Road Racing and Training Thread - Week Ending 12/1

BHViking wrote:

So to answer your question, I'm not sure how I'm going to handle this. I'll probably be more focused on either feeling good or staying with a group to even notice small changes in pace. I suspect that if I start to feel uncomfy on an incline, that I'll do a quick HR check and if too high, I'll back it off a notch until I feel comfort return.

Honestly, the hills are short enough that spike in heart rate should not be a worry or limiting factor. Just go with how you feel and remember that the climb will be followed by a descent. I remember checking heart rate on some of the hills and my heart rate got up to 173 which is well above what I see for a threshold workout. As long as you are used to running on hills, I think you should be good to go. As others have said you should have some company during the race but you it wont be crowded like running in one of the majors.

I can't wait to see how all the racers do this weekend. I expect to see some great results and that will help motivate me to get my training in gear.

Go OR wrote:

Someone call the waaahmbulance. Are you trying to downplay expectations for Sunday? Load up the mini-fridge and then get out there and race.

Amen, my friend, amen.

@smoove - will do! I hope it’s 2:45 but they already have 2 pacers and want me to act more like a support for the ladies going out faster. But I’m hoping one of the 2 drops out and I get to do it. Great to see you on here, waiting for the 2:30 bug to hit you again ;) Am loving sticking to the Daniel's training and feel fitter than ever.

@hhh thanks! I am weird in that I love the treadmill (the perfect consistency, no wind, no surprises) but I hate the discrepancy between road and treadmill effort and setting it to 1% to make it more equivalent kills my achilles.

@Still Improving - I think Reed’s paces are way too extreme, CIM feels more like gentle hills and just going by effort I never get more than 10s variation in paces. Just avoid sprinting in mile 1, pushing too hard up the hill in mile 2, and then just go smooth and steady by effort.

@BHViking - one issue I’ve had at CIM is that there’s always people to run with but few people who run steadily. Some groups start taking off, some start falling off, and it seems random. So be prepared to change groups or grab people to move up if the pace or effort feel like they suddenly changed. Mile 2 is when you really notice an uphill climb, avoid the mistake of pushing hard up it.

Just wanted to stop in and give everyone a big congrats on their ever impressive Turkey Trotting and races from last weekend!!! I unfortunately missed mine do to letting my ankle catch up. I'm going to do the less prestigious reindeer ramble this weekend instead. It's just a little bit lower on the prestige list from the Olympics, Commonwealth games, major marathons and Turkey Trots. So, no need to put it in the title. I am hoping to at least run fast enough to claim the lowest spot on the AG List.

Best of luck this weekend everyone! Big races and fast times.

I realize now what I suppose was inevitable. That I will not be able to run Rehoboth. I attempted a run this morning, and there is no way I can run on that leg. It hurt right from the get-go. The main thing now is to try to get this thing to go away. Seeing the PT tomorrow. Hopefully, that will work out well.

Best of success to our CIM racers. Kill it!

Bummer OR. Sorry to hear that.

CIM folks - kill it!

Will be racing the San Antonio Rock N Roll Half Marathon as my winter goal race.

Ran the NOTC Turkey Day Race last Thursday in 25:23 for 5 miles.

Feeling like training has me in some of the best shape of my life at the moment.

I have never done a Rock N Roll race before and am starting out of Corral 1.

OR Sorry about Richmond/Rehoboth, there will be others

Looks like we have Bibs (below) so far. If y'all want to add your bib to the list, or your goal then please do.

GNR1 - 6570

BHViking - 7904

Bruin1996 - 6267

cocoon - 7495 (A 3:03:31, B 3:05:59, C Finish)

I will leave you with a 'good luck' and a quote from a successful triathlete.

There are points in every race where the body and mind concede to exhaustion and doubt, but there are people of will who have learned over time to ignore the warning signs and simply push on.

- Dave Scott

AJ/RS - Thanks, guys. Looking forward to healing and then getting back at it. Upward and onward to Shamrock.

RunnerSam wrote:

OR Sorry about Richmond/Rehoboth, there will be others

Looks like we have Bibs (below) so far. If y'all want to add your bib to the list, or your goal then please do.

GNR1 - 6570

BHViking - 7904

Bruin1996 - 6267

cocoon - 7495 (A 3:03:31, B 3:05:59, C Finish)

I will leave you with a 'good luck' and a quote from a successful triathlete.

There are points in every race where the body and mind concede to exhaustion and doubt, but there are people of will who have learned over time to ignore the warning signs and simply push on.

- Dave Scott

My slightly adjusted goal/plan is to go out with the 2:45 group and ride the wave. I have had a lingering soleus/hamstring issue myself since last week and I don’t want to push things early or be aggressive. I would be thrilled with anything under 2:45.

Mrs. Stone has the same plan with the 3:25 group.

I hope you folks understand, but I am always superstitious about giving out my bib. I know a lot of you know who I am anyway and can easily track me. I don’t mind if one of you decides to report my splits - I just ask the courtesy of reporting my own final result.

OR - Really sorry to see your post. I’m glad the marathon isn’t going to have an opportunity to do any additional damage that would set you back longer term. I’m sure your PT will help you get back on track and make you stronger over the long haul.

