Forums >Racing>2023 The Waltons: Racing & Training Thread
Mother of Cats
Watson - what is a tail end Charlie? Is that the person who follows the last runner/walker on course?
James - congratulations on a good race. Interesting that you didn't note any traction issues with the Endorphins. As you stated, that's a common complaint with that shoe. But I suspect different people have different foot strikes that are more or less prone to slipping.
Marky_Mark - nice week.
Fred - since I failed to congratulate you before - very nice job in what seems to have been a very satisfying marathon for you.
63 miles running, 500 yards swimming, and 90 minutes pool-running.M: 90 minutes pool-runningT: 11 miles, including a track workout of 6x800, 2x200 in 3:22, 3:18, 3:15, 3:15, 3:15, 3:13, and then 48 and 48 (recoveries of 3:0x after most 800s, 2:32 recovery where I swapped groups. Full recovery for 200s). Followed with leg strengthwork.W: 11 miles very easy (9:22) including some grass running and some drills, and streaming yogaTh: Upper body weights/core and 8 miles trail running (9:52).F: 17 miles, including a workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float. Splits were 37:18 (7:21/7:29/7:33/7:30/7:25 - 7:28 pace) and 37:12 (7:29/7:26/7:31/7:32/7:14 - 7:26 pace) with 1 mile float in 8:30. Followed with injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming.Sa: 4 miles very easy (9:30) and streaming yoga.Su: 12 miles easy (8:59) plus drills, strides, and upper body weights/core.
Just two workouts this week - Intervals on Tuesday and a marathon pace workout on Friday. I did the 2x5 on Friday because a) I had the day off from work, b) it was raining, so there were less bikes than normal to deal with on Hains Point, and c) this freed my weekend up a bit.
I spent a lot of time on Saturday cheering at the Richmond Marathon/Half-Marathon/8K, which reinforced my belief that in many ways cheering at a race is more exhausting than running the race.
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 - yes the person who follows the last runner (who in this case did a lot of brisk walking). The walkers started at a different time and therefore had different Tail End Charlie's.
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
JamesD
In DW's first race many years ago, a 15K in the middle of summer in Mozambique (so I was concerned about how she would handle the heat), instead of a Tail End Charlie there was an ambulance following the last runner. I don't think she finished last, but she said she was glad to know that it was never far away.
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 - I do like it when you get those opportunities in a race to scope out who is behind you without looking back! Great effort and congrats on the podium finish. Sounds like the sort of conditions I would've loved, but which are not for everyone.
Watson - hope those niggles are feeling better. Also hope the trip to the mechanic was not too expensive.
Darkwave - nice work on that MP workout.
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"
James - what a great race & report thank you for sharing. What's a finger watch though and why don't you get yourself a good smartwatch? Those are great I use mine to record everything even when I garden Mozambique must be wild and beautiful at the same time? Have a number of friends that occasional go there on business. What where you doing down there?
Tail end Charile - nice one.
Darkwave - I never realized how hard your workouts on the track are - until I started incorporating some track workouts myself to get a bit faster. I always thought I might not be able to do 6x800 but I should be able to get at least one of those done. But not in your time. Crazy fast. I will have to burn a lot of rubber on the track before I get to your level, if ever.
My week was pretty run-free - only two runs and those were workouts. Otherwise played tennis twice and biked for about 3 hours.
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
Hot Weather Complainer
James - Well done, that's a really good race and enjoyable race report.
watson - wow, that's a long time to be tail ending. Good on you for volunteering.
me - Exams done, partner back to about 60% so I'm feeling like I have much more spare time. I've been in maintenance mode for a while but I'm ready to get into some tastier sessions in the next few weeks. I've got a Park Run on November 25 as a "line in the sand". Not too sure what my goal will be, maybe sub 19 is about right. Foster generally measures slightly long but is on paths rather than starting and finishing on grass like Hagley, which is why I prefer that one.
