Maybe this time?

wcrunner - wow, 90/60... not surprised you felt off if your BP was that low.  Hopefully you recovered quickly.

Me - tough week on a number of fronts... weather was more like December than April with high temps, humidity, and a pretty persistent strong NE wind for the entire week.  But the big week is in the bag, and it was satisfying to get it done in spite of all that, finishing with my longest run in a year.  Two weeks until the race so now I just have to hope the wheels don't fall off.

Weekly for period: From: 17/04/2023 To 23/04/2023

Total distance: 102.23km (63.5 imperial polka dot scrunchies)

2nd track meet is complete. My son finally broke the 7-min barrier with a 6:57 in the mile. The mile has been a monkey on his back with numerous races at 7:04-7:30. Great timing with his 9th birthday 2 days away. He ran an 18.28 in the 100m (which was a bit slow) and reached an 8ft 7.5in in the long jump. Our girls team won the whole meet but our boys team is not as strong.

Andy nice job by your boy. Once he turns that 8ft long jump into 8m he should be on the US team 

8m in the long jump??? That is as insane as 100C = boiling...

 

 

That's 7 weeks now in a row over 30 mpw which I know is still low but much better than previous months.

No long run Sunday as I had a big day Saturday in a kayak fishing competition.

Don't leave me hanging Piwi forget the running .....How did you do in the fishing competition?

 

 

me - We had a lot of fun watching the London marathon earlier today, thrilling finish on the women's side, with Sifan Hassan having to stop to stretch only to drop like 100m behind the lead pack, then proceed to pick up the racers ahead of her until eventually catching up to the leaders after the pacers dropped off, then proceeded to anihilate the competition with a sprint on the last 400, but really, when she started sprinting she basically gapped the others on the first 5 steps, sprinting and running are really different sports, like Darkwave said.

On the men's side Kelvin Kiptun showed he's a stud with a spectacular time (2:01:25) on a day with tough rainy weather, 2nd place was like 3 minutes behind and there was a carnage of DNFs.

 

Yeah that was the most impressive performance I’ve ever seen from the woman’s race at the London marathon…she continued running after stretching and was holding her leg and clearly in discomfort and the commentators (Paula Radcliffe and Steve Cram) were saying she should drop out asap to limit further damage….10min later she’s recovered and slowly starts to make ground on the lead group! She eventually caught the group but then she forgot that the last drinks station was on the right and wastes a few seconds to run across to get her bottle…then offers her bottle to one of the other runners which was great to see!  And that sprint finish was fantastic!  Her interview afterwards was great as she was very chatty and engaging which was such a contrast compared to previous winners! 

Never give up in a marathon!

[edited for a bit of clarity]

Hard to believe it’s been not even a week since Boston. Both RP and Fishy are out there running again. RP, I don’t even know if you took a rest day? But congrats again to both of you on amazing performances! Great finishing kick, RP, and great race reports, though I guess we still have to stay tuned for the rest of RP’s. And yes, ditto Mark, I hope you ate all the pizza. 

So, as some of you have seen on Strava (and commented, thank you!), I ran a 5k today and PR’ed. That was obviously the highlight of a week where I wasn’t sure if it was even a good idea to run—both because of time constraints and knee issues. I have yet to find out if the course was certified, so I’m not logging the race yet. But when I do, I’ll update a race report. 

My week from 04/17/2023 To 04/23/2023

Total distance: 30ish running, with 11.3 miles on the bike (pitiful, I know, but I’m going to work on getting more again). 

I went under 21 for the first time today, crossing the finish line at 20:37 and carrying on for another .1 ish (ugh, so hard, I was done at 3.05) to get 3.11 and 20:55 on my watch. So I’m proud to say sub-21 with and without an asterix (and maybe I’ll get lucky and the course was certified after all). 

