Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 572 times)

AndyTN


Overweight per CDC BMI

    I'm back from the cruise and finally in front of a computer again. Wow, the thread actually had moved forward 10 pages in the week I was gone! Thanks for all the comments about my Half PR. Here is the race report I finally wrote up.

     

     

    Start

    I showed up to the start area more than 90 minutes early to do lots of dynamic stretching as my warmup and it was a chilly 39° before the sun came up. I had to pee 7 times but never had to use the toilet for #2, which was a sign things would be good that day. I got to the start and activated my GPS about 2 minutes before the gun but my watch had a brain fart and couldn’t capture a GPS signal. I moved to the side waiting for the GPS as the gun went off so I started about 30 seconds later with the slower runners. That turned out to be a blessing because it helped keep me slow the first mile and the first couple miles had a head wind so I was able to draft a lot of slow groups.

     

    Early miles

    The first two miles were pretty easy as I got into a groove and was fighting the headwind. First mile was 8:06 and second was 7:38. Once I saw my pace during the 3rd mile was faster than my target goal, I switched to the heart rate only screen and didn’t look again at the pace until the late miles. At about mile 4, my Piriformis on the left side was getting tight but no pain so I looked for a good spot for a quick stretch. I found a big brick mailbox to lean up against and ended up knocking off their big brass placard for their street number. A lady running near me laughed out loud and I just said “WOOPS!” but continued on.

     

    Middle miles

    I was running well passing a lot of people in miles 3-7 and accidentally saw my split for mile 7 was 7:09, which was a shock because that had some uphill sections. Right after that was a gradual downhill with my family waiting at the bottom so I kicked it into high gear before I hit the big hill. As I started up the big hill, I just wanted to keep myself moving forward without killing myself. The only two people to pass me in the race happened during the big hill but I kept them fairly close. I finally hit the top of the hill and went to turn on the jets during the decent but my jets were more like sputtering propellers. I was still able to make up time in my overall pace and passed one of the two who passed me on the uphill but I wasn’t flying like I had planned.

     

    Late miles

    I made it to the bottom of the big decent at mile 10 and then turned to where we started the first 1.5 miles. That easy, flat stretch was anything but easy because that stupid headwind from the start was blowing twice as hard. That 1.5 mile stretch was likely the hardest for mental toughness in my running career. My pace was about 7:45 but I just kept battling the wind and that turnaround was such a huge relief. I had the wind behind me but for the first time in a non-marathon race, I was totally exhausted. I was able to keep my pace at my goal pace with the assistance of the wind. Once I passed the sign for a half mile remaining, I was able to give it one last kick to the finish. As I crossed the finish line, I let out a huge Hulk roar and was so amped up that I just kept running through, almost taking out a few people.

     

     

    So overall, I was very excited about the result and while my hips were hurting a bit throughout the race, they didn’t slow me down and I just ignored them. I certainly think not looking at my watch other than heart rate for the majority of the miles helped me run the optimal race. I know I would have held back looking at my pace and Garmin says I set a 10k PR by 1 second during those middle miles. I cannot pinpoint the exact 10k to check for elevation so I am not really counting it and will just use it for encouragement. As a side note, I actually had to coach my son’s baseball team less than an hour after finishing. I fell over twice when squatting down in the catcher’s position. After baseball, I hit the ice bath and drank beer the rest of the day while playing Mario Cart with my kids.

    Memphis / 38 male

    5k - 20:39 / 10k - 43:48 / Half - 1:34:47 / Full - 3:38:10

    CommanderKeen


    Cobra Commander Keen

      Dorothea - "There are arguably more than two biological sexes".  Hmm.  That would take a hell of an argument!

       

       

      Agreed. There are some disorders that can occur is rare instances of an "overlap" between the two sexes, but there are only two. Nor is there any hermaphroditism is humans (or any mammals and the vast majority of other sexually-reproducing life).

       

      Back on the topic of running, nice week. It looks like you've really been logging some great workouts, and training in general, lately.  And the fact that it's not wearing you down a lot is a really good sign, too.

