Official Strava/Runkeeper Thread

[Kodos]

Come on down!

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Come on down!

I still haven't decided what I want to do. For a while I was considering driving out to the cape. There just is not much good within an hour drive for me next weekend. (Tons of 5ks and not much else). Right now I'm leaning on just heading down to Rhode Island and doing a simulated 15k race pace run by myself. Still looking to see if I can find maybe a 10k somewhere nearby and I can do a 3 mile warmup prior to racing the 10k.

[Kodos]

FWIW, I wouldn't want to drive more than an hour for a race either. My main criteria in selecting races is convenience. This one is about 15 minutes away.

My wife will be out of town on business Wed-Fri this week, which was going to force me to miss my first scheduled tempo run on Thursday for my half-marathon training program. Now, I can just move my Saturday cross-training to Thursday and do a nice fast run on Saturday. Schedule problem solved!

[Neuqua]

Do you guys run with your phones and also have a watch?

I listen to podcasts so keep my phone on me and am trying to justify the cost of buying a GPS watch and am having trouble doing so.

[Alan T]

I carry my phone in a pouch for most of my runs, just for safety reasons. As I get further out in miles, I don't want to be stranded with no way to get home in case of an emergency or accident. I don't really use it for much anything on my runs though as I prefer to run without music/podcasts/etc though.

I use my watch to track my runs instead of phones because of the better accuracy with them plus more features.

[Kodos]

I like how my phone announces my pace, time, and mileage.

[Fidatelo]

I had a watch but it broke almost a year ago and I've just used my phone since. I don't really miss it, and its way easier to use a site like Strava with my phone than it was with the watch.

[FrogMan]

I'll be back with some race report later but here's a quick update on my trail race that was this morning.

8K distance in 42:16
10th overall out of 481 finishers!
10th in men out of 167
3rd in M40-49 out of 67!!!

On any other race of that distance, that pace would have been a disappointment to me but that was a rough course, lots of tree roots, rocks to hop, muddy spots with steep uphills and crazy technical downhills in which we couldn't really let go and fly or else you would fly off course. Sooooooooo very out of my comfort zone but very happy I got it done.

Race report with pictures will be posted in my dynasty thread at some point tomorrow...

As for watch vs phone, I love the splits and precision I get from my Garmin more than what I was getting from a phone app. Also the ability to preprogram intervals is really useful, that is if you get serious enough to do that kind of stuff...

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, and you don't need to waterproof your watch in case of rain out there...

FM

[hoopsguy]

Nice work, FrogMan.
Interesting that 2/3 of people signing up for that race were women ... kind of information that might have gotten me more motivated to run a couple of decades ago

I'll be doing this 3.5 mile race on Thursday - Chicago JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge

This was my first race last year; hoping to see my time this year a couple of minutes faster than what I ran last year. I don't have any Strava stuff on it since I did not have my watch yet at this time. But I know I had to stop and walk a couple of times before finishing it, which would certainly be a big disappointment this year.

Finally, I'm very much in the "watch" category. I've found the phone apps to be frustrating for pulling up pace info while running, especially with my phone having a 5 digit PIN that comes up after 30 seconds of inactivity. I haven't gotten into a habit of listening to music while running, and I sometimes will program intervals with the watch. So I can't really imagine changing back to phone apps after having the watch for the past ten months.

[Neuqua]

I think maybe for now I'll stick with the phone apps and then if I see something discounted on craigslist or fatwallet, maybe get a watch.

hoopsguy,

I realized on Strava recently that you generally run just a couple miles away from my house. Small world.

[hoopsguy]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

hoopsguy,

I realized on Strava recently that you generally run just a couple miles away from my house. Small world.

I was working in Naperville (Winfield/Diehl) for most of the past 9 months ... now in Deerfield and off to Schaumburg next month. But I'm guessing that I was working even closer to your house.

