2022 Advanced Racing Thread (Read 497 times)

flavio80


Intl. correspondent

     

    Same. My worst story was in Madrid with this stuff. So maybe it's the Spaniards? Flavio would love to hear some of your stories as our international travel man.

     

    Story #1 - I went to Argentina on my second backpacking trip. I had read online about some of the scams they tried to apply to one.

    One very famous scam was that the driver would tell you they need to exchange old bank notes with newer ones. So when you offered to pay a ride with 10 pesos, they would ask if you instead had 100 pesos, because it was easier for them to exchange the bigger notes.

    In turn they'd give you back your change (in counterfeit money).

    I jumped on a Taxi at Ezeiza airport towards downtown. About 10 minutes into the ride the driver asks me if I intend to pay with a small note. I state that I only have small denominations, so after a back and forth he says I need to pay with bigger notes and I ask him to stop and promptly jump out of the car by a big road.

    Not far behind comes another taxi I hail that one and jump in. This one had even less patience and was asking me about the banknotes 4 minutes in. Knowing I'd have to jump out I started making conversation and buying time. After a little while he was fed up, I asked him to stop and jumped out yet again.

    By now I was already close to downtown, so I approached a couple of police officers and asked them directions to my hostel. It turns out I only needed to walk about 10 minutes.

    That was a glorious day as I took 2 free rides from scammer taxi drivers.

     

    Story #2 - The president of Turkey banned Uber in Turkey 3 days before our arrival. We were able to figure out a bus transport that would take us to taksim square downtown. However we still needed to make the way to the old town. Days later we figured that it was not really far, but on the first day it was already after dark and we were concerned about walking around for security reasons.

    At first I tried to find some wi-fi around but there was none available. So we were forced to use a taxi.

    I had researched beforehand how much the ride should be, around 18 to 20 liras.

    So we're making conversation with the driver and there's this flat portion of the road where the driver accelerates a bit.

    And I notice that suddenly the taximeter went from 8 liras to 72 liras. Later I found out they have some sort of accelerometer that he can press with his hand that makes the taximeter go much faster.

    So we arrive at the destination and the ride costs 80 lira. I tell him that I know the real price is 20 and that's how much I'm going to pay.

    He retorts back that in that case he's taking us to a police station.

    I know he's a scammer, so I first ask my wife to leave the car. Since we only travel with carry-on this was relatively simple.

    Knowing that she was safe I opened my door and placed one foot outside. Then handed over a 20 lira bill to him and walked out.

    My wife was concerned that he knew our destination but I figured that he's a scammer and he'll be better spending his time on his next victim.

    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

    flavio80


    Intl. correspondent

      Cal - Outstanding result. I'm happy you got your sub 3 after a 3 year hiatus, surely a result from your tremendous work ethic and those 90 mile weeks.

       

      Mark - I tried yesterday Lindt 100% coccoa. It tastes like an espresso heh.

      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

        Cal—outstanding performance! You smoked it!!

        Dave

        CommanderKeen


        Cobra Commander Keen

          Addressing people/things not in the HM thread.


          JMac - Great job on that race in very much less-than-ideal conditions.


          Steve - Awesome week, and that LR was an absolute monster.


          Flavio - Thanks for the stories, nice week, and way to nail that progression.


          Cinnamon - Out of curiosity, how do you have your week arranged? Or do you do 10 day cycles or something like that?


          Merkle - Good week, and welcome to Strava.


          Cal - Killer job on the marathon, very impressive.


          Outside of nearly being killed by an inattentive driver my week was uneventful but solid. The Wednesday workout was faster for the effort than I thought it would be and my progressive LR went quite well and I only stopped for a few seconds to retie a shoe. Usually LRs with quality are something I dread, so the success there was a nice boost.

