I have been MIA and sick for awhile but thought I would check back in. I ran my first 50k yesterday and had a blast. It was a great race (NJ Ultra Fest) and I was pleased overall. I was hoping for under 5:30 but squeaked in under 5:40. I have never run trails before so I took in slow over the rougher areas -- amazing how at mile 30 the paved road on the way back felt so easy. And I managed to keep the streak going with a short run this morning.
Hope everyone else had great races and runs this weekend. Sounds like it was a busy one.
Sara
MM #2929
Thanks for the Update Perch.
If I was laying down bets I would have doubled up on your goal. I know you sure put in the work for it. If I were to add anything to your bullet points it would be. The Marathon is a Beast, Racing it is unpredictible.
Nice showing though! I'm hoping you give us a full report. I'll be trying to glean anything I can. I feel great right now. Your post was somewhat of a reality check for me. I've been here before.
17 very easy miles today...(With a strong finish) I ran with a buddy but brought the last 2.5 miles home at just a tad faster than what my BQ pace would need to be.
That gives me a 31 mile weekend...HooYay !
Nice Pic Tramps...we're weeks away from anything like that yet.
...25min min at soccer fields
with canes,
had to ''dig'' a little bit.......but it was a Good run
I like those
good running guys
eta-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l0hqBdTAI8&feature=related
a little
MoodMusic for ya....
..nothing takes the place of persistence.....
Mariposai - WTG girl on the second place in your 10K!! Sounded like a greta day with the girlfriend too.
Tramps, some of the cherry blossom trees have bloomed, it always shocks me this early in the year cause I grew up with them opening up in May.
dg- 16 miles!!! nice!
Holly, wow, I thought beer was good fueling for a long run. Must be the fried stuff.
Perch - interesting notes/hypothesis. Sorry you didn't hit your goal. Try some lighter shoes maybe?
Ojo - congratulations on your first 50K!! You were smart to take it easy thru the hard parts.
Did my 4 mile loop at the horse trails. I fully expected it to be muddy, and it was. Usually there was a way around the mud puddle. Pace was a bit slow, but that's ok, my legs were still tired from yesterday.
"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."
Steve! Good work and congratulations. I ran on some of that Tobacco trail with you and those grinding inclines are tough in ways that steeper and shorter hills just aren’t---you don’t see the top for a long, long time and don’t get that hurray I crested the hill and can zoom down the other side feel. I am happy for you and look how far you’ve come after knee fixing and more. Good lessons too. Everyone is different and yet I find Yasso 800s meaningless as predictors for me too. Just means I can run a consistent bunch of 800s---no bearing on my marathon times. For me, it’s fast finish long runs and tempo runs. All an experiment of one!
Speaking of which, I ran the NYC half-marathon today with 9,897 other friends---7:30 am and 29-30º at the start in Central Park. 8 miles in the park and then boom out into the city through Times Square past the cast of Broadway shows and a chance to see yourself on the Jumbo-tron before banging a right and then a left down the West Side highway with a finish in Battery Park. I’ve run this half-marathon each year it’s been run---although the first years in August when the pavement melted. My goals were to place top 10 in the 45-49 age group, run negative splits, and maybe even hit that magical 90 minute PR barrier. Got close on some and hit the goal I never hit….1:32:35, 12th in my age group (but first from MA in the age group :- ) and happiest of all about negative splits! First mile in 8:15 since I got a bit stuck---first 5k at 7:13 pace, then 10k at 7:08 pace, 15k at 7:05 pace and 20k at 7:04 pace. (Overall place 934 / 9,897 and 183 out of 4,000 or so women---77% age grade) Good gauge for Boston and feeling pretty good now that I am back at home. Ran 2.5 miles from hotel to race start with Dr. J., raced and then ran back from the finish for 20.3 on the day. Roar! Dr. J did well also---1:46 and with a sore foot---worried that she’d be over 1:50. She placed well too in the 50-54 age group.
Maraposai! Great PR and gorgeous photo as always---by that I mean YOU in the photo. (also the scenery) You are Gorgeous.
Ojo! Your first 50k after being sick and all. Awesome! Be good to yourself and recover well.
SteveP---Batman! you were in the race today----full-length cape, mask, boots and tights. I grinned as I went by (yeah, passed Batman---sorry)
Have we heard from Leslie?
Nice miles dg!
