Official Strava/Runkeeper Thread

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Went with the Saucony Ride 7, which is my initial foray into a lower heel drop at 8mm.

Good luck with your stair race this morning (Good luck to Chief's race too!)

The Ride 7 are the shoe I have been wearing more lately. I like the amount of cushion on the front of it better than some of the other options I've been wearing. Only problem I have had with it is my foot is a wide foot and the Ride 7 has a little less room in the toe box compared to the new balance shoes I had been wearing. It led to a little of a blister problem for me a while back in a new spot that I was not used to. So I had to start using body glide on a different part of my foot to combat it. Since then, very little issues for me.

[Fidatelo]

Some of my old running buddies (from before I got too busy with kids to get out for group runs) were running the Hypothermic Half Marathon this morning. Temp at race time was -32 Celsius... without wind chill. I think it was below -40 with the wind included. Good gravy I'm glad I didn't sign up for that!

[hoopsguy]

17:42 for the official time. This felt quite a bit easier than my training runs where I was running 15-20 flights at a time and then taking the elevator down.

Logistics: our company had 33 people signed up to run, with just about all of them doing the "full" run rather than the "half" run. We were assigned to the 7AM start this morning. They staggered individual runners every ten seconds. As far as I can tell, it was the large corporate blocks (our company is a sponsor) that went first, rather than an "Elite" group of runners.

I found myself passing more "runners" than passed me. I use quotes on runners, as I did not run a single step. I did take the stairs two at a time, and pulled myself up by the railing the whole way as well. The etiquette suggests that you move to the right if someone wants to pass, but that was rarely observed in the time I was running. There was enough room for two people to be side-by-side but no more than that. I only had one time where I had two people in lockstep in front of me impeding my progress.

Goal time was 20:00, with the idea of starting at 4:00 for the first 20 flights and then doing a negative split for each of the following 20 flights. Looking at my run detail in Strava, I came pretty close to that negative split goal but was a bit faster going out than the 4:00 despite trying hard to keep myself slow initially.

I'm sure I could shave time off this run with repeated efforts. I was 8th among people from my company; my wife and daughter both are amused that two women beat me. The fastest time from our group was just over 15 minutes and the top five or so overall finishers are under 10 minutes.

Happy to answer any other questions about format. All in all, glad I did it and will probably do it again next year with my company. But I don't think I'll ever sign up for a stairs race on my own or ever really invest in meaningful effort to gear up for this race at the expense of my standard training.

[Chief Rum]

Way to go, hoops! I must admit, a stair race seems weird to me. But it sounds like it did the trick.

I ran my 8K in 42:17, which is about 8:17/mile. Keep in mind that is my Strava time. I also started off slow to help a friend get started, pacing her, and it took an inordinate amount of time to get my armband off and stop my Strava at the end. So my actual time is probably slightly better.

I felt good about this one, and it helped running with others (two friends and my brother).

There is an outside chance I will run the San Diego half in two weeks. I put it at 10%. I have another friend who wants to do it, and I said I would run with her if she signs up. So we'll see about that.

[Radii]

awesome hoopsguy and chief rum!

[Alan T]

I have had a pretty horrible winter training session so far. This winter has felt so much worse than last year. I managed to get outside today to try it out but the snow banks and narrow roads still make me have to stop running and wait on traffic at times for safety. Regardless, I still am quite a bit slower than pre-surgery , probably more to do with being about 10 pounds heavier from my time off than the actual time off itself I guess.

Either way, tomorrow is my first "race" post surgery, a 30km race (about 18-19 miles). I am not actually racing it though. I have a 18 mile long run on the training schedule for tomorrow so I figured this would help me get out running on roads that hopefully are safer with police helping would be nice. Will be the longest run I have done since last October, but I figure it may be slow but I should be able to finish it at some point.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I have had a pretty horrible winter training session so far. This winter has felt so much worse than last year. I managed to get outside today to try it out but the snow banks and narrow roads still make me have to stop running and wait on traffic at times for safety. Regardless, I still am quite a bit slower than pre-surgery , probably more to do with being about 10 pounds heavier from my time off than the actual time off itself I guess.

Either way, tomorrow is my first "race" post surgery, a 30km race (about 18-19 miles). I am not actually racing it though. I have a 18 mile long run on the training schedule for tomorrow so I figured this would help me get out running on roads that hopefully are safer with police helping would be nice. Will be the longest run I have done since last October, but I figure it may be slow but I should be able to finish it at some point.

yeah, it's been a very rough winter this year. You with lots of snow, us up north with some crazy cold temps...

