Road Race and Training Thread - Week Ending 10-14-2018

The Stone Cutter wrote:

Theodore - Looks like that 5K PR should drop fast based on your 5 mile result…

The first 5k of the 5-miler was 18:48, so yes, you're probably right...

Andy D - Question for you...Was looking through some Chicago photos, and it looks like you wore half tights. How did they feel? Did they feel as if they were restricting you? I have worn full tights in some races, but have not worn half tights. Please let me know what you think...

RS - Should be some good targets for you to lock on. Sometimes I think in the big races there are too many targets that you can’t really lock any one. Will you get to spend some time training on the course?

OR - Do you find full tights restricting? Maybe that will answer that part of the question. I don't have any half tights so take the rest of what I write with a grain of salt to a certain extent. With that said I do have form fitting bike shorts and jerseys (sausage suit) and prefer those when I need to keep the body temperature down and prefer that when riding in hot weather. When I bike commute I tend to overlap what I wear at work with what I wear on the ride home. Mostly that is the shirt I wear and I'll be that guy hammering the commute home in a wicking polo shirt, button up, or half zip in order to reduce the cargo I carry on the commute. When it gets hot I opt for the form fitting bike clothing since it helps keep me cooler but end up having to carry extra clothing on the commute. Sweat evaporating off something next to your skin is going to keep you cooler than sweat evaporating off of fabric floating about you and blocking air flow to your skin and what is next to your skin. 60°F at the start and rain at Chicago this year and I would think that half tights is not a bad choice. The question is when wearing half tights is where do you stash your energy gels?

SI - A very thoughtful and informative post here...thank you. To answer your first question...no, the full tights have not felt restrictive at all when racing, and I have felt comfortable in them, though these tights are pretty well-worn (not sure if that even makes a difference). I actually bought a pair of running half tights (Saucony) and wore them on this morning’s run. I thought they felt okay, but different. Perhaps I just need to wear them more in order to get accustomed to how they feel. I was able to finish pretty fast in them today, and seemed to have good energy...6:12, 6:02, 5:52, 2:51...but the weather has been nice and cool, and so that adds to the equation, too. Regarding the pocket, they do have a nice envelope-type pocket in the rear. So, I am considering wearing them at Richmond.

So, whatya think, SI, et. al.?...

outside runner - thanks, definitely it feels lucky to still b at it.

allen - a 15K, and a couple 8Ks coming up to end the year.

Oh yeah about the altitude, you don't hear this a whole lot but the effect on uphills seems exaggerated. At least that's my experience. You slow down more than you'd think on the slightest grade. However, on the gradual downhills you can get pretty close to what your sea level pace would be. But when you return to sea level you struggle a bit to keep your tempo up on the flats and downhills, but uphills seem relatively easy and you can pick up a lot of ground. So your approach at races is almost opposite.

Coyote Montane wrote:

... a 15K, and a couple 8Ks coming up to end the year.

Tulsa and Spokane included, I assume. You'll crush the M60 15K time from last year. I am only 59, and I don't know what the weather was like last year, but I was surprised to see that my time from last weekend was faster than second place M60. Maybe that's just indicative of the dreaded "age-60 crash"... which I am hoping to avoid as successfully as you have!

OR -- I have raced a couple times in half-tights. In 20-degree weather when it's not cold enough for full tights, but I want keep my quads and hamstrings warm. They're definitely comfortable, and I don't think restricting at all.

Half tights are for cyclists. There I said it.

I considered half tights for my marathons because I thought that it might be easier to carry gels in them since they are tight to your body and presumably there would be less bouncing going on. But after wearing them on some training runs, I decided against it. Chafing from the seams was definitely going to be an issue.

angryjohnny wrote:

RS - Should be some good targets for you to lock on. Sometimes I think in the big races there are too many targets that you can’t really lock any one. Will you get to spend some time training on the course?

I ran one of my summer mile races on the course but I am not planning to visit, it's a little over an hour away plus it is mostly along a river so it should be predictable.

-RunnerSam

going faster miles an hour wrote:

Unless the "kid" goes to Binghamton, of course.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binghamton_Bearcats

Welcome to the thread, Bearcat, wherever you're from, and good luck with the rest of your season!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I actually went to Binghamton for my BSME :)

Smoove:

I was trying to clench "a grape" using my butt cheeks this morning during my run... idk seems like not much of a change except I'm more aware of it... Will keep trying this experiment

The problem with the "clench the grape" cue is that it sounds like a constant pressure technique? That would help keep the core more stable, but the actual act described by Pappy involves a clench and release rotation cycle. You'd have grapes falling out with every step! Or is the cue to grab a new grape with each step?

Binghamton sucks, sorry Jeremy (and sorry to my nieces who attend and attended).

During my SUNY years, they were the Colonials. A school that changes its team name just cannot be trusted.

I wore them because I knew my clothing would be soaked, and I prefer half tights in those conditions. I was very comfortable in half tights both in Boston and Chicago this year without any discomfort. I would just as readily wear shorts though, it's not a huge deal to me.

I appreciate the feedback on the half tights, guys.

Got a "New VO2max Detected" message after my 10.5-miler this morning. It came up as "56." Was a good run, but not a crazy fast flyer (10.5 at 6:34 overall). Things seem to be shaping up nicely...

This is definitely a book I will check out. Thanks for posting about it, Gordon. For the entirety of my current marathon cycle, I have been doing eccentric heel drops with my backpack on. I have not always done it twice a day, but I almost always do at least once a day; with 3 sets of 30 on each foot. Both achilles feel so much better than they have in any other serious training phase.

I don't want to think beyond the upcoming marathon on my calendar, but I know that the only way I can achieve the big goal is to work on all those little things. It is probably not a coincidence that all my best races, as a masters runner, happened when I was doing yoga 2 or 3 times a week.

J & coach J - I know you were waiting in suspense but my laptop was dead this morning. whoops

Goal Race: CIM

M- 12 miles at 7:12 pace AM. 4 miles at 6:47 pace plus light weights PM.

T- 12 miles at 7:02 pace AM. 4 miles at 6:54 pace plus strides PM.

W- 15 miles with a 10 mile progression. Started at 5:55 and worked down to 5:12. 5:32 overall avg AM. 4 miles at 6:58 pace PM.

T- 12 miles at 6:57 pace AM. 6 miles at 6:41 pace plus light weights PM.

F- 12 miles at 7:04 pace AM. 4 miles at 7:05 pace plus strides PM.

S- 15 miles with 3 x 3 miles at 5:12 avg with 1 mile rest. Supposed to be goal marathon pace AM. 4 miles at 6:55 pace PM.

S- 16 miles at 6:52 pace AM. Light weight session PM.

Total- 121 miles

Another week in the books. I’d say everything went as good as I would’ve liked. 7 weeks until CIM (well 6.5 weeks now).