       

      Flavio - Raidlight makes good stuff. Incredibly light stuff tends to be a little less durable, but that's a valid trade-off given your use case.
      Something like that should be great for a race like this or just daily summer runs. Depending on your water needs, something like a Naked Running Belt would be really good here as well, but I'm not sure about their availability in Europe. 
      I'm definitely interested to see how you do on this race.


      Mark - Nice week. I like the "rusty unicycles". Do you have a favorite pancake/waffle recipe?


      Krash - Congrats on the win and CR! That is very impressive. Your RR is possibly the shortest RR for the longest race in one of these threads.
      Was that goal pace "just" for the first 7-8 hours and then you had a different goal pace for the remainder, or was that the plan for the whole thing and things just slowed down later?

      Out of curiosity, what would your "easy" pace be on a similar course if you were just doing standard 10-14 miles runs?


      Fishy - Awesome job! The PR is one thing, but an AG win is certainly a feather in your hat, too.


      Dave - Really nice pair (of weeks) you've got there!
      I mean, really big LRs...


      DKT - Do you have an HSA with your insurance? The R8 qualifies as a medical expense, which is how I got mine.
      Smart to cut down the speed work as well during the taper given the knee. I'd think that such a modification would have less impact to your 40 miler than it would a marathon or shorter race.


      Andy - Excellent RR, thanks.

       

       

      I've been in a bit of a funk the last 1.5-2 weeks, which I think seems to be over. I wasn't sleeping, running or eating particularly well, and missed the previous 2 long runs (one miss was planned, but overlapped this). I didn't get in a planned double or two and my easy run Saturday was shorter than I wanted, but I finally managed a couple solid nights of sleep and even with having to move my LR it still went really well. I even lucked out and got absolutely perfect weather for it. Things are just feeling better now, thankfully.

       

       

      Weekly for period: From: 03/13/2023 To 03/19/2023

      <caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
      Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
      in ft
      03/13 1 quick conversation with the guy training his bird dogs 11.01 17.71 01:31:03 08:16 05:08 482
      03/13 2 unidentified falcons & 1 red tailed hawk 5.05 8.13 00:41:06 08:08 05:03 262
      03/14 Just a calm morning 9.05 14.56 01:21:57 09:03 05:38 279
      03/15 20' + 16' HMe 12.65 20.36 01:32:52 07:20 04:34 381
      03/15 Lunch Run 4.05 6.52 00:34:36 08:33 05:18 236
      03/16 63° shouldn't feel this chilly 8.05 12.96 01:15:42 09:24 05:50 518
      03/17 Feeding my crazy 14.01 22.53 02:00:18 08:35 05:20 663
      03/18 1 dead cow 4.05 6.52 00:34:51 08:36 05:21 210
      03/19 2 hawks, 1 turkey, & 1 hot air balloon 19.11 30.74 02:39:11 08:20 05:11 869

      Total distance: 87.03mi

      5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22

       

      Upcoming Races:

       

       

      Running Problem


      Problem Child

        My week:

         

        seemed to go well. Tuesday I did the 'Daniels" workout because I wasn't going to have time for the normal 2x3 (or was it 3x2?) workout.

        Thursday I TRIED for 9M and just couldn't get it done. Somewhere around 6.5 or 7 miles the stomach/diaphragm started hurting. I don't think it was stomach pains from eating. I'd taken a Maurten at the start of the run and another at 45 minutes. My GUESS/HOPE is the 5k on Sunday, the hard run Tuesday and now this run were just too much for the body. The legs didn't feel tired. It just got uncomfortable, pace was hitting 6:45/mi and I was just done suffering. It probably didn't help knowing the last mile would be into a headwind around 8mph.

        Saturday was a 20 miler I designed. I brought 3 gels (2 caff, one decaf) and took them at 45, 1:30 and 2:00. Stomach seemed okay, and I skipped the morning coffee. The hills weren't too much fun. Just like Tuesday I learned to back off and keep one pace.