I have about the same plan as you for this Summer. In the middle of my marathon training, on a weekend in which I'm supposed to run a 20 miler, there's a race that does a 7K loop any number of times you want so I plan on doing it 4 times for 28 km. With a couple km as warmup, that would put me just one mile short of 20 and I would do it only slightly faster than my usual long run pace but would benefit from having rehydration taken care of by volunteers on the race

FM

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

yeah, it's been a very rough winter this year. You with lots of snow, us up north with some crazy cold temps...

FM

Yep, I finally managed to put in a decent week of running last week for the first time since December. Things are looking up, though, and I'm hopeful that weather won't be preventing me from getting many runs in from here on forward.

[cartman]

Went in for my 3 month checkup. Doc was very happy with the progress of my knee. So much so that he cleared me to pretty much do anything I felt my knee could handle. He said the microfracture healed really well. I still need to build up the muscles more in the leg that was worked on before I try anything much more than bicycling and golf. He even said I could try soccer again (albeit with a brace) to see how my knee reacted.

The PT doc told me to dust off my Wii and Balance Board, and incorporate that into my workouts. First time I got on, my balance readings were 60/40 in favor of my good leg. When I shifted my weight to get the dot in the middle, it felt like I was going to fall forward and to the left.

I can't wait get some serious hours in on my new bike. I got it last year, but haven't gotten to really ride it at all.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by cartman

Went in for my 3 month checkup. Doc was very happy with the progress of my knee. So much so that he cleared me to pretty much do anything I felt my knee could handle. He said the microfracture healed really well. I still need to build up the muscles more in the leg that was worked on before I try anything much more than bicycling and golf. He even said I could try soccer again (albeit with a brace) to see how my knee reacted.

The PT doc told me to dust off my Wii and Balance Board, and incorporate that into my workouts. First time I got on, my balance readings were 60/40 in favor of my good leg. When I shifted my weight to get the dot in the middle, it felt like I was going to fall forward and to the left.

I can't wait get some serious hours in on my new bike. I got it last year, but haven't gotten to really ride it at all.

Way to go, cartman! Keep up the good healing work! You're almost there.

[Kodos]

Hope things keep heading in the right direction for you, cartman!

[hoopsguy]

Really fun run today. Did the Shamrock Shuffle 8k run, and was hoping to get under 40 minutes. I bested that time last fall, but was running longer distances at that time. I've really only gotten serious about my training schedule over the last 6 weeks, and so far felt like I've struggled to hit the kind of speeds that I had at the end of 2015.

Anyway, many of those concerns fell by the wayside after posting a 37:44 in my run. I got off to a sluggish start in the first 1k that probably cost me the 7:30 pace for the whole run, but I suspect responding to that slow start is what got me the pace I sustained for the last 7k so hard to project times too much.

10k next month, 10 mile in May. Time to get a little more aggressive with some of my goal times. And a nice reminder of how fun it is to really push hard in a race and see a surprisingly good time at the finish line.

[Chief Rum]

Way to go, Chris! Keep it up.

Busy schedule for me, too. 5K on April 11 (like an appetizer), and then the OC Half Marathon on May 3. I'm essentially dedicating all of April to shaping myself for this one.

[HerRealName]

Amazing improvement, Chris. I actually said, "Wow" out loud when I saw the Strava update.

I haven't been able to schedule a race this spring due to my kids' schedules but my son picked up a 3rd place at an invitational yesterday in the JV 800. He has worked his ass off to get to this point so that was a really nice moment for him.

[hoopsguy]

It's been fun seeing the flurry of activity on Strava this March as we all unbury from a tough couple of winter months. The results of the group definitely help motivate me to stay on pace with my own schedule.

[cartman]

I tried riding my bike as soon as the doc cleared me, but I still had a big discrepancy in the muscles between my right and left legs. I was pulling to the side really bad when I pedaled harder than just above coasting. I've been working on that the past month, and now I'm starting training for a 100km bike ride in June. Found an 8 week program that should get me ready in time. It is the Tour d'Italia in Italy, Texas. I rode the first one back in high school, and this year is the 30th anniversary.

[HerRealName]

My son and I signed up for a race this morning pretty last minute. He ran the 5K and I did the 10K.

