Forums >Racing>2023 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
Mother of Cats
CWatson - congrats on a consistently good cross-country performance.
James - that makes total sense that splitting the treadmill runs would help with recovery. Of course, it's just about finding time to fit two runs in.... For myself, there's a fair amount of set-up that has to be done before each treadmill run (the bulk of which is herding the cats to our bedroom and shutting them in there) so I prefer just to knock out the run and be done with it.
Steve - I'm sorry about the post-race blues, but you seem to have a healthy perspective on them. I've always found them very hard.
MArky_Mark- that sounds absolutely brutal. Congrats on finishing. Do you have any pictures of the race itself?
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.
Darkwave - nice week incl. having to run indoors. Geez you have a lot of shoes, are you racing in it as you believe they're better (for you) than the Edge+ or is it more just racing in them to see how good they are? Thanks re the x-country, although I did fade, but less than most of those around me.
Mark - nice race. That looks one of the harder Auck Xterra's? Most of the Wellington long courses are like that. I did West Wind last year, and remember looking on the map and seeing a 3km flat stretch which would be quick, turned out that it was was a big rocks and boulders.
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)
2023 PRs (hope to beat in 2024): 5km 20:34, 10km 41:37, half 1:32:32, full 3:21:05
2024 PRs: 5km 20:25
Geez you have a lot of shoes,
Yup.
are you racing in it as you believe they're better (for you) than the Edge+ or is it more just racing in them to see how good they are?
Both. I think they'll probably be better, but I'll know for sure at the end of the race.
MJ - nope. There will be no buying of people-movers in this house!
Darkwave - there are some pics here. That first stream crossing was actually way tougher than it looks as the sun was shining straight off the water on the way in and so you could hardly see a thing!
Watson - yep Hunua is the toughest of the Auckland Xterra series, with the most elevation (by a long way) and also the most technical trail stuff. Waitawa is fairly hilly and was more difficult than normal due to the very slippery and greasy conditions underfoot on the clay sections. Shakespear is relatively mellow and Totara Park is all on very good hard pack trails and should be quite quick. Waiuku and Riverhead will be a bit tougher but not nearly as tough as Hunua by the looks of it. Congrats on your XC, by the way.
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"
Mark - great week & race. nice pictures too. What does that mean with the people-movers. You don't have a car at all, or just not a mini-van / family type of thing?
Half - I know this went expensive pretty quickly. Same as things like Tennis/Golf lessons. They are charging almost as much as good lawyers these days. Crazy. And ChatGPT won't be able to compete with them ..... There is a term for same price=smaller content - its shrinkflation and I really like that as it dominates our current lifes. Hope the smoke has lifted!
Steve - a bummer I so wanted to see part 3 of the saga Steve against the Marathon gods. I am sure you will kill the half distance and then go back to the full marathon distance with renewed energies. You will benefit of those killer training cycles in the future!
My week - pretty much impacted by travel - time on feet: 5:51h. But this week back to normal and I have to say the easy miles really allow me to nail my workouts. I run slower on easy days, but my legs feel much better on workout days. Took me maybe 5-6 years to accept and embrace this. Easy = slow & Easy = the majority of what you do. In the day and age of Strava, many just can't slow down enough.
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
My week:
Monday rest day/core workout
Tuesday am 6 miles with 2 x 200, 4 x 300, 2 x 200
Wednesday am 5 on the treadmill (smoke) pm strength training
Thursday 25 minutes easy treadmill (more smoke)
Friday am 50 minutes easy treadmill (and more smoke) pm strength training
Saturday 3.8 with strides
Sunday 5 with 10 x 200 plus strength training
In non-running, but I guess could be sort of running related, there have been a few bear sightings in my area. I live fairly close to the suburban/rural divide in Baltimore County and there is also a large state park nearby, so not totally surprised. They've been about 3 miles away form where I live and I usually run in the opposite direction.
Watson, nice job on the CC race.
James, lucky that you missed the smoke, Also jealous of the rain, we got a little today, but the grass is very crunchy here.
Steve, that looks like a nice rercovery week.
Mark, I've found with the really technical and hilly stuff, it's probably about the same to power walk. That sounds like a really tough course.Water crossing? How deep?
Darkwave, nice week. Friday was definitely a big improvement from Thursday.
MJ, that;s a nicec week for travelling. Something odd I've noticed with shoe pricing is that I've been able to get better deals on race shoes vs. daily shoes. I was thrilled to find Wave Riders for just under $100, which hasn't in a while. I paid $100 for Vaporflies, and less than $80 for Endorphin Pros & Speeds. My new in box collection has grown rececntly, hopefully DH doesn't look in my closet.
