Forums >Racing>2023 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
Watson - it was pretty cold Sat morning here so I wouldn't be at all surprised if the wind had flipped to the south. The winning times didn't look especially quick either.
Fred - that is a pretty neat goal to be able to tick off (and yes, you have to draw the line somewhere!). Will definitely be worthy of a celebration.
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: Devonport HM, 1 Oct, course PB.
Up next: Omaha HM, 3 Dec, go harder.
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Glute Force
Steve - wow that's a great result. I wonder what your time could have been with a proper GPS signal and a straight course. This is your PB for now, but there is room!
Watson - tough conditions and well battled. Really liked Steve's commentary and sorry that you had to fight hard at the end. But this is a great result nevertheless. You have some serious speed in you.
Fred - 27 half marathons in 8 years that is bad ass. You will need another goal, like running all major marathons (Tokyo, Berlin, London, Boston, NYC, Chicago). Surprise that CIM isn't on there although everyone always talks about that.
Mark - wow what a week. Congrats. Hope the taper goes well and fingers crossed for the win. You know how to win now, so go get it!
Darkwave - weather isn't really helping - but that should gradually get better in your prep for Chicago. 6 weeks is still a lot of time - and sounds like a very good idea to now focus more on speed rather than strenght. I have been focussing on increasing strength and have noticed that my range of motion is really crap (trying to stand up from a sitting position on the floor, without hands). I have to get in the habit of stretching more / yoga type of workouts. What streaming yoga do you use?
Had an active week. I traversed the lake here - that is an event that is advertised with 1500 meters but my GPS only read it as 900m....did not get part of my money back. They stop all the boats and was in the water with 9000 others. Got kicked in the face a few times, but otherwise great experience, obviously did not drown! Othwise 5 runs, two bike sessions (easy shakeouts - watchinga documentary on netflix about the Florida Gators).
JamesD
(Apologies if this is a double post - I thought I posted it a couple of hours ago, but it hasn't shown up yet, so here's a second try.)
Congratulations on a very good effort in tough conditions, watson.
Great job, Steve, especially with all the 180-degree turns.
This was our hottest week of the summer (so far?), so I was glad it was a taper week and glad the hottest days were ones when I wasn’t running outside in the afternoon. My knees were slightly sore & swollen the whole week, I think because they’re not yet fully adjusted to the foam in my Turbo Next Natures and my Endorphin Speeds that I’ve been wearing more frequently in the last couple of weeks. I've enjoyed watching the world track & field championships, including the men's marathon from 1 to 3:30am after I returned from our midnight 5K & couldn't sleep.
Sun - 6.2 miles in park PM @ 8:37, temp 92/33, TDP 160
Mon - 5 miles very slow (60:15) on treadmill w/40-second walk breaks/6:00
Tues - 4.2 miles in park PM incl. 4x200 @ 45, temp 97/36, TDP 166
Weds - 27 minutes swimming
Thurs - 3.1 miles in park PM incl. strides, temp 94/34, TDP 165
Fri - off
Sat/Sun - 6.5 miles incl. Country’s Midnight Express 5K, temp 87/31, TDP 158
Total - 25 miles
YTD Average - 36.7 mpw
Race Report, Country’s Midnight Express 5K, 12 midnight Aug. 26/27
This race, sponsored by a barbecue restaurant, has been held every year since 1981, missing only 2020 for covid. It starts and ends near the restaurant, but nearly all of it is in the residential neighborhood where I grew up. There's a more festive atmosphere than at most local races - music, cheerleaders, a hot air balloon, and something called silk acrobatics. Homeowners along the course come out to cheer, and a few of them turn their lawn sprinklers on to cool down runners on their side of the road. I expected I would improve on last year’s 19:58, because I do better the second time on a course, and because I was racing in plated shoes for the first time, and because my training had been slightly better than last year’s. Since it was only a 5K, and the humidity was only 60%, and of course there was no sunshine, I wasn’t too worried that the temperature was ten degrees higher than last year at 87/31.