This was a small, local event in its first year. The 5K and 10K started together on a paved trail, the 5K did a turnaround at the 1.55K mark, and the 10K continued on until the 5K mark before returning on the same path.

The event suffered from all of the issues that you would expect. The trail wasn't closed to other traffic so I had to weave through normal pedestrian traffic, a lot of 5K walkers walking side by side blocked the trail, and both turnaround points were poorly marked.

I started way too fast in an effort to get around kids and other slower traffic at the start line. I got through the 5K turnaround area and lost some time dealing with the poorly marked path. I saw 2 other runners in front of me at that point, it turns out both were 5K runners that didn't navigate the turnaround correctly.

I caught both of the 5K runners over the next mile or so and I didn't see anyone else in front of me. I hit a water stand at about 3 miles, saw the poorly marked 10K turnaround, but ended up running an extra 50 feet or so when I misinterpreted the instructions. You would think there would be someone posted at that turnaround but they didn't. Running the extra distance wasn't a big deal since the off course 5K runners were thinking their race was ending and not at the halfway mark. They both took a walk break and I didn't see them again until after they finished.

I had to weave through a lot of traffic on the path back to the Finish line but I won the race by quite a bit. I didn't see any other 10K runners behind me so I'm not sure how close the second place runner was.

I'm pretty sure the fact that I won a race automatically invalidates as an actual race but it was fun anyway. My son won a close 5K so it worked out well for both of us. I doubt I'll ever win a race again but it was fun while it lasted.

I ended up with a 45:24 but my watch only measured 6.17 so of course it doesn't count as a 10K on Strava. It was a certified course so I'll claim the PR though. I was hoping to get under 45:00 but considering my bad start and all of the weaving around traffic, I'm fine with the time.

[Chief Rum]

Way to go, HRN!

A win is a win, as far as I'm concerned. Sounds like a pretty poorly designed and run race, though, unfortunately.

[Chief Rum]

I am running the OC Half tomorrow morning. It's supposed to be a very scenic run. I'm looking forward to it.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

Frogman, you ok? That's a scary looking picture on FB.

Originally Posted by Lathum

yeah, for those of us who don't speak french what happened?

Originally Posted by Alan T

He was doing really well in his race today, but then collapsed/passed out about 1k from the end. (He had run a little more than 12 miles, around 12.5 miles almost). He was taken to the hospital and they wanted to do some tests to make sure there was no issue with his heart.

His last response to me was that he was actually feeling really well in the hospital, as if nothing had happened but was obviously very upset/disappointed that he did not manage to finish, especially since he was doing so well.

He said he would update more later, so hopefully it is nothing serious and just a case of over-exertion or something.. Crossing my fingers for a speedy recovery for him.

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Aw man, tough news, considering how much you trained for this. Keep strong FM. Keep us updated.

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Sorry guys forgot to come back around here to update ya. I'm fine as Alan reported. In facts, the body doesn't feel much more beaten up than after most longs runs, except for my lower back, thanks to sitting at an akward angle on a soft hospital mattress for most of the day. Most likely culprits are dehydration and low blood sugar level but the ER doc wanted me to see the cardiologist as Alan said simply to rule out anything irregular with my heart. They drew some blood twice but everything came back normal. That impromptu visit allowed me to know that my blood pressure is pretty low, in a healthy kinda way, 58/102...

I will learn from this and will bounce back but I've already decided to make some changes to my race shedule for this Summer. I will not attempt a full marathon in August but instead will do another half.

Thanks for all the well wishes, really appreciated.

FM

This was a year ago. Tomorrow is take two at this race, the Lévis Half Marathon in which I crashed and burned pretty hard last year.

I have learned from this but still, I'm kinda freaking out right now. I have trained hard for this race, as hard if not harder than how I trained last Spring. I know some of the things I did wrong last year and I'm definitely one year wiser. I will drink on the course, walking the water station as I did back in August and I will take two gels during the race.

I had high goals for this race, wanting to make it as fast as 1:30 but now I'm second guessing everything. I PR'ed my only half marathon finish with a 1:36:09 back in August but that was in crazy hot weather. Tomorrow's weather should be just about perfect. I will also keep a very close eye to my heart rate, something I didn't do last year.

See ya tomorrow, hopefully

FM

[FrogMan]

mileage at which my Garmin was stopped last year is 20.45 km and ever since, every time I see that number on my watch, wether in training, or during my first half marathon finish, I always get a bit emotional.

