3 miles Tuesday morning.
3 miles Wednesday morning.
3 miles this morning.
See a trend here. I'm on a streak of 3 mile days. Planning on a longer run this weekend. The 3 miles gives me some exercise before I have to get ready for work.
Rich - So you had a gobbler follow you home. Does he plan on staying until late November? Varying your exercises is a good thing. The weather here has been a tad warm. We're suppose to cool off for the weekend. Which will be nice as I have stuff to do outside.
Ray - Congrats on the race finish and placement. Sounds like you got into a good zone while running.
Altair - I agree on your thoughts about how the different books give different recommendations. It just goes to show that people respond to training differently and that one style doesn't fit all. We just have to figure out what works for us.
Art in AZ
Mesa, AZ
Thursday, 5/10.... 3 mile recovery run today, legs didn't like yesterday's sprints.
Friday, 5/11... taking the day off today. Between the yard work, garden and local 5K that I'm running tomorrow, a day off seems like the right move.
Ray... I believe the Grim Reaper has a scythe, yikes! LOL Congrats catching the pace bunny and finishing well in the half marathon, you've been Mr. Consistency for a very long time now, nice! And yeah, being a dinosaur has it's drawbacks, but we can be happy knowing we're so much wiser than today's young people. Just yesterday, the story of a kid running into a moving car with his bike played on the local news, and yep, the kid was texting. Wisdom is so underrated...
Altair5... have you ever looked at heartrate training? Might be an easier way for you to gauge your effort. I've never trained that way, but some people swear by it...
Art... the state estimates the turkey population here is 20% over carrying capacity, so yes, one made the trip home with me the other day. It's the dinosaur in me I guess, not being confused about what a 'Big Mac' or 'McNuggets' really consist of...LOL Big difference these days between what grows wild and what's sold in the stores, a perfect example of that is the intestinal parasite I'm blessed with at the moment. Exposure to human feces being the culprit, my guess is the parasite's eggs I consumed came into the country on foreign produce. And since Congress passed legislation a while ago that no longer requires food sellers to show the country of origin for the products they sell, who knows what we're getting in / on our food these days. Fertilizing with human feces isn't a common practice in this country, but in many parts of the world, it is. Why would Congress pass such a law? Food industry Lobbyists would be my guess...
Saturday, 5/12... shocked myself by winning my age group in a local 5K this morning. Small crowd, but 6 other guys in my age group, came in 9th overall. Duked it out with one other guy over the last mile and beat him by a step in an all out sprint to the finish. He swore when I went by... lol
5 mile run before going for a late breakfast. Weather a tad cooler but still windy out.
Rich - Way to go finishing first in your age group. Nothing like some competition to really get the energy flowing to finish strong.
justrundan
Ray- nice to run a PB and not going full out! Way to go.
Rich- 1st AG. Now you’re movin’ Good Race!
Door County HM had good weather, even a little warmer than ideal. Met a former poster here, Girl In The Orchard (GITO) who has also done this HM several times. We started together near the back of the race (1500+/- HM runners). We ran together for a little while but I had found that a short run/walk interval worked best for me at this time. I ran without music and tried to enjoy the amazing scenery as the course went along the shore of Green Bay then turned inland through forests. I was able to keep myself in check and gradually increase my running pace through the race so I did get a negative split. Missed my ‘reach’ goal by 2 min but better than I had feared as I was training 4-6 weeks ago! GITO was right behind me so DW and I enjoyed a post race beer/root beer with her and her DH & DS2. If you ever want to travel for a HM think about this one. Very well run and beautiful scenery.
Dan
Sunday, 5/13... 3 mile recovery run today, yesterday's 5K made me sore... Also scythe mowed my neighbor's lawn again. The trick to using one is getting it sharp enough to slice through the grass, something I'm still working on...lol
Art... yeah, I knew the guy just ahead of me in yesterday's race was in my age group and kept him close almost from the gun. I passed him with a mile to go, then he went back by me on the next downhill. From then on he pushed the pace and I didn't know if I had enough to catch him or not, but managed one last gasp effort and got him right at the line. I love mixing it up with other runners whose ability is similar to mine, the competition's just as stiff as the guys up front, even if we're 10 minutes back...lol
Dan... congrats. on your half, you ran a smart race from the sounds, negative splitting isn't easy. And thanks for the update on Gito, I always wonder if a former poster is still running or sidelined with an injury, nice to know she's doing good...
