Rained last night as the low, grumbling thunder woke me up. Got back to sleep as I could hear a constant, steady rain. Woke up and checked outside and it was just a very like drizzle and clearing to the West. By the time I got out it was starting to break up and there were some clear sky areas developing. And it definitely cooler out. I'm guessing upper 50s. Almost went back inside for a long sleeve shirt. Did 5.2 miles on the road since the canal sections were a little muddy. As it was I was dodging puddles the whole time. Felt good running and breathing nice clean, cool air.
AZ - Hope you don't get wet working the race. Funny you mention snow. I know it's Flagstaff and up on the mountain. It just sounds weird from down here. A metro style train would be a good addition. There's just no place to put it though. I see all the disruption from the light rail they have now going on with the extension further into Mesa. The improvements around the new tracks are good and shows that the original idea was sound. Glad it was nothing serious with your leg.
Rich - Good results on your back to back 5Ks. The 27:16 was good and even better since you beat last year's time. I read Sunday's race where you thought you were getting slower but your final time was 26:23. Almost a minute faster than Saturday's race. Go ahead, take Monday off.
Art in AZ
Mesa, AZ
Tuesday, 10/9... took yesterday off to give my sore legs a break, did a 3 mile walk / jog recovery run on the trail today because my legs are still sore! LOL In thinking about it, Sunday's 5K involved running downhill at a fairly decent clip for about 10 minutes nonstop. Not something I've even come close to training for...LOL Anyway, other than sore leg muscles, I feel great! Pretty happy about that...
Art... nice run on Sunday Art, you must be fired up to finally have better temps to run in. In Sunday's 5K, I went through the first mile in 7:43, at that rate, if I'd held something close to that pace I would have finished in 23 or 24 minutes instead of the 26:23. I pulled up and walked at about 1.5 miles and did it again at around 2 miles, so that's what I meant by "slowing down". Some of it was caused by running a 5K the day before and some from just not training to run downhill that hard for that long. It's all good, I should get a decent fitness boost once my legs recover...
Monday was a rest day just because.
Tuesday morning got in a quick 3 miles before work. Another nice morning for a run.
Wednesday and Thursday will be iffy because I have an early morning call both days. Maybe I'll get up real early and get a run in. Hahahahaha!
Rich - Running downhill does use some other muscles and puts a different strain on our legs. Like you said, it will be good when the legs recover.
I've started writing several messages, but lost them through various incompetence on my part. Oh, well - one more time...
September was a strange month, several races a couple planned and 1 not planned. Mostly they went exactly how I expected given the amount of training I've been doing lately (very little), but mostly good enough. Here's a quick recap
Zoom Dynamite 10K at Point Pinole
Weather was good, about 20-30 degrees cooler then last year but hadn't done that much running after the marathon so didn't expect a great time. Major goal was to keep the time under 50 minutes and did so with a 49:44. The race is actually 6.5 miles, so not too bad. Then ran another 4 miles with DW while she did her monthly half marathon.
Tioga Pass Run
Went to a conference in Lee Vining (Mono Lake) on the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas and found out they had this Pike's Peak Lite race going on that Sunday. Waited until 45 minutes before this race before finally deciding to go for it. This 20K involves 1 hill, but it lasts the entire race going from 6700' to just under 10K'. It was pretty much as brutal as I thought it would be and finished in the bottom 1/3 of the participants and 11 out of 14 in age group. Was definitely worth a try.
34th Annual Moonlight Run (inaugural half marathon)
They added a Half for the race this year, so we opted for it. Wore my VFFs even tho this is mostly trails (but at least it's flat). Race involved some looping. Race went pretty much as expected, not super fast, but a very steady 1:43:04. To my surprise, good enough for 2nd AG and 23rd overall.
