Forums >Racing>2018 3:20 (and beyond)
Rlk - last time I ran Botswana was 2012! So yes, been a while. It was my 2nd marathon ever - so crazy to think about.
R+BN - I find myself often in the same dilemma you describe - MLR or specific workout. I wish I had the time and mileage for both, but most times. I end up having to choose because I don't think my body wants to handle both. I've had a fair amount of success with just a specific workout, and limited to tempo runs at that -- I think last cycle I did a few tempo runs between 8-12 miles, but only a handful, honestly. I was running 40 mpw, and most run higher mileage, so take my advice/training with a grain of salt. This cycle I've so far only done one tempo and that was this week, and just over 7 miles.. ideally, I think i need to work up to a place I can handle both and do 50ish miles a week, maybe after Botwsana.
Mile - never done it. Still have a 22 minute 5K PR which I need to change, but haven't figured out when to do that. I am not good a short distances.
Oregon - totally understand re: the April race, and part of me feels the same.. a series of events, combined with the fact that I had registered, made me decide to just run the race, if not just for fun and to have something to train for. I may convince my dad to meet me there as well, so there's that. It's not a convenient trip at all, but I think it'll be nice.
Jim - good to see you here!!
Very short just under 3 miles yesterday since I was already going into the office late after my kid's allergist appt and then 4.5 miles miles @ 8:56 this morning in warmish (43 degrees) but windy conditions. I spend my weeks trying to figure out when to do my LRs, and with my husband wanting to ski and weather and all, that gets complicated. I think I'm going to do 18-19 miles tomorrow morning, hopefully before the rain starts. Haven't had a day off since Monday and I usually have more than one so my legs will be tired, but I think that's good at this point. Probably will be better than last weekend when I had to wait for DH to come home from skiing and didn't get out until 2:30pm.
PRs: HM: 1:32:59 (2015); FM: 3:18:36 (2017)
Cobra Commander Keen
DWave - Very "interesting" conditions to run in. That would certainly be a stay inside day for me. Then again, I'm largely surrounded by farm land, with nothing to block the wind.
Running the mile - Never done this. I've only heard of 1 competetive mile race around here; perhaps I'll do a solo trial after my HM on the local track. I'd feel really silly entering a 1 mile "fun run" and racing it all out.
Looking forward to my 15k tomorrow. It should be pretty windy, as it is every year, but due to a change in the course the wind should mostly be a crosswind, which will really help.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
OKC Memorial 5k - April 27
Bun Run 5k - May 4
So, yes, I have been perpetuating imbalance and bad habits without knowing it...probably for decades. Right now, I am focusing on proper form when walking and running, which is more difficult than one might think. I think I have progressed to the point where my knee doesn't immediately track inward...at least not as much. But, I still have to pay attention to it.
RE imbalances: I noticed this when I started taking video of myself on the bike. I have two monitors at work and always turn to the right to look at the right one, and type on the left one...and I sleep on my right side. So now I have made some changes after seeing how I sit on the bike/saddle.
I also started sleeping on my back, which took like a month to train myself and I still wake up on my side, so who knows whether that's doing anything. Will help for backpacking though.
Mother of Cats
If you ever got a chance to do it, you might surprise yourself. The few former gymnasts I've known (including one former elite, like yourself) had a lot of explosive speed.
CK - good luck!
Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.
And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.
Dwave - That wind sounds challenging. Merely getting out the door in those conditions is badass.
Katia - So you BQ'd at your first, then ran Botswana for your second? Cool. "I am not good at short distances" could be re-expressed as "My 5K PR is soft." I'm sure you'll get to that.
PJ - Shame about NYC. Still, it could be worse, You could get in, go to NY, then have it canceled with two days to go. Been there, done that.
fb - Yeah, 60-64. I am old. I seem to recall that Napa was your first sub-3.
The things one does during taper. I was fooling around with my Garmin 235 and came across something I had not noticed before: Run->Training->Finish Time. WTF? You select a race distance, and it shows a screen with miles to go, estimated finish time, and average pace. All the regular run stuff is there too, it's just an extra screen. I tried it out this morning, running a 28 minute 5K as part (most) of my run. I wanted to see what it does when it thinks you are finished. At the end it buzzes, displays the finish time (and a medal, cute), then flips into regular run mode and continues without interruption. Nice.
It could be a nice motivator for those final miles. Of course the only problem is that, being a Garmin, it will likely be about two minutes optimistic for a 3:20 marathon, but mentally adding on two minutes is not so hard. I think I will try it out on Sunday.
Hmmm. It does allow you to set a custom distance, so I could try adding 1%: 26.48, then have it autolap at 1.01 miles. Comparing the beeps against the mile markers would give me an idea of how close the estimate is. Maybe I'm over-thinking this.
Perhaps, but I think I'd have to still work on it. In retrospect, I didn't have much explosive power as a gymnast (think Nastia Luikin v. Simone Biles, if you know anything about gymnastics -- I'm closer to Nastia, but shorter). I was the only good runner even then. and when we had to sprint on the TM, I was patently AWFUL at it and went with the injured group even when not injured during my NCAA days. Also, asthma makes sprinting really hard for me, but I'm sure I could learn to work with this -- every short distance I've run I've executed it poorly and my lungs crapped out MUCH earlier on than I had anticipated. I do seem to have it under better control than back then.