If you are looking for areas to run and get bored of the stuff close to your house, an area that I liked an awful lot was the trails at County Farm/Geneva Road that weave through Wheaton. I've been meaning to get out there again some weekend and explore a bit more.
Run Profile | New forest preserve Easy Run - 83/63%/72DP near West Chicago | Times and Records | Strava

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I still haven't decided what I want to do. For a while I was considering driving out to the cape. There just is not much good within an hour drive for me next weekend. (Tons of 5ks and not much else). Right now I'm leaning on just heading down to Rhode Island and doing a simulated 15k race pace run by myself. Still looking to see if I can find maybe a 10k somewhere nearby and I can do a 3 mile warmup prior to racing the 10k.

Bah.. I broke down and ended up signing my wife and I up for the half marathon out on the cape this weekend.

5am drive for 90 minutes and then run for 13 miles. Sounds like a fun day!

[Kodos]

Have fun!

[Subby]

Since this happens so rarely...wheeee!

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Subby

Since this happens so rarely...wheeee!

Haha awesome! I saw that segment yesterday or the day before I think and saw you were one second behind. I was wondering if you were going to notice that and give it a huge push

[Subby]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Haha awesome! I saw that segment yesterday or the day before I think and saw you were one second behind. I was wondering if you were going to notice that and give it a huge push

Heh of course I immediately noticed.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Bah.. I broke down and ended up signing my wife and I up for the half marathon out on the cape this weekend.

5am drive for 90 minutes and then run for 13 miles. Sounds like a fun day!

of course, we all simply go out like that and sign up for a half marathon, just like that

Enjoy!

FM

[Kodos]

Any good running shirt recommendations? All I have are cotton shirts. Not the ideal option, I'm sure.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Any good running shirt recommendations? All I have are cotton shirts. Not the ideal option, I'm sure.

Anything but cotton?

I wear 'technical' shirts, I don't really know if there is a more proper name for them or a difference or whatever. Many of them I received for joining Running Room clinics or signing up for races. I've also received a couple as birthday gifts. I have some I like more than others, but I couldn't tell you what it is about them (no specific brands or styles or anything).

So, yeah... sorry.

[FrogMan]

yeah, same for me. I go to a place called Winners that sell end of line stuff. They are about the same as TJ Maxx. For some unknown reasons, my three "technical shirts" I first had on rotation were all Fila brand, just because they were the ones they had in stock. But I have bought a couple Adidas for my son as well as a Nike I think. Whatever works. And yeah, I now have one from a race, but it's from that DNF HM so I'm only wearing it in training. I figure to collect another three shirts this Summer.

And yeah, anything but cotton. Can't stand working out in cotton anymore...

FM

[FrogMan]

And Fidatelo, Running Room is a nice chain, isn't it? Took me a while to realize they're mostly only in Canada though... With my season ticket I get 15% off everything but electronics.

FM

[Alan T]

Same here. I avoid cotton at all costs when running. (especially when it is raining/humid).

In the states, you can get stuff from Nike/Reebok/Under Armor/Adidas/etc pretty easily from Sports Authority or Dick's Sporting Goods or similar places. You can also get some cheaper synthetic/technical shirts made by Champion from Target. I also have a selection of 5-6 tech shirts that I received from races too.

The key places I avoid cotton are the places that touch my body: Socks, shirt and underwear. It has virtually eliminated chafing for me other than in extreme conditions.

[Kodos]

Amazon.com: Soffe Men's Running Short: Clothing

God, the reviews for these running shorts are hilarious. I guess they are big with the Marines.

[Kodos]

Ran my first race since 1991 or so. Went pretty well for where I am at in my attempt to get in shape.

Run Profile | Delaney Dash - Old Saybrook, CT near Old Saybrook | Times and Records | Strava

1 6:59
2 7:28
3 7:25
4 7:28

It was cold when I first got to the race site. I was worried that might be a problem as I had only a short sleeve shirt and shorts on, but after my warmup run, I was fine.

