Forums >Racing>2022 Advanced Racing Thread
help from some cheater shoes!
+1. It's always hard to do a controlled experiment, but the results pretty much speak for themselves.
Dave
Cobra Commander Keen
Dave - I think rounding in PRs is a bit different depending on who asks. If I'm talking to a runner I'll be specific, but if it's someone who doesn't run I'll round a bit simply because it's very doubtful that they'd understand the difference even if it's 20-30 seconds in a HM.
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
RIP Milkman
Has Kipchoge run a 1:59? Yes? Then we can all round
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Hot Weather Complainer
JMac - Melbourne is a strange one - I haven't walked the course to measure it so the only evidence that it's a few hundred metres long is the consistent Garmin results. There's no reason for it to be long as there are 3 turnarounds that could be adjusted, the most obvious one in the pit lane of the Formula One track in Albert Park.
Nice review, hopefully this ends up to be a set up year because it feels like you're so close. I also care more about time than placing, for obvious reasons, but the novelty of a small race where I'm near the front is a lot of fun.
Age grade times - Sinead Diver was on the Inside Running podcast last week after setting an Australian record at the age of 45. They asked her about the age group world record she also broke and she pretty much said she couldn't care less about it. Also said she only has it because she didn't run her first until she was 34.
Josh - stick around - considering this is the internet, this is an extremely civilised thread. 99% of the time you'll get nothing but encouragement, sometimes in the form of criticism or questions about the training, which is great.
Flavio - yeah that's a good point. Last night my heart rate jumped around a lot (as you'd expect with a workout including intervals) and there's more of a lag than the pace so I guess it's more about getting accurate heart rate and setting up the pace zones correctly. So far the small amount of data looks pretty similar to what my watch was showing, although often on a workout like last night my watch would just show something in the 130s which clearly isn't accurate.
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
Keen - great year recap. It's hard to imagine how one could have a better year this far into their running "career." Also love that we're officially naming it the competitive jerks thread. Maybe that'll stop the lurkers who provide absolutely zero value on a day to day basis but absolutely must comment on the petty squabbles going on.
Mikkey started swearing at people. People called him out on it. I'd call that having standards. You've been involved in plenty of said petty squabbles yourself, including temper tantrums on other threads, so don't frame yourself as having any sort of moral high ground here.
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: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr, 1:15:48
Up next: Runway5, 4 May
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Thanks. Low miles - that's absolutely me right now. But you'll never see me advocating something like RLRF because I like to practice what I preach and I'm a believer in long long runs. Probably because that's what I'm good at and everybody over here will tell me I need to get out of my comfort zone, but let me return to some kind of decent training first. Besides - proposing a RLRF approach in this forum would probably be considered to be trolling and thus be completely ignored anyway, right?
The biggest problem with RLRF is really just its name. People assume that literally all you are doing is running hard workouts. But, it also relies on doing a lot of crosstraining for the aerobic base on the days you're not running, which seems to get ignored. Maybe it'll work for some but I don't think it's workable at high or even moderate mileage, which is most of the folks on here.
I think the point JMac is trying to make is that while it is true that some people on here get involved in squabbles, they ALSO make plenty of posts about running. Whereas some people essentially ONLY contribute to squabbles and NOT running related discussion. That's a clear distinction.
Nice strawman. Never said I didn't get involved in petty squabbles, and never said we/I have moral high ground here.
That is exactly my point. Thank you for stating better than I did.
Fair point. I assumed JMac was talking down to people based on previous experience but may have misread that.
That being said, I do think the lurkers sometimes provide a useful test of whether people have a good point or are just losing it.
2022 recap
Current mileage: 4,076km / 2,532 miles
Forecast mileage: ~4,175km / 2,594 miles
Average run length: 13.5km / 8.4 miles (-0.6km vs. 2021)
Average days run/week: 5.6 (equal to 2021)
Time of day: 98% AM / 1% PM / 1% both
Kind of a weird year, this one. Frustrating is probably the best word, although it certainly had some redeeming moments. I was in really good form at the start of the year and at a couple of other points but lost a few weeks to sickness and got myself overtrained through August too, so for the most part I just couldn't quite line up form with goal races. Won 2 decent size half marathons so that was cool, and a few 10k's as well although they were definitely more at the 'fun run' end of things. Overall mileage will be down a touch on the last couple of years, due to no lockdowns (yay) and being sick (not yay).
Goals:
1. Have fun: mostly succeeded. DNS's aren't fun though.
2. Don't get injured: didn't get injured, but did get sick a little too often
3. Run at least one new race: done. Run Orewa 10k, Nelson HM.
4. Beat my 10k road PB: fail. Done in by wind at National Road Champs but was probably overtrained for it anyways.
Highlight: winning the Omaha Half Marathon in a sprint finish. Dude sat on my shoulder for 21km so I would've been furious if I hadn't won it
Lowlight: getting sick too often
Looking ahead to 2023, I've got a few HMs to start the year and am then planning to tackle a trail run series through winter when there aren't that many other races on. I've really enjoyed doing some LR's out in the forest and I'm looking forward to a different challenge. 2023 is likely to be a busy year on the work and family front so it'll just be a case of trying to get a good rhythm going training-wise and take the race opportunities when they arise. The goals will probably end up being a lot more process-oriented than outcome-oriented, I think.