It is usually about the PR anyway, not the time. But for me for the 5k, though I also never thought I'd go sub-21, this PR thing hit harder than for most.  To put this into perspective: I started running semi-competitively at age 14, and it took me 9 years to break my high school 5k time and then another 7 years to break it again and get close to leaving the 21-minute realm. I  wasn't training specifically for 5k PRs, but I was running that whole time. This time it took me only 7 months. Something's different. Is it the Vaporflys? Who knows. They felt awfully good. But my guess is it's probably the ultra running. That’s the only major difference in the past year. I guess running long does help. It makes 5k feel like it’s over before you know it; there’s not a lot of time to get mentally messed up. Once it gets hard, even in the first mile, one doesn’t have to hold on for too long (though those seconds can last an eternity sometimes). 

Seeing the total lack of strategy for my race, I realize I probably could have gone faster. The placing is because it was a relatively small race and because all the fast women had just run Boston (or had something better to do). I started in fourth, passed two people within 800m, and the other about mile 1.5. There was a guy with a toddler in a stroller who was in front of me the whole time, and looked way too relaxed. I kept telling myself, you don’t want a guy with a stroller to beat you (completive jerk side on full display in my mind), but I can’t remember now if he beat me or not.  But he did keep me pushing. 

But seeing as I want to take a bit of a break from speed work, and then get back to marathon training, I may not have another short race attempt for a while. There’s a 10k happening in July I’d like to join, but we’ll see what things look like at the end of May.  

Today was also the day I made it to 479 days of activity, beating my previous 478-day streak from 2018-2019. My last streak marked my longest ever run streak plus a day. Now it symbolizes all the days I exercised with purpose for at least 10 minutes (so ran or walked a mile, rode two miles, went for a swim…there’s a 316 run streak in there as well). Also recently crossed 20,000 recorded lifetime miles. Kind of nice to mark those two things with a 5k PR. 

Last detail: I had to rush to get home after this race, so I arranged for a friend to get my award for me and started my cool-down with another friend. As we were going back past the finish, we heard the awards for women OA being called, so I rushed over, got my award, stood there and smiled broadly, and continued for another mile cool-down with the trophy in my hand. Honestly a waste of material… don’t know what I’m going to do with it. But the whole thing was kind of cool. 

Darkwave, this is super late, but nice marathon workout last Saturday! Those progressive paces look great! Sorry they didn’t feel as great, though it’s also totally out of a training cycle that you did them. I hate that thirsty feeling, though. It’s the only reason I suffer through carrying a pack on my runs. 

Hashiritai, I wasn’t able to follow your race, but I see the results and that’s a beautiful debut marathon! And BQ too! Nice! Also, wow, sorry to read about your friend! Glad he was generally okay about it. Maybe he secretly was glad to have the choice about going through the whole marathon ordeal taken out of his hands. 

CK, glad to read you’re still gonna run the race! Oh, and thanks for explaining the Del Taco reference! Sounds like a terrible race experience. Still, seems like the race overall ended up okay?

Steve, I liked the way your coach had you fill out that form after your finish. That’s a great idea! (Also easier to get important details from than a narrative form report). Glad to read you’re in general good spirits. I have to say, dropping out of Christchurch was smart if you’re feeling as well as you are right now, plus can think of a redemption race so soon! So basically you just had a long run at race effort… just extend the training a little longer. Curious to know if it’s the shoes. I ran with the Vaporfly Next 2% twice this week now, and after Wednesday noticed a considerable soreness in my glutes. They do probably stress the body differently… though I don’t know if it’s enough to cause a cramp. I have to see how I feel tomorrow, but right now I have no ill effects from the shoes. In fact, my legs and feet feel better than they have for a few weeks! But as you said, maybe they do feel better for shorter races than long ones. 

I’d lean more towards anxiety issues—which are a lot more likely to creep up in those middle miles of a marathon than a 5k, as I was reminded today as well. 

JMac, your report was sobering, but does not spell the last nail in the coffin, I think. Some injuries take a year or more to return from. I basically spent all of 2020 injured… but I did small runs and rides, did all the rehab exercises and taping, and then something changed and the injury went away with no real explanation. Basically, I know being where you’re at right now stinks, but it’s not permanent. So hang in there. I agree with Flavio that it may make more sense to just take CIM off your to-do list for this year and give yourself time to heal and get back into a sustainable running plan, then build into a training cycle. At the same time… it’s a full 7.5 months away… may be too soon to call it. Also I think darkwave is probably onto something with the sleep and cortisol levels. 2020 was (besides the shitshow that was US politics) also the year I had to finish my dissertation. I was not sleeping well and constantly wired. It’s hard for the body to do its repair thing then. Hopefully if stress is an issue, you have a period of less of it coming up.  