           

          Weekly for period: From: 08/22/2022 To 08/28/2022

          Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
          in ft
          08/22 1 heron 6.00 9.66 00:55:19 09:13 05:44 217
          08/22 3 herons 4.10 6.60 00:35:51 08:45 05:26 203
          08/23 4 deer (4 strides) & 2 owls 10.05 16.18 01:26:13 08:35 05:20 466
          08/24 5x 2k @ HMe + 1 adrenalin-producing event 15.51 24.95 01:54:57 07:25 04:36 285
          08/24 1 Mississippi kite 5.00 8.05 00:44:10 08:50 05:29 203
          08/25 1 heron 8.00 12.88 01:14:16 09:17 05:46 256
          08/26 New dirt road, better than the old paved road 11.01 17.71 01:34:39 08:36 05:21 449
          08/26 Down, across, up, across, repeat 5.00 8.05 00:43:07 08:37 05:21 338
          08/27 8 mile progression to M effort 18.05 29.05 02:24:27 08:00 04:58 951
          08/28 Nothing notable 5.05 8.13 00:45:26 09:00 05:35 213

          Total distance: 87.78mi

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

           

          Upcoming Races:

           

           

          Mr MattM


            Unexpected finish of the week - ran Santa Rosa marathon, was 1:29:59 at the 13.1 mark and finished at 2:59:13.

             

            Outstanding!  BIG congrats!

            be curious; not judgmental

              Survived the Hood to Coast Relay...it was definitely an experience! I ran my legs really well, better than I expected. I was targeting about HMP, or HM effort anyway - something like 7:00-7:10 pace, depending on how my body would be impacted by everything I was having to deal with in the whole relay environment. Results:

               

              Leg 1, Fri 8:52 PM: 4.57 miles (flat), 6:53 pace

              Leg 2, Sat 5:21 AM: 4.17 miles (flat), 6:52 pace

              Leg 3, Sat 12:53 PM: 7.13 miles (270 ft elev gain), 7:12 pace

               

              You figure the third one is going to feel the hardest anyway, but of course it did not help that it was uphill, in full sun, and oh btw mostly on gravel. Oh yeah and on ZERO sleep. So I was pretty happy with how that turned out. Mile 7 pace was 6:59.

               

              The whole thing was a grind, but it turned out that the running was the easiest part. When it was time to run, I ran - did not think about the time of day, the fact that I might be on a pitch-black windey 2-lane road with virtually no shoulder, when and what I last ate, or the lack of sleep. The 90% of the time spent riding in the van was what wore on me. SO MUCH van riding. Fortunately it was a great group of guys, but ugh my back.

               

              I was going to take the day off on Sunday, but wanted to test out the legs a little to see how much damage I had done. I shuffled through 3 slow and creaky miles; it definitely felt like I had raced, but nothing too severe. The 6 miles this morning were already starting to approach back to normal.

               

              Overall it was a great experience; I'm glad I did it, and certainly happy with how I ran. But it did not inspire me to want to make it a recurring thing.

               

              Weekly for period: From: 08/22/2022 To 08/28/2022

              Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
              in ft
              08/22 Morning Run 7.05 11.35 01:01:41 08:45 05:26 328
              08/23 4 x 1 mile tempo 9.08 14.60 01:14:12 08:10 05:05 390
              08/24 Morning Run 8.01 12.89 01:11:55 08:59 05:35 325
              08/25 Morning Run 5.01 8.07 00:43:38 08:43 05:24 233
              08/26 Hood to Coast Relay—leg 1 4.58 7.36 00:31:31 06:53 04:17 0
              08/27 Hood to Coast Relay—leg 2 4.17 6.71 00:28:39 06:52 04:16 43
              08/27 Hood to Coast Relay—leg 3 7.13 11.48 00:51:22 07:12 04:28 269
              08/28 Astoria Riverwalk Trail 3.03 4.87 00:28:48 09:30 05:55 10

              Total distance: 48.06mi

              Dave

              Fishyone


                Cal- Wow!  amazing performance.

                5K 18:36 (2023), 10K 39:40 (2022), 1/2 1:24:37 (2023), full 2:58:36 (2015) 

                Mikkey


                Mmmm Bop

                  Flavio - Have you spent any time in Pisa?

                   

                  They have a marathon in December which might tickle my fancy.

                  5k - 17:53 (4/19)   10k - 37:53 (11/18)   Half - 1:23:18 (4/19)   Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)

                  Running Problem


                  Problem Child

                     

                    I have zero expectations of sleeping in the van. I can’t sleep in moving vehicles under the best of circumstances. We’ll have two ~4 hr breaks when the other van is running. They’ll be roughly 10pm-2am and 6-10am. Those exchange areas have some kind of big open fields where people can lie down. That’s my only hope of catching any shuteye. But I am generally a shitty sleeper even in a comfy bed, so I’m not too optimistic of anything more than some brief dozing.

