Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 572 times)

Marky_Mark_17


    Almost forgot to mention I’ve got the second race in the trail

    series tomorrow. The hills are even more brutal than the first one so I’ll probably just cruise it and not push too hard. Also I’m gonna break rule one and wear new shoes on race day… need something with decent grip given the condition and I have some Salomon Speedcross that I won a couple years ago but have never run in.

    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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

    Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

    "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

    Mikkey


    Mmmm Bop

       

       

      I remember someone doing a marathon on this same track. Mikkey was it you? Tips on running at this venue?

       

       

      No, but I did run a 28 mile ultra on the track in 2019 a couple of weeks after my PR at London.  The race was meant to be marathon distance but they measured the track wrong. 

       

      https://www.strava.com/activities/2358741670

      5k - 17:53 (4/19)   10k - 37:53 (11/18)   Half - 1:23:18 (4/19)   Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)

        Mark good luck.

         

        You guys catch the 2 mile world record, womens 5000m world record and men's steeple world record? Amazing.

         

        My week 1st time over 50 miles for a year or so.

         

        Weekly for period: From: 05/06/2023 To 11/06/2023

        <caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
        Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
        in m
        05/06 Morning Run 7.47 12.01 00:57:55 07:45 04:49 2
        06/06 Lunch Run Omokoroa 6.22 10.01 00:51:24 08:16 05:08 125
        07/06 Papamoa hills 6.25 10.05 00:57:12 09:09 05:41 280
        08/06 Morning Run 4.98 8.01 00:43:47 08:48 05:28 7
        09/06 Lunch Run with 5x100m strides 4.98 8.02 00:40:57 08:13 05:06 2
        10/06 5x1k with 400m jog recoveries 7.47 12.02 00:53:39 07:11 04:28 2
        11/06 Another awesome run with the lads 14.92 24.01 02:01:25 08:08 05:03 145

        Total distance: 84.13km

        55+ PBs 5k 18:36 June 3rd TT

        " If you don't use it you lose it,  but if you use it, it wears out.

        Somewhere in between is about right "      

         

        wcrunner2


        Are we there, yet?

           

          You guys catch the 2 mile world record, womens 5000m world record and men's steeple world record? Amazing.

           

           

          And national records for Japan and Tunisia in the steeplechase.

           

          National records in the 800m by Keely Hodgkinson (UK) and Yarigo (Benin)


           2024 Races:

                03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

                05/11 - D3 50K
                05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

                06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

           

           

               


          Pain is my friend

            I have not been big on strength training in the past. But the last time I did a Track 24 hour it tore me apart. I had lots of energy, but my muscles would not take the strain. All the turning tweaked my knees in a different way than I’m used to. I’ve been working on specific strength training to work on those areas. I’ll let you know if it worked after the race.

             

             

            Interesting... Maybe I should take another shot on trail running after 5-6 months of strength training Smile Seriously... Your post made me really curious - I have never worked seriously on my strength and especially all body strength and legs strength. I wonder what it does to trail running specificity...

             

             

            I believe the only US race Mikkey ran was New York marathon. Plus - Mikkey and 24 hours running???? Ha-ha-ha...I believe I know whom you are talking about, I think it was  bhearn probably?

            ATY 24   141.445 2019 1st

            Bear 100 22:08 2021 

            Jackpot 100 Feb 14:59 - 5th

            St George marathon Oct 2:58

            ATY 24 130.969 2022 2nd

             

            Pulse endurance 12 hour 76.22 1ST CR

            July Backyard ultra 22 yards Win

            Sept Bear 100 24:08

             

            Fishyone


              Piwi really nice week!  Volume and workouts…you’re killing it.

              5K 18:36 (2023), 10K 39:40 (2022), 1/2 1:24:37 (2023), full 2:58:36 (2015) 

              SteveChCh


              Hot Weather Complainer

                piwi - awesome to see you smashing it again.  I could see you dominating masters running if you really wanted to.

                 

                There was also the World Mountain Running champs overnight.  Pretty rough one for my coach, Andy Good.  He was getting sick when we had our last chat before he left and he ended up with a reasonably heavy cold in the lead up.  I think he was recovering by race day but on a 15km course with 700 metres of elevation gain (which I guess is over about 7.5km with the downhills), you'd need to be 100%.  He finished in 81st.  A Ugandan guy didn't get the memo that it was a 2 lap course and sprinted to win...the first lap.  Then had to keep going.  Last I saw he'd only dropped to 4th.

