Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 575 times)

Dave- Congratulaions! Great race and 2nd place finish.  Way to finish strong.  Love to see the splits keep coming back faster!

Dwave- Thanks again. We will absolutely do a meet up again. Especially given how often you race 

MMERK- I don't think I gave you congratulations onthe race yet!!  Way to gut it out and keep going under some tough situations (mentally and physically).  I can't say I understand the ultra thing (yet) but I sure as hell respect the physical and mental toughness required!!

DKT- I'm strongly in the camp of "do what works for you." This goes for all aspects of marathon training and racing.  I remember trying the maurten gels when everyone on here was raving about them and I almost puked!!  For me caffinated cherry shot bloks work so that is what I use.  I drink very lttle water during marathons but do drink gatorade pretty often.  I don't mind stopping for a quick pee early in a race if I know it's gonna take away the thought and allow me to run the rest of the race freely. Keep trying until you find what works and stick with it.  The only experimenting I do now is around the fringes...my basics are pretty much set in stone.

MMikey- I think my best stategy might be to let the mug come to me.  4 years and I'm a shoe-in  Just gotta make sure I don't get any slower with age

Flavio- Glad to see you're adding some things to make the race more interesting....I'm gonna have to draw the line at the spedo however  There's some stuff that can't be unseen.

Dave, I got really excited about the Eugene Marathon until I saw I’d have to fly 8 hours to get there. If I could combine it with more of a vacation, it may be worth it, but since I only have the weekend (though not a bad weekend to consider, meaning I have to look at those races too), I don’t think it’s in the cards.

wcrunner, Pennsylvania again…huh. I could get on board with that! It’s a certified course, right? I know the Potomac Marathon is a similar set up… 

wcrunner, Pennsylvania again…huh. I could get on board with that! It’s a certified course, right? I know the Potomac Marathon is a similar set up… 

If you are going for a BQ, and on the cusp of it, I wouldn't consider the Potomac Marathon. That is run exclusively on the C&O towpath as a double out-and-back.  It is a very small race, and all 26 miles look about the same, so you will get bored. The towpath is crushed stone, but some of the stones are less crushed than others, making it slightly slower than asphalt. And the out-and-back is slightly downhill one way and slightly uphill the other way - the false flat uphill part can be soulcrushing.

I'm assuming that your criteria are: certified course, well organized, flat or mostly flat and fast, fairly easy trip from Florida, weekend of May 4-5, 2024.

I would consider Long Island Marathon in New York.  I honestly think that Eugene is the absolute best marathon that weekend, but yeah, hard to travel that far that soon before the race.  Pittsburgh is another good race (several friends have PRd there) but it will have some hills.

If you could wait until June and were willing to travel that far, Grandma's could be an excellent choice for you.

At every point in the year, there comes a time when you're like "ugh. Summer's here".  This was that week.  A cold shift came in at the end of the week but as expected it'll almost certainly be warm and humid for next Sunday's race.  So it was probably good I got some practice in those conditions anyways.  I ticked over 4000km for the year mid-week so it'll be interesting to see where the year's mileage ends up.

Weekly for period: From: 20/11/2023 To 26/11/2023

Totals: Time: 05:36:35 - 🦅Imperial: 50.44 mi - Metric: 81.16 km

Flavio - Spring is quite changeable.  Thursday was 28 C (82F) then the cold change from Antarctica came through on Friday which was 10C (50F).  The last of it was coming through on Saturday morning but cleared right around race time so while the paths were wet (not great in Endorphin Pros) it was cool and calm and perfect.  You had more faith than I did!  I need to find a fast 5.01km course to really find out how fast I can go.  There's a 5km series for the higher level club runners over summer which fits the bill.  I'll run one of them, hopefully on a cool evening without much wind (might be asking a bit much there).

Nice taper week.  I want this coming week to have a few short jogs and strides but so little that you're a caged animal in a week.