Another quick 3 miles before going out with family to celebrate Mother's Day. Also saw the movie 'Life of the Party' with Melissa McCarthy. The women liked it and thought it was cute. Personally, I thought it was OK. It did have it's moments with some of the scenes and dialogue. I gave it 3 of 5 stars.
Dan - Nice that you enjoyed the race and finished better than you feared you could have. All that training helped make it a good run. How nice to run into GITO. Hope she and her family are doing fine.
Yes, I'm still here .........survived the marathon!
RR: Shiprock Marathon (NM), May 5, 2018
Met the shuttle at 5:45 am, it's about a 45 min ride to the start. Nice and cool, around 45 degrees, expected high of around 80 degrees.
Marathon and first relay runners start at 7 am, HM starts at halfway point 7:30.
Started middle of pack. Gorgeous morning with the sunrise, cool light wind so kept my light pink windbreaker on. Aid stations for the first 20 miles are 2 miles apart so I didn't carry any water. That's the major difference between road and dirt trail races.
Decided to keep small waist bag with 2 gels, salt tabs, and extra buff. My brother would be volunteering on bike, and ask cousin to be at mile 20 when we make the turn north in case I need to give her anything, she took some awesome photos.
I know I can run to mile 20, but after that it will be mile by mile to the finish. I didn't get any long runs of over 13 miles in the last 4 weeks so decided it would be best to stay with 4:30 pacer. Counting on strong finish for under that time tho.
After mile 3, it's a gradual downhill. Some spectators along the way, a couple of areas with music, but certain miles, the relay runners are doing their exchange. The first 12miles are good, had 1/2 of gel at mile 6, I'm feeling great, pace is good, ate piece of banana mile 8, but right hip/thigh area is starting to complain, getting achy and tight (been dealing with that for a couple of months). Not painful but really annoying. The 4:30 pacer says he is 2-3 minutes faster so I felt it would give me a few seconds to stretch at each A.S., and catch up with him. Plan worked well. Had water at every other A.S. Some A.S. carried Tailwind (which I prefer), others carried gatorade.
No clouds, breeze is warmer than cool but I'm pouring water over my head at each A.S. Ate the other 1/2 gel at mile 12. At mile 14, they had watermelons!! YES!! I craved those but careful not to overeat. I'm getting bored!
Scenery is nice but only the 'rock' to look at till I pass it at mile 12 when it's behind me. Had occasional potholes to keep me engaged but avoiding them, HA! A couple of gradual slight hills which didn't faze me but had many walking. Saw my brother around mile 18. Made the turn at mile 20 and saw cousin who is cheering and I 'posed' with thumbs up for her photo op, LOL!! I'm doing ok but heat is getting to me. Aid stations are every mile now.
"Only a 10k left"
Ate another 1/2 gel close to mile 22 and asked for water at A.S.. I gulped down a cup and found that it was clear gatorade!! OMG!! A big no-no after eating a gel. I told them they need to have flavored colored electrolyte drinks to differentiate it from water .......they don't know, they aren't runners. I hoped I won't get tummy issues. I wanted to pick up pace at this point. I ran for about 1/2 mile, then I got nauseous, tummy felt distended, felt lightheaded, dizzy and felt ready to puke anytime so I'm standing WAAAAY off the shoulder of the road, bent over, TWICE. Didn't though. Probably would have made me feel better
I mostly walked, tried to jog as I saw the 4:30 pacer disappear into the distance
Reached A.S. at mile 23. Told them what happened. Tried to drink some water to 'dilute' it but stomach still distended that I couldn't so I just swish it around mouth and spit it out. It helped. Not getting any closer to finish if I walk so I just kept running: "suck it up, buttercup" was a running dialogue in my head (pun intended, )
Need to focus on a runner to pull me, decided to focus on a female runner who passed me (recognized her bright blue shirt) around mile 16, and she looked like she could be in my AG, and she's walking alot now. Picked up pace and passed her. Focus on another runner, a younger blond pony-tailed. As she made the turn towards the finish line, about 1/4 mile, her DH/BF? met her to run her in. I stayed behind them as she picked up her pace.
FINISHED!! My brother and cousin were at the finish line! What a relief to get that race out of my system. The last 2 tries, a few years apart, I registered to run the FM but due to injuries/recovery, I switched to HMs.
Went to tent to eat some watermelon as cousin checked my time and she tells me I placed 3rd in AG!! WHAT?!: NO WAY!!