Where’s C-R? Did you see that Butler upset? I think they should be called the Didits! Okay, can’t quit my day job.
jlynne, it's got to feel good to have the house sold. evan, I liked the moose pictures but would be nervous if it were my yard. I like the whitetails that show up in our yard but they're sure a lot smaller. mari, congrats on the 2nd in AG. Also, neat picture of Dry Falls. Tramps, your picture gives us hope that spring may come. Sarge, nice run with your wife. perch, speedy marathon even if your didn't hit your goal. CNY, great half. Ojo, congrats on your 50K.
Nice long runs for evan, jlynne, heme, Tramps, hopeful, hallar, dg, WRFB, holly, mari, Slo, and CNY (including half).
This morning, I did an 8K St. Pat's race in Bay City. I think it's the 10th consecutive year I've done this race. It took me 45:05 for a 9:05 pace. I was 456/666 OA and 6/6 in my AG (65-69). One would think I'd do better against the other old guys than the general population with all the youngsters. Between the 8K, 5K, and 5K walk there were supposed to be over 4000 people. I still saw a lot of my friends.
A good day and good runs for all.
TomS
Congrats to all the racers today. Marj and I ran the Big Island Half Marathon in Hilo Hawaii today through a hilly, hot and humid rain forest. The views and sunrise were spectacular. Many runners came over from Japan but many did not come because of their nuclear and tsunami problems.
We both ran well but slower because of the humidity and hills. However, Marj got an age group 2nd and I won my age group.
Two more days in paradise and then we're back to the cold-but at least it's spring. Aloha!!!
Wow! Congrats to Henry and Marj! That humidity has got to be tough on you. I can't imagine doing a marathon there.
CNY--awesome race--and smartly run, given those splits! Great job! On to Boston!
Perch Solid finish for you, too, though I know it wasn't as fast as you would have liked. Some good lessons there and I hope you'll share more details. As Slo said, this is sort of a reality check for me. I need to be realistic in my goals and maybe learn from CNY's pacing.
No word from Leslie yet?
WRFB--did I miss the race report?
Tramps, [...] how is your DW? good luck next week!
DW is doing well. She's held her nagging foot issues in abeyance through the training cycle so she's ready to go...though the reality of her first marathon is starting to hit her. I probably don't help by reminding her that, unlike in a tri, she can't just float or let her machine do the work. I'm making sure she's relaxed and keeps a sense of humor about it all.
Be safe. Be kind.
The Dovenator
Nice AG Mari, and that photo is beautiful.
Perch... good effort. Any run where you learn something new is a good run, and you had quite a list.
My race was bittersweet. I forgot to tape my feet pre-race and didn't bring my taping supplies. I usually don't have major blister problems so I didn't worry too much about it. At mile 40 i felt my feet starting to go. I decided at that point to change my goal from running the full 24-hours (without a mileage goal), to trying to hit a PR for 50 miles, then hang on the best I could. My feet finally gave out at mile 63. I did get my 50 mile PR by 1/2 hour. I also managed a slight 100k PR. I still can barely walk today, I have a blister that runs the entire width of the ball of foot.
24-hour races are hard. I think they are harder than 100 milers. I need to find another one in the next few months and redeem myself.
"it's just like having fun, but different"
Erika great moose pictures! I showed my DW and told her the deer problem could be worse!
Tramps we are getting some plants coming up but nothing like that tree yet! Enough things are springing up however that I went out and deer sprayed a bunch of things today.
hope4ever tough run but at least it is done.
Sarge slacker!
Dave59 three times the slacker Sarge is!
hallar be nice to those shins!
Mike E sorry unless you write only in acronyms I have no idea what you are saying.
dg. my experience is that most runners tend to underestimate how far they went. I bet you did at least 16.3.
WRFB nice that you can do 20 after a 5 mile race yesterday!
breger1 I am a big fan of Brazilian food. It sounds like you and your DW quite enjoyed the place. But I think you will need to run way more than 6 miles to burn that meal off!
Holly S hey 15 miles is pretty good no matter what.
Mariposai congratulations on your #2 AG finish! Add to that a PR and you have what can only be called a great race! Now go find another!
perchcreek that McMillan calculator is so accurate it is scary! A rather amazing thing it is. You came out of the race sound so you will live to BQ another day.
SteveP all I can say is that I am very very and I mean very glad there are no snow covered anythings left to run on here in my neighborhood!
Ojo wow a 50k! I find it amazing that people can run a marathon and then just keep going! Congratulations!
Slo_Hand nice getting in 17 and nothing like having somebody to do it with.
enkephalin hmm, a horse trail . . . not sure mud would be my first worry.