                 

                My week - Uneventful recovery week.  Unlike last time I decided to utilise the bike and recover a bit better.  Tried a run yesterday when I thought my legs felt pretty good but soon discovered there's a bit more time needed.  I want to do the 5km in 3 weeks so that's a good incentive to do it properly.  I've had a bit of the post race blues which is obviously worse after a shocker but thankfully I have some races planned over the next few months.

                 

                Weekly for period: From: 05/06/2023 To 11/06/2023

                <caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
                Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                in m
                05/06 Stationary Bike 8.14 13.10 00:30:00 03:41 02:17 0
                06/06 Stationary Bike 8.83 14.20 00:30:00 03:24 02:07 0
                07/06 Stationary Bike 12.06 19.40 00:40:00 03:19 02:04 0
                08/06 Stationary Bike 13.86 22.30 00:45:00 03:15 02:01 0
                09/06 Stationary Bike 15.85 25.50 00:50:01 03:09 01:58 0
                10/06 Stationary Bike 9.57 15.40 00:30:00 03:08 01:57 0
                10/06 Easy Shakeout 5.04 8.11 00:43:13 08:34 05:20 10
                11/06 Stationary Bike 15.97 25.70 00:50:00 03:08 01:57 0

                Total distance: 8.11km

                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

                Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024

                Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024

                  Steve good patience! Have you any trips planned up this way ? There's a guy from here too in those Mountain running Champs. The race I saw was just one ascent though and he came about 80th too. To be fair he's a 15 to 16 min 5k runner. American Joseph Gray did well to finish 5th behind the Africans.

                   

                  Fishy I thought your killing it comment was in relation to my last fishing trip 

                  55+ PBs 5k 18:36 June 3rd TT

                  " If you don't use it you lose it,  but if you use it, it wears out.

                  Somewhere in between is about right "      

                   

                  Marky_Mark_17


                    Says a lot about a trail race when you can run hills ALL WEEK and then you still get as much elevation gain in the race as you got from those other 5 runs put together.  Some super technical stuff along the ridgeline for 4-5km through the middle too with tree roots and rocks and mud everywhere, I walked most of it because any faster than that and the chances of a crash were very high.  My decision to break rule 1 and wear an untested pair of shoes also proved to be a good one thanks to this section as the extra grip and rock plate were very helpful, even though I'd rather have worn something lighter.  There was a 3km downhill to finish but my legs were too trashed from the tough bit to do anything other than jog it.  Was the toughest race I've done other than the marathon, one of those events where just finishing in reasonable shape provided a real sense of accomplishment.  Thankfully it's also the hardest of the series!

                     

                     

                    Weekly for period: From: 05/06/2023 To 11/06/2023

                    <caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
                    Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                    in m
                    05/06 That run where two kids in the house already equals no sleep 6.90 11.11 00:51:23 07:27 04:37 174
                    06/06 That run where it was cold, wet, windy and surprisingly fun 8.17 13.14 00:52:59 06:29 04:02 168
                    07/06 That run where there was not a lot of gas in the tank 7.51 12.09 00:54:07 07:12 04:29 169
                    08/06 That run where they're pruning the palm trees in Hobsonville Pt 9.37 15.07 00:59:58 06:24 03:59 193
                    09/06 That run where I guess if you’re gonna dump a couch somewhere, a bus stop isn’t the worst place 6.88 11.06 00:48:27 07:03 04:23 184
                    11/06 Xterra Hunua, didn’t die 11.93 19.20 02:14:27 11:16 07:00 876

                    Total distance: 81.67km (50.8 imperial bottle caps)

                    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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                    Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                    "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

                    flavio80


                    Intl. correspondent

                      Piwi - I watched it live. It was very exciting. In the 5000m they battled it out all the way to maybe 4400 when it became clear that Gidey was tiring.
                      In the end it worked out very well to Kipyegon as she had a pacer through most of it. But remember she also set the 1500m world record just one week before, so super impressive.
                      That 5x1000 at 3:38 per k was fire!

