The real life story of a running frog...

[FrogMan]

Almost a year ago, I went out the door for a walk. It was a Thursday evening, May 30th, 2013. I had just tested for my Sandan (3rd degree black belt) for which I had worked hard to regain some of the fitness I had lost since I started running my dojo (and teaching more than training). I had lost some 35 lbs in the 8 months prior to that test using an app called Lose It! and I wanted to at least start walking a bit more to make sure I'd keep the weight off so I'd bought a pair of Asics shoes on the cheap at TJ Maxx.

It was a Thursday evening and I was just done teaching karate for the day and out for a walk I went. I'd never liked running so walking looked more like it for me but during that walk, at some point I decided to take off and run for a couple minutes at a time. Run, walk, run, walk some more. I'd discovered something new. I'd always hated running, with a passion, but it was different now. I felt kinda free, I liked it. I've been running since then, more and more every week.

Since that day, I've run three formal races, finishing two of them and I plan on running many more. Today, as I posted on the weekly runners thread on the Lose It! forum, I realized I wanted to keep my thoughts somewhere I could go back and read them again if need be. They start a new thread every week and they get kinda lost. Here, I'll have everything in one spot.

That's about it for now. Will be back for more soon, starting right now in the next post with the race report of my one DNF that happened last Sunday.

Hope to see you around, feel free to ask if you've got questions. I'm still a newbie, learning the ropes. I'm just a fast running newbie.

FM

[FrogMan]

disclaimer, this might run long. I can get wordy, sorry but it'll help me exorcise the whole thing

**also, some things are left unexplained now and will become clearer as I post some background info how my Summer of 2014 is shaping up running and racing wise...
======================
Race Report Demi marathon Internation Oasis Lévis, May 4th 2014

Weather was pretty rainy when I got up on Saturday, with gusts of winds swirling around our house. According to the local weather website, some northeast wind was to be expected. Northeast meant we'd have a headwind on the long downhill and some tailwind on our way back when the course would be flatter. Temperature was around 5C with a windchill around 2C which is kinda weird for a May 4th... It was cold to warm up but once we had about 8 or 9 km done, the skies kinda cleared and while there wasn't much sun, there was never any rain until much later in the day.

I picked up my bib on Saturday and with it came a nice long sleeve tech shirt.


Later on in the day, I devised some sort of pacing strategy that I thought would be sustainable given the elevation of the course. To do that, I sorta split the 21.1 km in 5 sections.

Section one, start with climb, 2 km, projected pace: 4:30/km (7:14/mile)
This was the start section. I expected to see pacers but never could find any. I was kind of overwhelmed in the middle of the crowd knowing absolutely nobody but looking around and seeing everybody in mini crowds. I positioned myself in a spot where I thought I'd be around the top 25% of racers but found myself kinda jammed there and realized that many out of shape, or simply slower runners, had placed themselves close to just behind the elite.

The first 250m were very slow and with an awkward gait trying to maneuver behind people. I found myself working up to my projected pace and passing people all the time until we headed East, then facing a good headwind but still climbing a little.

I thought I did ok in that section, especially with the crowded start, averaging 4:33/km over the first 2 km.

Section two, going downhill, 6 km, projected pace: 4:10/km (6:42/mile)
I had planned a kind of aggressive pace for that section based on my long run done a couple weeks ago. I that run, I was hitting about 4:20 without pushing too hard and I figured that until we start heading back, I could push it harder and be ok the rest of the way. Maybe that was the start of my mistakes but I don't think that was the worst. My HR stayed in check there and I was hitting my pace splits quite well or at least within range.

KM#3: 4:14
KM#4: 3:58 (!)
KM#5: 4:15
KM#6: 4:13
KM#7: 4:15
KM#8: 4:05

Not everything was bad in that race. Here's a pic my 17yo son took of me from the parking lot of our dojo. I even saw a young girl student of mine who stood there in the windy cold weather with nher mother to cheer us runners on.


I tried chewing a Powerbar raspberry smart blast around km #8 but ended up chewing on it for maybe a minute and had trouble swallowing it. Took some water from my belt.

Section three, flatter on the way back, 7 km, projected pace: 4:22/km (7:02/mile)
I thought this section would be flat, thinking back to my last long run that had gone through the downhill but when I did that run, I circled back earlier and didn't really do the same route. The pace I had projected for this section was based on my 15K pace test in which I averaged 4:24 over 15km on a flat course. I figured that if I pushed a tiny bit more, I'd be able to hit 4:22. I crushed the split time for the first 5 km of that section of the course mostly because it kept going downhill along the river. Not always by much, but always a bit of a negative elevation and we got hit in the back by a sometimes steady tailwind.

KM#9: 4:03
KM#10: 4:09
KM#11: 4:11
KM#12: 4:16
KM#13: 4:18
KM#14: 4:25
KM#15: 4:25

Time after 15km: 1:03:55, pace 4:15/km (6:51/mile)

Around km 13 or 14, I tried my luck with a Clif Shot bloks this time and seriously almost gagged when I choked on it. That was the end of my trying to swallow these things when going at those paces. I did take some water but apparently not enough. Heart rate was still quite in check, steadily averaging 160 or so which is about what I'd expect for me on long hard runs.

Section four, cruise back, 4.5 km, projected pace: 4:30/km (7:14/mile)
When I started the training cycle leading to this half, 4:30/km was the pace I had as a goal. It evolved over the course of the 12 weeks to a point that I thought I could push more and do better. I still think I had it in me to do better than that pace for the early part of the race. I'd want to say that I got greedy here but I don't think the pace I was doing were that much faster than what I wanted to do...

KM#16: 4:26
KM#17: 4:28
KM#18: 4:33
KM#19: 4:45

around the middle of km #19 was supposed to start my last kick push. I wanted or stupidly thought I'd be able to will my legs to go for 1.5 km at 4:10 but as you can see the beginning of the end was coming in that 19th km. I just didn't see it coming, then boom...

KM#20: 6:06

Now that one is a blur. I remember seeing 6:00 as an average pace for the first 500m of that kilometer (I set my watch to give me splits every half km) but not too sure about the second half, then I remember not so much running anymore but walking wobly and having someone grab me by my right arm and then it kinda blacked out... Next thing I knew, I was on a stretcher with two EMTs asking me questions but within minutes I was back to myself and fairly conscious, not stupid enough to say "hey coach, let me back in the game, I'm all right!" but pretty conscious. They asked me my birthdate, address and such and I was able to coherently answer.

They pricked me on the finger to take my blood glucose level and told me I was at 3.9 and that under 4, I was getting hypoglycemic. They gave me a gel type thing, similar to those runners take. After taking it, they tested me again but now I was even lower, 2.4. They gave me another gel. Glucose level would eventually level up at about 4.4 by the time we got to the ER.

