2023 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread (Read 301 times)

Watson - it was pretty cold Sat morning here so I wouldn't be at all surprised if the wind had flipped to the south.  The winning times didn't look especially quick either.

Fred - that is a pretty neat goal to be able to tick off (and yes, you have to draw the line somewhere!).  Will definitely be worthy of a celebration.

(Apologies if this is a double post - I thought I posted it a couple of hours ago, but it hasn't shown up yet, so here's a second try.)

Congratulations on a very good effort in tough conditions, watson.

Great job, Steve, especially with all the 180-degree turns.

This was our hottest week of the summer (so far?), so I was glad it was a taper week and glad the hottest days were ones when I wasn’t running outside in the afternoon.  My knees were slightly sore & swollen the whole week, I think because they’re not yet fully adjusted to the foam in my Turbo Next Natures and my Endorphin Speeds that I’ve been wearing more frequently in the last couple of weeks.  I've enjoyed watching the world track & field championships, including the men's marathon from 1 to 3:30am after I returned from our midnight 5K & couldn't sleep.

Sun - 6.2 miles in park PM @ 8:37, temp 92/33, TDP 160

Mon - 5 miles very slow (60:15) on treadmill w/40-second walk breaks/6:00

Tues - 4.2 miles in park PM incl. 4x200 @ 45, temp 97/36, TDP 166

Weds - 27 minutes swimming

Thurs - 3.1 miles in park PM incl. strides, temp 94/34, TDP 165 

Fri - off

Sat/Sun - 6.5 miles incl. Country’s Midnight Express 5K, temp 87/31, TDP 158

Total - 25 miles

YTD Average - 36.7 mpw

Race Report, Country’s Midnight Express 5K, 12 midnight Aug. 26/27

This race, sponsored by a barbecue restaurant, has been held every year since 1981, missing only 2020 for covid.  It starts and ends near the restaurant, but nearly all of it is in the residential neighborhood where I grew up.  There's a more festive atmosphere than at most local races - music, cheerleaders, a hot air balloon, and something called silk acrobatics.  Homeowners along the course come out to cheer, and a few of them turn their lawn sprinklers on to cool down runners on their side of the road.  I expected I would improve on last year’s 19:58, because I do better the second time on a course, and because I was racing in plated shoes for the first time, and because my training had been slightly better than last year’s.  Since it was only a 5K, and the humidity was only 60%, and of course there was no sunshine, I wasn’t too worried that the temperature was ten degrees higher than last year at 87/31. 

The school year started here three weeks ago, and lots of cross country runners seem to use this race as a fun first race.  Almost a third of the 800+ participants and nearly all of those up front were teenagers, and their energy was contagious.  Many of them have more speed and less endurance than I do, so they start too fast and I have people to chase and pass the whole time.

Tripping early is always a concern in this race, partly because of the darkness and partly because lots of people line up where they shouldn’t and aren’t used to crowded races - in addition to first-time cross country runners, the race attracts a lot of adults who exercise but aren’t serious runners. The organizers put everyone 20 yards behind the start and asked those who could run a mile in five minutes to move to the front, then those who could run a mile in six minutes, etc.  That helped, but there were still some people ahead of me who clearly misjudged their speed.  I was gradually passing people within 50 yards, and despite the confusion and one very dark stretch, I made it through the first quarter mile of congestion without incident.  After the second turn we started a long straightaway with better visibility and more room.  I maintained a steady effort and passed a few people every minute.  We turned left and went up a long gradual hill next to a middle school.  Unlike last year, nobody threw water balloons at us out of the darkness from the school playground.  Near the top of the hill we turned right, ran a couple of blocks, and turned right again in front of a high school.  We then had a steep downhill, and I almost lost my balance three times, windmilling my arms and trying to brake.  I need to work on steepish downhills, as I had the same problem in my half last year.

From the bottom of the hill, it was basically flat as we headed back toward the start/finish area.  On the way back, we were supposed to turn right off the main residential street and run a short block before turning left, running parallel to the main street for about half a mile, and turning left to get back to the main street and finish.  To my surprise, the organizers/police had blocked the intersection, and we just ran straight back on the main street.  I kept up a moderately hard effort the whole way but never felt like I was redlining.  That’s typical for me in a rustbuster, as I can't seem to go all out until a second race.

I finished in 19:25, 27th/819, 1st M60-64.  DW ran-walked in 36:23 for 6th/17 in her age group.  A couple of people who had run the race several times confirmed that the course was different from previous years, and their watches showed about a tenth of a mile less than usual.  Not being able to compare my time to last year’s was disappointing, and if it really was a full tenth of a mile short, my honest time would’ve been around last year’s and worse than I had expected.  I’m glad this happened at a rustbuster and not at my goal 5K in 5 weeks.  Regardless of the short course, I feel safe in telling myself that I set sort of an age group record; I’ve found race results online for every year but one since 1998, and the best time in my age group was over 21 minutes, and I was clearly much faster than that.  Another positive note was that my legs handled their first race in plated shoes ok - didn’t hurt at all on Sunday and only had my usual knee soreness on Monday.  

 

Time to get back to boiling grapes.

Am I the only one that's been waiting for a grape jam update??

 

Total pain in the behind. Took 3 tries to get the first rouond to set. The batch I made tonight set much better. Now trying to find something else to do with all these. grapes.

Put them in omelets?  Put the jam on bagels?  Add them to smoothies?  Have friends over and serve them a meal with grapes in every course?

Raisins?

My week was mostly recovery after last week’s 5K.  No real injuries, just tired legs.  We got some storms early in the week from the hurricane that hit Florida and southeastern Georgia, but nothing serious.  I hope today’s cooler weather is a sign that summer is over, but I expect we have a few more weeks of off-and-on high temperatures.

Sun - off (midnight 5K race counted last week)

Mon - off (thunderstorm when I was about to go swim)

Tues - 3.1 miles in park @ 9:01, temp 85/29, TDP 158

also Tues - 5 minutes swimming (lightning started earlier than forecast)

Weds - 8 miles very slow treadmill (60:25 AM/36 PM) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins

Thurs - 8.3 miles in park @ 8:30, temp 91/33, TDP 158

Fri - 50 minutes swimming

Sat - 9.6 in park @ 8:47, temp 80/27, TDP 143

Total - 29 miles

YTD Average - 36.5 mpw

Quick dump of the weekly for me, I'll catch up with everyone else's a bit later on.  Last Xterra race was today, out at Riverhead Forest, where I sometimes do long runs, but on a lot of trails there I don't normally run (given the chance of an altercation with mountain bikes off the main roads!).  Came 2nd, so that was pretty good.  It was a very muddy course and that was AFTER a very dry week too, some tough hills as well, but a few longer / easier stretches on the major forestry roads to break it up.  The family were at the finish line too to cheer me on so that was a highlight for Fathers Day, they've missed the other races given dragging a baby along to a remote location is kinda hard work especially in the middle of winter lol.

That was the last race of the Xterra series and I have to say it's one of the best things I've done as a runner.  Totally different style of running... tough, unforgiving, hard to find a rhythm, and I felt like dying after the first one.  I wouldn't say they necessarily got easier but I did get the hang of it a bit more and it was great fun running in a bunch of really cool locations that I'd never have been to otherwise.  Miss 6 is super excited after hearing about the mud so next year I'll probably do the short course instead with her.

Weekly for period: From: 28/08/2023 To 03/09/2023

Totals: Time: 05:11:10 - 🦅Imperial: 44.91 mi - Metric: 72.25 km

Congratulations, Fred!  What's your next challenge?  You could try to beat your best times at each of the (still-existing) halfs on your list.