There are some bits I don't even remember from last year's race, like the last 3-4 kilometers. I fully intend to live them and remember them tomorrow...

FM

[Alan T]

That is great Todd, congrats on your win! Awesome stuff!

Good luck this morning Matt & Steve! Have fun and do great!

[Kodos]

Anyone else having difficulty uploading to Strava today? I can't get my Runkeeper GPX file to upload from this morning. I even tried to remake the file manually by plotting out the run on the map. Getting irritated, especially because I had a good run on one of my segments where I was hoping for my first KOM...

[Alan T]

I didn't have any issues this morning when I did my upload from my watch

[FrogMan]

other than Garmin Express not working with Chrome anymore, it's been working ok, but I have now linked my Garmin Connect account to Strava, so it's all automatic now...

FM

[FrogMan]

Lévis Oasis International Half Marathon
May 3rd, 2015

As I said, this race was my big crash and burn HM. With big ambitions, I went out too hard and didn't even have time to feel cramps or something like that, I totally blacked out. Watch was stopped at 20.45 km (12.7 miles) but I have no clue by whom.

Had plans of running my first marathon in August last year but that was downgraded to a half marathon which I finished in some very rough conditions (heat/humidity) but with a very decent time of 1:36.09.

I suffered through some Achilles woes following the training for that half and it took me most of the Fall season to finally get better only to realize I had some btis of plantar fasciitis that wanted to set in. Achilles remain stiff at times but I was able to train well up to the race.

I again had big ambitions for this race, training with my mind set on a 6:50 average pace for a possible crack at 1:30. It the back of my mind the whole crash and burn thing remained though. The course is nice point to point that starts with about 2.5 km of uphill but then goes into a lengthy downhill section for almost 10 km. I spent a good chunk of last week obsessing over my numbers from last year. Over the first 15 km last year, I was averaging 6:51/mile, I was flying, but I was also keeping the heart rate just too high in retrospect. I didn't fuel during the run and because it was kinda chilly, I never really felt the need to hydrate myself, which all together caused me to crash. I made the conscious decision on Saturday during the day to go more by heart rate than by pace, in order to enjoy the race. It was becoming more and more obvious I couldn't sustain 6:50 over 13 miles by keeping my heart rate almost 10 BPM lower but by then, I was ok with it.


Uphill start (2.5 km)
Last year's half was my first very big race. With about 1650 entrants, for me it was a big one and I remember feeling cramped in the middle of everyone last year. I averaged 7:16/mile last year over those 2.5 km and I felt it went better this year and my time somewhat reflected it with an average pace at 7:12/mile. Heart rate also reflected a bit of that in being 2 BPM lower this year despite going faster.

Long downhill (9.5 km)
I really went hard on that section last year, averaging a pace of 6:41/mile but also keeping the heart rate consistenly in teh 160-161 range which is more consistent with a 10K kind of HR for me. I averaged 155 this year but it also meant I wasn't hitting my goal pace, instead averaging 6:54/mile, but I was ok with it.


Mostly flat last half (9.1 km)
I again kept running by heart rate for the rest of the race and I'm sure glad I did. There are portions of this back 10K that I don't even remember seeing the first time around. That's kinda scary to be honest. I know I slowed down from the midway point to the end but the main goal was to finish it on my feet, and I knew that unless a major catastrophe happened, I would get a PR. Still, I got an average pace of 7:20/mile out of those last 9 km which is the same pace as my august half marathon overall. I finished that one with some miles toward the end more around 7:45 so I'm happy with the progression. I also kept my heart rate right at 155 for the portion while it kept going up to the 164-166 range around the 17th kilometer last year.

Speaking of scary bits I don't remember from last year, there's this nice little bridge over which we run getting to the finish, about 1 or 1.2 km from the finish line. Looking at the GPS map from my watch for last year's race, I have at least walked over that bridge. Don't remember it, not at all. I ran over it this year, starting my final push in which I would average 6:47/mile over the last kilometer, and my only thought was "wow, that's a really nice river"...

Official time: 1:33:33, a PR by 2:36 with room to grow!

VERY happy with it and I know i got room to push a bit more. It's now just a question of finding the spot.