                     

                    This is why the 3rd run is the hardest. Little to no sleep, sitting for long periods of time, and weather can be garbage.

                     

                    Cinnamon I have a ROUGH idea of where you're at. Nice area if you like to grow plants and flowers. I grew up many hours South of you. Also, I prefer relays as ultra teams because it is less to deal with. I DO appreciate how much easier it is to go from an ultra to a non-ultra as just a runner. It's half as much work with twice as much rest.

                     

                    JMac you've done a Ragnar? I'm actually shocked. I didn't think it would be your thing. The camping ones are logistically MUCH easier than the road traveling ones. 3 loops, everyone does the same one, and you can estimate when you'd return. I did my first and the team I joined was just about equally skilled AND had done this before so they had hand offs figured out. Much better than "When I finish I'll come wake up the next runner."

                     

                    Ian races in my town are few and far between. We have one RD who pretty much took on ALL of the races except a few charity ones. I've done most of them, have favorites, and just "meh" at some of them now. Covid killed a race group I really liked. They actually had a multi hour event I almost wish would come back.

                     

                    Cal congratulations. I hope the marathon brings some positivity to your life. Lots of work went into this.

                     

                    My week will get posted later. Apparently I'm WAAAAAAAY behind.

                     

                     

                    Weekly for period: From: 08/22/2022 To 08/28/2022

                    Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                    in ft
                    08/22 Lunch Run 7.29 11.72 01:00:09 08:15 05:08 371
                    08/22 Afternoon Walk 1.09 1.75 00:25:44 23:37 14:42 23
                    08/23 Morning Walk 0.93 1.49 00:24:00 25:48 16:06 10
                    08/23 Afternoon Walk 0.80 1.29 00:19:08 23:55 14:50 3
                    08/23 Evening Run 2.19 3.52 00:25:21 11:35 07:12 36
                    08/24 Lunch Run 6.48 10.43 00:51:41 07:59 04:57 240
                    08/24 Afternoon Walk 1.12 1.80 00:26:11 23:23 14:33 39
                    08/25 That time I just felt like running. 11.60 18.67 01:34:08 08:07 05:03 535
                    08/26 Jericho vs The Yard 1.11 1.78 00:25:46 23:13 14:29 23
                    08/26 That time some know what it means. 7.33 11.80 01:00:45 08:17 05:09 374
                    08/26 Air inside vs air outside 0.91 1.47 00:20:06 22:05 13:40 46
                    08/27 That time we’re going to make it longer so we can come back and fill it in. 15.15 24.38 02:06:59 08:23 05:13 207
                    08/28 That time we were talking about Boston. 8.24 13.25 01:06:44 08:06 05:02 220

                    Total distance: 64.23mi

                    58 miles running. No hard running. Just had a rough week (friday - wednesday) at work, and on Thursday I made up for it after swimming lessons. 

                    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

                    SteveChCh


                    Hot Weather Complainer

                      Cal - What a machine!  Great run.

                       

                      RP - Still a very solid week given the distractions from work.

                       

                      Dave - That's such a good effort.  I don't think I could do that.  Given the conditions of the third leg, it seems you held your pace nicely across all 3.

                       

                      Keen - How close were you to disaster?  That sounds horrific, and unfortunately, we probably all have similar stories.  My biggest week....is still 20 miles down on your week.

                       

                      Flavio - Impressive avoidance of being scammed.  When I was young and naïve, I was in Singapore for a work trip.  One night I headed out and was going to a strip of bars a friend from uni had told me about.  I mentioned to the taxi driver I was going where the girls are..."you like girls?  I take you to girls".  Turns off the meter and, in hindsight very predictably, took me to the red light district where he seemed to know quite a few people/pimps.  They were approaching me quite aggressively and I seriously thought I was going to die.  We walk past one place and he says "just look in there" so I went into the lobby, and found a full on orgy occurring.  Yes I was single, but this wasn't what I meant when I said I was going to a bar...I convinced him to get me out of there, and ended up paying quite a high fare but I was still alive.  I went back to the hotel bar and relayed to my boss what had happened, so I got a good story out of it.