        Sunday I just went big. I didn't have energy. I literally was on the couch 10 minutes before the run ready to accept 63 miles and listen to the body (rest), then realized "marathon scott DGAF" and opted for the run no one at the Sunday group seems to be doing lately. When I mentally accepted doing the run I didn't want to do I decided to go get some hills, and when I reached the initial turning point I felt good enough to keep going. I even posted a photo of the worst mile (the 300 ft gain) I THOUGHT after the 20 miler I'd be really close to 80 miles for the week. Turns out I was 10 miles behind where I thought I was. I ran more hills because they're there, and I am just tired of running the flats. Plus I'm concerned I haven't done enough, even with a few 70 mile weeks and a 5k PR. Looking at Strava my weekly mileage isn't the MOST consistent. Some of it was weather (snow killed a week) and some might have been just personal things going on. Overall I've been happy with the paces I've done workouts at, and the next 3 Thursday runs are 10M. These are the big boys I put lots of stock into so IDEALLY they'll go well. I plan on taking gels for them since I haven't been up to this point.

         

        Weekly for period: From: 03/13/2023 To 03/19/2023

        <caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
        Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
        in ft
        03/13 That time my legs feel like the sound of crunching ice. 8.00 12.87 01:02:23 07:48 04:51 456
        03/14 That time I broke my heart. 8.01 12.88 00:53:40 06:42 04:10 394
        03/15 That time it’s easier than trying. 6.73 10.83 00:57:22 08:31 05:18 328
        03/16 Afternoon Walk 0.82 1.33 00:23:00 28:03 17:18 26
        03/16 That time I’m going to need some more wax. 12.34 19.86 01:30:43 07:21 04:34 249
        03/17 Afternoon Pickleball 0.66 1.07 00:09:05 13:46 08:29 0
        03/17 That time I REALLT hope I actually submitted my vacation request for today. 7.60 12.23 01:02:59 08:17 05:09 312
        03/18 That time I think I made Matt regret being my friend. 20.34 32.73 02:47:27 08:14 05:07 1158
        03/19 That time it’s harder when you wait until you’re tired to do the thing someone else labeled as hard. 8.80 14.15 01:13:35 08:22 05:12 738

        Total distance: 73.30mi

         

         

         

        I'm still very concerned about getting sick. My wife said I have to make reservations for dinner in Boston. I told her "chipotle" which wasn't acceptable based on the look I received and when she said "they probably don't even have it" I already knew they did...because darkwave doesn't do marathons where there isn't a chipotle.

        Me: Look it up.

        Her: *searching* places phone down.

        Me: How far is it?

        her: Like a mile.

        ME: 

         

         

        so if anyone has a suggestion for a good steak or nice dinner place for a married couple on their "no kids" marathon vacation I'm open to suggestions. I'm staying about a mile from the finish line at the Boston Park Plaza apparently.

        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

        Running Problem


        Problem Child

          JMac it should be interesting to see if the 5k/10k training works better than marathon training. I would anticipate the 5k training working better just for the speed/VO2max/Threshold type work being more important in a half than a full.

           

          Andy good race review. I've never had to stop and stretch in a race so that's a new challenge to me. Sorry about falling over too. Sounds painful.

           

          Marky_Mary rainbow pancakes sounds like LOTS of work.

           

          Steve this training plan is with the new coach, correct? Sounds like it's going well.

           

           

          You only had a choice in the last hour of your race. If you don’t finish the big loop in time it doesn’t count. So if you don’t think you can finish the 2.78 mile loop in the time you have left, you can run the short loop to get more miles.

           

          Steve- yes my report left out the feet pain for hours, the dark hole if doubt, why the hell am I doing this, the pushing of the pace in to the wind to stay on pace, if can’t keep pace for 12 hours 24 is impossible, why try…. I can say a lot of it was easy. Keep running, relax, constantly checking my watch for the pace, which was easy for the first 6-7 hours. Loop races and ultra can get monotonous. Gels every 30 min, 16 oz of fluid an hour, salt pills on the hour, Mt Dew when ever I feel like it and repeat. Can be boring. But the process works for me. Then I try to laugh and play when remover I can. You pass people again and again. I try to learn their names and encourage them.

           

           

          These are the things I, and commnaderkeen need to hear. I'll never forget SeattleMax telling me about looking at his watch thinking an hour has passed and it's been 5 minutes. It was so true when I had to experience it.