This is what I looked like a year ago:


This is what I looked like right after this year's race


I sat down in the grass, ate the little post race brunch they give us and I cried, somewhat overwhelmed by the emotions. A year ago, the whole family was waiting for me at the finish line and they all got worried and this year, nobody was there. My wife was out of town for a hiphop dance competition and my sons had no way to get to the finish line. Very happy I got it done. Training continues, or should I say, starts anew, 17 weeks until my first marathon.

FM

[Kodos]

Congratulations on smiting a past demon!

I have my first half (Branford Half) coming up at the end of the month, although I plan to treat it more like a workout than a race. I'm sure adrenaline will make me start out a little fast, but I hope to settle in to a decent pace and finish the run.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Congratulations on smiting a past demon!

I have my first half (Branford Half) coming up at the end of the month, although I plan to treat it more like a workout than a race. I'm sure adrenaline will make me start out a little fast, but I hope to settle in to a decent pace and finish the run.

Thanks! Have fun at your race, enjoy the moment!

In other news, that 1:33:33 when plugged into Jack Daniels's calculator would predict a 3:15:02 marathon time, or a 7:26 pace. Yeeeeeeah right. Don't see that happening for a first marathon. Goal pace as it stands now is about 8:00/mile which would be good an oustanding finish time of 3:29:36 and again, somtehing I think I could build on. I really want to run it even split instead of slowing down so much in the second half.

FM

[Kodos]

My goal is modest - a sub-2 hour half. I ran close to that in a practice run last fall. (2:02:57)

[Chief Rum]

Those of you who follow me on Strava will already know my general results, but just to update here...

I ran the OC Half with an official time of 1:53:59. I am somewhere in the middle on this result.

It was my third half and my first time running the OC. My other two halfs were both at the Surf City. The first time in 2014, I was in pretty good shape and didn't know what was good. I ran it in under 1:51, which is still my PR for an official half. In February I ran it again but I was carrying more weight and finished it at around 1:56.

The Surf City is a very flat race, but the OC is much more hilly. I considered it a tougher course. So improving on my February Surf City time is a decent accomplishment.

But I still feel I can do better. I'll complete the Beach Cities Challenge at the Long Beach in October, and I am hoping to be running at around 160 for that one (I am at 180 right now; I ran the 2014 Surf City at 170 and the 2015 at 190). Being lighter and with a longer training program should help whip me into shape for the Long Beach.

The OC is a beautiful run, BTW. Much of it is along the bluffs near Newport Beach and Balboa Bay.

[Icy]

Congrats Frogman and Chief Rum!

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Those of you who follow me on Strava will already know my general results, but just to update here...

I ran the OC Half with an official time of 1:53:59. I am somewhere in the middle on this result.

I think I already said it on facebook, but great job again on the race! I think it is cool that you are running the 3 half marathon series right? Do you get a special medal or anything for completing all three?

Originally Posted by Kodos

My goal is modest - a sub-2 hour half. I ran close to that in a practice run last fall. (2:02:57)

From the paces that you usually run on Strava, I think you should be able to break that pretty easily (as long as all of your Strava runs haven't been all out effort or anything). I think you're going to do great in your race. Which one are you running?

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Thanks! Have fun at your race, enjoy the moment!

In other news, that 1:33:33 when plugged into Jack Daniels's calculator would predict a 3:15:02 marathon time, or a 7:26 pace. Yeeeeeeah right. Don't see that happening for a first marathon. Goal pace as it stands now is about 8:00/mile which would be good an oustanding finish time of 3:29:36 and again, somtehing I think I could build on. I really want to run it even split instead of slowing down so much in the second half.

FM

I think one of the mistakes that I made my first two marathons was in believing the calculators on estimated marathon finish time. Both cases ended up being way too fast for me.

I read some recent studies that seem to indicate those times for a marathon really are more suited for an elite runner, or perhaps experienced runners that have many many years of base built up more so than someone who has "only" run a few years or perhaps not even run the marathon distance much at all.

Their studies seemed to indicate that it is far more common for a newer marathoner to finish a marathon in roughly their half marathon pace + 1 minute per mile. Based on that, the calculation comes out to being a 3:40:57. (Still something pretty far out of my reach )

[Kodos]

outrunbranford

I'm doing Outrun 38's 1st annual half marathon in Branford, CT. Outrun 38 is a group of runners who donate their miles to help fund research to cure CF. I'm a member of their Facebook group. Welcome to Facebook. The group is very positive and supportive.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I think I already said it on facebook, but great job again on the race! I think it is cool that you are running the 3 half marathon series right? Do you get a special medal or anything for completing all three?

