2018 Sub-3. No rules. Run. (Read 792 times)

Andres - how long did it take your metatarsalgia to heal? It's been 3 weeks now and it's not really getting better, I was wondering if I need to see a doctor to get something like a cortisone shot, or if I should expect this just to take a long time to heal up.

Maybe four weeks? It could have been a little more. It felt better right away, but was still bothersome. That kind of lingered for a while, then all of a sudden it went away. I think it's worth going to a podiatrist to make sure it's the same thing that I had, and not something else. Seems like there are a lot of podiatrist out there that aren't any good, but I found one that was great. He's a runner. He figured it out in less than 30 seconds. Grabbed my foot and said "it hurts here?" Yes. "It doesn't hurt here?" No. "Ok. you have a bruised metatarsal that won't heal because you run on it too much. Just wear this in your dress shoes for four hours a day until it goes away." The pad just lifted the specific metatarsal that was bruised so that it got a break for four-plus hours a day.

Kram- what's your PF therapy look like? I'm doing heel dips, rolling calfs, hockey ball under the heel and rolling foot on a frozen water bottle a couple of times daily and using comfy shoes (nb 1800) for easy runs. I find I still have a few spare minutes each day so happy to incorporate anything else that might help 

Similar enough to you.

I have a tennis ball that I can be very aggressive with. General rolling of the ligament heading to the big toe and both lateral sides of the foot, and the heel as hard as I can take it depending on how sore things are. Other than that, I've been doing heel drops to strengthen achilles/calf and making sure to static stretch my calf a few time per day. I do some foot/angle movement before bed, i.e., sit down, straighten leg at knee and then do 10 cw rotation (use big toe as a guide), 10 ccw and 10 extend/retract foot. This really helps loosen and strengthen the peroneal and all those other little muscles. Finally, I donated a pair of shoes that were on the tight side, which I think were to blame for bringing this on as I upped mileage. All of that has it getting close to normal again, it's slow work though.

 

The pace discussion is pretty cool, but 2:30 is not anywhere near as intimidating now as it was when I was going after sub3 first time around. I think there are a few people here who, if they could find the time and stay injury free at the paces required, would be able to have a serious go at 2:30 (hint, hint!). There's a really great sub2:30 thread on letsrun if you really want to understand what it takes, and it's very impressive, not impossible.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8927494&page=15

I followed that thread all year. A lot of those guys had a ton of talent and ran in college, so it's a bit different for us. I would think for most people on this board, we need to average 80+ for a good 6 months to get there. The leap from 2:45 to 2:30 is immense though. It may be impossible for many without putting in 100+, which requires immense dedication, injury-luck, and weather-luck day of race.

The only guys in my area who hit sub 2.30 are local elite and have sub 15 min 5000m times.

Cal your wife wants you to look hot. Thats so shallow. We men never think like that about women 

I'd also add in JMac as a wildcard, since he's so young. His 2:46 at NYC is worth 2:42-2:43 on a flat course IMO. He also did that off of pretty low mileage. Given that he's only 31, he has a lot of time to build and improve. I wouldn't be surprised if he got down to 2:30 eventually.

Agree with JT as Madison with his back to backs and perhaps TN weather from the old boards immediately come to mind on those that might be closest to a 2:30.  Plus JMac certainty has a short term potential to get down to 2:40 if he remains injury free.  As for me, hoping something 2:40-2:45 could be in my future assuming I can tie in my recent fitness to some longer stuff again, but most of that depends on the weather and the race I choose.  Think I was close with better conditions last January.  But who knows where my ceiling is, but I didn't start running at all until I was close to 30.

And speaking of impressive age graded stuff we have well known 46 old in Orlando that just threw down a 2:30 at Chicago. For those that follow letsrun he goes by Smoove.  I think Kram follows him as well.  Plus he coaches some of my local running friends and is also a big Daniels guy.

I'd also add in JMac as a wildcard, since he's so young. His 2:46 at NYC is worth 2:42-2:43 on a flat course IMO. He also did that off of pretty low mileage. Given that he's only 31, he has a lot of time to build and improve. I wouldn't be surprised if he got down to 2:30 eventually.

Do you really think that course is worth 4 minutes?  That's almost 10 seconds per mile? Aside from the first mile (which is totally negated by the next one) the first 8 miles are very fast.  Yes the QB bridge is tough as is mile 24, but I really don't think it's worth that much time.  And for guys running under 2:45, having dozens of people around you is well worth it.

 

That's just my opinion Steve, that it's worth 3-4 minutes. It's based on all the people who have run it that I follow; they always run slower there than they do on flatter courses, and usually significantly slower. Mikey ran a 2:59 there off of a cycle that indicated 2:55 or better fitness (again, in my opinion), also the same for Flyrunner who did a 2.58 I think and was clearly in 2:55 or better shape.

Unfortunately I wasn’t in 2:55 shape when I ran NYC (1:26 tune up half the month before)....compared to earlier that year (1:23 half the month before a 2:51). I reckon for a 3 hour marathoner it’s about 2min slower assuming you don’t go out too fast. As Steve said it’s really only QB bridge and 5th Avenue. Also you’ve got the big vibe at NYC which counts for something compared to running a flat course with no atmosphere or crowd support.