           

          davePNW 6x1 mile tempo is the first "strength" workout Hansons has. I think it triggers something inside me to know "training just got real" as now we're doing the work to help on race day. Tempo pace.....pffff. bother THAT nonsense. Those pases you posted are clsoe to what I'm doing MINE at and they're lots of work. They do feel good to have completed. Also...22 miles? no thanks. Good job on the M paced miles in the long run.

           

           

           

          anyone know of triathlon forums I can pass along to someone? Oly/Half Ironman distances.

           

          I did my first weather check for Boston. Western wind of 15-20 mph today. Race day is still too far out to predict though.

          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


          Cobra Commander Keen

            RP - Solid work.

            Maybe check out slowtwitch.com.

            No recommendations on restaurants for you in Boston, but I might have a couple for JMac in Sacramento depending on where he's staying.

            5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22

             

            Upcoming Races:

             

             

            flavio80


            Intl. correspondent

              Steve - Quite the opposite, my mind was completely free while I was in the trail. I grew up on a farm and I felt at home.
              Kudos on selling the house, here's hoping no stress added when moving.

              Jmac - Excellent result, you always find your way back, and these intermediate periods help your body heal.

              Fishy - Is that like a 5 minute PR ? Way to go!

              DW - I'm stuck with either Altra or Topo which seem to be the only ones in town with a wide shape. Topos actually have the Vibram MegaGrip sole which many say is great.
              I bought the Astra Lone Peak however LOL, so I guess I'll have to live with that for now.
              Kudos on your 5k race!

              WC - do you also train by time instead of distance ?

              DK - the best strength training is the one that you do Big grin

              Keen - That kind of funk happens to me sometimes as well. I try to stay on top of it from early on, in fact there are days I go to bed at 8:30pm to ensure I have enough rest.
              I'll also avoid take away during those days, though I suppose that's not an issue for you as you don't order take away much? (I'm guessing that based on the kind of diet you usually have).

              RP - LOL, the wife always wins, even when you think you won!

              me - I think I might have a relationship with marathons similar to those people who have a "toxic ex". They keep getting burned but keep coming back.

              I was just looking at the Valencia marathon. It's in early December, it's definitely a very fast course, it's a big race with tons of people (maybe traffic?) and the weather should be okay-ish, between 8 and 14C, with a start at 8:35 for somebody like myself with a seed time between 3h and 3h12. I guess I'll check the ahotu site for other marathons around that time, but it lines up perfectly with a half in early October.

              And hopefully enough time to increase my weekly mileage closer to 70 miles per week.

              PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021

              Up next: no idea

              Tool to generate Strava weekly

                 

                me - I think I might have a relationship with marathons similar to those people who have a "toxic ex". They keep getting burned but keep coming back.

                 

                 

                I think that is the case with most people. I tell anyone who asks, to NOT run marathons. They'll suck, but you'll get hooked. Out of 18 marathons, I've had 2-4 that I could consider going really well, depending how you gauge them. It took me 7 marathons before I even came close to even splits.

                Dave

                flavio80


                Intl. correspondent

                  In other news, I maybe have found a final solution for my "dog" problem.

                  Pepper sprays require a permit here in Portugal, that would be my first choice.

                  But I've just realized that I should be able to walk around with a small bottle of water mixed with pepper sauce.

                  I need to investigate the best delivery mechanism though. The first thought was a water pistol but I don't want to run around with something resembling a weapon, least of all here. So maybe one of those ketchup/mayo containers which you can squeeze the liquid out?

                  As you all know, pepper sauce is a known solution for cramps, so I'd have an excuse ready if I ever got caught spraying something with that.

                  PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021

                  Up next: no idea

                  Tool to generate Strava weekly

                  JMac11


                  RIP Milkman

                    Will get to others soon, but Flavio did you ever look into the pet corrector spray I mentioned? It is amazing how well it works, and it's just noise, so nobody can claim you harmed their dog physically:

                     

                    https://www.amazon.com/CORRECTOR-Avoidance-Stealing-behaviour-effective/dp/B000UCH02O

                    5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

                     

                     

                    wcrunner2


                    Are we there, yet?