Got out fast, then settled into a good race pace. A few times at the end a girl was trying to pass me, which helped spur me on a bit. I ended up beating everyone in my pack. A good return to competitive running.

The girl I follow on Strava won the women's side. So now I know what she looks like in person. She of course destroyed me.

[Alan T]

Great job! Pretty consistent miles for your last three there too.

[Lathum]

OK, I am getting a 5/10K team together for a race in September. It will be my first race, am pretty excited.

I need FOFC to help me come up with a clever team name, I am recruiting some people from work for the team so it has to be clean.

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by Lathum

OK, I am getting a 5/10K team together for a race in September. It will be my first race, am pretty excited.

I need FOFC to help me come up with a clever team name, I am recruiting some people from work for the team so it has to be clean.

Sole Train
Heart and Sole
Scrambled Legs (and Achin)
Team (whatever departments you're recruiting)
Not So Fast but Furious
Bless our Soles
Victorious Secret
Agony of Da Feet
Run Like the Winded
Rapid Thigh Movement

[FrogMan]

Great job Kodos! Way to get back into the competitive game

FM

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Bah.. I broke down and ended up signing my wife and I up for the half marathon out on the cape this weekend.

5am drive for 90 minutes and then run for 13 miles. Sounds like a fun day!

So it turned out to be beautiful weather for the run which made this terrible idea not as horrible as it could have been I suppose The 4:45am wake up call made it feel like I did not sleep at all, but once there the adrenaline ended up waking me up enough.

My goal for the weekend was to run a 15k race, but since I could not find one of those anywhere closer than Maryland, half-marathon it would be. I had only run 13 miles 1 times since last February (2 weeks ago), and it hurt really bad when I did it. So I wasn't sure how my body would feel this time around.

I was keeping my wife company at the start line (which normally I don't do since we run different pace), so it meant my first mile, I spent half of it trying to dodge runners much slower than me. That ended up being ok since I just treated it as a warmup.. once I got clear enough though (near 3/4th of a mile in), I wanted to sit in with a pace close to what I should be able to handle for the entire 13.1 miles (right around a 8:50min/mile pace).

The first several miles were pretty easy, and keeping that pace was no problem. I backed off a bit once I hit some hills and accelerated on the downhill, and pretty much it all felt really good. I hit a mental wall right before mile 12, likely just due to not having run this far many times in quite a while and ended up taking a quick 1 minute breather, but then finished really strong the final 1.5 miles or so at about an 8:40 pace, so likely the quick walk break didn't cost me more than 5-15 seconds at most.

I ended up at 1:57:29 for the race, which I think is pretty respectable for my fitness level. Was not my personal record, but the Half marathon I am training for is still three weeks away.



My Heart rate did exactly what I wanted it to. The slow climb through zone 4 for most of the race. It did not look like I was in danger of red-lining until the very last 500 meters or so when I picked up the pace to finish strong at the line.

So this tells me that I should absolutely be able to maintain at least an 8:50 pace or faster for my Half in 3 weeks and hopefully break my Personal record. It will be a slightly hillier course, so might be close.. but I still have at least 1 more week of hard work to put in for it.

[Kodos]

Check this out. Talk about having heart...

[Subby]

Those are great splits, Kodos.

[Neuqua]

Not sure if I accidentally shut it off but Strava didn't record my run this morning. That was frustrating.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Subby

Those are great splits, Kodos.

Thanks. I was pleased with the results. That said, I hope I can get significantly faster.

[AlexB]

Been having knee reactions after running in the last couple of months, so although I usually run 8-10 miles, after 2-3 weeks no running (still cycling though as no reaction after that) I've stared at 1 and increasing a mile every run to see if there's a trigger point.

Just did a 5k and while I normally run at a pace that is at the upper end of comfortable for me, I did put pretty much max effort into it today to try and put in a decent time (only timed myself once over 5k - seem to have missed out that particular distance for some reason)

Very pleased I did: it was tough, and it probably took me nearly 10 minutes to get over it, but 20:54 is a time I am very pleased with. And it's a time that I have no intention of trying to beat tbh as I'm not actually sure I enjoyed it!

