Forums >Racing>2023 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
Fred and Darkwave - nice RRs and weeks.
Mark, Half & Mick - nice weeks.
Re fueling for long runs and long races - I've done minimal in the past. I'm upping both carbs, salts and hydration for my longer runs and races (especially marathon).
Sorry I've been AWOL, things have been fairly busy. Last two weeks have been light running.
Week before last I picked up a slight calf strain which just took a few days off to get right.
Last week was low volume incl. two strength sessions. ParkRun on Saturday was a little slower than hoped, I was probably a little slower due to the Thursday strength work.
Also the Hawkes Bay marathon has been rescheduled from May to 26 Aug, due to the cyclone recovery. I was expecting either a delay or 2023 to be cancelled so am glad a decision has been made.
Last two weeks:
PRs: 5km 18:43 (Dec 2015), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:26:16 (Sep 2016), full 3:09:28 (Jun 2015)
40+ PRs: 5km 19:31 (Oct 2020), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:29:39 (Jun 2018), full 3:13:55 (Sep 2022)
Not sure everyone has seen the news about Zane Robertson getting busted for EPO?
Very disappointing and IMO casts a huge cloud over his NZ records, albeit they were several years earlier.
The worst bit is that he claimed the EPO was in his system because he went to some Kenyan hospital for a Covid vaccination, they thought he needed treatment for Covid, and he got EPO as part of that treatment. And then falsified a bunch of documents to try and prove the story. Pretty laughable really.
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: Devonport HM, 1 Oct, course PB.
Up next: Omaha HM, 3 Dec, go harder.
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Mark, that's a new explanation. I give him points for creativity. Probably just as plausible as the pig parts tburrito.
The thing with doping is that is that a 1-2% improvement is often the difference between winning and therefore getting good prize money, sponsorship etc., and being someone who in elite races ends up 10th struggling to get by.
I bet that there's lots of Kenyan's who he trained with that are also using EPO.
Drugs are out there in most sports. And I suspect many sports, all the elites are on something they shouldn't be.
I suspect that's exactly why he ended up doping.
I agree.
At this point, ,just have an anything goes division, aalthough that probably has some ethical/legal issues.
Mark that sucks. I always want to believe little old kiwi athletes are clean.
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 "
The thing with doping is that is that a 1-2% improvement is often the difference between winning and therefore getting good prize money, sponsorship etc., and being someone who in elite races ends up 10th struggling to get by. I bet that there's lots of Kenyan's who he trained with that are also using EPO. Drugs are out there in most sports. And I suspect many sports, all the elites are on something they shouldn't be.
I generally accept this as an unfortunate truth and try not to think about it too much because it's a shame. I do hope testing catches up at some point but I'm not sure that's possible in the near-term.
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)
Little old kiwi athletes such as yourself are clean. Just not the young ones
Ha Watson well spotted. I am old and little
I've had a little lift in running motivation and currently into my 3rd 50km/30mile week.
I haven't put on any weight during the last 6 months of minimal mileage but my running fitness has dropped considerably as expected.
It's just disappointing. I really admired the guy for some of his performances. And given his strong anti-drugs stance a few years back, the whole thing is shades of Lance Armstrong.
Hot Weather Complainer
Zane Robertson interview
Haven't listened to this yet, but interesting he's done this so soon. I'm guessing lots of excuses
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23
Upcoming Races:
Foster Park Run 5km November 25
Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024
Christchurch Marathon April 21, 2024
Zane Robertson interview Haven't listened to this yet, but interesting he's done this so soon. I'm guessing lots of excuses
I haven't either but the summary seems to be that he was having a rough time (both personally and professionally), plenty of others were doing it and he felt he needed to in order to make a living. And he admitted that the whole "I got given it by accident" lie was a very silly idea.
The bit that doesn't sit well is the fact that he said this was the one and only time he took it. He got caught because Drug Free Sport NZ specifically tested him while out of competition and out of the country. They'd only do that if they had a very good reason to.
Glute Force
There is a documentary on youtube about Kenian running and how easy it is and normal to get pre race treatment. For me its really the only reason why everyone goes to Africa. There are zero checks and supply is ample. Certainly not for the lifestyle or food.
and its not just 1-2% - its massive. I watched another documentary of cyclists once going up the steepest tour de France sections. And once clean and once EPO doped. While they wanted to stop midway on the first atempt, they felt light and euphoric and with endless energy the second time. Its just a whole different ballgame.
I am just surprised how Football/Soccer hasn’t had large scale scandals yet.
For me its really the only reason why everyone goes to Africa. There are zero checks and supply is ample. Certainly not for the lifestyle or food.
This selectiive hyperbole is ridiculous. If there is Zero checks, there wouldn't have been busts of Kenyan Athlets we have seen in the last few years. There definitely is ample problems in Africa, but the federations/countries are trying to do something about it to the point of criminalizing doping.
If we want a hyperbole, then we would say that the fact Shelby was not caught by USATF and instead they even wanted her to continue to run despite the ban by CAS, shows there is systemic issue in the US.
Also just this month, it was in the news that New Zealand was asked to explain their significant reduction in testing in the last few years ( they said it's due to COVID protocol) https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/new-zealand-given-please-explain-letter-after-drop-drug-tests-2023-03-10/
As for the lifestyle and food, it might not be your cup of tea and you seem to look down on it, but some are even theorizing , the simple life style and the wholesome traditional foods, along with the geography, play some role ( albeit small and probably at the bottom of the list) in Kenyan and Ethiopian runners' success. So for Elite Athlets that try to optimize down to every possibilities, lifestyle and food might be important enough.