                       

                      Mark - Woah, that's some massive elevation gain plus all the switch backs, mud, rocks and tree roots. But I suppose it's good training variety and it will get you stronger all around for future races.

                       

                      me - I've asked the coach for a down week next as I'm feeling pretty run down. Increasing mileage is always the trickiest/riskiest part.

                      Weekly for period: From: 06/05/2023 To 06/11/2023

                      <caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
                      Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                      in ft
                      06/05 30'E 3.40 5.47 00:30:00 08:49 05:29 148
                      06/06 80'E + 6x100m strides 10.82 17.41 01:24:30 07:49 04:51 545
                      06/07 2x (2 miles @ 6:00-6:10 w 400m rest) - actual avg 6:14, 6:26 7.85 12.63 00:57:27 07:19 04:33 302
                      06/08 70'E 8.48 13.65 01:10:01 08:15 05:08 387
                      06/09 40'E 5.05 8.13 00:40:00 07:55 04:55 299
                      06/10 60'E + 6x100m strides 7.39 11.89 01:08:00 09:12 05:43 997
                      06/11 2h30 Long Run 18.39 29.59 02:30:01 08:09 05:04 1138

                      Total distance: 61.38mi

                      PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021

                      Up next: no idea

                      Tool to generate Strava weekly

                      a smith


                      king of the non-sequitur

                        following along here, great content!

                         

                        Marky_Mark what's the venue for the Xterra series? the distance looks like the little local series I am doing.

                         

                        yesterday ran the second race in the summer long series (~10,15,20,26.2). i don't know what everyone else has to say about this but comments welcome: a 14 miler with 2600' of vert is the hardest distance for me on trails compared to longer stuff. all out for 2.5 hours. no chatting at the aid stations, no old man breaks, running all the hills (or trying to) and generally not being nice to myself versus a 50k or 50 miler where i have to focus on being nice to myself. it might take 8-12 hours but they are more pleasant. ...but going fast is fun so the first 10 miles were (are) a blast! almost biffed it big time though. i was descending trying to keep high turnover and stumbled just as i was approaching a creek with flat-top log bridges as a walkway. i hit the walkway stumbling and had to get my balance on the walkway. dang that was close!

                        i ran this series last year so my goals are easy = beat last year's time. yesterday was 2nd fail on that by about 5 minutes but my excuse is that i have to wear a hernia belt keeping that sucker in (until surgery in sept). it's not a race killer but annoying and causes more chafing.

                         

                        that leads to my thoughts on weight training: love the activity and i wish i could do more but there always seems to be some injury stopping me. i know people say that about running. for me it's strength training

                         

                        next up is a flat half marathon. probably another long all out session but hopefully less than 2 hrs unless someone wants me to pace

                         

                        Bridle Trails 50k 1-13-24 5:39

                        Cottontail 6 Hour 4-13-24

                        Carkeek 6 Hour 10-19-24 

                          piwi - congrats on the 50!

                          Marky - nice work on the trail race! Interesting to see because I view you as the consummate road runner/racer. Maybe you’ve done a lot of trails but I haven’t been paying attention. Do you just like to mix it up for variety’s sake occasionally. I am 100% roads, but a bunch of folks in my group are big trail/ultra types and always trying to lure me over to the dark side. 

                          a smith - speaking of trails, nice job! If that was the Cougar Mountain 14.5, I know a guy who ran it and he said that course is HARD. And running with a hernia—ugh. I have a friend who developed one recently while training for Western States. He probably should not be running but nothing’s going to make him miss that.


                          Me: Continuing on the road to recovery. The speed session was...eh. Not too awful, but clearly there’s work to do. I’ll just keep building that and try to get ready for a half. Either the end of July or end of August (or both!) depending on how things are going. And when I’m not in race shape, pacing is a lot of fun. Paced 1:50 yesterday; goal is to finish 30 sec ahead, so I pretty much nailed it. I’m doing another one next weekend.

