Forums >Racing>Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023
Cobra Commander Keen
Flavio - I'm not getting buff? What??? Why am I lifting all these marginally heavy disk-like things, then? My whole goal was to look like this:
While running like this:
Are you trying to say my goals are off somehow?
Merkle - Thanks for coming through with another great RR! These have helped add some interesting stuff to a boring day at work. You lined up a bit like you would for a small marathon, didn't you? The folks leading trail and ultra races tend to be a bit "slower" on average than your typical road race, so even for a pretty competitive race like JFK a guy your speed should be closer to the front than you'd line up for something on the road.Just something to keep in mind for your next one...Though the mixed-surface aspect of JFK is a confounder as there will certainly be people who are far faster on the trail section vs the runnable areas.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
August 31 - Brookhaven 5k
October 13 - Prairie Fire Half
November 2 - Crossroads Marathon
Problem Child
CommanderKeen don’t tell him to line up at the front. He’s
going to be a trail plug when he hits the rocks and someone like me will write a race report about how ‘trail left’ apparently doesn’t mean anything to the road runners who think it’s cute to wave their arms around to make passing even MORE difficult. Since I hate hills I should probably work hills more so I can just pass people there. No one seems to run those.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
CommanderKeen don’t tell him to line up at the front. He’s going to be a trail plug when he hits the rocks and someone like me will write a race report about how ‘trail left’ apparently doesn’t mean anything to the road runners who think it’s cute to wave their arms around to make passing even MORE difficult. Since I hate hills I should probably work hills more so I can just pass people there. No one seems to run those.
Get out of here with your "best coast" view that all ultras are on trails! You can't be a trail plug when you're cruising down some sweet back-country gravel road.
A gravel road is really just a flash trail lol.
3,000m: 9:07.7 (Nov-21) | 5,000m: 15:39 (Dec-19) | 10,000m: 32:34 (Mar-20)
10km: 33:15 (Sep-19) | HM: 1:09:41 (May-21)* | FM: 2:41:41 (Oct-20)
* Net downhill course
Last race: Runway5 / National 5k Champs, 16:22, National Masters AG Champ!
Up next: Still working on that...
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Awesome race reports! Good to see you all push through the pain and doubt. When you guys do ultras, I’m like I should do that! When I read the race report, I’m like shut up me.
I would think you ultra folks could shave some easy time if you got more comfy with running uphill. Most people have a natural pace for climbing, you just need to find yours and it will feel very comfortable after a while.
Sadly my most anticipated week of the year, finally out of the Florida heat, ended after 1 beautiful run in 40 degree weather yesterday. I was cruising about 9:30 pace, 5 miles in, doing laps on a crushed rock loop and my left calf got some VERY sharp pain out of nowhere. I kept running about 100 meters before I realized it was kind of serious. Don’t think it’s torn, because it’s not swollen and discolored, so it’s most likely a strain. But my 9 day vacation of sight seeing and trail hikes is finished and so is running. I’m hoping if I stay off it, it turns out to be days/weeks not weeks/months otherwise I’ll also lose the only cooler weather months in FL. Can’t even walk or ride a bike to cross train. If it’s not any better by next week, I’ll get it imaged back in FL and go from there. Super discouraged.
Hot Weather Complainer
mt - Ugh, that sucks. Take a very cautious approach and you'll be back running quicker. I do find that sometimes something feels serious for the first few days then starts to come right quite quickly so hang in there.
mmerkle - Boy that sounds rough. Brilliant effort seeing it through.
Dave - When I lived in an apartment in Wellington I got woken up by the neighbour playing music all night on a Saturday before my race so I was awake so early I decided to shower. It was a cold and wet race and it went really well so I decided to shower before every race from then on...I imagine it's purely superstitious but on a very cold race day it's not a bad idea.
Dorothea - Nickelback? Nooooooo. To be fair, I think all the hate was a bit over the top. Your original target is 100% within your reach. You were sick, even if it was mild by the time you ran, it sounded worse than mild before that. The body uses energy to recover and even 1% off for a marathon can be huge. I think that's a sensational performance and you'll be looking at sub 3:20 on a day where everything falls into place.