Wcrunner, I commented in the ultra channel, but glad to read you’ve recovered well from the 12-hour and looking forward towards your 50k next month. 

Flavio, I need a cup of coffee to get going in the morning, but after that it’s all decaf and herbal teas. I have lots of anxiety that’s not related to running, so I need ways to slow my brain down. And running is usually that thing. That or nice bike rides. Or comedies. It stinks when the one thing to help with the anxiety gives you more of it, but thankfully that’s never really been my issue— probably because I do ultimately think that if I do the best I can, that’s all I can do. Not reassuring to truly competitive people maybe, but it works for me. It does sound like you could do with putting less pressure on yourself. But you’re also a great runner, and part of that probably comes from having bit of that pressure (which Mark explained pretty well in scientific terms). Also, I think exposure therapy works for running, too, but the marathon is one of those things you can’t go out and do every weekend (well, you can, but it get’s painful after a while). And maybe running a marathon sometime where you don’t care about the time can help… but it will probably never feel worth it to run a marathon “fun run.” If you’re going into something like acupuncture anyway, have you thought of seeing a sport’s psychologist? They’re bound to have worked with people with exactly this issue. 

Nice 7-day streak and 50+ miles this week! 

Fishy, more re: report: seeing your tune-up races lined up like that, it’s no wonder you had a good end to your training cycle. And the big crowds at these big races are another reason I am loath to run one ever again, but at the same time, I guess it’s what makes the experience so great, too. I like what you said about “Boston is a PR course but not necessarily a PR race.” That makes a lot of sense. And YAY! I see the pictures! Holy cow! Lot more variation in cadence at Boston. 

Andy, great to read about the ways you build in time with your kids and about how your son did at his meet! Having aspirations to have kids one day and keep running, I look for all the affirmations that it’s possible, though it doesn’t always sound easy. 

Re: VDOT, I need to still figure out what to do with those stats. But it sounds like a useful way to figure out training paces. 

Re: careers, I would argue it depends on the career to determine whether you get what you put in. If you’re your own boss, you usually get the benefits when you put more in. 

Mark, you cannot label a run about a billboard with cat and avocado related topics without posting picture of said billboard. And your fall sounds like our spring. Hot and humid. At least you know it’ll get a bit cooler soon. 

Piwi, those consistent 30+ mpw are an excellent base. 

Re: London, awesome finishes by both the top men and women. Hassan especially… goose-bumps were raised when I got around to watching the recaps later. And 2:01:25? Kiptun would certainly give Kipchoge a run for his money! 

JMac Tough times man. I think you'll pull through though. It's easier to have these thoughts when you can't run than when you can. Hang in there.

Fishy That's a frustrating start. Great day overall though.

Mark I'm glad to see a week like this and that you're feelin well 2 weeks out.

Steve Gotta hand it to ya, I like the attitude. Especially the "hold on loosely but don't let go" approach to this next one. It may be just what you need. Oh and you shouldn't feel shame, as you put it. Shame would be if you ignored the alarm and slept in on race day. I do find the hot shower idea interesting... what's this for? I'm wondering because I'm the exact opposite. A 2 minute cold shower it is for me. Especially on race day.

dktrotter Congrats again on that 5k. I hope you don't seriously think it's just the shoes. Next up, sub 20.

London Marathon I'm starting to think Hassan needs something bad to happen to have a good race.

dw That is why I like keeping an eye on my rolling 7 day total. It jumps around a little less than Mon-Sun mileage. But weekly mileage isn't everything.

My Week: All easy running with some hills and strides.

Miles: 61, Kilometers: 98.2, Total Time: 8:03:19, Total Feet Climbed (According to Strava): 3,445