Masters Running

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Sunday pre-Daily, 3.30.13 (Read 43 times)

coastwalker


    Mornin' everyone!

     

    So many good runs yesterday (road, pool, and elsewhere), lessons learned (Riblet), 5K strategizing, college planning, meet-ups on Heartbreak and heartbreaking fundraisers, language-benders, weather (everywhere!), good food, and burnt fingers (ouch!).

     

    Dave, 2 things that many people do that get in the way of walking faster is overstriding and keeping their arms straight. Don't reach so far out in front with each stride, and keep your arms bent at 90 degrees with your hands at about shirt-hem level. See what that does for you.

     

    Mike, no walking div. in today's half, but the walkers start 1 hr. before the runners, which is a huge head start. We also start with runners/walkers doing a 5K, so I'll have a lot of company for a little while before their course turns in another direction. After that, depending on the other walkers in the half, I figure to be mostly on my own till the runners catch up. My 'race' will be to see how far I can get before the first runner passes me.

     

    It's 4:45 - I got up at my usual time, even though I don't have to leave till about 6:45, so I thought I'd stop by. I checked my resting pulse before I got up, and it was 49/50 - soon to increase a bit, I imagine. By the sound of it, it is clear that it is a wind-driven rain that is beating against the house. It is supposed to be windy and raining most of the day across much of New England, so I'll be enjoying this same weather in western MA. A friend's daughter is racing a 20-miler down the NH coast today and she'll have a good wind too, but it'll be at her back most of the way. My course is a big loop, so I'll have the pleasure of getting hit from all sides. I don't mind racing in the rain, except for my hands: they'll be cold if wet, even at 40F, so I may still have to wear some lightweight mittens to keep em' from getting too uncomfortable. I have mittens and 2 pair of gloves packed, so I'll wait and see what it is like at the race site. I packed a bag last night, including dry clothes to change into after the race. Now I'm going to go shower, get dressed (lightweight tights [with shorts in the bag], l/s shirt, bringing a cap to keep the water out of my eyes), have some breakfast, and make some sandwiches for post-race (being gluten-free, I can't count on most races to have anything I can eat other than a banana). Maybe DW will be up before I leave, but not if she's smart. So I'll leave her a little note as I slip out the door, and call after the race so she can ask (as she always does, in her own cute way) if I'm bringing a big check home.

     

    I hope your day gets off to a good start, and that you have a greta day.

     

    Jay

    Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.

      Greetings Jay! You are heading to Westfield, yes? Some of my teammates will be running there this morning as a few are based there and helped the RD with the new course for this half. It's one of my favorites, is pretty hilly, and best of all has a great hometown spirit. One of the sponsors is a lumber company, so the medals are made of wood. If you see baby blue singlets with a big Western Mass emblazoned on the back, those are my teammates. Most will be using today's race as a training run for Boston. And indeed the rain and wind are whipping about outside, but there are some breaks on the radar, so here's hoping.  Sorry I'll miss you!

       

      I had forgotten that this is also the day of the Eastern States 20 miler---good thing the wind will be at their backs. I've done that one before with the wind steadily in my face, bleh.

       

      I am about to head out and pick up a few my teammates for the race in Cambridge, same rain and wind, but just 3.1 miles so not so bad, right? The running Rusieckis won the 50 miler yesterday in NC. Leatherwood Ultra and the conditions there were described as epic. So proud of them and to start of the season with a husband and wife win is pretty cool! No whining from me.

       

      I've made a fresh pot of coffee for all to follow.....enjoy the day folks!

      stumpy77


      Trails are hard!

        Morning all.  I think I might have picked an excellent day to go on the DL.  Blustery rain at 40F--inspiring!  I love running in the rain, I just like to wait until it's at least 50.

         

        Didn't realize you were doing the Westfield Half Jay.  I've done it a couple of times as my sister and family live there (and my BIL's company will be on one of your sleeves).  Even got to say Hi to Karin at the start one year--not surprisingly, she was long gone when I finished.

