2024 Advanced Training and Racing Thread (still competitive jerks) (Read 228 times)

 

MickJogger - Hiatal hernia makes sure I often cannot consume too many gels so I probably couldn't consume more even if I wanted.

Also do note I was not running to my best possible marathon time, I just wanted a sub 3 result with the minimum amount of effort possible.

I was likely in 2h57 or maybe even 2h56 high shape, seeing as I could speed up to mile pace with 300m to go.

If we're talking about the elites, I'd also like to point out that I wore the Altra Torin 5 which as far as I understand does not have a carbon plate 😈

I didn't know that about your stomach trouble, all the more impressive! Do you have trouble with drinking as well? Maurten has a drink mix, which I have tried taking and it was okish, tastes relatively neutral but packed.

There is a German saying that goes: "Carbon statt Kondition"! That can apply to running, cycling, driving. Everything, really

I am not sure what a carbon plate would do to a flat shoe like the Altras - as it would only propell you upwards, not forwards as with the average heel to toe drop plated racers of around 8mm

Dave - LOL

Mick - To be fair I only speculate that it's the hiatal hernia, it's not always in crisis mode, I do know that back in December when I tried downing gels during long runs it was super hard and I'd get out of breath while doing it.
I have also tried out their drink mix at the time, stomach wise it was fine but I couldn't find a delivery method to my satisfaction.
The hydration vest turned out to be too much of a nuisance. Carrying a bottle is a non starter for me, I'd probably get distracted, forget about it and drop it at some point.
This race specifically allowed you to bring your own bottles on the course, they had 3 or 4 stations throughout.
Honestly though, that's one of the things I dislike about marathons, you gotta be thinking about this stuff and all I want to do is run.
Not all is bad about training for the marathon though, I somehow got a six pack at the ancient age of 43

Also I think the carbon plates still help the Altra shoes because as far as I understand there are benefits to the extra cushioning and your stride slightly elongated.

Andy - I see no issues with your form at all. That's what a high cadence form looks like.
Piwi will remember forumite Rachelara ran very similar to that.
I also happen to have a high cadence, not far from that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQYv8sMkXNI

Hi Andy you are way faster than me at all distances- but looks like your cadence is super but the heel doesn’t reach very high up on the backswing. Do you do any drills?

IMHO that's a feature of higher cadence and the speed that he's running.

The higher the cadence the shorter the stride thus the lower the heel rises.

If Andy were running a mile race or a 400m race then the speed would be higher and the heel would rise a bit more due to the longer stride.

It's also a function of a persons height, the shorter people have longer strides.

And maybe a bit of hip flexibility involved.

Andy's cadence seems excellent and he's mostly air bound with not a lot of ground contact.

Also he's landing underneath his center of gravity which is also very good. Small, light steps.

On a tangential note, I can tell people with lower cadence in PRO races as they seem to be just about to entangle everybody else in their legs (I'm looking at you Athing Mu).

RP - NYCM website now says that all non-NYRR time qualifier applicants will receive notifications by end of day 3/18.

Andy - That stride does not look great.  Your arms are running, but your legs are shuffling.  You should drive your legs forward and your foot should come up more in the back.  

Just pull up YouTube vids of pros running 5k, 10k, marathon.  The pros can look a little off if they take a marathon start really easy. But when they get to an honest pace, they aren’t shuffling.  And that’s 2+ hours, so your 95 minute form can look just as good.  

If you want better form naturally, intense speed work, weight training, lose excess weight.  With sprint repeats, like 200s and hills, your form will improve at all distances.  

Once I did enough sprinting, it got very relaxing.  I used to do 25-27 second 200s and it was peaceful.  As you can imagine, after enough weeks of that, doing mile repeats feels easy.  It only gets hard once you get a few miles deep.  

My form today when I’m doing 9:30+ pace, looks kind of like you.  Especially when I just start and I’m limping on my bad foot.  Doing a tempo run, my stride immediately looks more like it should.  On intervals, it gets even better.  I’m definitely overweight, I think you said you were as well.  That makes a dramatic difference in screwing up your form.  

Anyway, that’s just my take.  You can improve it, by doing those things, it’s not something you ever need to actively think about while running.

That Garmin predictor is comedically funny.

I still felt average on Tuesday but got progressively better over the course of the week.  Kept it mostly pretty easy apart from a few shorter efforts on Friday.  Legs still a little sluggish but everything else seems back to normal so it's time to put in a big couple of weeks before Waterfront HM in 3 weeks time.

Weekly for period: From: 11/03/2024 To 17/03/2024

Totals: Time: 05:51:20 - 🦅Imperial: 50.00 mi - Metric: 80.45 km

Steve - if you're considering alternatives to the full at CHC, I'm not so convinced about Selwyn.  Smaller marathons like that are tough going and can make for a long, lonely day. I guess there's probably nothing else really that ticks the boxes until Dunedin though and that's not until Sept.