Its been awhile since I've posted. I needed a short break. Hope you all have been running healthy and happy. Do you guys have a favorite race distance? I'm gearing up for my last 5K of the season this coming Sunday and it had me thinking that I truly love racing this distance. I like the HM distance for endurance and to have a longer goal, but I like running fast. IMO you can't be good at all. What are your favorite distances?

Half marathon is my favorite by far. Although I also really liked the 15k distance but have only raced that once.   I don't really feel like I know how to race a marathon well and I suck at the short, fast stuff.

I was curious at your paces due to your comment about you saying how you suck at short stuff and I looked at your log and you are a fast runner! That is why they are public right?  You're recent marathon time is impressive. I consider myself pretty average myself, but do like to push myself in races.

 

I was curious at your paces due to your comment about you saying how you suck at short stuff and I looked at your log and you are a fast runner! That is why they are public right?  You're recent marathon time is impressive. I consider myself pretty average myself, but do like to push myself in races.

Oh gee   Thanks. I didn't really mean that my race times sucked. It's just that I can't seem to run shorter races at the times my longer races suggest I should be able to.  For example, McMillian says I can run a 6:45 paced 5k based on my half marathon PR but I haven't been able to even hold a 7:00 pace for one.  And I've tried a couple times.  That might be due to the nature of my training though - I'm not sure - but I plan to spend a little time on the shorter stuff this winter/spring and see if that helps.

I'm like onemile. My paces for short distances do not measure up with my 3:27 full. I think it's due to the fact that I've conditioned myself for nothing but marathons (12) in the last 3 years and have never trained to target a 5k or a 10k race.

To answer Hilary's question, I prefer the marathon distance. It's short enough that I do not need to walk any part of it (after running a few of them I've finally mastered that part) and long enough that it becomes a battle for the mind. I love the dialogue that goes on in my head. The will to go on mile after mile and triumph (in my own modest way) vs the temptation to stop at all costs because it sucks to be doing this for so long. Not being forced to do something difficult but having to debate in my brain whether I'm doing it anyway is an amazing way to get to know myself. The marathon for me is not about what my body can do (I already know exactly what it can do at the end of each training cycle...). Rather, it's about what I'm made of inside of me. It's not all that good, but it's not as bad as I usually see myself either.

50 miles

50K

HM

In that order. 

Half Marathon no question. (I'd broaden it to any race in the ~1.5 to ~3 hour range so 15K, 10 miler out to ~20 miles)

I really don't enjoy 5Ks, they are just too far above my LT to be comfortable.

My lack of speedwork this year has shown in slower 5Ks, but my strong tempo work has shown in better HM performance.

I am going to have to suck it up and do a lot more speedwork, then ride that speed with endurance to faster HMs.

Even though the 5k is 20 minutes of torture, I always think "That was fun" when I finish. I think the HM is my favorite because that is where both speed and endurance come together and the distance is a very good test. I am running  my first marathon this Sunday so I will let you know how I like it. I seriously doubt it will be my favorite distance, but stranger things have happened.

From a competition perspective, it's the 10K.  It's a race that's devilishly hard to race.  If you go out too fast and blow up, you'll have a long way to think about it as you get passed by people who weren't quite as rambunctious.  Conversely, if you go out a bit conservative, a 10K is too short to make up the time you'll lose.  You simply can't give up 30-45 seconds in the first couple of miles and get those back in the next four miles.  You can make that up in a marathon or maybe even a half marathon but not in a 10K.

It's also devilishly hard to prepare for.  It requires a really tight balance of speed, endurance, and stamina.  You have to train all three systems nearly equally and that's almost impossible to do.  I have yet to see a race report from someone who really raced a 10K wherein they think they did a great job in both their preparation and race execution.  People always seem to think they screwed it up and that indicates to me the challenge of preparing for and racing a 10K.

From a personal perspective, I love half marathons.  You don't have to go balls to the wall from the gun as in a 5K.  While you are never relaxed as in a marathon, you don't really have to push hard from the gun either.  Preparation is fairly straightforward as well.  VO2 max intervals and tempo runs interspersed with a few long runs.  Post-race, you feel like you did something because you'll be sore as hell the next day but recovery doesn't take forever as with a marathon.  Indeed, I frequently feel like a half marathon gives me a fitness boost while I actually lose fitness post-marathon because recovery takes so damn long.