The school year started here three weeks ago, and lots of cross country runners seem to use this race as a fun first race. Almost a third of the 800+ participants and nearly all of those up front were teenagers, and their energy was contagious. Many of them have more speed and less endurance than I do, so they start too fast and I have people to chase and pass the whole time.
Tripping early is always a concern in this race, partly because of the darkness and partly because lots of people line up where they shouldn’t and aren’t used to crowded races - in addition to first-time cross country runners, the race attracts a lot of adults who exercise but aren’t serious runners. The organizers put everyone 20 yards behind the start and asked those who could run a mile in five minutes to move to the front, then those who could run a mile in six minutes, etc. That helped, but there were still some people ahead of me who clearly misjudged their speed. I was gradually passing people within 50 yards, and despite the confusion and one very dark stretch, I made it through the first quarter mile of congestion without incident. After the second turn we started a long straightaway with better visibility and more room. I maintained a steady effort and passed a few people every minute. We turned left and went up a long gradual hill next to a middle school. Unlike last year, nobody threw water balloons at us out of the darkness from the school playground. Near the top of the hill we turned right, ran a couple of blocks, and turned right again in front of a high school. We then had a steep downhill, and I almost lost my balance three times, windmilling my arms and trying to brake. I need to work on steepish downhills, as I had the same problem in my half last year.
From the bottom of the hill, it was basically flat as we headed back toward the start/finish area. On the way back, we were supposed to turn right off the main residential street and run a short block before turning left, running parallel to the main street for about half a mile, and turning left to get back to the main street and finish. To my surprise, the organizers/police had blocked the intersection, and we just ran straight back on the main street. I kept up a moderately hard effort the whole way but never felt like I was redlining. That’s typical for me in a rustbuster, as I can't seem to go all out until a second race.
I finished in 19:25, 27th/819, 1st M60-64. DW ran-walked in 36:23 for 6th/17 in her age group. A couple of people who had run the race several times confirmed that the course was different from previous years, and their watches showed about a tenth of a mile less than usual. Not being able to compare my time to last year’s was disappointing, and if it really was a full tenth of a mile short, my honest time would’ve been around last year’s and worse than I had expected. I’m glad this happened at a rustbuster and not at my goal 5K in 5 weeks. Regardless of the short course, I feel safe in telling myself that I set sort of an age group record; I’ve found race results online for every year but one since 1998, and the best time in my age group was over 21 minutes, and I was clearly much faster than that. Another positive note was that my legs handled their first race in plated shoes ok - didn’t hurt at all on Sunday and only had my usual knee soreness on Monday.
Post-1987 PRs: Half 1:30:14 (2019); 10K 39:35 (2019); 5K 19:12 (2017); Mile 5:37.3 (2020)
'23 Goals: health; consistency; age-graded PRs; half < 1:30
Taking a break while waiting for my canning jars to boil. I messed up a batch of grape jam (more like syrup), so need to do the whole process over. I've picked over 10 lbs of grapes and it hasn't made a dent in what is still on the vine. That's also accounting for losing every single grape that was less than 4 feet or so off the ground to the deer.
My week:
Monday am 5 pm strength training (chest)
Tuesday rest day (switched days I went into the office due to ridciulous on-going caar situation)
Wednesday am 6.2 with 2 x600 + 2 x 400 + 4 x 200 pm strength training (legs)
Thursday 10 minutes easy treadmill + strength training (back)
Friday am 5 with strides pm strength training (shoulders)
Saturday 4.4 easy + core
Sunday 5.6 with 4 x 400 + 4 x 200 + 4 strides
This is the strength training set I got. The single body part workouts isn't really something that is ideal from a running standpoint, but may as well do it from a strength training standpoint. I'm not really following it as written, but I really have liked the workouts.
Watson, nice job on the race. A mix of trail & road sounds rough. Definitely makes it hard to get into a groove.
JamesD, nice job on the 5k. Sounds like a challenging race.