JamesD
. I paid $100 for Vaporflies, and less than $80 for Endorphin Pros & Speeds.
Are you seeing these prices in stores or online, and if online, on what sites? Dick's has a closeout site called going-going-gone that sometimes has good shoes available at low prices, and for a while I was getting ads on the right margin of this boards for Saks fashion "sneakers" that actually were real running shoes. I've had decent luck with eBay and Amazon, though they're better for finding discontinued models than for great prices. Have to be careful, though. I really liked the long-discontinued Nike Pegasus Turbo 2, and Nike has since come out with a "sustainable" shoe made with recycled parts called the Turbo Next Nature, which has not gotten good reviews. Lots of websites seem to blur the distinction, and some of the ones that post reviews will include reviews of the original Turbos, the Turbo 2s, and the Next Natures all jumbled together, which makes me wonder exactly what the shoes they're selling are. I recently ordered a pair of "Turbos" on going-going--gone for under $70, so we'll see what I get.
P.S. For the best deals, it seems to help to have unusually large or small feet. I'll often see what look like great deals and then find out that the only shoes in stock at that price are size 6 or size 14.
Post-1987 PRs: Half 1:30:14 (2019); 10K 39:35 (2019); 5K 19:12 (2017); Mile 5:37.3 (2020)
'24 Goals: consistency, age-graded PRs, half < 1:32
James, the Nikes came from a local Nike Clearance Store, which is not the same as a factory outlet. They opened last year and at the time, had a pretty big selection of Vaporflies. Their "real running shoe" selection has really dropped. The Sauconys were the 1st version and I got those from Holabird Sports (online for those, but their physical location is also local to me).
I wear a women's 10 or 10.5, which typically are slim pickings with clearance shoes.
HK - great deals you found there. The Endorphin Pros for $80 is an amazing price. I never shop around until I need to, and then I have 2-3 alternatives that I look at. I currently have 3 pairs in rotation and all with relatively low mileage on. So I may start looking around in 2 months or so.
James - omg I really loved the Nike Turbo 2. The outsole was not the most durable but can't say that of the Hoka's either. So disappointed that they really just discontinued such a great shoe. Nowhere to be found here in Europe unfortunately.
Waltons ThreadLord
HCK - Nice week of running. We get occasional bear sightings where I live. Have you given any thought to what you'd do if you encountered a bear during a run?
Mick - It took me a while to buy into "run slower to be faster" but once I did, it really paid off. Good job on the runs despite travel.
Darkwave - Good luck with the upcoming half. Let's hope the smoke stays away.
Mark - Yeah, trail races can be a totally different beast. A hiking path can be a whole lot steeper than any road. Nice job on getting it done.
Steve - I hope the shorter races you'll be doing will help with the post-marathon blues. I've been there, but don't have any answers.
James - Good job on the week of running and persisting in the rainstorm.
Watson - Sorry your XC race was just "OK." Sometimes that happens.
5k 23:48.45 (3/22); 4M 31:26 (2/22); 5M 38:55 (11/23); 10k 49:24 (10/22); 10M 1:29:33 (2/24); Half 1:48:32 (10/22); Marathon 4:29:58 (11/23)Upcoming races: Clinton Country Run 15k, 4/27; Spring Distance Classic 5k, 4/28
My week was lighter than usual at 25.5 miles / 41.0 km / 4:23:02 due in part to the wildfire smoke that nixed one running day and had me run shorter on another. I did get to a 5k ParkRun on Saturday and had a nice experience racing within a group of 5 people who were roughly my speed. I dropped the pursuer about 2 miles in and in the last half mile passed 2 of the 3 people ahead of me to finish 12th overall.
D&R ParkRun
Patrick's Downtown Race to Summer 5k, 6/14/23
This was my 4th running of this race since it's inception in 2016 (I skipped 2018 & 2019 and Covid cancelled 2020 & 2021). It's an evening race in mid-June, so weather is always a risk. This year, though, we got lucky with 72º (22C), partly cloudy, low humidity, and breezy. The course is an almost imperceptible uphill for 1½ miles (drivers wouldn't notice the incline, but when running it you do), a brief, moderately steep hill climb, then back downhill to the finish line near the start. My main goal in 5k races these days is sub-25, though I'm always hoping for everything to go right so I can notch a sub-24. Evening races, however, are not my forte and despite being a fast course, I've tended to be slower here over the years (and having had to deal with the stress of my mother's recent hospitalization - she's back home again - I was not exactly well rested).
As has become usual for this community-oriented race, the starting line is crowded with kids ready to take off at the gun. They gave up on a starting mat a few years ago and have a nice, wide, starting area so the truly fast runners have room to get past the "fly-and-die" kiddies. I was at the race with my son and my RP. Last year, RP beat my son and that was on my son's mind (though he would not admit it until after the race). I knew both would finish ahead of me.