Last year's runners who placed in my AG were under 4:30 so I didn't think my finish time would place me. Slow runners this year so I lucked out, LOL!! Picked up my 3rd place AG pottery award.
I stayed around to help cheer in some runners. My brother rode his bike from finish to start and back, but he was riding back and forth throughout the course so he must have gotten in over 80 miles!! CRAZY guy!!
My niece ran the HM and she texted me later that night to congratulate me on my 2nd place in AG. No, it's 3rd. No, she says, online results shows I placed 2nd. WHAT?!?
Emailed RD. Got call the next day. Yes, I placed 2nd. Not sure what happened to female runner who showed 2nd place on day of race but she never picked up pottery award. So they are suspicious. Maybe wore someone's bib?
Anyway, I exchanged it on my drive back to AZ a couple of days later. This was my 2nd slowest road marathon time. But I finished upright and did the best I could under the circumstances. There are other road marathons, LOL!!
Finish time: 4:45. OV: 89th/215 Female 29th/85 AG 2nd/12
Update: RD called me on Friday. The timing system faltered for some reason. The "2nd place" female runner that showed she was in my AG was actually in the 30-39 AG. So I was really the 2nd place runner in my AG. I felt bad for the actual 3rd place female runner in my AG since I had her pottery award. But they mailed it to her, she's from MA!!
The next day, after marathon, I ran easy easy 3 miles. Felt good.
Mon: rest
Tues: ran 4 miles.
Wed/Thurs: rest
Friday: 5 miles.
Sat/Sun: rest
Today: 5 miles
Hoping to get in at least 16 miles by Wed or Thurs. Then DH and I will be in Honolulu for 2 weeks. The volcano is a couple of islands south of there but wondering how the air quality will be.
My next races:
June 2: Thelma and Louise HM, Moab UT
June 9th: Extreme Pine 27k, Flagstaff AZ
It has been gusty winds since Wed!! my goodness but Friday and today, wind calmed down just enough to get in my runs. Really gets those pollen in the air. The fires are south of us but air quality isn't too bad.
Dan: CONGRATS!! Close to your time goal, WTG!! And glad you visited with GITO. I miss her. That's alot of HM runners, WOW!! Negative split, COOL!! I'm not good at that, my pace is all over the place, LOL!! I don't listen to music at all, training or racing, but that's me. Glad the race went according to plan. Those are what we all hope for when we finish. Good job! Next race?
Rich: HIGH-FIVE to you!! Look at you, out sprinting the other guy to the finish, YES!! And you doubted your speed, and then place 1st in AG, WOOHOO!! Had to laugh "he swore when I went by" LOL!! That happened to me a couple of times in road races, not trail races, when I out-sprinted a younger runner at the finish, HA!! Priceless!!
Art: running and biking. I keep wanting to do that but I get lazy on the biking. I did nothing on Mother's Day except go out for a great lunch (no buffet for this mother, HA) with DH who returned from MN on Sat and catch up on Forensic Files, Murder Made me Famous, Copy Cat Killers, Snapped, .......get my trend here, LOL!! Good consistent days of running there despite the heat. Any races?
Ray: CONGRATS to you as well!! Sometimes we just need to race to enjoy it but you still did great in AG!!
I purchased two more books on training and read them, Hanson's and Pfitzingers.I decided I did not know enough on my own as to what it takes to reach my pace goal to BQ. I know I was short on any speedwork last year and mostly focused on mileage. I need to finish a marathon in about 3:05, a 9:20 pace.From the books I see that I need to do tempo runs at that pace, at least up to 10 miles and add a mile or so for warm up and also for cool down. I should do speed intervals at a 9:00 pace or faster. My regular pace should be in the 10 to 11 mpm range and recovery pace like 11:40. Right now I struggle to maintain an average pace better than 11:40! I also am lousy in knowing my pace without looking at my garmin. Non- running note: Last week I finished a book series I was reading, the Bolitho novels, about British naval warfare in the 1800s. This must be the longest series I have ever read consisting of 30 novels! When I stacked the books I measured the pile as over two feet!
I purchased two more books on training and read them, Hanson's and Pfitzingers.I decided I did not know enough on my own as to what it takes to reach my pace goal to BQ. I know I was short on any speedwork last year and mostly focused on mileage. I need to finish a marathon in about 3:05, a 9:20 pace.From the books I see that I need to do tempo runs at that pace, at least up to 10 miles and add a mile or so for warm up and also for cool down. I should do speed intervals at a 9:00 pace or faster. My regular pace should be in the 10 to 11 mpm range and recovery pace like 11:40. Right now I struggle to maintain an average pace better than 11:40! I also am lousy in knowing my pace without looking at my garmin.