                       

                      JMac - Somewhat lax on your RR given you are our leader...

                      5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23

                       

                      2024 Races:

                      Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55

                      Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024

                      Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024

                      Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024

                      Mikkey


                      Mmmm Bop

                         

                         

                        Flavio - Impressive avoidance of being scammed.  When I was young and naïve, I was in Singapore for a work trip.  One night I headed out and was going to a strip of bars a friend from uni had told me about.  I mentioned to the taxi driver I was going where the girls are..."you like girls?  I take you to girls".  Turns off the meter and, in hindsight very predictably, took me to the red light district where he seemed to know quite a few people/pimps.  They were approaching me quite aggressively and I seriously thought I was going to die.  We walk past one place and he says "just look in there" so I went into the lobby, and found a full on orgy occurring.  Yes I was single, but this wasn't what I meant when I said I was going to a bar...I convinced him to get me out of there, and ended up paying quite a high fare but I was still alive.  I went back to the hotel bar and relayed to my boss what had happened, so I got a good story out of it.

                         

                         

                        When my wife and I first visited Thailand we initially stopped off at Bangkok. We had been enjoying a few drinks and then this guy excitedly taps me on the shoulder saying PING PONG!…and ushered us to follow him…I naively thought it must be some table tennis tournament.

                         

                        Anyway, to cut a long story short, we ended up watching a strip show in a boxing ring…front row seats whilst both getting a neck/back massage by a couple of beautiful Thai ladies. A vacation doesn’t get much better than that. 

                        5k - 17:53 (4/19)   10k - 37:53 (11/18)   Half - 1:23:18 (4/19)   Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)

                          ....and the ladies did some tricks with the ping pong balls I assume 

                          55+ PBs 5k 18:36 June 3rd TT

                          " If you don't use it you lose it,  but if you use it, it wears out.

                          Somewhere in between is about right "      

                           

                          cinnamon girl


                            Dave well done! fyi ultra = less time in the van!   I hope you had a fun time overall now looking back at it. But yes, as a 'regular' team it feels like a lot of messing around, yet doing nothing, only for a few short runs. Sounds like you'll recover quickly. How did your team place?

                            RP: Humboldt Co ❤️

                            Keen - solid as per usual! I figure I can do two quality runs a week and just fit them in on my days off.

                            Ian -  👍

                            mmerkle - re: the stiffness for the tempo maybe you needed more than 1 mile w/u before hitting faster paces? Or is 1 mi all you usually need/do?

                            Mark - yes I agree 800s are so good. so versatile. I like 400s too, but that means you have to do a shit ton of them. Easier just to combine them into 800s and do half as much. 

                             

                             

                             

                             

                            flavio80


                            Intl. correspondent

                              Ian - the police chasing you in Barcelona is hilarious though I’m sure it was not fun at the time.

                               

                              Mikkey - Pisa is alright. It’s got the leaning tower and pretty much nothing else (the miniature church is mildly interesting).

                              I ran a 10k there and my wife ran the half marathon. It was mostly flat and the scenery was pretty.

                              Do note that races in Italy require a medical certificate.

                              I’d recommend you stay in Firenze / Florence instead and then hop on the 30 minute train ride on the day of the race.

                              Firenze, if you have not been, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and it’s got a very pretty park near the old town in case you want to do some runs.

                              The cathedral is a work of art and the region from there all the way to the boar statue is amazing. 

                              The trick to find good pasta is where it says “pasta fatta in casa”.

                               

                              Steve - You did right, or else you might have to do a crotch check (Crocodile Dundee style) to avoid any bad surprises later on.

                               

                              Piwi - LOL, we gotta meet Mikkey at the pub to hear the full story of it.

                              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

                                Cinnamon: my team was in the Men’s Super Masters division, based on all runners aged 50+. (Team name: Masters of the Universe.) Although average age was >60; I’m 57 and I think there were only two guys younger than me. and at least a few were >65. (It’s funny though, you never get to know the people in the other van, I couldn’t even name them all.) They’ve won the division the last 3 straight years. But there were a few guys sick or injured; overall average pace slowed from  7:14 last year to 7:28 this year, and we took 3rd. They can’t blame the new guy!

                                Dave