Time to get back to boiling grapes.
Am I the only one that's been waiting for a grape jam update??
50+ age-group PBs: Half Perish 1:24:24 (June '23 Road Race) - 10km 37:52 (2022 Local Road Champs) - Track 5km 18:49 (Aug '22) - Perish Run 3:17:42
2023 Goals: Perish Run Sub 3:15 - Road/Track 10km Sub 37:30 - 5km Sub 18:20
Total pain in the behind. Took 3 tries to get the first rouond to set. The batch I made tonight set much better. Now trying to find something else to do with all these. grapes.
Put them in omelets? Put the jam on bagels? Add them to smoothies? Have friends over and serve them a meal with grapes in every course?
JamesD, I've cut & seeded 4lbs and frozen for smoothies. Another 7lbs has gone into jam. There is easily another 10lbs left onthe vine and probably more than that. I'm considering bag & leave on the neighbor's doorsteps.
From what I've read, wine making is really detail oriented and these are the wrong type of grapes for that.
Nothing special
Raisins?
Sick and tired. A little.
This is what I thought. Great fuel for long runs 😀
My week was mostly recovery after last week’s 5K. No real injuries, just tired legs. We got some storms early in the week from the hurricane that hit Florida and southeastern Georgia, but nothing serious. I hope today’s cooler weather is a sign that summer is over, but I expect we have a few more weeks of off-and-on high temperatures.
Sun - off (midnight 5K race counted last week)
Mon - off (thunderstorm when I was about to go swim)
Tues - 3.1 miles in park @ 9:01, temp 85/29, TDP 158
also Tues - 5 minutes swimming (lightning started earlier than forecast)
Weds - 8 miles very slow treadmill (60:25 AM/36 PM) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins
Thurs - 8.3 miles in park @ 8:30, temp 91/33, TDP 158
Fri - 50 minutes swimming
Sat - 9.6 in park @ 8:47, temp 80/27, TDP 143
Total - 29 miles
YTD Average - 36.5 mpw
Hot Weather Complainer
James - Great to see a week from you with no mention of niggles or injuries.
me - Pretty solid week post-race with a lot of aerobic stuff. I blew the workout yesterday a bit, the first km at the start of the third rep was 4:03. I adjusted quickly but my HR was a bit high for the rest of the workout.
<caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23
Upcoming Races:
Foster Park Run 5km November 25
Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024
Christchurch Marathon April 21, 2024
Quick dump of the weekly for me, I'll catch up with everyone else's a bit later on. Last Xterra race was today, out at Riverhead Forest, where I sometimes do long runs, but on a lot of trails there I don't normally run (given the chance of an altercation with mountain bikes off the main roads!). Came 2nd, so that was pretty good. It was a very muddy course and that was AFTER a very dry week too, some tough hills as well, but a few longer / easier stretches on the major forestry roads to break it up. The family were at the finish line too to cheer me on so that was a highlight for Fathers Day, they've missed the other races given dragging a baby along to a remote location is kinda hard work especially in the middle of winter lol.
That was the last race of the Xterra series and I have to say it's one of the best things I've done as a runner. Totally different style of running... tough, unforgiving, hard to find a rhythm, and I felt like dying after the first one. I wouldn't say they necessarily got easier but I did get the hang of it a bit more and it was great fun running in a bunch of really cool locations that I'd never have been to otherwise. Miss 6 is super excited after hearing about the mud so next year I'll probably do the short course instead with her.
Finished my HM quest by running a 2:14 in hot, humid sunshine, but it's done! . 15 on the day and 56.7 (91.2km) for the week
5k 23:48.45 (3/22); 4M 31:26 (2/22); 5M 38:55 (11/23); 10k 49:24 (10/22); Half 1:48:32 (10/22); Marathon 4:29:58 (11/23)Upcoming race(s): Turkey Trot, 11/25; Hangover 5k, 1/1
Congratulations, Fred! What's your next challenge? You could try to beat your best times at each of the (still-existing) halfs on your list.