        Need a fast half for late fall.  Then I need to actually train for it.

         


        MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803

          Winter racing phenomenon.
          Maybe the ancient one knows but, with all the running in the rain in winter races on both coasts this weekend, I got to wondering if winter races are a relatively new phenomenon on the East Coast too or have they always been racing there all year long?  The main running season out here (Seattle) used to start in March (St. Pat’s Dash) and pretty much ended on Labor Day, then moved to the Seattle Marathon in November and now it’s all year around too, e.g. popular citizen races for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Pat’s, etc. .
          .
          I still think there ought to be a law against March races, at least longer than 5 or 10K.  It’s not at all unusual for some of the local wimps <<<(that would be me)>>> not to wait until they're over to put on a dry shirt, or more, in the middle of a nasty marathon.  At least Erika-land probably still has a winter race hiatus, I think.
          .
          Couples.
          When a regularly-winning couple got married out here a couple of years ago, we had one-or-two husband/wife marathon winners but I think your friends’ ultra wins are for the Guinness Book of World Records.
          .
          Walking cadence.
          Jay, I forgot what you said about a optimum race-walk cadence (150 steps/min?). In my IM days, I finally got used to 180 strides-per-minute for running (same as cycling’s often-recommended 90 rpm, maybe swimming strokes too).  Last week's Dizzy Daze was at a  pretty consistent regular walking pace of 125-130 steps/minute for, to my surprise, all twelve hours.

          "Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)


          King of PhotoShop

            Tet, we don't even let up here during the summer.  There are always 20 or so races in the DFW area every weekend.  When I was a younger runner in upstate NY we would drive all over the place to find a race. It's so different now.

             

            It's a monster day here in N. TX today.  Clear, sunny skies, light breeze, 60's.  Everyone was out this morning. I did a little recovery work of 4+ miles, 3 of it running and felt fine.

             

            We're off to help Prime Rib move into his new apartment.  Spareribs

              Just popping in for now with a mini race report.  In what can only be called an unbelievable stroke of good timing the rain in SW CT stopped just before this morning's 30k race and stayed stopped until the end.  It is returning later but we all started and finished relatively dry.  Last night and this morning the rain was torrential!  Normally the course includes a stretch on a dirt trail along a pond.  Thankfully, the RD had the good sense to reroute the course so that it skipped that part and we ran entirely on pavement.  As to me, I hooked up with a woman part way in and had company for most of the route.  It really helped!  My pace looks to be around 7:33 which is quite a bit faster than the 7:48 pace I ran a 25k race a few weeks ago.  Then again the 25k race included a 722' climb and this one a 20' one!  But, what the heck, faster is faster and I am sticking to my story!

              Live like you are dying not like you are afraid to die.

              Drunken Irish Soda Bread and Irish Brown Bread this way -->  http://allrecipes.com/cook/4379041/


              New skirt in town

                Yay for some brief respite from the rain today in Connecticut!  It's letting up a bit here now, as well, so I'm hoping that some long runners might have fared equally as well if they were a bit late in getting out on the roads!

                 

                4.2 easy miles this morning brought me to 63 total for the week.  Feeling pretty good, and ready to enjoy living in Tapertown, pop 36,000.

                 

                --RT

                NO  MO MELANOMA! Help me run 26.2 miles and raise $5000 for the Melanoma Foundation of NE.  Visit this page to learn more:  http://tinyurl.com/NO-MO-MELANOMA

                evanflein


                  Good luck to the racers! Nice job Twocat! Sounds like the east coasties are getting wet and blown about this morning. What a winter you've had!

                   

                  Tet, we have a hard core group that races dumb races all winter. No matter what. We have the "airport run" in January I think, and it's usually somewhere between -20 and -40 for that one. And yes, there's always a handful of diehards out there trying to prove to each other how tough they are. Meh. I'm usually rolling over for another few zzzzz's about that time. The earliest race I'll do is that 5k where the goal is to finish before Beethoven's 5th ends. The annual symphony fundraiser, Beat Beethoven, is April 12 this year. I still haven't decided if I'll do it. There are some cross country and trail races in October, but once Equinox is done (3rd Saturday in September), so am I for the local races.

