Forums >Racing>2024 Advanced Training and Racing Thread (still competitive jerks)
It's official! After our father daughter run in Tallahassee a couple of weeks ago my daughter committed to FSU for fall '24 Gonna be a great place to visit for some needed getaways next winter.
Sorry AndyTN University of Tennessee was a close second but couldn't compete with the FLA climate.
Now back to some serious training
5K 18:36 (2023), 10K 39:40 (2022), 1/2 1:24:37 (2023), full 2:58:36 (2015)
Problem Child
It's official! After our father daughter run in Tallahassee a couple of weeks ago my daughter committed to FSU for fall '24 Gonna be a great place to visit for some needed getaways next winter. Sorry AndyTN University of Tennessee was a close second but couldn't compete with the FLA climate. Now back to some serious training
"Getaways next winter" = NCAA sporting events.
I had a reason in college to wear FSU gear. It pertained to the acronym not the Seminoles.
congratulations on the college acceptance. I hope she is really successful.
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
Overweight per CDC BMI
That's awesome and I like how you tour the campuses together by going on runs. When I toured campuses, it was "which of these are dry, boring campuses and which are party destinations?" Tennessee is actually a dry campus but when I went to my first football game, I couldn't help but notice so many people walking around carrying cases of beer. She should start working on her southern accent. And UF sucks, I don't care about FSU.
Our local running club normally has a person volunteer as a professional photographer to take pictures during the races. They captured this one of my son right after he crossed a creek at the 8k this past Sunday. I think I am going to get it framed for him.
Memphis / 38 male
5k - 20:39 / 10k - 43:48 / Half - 1:34:47 / Full - 3:38:10
Dorothea
Been lurking, but it's more because of work and less because running and I aren't on good terms right now.
This is great news, Fishy! Congrats to your daughter, and glad to read it! If I ever make it to my state's capital (too close to fly, too far to drive), perhaps it coincides with another meetup!
You say it's hard to compete with the FL climate... but wait until a few weeks from now ;-) Just kidding. Floridians often take the year-round sun for granted.
Tomorrow's another Ft. Lauderdale half/full race, and the forecast at the start at 6am is rain, 68F temp, and 67F dew point. Another reminder why I'll never again sign up for a FL race as a PR attempt.
Great shot of your son, Andy!
Qualifications: I like to run. In Florida. In the summer. At noon.
Last race: June 29, Hasenheide Parkrun, 22:19. A bit disappointing time, but it was still a fun event.
Quick drop on the weekly for me. Reasonable mileage for a post-race week, although the legs were definitely feeling the race until late week, but improved by the weekend. Couple decent weeks coming up then taper for the next one at Maraetai. Will need to remember what does and doesn't work well because it's the same 4-week turnaround between Maraetai and the final race at Waterfront.
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: Runway5 / National 5k Champs, 16:22, National Masters AG Champ!
Up next: Still working on that...
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Thanks all for the race compliments.
MrMattM That sounds similar to what I had in my hip flexor after the JFK 50. I suspect that I strained it badly on the trail section (there were rocks everywhere and I think I navigated that poorly, and maybe the hip flexor was weak?), and of course made it worse by not dropping out of the race when it hurt. I just kept an eye on it, stretched gently, and trained carefully, very gradually increasing mileage and intensity. It took a solid two months or so before it went completely away unfortunately. I wish I had better advice, but that's a potential timeline for you. I didn't take two months off of running however. It just bugged me for that long.
Commander Good question. The Heartland 50 looks cool. I'd have to bounce back quickly from Salisbury whatever year we do that but I think I might be able to manage. If you wanted to come out here, the Rivers Edge Endurance Challenge is pretty fun. I'm open to other ideas, but I prefer road I guess. Trail is ok if it's a mostly "clean" trail. Meaning not a ton of rocks the whole way.
Fishy Congrats to your daughter! I'm always happy to help with math if needed.
Andy Great pick of your son. That's really cool he's already running 8ks. He could become a really good runner some day.
Mark By 4 weeks turnaround, do you mean the race is at the end of the 4th week? You could do week 1 down week, then maybe a good hard 10 day stretch between weeks 2 and 3, then back off a bit with some sharpening work the last week. Just spitballing.
Hot Weather Complainer
Mark - Sensible week and good that you get 2 chances at it and can adjust as necessary.
me - Developed a very mild cold last Sunday, exact same timing as last year which took me out of the Motorway Half. This one is very weird, hasn't really turned into a sore throat or blocked nose. Decided with the coach to can the workout on Wednesday and keep it easy, and Tuesday was a rest day with no shakeout. I did my planned session yesterday which was definitely harder than usual but not off the charts. HR was pretty high for marathon pace though. Today I've lost my sense of smell and taste but still feel okay. Hopefully it disappears soon, I wouldn't do the half if it was today but I can see myself being back at 100% with a couple of good sleeps.
<caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:29:54 6/24
2024 Races:
Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55
Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024 1:27:34
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024 DNF
Wellington Marathon June 23, 2024 3:29:54
Foster Park Run July 20, 2024 19:02
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Timaru Ten October 26, 2024
...
Mother of Cats
DWave - Even if you did get arrested I'm sure the suits would soon arrive in black SUVs to explain how it was all a mistake and that it would be in everyone's best interests for you to just walk away like nothing ever happened.
Fun fact - I drive a black SUV. Draw whatever conclusions you like from that.
Have you really played with the Stryd Duo / footpath visualization at all? If so, are you getting anything out of it?
I have been playing with the footpath, and it is interesting. Using their website, you can see a 3D image of your gait, including selecting a subset of a run or comparing two runs against each other. It's pretty cool, though I think the jury's still out on what one does with this information. The biggest downside is that there's no good way to share what you're seeing with someone else - i.e., you can't send someone else a link to view the footpath data for a particular run. If you want to share, you either do it with a screencap or by sharing your credentials.
The other thing I think is worth noting - the pods track the movement of the pod, which is generally placed right behind the toes. This is different from tracking the movement of your entire foot, or your ankle. My gait looks really imbalanced in these graphs, and I think a lot of it is because I tend to flex my right foot and point the toes out when in the air, while my left foot flexes less and points straight ahead.
Here's a document showing some screencaps with two examples - one is comparing up a steep hill to down a steep hill (both during the same easy run); two is comparing the Adidas SL 20.2 to the Nike Vaporfly 3 while running on flat ground at 9:20 pace.
BTW, I'll be in D.C. for an architecture conference in June! I'll certainly bring this up again closer to time.
Awesome! I hope your trip doesn't overlap with my trip to Duluth for Grandma's. Assuming we're both in the area at the same time and you are interested, let's go for another run and try to get a forum encounter photo this time...
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.
mmerkle - funnily enough that is exactly the plan.
Andy - excellent shot of your son!
Dorothea - I hope you and running make up!
Fishy - congrats to your daughter (and you!).
Steve - solid week despite not feeling 100%. Hope it clears up soon.
Darkwave - ngl I wish I drove a black SUV. My 14 year old Subaru has done well but it's getting to that age where servicing is getting more frequent and expensive.
Alphafly 3 - interested on whether anyone's tried these for a half, or has a view on whether the VF3 or AF3 are better for HM's. Seems pretty clearcut that the AF3 is the better marathon shoe, and the VF3 for shorter distances, but the HM seems somewhere in between.
Flavio Isn't it pronounced "knee-oh-key"? What about the last 20 minutes was bad? Fatigue in the leg muscles, or just an overall crashing feeling? Or both? Do you fuel during, or at least drink water? Also I know it would be tough going up against the Commander in an ultra, but I love a challenge.
My Week
Mediocre VO2 session Wednesday but not the end of the world. Had some MP miles during the LR which went ok I guess but with the wind and the hills it's hard to know if that effort feels right. Will have to practice MP on flats without wind soon. Today the IT band pain returned. Ugh. I'm starting to think this will never completely go away. I have been doing hip abductor exercises 3 times a week consistently. Not sure what else I can do. I hate taking days off. Hopefully everything holds together for my 10 miler next week.
Flavio - That definitely sounds like a better pre-long run meal. I love Gnocchi! I've ordered it at genuine Italian restaurants and not been laughed at so I think I can pronounce it.
mmerkle - That's definitely the way to look at one mediocre session.
I forgot to mention I got cramp on Saturday after 9.5km of the second block of MP. I'd suspected it was coming for a while, and I'm putting it down to the virus and warm weather (and only having one 500ml drink of Precision 1500). I was carrying my "cramp Stop" spray in my belt and I had said it would be good to try it out. 2 sprays under the tongue and I didn't feel cramp in the last 500 metres or the 15ish minute cool down. It would be more conclusive if it happened earlier but psychologically it may be good knowing I have a backstop if all else fails.
I probably need that 500ml drink every 40 minutes or so though which can be tricky to manage in training. I go back past the car to get my drink - going past 3-4 times on an out and back would be a bit painful.