Before we left, they asked me if I had anybody waiting for me by the finishing line and I went "oh crap, yes, my wife and oldest son are waiting there, and I told them when to expect me, they'll get worried!" One EMT asked me if my wife had a cell phone and if they could call her. I said yeah, dial this number but let me talk to her. Later on, she told me it was a good thing she got to talk to me or else she would have seriously freaked out to simply talk to an EMT.

Funny thing #1 happened when we got to the ER. I'm a stretcher, all sweaty, still wearing my running shoes and the nurse is entering my data, barely looking at me and she goes "were you doing any kind of physical activity when the incident happened?" I'm like huhuh, pointing my bib, "err, it's the half marathon today, I did 20 of the 21 km" She simply went "oh"...

Funny thing #2 happened when talking with the ER doc. She wanted me to see the cardiologist to rule out anything bad that could do with my heart. She said he might want to test me out on what of those cardiac stress test they do on a treadmil later on in the day. I went "huh? today? Can't that wait a day or two?" They ended up not testing anything other that drawing blood twice. They said nothing looked wrong with my heart and the blood tests revealed mostly stuff that dehydrated people go through which was a relief.

That was a long day sitting idly around with too little to eat. I got to the ER at about 11:45 and they didn't have me on their list for a lunch. They got me some small chicken sandwich with some cheese, some apple juice.

I did many little things wrong in that race. Not the least of which was not drinking enough, but also not fuelling properly, and especially not testing fuelling under race conditions. Another thing I probably did wrong was put my watch with race time as the principal number instead of the HR. My HR spiked to 168 around km 17. Maybe it'd have been too late but maybe I could have been reasonable then and walk some of drink some. But it wasn't that big a spike, nothing like 190 or something that out of the ordinary.

Still, that's a good old DNF but one I can learn from I think.

After 19km, I had a time of 1:22:08 or an average pace of 4:19 per km (6:57 per mile). That was quite a run...

And to end this report, here's that ER selfie that I posted on FB. Yeah, I know, but I still smiled!


I also have a bruised left thumb, just on the inside and some scratches on my left knee, indicating that I was grabbed on my right and tried to brace myself to the ground on my left but then bounced back to the right and hit my chin to the ground, rubbing it on the pavement.

This was a humility lesson. Respect your body man, respect the distance. Train hard but know your limits.

The season ticket I have signed up for allows me to change future events if I want to. I have decided to opt out of the full marathon I was supposed to do in August and will do a half then. I will not try a full until I have succesfully done a half. If it only happens next Summer, then so be it. I will also change the staircase challenge I'm signed up for on June 15 from a 19km to a 13km.

If you're still reading, thanks. Now go run, run happy!

[FrogMan]

This morning, I got back out for a run for the first time since my half marathon DNF. Had to promise to my wife it would only be a short one and that I would take it very easy...

Was kinda chilly though. About 34F but felt like 32F. Dang, it's May 8th and I am running with gloves, knit hat, running tights and winbdreaker jacket. Furthermore, cars all have frost on their windshield!!! Oh well...

Lower back is still a bit stiff but it felt great to run a bit. Strangely, my glutes also seem to be the muscles that were worked out the most in that long hard run on Sunday. It's not an area that I usually feel as tense on runs. My hips are more of a weaker spot but no hip pain this morning at all.

Overall a pretty easy 3 miler, 5.09 km in 28:10, avg pace: 5:32/km (8:54/mile).
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/495378527

I will often convert distances (and paces) from km to miles (and from min/km to min/mile) but sometimes will leave them in metric form, depending on if I have time or not. Hopefully this doesn't make it too hard to follow.

All my thinking, calculations and especially pace planning are done in metric.

HR stayed pretty much in check, never going over 128 BPM. Very happy with that. Finished the run with 3 sets of 10 excentric calf raises. I often do that after short easy runs. I also often do planks but didn't want to this morning, mostly due to the stiff lower back...

Looking back through my Smashrun account, I see this was my first three day break since I started running back on May 30th 2013. Never before since that first run had I taken a break from running longer than 2 days. For a long while I was running every other day and sometimes would take a couple days break but never three days in a row. I find this to be pretty amazing...

Later on, I'll be back with something about the training plan that got me to my first half marathon and what I'm planning to do for the rest of Summer...

FM

[FrogMan]

I will also sometimes share motivational pictures that get to me. Here's one with a quote from Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi.

Yup, that's exactly why I'm into running. Still pretty amaze at what my body can do...

FM

[Alf]

fwiw, I prefer metric

[britrock88]

Wild.

[Alan T]

I'll never have a problem remembering the day you started running... since it is my birthday


Edit: I don't even remember the exact day I started running.. just an approximate month

[BYU 14]

Scary stuff in the race, glad all is well.

You HR is real good, I run about the same pace when I do a 5K and my HR is in the mid to high 130's. What is your average resting HR out of curiosity?

[FrogMan]

thanks for showing up guys, it's always more fun to talk with others than only to yourself

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alf

fwiw, I prefer metric

yes, yes, I bet you do

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Wild.

hehe, thanks, I guess. It was a wild Sunday. Hopefully the next races won't be as wild and more fulfilling in terms of achievements.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I'll never have a problem remembering the day you started running... since it is my birthday


Edit: I don't even remember the exact day I started running.. just an approximate month

hah, that's cool.

I was kinda lucky to start running with an app that spitted out a GPX file that I immediately uploaded to Strava and later on to Garmin Connect when I got my watch. Made it very easy to find it back.

For the record, here's a link to that first run/walk. Man, look at that blazing fast pace!!!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/327245714

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Scary stuff in the race, glad all is well.

You HR is real good, I run about the same pace when I do a 5K and my HR is in the mid to high 130's. What is your average resting HR out of curiosity?

Yeah, was kinda scary, as are most things unknown. Me, I didn't have much time to get scared, but I know it scared the bejesus out of my loved ones. Both my sons cried over the whole thing. My youngest went to his soccer practice with my mother-in-law at the same time of my race and my wife told me he broke down and cried when she called home to tell them about my ordeal. My 17yo son weeped like a baby when I squeezed his hands as he got closer to my ER bed. I still get emotional thinking about it but all is well now, I'll learn from this and will move on trying not to repeat the mistakes.

As for my resting HR, if I simply lie down and calm the heck down, calm my breathing, I can stay at about 49-50 BPM at rest. EMT asked me if I knew my blood pressure and I honestly had no clue as I dadn't had it taken in years. Reason why he asked is that he felt it was very low. I didn't ask for a number then but at the ER when the nurse took my vitals one last time before I left, she took my BP and I asked her for the numbers: 102/58. From all account, that is pretty low. From whats she said, it wasn't completely unheard of from pretty fit people. I think I could fit the profile of a pretty fit person, especially at the end of a 12 week training cycle in which I ran 6 times a week...

