Low HR Training

"Race Report & Upcoming Races" Thread (Read 7775 times)


run-easy-race-hard

    Here's my race report from the HAT run 50k that I ran today: This is my 3rd HAT run and I really feel like I'm learning to run the thing. As I've said all along, this 50k race is harder than the JFK 50 miler (although does not take as long) because of all of the climbing and sometimes mud. This year they changed the course, apparently adding 1.5 miles of distance and a lot more elevation gain. Last year this race was a mudfest after a lot of recent rain, but this year it's been a bit dry, so the ground was in quite good shape. I didn't really have any goals for this race as I didn't know much what the new course would bring (although I knew it would be harder to some degree) and I had been very much lacking in the trail training department (although, I feel I'm in tip-top shape for road marathons at the moment). I knew I would be feeling the hills. It was clear and sunny out, somewhere in the 30s, but there was a brisk, ice-cold wind that I knew I would feel throughout the race. Still, I went with a short sleeve shirt (my U Texas bike shirt - consistent with the NCAA tournament going on now, celebrating Texas's win last night in the sweet sixteen), shorts, and gloves. I'm sure many were disappointed that Mr. Twinkie didn't show up. Given the cool weather and plentiful aid stations, every 5 miles or less, I didn't bother carrying a bottle, or anything for that matter. My approach has become pretty standard, using a mix of heart rate, pace, and general feel to guide myself, running fast on the downs to keep HR up, puttering up the ups to keep HR under control, and keep a smooth pace on the flats (which there are very little of on this course). I would drink Coke when available, gatorade when there was no Coke, and eat a mix of potato chips, fritos, other snack mixes, and a piping hot batch of french fries, which they had at the aid station at mile 25 or so. For a while I really didn't notice the change in difficulty of the course, but after mile 20, it became apparent because the extra hills just ate away at me. Fortunately, they seemed to eat away at others moreso, so I spent most of the last 10 miles passing people. One thing I did notice about the new course was that the stream crossings were a bit more challenging, without a nice clear path across and they were slightly deeper and wider, with many slippery rocks to contend with, followed by bushwacking at the end to get back onto the trail. The water was cold! Most of the race was fairly noneventful and I was able to keep a mostly even pace throughout without ever feeling the slightest burnout. In the last 13.7 mile loop, I did have many falls, however, one pretty hard. Each time I got back up, I lost a bit more pace - when you're tired and you're trying to keep a rhythm going, it will go out of whack pretty easily. GPS crapped out at mile 20 (I'm quite sure now that my receiver itself has issues, but it's out of warranty, so I'll live with it), so I had to go on without much idea of how much distance was left. I had my last year's time in mind (4:49) knowing that I was pushing a bit harder this year, holding pace better, and probably in slightly better shape, so I used that as a guide as to when I might be finished. What I wasn't aware of was that the course was longer and that the added elevation gain was withering some away as well. With about 2 miles to go, I passed the second woman who was running her first ultra, then she passed me, and I passed her one more time. In the last half mile, I passed the first woman, finishing about 15 seconds ahead of her. I came across in 4:55-something, over 5 minutes slower than last year, perhaps a bit disappointed. However, I came to find out pretty much all the times were slower than last year, sometimes by 20 minutes or more, so it sounded less disappointing! Also I came in 27th out of 400+ starters, compared to last year's 31st, so I called the day a success!
    C-R


      After reading formations report I am almost embarrased to post mine, but since I am if nothing but shameless, here goes. Today I ran in the oldest half marathon in Indiana. Partly because it fit perfectly into my training mileage and partly because it starts about three blocks from my front door. The race is called the Sam Costa and I would say this is about the perfect half-marathon for several reasons. 1) the field was small at about 600 2) it runs through local neighborhoods 3) the support on the course is great 4) it is very inexpensive. So now for the report. The weather here was perfect today. 35 and sunny with a 10mph breeze. The race starts on a big hill (remember this is Indiana so not that big) which I will have to climb for the last half mile or so later in the morning. Once we get going, its through local neighborhoods and some walking trails that connect the different subdivisions. There are lots of people on their lawns cheering people which is surprising since its cold and realtively early on a Saturday but certainly appreciated. After about mile four we get into some rolling country with cattle farms and rock quarries. Its very peaeful and nice. Each intersection has at least ttwo volunteers to guide runners and control traffic. I had the chance to meet several new people during the run and they were from all over and now have settled in Carmel Indiana. Met someone thet lived in Walnut Creek CA about the same time we did and we had great stories about our favorite eatery called Max's Opera House (no longer there). I met a fellow engineer from Delaware who is a huge Notre Dame fan (a plus for me) and had Lou Holtz at their sisters wedding. Basically, there were lots of good conversations along they way. There were sevral aid stations manned by several families and their kid's friends. Their enthusiasm was contagious. The conversations made the miles seems shorter and before we knew it, we were working our way up that hill to the finish I managed a 2:17:08 and my average HR was 138. Currently I am building a base with a Maffetone program and am supposed to keep my HR at or below 138. It was humbling finishing at the back of the pack and having so many people pass me. I actually had the chance to see the crews break down the finsih line about twenty minutes after I completed. But I am sticking to the program come he%% or high water. One thing I noted was there were more than 85% of the runners finished in less than 2 hours. So this run was a great success for me. My next half is the Indy Mini which is on May 3rd and then the Geist Half two weeks later. These will also fall within my base training but I can see if my times improved to check my progress. I hope others might join me at the Sam Costa next year as this race is certainly a great value with all the trimmings. Oh and the obligatory t-shirt was cretainly unique but hey who's complaining for $20.