                          Weekly for period: From: 06/05/2023 To 06/11/2023

                          <caption>Weekly Grid</caption>
                          Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                          in ft
                          06/05 Morning Run w/10x100m strides 7.01 11.28 01:02:36 08:56 05:33 335
                          06/06 Morning Run 9.02 14.52 01:20:52 08:58 05:34 453
                          06/07 Lunch Run 5.03 8.09 00:44:10 08:47 05:28 226
                          06/08 12 x 400m w/200m recoveries 8.69 13.99 01:13:26 08:27 05:15 171
                          06/09 Morning Run 5.07 8.15 00:47:52 09:26 05:52 230
                          06/10 Evergreen Half—pacing 1:50 13.14 21.14 01:49:32 08:20 05:11 46
                          06/11 Morning Run 5.52 8.88 00:50:29 09:09 05:41 200

                          Total distance: 53.48mi

                          Dave

                            Mark when I saw on your strava that huge downhill Elevation but your pace was only 10 min km, I guessed it must have been hard-core. So hard to pace a trail race as each hill sends you into lactic burn. Disclaimer I have never run a trail race 

                             

                            Flavio can you drop to 40 miles this week to freshen up ? That was a very nice long run you did.

                             

                            Asmith I've heard power walking can be as fast and more sustainable at certain points in a steep trail. Have you tried this method?

                             

                            Dave nice solid base week on your comeback road.

                            I paced my local Parkrun 5k sub 20 a couple of times and loved it. Unfortunately no one finished with me either time   I just added you to my strava

                             

                            Recovery 5 miles today Monday. Pace was 9 min mile and average heart rate only 110 bpm

                            55+ PBs 5k 18:36 June 3rd TT

                            " If you don't use it you lose it,  but if you use it, it wears out.

                            Somewhere in between is about right "      

                             

                            Marky_Mark_17


                              Piwi - top week there!  Did you catch Kiwi Maia Ramsden winning the women's NCAA 1500m? That was super impressive especially the way she just turned it up on that last lap and smoked the rest of the field including the race favourite.

                               

                              Steve - those mountain running courses are just brutal. It's a bummer Andy wasn't 100% as it would've been an incredible trip and experience.

                               

                              Dave - no I am pretty much a trail rookie. I decided to give this series a go as something a bit different this winter, and it's definitely that.  It's such a different style of running, but I'm enjoying the challenge even though I'm better on the roads.  Definitely works a lot of muscles you don't really use on the roads, as Flavio pointed out.  Anyways excellent job on the pacing.  You can always tell the good pacers as they will generally finish just fractionally under the target time!

                               

                              Flavio - excellent week. Good call to have a down week if you're feeling a bit run down though.

                               

                              A Smith - this is a 6 race series at various locations around Auckland, most within an hour or so from my place.  Mix of forests and regional parks for the most part.  I'm impressed you push yourself to run all the hills... I normally try and do that but it always depends on the hill!  Definitely similar length to what you're doing, I opted for the Long course but there's Short, Mid and Super-Long as well.

                              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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                              Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                              "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

                              darkwave


                              Mother of Cats

                                55 miles running and 3 hours pool-running.
                                M: 90 minutes pool-running.
                                T: 10.5 miles, including a track workout of 400, 800, 2x1200, 800, 400, 2x200, with splits of 96, 3:17, 4:59, 4:58, 3:15, 93, 47, 46. Recoveries were 77 seconds after the first 400, and 2:3x-3:0x after the 800s and 1200s. Full recovery for the 200s. Followed with leg strengthwork.
                                W: 10 miles very easy (9:31) on the treadmill and streaming yoga.
                                Th: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.
                                F: 10 miles, including a 6400m tempo on the track in 27:39 (7:01/6:53/6:53/6:52), followed with leg strengthwork.
                                Sa: 10 miles (9:33), plus drills and hill sprints, and upper body weights/core.
                                Su: 14.5 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:39 pace, the next 5 miles averaging 8:27 pace, and the next 4.5 miles averaging 7:44 pace. Followed by injury prevention work and foam rolling.


                                I spent the middle of this week indoors due to the poor air quality in DC from the Canadian forest fires. Fortunately, things were much improved by Friday, and I could return to normal training. Nothing spectacular this week - I'm just maintaining fitness at this point until my half-marathon next Saturday. After that race, I'll take a season-ending break with a few days in the pool.

                                 

                                I did test out a new shoe on Friday - the Hoka Rocket X2.  It's a very stable supershoe, which is unusual.  Based on all of 12 miles in it, I think I like the shoe.  I'm most likely going to wear it for my half next weekend.

                                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.