I paced the Selwyn half in the 2 hour group on Sunday which was great fun. It's a small race and we started with a group of 5 which dwindled to 2 (plus the 2 pacers) by the 4th lap. Then we lost one more and I dropped back with him for a while but was mindful of the "2 hours" on the back of my shirt so I had to stay on pace since I didn't know who might be using me as a target. It turned out this was well founded as a guy came up to me afterwards and told me we passed him at 19km and he tried to hold on to us - we finished in 1:59:17 and he hung on enough to just sneak under 2 hours. He was very emotional and happy which made it all worth it. The other person who was the last one to stay with us in the group was a girl who had never broken 2 hours. At 16km we were chatting and she was almost celebrating doing it because she felt okay. I told her to push ahead if she could and she did a little but with about 1.5km to go I noticed she'd gone very quiet except her breathing so I checked in and she said she was hurting big time. I know how sometimes in that situation you don't want someone talking at you too much so I quietly encouraged her, pulled out some inspirational quotes that I'd promised her earlier in the race if things got tough (pain is temporary, glory is forever, the body can achieve what the mind believes etc..). My pacing partner told me it was too cheesy but our racer responded...We knew we had about 30 seconds of buffer so I told her to consolidate for a km then at 800 metres I told her 2 laps of the track, then 1 lap at 400. At that point she put the hammer down and surged ahead to finish about 10 seconds in front of us. She was absolutely beaming once she recovered - highly recommend doing it if you get the chance. Hopefully I'll be back next year...unless I go to New York.
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23
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
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Mick - I was in Mozambique from 2004-07 when I worked at the U.S. embassy. The capital & the surrounding area weren’t all that wild & beautiful, mostly scrub, but the country was interesting.
As for smartwatches, I’m pretty low-tech and doubt I would enjoy using one. The one time I used DS’s Apple Watch, the extra info didn’t seem all that useful, though DW enjoys hers. 95% of my non-treadmill runs are on the same well-marked park path, so my distance estimates may be more accurate than a smartwatch’s gps estimates would be anyway. The finger watch is light and easy to use in races, with just one button that you can press with your thumb without changing your arm movement. It saves splits, and it costs about $40 on Amazon.
What with being low-tech, I'm having trouble posting photos of the finger watch, but maybe these links will work.
Finger Watch
Finger Watch 2
Steve - nice work on the pacing gig. I was actually thinking I would volunteer as a sub-1:30 half pacer at the Auckland Marathon next year. Back in 2016 it was my very first half and my goal was sub-1:30 that day so it would be nice if I can help some others get there. This year wasn't really an option as I had to fly out to Malaysia that morning.
My week:
Monday- rest
Tuesday 5. 5 with strides
Wednesday am 6 with 5x3 min + 2x3 min pm strength (mostly lower body, but some back mixed in, workout was posterior chain focused)
Thursday upper body strength
Friday am 4 on the treadmill pm upper body (shoulders)
Saturday 8 easy + lower body strength
Sunday 3 easy
James, nice race report. I've been hsitant to try the Sauconys in wet weather, now I may need to do that.
Mark, not sure what your weather is like, but would overdressing on runs help?
Watson & Steve, nice job on the pacing/ sweeping.
Steve - well paced.
James - your photos don't work. It's really, really painful to post photos here. Hopefully someone will remember how and tell us.
I never knew of a finger watch either. Google tells me it's a watch that goes on your finger, like a ring.
Steve - well paced. James - your photos don't work. It's really, really painful to post photos here. Hopefully someone will remember how and tell us.
If you're using an image from say Amazon, right click the picture and chose copy image address. In the RA post, click on the picture and then paste the link.
If it's your personal picture, it needs to be on the web. I have a private album on Facebook that I use. Sometimes it doesn't work, others it does.
Let's try it again. Here are a couple of pictures from the race. The rightmost person in the awards picture (bearded) ran 1:37 in his waterlogged turkey costume.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=734093608759858&set=pcb.734098372092715
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=734090482093504&set=pcb.734098372092715
And the finger watch:
https://www.amazon.com/SportCount-Chrono-Counter-Timer-90002/dp/B00NVR1Y0E/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=finger+watch+running&qid=1700187357&sr=8-3
Waltons ThreadLord
James - To insert the photo link, look at the icons across the top row of the posting window and click on the one that looks like a mountain (with the hot tip Insert/edit image).
Watson - Wouldn't a watch that goes on your finger like a ring be a ringwatch, just like we used to call them wristwatches?
Kathi - Nice week of workouts.
Steve - Nice job pacing, congrats on the exams, and good to year your partner is improving.
Mick - Nothing wrong with branching out to other activities.
Darkwave - Thank you. I got a laugh from your comment about cheering. I am amazed at the people in NY who get out there and cheer for hours.
Sorry I've been a little MIA. My marathon recovery went fine and then I traveled a bit with my son visiting some schools and came home to find my wife with a cold, that would eventually cause her to test positive for Covid.
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