Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 7/15

kr - "Is there a reason why you're down on what you were doing, pace-wise, a couple of months ago?"

Not really. It's mainly few simple things: 1) I was pretty burned by the end of the spring, and took a solid 5+week off period, 2) It's stupid hot and my HR drift is crazy after anything over 40min of running, and 3) I've always had a trash aerobic development compared to my training partners--just didn't have a HRM on to tell me to run sooooo slow.

Interesting upside: I'm never tired anymore. I mean never. I may get a bit sore from the atrophy of playing retro Nintendo 64 for 5+ weeks, but never feeling beat down following a loose HADD-type system (at least until late August when it will likely have to change to only using it on EZ days). Granted I am running very low mileage at the moment, however. It's a 2ish month long experiment for me, and I'm having fun seeing how it goes (when I'm not suppressing frustration and anxiety at the speed I'm going! haha)

Thank you sir. And in regards to a "proper battle" and brumrun's comments, reminds me of something I jotted down a year or so ago re: the qualities of a good racer . . .

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When the hard work is over, you still have to have the courage to dig deep and push through the pain that comes with running a race. It is a pain that can be so sharp, so deafening, it can defeat even the hardest man. You have to be willing to go the wall and through it if possible. You must never surrender. If you don’t surrender and the guy running with you does, you win. If you surrender and the guy running with you does not, you lose. And if you are willing to stick it all out there with an opponent who is willing to do the same, well, then you’ve got yourself a footrace. There is nothing more pure than two athletes who are completely spent, both physically and mentally, who will not back down an inch. This is what it’s all about. If you don’t like pain, if you can’t become comfortable being uncomfortable, then competitive racing is not for you. Guts are what separate good runners from good racers. Of the two people who have talent and have put in the hard work, it is the one with the most heart that will prevail.

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Have a good week all.

Love it!

has been who never was - quality!

Feather - I tried Hadd a few years back, but it had me running at > 10m/m at times, so I stopped. I figured as I was so new to running that it would all catch up eventually. The last time I wore a HRM it seemed to have balanced out pretty well in the end. Personally I prefer running by feel than by HRM, especially as I've gotten more disciplined over time and can rely on myself to not overdo my easy days, but I can certainly see the benefit of them. It will be interesting to see how your experiment pans out.

Whilst we're on the subject on man-on-man racing, surely Tadese vs Bekele at the 09 worlds is one of the best examples of this. Tadese just working at 100% to try and break Bekele. Great race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRCB-wrPIUY

Watch the clip. Go on, it's Friday.

brumrunner wrote:

Whilst we're on the subject on man-on-man racing, surely Tadese vs Bekele at the 09 worlds is one of the best examples of this. Tadese just working at 100% to try and break Bekele. Great race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRCB-wrPIUY

Watch the clip. Go on, it's Friday.

That is a good one brum! Personally, my favorite pure race in recent history has got to be Sammy Wanjiru (RIP) vs. Tsegaye Kebede Chicago Marathon 2010. Sammy keeps getting broken, but somehow comes back every single time!

Feather - I wouldn't be at all surprised if you're less efficient at ~8:00 pace as opposed to ~7:00 pace. It takes time for that kind of pace to become second nature. I've been a "slow" runner (I feel like that's an AA introduction) for 2 years now, and it's only been the last few months were I don't feel awkward anymore running 8:00 pace. Once you ramp up the mileage again, believe me, you'll crave those 8:00 pace runs!

has been - Good stuff! Oh yeah, and nice week too :)

I'm so happy for this topic. That fight (even if it's only against myself) is something I've been lacking in any of my shorter races in the last year or so. We even had a great example of it at the trials in the men's 5k. You had the perenial champion who hates to lose any race against the prodigy who was desperate for a close victory.

Good shout pablo - that was a great race. I really thought Kebede had it in the bag with a mile to go but Wanjiru just didn't know how to lose. How fitting that it was his last race ever.