The race started on time and the kids took off, as did the eventual winner (who finished in 15:00 flat for an 85.7% age-grade, and 2:09 ahead of 2nd place). I started fairly strong and my legs were OK, still benefiting from my pre-race warmup, but my heart/lungs had relaxed too much and my breathing was very heavy for the first quarter mile or so. With a lot of people taking off quickly and then fading, I was passing quite a few people in the first half of the race, so there weren't a lot of runners I could focus on. I slowed at the hill, as usual, then recovered on the downhill and concentrated on staying strong for the last mile. The pack really thinned out over the last 0.75 mile and while I passed one or two people and none passed me, I felt like I was running alone most of that time.
As I approached last turn before the finish, I saw my son on the sideline and he told me "sub-25 no problem" and he was right as I finished in 24:42, which is my best time yet at this race. Even though I was 16 seconds faster than last year, I slipped in the standings from 46/443 to 67/506. For the second year in a row, I was 5th in my AG (50-59). My son came close to a PR with a 22:06 (his PR is 22:00.6). My RP managed to podium in our AG, coming in 2nd with a 24:05 according to the online results, but he was given the 3rd place AG award. It was a very nice evening event with good weather and good company and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Fred - Congratulations on beating your best time in the race. I feel you on inclines that you don't notice driving but do notice running. At the park where I run most days, there's an incline that I never noticed as a fastish teenager and only realized was an incline when I moved back here in my 50s. Hope your mom is doing better at home.
My cheap Nike Turbos arrived and were, as I had feared, in fact the Turbo Next Nature, so named because of lots of recycled content. They’re heavier than my Turbo 2s (9.1 oz. vs. 7.7), more cushioned, and probably less suited for racing. They also lack the side eyelet that allows me to tie a runner’s knot and tighten the collar around my skinny ankles. Still, they may turn out to be pretty good. At least on my first run, they seemed to be the bounciest shoe I’ve ever had. I had expected to do an easy run at about 8:30-8:50 pace, but the shoes wouldn’t let me run that easily, and I wound up with a steady-effort 8:14 pace that made it my fastest longish run this year. The weird thing is that all the reviews I checked afterwards said this was not as bouncy as the original Turbos, which is not my experience. Maybe that will be the case after they’re broken in, or maybe the reviewers & I have different definitions of bouncy. My legs felt ok the next couple of days; I was a little slower than expected on Saturday, but that may have been random. I may start to use these shoes for strides & tempos instead of my too-worn-to-race-in pair of Turbo 2s, or maybe just for medium-long runs. If anyone wants to get a pair, they’re at goinggoinggone.com for $76 plus tax in some sizes, which is more than I paid but still not bad.
Sun - 8.3 miles in park AM @ 8:49, temp 78/26, TDP 147
Mon - ~40 minutes swimming
Tues - 10.9 miles in park PM @ 8:48, temp 75/24, TDP 142
Weds - 7.5 miles very slow on treadmill with 40-second walk breaks/6:00
Thurs - 8.3 miles in park PM @ 8:14 temp 74/23, TDP 143
Fri - ~47 minutes swimming
Sat - 10.1 miles in park AM @ ~8:48, temp 78/26, TDP 143
Total - 45.1 miles
YTD Average - 36.8 mpw
K - there were a couple of stream crossings but both were not much more than ankle deep... definitely in the "fun" category rather than being any real danger. Although the first one had the sun shining right off it so you had slow right down on the way in as you couldn't see anything.
Fred - haha I know the way kids go in those races!! Fly and die is a great way of describing it. Well done on the result and it sounds like a fun event.
James - I've had that same experience with reviewers' description of shoes not matching my experience... most notably with the Kinvara 12 which was a massive let down.
I had a reasonable week. Legs were pretty smashed early in the week from last weekend's trail adventure... then ran some good workouts including hill repeats Wed and a good progression on Thursday but paid the price a bit with legs a little tired over the weekend. Still, good to be keeping the mileage steadily ticking over with everything else going on.
Mark - it looked like you recovered quickly from last weekends race.
Fred - congrats on sub 25, and the RR.
James - nice week.
My week was reasonable. I only had time for short runs during the week. Sat was a double day, with ParkRun at 20:45, which was in the range I was expecting.Next Sunday, I am doing the half at Wellington Marathon. I used to run quite a few half's, but for various reasons (incl. Covid cancellations) since 2020 I've only ran two being Oct 2020 and Oct 2021. Both times at 1:30 and a few seconds, so I'm aiming for 1:29:59 on Sunday.