Bizz Johnson Express Half Marathon
Thought this one would go much better, but some days you just don't have it. Was able to order a pair of the Vaporfly 4% on Thursday and they miraculously arrived just as we were leaving on Friday. The course starts with a 1/2 mile out and the 12.6 miles back to town. Made mistake starting with DW and then having to move through the congestion through the first mile. Lost over a minute on the start. I expected the rest of the race to be a bit better then it turned out and inspite of the downhill course and the new shoes covered it about 90 seconds slower then Moonlight run. Shoes didn't feel bad, but they're pretty wide compared to the VFFs and ended up cutting up my right ankle. Finish time was 1:44:38 good enough for 16th OA and 2nd AG. Course is a converted rail line, mostly shaded through a conifer forest. Highly recommend this one.
Training has been almost non-existent and will need to step it up over the next month to get ready for NY.
I'll post comments to everyone later.
Take care.
Ray
hello and TGIF We've had some rainy cloudy chilly days but today is mostly sunny.
Volunteered last weekend at the Sky Peaks Ultra race at Snowball ski resort.
Friday, we set up the start/finish/aid station area in nice cool partly sunny day.
Saturday: Dropped off DH at airport. Then, drove up to Snowball to volunteer at start/finish aid station. It was already foggy and predicted rain, and possibly snow. I took all my cold gear with headlamp since I was scheduled to be there till 10 pm. The 25K and 50K and 50 mile runners experienced rain, hail and thick fog....... and after sunset, it started to snow!! The 50 mile runners were still out there, Pretty wild and hard-core. The last 2 made it just under the cut-off time (10 pm) with 15 minutes to spare!! It was exciting!! I don't know how they could see in that thick fog ......I walked back to my car to get my other flashlight with bright LEDs, it was tough seeing the trail covered with snow, mud and fighting some wind. Holy cow!! On my drive back down from the mountain, a deer runs in front of my car!! It was so sudden that I screamed and scared myself, LOL!! I was on the look out for any animal crossing so I was going very slow.
Sunday: The next morning, I could see that the peaks were covered with snow. And I texted the person in charge if the road was clear. I volunteered to help break-down the start/finish/aid station. We all met at the entrance and carpooled, the roads were clear and there were already some 'tourists' at the top ......and trespassing to areas that was closed/gated ......idiots! The ski resort patrol and rangers prevented the race staff to drive on any unpaved roads which meant we had to literally bring down as much supplies on foot ......had to hike up the 1/4 mile and back down ......from 10 am till 3 pm, WHEW!! I got my workout for sure!! The weight of the snow on the tents resulted in bent/broken metal poles .....it was not a good sight to see. It was awesome to be 'hiking' in the snow but lots of work, was exhausted by the time I got home.
Monday: 4 miles on trails with some muddy areas.
Tues: 8 miles on another trail, was pretty runnable, decent hills.
Wed: REST
Thurs: 5 miles on trail, then another 3 miles with trail divas on different trail. Light rain, chilly, cloudy but was exhilarating! Got dark, but had my head lamp.
Today: REST. Calves feel pretty tight. Been foam rolling and massaging.
Art: Hope you got in some early morning runs .......predicted rain tomorrow from 'sergio' ......today, it looks like its more south of the city. Do you see any rise in the canals?
Rich: Good news when you feel good after running a race! Those darn downhills are what flares up my knee. Think you're ready for a HM come spring?
Ray: good to hear from you! CONGRATS on all those races and AG placements, WOW!! You've been busy. How did DW do? Were they all road races? So you're running the NY marathon in Nov? What about DW?
Altair: how's the recovery going?
Dan: should be nice there next week!! Fingers crossed that it continues on my drive to MN and for my race next Sat (Oct 20th). DH is in MN and he had to stay home a couple of days due to freezing rain ........saw on the weather channel that our house was covered in a sheet of ice, ha!! Deb texted me some photos of her finish at the Milwaukee marathon, she's looking good!!
Wednesday, 10/10... 5 mile run today, still working through the stiffness in my legs from Sunday's race, but gaining. Leg turn-over / cadence has increased on its own for some reason, probably related to back to back 5K's. The increase in speed has me taking breaks about every mile, so I treated the run like an interval session.