Thanks Alan! It is definitely an achievement sorta thing for me. And it will roll up into next year, when I intend to train for and run my first marathon at the LA.

And, yes, there is a big medal that goes with it. ABC would know for sure, as he ran it last year. I know for sure there is a Beach Cities medal, but I am uncertain if it is created from putting all three individual medals together, or if they give you a whole new medal. I just new that whatever you get is a pretty big medal lol.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I think one of the mistakes that I made my first two marathons was in believing the calculators on estimated marathon finish time. Both cases ended up being way too fast for me.

I read some recent studies that seem to indicate those times for a marathon really are more suited for an elite runner, or perhaps experienced runners that have many many years of base built up more so than someone who has "only" run a few years or perhaps not even run the marathon distance much at all.

Their studies seemed to indicate that it is far more common for a newer marathoner to finish a marathon in roughly their half marathon pace + 1 minute per mile. Based on that, the calculation comes out to being a 3:40:57. (Still something pretty far out of my reach )

yeah, the enormity of the task of running a marathon is not taken into account well by the calculators I think.

I've read about estimating by doubling your HM time and adding 10 minutes but even that seems quite optimistic. That would give me 3:17:06...

Your HM pace + 1 per mile estimate would put me at 8:08/mile, just a little off from my goal marathon pace of 8:00/mile. Strangely enough, if I go 8:08/mile for 26.2 miles I end up with 3:33:08, not 3:40:27 which would be a 8:25 pace.

As I said, for this first one, I really want to enjoy it and I will not really push for a time. Being able to even split it would be really great and I think that I could do 8 minutes miles for a very long time. Right now, when I get close to that kind of pace in long runs, my heart rate stays in check somewhere between 125 and 130, or at most 75% of my max which I think would be pretty good. Need to get the legs in shape now.

I would be VERY happy with a first marathon done in anything between 3:30 and 3:40.

FM

[Alan T]

I probably just did the math for your pace on the half in my head wrong

For my last marathon, I ended up doing it 1 minute 11 seconds per mile over my half time. So for me, I'm not even doing as well as the average I guess!

I actually have a marathon coming up this Sunday, I haven't written much about it on here this winter as it has been a fairly frustrating training season for me. The 1 1/2 months - 2 months of no or light activity really crushed me from an encouragement point of view. The worse part is that I actually didn't change my eating, so lack of almost any activity caused me to gain 20 pounds too.

Since then, I've tried to bust my butt all winter to get my fitness back, and I've lost about 10 pounds of that back since then (which is surprisingly hard during marathon training to lose weight). I think for this marathon I'm in close to the same fitness level as my last marathon now (CTL score is 122 right now, was 117 for my first marathon and 129 for my last one, so I guess somewhere in between the two).

Unfortunately the 10 pounds heavier suggests an extra 10 minutes it will take me to run this one though. I am going to try to still PR though, but by running it smarter this time and see if I can avoid falling apart at the end.

Anything under 4:15 will make me happy I suppose, and I'll spend the next 5 months getting my act back together too fully before the next one.

[Kodos]

If it makes you feel better, as an outsider watching your results on Strava, it sure looks like you have been tearing things up this spring.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I probably just did the math for your pace on the half in my head wrong

For my last marathon, I ended up doing it 1 minute 11 seconds per mile over my half time. So for me, I'm not even doing as well as the average I guess!

I actually have a marathon coming up this Sunday, I haven't written much about it on here this winter as it has been a fairly frustrating training season for me. The 1 1/2 months - 2 months of no or light activity really crushed me from an encouragement point of view. The worse part is that I actually didn't change my eating, so lack of almost any activity caused me to gain 20 pounds too.

Since then, I've tried to bust my butt all winter to get my fitness back, and I've lost about 10 pounds of that back since then (which is surprisingly hard during marathon training to lose weight). I think for this marathon I'm in close to the same fitness level as my last marathon now (CTL score is 122 right now, was 117 for my first marathon and 129 for my last one, so I guess somewhere in between the two).

Unfortunately the 10 pounds heavier suggests an extra 10 minutes it will take me to run this one though. I am going to try to still PR though, but by running it smarter this time and see if I can avoid falling apart at the end.