FM

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

hah, that's cool.

I was kinda lucky to start running with an app that spitted out a GPX file that I immediately uploaded to Strava and later on to Garmin Connect when I got my watch. Made it very easy to find it back.

For the record, here's a link to that first run/walk. Man, look at that blazing fast pace!!!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/327245714

FM

I did the couch to 5k for a few weeks before I actually started recording my "runs". So the best guess I have is that I started somewhere in August 2012. My first recorded run that I have is from September 16th where I ran 2.6 miles at a 12:51 pace. I know that the couch to 5k the weeks before that were all slower though.

I remember one day my wife and I went to my daughter's school and back, which is pretty close to 2.8 miles and it took us 43 minutes.

It is pretty fun to look back and see how much progress is made with all of this hard work!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

It is pretty fun to look back and see how much progress is made with all of this hard work!

very much yeah! I found it VERY interesting when I posted that link to my first run ever to neuqua on Strava, commenting on his recent first run. I remembered it being a walk/run thing but until just a few days ago, it wasn't registering how much progress I've made in a year.

I'll go back over that year over the next few days and will go back to check on that first "competitive" 10K, the first "Any Way 10K" on Strava. My average pace was just over 5:00/km and I seriously thought I was gonna die. I remember doing one kilometer, around the 7th or 8th, under 5 minutes and was all woah...

Again, I'm still amazed at what my body can do...

FM

[FrogMan]

Plan called for 6 miles, 3 of which at 10K pace or so but I'm continuing a reverse taper so no real speedwork yet. Ended up doing 9.7 km in 52:46 for an average pace of 5:26/km. Some stretches were done a wee bit faster than yesterday's easy pace but still nothing qualifying as speedwork.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/495974352

Given the fact I leave for work, and to drop my sons at their bus stop, at 6:55, any run that lasts over 50 minutes is always a tight squeeze in the morning. I usually set my alarm for 5:03 and try to head out the door around 5:20 to come back in around 6:10-6:15 so I can upload the run and look at the numbers a tiny bit then hit the shower, eat breakfast and get ready to leave for work. This morning however, I was a bit slow getting up and it was 5:28 when I started my run, meaning I got back in past 6:20 and in the process, freaked my wife because she was expecting me back in before. Sigh... Should have seen her eyes when I walked back in after my run. I know that's because she care about me but I really was in no danger during a run like this...

Still, I agree I was running late, and because of that, wasn't able to upload anything from home. Had to do it when I got to work...

Overall the run felt pretty good. No real strain anywhere. Glutes are still a bit tight but better, same with lower back. I really must have hit my left knee in my fall in that DNF because it is sore. Not bothering me when I ran but feeling it when walking and going up/down stairs post run.

I'll be back to explain my current tiny training plan a bit later, once I've established the basis of my past training plans. For now I'll describe my days as they happen until we're caught up with the timeline...

FM

[Alan T]

I can imagine your family might be a little nervous when you are out on runs for a bit. perhaps it would make them feel a little more at ease if they could just look to see where you are at any given time and see that you are still moving or following your planned path.

A few things that my wife and I use for this are:
1) Garmin Connect Live tracking (I think you have a 210 so this probably is not an option for that watch though).
2) Road ID Live tracking app for iphones - It is similar to the garmin connect and you can send a message to someone's email or text message them with a URL that they can use to open a web browser and follow your run.
3) Find your friend app on iphone - It does not give details about the run, but you can see where someone is and roughly see if they are moving around or not.

I know it helps my wife and I feel a bit better when the other is out running if we know where they are.

[Kodos]

I think RunKeeper Elite lets you broadcast your runs live too. I think...

Will be following along on this.

For fun, here's my first run. June 1st, last year. Guess I have an anniversary coming up

Chris Pullen Clinton, CT, USA - RunKeeper

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I can imagine your family might be a little nervous when you are out on runs for a bit. perhaps it would make them feel a little more at ease if they could just look to see where you are at any given time and see that you are still moving or following your planned path.

A few things that my wife and I use for this are:
1) Garmin Connect Live tracking (I think you have a 210 so this probably is not an option for that watch though).
2) Road ID Live tracking app for iphones - It is similar to the garmin connect and you can send a message to someone's email or text message them with a URL that they can use to open a web browser and follow your run.
3) Find your friend app on iphone - It does not give details about the run, but you can see where someone is and roughly see if they are moving around or not.

I know it helps my wife and I feel a bit better when the other is out running if we know where they are.

Well, my sons don't realize if anything's wrong. Life's back to normal, dad's gone running, that's all.

For my wife, it's a whole other story, and I understand that, and in a sense, it means a lot to me that after some 21 years together, she still feels that way because I would freak a bit too if she'd had some health or whatever other issue and would be coming home late.

These are good options. I also have used Runkeeper live tracking, as Kodos talked about, before on a long run and for the half but it lost GPS signal at km 11 of the half so that was not of much use. Might have to use it every time for a little while, or maybe use the Road Id one so she at least sees some eCrumb (from what they call them)...

Never heard of that find your friend app, might want to eventually check it...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I think RunKeeper Elite lets you broadcast your runs live too. I think...

Will be following along on this.

For fun, here's my first run. June 1st, last year. Guess I have an anniversary coming up

Chris Pullen Clinton, CT, USA - RunKeeper

ahh, that track...

Pretty funny you started the next morning after my first run

Thanks for following!

FM

[FrogMan]

Let's go back in time a bit...

Since my running history is less than a year, I should be able to spot some key runs and races (a few of them virtual Strava challenges) that will highlight my progression in that last year. So let's go back in time.

During the early part of that first Summer of running, the concept of using a training plan was at first foreign and kind of unnecessary to me. I simply wanted to get out there and run a bit, letting my body guide when it felt ok to run. I had little clue what I was doing but I was happy doing it and I felt free when running and listening to music. That was enough.

I signed up for Strava almost immediately and was amazed at the metrics you could look at. Watching and analyzing the stats of a run became almost as fun to me as the run itself. I wasn't really trying to go faster every run, again just running and comparing if the pace I was doing felt easier or tougher than the previous time I did a similar distance/pace kind of run.

I didn't use any C25K plan other than my own that lasted two runs. On June 3rd, I ran my first 5K without walking. It took me 29:21 or an average pace of 5:52/km. It wasn't a race or anything and maybe I could have pushed it but I was simply very happy and kinda proud to say I had just run 5 kilometers without walking...