      "He conquers who endures" - Persius
      "Every workout should have a purpose. Every purpose should link back to achieving a training objective." - Spaniel

      http://ncstake.blogspot.com/


      run-easy-race-hard

        That's a great report - I don't see any reason for shame or embarrassment at all. I'm presenting my results of almost 3 years of strict and solid MAF training and you are presenting fresh, new progress results which really are much more interesting and important. Furthermore, your result was spectacular in that you were even staying below MAF! Congratulations.
        C-R


          No worries. It was more tongue in cheek. Clowning around I'm just amazed at the ultras of the world. Shocked I will say this much, it is really hard satying at or below MAF and watching people I know I could run down pass me. But I am keeping the long view - I want to BQ and this seems the path for me with a couple of years of patience. Thanks for the props. Big grin


          "He conquers who endures" - Persius
          "Every workout should have a purpose. Every purpose should link back to achieving a training objective." - Spaniel

          http://ncstake.blogspot.com/

            Excellent races. Jesse, impressive as always. Ran the National Marathon today as a "long run" for Boston in 3 weeks. I have to say, I love running in DC. Cherry blossoms, monuments, new stadium. I liked last year's course better because it ended in the city where there was some support, whereas this year the last 5 miles were on a path on the other side of the Anacostia River. Anyway, LHR training has served me well. I decided to go easy for the first part and at some point decide to pick it up to a "fast" pace (still below race pace), and then just wog it home. Staying well below lactate threshold, I was able to basically just trot and smile the whole way (except for those "fast" miles between 14 and 20, which wasn't excruciating either). I ran about 1 m/mile off my PR here last year, but what a feeling to have the endurance to just keep motoring -- especially after coming off essentially 8 months of injuries (from when I decided I needed to do more "speedwork.")
              Hmm, how to delete double post?
                Check that, triple post. Wonder what I did?


                run-easy-race-hard

                  I didn't see a double or triple post. In either case, you're starting to get that feeling of what endurance really is!
                    After reading formations report I am almost embarrased to post mine, but since I am if nothing but shameless, here goes. Today I ran in the oldest half marathon in Indiana. Partly because it fit perfectly into my training mileage and partly because it starts about three blocks from my front door. The race is called the Sam Costa and I would say this is about the perfect half-marathon for several reasons. 1) the field was small at about 600 2) it runs through local neighborhoods 3) the support on the course is great 4) it is very inexpensive. So now for the report. The weather here was perfect today. 35 and sunny with a 10mph breeze. The race starts on a big hill (remember this is Indiana so not that big) which I will have to climb for the last half mile or so later in the morning. Once we get going, its through local neighborhoods and some walking trails that connect the different subdivisions. There are lots of people on their lawns cheering people which is surprising since its cold and realtively early on a Saturday but certainly appreciated. After about mile four we get into some rolling country with cattle farms and rock quarries. Its very peaeful and nice. Each intersection has at least ttwo volunteers to guide runners and control traffic. I had the chance to meet several new people during the run and they were from all over and now have settled in Carmel Indiana. Met someone thet lived in Walnut Creek CA about the same time we did and we had great stories about our favorite eatery called Max's Opera House (no longer there). I met a fellow engineer from Delaware who is a huge Notre Dame fan (a plus for me) and had Lou Holtz at their sisters wedding. Basically, there were lots of good conversations along they way. There were sevral aid stations manned by several families and their kid's friends. Their enthusiasm was contagious. The conversations made the miles seems shorter and before we knew it, we were working our way up that hill to the finish I managed a 2:17:08 and my average HR was 138. Currently I am building a base with a Maffetone program and am supposed to keep my HR at or below 138. It was humbling finishing at the back of the pack and having so many people pass me. I actually had the chance to see the crews break down the finsih line about twenty minutes after I completed. But I am sticking to the program come he%% or high water. One thing I noted was there were more than 85% of the runners finished in less than 2 hours. So this run was a great success for me. My next half is the Indy Mini which is on May 3rd and then the Geist Half two weeks later. These will also fall within my base training but I can see if my times improved to check my progress. I hope others might join me at the Sam Costa next year as this race is certainly a great value with all the trimmings. Oh and the obligatory t-shirt was cretainly unique but hey who's complaining for $20.
                    Awesome report, CR. Smile Perhaps you should "crank up" the HR for your Indy half and maybe even hit 150? You know it's going to be warmer, right? Tongue My Race Report for the day...I went to a sprint Triathlon (500Meter swim, ~13M bike, and a 5K run) where a few coworkers were participating. My friend who has never been in a race/athletic event in her life finished in 1:54. And this was with a small hail storm and pouring rain, and 15 mph wind. Crazy for this area! It's great to see the positive impact this has on people. She has lost over 60 pounds in the last few years, and watching people like this accomplish things they would have never dreamed possible is a great reminder of how lucky we all are, even if getting up at 5:30 a.m. and running in the cold isn't always easy to do. (for me, anyway...) Smile
                      Well I finished my 12 week aerobic base building phase today celebrating with a 14.1km/8.8 mile fun run. Started off with 27,000 other runners, although half of those were doing a shorter run that started 30mins later so not as bad. Pace early was surprisingly quick given the crowds but controllable. I was putting in sub 5min km's at the start and felt reasonable, but was a bit concerned considering my race aim was to finish in 5:00min/kms. That said, I think it was kilometre 6 that dropped out to a 5:22/km and I though 'oh oh, this could be bad' - but every kilometre after that was sub 5:00! Went through the 7 kilometre mark in 33:39 which was pleasing. Got to the 10km mark which had a drink station (i'd avoided them all until here) and I considered getting a drink, but felt very comfortable in my stride and didn't want to break it up with a walk/drink so continued on - another good sign of my LHR training which has limited my fuel intake to runs over 2hrs! The last 4k of the race seemed to fly along, maintained my end race average during these kilometres and felt incredible - not short of breath, tired, stitch or anything like that at all. I ended up finishing in a watch time of 1:06:54, with the gun time only slightly higher than this so very pleased considering the aim was 1:10:30. This turned my 5:00min/km or 8:03min/mile aim pace into 4:45p/km or 7:38p/mile. I found this absoloutely extraordinary as during the strict MAF phase the fastest any of runs got down to was one run of 5:28p/km which was exceptional with most runs averaging at 5:40p/km. This means I was going 1min p/km faster than I had trained. Another credit to the MAF training is that I achieved something I have never done before - I negative splitted a race for the first time! The first 7km was in 33:39 while the last 7.1km was in 33:15 which was incredible. Certainly sets me in good stead for the marathon in 14 weeks, i certainly have a lot more training to do including increasing my mileage significantly but this gives me so much encouragement to keep going, and to not only keep on training but most likely keep on training with a majority of MAF training except for maybe one marathon pace run a week. Thanks to every one for there support as I have explored into this wonderful world of MAF, i'm hooked now! Hank

