2022 Advanced Racing Thread (Read 497 times)

SteveChCh


Hot Weather Complainer

    Glad to hear I'm not the only one who obsesses over weather forecasts knowing they are very likely to change...I will say though, the 14 day forecast I saw for Melbourne has turned out to be right on the money.  It's been a period of very settled weather though.

     

    When we celebrate Festivus and get to the feats of strength, Flavio is going to have a field day telling us we should have listened to him.

     

    JMac - That's not an easy choice for you to make.  If conditions make a PR unlikely, is it worth risking a bad race for?  Might be sensible to just get rid of the rust and hopefully get a pay day.

     

    A recent Running Rogue podcast talked about carb loading.  To do it legitimately (not just having a few pasta meals) risks leaving you feeling pretty off and potentially bloated.  I'm sticking to eating well, and making sure I get plenty of electrolytes.  My electrolyte drink mix (Endura) also has a decent hit of carbs in each dose so I'll have 2-3 each day today (Friday) and Saturday.  Nothing too different apart from that.

     

    I slept okay last night, about 8pm - 4am (Melbourne is currently 3 hours behind - 2 after this weekend) so I'm still on NZ time.  I'm happy to keep it that way until race day given the very early start.

     

    I'll probably post a reminder on both threads at least one more time before the race, but there is tracking on the Melbourne Marathon Festival app or here:

     

    https://rtrt.me/ulink/MMA/MM-NIKEMM2022/tracker/RYCLB24X/focus

     

    Start time is:

     

    4pm Saturday Eastern time

    1pm Saturday Pacific time

    9am Sunday NZ time

    9pm Saturday UK time

     

    Even if no-one is tracking too closely, I'm going to pretend you are because it will definitely inspire me.

    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

    Marky_Mark_17


      Steve - all the best.  Have fun out there and don't over think it.  You only run a first marathon once and Melbourne will be a great experience.  I'll try and keep an eye on the tracking although I'm likely to be picking my wife up from hospital around that time which is an hour drive each way unfortunately!

      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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

      Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

      "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

        Steve - thanks for all the details making it easy for us! Usually when people ask how they can track me, I tell them "How should I know? I don't need to track myself, you figure it out!" But I'll try to remember to at least post my bib # closer to race day (just got it yesterday!), in case anyone cares.

         

        Carb loading - this could trigger a huge discussion I'm sure. I know some people have a very specific plan, but I just eat a lot of carbs for 2-3 days before the race. And try to focus on staying hydrated. And yes I do feel bloated in the end.

        Dave

        ccoakley


          Steve, best of luck!!!  I will start obsessively refreshing my Strava at 7:10 pm Eastern 

          5k 24:53 (2020) |10k 52:24 (2021) |HM 1:57:14 (2019) |FM 4:24 (2007) |50k 5:57 (2022)

           

           

          SteveChCh


          Hot Weather Complainer

            Mark - Thanks - hope all is okay with your wife.

             

            Dave - Do you have carb loading and non-carb loading races to compare?

             

            caitlin - Ha! Thanks.  It will probably take me a while to make my way out of the stadium and get to my phone which will be with a friend or at bag drop.  I keep getting reminded that the MCG is the 11th biggest stadium in the world so it will be a hike and very busy with all events finishing there around the same time.

            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

               

              Dave - Do you have carb loading and non-carb loading races to compare?

               

              Not really. I pretty much do the same thing every time, which is: eat a lot of carbs. But it’s never in a carefully controlled manner, or  more than a few days prior to the race.

              Dave

              SteveChCh


              Hot Weather Complainer

                Dave - Yeah, I think it's a bit risky for me to radically alter my diet too much.  To really get the benefit of carb loading it sounds like you need to be extremely precise.

                 

                I just did a short loop around the part of the course that gets challenging and felt...bleh.  I'm just taking that as a good sign, although my heart rate was much higher than I'd like.  Hopefully tomorrow is a bit better with another sleep.  The "climbs" don't look very significant at all but they will definitely be very tough after 35km.  I've just got to not worry about how slow my watch tells me I'm running because after each little bump there's a nice downhill to recover.

                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

                  Dave - Yeah, I think it's a bit risky for me to radically alter my diet too much.  To really get the benefit of carb loading it sounds like you need to be extremely precise.

                   

                   

                  I'm also of the mindset that of all the factors that influence your race performance, being extra-precise on your carb intake is somewhat lower down on the list.

                  Dave

                  mmerkle


                    Carb Loading: I've been under the impression that if you train and eat properly you should sort of already be carb loaded, and that the idea of gorging on pasta etc a day or two before a big race is not a good one. Something is getting you through those 2 + hour long runs during training. I eat a tiny bit of extra carbs leading up to a marathon or big long run but nothing crazy. I just try to include healthy carbs in my daily diet.

                    JMac11


                    RIP Milkman

                      Steve - someone will definitely be tracking you here! Good time for the race here to do so. Best of luck out there, it's been a long time coming. 3:17:12 inbound with a "I definitely could have broken 3:15" sentiment 

                       

                      Carbs - I think the idea of just shifting your diet somewhat more carby is probably right, i.e. don't overdo it

                       

                       

                      The forecast just keeps getting more windy, but unfortunately, the "hilly" course now is in that category at 20 mph and is almost same temp as the flat course. Given that, I'm just going to run the flat one (which is now at 25 MPH, but whatever). This one actually has prize money too! Odd I've never seen this around here before. Lower than the other race, but still, something to chase after.

                       

                       

                      It's funny how frequently my half marathons have bad conditions. My PR was in that 60+60 soupy mess (I'd say B conditions?) but my half right before CIM was this same nonsense: 22 mph headwinds for the last half of the race. But my marathons have generally been B+ or better weather, so I will continue to make this tradeoff for subpar half marathon conditions for good marathon weather. I'm happy with my half marathon PR as I finally got under 1:15. I don't really care about getting it lower at this point.

                       

                      ETA: in all the excitement of Steve's first real marathon, we are forgetting about Cal. Best of luck to Cal! Hope you're adjusting well and ready to rock and roll.

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

                       

                       

                        Chicago forecast: 45/57. Holy shit.

                        Dave

                        Fishyone


                           

                           

                          ETA: in all the excitement of Steve's first real marathon, we are forgetting about Cal. Best of luck to Cal! Hope you're adjusting well and ready to rock and roll.

                           

                          I haven't forgotten about CAL I think he's utilizing his newly discovered "silent but deadly" approach to racing!

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

                          Ian5


                            I added Cal to my tracker earlier,got 10 from our club doing it along with a load doing Chester,busy morning dot watching.

                            What is forum protocol? Are you allowed to post people's results before they check in or do you leave it to them?

                            5k 17:35,10k 36:43,10m 61:55,HM 1:24:03,Full 3:07:39

                            JMac11


                            RIP Milkman

                              I added Cal to my tracker earlier,got 10 from our club doing it along with a load doing Chester,busy morning dot watching.

                              What is forum protocol? Are you allowed to post people's results before they check in or do you leave it to them?

                               

                              The best approach is actually posting their results as they're running! It's fun to track them as a group.

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

                               

                               

                              mmerkle


                                Best of luck Steve and Cal!