                       

                      WC - do you also train by time instead of distance ?

                       

                       

                      It's a bit of a combination. I have a general mileage target, but also a time consideration, so I may push the time a little longer to reach the mileage, but I have a time cutoff regardless.  Also I often express my workouts in time because of the occasional flak I get when I call a 9 mile run a long run or mention that my training paces range from 9:30 per mile for intervals to almost 14:00 per mile for long runs and even include power walking. With all the nearby tracks locked up except when in use by school teams, I'm running odd distances for intervals anyway, e.g. laps around the park, approximately  450m as estimated by repeated Garmin measurements.

                       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.

                       

                       

                           

                      flavio80


                      Intl. correspondent

                        Will get to others soon, but Flavio did you ever look into the pet corrector spray I mentioned? It is amazing how well it works, and it's just noise, so nobody can claim you harmed their dog physically:

                         

                        https://www.amazon.com/CORRECTOR-Avoidance-Stealing-behaviour-effective/dp/B000UCH02O

                         

                        I did look into that, but does it work for all dogs? Have anyone seen it working against an aggressive dog?

                        Also, I'm not concerned about harming the dog, I'd use a bear spray if I was allowed to, including against the owner 😂

                        It's their job to stay away from me, have a bare minimum of care and respect about others.

                        PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021

                        Up next: no idea

                        Tool to generate Strava weekly

                        JMac11


                        RIP Milkman

                           

                          I did look into that, but does it work for all dogs? Have anyone seen it working against an aggressive dog?

                          Also, I'm not concerned about harming the dog, I'd use a bear spray if I was allowed to, including against the owner 😂

                          It's their job to stay away from me, have a bare minimum of care and respect about others.

                           

                          I'm going to preface this by saying I am a dog owner.

                           

                          Now having said that - dog owners are some of the most entitled people you will run into. You are probably right in terms of your LEGAL rights to do what you want, but that doesn't mean somebody will not physically harm you if they feel you have done something wrong to their dog, even if they're the ones who are wrong.

                           

                          So this "spray" is a thing that nobody will ever see (you don't need to take it out, just spray in your pocket as it's just a sound) and 99% of people don't know that sound was.

                           

                          I know this because my dog used to be friendly with most dogs she met UNLESS it was a dog who started something with her, and then she wouldn't back down. However, she could be in a full on dog fight back in the day and one spray of this would stop both dogs immediately. It's similar to the old school tactic of shaking pennies in a can, but this is way more obnoxious to dogs. So yes, it works with aggressive dogs. We used to carry it with us all the time when she was off leash (legally) and younger to break up any dog fights that would occur due to other aggressive dogs (not that she was fully blameless and we've stopped taking her off leash as she got older). Anyway, it worked every time. Will it work if a dog was full on attacking you? No, but I'm not sure a spray bottle would either.

                           

                          Anyway - point is you are right in what should be the case, but I'm just trying to give you an alternative that should avoid full confrontation with an owner that may not go your way.

                          5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

                           

                           

                          dktrotter


                          Dorothea

                            Somewhere around 6.5 or 7 miles the stomach/diaphragm started hurting. I don't think it was stomach pains from eating. I'd taken a Maurten at the start of the run and another at 45 minutes. My GUESS/HOPE is the 5k on Sunday, the hard run Tuesday and now this run were just too much for the body. The legs didn't feel tired. It just got uncomfortable, pace was hitting 6:45/mi and I was just done suffering. It probably didn't help knowing the last mile would be into a headwind around 8mph.

                             

                            RP, did you cramp during the 5k? Because hearing you describe it now makes me think of a 5k race over the summer where I missed out on a PR because I got a cramp in the general stomach diaphragm region 2/3rds of the way through and ran through it, but slower than optimal. It hurt for about a week after that, which indicated a strained muscle of some kind. Maybe that's what you had? but it will go away.

                             

                            Also LOL at the chipotle conversation. I still haven't made it there, but it's on my calendar for Thursday 

                             

                            I just ran out of time to write more atm. I'll have to circle back later!

                            Qualifications: I like to run. In Florida. In the summer. At noon.  