                      Just running for the fun of it!

                      BeeRunB


                        Here's my race report from the HAT run 50k that I ran today: This is my 3rd HAT run and I really feel like I'm learning to run the ............ I came in 27th out of 400+ starters, compared to last year's 31st, so I called the day a success!
                        Nice race, Jesse. X-cellent report as usual. When you talk about crossing the streams, do your feet get wet? Are you running in squishy shoes? --Jimmy
                        BeeRunB


                          After reading formations report I am almost embarrased to post mine, but since I am if nothing but shameless, here goes........$20.
                          Wow. Nice pace at MAF. Keep going, you're doing awesome. Don't feel embarrassed about what you're running in relation to Jesse. He was once at 10:38 pace at MAF. It won't be long before you are drinking Coke, eating fries, and wolfing Fritos while maintaining a 9:30 pace for 32 miles just like him. I've hit the Coke-fries-Fritos stage but only while maintaining a 15:00 pace from the fridge to the couch for 30+inches. Keep going! --JImmy
                          BeeRunB


                            Well I finished my 12 week aerobic base building phase today celebrating with a 14.1km/8.8 mile fun run.......... Thanks to every one for there support as I have explored into this wonderful world of MAF, i'm hooked now! Hank
                            Congratulations on a well-run race. Certainly is more fun being able to pour it on at the end like that. You're doing great work. Keep going, Hank! --Jimmy


                            run-easy-race-hard

                              Nice race, Jesse. X-cellent report as usual. When you talk about crossing the streams, do your feet get wet? Are you running in squishy shoes? --Jimmy
                              Very wet - well-draining shoes are important. You're moving with 5-10 extra pounds for a couple minutes, but it doesn't take long before it's gone and forgotten ... until the next stream. I have a particular set (several different pair) of shoes for trail running that I have found to drain quickly and not to squish. It's especially interesting when the temps are below 20 degrees.
                              C-R


                                Well done Hank! Now tht's cooking. Further proof of the LHR theory. Docster - not sure about pushing up the HR to 150 but I will adjust. Weather here is crazy and it could be 70 or 32 at race time. Either way - I'm looking forward to hte gauge. I agree results like those of your friends just gets you fired up in the best way. Jimmy - thanks. I'm really pleased with the results so far and look forward to comparing month to month. Who knows - one day I may try an ultra as well. I'm good with the fries but I would like to substitute Diet Coke and Cheetos for the Coke and Fritos. I've been told I'm high maintenance Cool


                                "He conquers who endures" - Persius
                                "Every workout should have a purpose. Every purpose should link back to achieving a training objective." - Spaniel

                                http://ncstake.blogspot.com/