Best of luck to all of the other racers! Kick things off for us this weekend, Napper.

Thanks for the advise! The more I think about it, the less I think checking HR on inclines will be a factor. I probably will mostly ignore HR other than a BS check. As a hypothetical, I start to feel uncomfy and decide to check my HR and see something like 162. This tells me that I'm not too hot for what I can handle and am probably just "having one of those moments" and it will pass. In this case, I maintain pace. However, if I see something like 170, I know from experience that this is way too close to threshold and I really am likely in danger of blowing up. In this case, I slow down a bit.

The uphills just look so minor that I doubt that will be my problem (knock on wood). I'm far more likely to run way too fast than I'm capable of carrying the distance. That's what I need to caution against more than anything.

mikemike wrote:

@Still Improving - I think Reed’s paces are way too extreme, CIM feels more like gentle hills and just going by effort I never get more than 10s variation in paces. Just avoid sprinting in mile 1, pushing too hard up the hill in mile 2, and then just go smooth and steady by effort.

@BHViking - one issue I’ve had at CIM is that there’s always people to run with but few people who run steadily. Some groups start taking off, some start falling off, and it seems random. So be prepared to change groups or grab people to move up if the pace or effort feel like they suddenly changed. Mile 2 is when you really notice an uphill climb, avoid the mistake of pushing hard up it.

Awesome advise! I see from spot checking Strava from last year's runners in the 2:40 to 2:45 range that Mile 2 was definitely a "be careful" point. I also saw very, very little variation in pace in most runners at that finish time. Most of the variation that I saw was from fatigue past Mile 20 and less about the hills.

I absolutely will NOT push up that hill at Mile 2. I'm ready for it now :)

RunnerSam wrote:

OR Sorry about Richmond/Rehoboth, there will be others

Looks like we have Bibs (below) so far. If y'all want to add your bib to the list, or your goal then please do.

GNR1 - 6570

BHViking - 7904

Bruin1996 - 6267

cocoon - 7495 (A 3:03:31, B 3:05:59, C Finish)

I will leave you with a 'good luck' and a quote from a successful triathlete.

There are points in every race where the body and mind concede to exhaustion and doubt, but there are people of will who have learned over time to ignore the warning signs and simply push on.

- Dave Scott

Really sorry to hear about OR. Damn.. Guess it's time to recharge over the holidays and look forward to an awesome 2020.

Hmmm, I don't know??? I'm taking so much more of a by-feel approach that I really can't say. Also I wonder if the weather is about to become a factor? It looks like a light headwind (about 10 mph?) and light rain with temps in the low to mid 50's. I'm guessing that's still shorts/tank top weather although I'm not sure how annoying the rain and wind will be and if it will have any effect on our finishing times.

I was just thinking the same thing BHV. Hoping it’s just a light breeze/drizzle and not a crazy headwind/downpour. Oh well, we will all face the same conditions. Best of luck to everyone!

LancRunner wrote:

angryjohnny wrote:

lanc - if you’re updating the leaderboard my 4:50 mile last week at the age of manhood (40) should be around 81%.

Got it aj... 81.22%... will show next week.

I need to update mine as well :D

2:33:32 for the full at age 26. I have 81.36% according to the masterathletics.net calculator.

Bruin1996 wrote:

DietBacon: Congratulations on your 2:33 at Valencia! I look forward to racing London with you as well.

That's awesome that you're coming too! We definitely need to all get a pint at the pub after the race.

Sorry about the setback, OR.

For me, my knee thing is officially weird. I have some theories.

It was not a problem for Turkey Trot or the few days before. I took 4 days off after that to put it fully to bed. I ran on the 'mill on Monday to get back into the swing of things. I went slow and with no time rush ran probably 7.5 miles or so. Felt easy and great. Almost as soon as I get off of it, knee starts getting bad as it can be (awkwardly going down stairs, trying to shake it out etc.). Tried to run yesterday and made it about a half mile, before I succumbed to the discomfort and had a walk-of-shame home. Yet today, everything feels brand new. Should note in the early days of the injury I had constant minor discomfort especially on stairs or if I sat down for too long. That is not the case any more at least after a day off or good night of sleep.

Theory: Exercise beyond ~45 minutes triggers the knee problems. That could explain why it didn't come back in the week before the Turkey Trot for the most part, and if it did it was very late on in the runs. I went beyond that Monday and suddenly issues.

Tentative Plan: 2 weeks off, and come back slowly. I'll schedule a Dr./PT appointment as necessary if issues remain as I build up in run length.

Don't know if anyone has experience with an issue like this. I'm happy it fades aways so quickly, but if I want to get serious about my next goal (sub 1:21 in half next spring) I need to do lots of runs over 45 minutes and not worry about forced days off.

TL - Your knee sounds a lot like my hamstring...weird...back and forth. I did pretty much exactly the same thing this morning--ran a half mile, knew it was over, and walked the walk-of-shame home.

:( Damn sorry to hear OR, I was really looking forward to your go this Rehoboth! Perhaps at least you determined now that it was a bad call rather than later on race day. Onward to recovery and 2020!