Only a couple weeks after that run, Strava held their first "Any Way 10K" challenge for which you had to do a run of at least 10 km on June 16 or 17, 2013 and they would rank you based on your average pace. I still didn't have a training plan in place and decided to take a shot at that 10K the day before that weekend.

Before that 10K challenge, my longest run to date at that point was 7.22 km. With a mere 2 weeks of running under my belt, I was very much a newbie. Such a newbie that a proper warmup for me was to walk around a bit, stretch some and then go. I had little clue what could be my average pace over a 10K.

It ended up being a pretty good first hard run. 10.54 km in 54:25 for an average pace at 5:10/km (8:18/mile). The extra 0.54 was because I wanted to make sure it would qualify for the "more than 10 km" rule. Looking back, if you take only the first 10 km, it took me 50:30 for an average pace of 5:03/km (8:08/mile).

I started out that virtual race just a bit fast but not too fast. First K in 4:50 but settled at about 5:02 or so for a few K then had one slow one at 5:14 only to rebound and do one under 5 at the 8K mark. I was very pleased with that run at the time, so pleased that I ended up ordering a couple t-shirts from Strava, including the one they had designed that said "Any Way 10K finisher". It was something special for me and little did I know, maybe the start of something special for the future...


FM

[AnalBumCover]

Following along here too.

As for live tracking, I've been using Glympse.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Following along here too.

As for live tracking, I've been using Glympse.

Oh, thanks for the recommendation. From what little I've seen of it, I like what I see. Might just fit my need for a no hassle tracking bug... The Road Id one could work too. Since I use my Garmin watch to track my running, and my runs are synced from Garmin Connect to Runkeeper, I'm not so sure I like using it (it causes a double activity to post to Runkeeper). That and the fact it died on me during a run, actually causing more stress than relief to my wife...

And welcome aboard.

[FrogMan]

Back to my running timeline, summer of 2013

The next few weeks had nothing really special. I kept running every other day as I just wasn't able to run on back to back days. But I was steady, one week I ran 3 times, the other week I ran 4 times, or sometimes would take a couple days off and run 3 times in back to back weeks, but I kept at it. Even got my oldest son to do a few runs with me...

I didn't even see entering a race as an option at the time since I didn't really feel ready to drop money for a medal but I wanted to test myself. Mid July I planned to head out on a Thursday morning before work and see how fast I could run a 5K. Nothing else but going all out over 5 kilometers. I did that test on July 11th and ran a 5K in 22:50, or an average pace of 4:34/km (7:21/mile). Again, I was pretty pleased with that, I was improving...

My three weeks of summer vacation came, around the end of July, beginning of August and I kept on running every other day and even did a couple of back to back days. The idea of someday running to my dojo and back crept into my mind. I knew it was about a 13 km round trip but it kinda scared me since now I wouldn't be running around the neighborhood but on a strainght line out and back. I remember that I wanted to get it done before Labour day weekend.

I still didn't really have a formal training plan in place but I was learning a bit every week. I had done my first intervals (6x 400m) around the beginning of July and then again around the end of July (8x 400m). Interesting to see how much faster I was hitting my splits just 3 weeks later, even though I did two more reps in that second workout.

Had my first real hill workout on July 31st and not too sure why, but it's not showing real elevation on the map on Garmin Connect by I tell ya, that hill is a b*tch!

These little workout kinda moved me toward the idea that I could, someday, want to try my feet in a real race. I had passed on a local 5K/10K at the beginning of July because I didn't feel ready, but by the end of July, I was beginning to feel ready to enter one. I picked a very local race, a 10K and on August 1st or about, I signed up for that race that was to be held on August 18th. In retrospect, that didn't give me much time to put a training plan in place but frankly, I didn't care much about training plans and such back then. I was still freestyling it, going with the flow, trying stuff.

Before that race was to happen, Strava had another pace based challenged coming in early August, the ROLL Recovery R8K. I ran that one on my own on Agust 5th, clocking in 8 km in 37:32 for an average pace of 4:41/km (7:33/mile). That was another new experience to me. 8 kilometers is an odd distance. You have the feeling you want to push like a 5K but that last 3 km kills ya, especially when you're still a newbie...

GM

[FrogMan]

I decided to make today a rest day. I usually rest on Friday (and Monday if I'm on a 5 days/week plan) but with a race coming up on Monday May 19th and no real taper to speak, it made more sense to push the rest on day and run the Saturday run on Friday this week...

This quote popped up on my FB wall today and it is soooooooo appropriate to how I see my first half marathon...


I will try again, more intellegently this time.

Back to my Summer of 2013 in a moment...

FM

[FrogMan]

Now back to the Summer of 2013...

After that 8K Strava challenge on August 5th, a Monday, I had a little less than two weeks to really get ready for my first real race that would happen Sunday August 18th.

Don't remember if I even looked at a training plan or not but with only 13 days to go, there just wasn't enough time to get involved with one. I just kept on running every other day but started adding more tempo work at the pace I thought I could be able to sustain in that 10K. I ran two separate 10K runs in the week leading to the race.

Here's the race report I posted after that race:

=============================================
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/361043024

Well, it's done, the first race is in the books! Official time (from chip) comes to 46:09, VERY proud of this time.

I usually don't do much warmup but this race situation forced me to do some reading and everything I'd read about 5k and 10k races said a mile or two was ok, while some runner almost ran for 20-30 minutes before their race, with some race pace strides in there. Ended up doing four race pace strides at the end of 2 km and I now know the importance of a good warmup. That 2 km was done at an average of 6 min/km (9:39 per mile or so), strides included...

After that warmup which ended with maybe 8-10 minutes to go before the start, I kept active in line for the start, keeping my HR at about 125-128 and I started with a solid pace at about 4:31 (7:16 per mile) or so for the first 5 km then slowed down just a bit and had a VERY good last km (4:24 according to my watch).

Amazing experience, there's really something special about running in the middle of people at the start, then settling in a good spot and sometimes passing some slightly slower runners. I didn't know what to expect at first and it was just a bundle of people so I almost got stuck behind some slower people, especially on a part of the course that was narrower, but it all worked itself out and it was some tough fun

I was following a faster lady around the 9th km when I really started pushing. She was probably pushing too for a little while until I really got on to her and she just said and low "go, get it!" That was about all I needed to gun the last 400m.

It was also very nice that my wife, my two sons and even my mother-in-law where there to cheer me on. Since it was a 5k loop with some double passes, they were able to see me 4 times and I commented to my wife after the race that every time I'd pass in front of them, I'd look at my watch for my current pace and it would automatically shoot up to about 4:05 or 4:10 per km.