Thursday, 10/11... off, all day rain event.
Friday, 10/12... 6 mile trail run. Same as Wednesday, 6 miles of intervals.
Art... looks like you didn't get up early to run Wednesday and Thursday, eh? lol
Ray... Tioga Pass wasn't for someone not into mountain climbing, eh? lol You may not have gotten in many training miles lately, but the races you've run have kept you in decent shape just the same. Nicely done!
az... what an ordeal breaking down the start / finish area after the race Sunday, eh? And the deer crossing in front of you in the snow on the way down Saturday, yikes! And you got in some good training runs as well, good for you! I'm looking at a 10 mile road race on Oct. 27, if I go into that race rested, I should do ok. As far as a Spring H/M, if I continue to run this Fall and stay healthy, there's no reason I shouldn't be ready.
Rich - Congrats on all your races! It looks like that back to back 5K went pretty well. Awesome!
Art - Sound like your weather is better and the biking and running seem to be going well.
Az - Looks like some good races for you too! The volunteer gig seemed like an adventure! DW did 3 of the 4 races, she finished her 3 halfs all right around 2:15, good for 3rd, 4th & 2nd AG. It was kind of funny on her Moonlight run, she ran the last couple of miles with some friends adult children and was trying to let them finish ahead of her, but she forgot that they started before she did and the race was chipped timed and she ended up several seconds faster. Yes, we're both doing NY and we're not ready...
Altair - Congrats on the half and marathon finishes. AFA training for Boston, it is worthy goal. The journey is more then half the fun. I will add this on how to go about it. I've always been a bit faster at the shorter distances and it has been my goal to not lose too much as the distances increase. Practically speaking that has meant to hit equivalent times in the shorter races before moving on to the next level. I didn't seriously consider Boston a goal until I ran a sub 1:50 in a half. It was only after running a sub 1:40 half that I realistically thought I had a shot at it. Still it took almost perfect weather and course conditions to achieve. A half marathon 1 month out is a great indication of what kind of shape your in, but I'm going to say that a 5K can be almost as good. In fact, if you can't hit roughly equivalent times for shorter races, expecting to do so in a marathon is a fools errand. A natural progression just makes so much more sense to me. That is, if you really want or are capable of running a 4:05 marathon, you should be able to run a 25:32 5K, a 53:15 10K, and a 1:57:30 Half. I would suggest breaking things down more like this. Take each distance and plan on a 12 week cycle starting with the 5K and set the paces to achieve 25:30 or better. Then another 12 week cycle to do the 10K distance. Then either a 12 or 16 week cycle to do a Half. If you can't hit the time at the end of a cycle, maybe repeat until you do. Finally, a 16 week marathon training cycle. If you do 3 12 week cycles and a 16 week cycle, that would mean you should be ready a year from now and weather conditions in late fall or early winter should be a lot better then late September early October and weather is a huge factor. Anyway, my free advice and we all know what that's worth...
September training kind fell off a cliff. Managed 110 mile for the month and took 8 days off building a new fence. A little over 3 weeks to get ready for NY. A little over 24 miles so far this week and hopefully I'll get a reasonable long run in this weekend. Some friends get into town this weekend, so I'll have to sneak those runs in somewhere...
Well like I thought, Wednesday and Thursday were rest days.
So I was really looking forward to a run Friday morning. Got up and it was cloudy and kind of dark out but didn't think it looked like it was going to rain. So got dressed for running but by the time I checked on a couple of things, about 15 minutes, and was looking out the back I saw the ground wet and it was raining a little. Figures I thought. So went and started working on a few things in the office and looked outside again. It stopped raining and figured I better go now. Got in 3.6 miles with the last mile with a light rain.
Ray - Nice to hear from you again. You did well in those races even with what you thought was limited training. Just shows how well we can be if we stay steady with something. Yes, the weather has finally gotten past the hot point here and is now in the cool and comfortable area.