Fishy - the placement within any group is interesting. I know most people take pride in how they do on the day of the race vs. others, but for me, I really only care about the time. There are 5Ks near me where I couldn't crack the top 25, and there are 5Ks near me where I would be first place by 2+ minutes. Why should I feel differently about those races just based upon who participated? I will admit that running my first race where I outright won was actually a lot of fun, but beyond that, I'm only out there racing myself.
Ahh.... youth enjoy it while it lasts young feller!! No better feeling that going head to head with a runner of similar abilities in a race. I've come out on both ends and I can tell you winning is better
5K 18:36 (2023), 10K 39:40 (2022), 1/2 1:24:37 (2023), full 2:58:36 (2015)
2022 - Year in Review
I might as well jump on this bandwagon too, since it's my last day of work.
How do I sum up this year...lots of expectations, lots of highs and one very low low. I came into the year with one major goal - run my first marathon. The conservative goal was 3:20, but the main target was a good race with a negative split - achieving that would mean the goal time would take care of itself.
My goal race was the Christchurch marathon on April 10, and I started the year in pretty good shape after a full marathon cycle in 2021, finishing with the cancellation of the race 4 days out, then finally getting a race in and a sub 1:30 half. It seemed clear in January that we were about to have a Covid wave which would put the race in doubt, and the inevitable happened in the second half of February with a cancellation when I was hoping for a postponement. I ran the Motorway 10km instead to console myself and set a 5km and 10km PR (obviously both were soft), and entered the Southern Lakes Half Marathon in May. I got my dose of Covid in late March which stopped me running for a week (and actually would have taken me out of the Christchurch marathon if it was on), and took 3 weeks to feel good running again but just in time to set a half PR. From there the focus was the marathon, and I decided on Melbourne in October. I had a long training cycle, probably peaked 4-5 weeks out, and as everyone knows, had a disastrous second half of the race with severe cramp.
I also did the Wellington and Queenstown half marathons because of entries from the cancelled 2021 races, with the aim of training/fun which I mostly achieved.
So overall the main goal of the year was a bust but still some good points. The consensus here was the coach blew it, but I certainly need to take my share of the blame. Training block too long, not enough polarization, stupidly big long run workouts too close to the race etc etc. Since the race I've changed coach, seen a sports doctor, nutritionist and physio and have a good plan for the Christchurch marathon on April 16. One race left for 2022 with a 5km to get a heart rate baseline which I could do as a time trial, but why not get a race in. My new coach is big on B races so I'll be doing a half 7 weeks out, and a 12km fun run 4 weeks out. It's safe to say I'm excited about 2023. We're having another Covid wave but for some reason this one doesn't have the hype...hopefully I can avoid it or get a very light dose this time.
Current 2022 mileage = 4019km (2497 miles)
Estimated 2022 total = 4110km (2554 miles)
A mileage record with the previous records being 3850km (2392 miles) and 3441km (2138 miles) in 2021 and 2020 respectively.
Oh, and also a forum encounter record - great to catch up with Mark, piwi and Marby during the year.
Mark - A very different year to JMac but possibly a similar conclusion - looking like you've set yourself up nicely for 2023. It's cool that you're trying some very different races.
Fishy Thanks for the encouraging words on the other page.
JMac Let's get that Moose Mug!
Mark Nice wins, I love me a sprint to the finish.
Steve That's a roller coaster of a year.
I'll keep the momentum going
My 2022 in Review:
Despite my complaining about not breaking 3 hours, I had a very successful year and I think I have momentum going into 2023.
Since this is a marathon thread, first and foremost, I went from not running a marathon in 9 years to running two in one year, and moreover setting a PR each time. Here is my marathon progression
3:21:33 Baltimore 2012, 3:06:45 Salisbury 2022, 3:03:21 NCR 2022
Also noting that NCR was the first time I never walked, I'm still super stoked about this.
Next, I cleared 2,000 miles for the first time since 2014, which was the year of my fastest non-marathon PRs. Currently at 2,237, with an overall average of about 7:43.
Less importantly, but for fun I'll note that I won three races; a XC 2.85 miler, a 4 miler in 90 degrees, and a 10k I treated as a training run, as well as a summer race series. I completely agree that placement is a function of the participants, but the series feels like a slight accomplishment because that required a decent performance every 2 weeks and I ran each race more or less all out.
For 2023, not surprisingly, my main goal is to crack that damn 3 hour barrier and be the next Keen or RP. I'd also like to try to defend my title for the summer race series, might as well. So for now I'm trying to get into a training cycle for a possible return to Salisbury (thoughts?), but this cycle will be more like 12-14 weeks. Then, ideally, I bounce back in time for the summer race series where I can start running (what I call) fast again. Not sure yet about the rest. Possibly a Fall marathon.