Website with results isn't up but from the sheet at the race site, I finished 70th, 60th among men, 11th among men 40-49. There were 249 registered runners for the 10k last year and based on my initial goal of 47:40 I was simply hoping to make it into the top 100. Happy with #70

Some may remember my heart rate usually never really going up there, well, it did go up today. Average HR of 160 with max of 169...

Overall a very nice experience!
===================================


Final results: 46:09.8, average pace of 4:37/km (7:26/mile)
Overall: 69/247, or in top 27.9%
Men: 60/160, or in top 37.5%
Men 40-49: 11/38 or in top 28.9%

Looking back I'm just as proud now of that first race as I was back then. It was a pretty hot day for a first race... Heck, that was 4 seconds per km better than that 8K challenge I'd done only a couple weeks prior...

Here are some pics from that race

Standing in line for start, looking serious and focused


Again more of the serious type


Time stamp is about 10:25 so about 5-6 km into the race:


After the last turn and entering the very last 200-300 meters


Going full out now, do or die time!


After race smile


More after race smile, from up close, thanks to my photographer, my 16yo son


Sweaty hug for my greatest supporter, my wife of 16 years


And even a sweaty after race kiss


My wife ended up framing that first bib and it's still on our bedroom wall:


FM

[FrogMan]

plan called for an 8 mile run with 1/4 of it at race pace. I'm using the last four weeks of an advanced 10K Hal Higdon plan until I get to 12 weeks from my next half marathon and then will switch back to an advanced HH half marathon plan similar to the plan I used to get ready for last week's HM.

I converted 8 miles to a 13K run but didn't feel ready to really push it at 10K pace for 3 of those kilometers so I did a progression over 4 km. Dang my legs felt heavy during the progression...

Averaged 5:24/km for the first 8 km then aimed for 5:00, 4:45, 4:30 and finally 4:15/km before going back to 5:30 for a cooldown km.

km#9: 4:55
km#10: 4:39
km#11: 4:36 (waited a good 20 seconds at a red light, tried to sprint to make up time then backed off a bit)
km#12: 4:10

that 4:10 was a rough one, heavy, heavy legs, but I'm happy I did it. I'm also happy I did the progression in stead of pushing for 3 km at 4:15 or so. Even more so that I ran this at about 4pm, after a busy day around the house and cleaning the windows of the dojo. I'm spent now...

Run stats: 13.1 km, 1:07:32, 5:09/km
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/497822528

FM

[FrogMan]

Easy 5 km at a very easy pace this morning, as opposed to my usual easy pace. That is, I told myself "to hell with my pace!" and just ran as efficiently as I could in order to keep my heart rate under 120.

That meant 5.23 km in 30:14 for an average pace of 5:47/km or 9:18/mile. That's close to 30 seconds slower per mile compared to my usual easy pace, but I kept the HR down.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/498066952

That was kind of necessary since my legs were kinda shot after yesterday's long run. That's kinda strange, probably remainders of that HM.

I got a 30 minutes progression run tomorrow but that's not the one I'm dreading the most in my week. Wednesday will be speedwork day and the plan calls for 11x400m @ mile pace. Even though I've used this Hal Higdon plan before, I've never done this many reps because the last time, I cut 2 reps from all sessions, maxing out at 10 reps.

Now, my mile pace based on most calculators is about 5:51/mile and over 400m, that converts to 1:27 to cover the interval. That's by using Jack Daniels' calculator and a 15K time of 1:03:42 that I did in my half marathon. Thing is, I have never tested myself on a mile alone. My fastest mile in the middle of any run if 6:29. I know I will probably hit the pace over 400m but I'm not too sure I'd be able to keep the pace over 1609 meters...

I usually do 400m hard, 300m rest at an easy jog but if I commit to doing this 11 times, I might do some walking to start my resting periods in order to get the HR down a bit...

It was pretty chilly again this morning. After my first run in t-hirt and shorts yesterday, it was back to running tights, long sleeve tech shirt under my windbreaker jacket. I talked myself out of wearing my gloves and regretted it after less than a K. Could feel my fingers during the run! They are forecasting warmer temperatures for the next few days but a lot more rain.

Also, it's with a little sadness that I askedfor the change of event in my racing schedule this morning. I had planned to do a 19 km staircase challenge in Quebec City and I downgraded the distance to 13 km and the full marathon I had planned to do in August has been changed to a half marathon. I will not attempt a marathon until I have been successful with a half. And I WILL be successfull!

FM

[Alan T]

The old saying... "That which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger". You are going to rock that half this fall!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

The old saying... "That which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger". You are going to rock that half this fall!

yeah, I thought I'd rock that one a week ago too

But you are right, I'm still alive and I have learned. Moving on forward, live to run another day.

FM

[FrogMan]

Solid progression run this morning. I feel like my legs are coming back under me. Hal Higdon's progression runs are usually time based, so a set duration (between 3 and 60 minutes) in which you are supposed to slowly increase your pace to get to about race pace around 3/4 or your run and finish easy. I usualy do them more straight forward, splitting my pace increase in increments of 5 minutes. This morning was a 30 minutes run so I wanted to go easy (5:30 or so per km) for 5 minutes, then increase the pace to 5:10 for 5, then 4:40, then 4:25, then 4:10-4:15 before going back to 5:30 as cooldown.

Kinda screwed up as I went to my fastest pace after 19 minutees instead of 20 but otherwise it went very well.

laps and paces
1) 5:37/km
2) 5:03
3) 4:36
4) 4:20
5) 4:09
6) 5:26

All laps were between 0.9 and 1.2 km in distance...

Remember yesterday's mile pace talk. In today's run I, Strava's telling me I did my third best one mile time in training, that is there was a one mile stretch that I did in 6:41. Sure, it's not a one mile and then stop, but it's a far cry from the 5:51 I will need to pull out for every 400m reps tomorrow.

Regarding that intervals session of tomorrow, I've pretty much settled down to doing 400m hard (@mile pace, 3:38/km or 1:27 per 400m) then 300m rest that I will walk for 150m then jog easy for another 150m. That's gonna be a pretty rough 50 minutes or so but that's how you improve your speed. You get out of it what you put into it!

FM

[FrogMan]

this story kinda hits close to home. She was 5 years younger than me and collapsed at the end of her half marathon. Her time had come I guess. Makes me even happier the ER doc that saw me decided to have me see a cardiologist and went the extra mile, pun vaguely intended , to make sure my heart was in fairly good order...