                   

                  Robin, have you been running higher mileage this year than usual? Those 60 mile weeks are big, and yeah taper always feels good after a bunch of those.

                   

                  Looks like another nice day today, but a bit cooler than yesterday. I'll head out for a couple hours later this afternoon.

                    My 21/22 miler turned into 18.2 today .... my head cold played a number on me and by 15-16 I was getting lightheaded and dizzy ... think I might have gotten a little behind on my fluid intake considering how much I was probably losing with the mouth breathing and the cold rain!!  A friend who had bailed out at 10 was given a ride back to her car so she became the sag wagon - lol.  Oh well -- not exactly how I planned my birthday long run but think I made the right decision to back off when I did.

                     

                    The bus ride from BC back to Hopkinton was something else -- I will never recommend that to anyone!!  Grateful to the Hopkinton running club for letting us join them and the support on the course, but the bus took some weird route and took forever to get us back to the commons -- for someone who gets carsick - that was probably the worst part of the day!!  Now time to rest before we go out to celebrate the 4 birthdays we have this week!!

                     

                    Happy Sunday!!

                    denise

                      Twocat, nice job!

                       

                      My sister (a non-runner) asked me once why Seattle, that gets so much rain during the winter, held its marathon at the end of November.  I can't say I had an answer for her.

                       

                      10.2 mostly dry miles, windy as heck though.  Then the sun came out during the last mile, woohoo!  As per Mike's question, no, the non-date was not a run, it was a long walk, which didn't sound like much fun in the rain.  Now that we have sun today, I am looking forward to the long walk non-date/possibly a date in a few hours.

                      "During a marathon, I run about two-thirds of the time. That's plenty." - Margaret Davis, 85 Ed Whitlock regarding his 2:54:48 marathon at age 73, "That was a good day. It was never a struggle."


                      New skirt in town

                        Erika, I haven't been running significantly higher mileage, it's just that my training got off to a better start this year than in the past.  2 years ago, I struggled with terrible plantar fasciitis in mid-December, so it wasn't really until January that I was able to get my training off the ground.  Last year, I sprained my ankle terribly in early December, again, putting off my serious training until January.  I was able to run fairly well despite these compressed training schedules, but it wasn't ideal.

                         

                        This year, I started off healthy and was able to get my training off the ground in December.  So I was able to work up my mileage a bit more slowly, take 2 more cutback weeks than last year, but overall get many more weeks of 50+ and 60+ miles.  So, my peak mileage is similar (maybe a smidge higher) than in the past few years, but I have much higher total volume than last year because I've been able to hit the ground running rather than starting behind the 8-ball.  And the wheels haven't fallen off yet, so I'm feeling good!

                         

                        I've also been very diligent in keeping up with weekly yoga and ballroom dancing and foam rolling.  Whether actually physically therapeutic or not, some of these activities are at least good for mental health.

                        NO  MO MELANOMA! Help me run 26.2 miles and raise $5000 for the Melanoma Foundation of NE.  Visit this page to learn more:  http://tinyurl.com/NO-MO-MELANOMA

                          Winter racing phenomenon.
                          Maybe the ancient one knows but, with all the running in the rain in winter races on both coasts this weekend, I got to wondering if winter races are a relatively new phenomenon on the East Coast too or have they always been racing there all year long?  The main running season out here (Seattle) used to start in March (St. Pat’s Dash) and pretty much ended on Labor Day, then moved to the Seattle Marathon in November and now it’s all year around too, e.g. popular citizen races for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Pat’s, etc. .

                           

                          While the running season in New England slows up a bit during the winter, there are still races every weekend and a 35 plus year old weekly 5k series during the winter that never gets cancelled. I don't think it's a particularly new phenomenon in NE to race through the winter, but the Grand Prix road series races typically kick-off in February and run through November or late October culminating with a marathon. I never have to go far away if I want to race.