Anything under 4:15 will make me happy I suppose, and I'll spend the next 5 months getting my act back together too fully before the next one.

dang, your CTL gets high! I'm kinda skewed on that because it's heart rate based I've never been higher than 81 and that was about a month before my Summer half marathon last Summer, in July. I also had quite a bit of time with low running, although no real long period off, and because of that, my CTL going into last week's half was 54. That's somewhat lower than what is was a year ago at 61.

I expect it will start going back up as I ramp up mileage over the course of Summer...

FM

[Izulde]

So, way back in I forget when, I decided to do the Tinkerbell weekend at Disneyland. I saw there were 3 medals if you completed the Pixie Dust Challenge, which is a 10K and a half-marathon on back-to-back days. 10k Saturday, half-marathon Sunday. My BFF was doing both, so I was like fuck it, I'll do both too.

January started with ambition and attention to a training program. Then the semester started, and I'd run a grand total of 3 or 7 miles, I forget which, since about February or March.

Clearly, I was not prepared, and was making jokes to my students about how I was going to die on Sunday.

Friday
Flew into San Diego Friday morning, and BFF and I head up to Anaheim and check into our hotel room. We grabbed food from Earl of Sandwich, ate, and then she had to go down to Vista for a Les Mis performance. I wandered around Disneyland.

Fell asleep around 11:30 pm, after going to Denny's for a bacon and lettuce sandwich with fries.

Saturday
Get up just before 4:30 am for the 5:30 am start and get ready. She heads off to corral B, while I jump in corral E. Although my primary goal is to finish, I have a secret desire for a 12 minute per mile pace. First four miles are relatively easy - surprisingly easy, in fact. Mile 5, I start getting a little exhausted, and I also stop to take a woman's picture by the Ferris wheel in California Adventure, and have her take my pic, figuring damn the delay, it's also about having fun. Mile 6 I was terribly hungry, and it didn't help when Pandora played a restaurant commercial.

Final result:

Finish 10K in 1:14:33. Pace 12:00.
10K - 79th of 188 men age 30-39; 514 of 1,493 men, 2,371 of 8,873 finishers

Note that this is the official Disney time. My GPS time, of course, told a different story:

MapMyRun: 6.46 miles in 1:14:32. Pace: 11:31 Calories Burned: 1,260. Slowest pace: Mile 5, because of photo stop 12:45. Otherwise they were pretty consistent:

Mile 1 - 11:44
Mile 2 - 11:09
Mile 3 - 10:49
Mile 4 - 11:08
Mile 5 - 12:45
Mile 6 - 11:34
Remaining .46 - 11:31

The difference is in that MapMyRun tracks the full movement, which involves dodging and weaving through the traffic of thousands of runners to find the holes and run through the open spaces.

We grabbed food from the Jazz Cafe, splitting a 10 count of beignets. She got bacon, I got sausage patty.

Afterwards, BFF had to run down for both a matinee and an evening performance of Les Mis. She was also fighting a kidney infection, and managed to give herself a concussion during the evening performance, so she had a lot of stuff going on, too.

I spent the rest of the day at California Adventure. Came home and fell asleep early, around 9 pm.

This might have been my first 10K ever, depending on how long I ran when I ran cross in middle school. And as I joked afterwards, at least I did my first 10K before my first half-marathon. It just happened to be the day before.

Sunday
A pit of dread in my stomach when I woke up at 4:30 am with creaky knees and a small bit of soreness in my right Achilles tendon. BFF felt better enough headwise to go ahead and run.

5:30 am start again. This time I'm in corral F, which is the second to last corral (somehow I avoided being in the last corral). Per BFF's advice, I winnowed my way as close to the front of the corral as I could manage, because the pickup wagon starts after the last runner from the last corral crosses the start line, and in order to finish, you have to maintain a 16 minute per mile pace. Also in my gameplan: Attack early in the first few miles and build up a time reservoir for the inevitable second half decline. I decided to just take it mile by mile, and not worry too much about the end game.

Knee and heel soreness went away once I started running, and through the the first six miles, I was relatively okay. Then, Mile 7, I hit a wall, and it was tough, grueling slog the rest of the way, getting slower and slower, walking more and more. I had to switch to interval running to try and get through it. Then, in Mile 12, my fucking sim card on my phone kept blinking out, so I had to slow down, take off the cover, push it back into place, and put the cover back on. That was obviously my worst mile. I started to get a little bit of a second wind on the last mile, and then the remaining third of a mile, I turned on what I had left of the afterburners, damned willing to risk a heart attack for a strong finish.