From:
Virginia woman dies after racing in Frederick Running Festival - The Frederick News-Post : Disasters And Accidents

Virginia woman dies after racing in Frederick Running Festival
By Courtney Mabeus News-Post Staff | Posted: Thursday, May 8, 2014 2:00 am
A Virginia mother of two died Tuesday, two days after she collapsed after competing in Frederick’s half marathon.
Sarah Defren, 38, was an avid runner who ran daily at 5 a.m. and had competed in several past races, her pastor, the Rev. Lisa Webb of Woodstock Presbyterian Church in Woodstock, said Wednesday. Defren suffered a heart attack at the finish line Sunday and was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital before being flown to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Webb said. She never regained consciousness.
“Everyone is in a state of shock,” Webb said.
Defren is survived by her husband, Mark, and two children, Grant, 3, and Brooke, 4, Webb said. A Facebook prayer page had been set up on Defren’s behalf Monday. More than 1,400 people had “liked” the page by Wednesday afternoon. The church is planning a celebration of life service for Defren at 1 p.m. Saturday. Woodstock is about an hour and a half southwest of Frederick off I-81.
Webb thanked the first responders, doctors and hospital staff who came to Defren’s aid. She had spoken with Defren a day before the race about her desire to volunteer at the church. Defren worked as a physical therapist who specialized in caring for the elderly and people with Alzheimer’s disease, Webb said.
According to online results, Defren finished Sunday’s race in 2:38:03.
Frederick Running Festival organizer Corrigan Sports Enterprises President Lee Corrigan said Defren sprinted across the finish line and was talking to a member of the medical team. She “went down right there,” Corrigan said.
Defren’s death is the first in the Frederick Running Festival’s history, Corrigan said.
A female runner died after the 2001 Baltimore Marathon of a brain aneurysm, CSE spokesman Dave Gell said. A male runner died in 2009; the cause was not determined, Gell said.
Corrigan said the company had reached out to the family in support. Defren also ran in the 2013 Frederick festival, Gell said.
“All we can do is be as prepared as we can, and I think we did do a good job with that,” Corrigan said Wednesday.
Deaths following long-distance running events, while rare, have gained greater attention in recent years as such races become more popular, said Paul D. Thompson, chief of cardiology at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. Thompson helped write a 2012 study in the New England Journal of Medicine that calculated a total of 59 cardiac arrests — 40 in marathons and 19 in half marathons — among 10.9 million race participants in the U.S. from 2000 through 2010. Of those 59 who suffered cardiac arrests, 42 runners, or 71 percent, died.
The overall rate of cardiac arrest-related deaths from running is about one for every 184,000 participants, according to the study. One in 100,000 deaths is among men, while one in 500,000 is among women, Thompson said.
The cause of death in runners also varies in part by age, Thompson said. Among people under 30, cardiac arrests are often the result of an unknown congenital heart problem that doesn’t become apparent until around the race, he said. Among older adults, other contributing factors, including narrowed arteries, are often a factor, he said. Some people may also overhydrate during a race, leading to death.
“There are more deaths, and that’s because marathoning has become a bucket list sport,” said Thompson, who has run the Boston Marathon 29 times.
According to the nonprofit Running USA, the half marathon has been the fastest-growing standard distance race in the country since 2003. The number of half-marathon finishers in the U.S. quadrupled from 482,000 in 2000 to more than 1.96 million in 2013, according to an annual report released in April. During that same period, the number of runners finishing U.S. marathons increased from 353,000 in 2000 to 541,000 — a record high — in 2013.
A 20-year-old Colorado woman died Sunday after collapsing near the finish of that day’s Boulder Spring half marathon, according to a story published Monday in The Daily Camera. Last month, two men died after participating in a Rock ’N’ Roll half marathon in Raleigh, North Carolina, The News & Observer reported. In March, a 16-year-old girl died after finishing the Shamrock half marathon in Virginia Beach, and a man died in England after collapsing near the end of a half marathon in Hampshire, according to Runners World.

FM

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

Kinda screwed up as I went to my fastest pace after 19 minutees instead of 20 but otherwise it went very well.

On my Higdon progression runs, I almost always end up getting to my goal speed like 2-3 minutes early. I haven't seemed to be able to stop myself from doing it either even when trying to focus on it.

I think though that I'm not a huge fan of Higdon's progression runs though. The more I look at various workouts, I really like how Pfitzinger and Daniels handle their tempo runs and progression runs more though.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I think though that I'm not a huge fan of Higdon's progression runs though. The more I look at various workouts, I really like how Pfitzinger and Daniels handle their tempo runs and progression runs more though.

how do they go about them, specifically?

Tempo run is a set pace for a period of time, right?

FM

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

how do they go about them, specifically?

Tempo run is a set pace for a period of time, right?

FM

Well Pfitzinger for instance has tempo runs called lactate threshold runs, but basically it is like Higdon's 3/1 long runs but in reverse. Instead you would have say a tempo run scheduled for perhaps 10 miles, but what it means is:

2 miles warmup pace -> 7 miles at your lactate threshold level (generally 15k-half marathon pace) -> 1 mile cooldown. Where just like higdon, over the 2 mile warmup you gradually speed up to your tempo pace.

With Higdon's progressive tempo runs, it feels more like an overly long stride instead, where I'm only at my lactate threshold level for a shorter period of time (maybe 5 minutes tops) and the majority of the time is gradually speeding up or slowing down instead.

For me I guess I like to have every exercise have a purpose.. either 1) Aerobic training 2) Lactate threshold .. 3) Speed work. The Higdon tempo progression seems to be a mix of #1 and #2 but not necessarily hitting on either solidly.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Well Pfitzinger for instance has tempo runs called lactate threshold runs, but basically it is like Higdon's 3/1 long runs but in reverse. Instead you would have say a tempo run scheduled for perhaps 10 miles, but what it means is:

2 miles warmup pace -> 7 miles at your lactate threshold level (generally 15k-half marathon pace) -> 1 mile cooldown. Where just like higdon, over the 2 mile warmup you gradually speed up to your tempo pace.

With Higdon's progressive tempo runs, it feels more like an overly long stride instead, where I'm only at my lactate threshold level for a shorter period of time (maybe 5 minutes tops) and the majority of the time is gradually speeding up or slowing down instead.

For me I guess I like to have every exercise have a purpose.. either 1) Aerobic training 2) Lactate threshold .. 3) Speed work. The Higdon tempo progression seems to be a mix of #1 and #2 but not necessarily hitting on either solidly.

I see but as I said about Higdon's progression runs, I don't really do them the way he prescribes them. Instead of increasing the pace and hitting my goal pace only for a couple minutes then slowing down the pace, I only increase then drop back at once for the last 5 minutes of cooldown only. Doing that, I hit a little bit of everything and don't lose much time slowing down. It's probably not specific enough for you and this might change for me over time but for now, I like that. Maybe I'll get more specific with how I want each workout to help me in the future, who knows...