*snip* The things one does during taper. I was fooling around with my Garmin 235 and came across something I had not noticed before: Run->Training->Finish Time. WTF? You select a race distance, and it shows a screen with miles to go, estimated finish time, and average pace. All the regular run stuff is there too, it's just an extra screen. I tried it out this morning, running a 28 minute 5K as part (most) of my run. I wanted to see what it does when it thinks you are finished. At the end it buzzes, displays the finish time (and a medal, cute), then flips into regular run mode and continues without interruption. Nice. It could be a nice motivator for those final miles. Of course the only problem is that, being a Garmin, it will likely be about two minutes optimistic for a 3:20 marathon, but mentally adding on two minutes is not so hard. I think I will try it out on Sunday. Hmmm. It does allow you to set a custom distance, so I could try adding 1%: 26.48, then have it autolap at 1.01 miles. Comparing the beeps against the mile markers would give me an idea of how close the estimate is. Maybe I'm over-thinking this.
Check out the ConnectIQ store for an app called "Race Screen" (by dp0750). I'd give you a link but I can't sign in on the computer right now.
It's does the same as the Garmin screen you found, plus a couple other metrics as well. The best part of this app is that (when using manual laps) it will auto-adjust the distance displayed on the app screen to match whatever marker you just hit, and adjust your average pace accordingly. Basically giving you your average pace according to the not-shortest-possible-distance that you're running.
It even works if you accidentally skip hitting lap at some point, and will show predicted race time based on this rounded distance and either your average pace or current pace.
RLK - Saw the VO2Max entry on Strava. How'd that go?
Keen: Good luck on your 15k tomorrow! That Race Screen for Garmin looks interesting -- I wish I could see my watch face when I run.
Darkwave: Hope you have power still -- sounds like half of Maryland doesn't. Nice workout in the wind.
Katia: Good luck with your long run this weekend. It's always tricky juggling everyone's activities.
Pepperjack: Sorry about NY. I wonder if they had more entries than usual this year. I've heard now of several people who didn't get in.
Jim: Where did you find the Run-Training-Finish Time screen? I can't seem to find it.
I'm glad it's Friday. Yesterday I ran an easy 5, today was an easy 6. I'll run something longer tomorrow, probably early - I have to drop my oldest off at 6 am to go skiing and then my youngest has a soccer game at 10. My usual Saturday running partner is injured, which is a bummer for her, and for me! I'm more motivated to run longer when I'm running with a friend.
oregon - Assuming you gave a 235: Hit the Run button at top right, which puts it in run mode.
Then hit the Down arrow to get the menu. Down once more to select Training, then hit Run again.
Keep hitting the Down arrow until you see Finish Time. Hit Run. Et Voila!
Found it! Thank you!!
pie man
If they got more applications, I would guess it's because they lost the lawsuit and can't charge a fee to enter anymore. I think I saw somewhere last year's acceptance rate was ~15% so that's a lot of people not getting in. I just need to run the half qualifier, it's not so crazy since at I'm up an age group. Also Jim wins.
I went out in it today. Good rehearsal for shamrock since it's likely to be windy.
11:11 3,000 (recent)
Jim -- Sound right to me; that's a cool feature. When I ran with an older Garmin I was always doing mental math for 26.45, or so. There's that hill around mile 20 (I think) and then a rolling downhill to the finish and the crowd support builds back up. I hope it goes well. Last year's top three 60-64 went 3:15, 3:25, 3:28.
Everyone -- how do you set up your watch for a marathon? I used to display time, distance, avg pace and current pace to try to run a constant target race pace (based on 26.45). Not sure now.
m: 2:55:04 | 10k: 37:14 | 50mile: 9:35
FB - I set mine up to just show something meaningless, like altitude or directional bearing. I'm guessing that's not a helpful answer for you....
PJ - you are not the only person I've heard that Shamrock comment from.
Jim - have a great marathon this weekend!
Actually, while I'm at it, as thread-usurper-dictator-2018, I will also wish good races to: Duke and CK, today (50K and 15K), and to E78, Dad, Jaime, and McBen (all running half-marathons save for Dad and his 5K). McBen's race is in New Jersey, so I'm wondering if it will happen.
Strict WTF adherent
It's happening as far as I know.
If I do poorly, it's because of the weather.
Wow, that's a lot of racing going on this weekend. Good luck to everyone. Hope the weather isn't too horrible for you East-coaster's.
Gait: Murielle Ahoure's is a good model, I think.
Jim: Thanks for the app info, I may have to check that out.
Keen: Ditto.
dex: Sleeping: I flip-flop. I think we're due for a new mattress, because I get shoulder pain after a while. I occasionally find myself on my back, but not very often.
fb: I usually just set my watch to show me current lap pace (set at 1 mile), knowing it's going to be a few seconds faster than what my actaul pace will turn out to be.
2.25M for me both yesterday and today. If I'm not careful, I just might hit 10 miles for the week!