Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 573 times)

For mmerkle, I think the tough thing with any papce adjustment is that it's not just the wind you need to account for. Best case, it's 60, riany and windy. Worst case, it is 70+, sunny, humid & windy. Either way, its going to be warmer than ideal and warmer than it's been recently.

this is worse, to me, than the 20 mph winds. The wind might make this feel more enjoyable, but 70s and marathon are "fucking bullshit" and DK just did an ultra in it.

dk Ive been meaning to say it sounds like you had the full fill of ultra experience. Forgetting things like spare watches, sun screen, packing gels is part of the game, and you'll always remember "that time I forgot my gels so now I always check" races. Perhaps listening to the body with the dead watch was a blessing in disguise. Sometimes letting go and running what you can instead of what you want helps more than it hurts.

JMac I'm very sorry to hear that. When I had my achilles issue (before I joined this thread), I just crossed trained a lot and tried to remain patient. I wish I had better advice but achilles issues can be tough. I would see a PT for sure, I think that's the right move. Hang in there, I think you should have plenty of good races left in you, it's just been really tough lately I can tell.

Thanks for the wind advice, I appreciate it. All of my windy races have been short distances so far to my memory. So this will be new. I'll keep in mind to NOT fight the wind, take advantage when it's not in my face, and see if anyone is friendly enough to share the burden. As far as goals and future races are concerned, I'm pretty much

A Break 3 and watch the clock hit 3 while I sip (CHUG!) my beer

B A PR, that is, sub 3:03:21 to keep the PR streak going

C Die with honor, and spend my afterlife in the Waltons thread apparently lol.

I don't want to find another marathon, I plan to get back into short distance shape so I can do the summer race series I did last year. Thanks for that pointer however Half Crazy K.

Mark I forgot you have another HM this weekend. Looking forward to seeing how it goes. Hope your weather isn't too bad.

 

I see Jill Biden ran a 4:30 in 1998 at Marine Corps!  I bet she cheated. 

 

Thanks. You said shockwave was the only thing that cured it, right? Not that I'm going down that route now but this plantar/Achilles issue is the only chronic injury I've had. It first popped up in late 2020 and never has truly gone away. It's like a dormant volcano, always waiting to erupt. All of my other injuries are usually healed within a few months at worst.

I first injured my foot in late 2011 (posterior tibial tendonitis) and it’s never been the same since! It’s really been a case of managing it the best you can and accept that it’s going to cause a bit of discomfort every training cycle. It’s only when I’ve had PF as well that it becomes impossible to run. Shockwave is worth looking at but if you don’t see any improvement after 3 sessions then I wouldn’t pursue it.

At least we have golf to fall back on which is a proper sport. 

At least we have golf to fall back on which is a proper sport. 

Thanks on the shockwave. Also - any other PTT tips you have are great. I had it 4-5 years ago but don't fully remember what I did to heal it so quickly (I think it was some ankle exercises?) And it's funny you say that - one of the first things I did when I decided it was time to shut things down was to text my golfing buddies and say I'm going to be around for more golf in April. My friend said it was the greatest news he's heard that I'm finally done with this "silly running."

Steve - the thing that frustrates me this time around is that I actually was proactive: my achilles/plantar issues were not that bad, but I said "I should get this fixed before I start a 5K block." So I went to PT, did the exerices, etc. It didn't stop this injury from happening a couple months later. I think it goes into something that is true in many parts of our lives: there's only so much you can control, and some of it is just pure genetics. We've pointed out the robots in here (looking at you Keen) who do no strengthening and never get injured. I may be the opposite side of the spectrum, which is doing a lot of prehab work and it not fully preventing. I'm obviously not comparing myself to a Pro athlete, but how many athletes do we know who just had injury riddled careers even though they had the best care in the world? At some point, it's just shitty genetic luck. But if you have any other tips, always willing to listen.

At the end of the day, I'm very happy I've been healthy enough to run the times I have. If I don't get the MM, so be it: I'm still very proud of my 2:36 and will happily die with that being my PR. There are so many folks on this forum who feel like they never got their potential at that distance for various reasons. I am totally fine with the times I've run and never felt like there was something left unaccomplished.

Anyway that's a preview of my true retirement speech, but I'm not there yet!

 

 

C Die with honor, and spend my afterlife in the Waltons thread apparently lol.

 

The committee that determines this may give you a pass given wind conditions on Saturday.

Keen - That's an interesting shoe, shame I just bought the Lone Peaks.
I suppose the lone peaks will now be my long run/rainy day shoes.

RP - From what I could see on the trail section of the course, there aren't that many opportunities of slipping on mud. There are a few very short sections (think 5-10m) with slippery stone though.

Jmac - I mean, ultimately it's your decision of where you're gonna spend your precious time on this Earth.
That said, you're still far, very far from trying everything possible to reach that moose mug.

You're still so young, it's likely in the past you got away with just being young, now as you start to approach 40, you will enter the "age of discovery" where you discover a new symptom after every few months 😂 so maybe you're just adjusting to this old man life.

Obviously it depends on whether you'd like to try these things or not:
1 - Work with another PT, there's a good listing of them on the vdoto2.com page, just filter by keyword Phisiotherapist and look for the ones in your area.
2 - Strength training WITH A COACH, IN PERSON. If they hold a degree in PT even better. 
3 - Hire a running coach (Just check the immense progress that people like Steve, myself, Keen got from hiring a coach). They're just that rational observer that will keep you from running yourself into the ground. You will run just enough, train smarter, not harder.
4 - Stop running those insane workouts from JD for the shorter distances. Maybe try something more sane like the Hanson's template of 12x400, 8x600, 6x800, always only 3 miles in volume and at 5K pace, not 3k pace like that sadistic JD makes you do.
5 - Repeat the training block that took you to 2h36. I remember last year you thought going to 90 miles per week was the key, but maybe not, maybe you need to just sit back and just repeat that block that took you to 2h36, with more consistency, less fatigue. You have extraordinary ability on the marathon, it's not out of the ordinary that you could find more improvement at that same level of training.

I could write more, but I'll leave it as is for now.