Longboat - Nice to meet you and the very lovely Mrs Boat.

Mark - I've had that ugh a couple of times, followed by the ugh I had on Friday when running in the sleet and cold - "I shouldn't be this cold in November".  I'm closing in on 4000km too and on track for my highest mileage year for the 4th year in a row.

Half Crazy - Are you literally half crazy or crazy for the half as a distance?

Dorothea - Thanks!  I think Linkin Park and Nickelback can be mentioned in the same group - just below the elite for me but it's such a subjective thing.  Good luck finding your race - a great sign that you're so keen to go again.

darkwave - Nice race report - I'd call that mission accomplished.

me - This was my "testing week" to get an HR threshold check and this coming week is the start of base building.  Nothing too crazy to start with, just adding in some easy miles with a Thursday double and some 7 days weeks of running.  There's a long time to go though.

Foster Park Run 5km Race Report

This is a line in the sand race to see where I'm at after 2 months of pretty easy running after the half-marathon in Melbourne.  Not too much speed work beforehand but enough to wake up my legs.  I went with Foster Park because it's all on paths, unlike Hagley (which means slippery mud after the rain on Friday) and it never measures short.  Unfortunately it always measures long, 5.08km the first time I did it.  I decided to try and go out around 3:40-45 and try and kick home, knowing to PR I'd need to run significantly faster than I did in the PR race because of the course anomalies.  3:38/km would give me the "official" PR and I knew this was a stretch.

When I was warming up I saw Hannah, a Park Run legend and world record holder for the most wins by gender, although she probably holds it for overall wins too.  She won the Queenstown marathon 7 days ago so I was surprised to see her there and thought maybe she'd be a bit off her 17:12 Park Run PR.  She was with a guy who looked fast too so I knew there would be some to chase in this largely social event.

The race director made a touching speech about one of the regulars who lost his wife recently, at the young age of 51, and I admit I felt a bit emotional when he ran up on the platform and hugged the race director.  A very nice moment, then I realised I had to race in about 1 minute so better get out of that mindset.

Over to the start and a countdown from 5 and we're off on the 2 lap course plus small doglegs at the start and finish.  Hannah and her friend are just in front, having a chat and they look like they're jogging so I just tuck in behind.  It doesn't feel fast, although at 800 metres they start to open it up a bit and slowly pull away.  I hear loud footsteps behind me so expect to be passed but the sound quickly disappears and I settle into third for a largely solo run from the 1km mark.  That flashes up in 3:37 and I feel slightly alarmed - the early pace from the first 2 was deceptive.  I feel okay though and decide to consolidate for the next km.  The first 2 have moved comfortably clear and I only see them on the longer straights now.  The second km is 3:46 which surprises me a bit - I didn't think I'd adjusted that much and it crossed my mind that first km may have cooked me.  Maybe it was GPS because the pace from there was consistent but didn't feel much different.  I start the second lap which is a psychological boost because from 2 - 2.5km I was having negative thoughts about how gassed I felt so early.

I feel like I'm in a good rhythm now and 3km flashes up in 3:33 which is another eyebrow raiser.  I'm not sure if I can hang on but I know unless I completely fall to pieces a PR is there for the taking.  With a mile to go I start passing the walkers and slower runners who give plenty of encouragement, and are very courteous by moving over to the side of the path.  At the end of the long straight I turn in the direction of the finish, see my watch still says 3:35 pace so I try and remove all negative thoughts and just work for it.  4km flashes up in 3:38 and I'm hurting and gasping for air at this point.  I continue telling myself it's less than 4 minutes of pain to go, and glory awaits if I'm willing to earn it.  Through the trees and into the other side of the park and I see Hannah (and Chris - the other guy) off in the distance.  2 corners left and there's 400 metres to go - I think back to when I paced the half (which finished in this park) 2 weeks ago and I said to the girl next to me "that's one lap of the track, it's nothing" and realised that may have helped her or may have annoyed her because the way I was feeling now, that seemed a long way.  This was good hurting though, not the crashing and burning hurting.  It's just a matter of hanging on and 5km flashes up in 3:34 before I even make the last turn into the last 100 metres or so.  After the turn I see my watch says 18:21 so I know 18:30 is out but I really empty the tank now, to make sure I sneak under the previous PR of 18:40.  Through the finish in 18:34 and there is intense pain for 30 seconds then I feel okay, really quick.  Got to love the 5km for short lived pain.