FM

[FrogMan]

Flashback to continue the chronology of the Summer of 2013...

That 10K race, or the couple days that followed actually, brought a big light bulb over my head. When I usually would have taken at least a couple days off after such a race, I discovered the terms "recovery run" and I ran the very next day, then the day after making it sort of my first running streak, of 3 days!!!

I again simply kept running every other day and on September 1st, I achieved me goal of running from our home to my dojo and back, running my longest ever run at once, 14.4 km!

I was proud of that run, even though it was done at a fairly easy pace. That was 1:21:03 of running with no walking...

I had been thinking about entering a local race, an 18K race. I didn't feel ready for a half marathon but thought I could at least do 3.5 more kilometers than what I had just done. On Sunday, September 15th I ran 18.2 km on a regular easy run and that was just enough to convince me and I signed up for that 18K race that would be held on October 20th. That left me five weeks to get ready, or at least a tiny bit readier...

I had started reading about Hal Higdon's training that are free to use from his website and opted to use the last 5 weeks of his Intermediate half marathon plan but with adjusted distance since (1) I would not be running a half and (2) I didn't feel ready to do these sort of distances.

Here's what my 5 week plan looked like, starting from week 8 of his 12 week plan:


Yup, I was planning to run 5 days a week, three days in a row midweek and both days on the weekend. I can honestly say this was when I started to take my training a bit more seriously. It's also when I realized that running BEFORE work was doable, even though it meant waking up at about 5:05 am.

The plan went well. I liked the easy runs (simply marked as "run") and the different speedwork sessions. A tempo session for him is more a progression run in which I start from my easy pace and progressively increase the pace until I hit my 5K (or faster pace) and leave myself 5 minutes of cooldown easy pace to finish. The Sunday of week 9 is a 15K race in his plan but there were none in the area and I felt with only a 10K under my belt and getting ready for an 18K, it was better to do a decent warmup and cooldown and try my race pace for 13K with fuelling. I remember it was a pretty warm day and it didn't go well. I titled that run in my logs this way: "unconvincing race pace test, i.e. I'm still a newbie". Yup felt very much like a newbie. Tried a gel for fuel and had a very hard time getting it down and have yet to try a gel again. (Note to self: buy some different brands of gel next time you're down to the running store) That was my first time trying fuelling during a run. I since have used chews-like drops but if you read my HM race report, you'll see that higher pace, I still had a hard time getting them down. Probably walking a bit and slowing down the pace for 20 seconds might be the answer. More things to try.

While that pace test was a rough eye opener, I continued my training and the week before the race, I went to the race site to try the course. That course was supposed to be a loop around a lake that we'd be doing 3 times, 6 km per lap. On that run, I wanted to do half a lap as warmup then one lap at what I expected to be my race pace and that again was an eye opener. That was going to be a heck of hilly ride. While I'd done some hill work over the Summer, never had I gone downhill at more than full speed. The test went well and I felt as ready as I thought I could get.

You can have an idea of the course that we were supposed to run on the map of that run here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/390113554

I say "supposed to run" because I had received an email from the race organizers that they might have to modify the course because of road constructions that were running late. That email had come before I did my two laps around the lake and when I saw the kind of construction, I was almost certain we would not be running around the lake. There was a place where the road was cut to one lane with alternating traffic lights at both ends. Having runners go through that would have cut all car traffic around the lake.

Next up will be the race report I wrote shortly after that race. You'll a course plan with it and of course, some pictures.

FM

[FrogMan]

Race report
Le Défi du Tour du Lac Beaport
October 20th, 2013
Lac Beauport, Quebec, Canada


Prologue commentary
"Défi" translates straight to "Challenge" and "Tour", well you know. So this could have been translated loosely as the "Tour around the Lake Challenge" It WAS supposed to be a 6km loop around a local lake with race distances of 6, 12, or 18 km. I say WAS because they had to change it with about 6 days notice because of some road construction that were cutting off one lane of the local road. On race day, they take one lane of the local road for runners and the other is for cars going on a one way around the lake. Because of the construction, there would have been no way for cars to come and go at all so they settled for a 3km stretch on the north side of the lake that runners would go out and back, making it 6km in length. Once for those running the 6km, twice for the 12k'ers and 3 times out for the other 18k'ers.

This being my first Summer at running, I didn't feel ready to do a half marathon but I felt like 18k would be all right. In retrospect now, I think I could have done a half, but I'm happy with my decision to sign up for this 18k. The race in itself is pretty small. Overall, looking at the official results, I count about 750 entries, for all three distances. Only 96 runners finished in the 18k race.

Going into this, and up to last week, I had not realized how hilly this course (either the original or the revised version) would be. Indeed, they call it a "Challenge" and it really was.

Training
I used a modified Hal Higdon intermediate 2 half marathon schedule to train for this race. Modified in two ways: (1) I cut some of the mileage because I didn't feel it was safe to run the kind of mileage it was asking for given where I was on my usual weekly mileage and also because I was training for a slightly shorter race than a half marathon and (2) since I signed up late for it, I used only the last 5 weeks of his 12 weeks program. Looking back at it, I liked his 5 days a week schedule that works in some speedwork with easy runs and plan on using some of his other training programs in the future but had I decided earlier that I would do this race, and knowing how hilly it would be, I would have done more hill work. Live and learn.

Saturday, Sunday morning and pre-race
Saturday was rough. I started feeling the beginning of a headcold I was afraid would latch on for over a week now. You know, itchy sinuses, dull headache, some muscle soreness that comes from nowhere, in my case between my neck and right shoulder, although I had not lifted anything last week. Where I had to go to get my bib was in downtown Quebec City but dang stupid road construction (seems to be a theme around town!) made it a crazy adventure to get there and back, what with the headache, I was not feeling good about the next morning. My oldest son also had a hockey game at 5:30 that afternoon, killing any plan of simply having a light quiet dinner and relax all evening. Ended up having a roast beef sub at Subway just before his game. Could have been worse, could have been better...

Woke up on Sunday fairly rested after what I thought had been a good night sleep. Cold had not gotten worse and other than what had become a usual dull headache and some stuffy sinuses, I didn't feel too bad. Took a sudafed and a couple tylenol before breakfast and felt quite okay from then on out. I say "what I thought" had been a good night sleep cause my wife said I probably ran half my race overnight. She said I shuffled around a heck of a lot under the sheets.

Since parking spaces would be restricted around the start/finish area, we'd been instructed to park at a nearby ski resort and that we'd be shuttled in by school buses to the race site. This resort is maybe only 2km from race site so not a very long bus ride but still a bit special, especially since my wife, two sons and mother-in-law were coming to cheer me on but they had to take a later bus since the first few were reserved for runners. Boarding the bus alone made it weird for me.