Non- running note: Last week I finished a book series I was reading, the Bolitho novels, about British naval warfare in the 1800s. This must be the longest series I have ever read consisting of 30 novels! When I stacked the books I measured the pile as over two feet!
Altair: did you mean 4:05? BQ times have changed, I think it's 4:06:37 for your AG in the men's? Sorry if I'm wrong. Anyway, I think you are training how your body feels and will make adjustments/improvements along the way. You'll get there. I know you will! I don't keep track of my 'pace times' either, they are all over the place. I mainly use my garmin (if I remember to wear it) for distance and time start/finish. WOW!! There are that many in a book series?
Another 3 miles before going to work. This whole week looks to be that way.
AZ - Nicely down on the race with a second in age group. Strange how our bodies react to the different things we take. When I use gels it's the Hammer brand and I drink Heed in some of my halfs. Didn't have any strange reaction like you did. Wonder if it was because both products were from the same manufacturer. The weather has been windy lately, hasn't it? Looks like we're in for some steady weather for a while. That will be nice. No races planned. I look once in a while but don't feel the need to sign up for anything right now.
Runs in the rain
az - Yes, I meant a 4:05 goal time for the marathon. I'll go back and edit my previous post. Here is the information for the 2018 Boston Marathon: Age group 65- 69 --- qualifying time 4 hours 10 minutes --- accepted time 4 hour 6 minutes 37 seconds. So you were correct about that! Note that the cut-off time this year was 3 minutes 23 seconds faster than the qualifying time. Now look at the chart below and see the trend for increased cut off time though the years:
.
So for this year you had to be a minute and 14 seconds faster than last year to meet the cut-off time! So that is why I am setting the 4:05 goal, if the trend continues I might have to be even faster than 5 minutes under the qualifying time to be accepted for 2019!
Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?Get up, get out, get out of the door!
Monday, 5/14... 7 mile trail run today, low humidity and temp in the low 70's. Nice...
Tuesday, 5/15... 2 mile walk today, rest day.
az... your races are never dull, eh? 2nd A/G in spite of the stomach issues, nice! If the gel you use is those little plastic envelopes, I don't know how you take just half of one. Every time I use the stuff, I end up getting it on my face, my hands, it ridiculous. It doesn't matter how careful I am, I end up being human 'fly paper'...lol And yes, the 5K went better than expected, if I can get training consistently again, I'll be back to being a blur before you can say, "What was that?!"...
Art... 3 miles it is then. Maybe throw in some sprints once in a while, or is it too hot?
Altair5... I'm rooting for you to BQ, I made a couple of attempts at getting in but never made it. Good luck!
Another 3 miles before going to work. This whole week looks to be that way. AZ - Nicely down on the race with a second in age group. Strange how our bodies react to the different things we take. When I use gels it's the Hammer brand and I drink Heed in some of my halfs. Didn't have any strange reaction like you did. Wonder if it was because both products were from the same manufacturer. The weather has been windy lately, hasn't it? Looks like we're in for some steady weather for a while. That will be nice. No races planned. I look once in a while but don't feel the need to sign up for anything right now.
Art: Thanks! I was/still am totally shocked I even placed!! Like I said, slow runners in my AG this year. The 1st in my AG finished 4:10. But last year, it was around 3:40!! I use Hammer brand or GU but have to be certain flavors, not all agree with me. I just take 1/2 of it about every 6-8 miles. Can't eat too much of it, has too much sugar and I'm not a 'sugar' person. Funny tho, on long trail races, I crave regular soda towards the end. That just started about a year ago. I don't even drink soda. I don't like the taste. My MN RB is the same way but when our body needs glucose, it will take it any way we can give it. I drink Heed or Perpetuem or Tailwind now and then but Powerade works for me too (not a gatorade fan). I think some of us runners can't handle the double dose of sugar if one takes gel and an electrolyte. I read it's best to drink water after a gel, wait a mile or two and drink an electrolyte. The swishing of electrolyte drinks towards end of races have had positive outcomes too. Brain and body chemistry there. Read an article on it some time ago.
Well, you can always take a drive up this way, and just volunteer while enjoying the cooler temps among the pines.