Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 574 times)

 

 

My slow miles are also still 10:00-10:30 so if I can eventually get those down to where my slow runs are in the 8s that alone will help me squeeze in a few extra miles a week. 

 

I wouldn't necessarily plan on this. If anything, when you add more miles (and workouts) your easy pace could get slower to compensate. Although it will still improve your race times, because the mileage volume will increase your endurance - how long you can maintain a given pace. Even a 5k is an endurance race. Everyone's different in terms of how their easy pace correlates to their race paces, I think there's no good formula for that. Easy is an effort, not a pace, you shouldn't even be looking at your watch. You might end up get into the 9s, but whether you'll ever get into the 8s it's hard to say. In the last 10 years I've averaged >2600 miles/year, and cut more than an hour off my marathon time. But my easy pace is about the same, a bit slower if anything.

 

Think of it as feeling like the day after a marathon, but without the soreness and stiffness, just lack of energy to do anything.

I call that Tuesday, and it doesn’t come with the PR marathon effort glory or physical pain. 

Hope you get through it and keep going.

Commander- Isn't it customary for the incumbent to run virtually unopposed for re-election?  My vote is 4 more years for the commander and soon to be dictator for life!!

JBlack- I can't emphasize it enough to not worry about pace at all.  Just run more!!  In fact, leave the watch at home (or covered) and just run for time.  If the marathon is your goal, miles and time on your feet will bring you the absolute most bang for your buck at first.  I know it's counter-intuitive and seems wrong but listen to the folks on here.

Mmerk started out worrying about pace and he listened to folks on here and put in the miles and low and behold he's CRUSHING the marathon now.  That combined with the fact that he's a very talented and motivated runner!!!

Keen/Flavio - Here is the squat perspective from a faster/younger runner.  As a teenager I was squatting 1.5x -1.75x my body weight without any real training.  Just show up and lift it.  How times change haha.  That’s when I was running the 800.  I was stronger than most of the longer distance runners.  A few of those guys took lifting seriously and could out perform me in all of the various lifts.  Even a 10k guy.  Quick edit, that was not a single rep max, I was expected to do 3-5 reps.

At least no one has to expend valuable training energy on a thread name change this year

AndyTN - May I ask how old you are? That HR is certainly a nice sign of improvements. My last LR was 7.4 miles @ 10:35m/m and avg HR of 157. I know watches are not super reliable in max Vo2 measurements but I am curious what yours is estimating yours to be?

And because I'll be traveling both the next weekends, here's my 2023 in review:

I started the year hopeful to break my 10K PR because honestly it was a bit soft. I had tried to do it in November of last year but came up short when the race course ended up being 10.2km.

So in early February I headed over to the beautiful Coimbra for a considerably hilly race and managed to break the PR, running 37:55.

That gave me a bit of confidence. What if I could also break my 5k PR, that would be quite harder.

So in early March we travelled to a city near Barcelona for a 5k race (Because there are literally zero 5k races in Portugal).

And then this time they changed the course at the last minute, and the course ended up being short. Naturally I crossed the finish line and kept running until I heard the 5k beep on my watch and then I was quite happy to see that I had broken my 5K PR by 3 seconds, down to 17:53.

That gave me a lot of confidence, so much so that I've signed up for the Valencia Marathon in December, after having said that I'd never run a marathon again, and after having cursed the marathon distance in all the 77 ways there is.

Up next though, I had a very interesting challenge in the Porto Eco Trail, a 20k run with roughly 300m of elevation gain and plenty of difficult terrain and stairs along the way.

I was poorly dressed for the occasion (as superman off course), on a race that idiotically started at 10:30am with the sun already high.

As usual I went out way too fast for my fitness and didn't respect the difficulty of the terrain. Once we left the shade of the trees at around 6km I was already feeling a bit over cooked. Past some beautiful fields and I started seeing that I had gone out at 10k effort on a 20k race.

At the first climb which is about 60 or 70m climb up to a bridge, one such climb I had completed several times before in a good pace, but this time I had to walk up most of the way.

I was definitely overheating, and walking didn't help to cool me down.

I then started feeling some slight disorientation and dry mouth. I stopped by the last aid station around km 12 and didn't drink enough.

Then as we approached the city Cathedral there was a ton of tourists there and I missed a turn and went down a flight of stairs.

I then realized that it was the wrong way and had to climb it back up, then I found some other runners from the race and followed then.

By now I was really "dumb" as in I couldn't follow the directions anymore, I just couldn't see the red thingies they stuck along the course and the other runners kept telling go this way, go that way.

Then the most feared climb in the race arrived. It's roughly 300m with a huge climb (maybe 8 or 9% grade). This is another climb that I had managed to run up several times before without any issues, but this time I had to walk all the way up.\

After managing to cautiously make my way downstairs on the other side, I got to the flat which would remain flat to the finish line.

However my mouth was extremely dry and I was overheating even when I tried to walk. I feared I'd collapse before the finish line and DNF the race.

*defeated male leaves*

I figured it was all due to poor execution (not drinking enough water, going out too fast and not wearing UPF 50 protective clothing).

I certainly was in a monster shape for that race. I have no doubt I'd break my half PR if I had run one in decent weather at the time.

Up next, base building to bring my weekly mileage from then roughly 55 miles per week to a more respectable 70 miles per week in preparation for a half marathon in early October in Cologne Germany.

Before that there was a 5k which would work as a fitness gauge in early August in Brazil, as I was visiting my family there.

Unfortunately I got covid and couldn't run for 3 or 4 days, exactly around the race.

So next it was the half marathon in Cologne. Training went well and I was in excellent shape.

Come race day though the wheels came off on the last 3 KM and I missed my PR by 14 seconds.

I also got covid another time after the race, though thankfully this time I was able to train through it, though it made for some really miserable training runs, I think I ran 12 minute miles one of those days.

Up next 2 months between the half marathon race and the Valencia marathon.

Training went relatively well until about 3 weeks from the race, then things started going down hill.

The race didn't go well at all (I was expecting at the very least a PR sub 3h05 based on training).

And that was 2023. I hope to maybe race more often next year.

Mileage wise I'm gonna run over 4300km (2700mi) this year which is a lot more than the 2700 from last year, so good progress.

Flavio yes. I’m applying to separate agencies. Actually, I should look up my background stuff again for the State application since I have a deadline.  City is just doing their background first, then interviewing me before the next step. The police backgrounds ask very similar questions, and my assumption is ‘they’re looking for your story to change just a little bit so they can find a lie.