                           

                          Rainy, and windy in Cambridge today for the An Ras Mor 5k....a stomach bug thinned our ranks on the women's side a bit, but we were sixth in the open division. It takes five to score and we had a 19:15, 19:35, 19:51, 20:33 (me) and 21:15 (another masters runner). Our fastest open runners ran the Westfield half, or were sick, or just announced they are pregnant! (two of our 30 somethings). Not sure how we did as masters, but it only takes three to score at masters and older and I think we did well from what I could tell without my glasses on. I am really happy given that this is another 85 mile week. Feeling strong even in the wind and rain!

                           

                          Nice running all around here, rain, sun or whatever.

                           

                          HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENISE!

                           

                          MTA: I hope coastwalker checks in....I just checked the results and he ROCKED it today. Just saying!

                          NHLA


                            13 miles 2 hrs  30 degrees 60mph wind gust. painful.

                            We race jan thru dec here and runners show up

                            great race 2 cat

                            The city in US with the most rainfall is Mobile AL.

                            coastwalker


                              Thanks, CNY, but the results are incorrect. But I'll get to that in a bit.

                               

                              Thankfully, the rain and wind had slowed appreciably by the time I got out to Westfield (a bit over 2 hours west of here). We still had a cool breeze, and more like a steady heavy mist throughout the race. The walkers started at 10:00 - an hour ahead of the runners. There are pros and cons to this: The pros are that we have the course for ourselves for a while and don't have to worry about being overun by runners. The cos are often that many of the course volunteers either aren't in place yet, are are (especially on a day like today) sitting in their cars and not looking out for walkers. There weren't a lot of walkers, and the starter was handing out course maps (!!) so we'd know where to go. It was "only" the first mile that wasn't marked. Fortunately, it was pretty easy till another woman and I got to a major intersection. The volunteer there had no idea which way were were supposed to turn. While he was on his walki-talki, I flagged down a guy just out for a run, and he sent us in the right direction. At a little after 2 miles, another volunteer told us to go down the wrong street. We went almost half a mile before we realized something was amiss. So we hustled back to where we took the wrong turn and got redirected. There were about 3 other times that I had to yell at a volunteer as I was approaching an intersection to find out which way to turn. At another intersection, a cop parked his car so it blocked the turn arrow, so I had to get directions from him too. At the second water stop, all the volunteers had their backs to the road, and my yelling as I approached just got them flustered, so I kept going, waterless. So the net is that I went 13.96 miles. I had hoped to get to 10 by the time the first runner passed me. Two guys passed at about 9.25, and nobody else passed till after I got beyond the 10-mile mark. I really tried to maintain up those hills (which were monsters to this flatlander), and I did OK, but paid for it near the end. In miles 11 - 13, my hamstrings felt real close to seizing up, so I just tried to stay as relaxed as I could and keep a decent pace. I was in danger for a few minutes after I crossed the finish line, but gradually got to where I could walk (sort of), and not feel like I was going to keel over. They have my official time as 1:33, but they didn't add in the extra hour for the early start. So I'll be writing the RD to tell him that I did NOT win my AG. According to my Garmin, my pace overall was 11:01, and I had 6 miles in the 10s. I'm happy with my time, especially on that course, and with the 'bonus' mileage. But now I have to take at least a day, maybe two to recover 'cause I'm just toast.

                               

                              Jay

                              Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.

                                I still think you rocked it Jay. I know the hills on that course (and it's just hilly out here anyway) so your time is still impressive (ir)regardless!

                                 

                                Will you mind if I share the volunteer feedback (not your post verbatim) with the RD? He's a friend and is trying to really make this race better and better. Rest well now and thanks  for making the trek out here. One of my teammates was 3rd woman at 1:25 and two of my masters teammates were 1st and 2nd in the masters category, so it was a good day.

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