I can’t remember when my last full check-in post was, but sorry if I overlooked anyone. 

Also ready to post weeklies again! 

Weekly for period: From: 04/03/2023 To 04/09/2023

Total distance: 26.6 mi (don’t know yet if I’m running tomorrow, but it will be short and easy). 

Been taking things easy since Hungryland. But started this week itching to do a bit more and did a track workout, albeit short, yesterday, and a double-digit again today. Not going to train for a while, but I want to keep myself fit enough to jump into some 5ks and be decent. 

Just need to stay healthy, which my RHR and HRV indicate is not a reality, but I’m hoping to fend off anything serious. Glad you see you’re doing better Mark and Steve! And congrats to your daughter on her PR, Mark! 

Happy belated birthday RP, and happy birthday Mark! (Can’t usually say this early, but since it’s April 9 in NZ now, not a problem :-)) Don’t know how you got away with this being the first time Easter was on your birthday. Mine is April 5th  and it’s happened to me twice. 

RP and krash, belated thanks for the ultra kudos. Yeah, it definitely was an experience and one I want to have again. Probably going to stick to ones closer to home (which means same warm and humid conditions) but may add destination races next year. Thinking of doing a 6-hour one in Sept. and a hundo (as, apparently, they are called) next year, so one can say I’ve been infected by the bug. 

RP, your line about running what you can instead of what you want… sounds like that would have useful to you, flavio. Sorry to read about the DNF, and [eta: I'm] second-guessing my judgement about 66/49.  But the way you’re describing it, the sun was way too hot and made for a pretty high “feels like.”  I’m surprised that they started a race like that so late. At least 8am would have kept you out of the worst of the sun. And while you didn’t have the race you were hoping for, all that incline training you did for it counts for something. 

Re gels: my theory, based on my own unique experience, is that if you're getting a perceptible boost from your gel, it's probably because you're close to running out of fuel. I start a few of my long runs fasted and take a gel every 5 miles. I get a guaranteed kick 20-25 minutes later each time I take one, except if the run is longer than 17 miles, because then I am close to hitting the wall. On the days I start with some breakfast in me, the kick is not as noticeable, but still kind of there if I wait 40-45 minutes to take the gel. If I take it every 30 minutes, then it's just a consistent flow of energy, but no real boost. I still haven’t found the best fueling strategy, but I am going to try every 30 minutes next time. It does seem to work better than every 5 miles. 

JMac, as you yourself stated and others have said, that retirement speech is still too premature, but I liked it. And I think it can be good to reflect every so often on where one is at and figure out one can be grateful. 

Andy, noted. Vizla when I have a house and am not going abroad regularly. Also sorry about Tennessee. I guess you had a bit of schadenfreude that FAU didn’t make it to the finals. 

RP, I have no idea what you’re doing in your training (as in, I don’t get it-I’ve done Hansons, but the last workout is usually a little easier). All I can tell is that you seem to be thriving on that. But I also hope you’re tapering enough! (Also thanks for picking up on the Prince reference. I’d have had to do that, otherwise!) Also, I don’t believe you’ll be thinking of work during your race (unless you mean run work). If you’re thinking about anything, it will be the running… as it should be! 

Half crazy, this is late, but way to get out there in those rough conditions mmerkle went in and crushed! Thanks for that rr, mmerkle. Pretty epic, honestly. I am going to have to emulate that IDGAF mentality during my next hard race, but I have yet to see if I have it in me to that extent. Again congrats! Also, I too didn’t know a mild rough patch is normal about half way. It happens to me pretty often, and maybe knowing it gets better will make me mentally deal with it better next time. 

Also congrats darkwave on getting the mug. I saw your first mile split and thought maybe you’d done that on purpose, but now I believe if you hadn’t been forced to go slow that first bit, you’d have gotten the sub70 for sure. 

Also, woah that tree-through-the-bedroom story. Glad there wasn’t a repeat last weekend. 

Nice job on the b2b long runs, wcrunner. 

Re: “B” goals, I actually do consider them mid-goal race. Too often actually, Steve, which comes with its own issue of backing off too early and never truly seeing what I’m capable of. 

Dave, it’s nice you have until 4/21 to drop to the half, but the whole situation stinks. I’m sorry. I hope you’re at least feeling better, and have enough reassurances that you can always cut back, heal, and then tackle the next goal. 

piwi, it’s nice to more formally meet you! I also put too much pressure on my self, but at least it gets you somewhere, and my favorite part of being in England were the parkruns. Free 5ks every weekend? Yes please! Mind you, I think the ones around Cambridge were a bit short, but I usually ran them as workouts anyway. 

Also, sadly we don’t get 4-day weekend in the US for Easter. We don’t even get three day weekends. I miss my time in Europe around this holiday. 

Great job at the benchmark race! Thet’s a pretty sweet place to start. Nice steady pacing. 

Re cross training, it’s usually just how I stay sane when I can’t run. However, my best marathon year was the same year I had a habit of riding my bike 50- 80 miles a week, so there must be something good about it. And I don’t know if I call strength-training cross training? But I guess it is. And I’m going to take it more seriously for the next training cycle, because I see mmerkle and darkwave doing it so consistently. Still need to wrap my head around doing the run right after it, but willing to try it. 

Nice thing about Boston is that it’s a Monday, so I’ll probably get to post again before that, but in case I don’t, all the best ch17, RP, and Fishy! 