AZ - A couple of nice recovery runs after helping with the race. That would be quite a good workout going back and forth hauling everything down after the race. We have gotten a little rain here so far. They are predicting more for Saturday and Sunday morning. No change in the canals yet.
Rich - Nice couple of runs. I did get up early. Just not early enough to get a run in.
4.5 miles under cloudy skies. Thought I would try and get in a run before the weather turned wet. After I started running it was sprinkling out a little but the sky looked OK. Got to the 2 mile mark and it started to rain. So headed back and the rain fizzled out. So I got a little wet. Right now it's a steady rain so I think my outside work will have to wait for another day. On the plus side, the rain has been good for the garden. All the seeds are starting to sprout. I planted peas, carrots, onions, radishes, spinach, lettuce, beets, broccoli and cauliflower. So I have 2 phases going right now. Beginning of November I'll start some more.
Saturday, 10/13... 8 mile trail ride on the tryke today. Nice to get this ride in and give my legs a break, but I had to wait 'til 1:00 this afternoon for the rain to finally let up. Yesterday the wind blew like crazy, the day before that it rained all day. Spring can't get here soon enough...LOL
Hey Ray, if you see this, maybe you could edit the month's title to read, "October runs- from horseflies to migrating geese." Makes more sense than how it reads now...
art... there's always tomorrow when it come to getting in a run, eh? Looks like you're dealing with a little fickle weather yourself, but nice your garden's getting some needed rain. I'm going to have to look at broccoli and cauliflower, I like 'em both but have never tried growing them in the garden. I suspect my growing season's too short, but that's just a guess. Nice you got that 4.5 miler in...
Runs in the rain
Hi everyone! I've been very busy, not with running, but getting stuff ready for a vacation in North Carolina next week, autumn yardwork and fixing up things on the honey-do list., so I'll have to catch up with replies at a later date. Just one run last Tuesday of 6 miles. It was around 80 degrees and I took my last dip in my pool before starting to drain it. Wednesday, still unseasonably hot and I took the pool down to store in the shed until next summer. Washed off some houseplants that I had outside and took them in before the frost may hit. Now the temperatures are much cooler with highs in the 40s today and 30s expected soon for nights. Indoor work included cleaning the porch, taking down two window air conditioners, and running a cable under the floor for the TV antenna which was just stretched across the room before. I still have to harvest more from the garden before the frost hits. I may not get in another run until I am in NC late next week.
Just will quickly congratulate Rich for the back to back 5ks! And Ray for all the races he did, some tough ones too with little training! Ray, your comments were welcome on training plans for the BQ, I will study them and figure out what might work for me. More from me when time allows.
Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?Get up, get out, get out of the door!
Sunday, 10/14... 5 mile trail run today, 1st mile warm-up, the next 4 went pretty well. Cold this morning, first hard frost of the year.
Altair5... thanks for the congrats. This time of year there's plenty to do before the snow flies, eh? Enjoy the break in North Carolina next week!
No run today. Started catching up on the things I wanted to do around the yard and garage. So got some exercise cleaning out the garage, cleaning half the garage floor, blowing all the leaves and junk in back yard from the storms and just general cleaning around the yard. Finally painted the bead roller stand I built earlier in the year. Used the spray cans I had so it's painted yellow. Cleaned the bike and got it ready for the next ride. Put the road bike in the garage so I can see what it needs.
Monday, 10/15... our weather's still all over the place, today I waited 'til 1:00 to get in a quick run while there was a break in the rain. 4 mile trail run, treated miles 3 and 4 as a tempo run.
Tuesday, 1016... today's temp was 40 degrees when I left the house, wind at 10 mph with gusts to 20. Run was 8 miles on the trail at an easy pace.
Art... sounds like the road bike's getting close to making an appearance on the roads again, eh? Is it a typical road bike with handlebars that put the rider in a more aerodynamic forward leaning position? I bet you like it better than the mtn bike for those longer rides...