                            Last race: Community 5K, March 2nd. Speed test run with 2 walk breaks. Went pretty well.  

                            Running Problem


                            Problem Child

                              DK no cramps during the 5k. This was a new pain, and I remember thinking "THIS is what I EXPECTED for the 5k."  I pulled the plug because I've run through it before and just today wasn't the day to suffer. Pace was already falling and I was expecting it to drop to 7:00/mi pace going the opposite direction of home. Thursday is going to be another shot at 10M. Nothing hurt the rest of the day, or even the rest of the week. I was just thinking maybe I was breathing too hard too many days last week and the body wanted a break.

                               

                              JMac so is it a spray, or just a noise? I might could use this for a few runs because I agree dog owners are entitled. In my area people treat every open space as dog friendly, including grocery stores, and acts as though their dog has a right to be off leash. I really wish our dog catchers were out more often to give people a $430 fine for having their dog off leash. "I always bring my dog out here and it is never a problem" mentality doesn't fly with me when the owner thinks this includes their dog following me, and treating the public space like their personal back yard. In general I'm starting to hate people. /rant

                              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

                              dktrotter


                              Dorothea

                                 

                                Agreed. There are some disorders that can occur is rare instances of an "overlap" between the two sexes, but there are only two. Nor is there any hermaphroditism is humans (or any mammals and the vast majority of other sexually-reproducing life).

                                 

                                to pick up again with Steve's and CK's replies,

                                 

                                I think you mean to say there’s no reproductive hermaphroditism in people. There are people born with both reproductive organs. 

                                 

                                I actually pretty much said allI I have to say about the topic for now, but I do see that if I’m going to drop a claim, even with a bunch of qualifiers, that I should back it up. 

                                 

                                Note that I said “arguably,” though that sentence had like four “argue…” so I agree it wasn’t totally clear. I am not quite sure where I stand on all of this either. 

                                 

                                As a poststructuralist, I have an allergic reaction to any sort of binaries, and so am inclined to feel that the concept of two sexes is too simplistic, as many leading science journals are publishing now. I wasn’t pointing to hermaphroditism as much as to sex as a  “context-dependent multidimensional variable.” 

                                 

                                At the same time, I’m a researcher, and so I can’t ignore that there are publications to the contrary as well. This one article I found acknowledges the trend in biomedical sciences to accommodate sex as a spectrum and not a binary, but pushes back against that to argue (rather persuasively), that this relativist view opposes fundamental biological facts.    https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.202200173. 

                                 

                                So I can accept that this biological fact is pretty solid as a fact and doesn’t have to be rethought like when people believed the sun went around the earth. Everything we know about living organisms so far supports this understanding of two sexes, whether they occur in the same or distinct organisms. I am, however, open to the idea that maybe someone comes along who can come up with a better explanation of the phenomena we have at hand, but I can accept that we’re not there yet. 

                                 

                                That being said, the argument is alive and well, but it does seem to be in the favor of the binary sex camp. 

                                 

                                It's still hard to decide what to do with trans athletes though, because when someone undergoes transition, they've changed their sex (unless you want to argue that they haven't actually, which I guess by this strict definition of sex, they haven't). So really you're saying people should compete in the category they were assigned at birth. But that is a problem for the rights of these athletes. So you can say "ef their rights," or you can agree that this is a complicated situation and we haven't found the best solution yet. Which, I believe, is where we're at. 

                                 

                                [edited to clarify this is a total side note:] Also, I've become intrigued about what this means re: non humans. If we want to stand by the argument that humans are unique in this way re: make a distention between sex and gender, then maybe we’re also unique in how we operate biologically. Otherwise we have to acknowledge that nonhuman animals also experience gender, but we don't know about it.

                                 

                                Going to try and come back around to some of the other posts, including Andy's race report later as well.

                                 

                                Glad to read it's gone now, RP. I guess it's one of those things that come from pushing the body's limits. You can be proud!

                                Qualifications: I like to run. In Florida. In the summer. At noon.  

                                Last race: Community 5K, March 2nd. Speed test run with 2 walk breaks. Went pretty well.