 

Also, even though the temperature was hot for what I'm used to, it was the high sun that got to me . I'm fairly certain I'd perform a lot better with the same temperature but at 8am.

Direct sun can have the effect of making it seem 5 degrees (Celsius) hotter.

DK - I'm definitely a firm believer in setting a goal (just the one) at the start of the race which is challenging but achievable... adjust for weather and anything else relevant, and then stick to it.  I've always figured that once you're out there, the focus is on trying to execute that.

Steve - hoping you don't cop too much race week madness!  I will obsessively check the weather forecast on your behalf.

Piwi - solid week. Yep that "fish out of water" feeling you get late in a 5k can do that to your throat haha.

Me - still felt a bit average Mon/Tues but kinda recovered over the rest of the week.  Still not quite back to 100% but getting there.  I miss the days where colds lasted for 3 days and not almost 2 weeks.  It didn't help that my daughter now has the annoying cough she gets after a cold that makes for some pretty rough nights for the family.  Now my nephew has Covid so hopefully we haven't all copped that too.  Kid germs huh?  Anyways, 4 weeks to go, so hopefully I can get back to 100%, dodge any further germs, and get some decent training in before Southern Lakes.

Weekly for period: From: 03/04/2023 To 09/04/2023

Total distance: 92.04km (57.2 whatevers)

Steve I'm really looking forward to your marathon. Whatever happens it's clear to see you have made big fitness gains now with your consistency over the last 2 years.

Mark another nice week in the bag. I'm glad my wife doesn't work in childcare anymore. The germs she brought home were numerous.

Fishy surfing is fun but there is more paddling involved than standing up so it's actually a good upper body workout. The top pros tend to be short with big lat, shoulder, and chest muscles from all that paddling.

Fishy - Exactly like you said, I was fine until I wasn't, it hits you like a freight train.

DK - In hindsight I should've consulted you about tips & tricks for running at noon 🤦‍♂️

DK/Keen/Other gadget and heat run aficionados: Any recommendations on a running cap/head cover for when the sun is high? Think the most reflective thing there is that blocks out the sun entirely while still being breathable, is there something like that? If there are open gaps to breathe, then the sun rays can get in and fry your head, but if no gaps, then the top of your head cooks.

I'm thinking the ideal head cover would be a slightly elevated helmet, that would sit about 2 inches elevated from your head, so it would still block all the sun rays, but would allow for breathability. It would probably look stupid though 😁

Or is there no way of blocking out the sun and you just have to keep reapplying ice/cold water to your head?

I've lived almost my entire life on a very warm place (Florida like weather), but I just never liked running late, the sun just burns me different.

To the point one dermatologist told me the sun is my worst enemy (true story).

What I noticed yesterday is that in the 10-15 minutes before the bonk I just could not stop overheating, even staying under the sun was becoming unbearable.

All I can say is that this was super fun while it lasted.

The best moment was when I was passing by some kids playing soccer and then one of the mommas shouted "Superman!" and then they stopped the play and stared at me 😂

This photo shows one of the interesting sections of the race.

I think you guys are not going to know what the weather will be until race morning.

Flavio - I'm sorry to hear about the DNF. Like everyone said, bright sunshine can really change things.  With regard to a hat, I've honestly always felt that any hat makes me feel warmer, not cooler, even if it is a white hat with plenty of ventilation.

However, when it gets warm, I do like to wear sunsleeves/arm-coolers (example).  I feel they make a difference.

Welcome Back, Trotter! (can be sung, if you like, to the music from "Welcome Back Kotter").  Wirth regard to cross-training, I don't think there's any rule that you have to run after it.  I often run first, and do other stuff after, since running is the priority.

Piwi - around here, we call that post-race/hard workout throat soreness "track hack," since it is often accompanied by a cough.

Steve - this is good news that you are feeling recovered.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how this one goes for you.

Marky_Mark - interesting thought on setting one goal versus multiple goals.  I do think that in general goal setting is one of those things that has to vary from person to person- each of us is motivated in different ways.

Fishy, RP, and CH17 - good luck next Monday (I'm assuming I'll have a chance to wish you luck again before the race, but just in case...)

FishyOne the weather today is calling for 35-45 mph gusts.  It’s changing literally every day.

LOL- I think Dwave has it right.  Were a couple of days away from REALLY being able to obsess.  According to Dr. Google:

A seven-day forecast can accurately predict the weather about 80 percent of the time and a five-day forecast can accurately predict the weather approximately 90 percent of the time. However, a 10-day—or longer—forecast is only right about half the time

. You almost create your own wind effect.  Finding a group to draft is never a problem.  Unless is directly in our face (ENE) it will be fine.  A headwind also has the cooling effect that will help a little.

Flavio- I found a mesh baseball style hat in white on amazon.  I wear them on every run that I'm not wearing a winter wool hat.  They also keep the sweat out of my eyes.

DW It's been a while since I experienced that throat hack feeling 🤪

Good your paces are speeding up. I couldn't barely break 9 min pace today.

 

Flavio I like the superman outfit but it probably wasn't the best clothing to wear on a sauna like day 

 

Fishy what's your goal for Boston?

If the weather holds I think I'll gonna shoot for sub-3.  The though of trying for sub 3 from wave 2 is a little daunting as I'm gonna have to pass thousands of runners but my half and workouts line up with an attempt