Fishy - Speaking of sensational...just brilliant. Maybe the annoying early jockeying helped you in the long run? It's really annoying though when you just want to calm down and find a rhythm.
Keen - 3.71km I think. His watch showed 112km when he was done.
Flavio - Maybe...I feel better after a few aerobic threshold workouts. This morning felt amazing, and completely under control. The point of the 5km is to check in with my threshold before starting base building for the marathon so my coach is fine with me going out hard and if I crash, so be it, he'll still get the data he needs.
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:29:54 6/24
2024 Races:
Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55
Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024 1:27:34
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024 DNF
Wellington Marathon June 23, 2024 3:29:54
Foster Park Run July 20, 2024 19:02
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Timaru Ten October 26, 2024
Keen - LOL your meme game is top notch! I suppose the Half n Half is a DNS at this point?
Mmerkle - Careful with the checks you write LOL a then 29 year old me vowed to take revenge on the marathon and here I am 13 and a half years later with multiple eggs on my face still chasing that ghost 🤦♂️Thanks for the race report. I found it very entertaining. I lost it when you said " Speed MFers, ever heard about it? " 😂
RP - You got me curious at that Brazil's Bend race, such an interesting name.
Dave - I honestly believe we can all scratch that itch to run ultras by signing up to a local short trail race (in the 20 to 30k range). It's much safer and it contains the same amount of fun without the suckage from an ultra.
Nothing against the masochists by the way.
MT - Ugh, so sorry to hear that it's especially bad during a vacation because your other half is in the mood for going out and about and you can barely walk.
Steve - I mean, the absolute worst that could happen is you will look like a fish out of water for about 4 minutes.But damn it if it won't feel amazing to run fast even if only for 3km.
I dunno, I feel such a rush running at a pace that to me feels fast and I only feel that in races 5k and shorter.
Flavio - Thanks! Yeah, I've been considering for days that I just need to DNS that one - it has been more than a week since I've run over 4 miles at once. And to top it off DW and DD1 are going to stay overnight at a hotel for my niece's birthday party - the night before the race when I was going to be in Tulsa. So the race would have been out just for lack of someone to watch DDs 2 & 3.I *might* be able to find another half to run right at the end of the year and hopefully I'll have shaped up my fitness enough to run sub 1:25 - otherwise, my goals for next fall will change quite a bit. Awesome... the website I usually use to check out races is currently down...
Flavio: it is BrazO’s bend. Not Brazil.
https://www.trailracingovertexas.com/brazos-100
Mmmm Bop
Fishy - Wow outstanding performance! You are aging like a fine wine and if you stay motivated and injury free then you’ll be looking at a Moose Mug this time next year. Well done. 👍
Piwi/longboat - Great pic and great t-shirt.
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
And you only take 4 gels for a marathon?? I usually have 7 with me (1 as a spare), plus take one right before the start.
Huh. I’ve just always done 4, roughly every 6 miles. I just use the standard Gu, usually with caffeine. What’s typical for others? Maybe hard to compare because people use different things.
Dave
1 before the race and one every 45 minutes.
Oh and Happy Thanksgiving to Americans on the forum! Anyone running a turkey trot? I signed up for one (5k) a few days ago, on a whim. Even though I haven’t been feeling very fast, post-marathon. I’ve gotten back to some track workouts over the last month or so, but results have been underwhelming. So we’ll see how it goes. I’ll be happy with anything sub-20. I looked at last year’s results for this race, and top 3 in the M50-59 AG were 17:56, 18:56, 19:13. So it does not look good for placing!
I’ve always thought that gels are overrated and “a lack of carbs” is often used as an excuse for a poor marathon. If you go out too fast during a marathon then nothing is going to save you. Gels are just a subtle benefit if you get the pace right imo.
I've always thought shoes are overrated and are just used as an excuse for a bad marathon. If you go out too fast during a marathon then no shoes are going to save you. Shoes are just a subtle benefit if you get the pace right IMO. And maybe they also stop you dying after the race unlike that barefoot guy in Ancient Greece, who was obviously a Proper Marathoner.