Really happy with this result, and it's a way better run than my Hagley PR of 18:40 - the course lengths mean that was a pace of 3:45/km, this is 3:37/km for only a 6 second PR, and GPS says 5.13km.  I went through 5km according to GPS in 18:05 - I couldn't actually break 18 could I?  Maybe on the right day with some more speed training.  Incidentally, Hannah ran 17:30 which is crazy close to PR pace so soon after a marathon.  Chris ran 17:50 for a PR (after over 100 Park Runs).  4th place finished exactly 2 minutes behind me, so it was very much a solo race.

Weekly for period: From: 20/11/2023 To 26/11/2023

Totals: Time: 06:51:09 - 🦅Imperial: 50.21 mi - Metric: 80.79 km

Steve - once again, nice job.

Marky_Mark- nice week.

Flavio - have you started checking the weather?

My week:

60 miles running, 1000 yards swimming, and 3 hours pool-running.
M: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yoga
T: 10 miles very easy (9:27) including some grass running and drills/strides, and upper body weights/core.
W: 9 miles, including a track workout of 3x3200 in 14:17 (7:10/7:07), 14:17 (7:09/7:08), and 14:14 (7:09/7:05) (recoveries of 5:00-5:13). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming
Th: 8 miles trail-running (10:04) and streaming pilates.
F: 10 miles very easy (9:33) to gym, including some grass running and drills/strides, upper body weights/core, and then 2 miles very easy home (9:30)
Sa: 18 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:37 pace, the next 5 miles averaging 8:29 pace, and then the last 8 miles averaging 7:42 pace. Injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming after.
Su: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yoga

Second week on Lexapro, and I'm still slower than I was before starting it - by about 15-20 seconds a mile for faster running (easy running is normal).   I've heard that often it takes a few weeks to adjust to Lexapro, so I'm giving this some time. Since I train by effort I'm not worried about running myself into the ground trying to run my old paces while I'm adjusting. In the meantime, the Lexapro is really helping the overactive reflexes, so this will all be worth it as long as my body eventually adjusts.

I'm definitely feeling less drowsy than I was when I started it, so I'm hopeful that I'll be back to where I was a few weeks ago soon.

Stevepf looks much younger than I thought. I always thought he was closer to 60 than 40.

Longboat you’re TALL!

Steve—nice racing! My 5k the other day was a similar situation—2 months following a goal race, with minimal hard training, that ended up going very well. I think when we’re well trained enough, we hold onto the fitness longer than we might expect. And yeah, “one lap around the track" feels so very long when it's late in a 5k.

Today I ran the Seattle Marathon as 3:50 pacer. They split pacer duties and I only had responsibility for the first half. But as planned, I ran the whole thing. I did this a month ago, but ended up backing off after the half. The pace had started to feel like more effort than I wanted to expend, if I was going to avoid things getting too unpleasant later. I kept it super easy and finished at 3:55. Today I was feeling much better at the half, and ran the rest of the way with the second half pacers. Finished on target at 3:49:11. I'm guessing it's the difference between one month after a goal marathon, at which point I'm not really fully recovered, and two months. Anyway it was a good day. It was a chilly 34F at the start, but warmed up to >40F, and no wind. Plus the surprising bonus of being sunny, which is highly unusual late November in Seattle. It's always fun being in a race environment and not running at race effort. All the pacers are folks from my running group; it's the 10th year doing it, and it's kind of our social event of the year.