Result:
Finish half in 2:48:53. Pace 12:53
Half - 891 out of 1,630 male finishers and 5,565 out of 13,049 overall finishers.

MapMyRun: 13.34 miles in 2:49:09 Pace 12:41 Calories Burned: 2,250(!)

Mile 1 - 11:08
Mile 2 - 10:13 (Best mile of the weekend)
Mile 3 - 11:28
Mile 4 - 12:20
Mile 5 - 12:04
Mile 6 - 11:38
Mile 7 - 12:52
Mile 8 - 12:37
Mile 9 - 13:10
Mile 10 - 13:16
Mile 11 - 14:53
Mile 12 - 16:53 (Sim card snafu, and the only mile over the 16 PPM requirement)
Mile 13 - 12:54
.34 mile - 10:59

I was absolutely floored when my half-mile pace per mile wasn't that far off my 10K. I never would have expected that, EVER. Literally my only goal was to A) finish and B) Get under 16 PPM mark.

So three medals collected

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Thanks Alan! It is definitely an achievement sorta thing for me. And it will roll up into next year, when I intend to train for and run my first marathon at the LA.

And, yes, there is a big medal that goes with it. ABC would know for sure, as he ran it last year. I know for sure there is a Beach Cities medal, but I am uncertain if it is created from putting all three individual medals together, or if they give you a whole new medal. I just new that whatever you get is a pretty big medal lol.

Yes you get a whole new medal, and it's big. This year, I believe it's a clamshell style, one you'd have to open. It's really cool. I wish I had completed the series this year just for that medal

To get the medal, go to a separate booth (outside of the finishing chute) after your run and present your bib. There should be a special icon image on the bib that'll show them that you're completing the challenge this year.

Good luck!

[AnalBumCover]

Image of Beach Cities Medals.

Spoilered for size.

Spoiler

[HerRealName]

I always enjoy reading the race reports. There have been a lot of great results already.

I'm sure I'm late to the party on this one but has anyone else been following this Mike Rossi cheating scandal? I stumbled on this report yesterday and spent entirely too long reading through the Let's Run post. It's fascinating that someone would call that much attention to himself after cheating in a qualifying race.

http://www.runnersworld.com/general-...ied-for-boston

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by HerRealName

I always enjoy reading the race reports. There have been a lot of great results already.

I'm sure I'm late to the party on this one but has anyone else been following this Mike Rossi cheating scandal? I stumbled on this report yesterday and spent entirely too long reading through the Let's Run post. It's fascinating that someone would call that much attention to himself after cheating in a qualifying race.

Questions Arise Over How a Pennsylvania Dad Qualified for Boston | Runner's World & Running Times

Yeah, I read the first 40-50 pages on Let's Run when it first came up, but didn't keep up any further than that.

If you enjoy this story, look up the story on Kip Litton some time.

Now that one had some legs to it.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Yeah, I read the first 40-50 pages on Let's Run when it first came up, but didn't keep up any further than that.

If you enjoy this story, look up the story on Kip Litton some time.

Now that one had some legs to it.

:rimshot:

[HerRealName]

I read a little about Litton since he was mentioned several times in the thread but I'll have to catch up on that one. There's also a thread over there on Parvaneh Moayedi, another person they busted for cheating multiple times. I find it all fascinating.

Oh, and before I forget again, good luck this weekend Alan.

[Alan T]

Bleh, I suck.

I will give a better race recap tomorrow, have to drive 8 hours to Long Island for work. But the recap will likely give more detail about why I suck

[HerRealName]

70 degrees for a marathon is enough to make any person suck. I found out that I'm more than capable at sucking on a 65 degree day . Sorry it didn't go well but those miles are all adding up and will pay off.

[Kodos]

Ran a practice half marathon yesterday in the humidity in preparation for my May 31st race. Ran it in 1:58:17 according to Strava, so already beat my goal for the race. Guess I will have to adjust that a bit. I hope race day is cool and not humid.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Bleh, I suck.

I will give a better race recap tomorrow, have to drive 8 hours to Long Island for work. But the recap will likely give more detail about why I suck

Hang in there. You are so dedicated to running and training. A marathon is going to click for you soon.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Yeah, I read the first 40-50 pages on Let's Run when it first came up, but didn't keep up any further than that.

If you enjoy this story, look up the story on Kip Litton some time.

Now that one had some legs to it.

You weren't kidding. Linked here for those interested.