Effort 5k run on 05/28/2014 | CYCLING Training Log Entry | MapMyRide

[Kodos]

Grumble grumble.... 2.3 kms short of the 120 kms for May badge on Strava...

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Grumble grumble.... 2.3 kms short of the 120 kms for May badge on Strava...

You still have half a day left...

[Kodos]

Not annoyed enough to do something about it. Just annoyed enough to complain.

[FrogMan]

come on, you know you're OCD enough to squeeze in a run this evening!

FM

[Kodos]

If I hadn't done my longest run this morning, I'd have done it. As it is, I'm pretty sore. OCD loses to practicality this time.

[Ben E Lou]

We're on vacation in some hilly terrain. Rather than trying to fool around with my tempo and intervals runs this week, I'm thinking that I should just take advantage of the uncommon opportunity for me to do hill repeats. For those of you who do these, what sort of workouts do you do?

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

We're on vacation in some hilly terrain. Rather than trying to fool around with my tempo and intervals runs this week, I'm thinking that I should just take advantage of the uncommon opportunity for me to do hill repeats. For those of you who do these, what sort of workouts do you do?

Hill repeats are basically like your speed intervals except using hills instead of a faster pace. You want to organize them the same way you do intervals:

1) Hill climb at pace
2) Walk (or slow jog) down hill back to start.

The goal of the walk period is the same as intervals, that you want to lower your heart rate back down to prepare for the climb part which is the meat of the workout.

Generally the most common type of hill workouts would be either:

1) Short hills which would be roughly 1/10th or slightly more of a mile. maybe about .12 or so that you would run at 5k pace
or 2) Long hills which would be roughly 3/10th or 1/3 of a mile that you would take somewhat closer to a 10k pace.

Just like intervals, you would start the first week at about 6 short hill repetitions or 4 long hills and then the next week increase 1 or 2 repeats depending on your level of success previously.

[AlexB]

Had a poor time of it today. Meant to try and run a steady 4 miler, went off a little faster for the first mile than I planned, but not a million miles off, but then went way too fast for the next two miles. Then got a stitch that i couldn't run through, and had to call it quits after 3.5 miles

Took me about 5 minutes walking before I could slow jog the last three quarters of a mile back, but then when i got home i was sweating like mad and skin was absolutely roasting on arms and legs for a couple of minutes at least. After shower began to cool down but then felt cold for bit.

Think i under-hydrated in the day, and combined with going faster than I should have for that distance it didn't work very well. Still feel tired a couple of hours later, but after a fair amount of liquid and a large salad temperatures have settled down at least.

Not fun, but fortunately not too serious.

[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by AlexB

Had a poor time of it today. Meant to try and run a steady 4 miler, went off a little faster for the first mile than I planned, but not a million miles off, but then went way too fast for the next two miles. Then got a stitch that i couldn't run through, and had to call it quits after 3.5 miles

Took me about 5 minutes walking before I could slow jog the last three quarters of a mile back, but then when i got home i was sweating like mad and skin was absolutely roasting on arms and legs for a couple of minutes at least. After shower began to cool down but then felt cold for bit.

Think i under-hydrated in the day, and combined with going faster than I should have for that distance it didn't work very well. Still feel tired a couple of hours later, but after a fair amount of liquid and a large salad temperatures have settled down at least.

Not fun, but fortunately not too serious.

Same here - the heat really got to me today and I just slogged through the last couple of miles. No worries though, bad days are inevitable and tomorrow will be better.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by HerRealName

Same here - the heat really got to me today and I just slogged through the last couple of miles. No worries though, bad days are inevitable and tomorrow will be better.

This time of year was brutal for me last year and is brutal once again this year. The first few days running with temps around 90F when I'm not acclimated to it just are always really rough.

