On the road again...
Congrats to Mike and Richard on some good racing over the week-end. Nice running totals last week, too.
I was disappointed that I couldn't get my long run in over the week-end, so my total was lower than I'd have liked. Oh, well. I had a great week-end with a lot of family that was in town visiting.
Started this week with 4 easy miles today. Counting down to my HM this week-end.
MTA: The Blue Ribbon award
old-runner: Because anyone who can put this in their running notes..."Still recovering from cold... not a lot of strength... surprised my time was this good. Several walk breaks in the last 4 miles" and finish with a Age Group award (2nd) in a HM deserves it (finishing time was 1:36:38 - avg pace 7:23). Nice job, Richard!
I write. I read. I run. One time, I ran a lot on my 50th birthday.
Paul
Paul,
I think people were not posting here in protest over the failure to award a blue ribbon for the week!
Cliff/Clive,
your much further along now that you've diagnosed it and have a plan. Ice the heck out of out & perform aggressive massage on the days in between your ART. It took me about 6 weeks after I was cleared to run to hit 30 miles a week (but I was also limited by the foot fracture in my rt foot). Choose a flat or downhill marathon! I would also securely tape it when you are cleared to run.
Richard,
Age grading is the only way to gauge performance if your comparing your result against someone much younger! My 5k fr the Santa Scramble in Nov. age grades to a 16:46. I bet your PR grades much lower. I was looking at your 1/2 marathon detail in Memphis and was my eyesight failing or was your AHR really in the low 170's? Wow? That has to be close to your VO2Max. In my 5k's I'm in the high 160's. I remember that you run or ran to "heart rate thresholds" but was that really your heart rate threshold for a 1/2 marathon?
Rob
Paul: good luck this weekend! Your training sounds like it's been going pretty well ... so what's your goal?
Rob: thanks. I do better with a plan, so I plan to ask the doc for a program. I want to be taking affirmative steps to rehab this thing, rather than just going day to day and seeing what happens.
nanxin: big week! You've been quietly cranking it out.
Open question: I'm looking (again) at picking up a road bike for supplemental aerobic work. NO INTEREST in triathlons or duathlons -- I just want to get more aerobic work in without the road pounding. So I'm not really keen on dropping a grand at a bike store. Any suggestions? Anyone know someone who got the fever, bought a bike, and has it gathering dust in their garage now? Frame size needed is a 58-60cm.
Open comment: we're getting another dog, and I've been focused on one that can be a running partner. Met one last weekend, meeting the other this Friday, then deciding. Comments welcome.
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
Paul, I think people were not posting here in protest over the failure to award a blue ribbon for the week!
Shoot, I almost didn't start a new thread to protest myself. I was honestly too busy to look back over last week's races to find a worthy recipient. Maybe we should start some sort of nominating process?
MTA: I did go back and look through last week's thread and awarded the Blue Ribbon. Details are above.
Originally my goal was 1:55 with a stretch of 1:50. I think now I'm going to bump both of those down 5 minutes to 1:50 and 1:45. We'll see how I feel on race day. Hopefully the race fairy will sprinkle some magic race day dust on me...
Thanks for the blue ribbon Paul... I nominate you for it next week if your half mary goes well.
CarolinaBlue... yep, I ramp up the heart rate to 170 in the first mile and try to keep it there for 13.1 miles. That worked fine in Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago when I ran 1:34:21... not as well this week when I walked a lot. It's not a perfect science. My max heart rate is 185. That's my maximum observed rate, not a formula. I'm one of those estimated 20% of people who don't really fit the formula(s).
Using the Karvonen method my Threshold Floor is 165 (85% of MHR). When I first started using my heart rate as a guide in running races I'd stick right around that 165 level and not go over it, but I've found over time that usually I can stay comfortable at about 89% of my MHR, which is 170, so that's what I go for. If I drop down to 168 I try to speed up a little, or if I go over about 172 I pull back a little. It works for me and keeps me at a comfortable level.
If I'm running a 5k I go a little higher than that, working up to 170 in the first mile, then gradually building up to about 172 or 173 in the 2nd and 3rd miles, then up to 175 or so for the final two-tenths of a mile or so if I'm able to. It doesn't always work out perfectly because of variables such as weather or my diet or conditioning or whatever, but it's nice when it works.
Richard Hefner Past Race Results (Athlinks)
3 miles this morning - easy with a little race pace work to get the feel. Headed up to DC in a few hours.
I don't learn and ran 8 miles harder than I meant to,and my thighs are not happy today. I don't know what affected muscle this would be, some superficial muscle , its kind of painful to walk, and was reminded a couple of times during the run, but no actual pain while running, gets tight after sitting for a while, leaning towards thinking this is not an actual injury, but an adjustment to the faster workouts..
congrats on going sub 1:50! Is that a PR for you? I heard that that race was jam packed with people (very difficult to navigate through the streets). And there was no public transport so big traffic jams (you must have arrived very early if you were able to get a warmup in). At least the weather was very cool.
Paul, congrats on going sub 1:50! Is that a PR for you? I heard that that race was jam packed with people (very difficult to navigate through the streets). And there was no public transport so big traffic jams (you must have arrived very early if you were able to get a warmup in). At least the weather was very cool.
Thanks, Rob. Yes, it's a PR - 14 minutes worth, and my first time sub 2 as well. Traffic wasn't too bad when I was coming in around 6:15 or so, but I talked to one guy after the race who had to park a mile away illegally and run in. He got to the corral 2 minutes before the start. I'll write more about it later today on the blog.
Congratulations Paul... Way to knock out the new PR!
I think there's a blue ribbon in your future!
Hey Paul , nice race, I nominate you for the Blue Ribbon as well. An improvement of over a minute/mile is no small achievement and comes about approximately once in a lifetime, atleast in the shorter than marathon distances.
Congrats Paul. That's a huge PR! Very nice.