CNYrunner that is a BIG race and to finish 12th in your AG is something else! Congratulations!
tselbs yea those old guys can be tough! After all they first had to stay alive to get to the race! Actually, I think that may be true. As I get older I notice my compatriots with rather unhealthy lifestyles (smoking, obese, etc.) are starting to drop off leaving a pretty fit surviving group.
henrun Hawaii! Nice! Add to that your AG places! Very nice!
Tramps yea just wait until mile 21 and see just how great that sense of humor holds up!
Jet lag recovery day for DW and me. Last night she was up late, something that never happens! She made the mistake of sleeping on the plane on our way back from Europe. Today she was exhausted. I suspect she will hit the hay soon. I think she has given up on the More HM next month. Today she went out for 5. In part she has been derailed by hip problems. I think they are starting to fade but not soon enough. I went off for a 12 mile run. I cannot say it was a great run. Yep, jet lag just sucks.
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/
You rock Ojo!!!
CNY, DW keeps trying to get me to race in a cape that DD#1 made, Mask and gloves that DD#2 gave me. Don't race in a cape on windy days.
That sounds like a great race TomS
I hope your DW lets you live through her event Tramps. An injury would not be unexpected.
SteveP
........ Don't race in a cape on windy days.......
Gotta love the lessons learned, Perch. I agree on the Yasso 800's. I can't do them consistently, and don't even bother trying that many in a row. But like CNYrunner I do a lot of tempo runs, and try to use the goal paces from the McMillan calculator. Most often though, the results seem to be driven by the terrain and what the day hands you. If I were you, I'd find another marathon in 2-3 weeks and try for that time goal again.
CNYrunner, wow, what a race! And embedded into a 20 mile day... just wow. What an awesome "long run" day before Boston! I think you're going to blow last year's time out of the park.
What wonderful races for Henry and Marj over on the Big Island! Very cool. I'd love to run the Kauai marathon sometime... tough but drop-dead gorgeous. Enjoy your last couple of days there.
All this talk of flowering trees and green stuff can stop anytime. We're weeks (many) away from that. Today though was beautiful! Temps into the mid-to-upper 30's and dripping stuff everywhere. The ice on the roads is starting to turn slushy, so it should be gone soon. I think we've got a few more days like this coming up so hopefully that'll take care of a lot of this stuff. The bikepath I like to run from home is still encased in a lot of ice though. It'll be a long process.
Like Holly, today was a low energy day and I'm dealing with some left hamstring thing... not really sore, but tight feeling. DH replaced a couple of the screws in my shoes that had worn down or come out. I wanted to run the trail that starts above our house and figured it'd be in good shape, but some snowmachiners had torn it up pretty well. Those first couple of miles were so hard, even though mostly downhill. Managed to slog through it though, and was rewarded with nice hardpack for most of the rest of the run (very glad for those screws in the shoes!!). Got in 15.1 miles, 8:07 average pace, and my last full mile was 7:50 so got that fast-finish long run thing down, too.
Maniac 505
Ojo Congrats on your first ultra!! are there more in your future? one was enough for me.
Perch Greta that You learned lots of stuff. congrats on the marathon. I have found that McMillian is usually abut 5 minutes faster than I am.
Erica Nice picture yesterday, I had them (and grizzly bears and black bears) roam my neighbor hood when I lived in Montana, It can kind of humble you. (unless the freezer is next to the animal )
Dove congrats on the PR's but sorry about the foot issues. We all know how tough you are so it must have been really bad. Are you running ET again this year? I am starting to go into a frugality mode, fewer marathons, and less traveling for the foreseeable future, but I will probably do this one again.
Mari Congrats to your also on the PR and the placement yesterday! and a huge congrats on todays run with DH!!! that has to be awesome.
I am so lucky. A change in plans means I am spending the night before the Wenatchee marathon (2 hour drive) at the Posi Palace instead of the host hotel. I called the host hotel tonight to cancel my reservation. they said I do not have a reservation. first time that has ever happened. I suppose I would have been OK sleeping in my car, but some how the Mariposi casa sounds a little more comfortable.
Oh yeah, and 13 easy miles today.
No, didn't post anything. 5 miles 36:03 on a hilly course in a stiff wind. I'm ok with that but was hoping to be closer to 35. My first five miler, so I guess a PR (I ran an 8K a while ago though).
Hope to see you Saturday. Metro is opening late so it might be a bit of a rush at the start.
Lou, (aka Mr. predawnrunner), MD, USA | Lou's Brews | lking@pobox.com