Forums >Racing>2023 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
Watson - is that the new one at the innovation and sport campus in Upper Hutt? We used that for warm-ups for road nationals last year.
Fred - yuk on the weather. Good luck with the mileage build.
MJ - I'm interested to see how the Kinvara Pro turns out. Loved them up until the 11's but the 12's were too firm for my liking.
Kathi - this one is definitely not flat... some pretty decent climbs in there, albeit less than some of the races and it is all on well formed gravel trails or single track, whereas the other races have all had more challenging technical sections. Like Fred, I hope you're not suffering too much with the weather.
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"
Waltons ThreadLord
Kathi - Yeah, we're deep into Mid-Atlantic summer now, aren't we?
Mark - Thanks. I try to see the glass-half-full side and tell myself if I'm training near goal paces now, it will make hitting those paces easier when the weather cools later in the year.
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: Scotch Plains 5k, 6/12; Firecracker 4-miler, 7/4
Frd & Mark, it's miserable out. Today the air quality was bad again due to smoke, si I stuck with the treadmill. If I run later in the morning, basically I have about 45 minutes before the heat starts bothering me, sometimes even less. Sunday I was getting chills towards the end if my run, which means I was definitely overheated. I've been doubling up on Nuun tablets after hot run. I know this is controversial-'people tend to have strong opinions on Nuun. I like it post run. I'd be thoroughly pissed to get it during a race.
I hear you. NJ isn't much different. Fortunately, my schedule let's me get started some time between 5:30 and 6:00 most mornings. If I had to run later it would be very tough indeed.
Fred, on work days I get out around 6:45. I just can't make myself move any quicker.
Understood. We all have to live with our own bodies' schedules and work around that.
Fred and Half - good luck on summer running. Has climate change made the heat and/or humidity noticeably worse than 5-10 years ago?
Half - it's NOT an indoor track. Just a large indoor room. I chose the Indoor Track mode on my watch, as I though it would be better than regular Running mode.
Mark - yes, that's the place.
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
That place was huuuuuge! What a facility to have!
Steve - Hope you're doing all right after the accident. Not a great experience to have.
My hometown of Wellington gets a bad rap for its weather (it's definitely no tropical holiday destination like the place I'm in now - Noosa, Queensland!) but I love it for the fact that I pretty much have no problem running all year round. Maybe just a slight bit less wind if I had a magic wish...
50+ age-group PBs: Half Perish 1:24:24 (June '23 Road Race) - 10km 37:52 (2022 Local Road Champs) - Track 5km 18:49 (Aug '22) - Perish Run 3:17:42
2024 Goals: Boston Perish Run Sub 3:15 - Road/Track 10km Sub 37:30 - 5km Sub 18:20
Watson - Our summers in New Jersey have always been known for heat and humidity, but in the past the humidity has been in smaller doses. I think what we're seeing now is higher humidity being more common and lasting longer. We also used to cool off more overnight, allowing us to cool the house and then close up the windows to get through the day. There was a time we could get through a whole summer and only rarely use the air conditioner. No longer.
I don't know that summers are that much worse here in Maryland. The standard summer forecast is hazy, hot and humid with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. My heat tolerance has definitely decreased with age.
Fred, no AC in summer?! We get some random days where the windows can be opened, but they are rare. Doesn't help that our house is built in such a way that the heat very obviously rise up to the bedrooms. You can sometimes feel the shift on the stairs.
Congrats to all Kiwis for the first win at the tournament. Well deserved and really entertaining. Really like Malia Steinmetz, great player, what a name with (German = mason)but she is actually Samoan?
Rune probably isn't as happy
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
Mick - Prior to WWI Germany had a presence (i.e. colonized) in the Pacific in the Marshall and Caroline islands, so it's not unreasonable that a German surname found it's way to Samoa.
Kathi - We have a well-insulated house with high ceilings and lots of windows, so when the overnight is cool, we can open up the house and run fans to cool the house to 70-ish, then shut all the windows in the morning and the house won't get much warmer than 76 during the day without AC. But we require cool nights for that and days that aren't excessively hot & humid.
My first marathon pace run went pretty well today. A little slower than target, but for the first time out and in summer weather that was just find. For a treat, I ate my post-run banana by slicing it up and mixing it in chocolate pudding.
Congrats to all Kiwis for the first win at the tournament. Well deserved and really entertaining. Really like Malia Steinmetz, great player, what a name with (German = mason)but she is actually Samoan? Rune probably isn't as happy
Cheers! I took my 6 year old daughter along to the game. It was actually the first live sports match I've been to in at least 5 years. It was awesome... biggest crowd ever for a football match in NZ! The Kiwis played way better than I expected and you could tell from about the 30 minute mark that Norway were getting frustrated and that maybe we were a chance. That 9 minutes of stoppage time at the end felt like the longest 9 minutes of my life!
Actually the first match either the mens or womens NZ teams have ever won at a football world cup so that was pretty cool.
Watson - if you have the chance to get along to the NZ match in Wellington, I'd highly recommend it. I've never watched an entire match of womens football before but the skill level was very good and there was a lot less of the diving and complaining to the ref that you seem to get in the mens game.
JamesD
Mark - That sounds like a great time with your daughter. Hope you took pictures to help her remember it when she’s older.
Temperature - I’ve noticed the heat more in the last couple of years, but that’s partly because I run in the afternoon more than I used to. Yesterday afternoon’s run was my hottest of the year at 95F/35C, but heat doesn’t affect me as much as it does most people & I’m pretty well acclimated by this time of the year. Air quality was a bit of an issue this week as the Canadian wildfire smoke got as far south as Atlanta, 90 miles north of here. It didn’t feel as bad as I had expected, though. To reduce my exposure, I split my Wednesday long run into a morning treadmill run and a shorter afternoon run. My left knee was still sore for most of the week, I think because of last Saturday’s tempo run in the new Endorphin Speeds, but it wasn'tt as bad as it was last week, and I got my mileage back up closer to normal.
Sun - 7.5 miles very slow (54:25AM & 36:00PM) on treadmill w/40-second walk breaks/6:00
Mon - 8.3 miles in park PM @ 8:33, temp 89/32, TDP 158
Tues - 46 minutes swimming
Weds - 4 miles very slow (48:30) AM on treadmill w/40-second walk breaks/6:00
also Weds - 6.3 miles in park PM @ 8:23, temp 88/31, TDP 158
Thurs - 5.6 miles very slow (68:00) PM on treadmill w/40-second walk breaks/6:00
Fri - 8.3 miles in park PM @ 8:24, temp 95/35, TDP 167
Sat - off - too much lightning to swim when I had time
Total - 40.1 miles
YTD Average - 37.6 mpw
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 - nice week.
My week was good. Monday was inside and I forgot to choose the Indoor setting on my watch, so accuracy was poor. Tuesday's hill run was good, so was Saturday's marathon workout. Also had one strength session.