Marky_Mark - glad the bird poo missed you! I have not tried the Alphafly, as I am just about certain it is not the shoe for me. Plus I have a fundamental aversion to shoes with air pockets in them.
Fishy- congratulation to your daughter!
Andy- that is a great shot!
DKTrotter- I hope things improve.
Steve- I hope your bug passes.
Flavio- I think you know what your pre-race meal is now.
Mmerkle - if the IT band keeps coming back despite a dedicated focus on strength, I'd consider looking at the stability of both your legs. Do you perhaps have trouble balancing on the opposite leg?
53 miles of running and 3 hours pool-running.M: 90 minutes pool-running. T: 8.5 miles very easy (9:27) on treadmill in the morning; streaming yoga in evening.W: 11 miles on the track, including a 4 mile (6400m) tempo in 28:35 (7:19/7:13/7:02/7:00) followed by 2x400m in 1:41 and 1:39. Followed with leg strengthwork. Th: 7 miles very easy on trails (10:20); streaming yoga in evening.F: 8 miles very easy (9:23) to the gym, upper body weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy (9:42) home plus two strides. Sa: 16.5 miles, including a marathon pace workout of 4/3/2/1 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float. Split it as 4 miles in 29:59 (7:30 pace), 3 miles in 22:24 (7:28 pace), 2 miles in 14:53 (7:27 pace), and 1 mile in 7:24. Floats in 8:09, 8:22, and 8:35. Followed with leg strengthwork.Su: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yoga.
This week was mixed up, due to the weather. Tuesday's team interval workout was pushed back to Wednesday because of a forecast of freezing rain on Tuesday morning. I can't do an interval workout on Wednesday and a tempo on Friday - they are just too close together - so I skipped the interval workout and moved my tempo workout up to Wednesday so that I could do a big long run on Saturday and then have two days to recover before the next interval workout.
I thought for a while that the Saturday long run wasn't going to happen (I didn't want to do this one on the treadmill) and then the forecast snow storm didn't happen, and I got to do it. It was hilariously windy and so my individual splits were all over the place, but I was still pretty happy with it.
I figured out a really cool hack that is helping me run faster and better. Specifically - my legs and feet do whatever my arms and hands do. Which means that when my legs and feet go rigid and stiffen up on me, I don't focus on relaxing my legs and feet while still trying to run fast (which is really hard).
Instead, I think about keeping my elbows bent and my hands relaxed while trying to run fast. When I do that, then my knees and feet start mimicking my elbows and hands and start working much better, and I run significantly faster. So that's pretty cool. And that also explains why I was able to race a 5K in perfect conditions at 7:05 pace and then average 7:28 pace over 10 miles of marathon pace intervals in substantially worse weather a week later (same route and same shoes for both the race and the workout - only difference was whether I was focusing on my legs or my arms).
AndyTN - Awesome photo! 8k is a long way for the little guy.
dktrotter - Keep recuperating! I’m already getting annoyed just thinking about the summer heat…
SteveChCh - This cold and flu stuff sucks. I have been coughing up junk and no taste and smell for a few weeks. It seems like we can just run through it somehow.
flavio80 - Congrats on another solid week. You are going to have a great base for any race distance.
Darkwave - Never heard of that footpath. Seems kind of cool. I just starting getting my cadence from my running app, and I already feel pretty high tech about it. No idea if it is accurate. It is steadily increasing as I lose weight and get more fit. I had not heard of the PF socks. I ordered a PF night splint sock. Will let you know if it works.
Mmerkle - just keep running hard weeks. Effort is more reliable than pace. You will get a nice weather day on a hard workout sooner or later and then feel super about your workout.
My week, decent mileage, first double digit long run, one threshold run, tons of PF pain, a little lifting and dynamic/plyo stuff. I’m going to run through the PF until I can’t. I really want to make it to that 5K end of March and get sub 20. Then I can think about sub 19 in May/Jun, sub 18 in Aug/Sep. I read that weight is a substantial contributor to PF, so I am tightening the screws on diet. Got down to 174 this week. I ordered 2 new pairs of shoes, so I can cycle through 4 different pairs to mix up the conditions for my feet and maybe that will help too.
Ran a 2 mile race with my dad and my son this morning. It was only my son’s second ever race. Unfortunately my dad is 75 and just getting back into running from some nagging injuries while my 8 year old decided to shave a minute off his inaugural 2 mile from December. So my poor dad was about 45 seconds behind us. I was hoping for a race photo with all of us. My son ran 18:40, and he was pretty happy, so that was cool. They had a little podium set up, and he asked if I had ever been on one, and I said yes. He thought that was hilarious and he was patting my round belly…