall
Time from the official standings - 53:11 - 8:34/mi - 4th of 53 overall, 1st in Masters
Strava had me at 53:13 - 8:47/mi as it had it short by .16 miles
Real quick on the top 3 – the “how old are you kid?” was 12 and he won the race. Really cool for him. 2nd place was a 28-year-old and the kid I helped along the way that finished 3rd was 16. I congratulated all 3 of them after and was talking to the 28-year-old. He’s telling me he’s only running because his girlfriend wanted to do the race, but he left her out on the course
The good news is I came out of it feeling good, the knee hurt afterwards but that was to be expected but nothing major. The really good news is I think (or know) I left a lot of time out there due to the adventure part. Either way, I had a lot of fun, although I think my next 10k won't be an adventure run. I will definitely do this race again though as it supports my local trail and it's a beautiful location at Red Top Mountain. I have a lot more thoughts, but this is long enough already, so I'll save that for another time/post.
bushdocda
Footballguy
@AAABatteries great stuff and result. Cool you overcame the challenges of a trail and funky course in a first race. Nothing like those moments like hitting the top of that climb and being able to keep pushing. Great job planning and keeping composure on your first go. Will be a source of confidence to draw from in days/runs/races to come.
JShare87
Footballguy
It is a tough spot to be in. I can relate to what he is feeling. When I went through my first marathon attempt, I was in his shoes. Everyone in here told me not to attempt it. While I knew they were coming from a good place, my ultra-competitive side took over. It was more of a, “I’m going to prove these people wrong.” What did I learn from that experience? They were right. I was wrong. I was an idiot. They meant well.
So, @The Iguana, don’t take everyone’s advice about starting out slow as us doubting your ability. Take it as advice from people that have experienced this beast of a race. You are absolutely going to crush this race. Just start out slow and enjoy the first few miles like it’s a long training run. When you get to that mile 20-22 mark and you feel okay, you are going to enjoy the experience of passing all the people that went out too fast.
Similar threads