I've been making sure to adjust my paces down for the heat as I get going here, and it still ends up being brutal!

The one thing I am good at though is staying hydrated all week. I try to make an effort of doing that well.

[cartman]

I broke in the bike with Strava over the weekend. I picked up a Wahoo Fitness RFLKT to preserve battery life on the iPhone. I had planned to do a one hour ride, but had to bail after 20-25 minutes due to knee pain. The knee I hurt back at Easter still is giving me issues. I tried out a new brace, but it didn't work well. If I was just spinning, the knee felt fine, but anytime I had to apply torque to the pedals, I got a sharp pain in the knee. Need to figure out something to deal with it.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by cartman

I broke in the bike with Strava over the weekend. I picked up a Wahoo Fitness RFLKT to preserve battery life on the iPhone. I had planned to do a one hour ride, but had to bail after 20-25 minutes due to knee pain. The knee I hurt back at Easter still is giving me issues. I tried out a new brace, but it didn't work well. If I was just spinning, the knee felt fine, but anytime I had to apply torque to the pedals, I got a sharp pain in the knee. Need to figure out something to deal with it.

Not sure if this will help any, but I had to take a bit of a break from biking for a while because of knee pains. I was mashing too hard down on the up hills and it was causing my knees issue.

I have tried to make of an effort to watch my cadence now on hills and take it in a lower gear and just keep my cadence higher and it seems to have helped a bunch. I also noticed less knee pains once I got clipless pedals and can use a full circular motion rather than just pushing down too.

[hoopsguy]

I believe Alan posted the link to athlinks.com in FrogMan's dynasty thread in order to make me feel bad about myself. Just about every 0-2 result has someone burying me by 4+ minutes on 5k runs.

With that out of the way, is there a better way to sort runners? Ideally, I could look for people within 2 miles or 5 miles of home rather than 25 miles. Or something that finds "top 50 comparable runners" based on 2+ races where our results were close rather than something where I'm seeing people annihilate me 2x and know that I'm not catching them for years, barring something involving a loss of limbs on their part.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

I believe Alan posted the link to athlinks.com in FrogMan's dynasty thread in order to make me feel bad about myself. Just about every 0-2 result has someone burying me by 4+ minutes on 5k runs.

With that out of the way, is there a better way to sort runners? Ideally, I could look for people within 2 miles or 5 miles of home rather than 25 miles. Or something that finds "top 50 comparable runners" based on 2+ races where our results were close rather than something where I'm seeing people annihilate me 2x and know that I'm not catching them for years, barring something involving a loss of limbs on their part.

You can sort it based on wins instead and see people who you have beaten if that helps, might also find people closer to you that way? I don't know if it has the other sorting options that you are looking for though. Keep in mind that those matches depend on the other people signing up for that site too though, so many of the people you likely do better than might not even have signed up on the site. More likely to see the more hard core people who have signed up is my guess.

[Alan T]

A couple of big things for me this week...

Right now it looks like on my Wednesday easy run, I should pass 2000 miles recorded on Strava. It depends on how much I end up running during today's track workout though. I could end up actually passing 2000 miles on my Thursday tempo run instead though.

Also this weekend is my goal Half-marathon that I've been training for this spring. I'm wanting to break my Personal record from last fall for a half but right now am not feeling super confident about that. My last two week long runs have been a little short of horrible. I'm suffering a bit with the sudden heat change the last few weeks here. Running in 85-90 degree heat with direct sunlight and 90+% humidity has been rough for me to get re-acclimated to so far. Luckily the Half marathon is at 7am, so it might only be in the 70s at that time I hope..

The other issue is this course is about 4 times more hilly than my previous half personal record course was:



There seriously is very little flat parts in the entire course, and the hill at mile 3 is about a 5% overall grade, but the first half of it is closer to 7-9% grade climb.

I'll have all of three of my kids there to cheer me on for Father's day though, the first time that all of them have been there to watch me in a half before.