No more marathons
I've decided to enter into my RA training log all of the information from my log books from 1980 thru 1985; 6 years of runs.
I'm interested to see what training I was doing back then that led up to any of my better races, and just to be able to compare what I was doing back then vs. now.
Thought I'd share anything that comes up that might be of interest - you know, old man meanderings. humor me if you can.
In the 1981 log (these were the old Jim Fixx log books with the words of wisdom that are mostly laughable today) I found an old newspaper article that was actually for 1982. The article starts off with "Between March 13 and April 11 there are no less than nine running events within an easy drive of Tampa". One of these events was the Gandy Bridge 10K put on by the local Marine Corps Reserve. The article goes on to say that the registration for this event is $1.50 in advance, and $2 day of. When was the last time you saw a race registration that low?
That particular race sounded familiar - and in fact I ran it in 1981 and 1982 (maybe more - but that's as far as I am right now.) In looking at the details of this race, something stood out that points to the significant changes that our sport has experienced in the past 3 and a half decades. My time in this race was a new PR in 36:33. The log entry also points out that I was 18th overall with about 280 participants. I was also 6th in my age group (30 to 39). WTF???? That time would have won 4 of the 5 most recent 10K's in my area, and would have placed 3rd in the other - which was a premier event with lots of local talent in attendance.
Granted - that 10K was in Florida and over a bridge that crossed from Tampa to Clearwater - total elevation change was most likely about 20 feet and you can't go anywhere in western NC without lots of elevation change - but still ------
What I take from this is that back in the 80's most people that ran, and raced, were the "serious" runners - you know, the one's that everyone looked at as slightly off? Today, running and racing is embraced by the masses - and that is a good thing - no, that is a great thing. What started as a sport for a few, has become a physical and social outlet for millions.
Boston 2014 - a 33 year journey
Lordy, I hope there are tapes.
He's a leaker!
These days the online registration fee for events cost more than your actual events did then back then!
That fee is pet peeve of mine and is one the reasons I usually wait until race day to register, also known as cutting off my nose to spite my face.
Are we there, yet?
I checked back in my log to 1981. My best 10K that year was 36:59 which got me 47th OA and 8th in my AG (30-39). I don't have the number of runners recorded but it was probably about 300-400. My HM that year of 1:20:54 was good for only 381st of about 5-6K runners.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
These days the online registration fee for events cost more than your actual events did then back then! That fee is pet peeve of mine and is one the reasons I usually wait until race day to register, also known as cutting off my nose to spite my face.
One of our local races offered a $20 pre registration fee if you were from the area, and if you passed on the t-shirt.
That's about the best deal I've seen for years.
I ran the Gold Coast HM in North Palm Beach in 1982. Ran 1:21 and was 18th overall, but still only 5th in my age group. It was a hot day and I think it affected others more than me - that's why the high overall finish - out of about 700 runners.
Note to D: do that still do the Gold Coast HM?
Caretaker/Overlook Hotel
Just wanna shout out, George, that I try to never forget how fast you were in the day....(though I'm still amazed when you recap some of your times).....Can you imagine what you could do today if you had all the modern tech & training knowledge from now back then? I'm thinking maybe sub 35 in the 10K?
Still, if I went 36:59 in the 10K, I'd buy myself a championship ring!
Randy
Walk-Jogger
I was digging around in my file cabinet this past week and found an unlabeled folder with a collection of mailed race result post cards from the 1980's. All but one of them were for the Bloomsday 12K race in Spokane; one was for "The Pepsi Challenge 10,000 Meter Series" race in 1983 in Spokane.
This would have probably been my first year running and racing, though I had been a cyclist most of my life up to that time. It says my time for the 10K was 39:26, and I was 204th place of 3040 total runners, and 69th in the 20-29 age group. I was 28 at the time; 31 years later I can still run a 10K in that time, but I was a beginner then, and it takes a heck of a lot more miles and training now. I don't have any other records of my best 10K race times from back then, but I recall running them in 37-38 minutes, and never broke under 37:00.
Retired & Loving It
Just wanna shout out, George, that I try to never forget how fast you were in the day....(though I'm still amazed when you recap some of your times).....Can you imagine what you could do today if you had all the modern tech & training knowledge from now back then? I'm thinking maybe sub 35 in the 10K? Still, if I went 36:59 in the 10K, I'd buy myself a championship ring!
I had the benefit of some excellent free coaching from an Olympic Trials qualifier and member of the women's national xc team. She was also a grad student in Phys. Ed. researching endurance training so I was years ahead of many of my competitors when it came to training knowledge. It worked to my benefit in many races. I ran the equivalent of a 35:12 10K back in 1971. It was actually an 8M race where I ran 45:57 which was good for 45th OA, again with about 400-500 runners.
I just noticed that my 1986 Bloomsday 12K finishing time was 47:56. My time this year for the same race was 48:00, so 4 seconds slower.
In 1986, 47:56 put me in 625th place over-all out of 44, 318 finishers.
In 2014, 48:00 put me at 264th place over-all out of 44,681 finishers.
In 1986 I was 94th of 2649 runners in the M30-34 age group
In 2014 I was 2nd of 1107 runners in the M55-59 age group. It pays to hang in there . . .