The whole setup is very nice though, especially with the tree's in their autumn colors. I had two photographers for this race. While our 16yo son had the nice Canon camera I thought it was a good idea to leave our 9yo have our old Kodak Easyshare camera with a couple set of spare batteries. He had a blast.

Here's a pic of the mountain around the ski resort that he took...


Other than the nice way, what struck me as I got out of the car was how cold and wet it was. We left home to a cloudy sky but no rain and dry pavement and got there, about 40 minutes away from home to a rainy, windy, cold kind of a place.

Don't know what I was saying there but this is a pic of me before the race, tell me I don't look cold...


Here's me warming up, you can see the lake in the background


Another from the warmup, that's my wife in the foreground. She looks cold doesn't she? Poor darling...


It really was a miserable day for supporters, and for racers waiting for the start. I ran a VERY easy kilometer to simply get the blood flowing and not only warmup the muscles but simply warm up my body...

My fueling plan was fairly simple. I wanted to take one pouch of some sunkist fruit candies every 20 minutes. These are not your traditional fueling options but I had used them a couple times on long runs so I knew they'd work. I wore my hydration belt because I trusted drinking from my bottles more than from them little cups they pass you on the race. Thing was, the hydration belt could only hold two of these pouches on the outside pocket. With it being all rainy and everything, I didn't want to put anything inside with my phone that was also my music source for the run. I then devised the following teamwork plan and told my 9yo son he'd have the job of feeding me one of these pouches on each of my two passes back in front of them. He was happy to be able to help.

The race
We finally go to the start. I'd looked at last year's times and figured my expected time would put me at about the bottom of the top tier or runners so I took place accordingly. It was about right as i didn't feel jammed at the start and wasn't passed by a ton of runners either.

Here's to give you an idea of what the 3km stretch looked like:


As you can see, it starts fairly flat although there's a slight downhill at 500m followed but I reasonable uphill for 600-700m than a long dowhill for almost 1 km. We'd then reverse course to head back in, facing that long battle uphill for 900m or so just after you turned around the big orange traffic cones. That long uphill was a legbreaker. Here's a closer look at what I have dubbed loose lace hill (anecdote coming later)


As for overall conditions, it was raining for most of the race and it was especially windy at times, mostly when we hit the higher up North spot on the course where you can see that we were passing closest to the lake. At that spot, there was no cover from trees from the wind blowing from the lake and sometimes the rain would pick up and really splash you in the face. It was quite an experience...

Loop #1, (Start to 6k)
I felt very good right out the gate. The couple days off before Sunday had really rested my legs and the first couple kilometers felt unforced, kinda helped by the downill a bit. I had set my watch to show me the overall average pace for the run instead of my usual setting at "current pace". Last Sunday when doing my test run I'd realized that the current pace would vary wildy from downhil to uphill and back down and I had no idea how good or bad it was going overall. With the average pace for the run, I at least had an idea of how good/bad the race was going. First time I looked at the watch was about 600 meters in and my pace was at 4:32 per km (7:18 per mile). I would hold that pace for my first 6 km.

It was going so well, I had given an approximate time of my coming back to my wife, and had set a song on my playlist to match my seeing them, but I was running way ahead of it that the song started mayb 300m after I'd left the turn back out. Not only that, but they completely missed me looping back around! My wife said she actually thought I'd be turning closer to the start/finish line and wasn't looking at the right place, but she also said she didn't expect me back as quickly.

Time for that 6k: 27:17 (4:33/km, 7:19/mile)
time for the 3k out: 13:18 (4:26/km, 7:08/mile)
time for the 3k in: 13:59 (4:40/km, 7:30/mile)


Loop #2, (from 6k to 12k)
I was kinda bummed to have missed them but wasn't sure if they were not just there and I couldn't see them. I tried scanning what little crowd there was and couldn't find their face and I'm usually good at that. I also hadn't taken any of the sunkist pouches yet, hoping to get one from my son at the turnaround. I dug one from my hydration belt and that's when "A little Party never killed nobody" from Fergie came on, that song I wanted to have playing when I'd see my wife's face. It's a song she'll be dancing hiphop on for their next group choreography and for some reason, it always gets me going. It sure did and I picked up the pace, or at least didn't let it drop too much going downhill.

This time around, the big Loose lace hill did a bigger number on my legs, and my shoes were soaking. That's also when noticed the lace of my left starting tocome untied. Not completely but I kept an eye on it. Legs were burning at about the 10k mark, coming atop that long hill but I pushed on. Average pace was now hovering around 4:38 or 4:40 per km (7:27-7:31) and I was still happy with that. Heart rate was held in check at aroudn 158, but the legs, as usual were the limiting factor.

Kep scanning the crowd as I was coming back to the turnaround and there they were, with my Matthew right by the side orchestrating the perfect handoff of a small sunkist pouch. I get misty eyed simply recalling seeing his face. I'm a big softie...

Time for that 6k: 28:27 (4:45/km, 7:38/mile)
time for the 3k out: 13:55 (4:38/km, 7:28/mile)
time for the 3k in: 14:32 (4:51/km, 7:48/mile)

My average pace after 12k was 4:39/km (7:28/mile) a mere 2 seconds off my best 10k pace on a VERY flat course.

Loop #3, (from 12k to 18k)
Leaving my fans from the turnaround I felt good but had to fight the dang little voice inside that wanted to tell me that there was STILL 6km to be run... Every little uphil was now tougher but I didn't feel any cramping coming. I kept monitoring my left lace but it had not gotten worse since I'd first seen it untie a bit. Then, just as I started going down the big downhill, the other shoe felt loose. Yeah, of course, the other lace had become pertty much completely untied, thus the Loose Lace hill name! There was no way I was gonna stop midway down so I checked my footing and tried to make sure I wouldn't simply fall down and at the pylones stopped to tie my show cause I knew there was no way I could safely run back the last 3k with the right shoe untied. But my of my, the effort it took to start back up that hill!!! Really, that was a low point of the whole race. At some point up that hill, I thought I was simply running in place, not going up AT ALL. I swear, you'd have told me "hey you're going backward man!!!" and I would have believed you. But then I looked at a slightly older man with a bright yellow jacket that was just in front of me and he wasn't getting away from me so I figured "if Ì'm not going up, then he isn't either, plow away dude, plow away" And I did. Then I saw the 16.5k mark on my watch, only 1.5 to go, then 17, then I could see the finish line and I tried pushing but got passed by a couple fellas. Kept them in my line of sight but couldn't get back to them

Here's my sexy face on a final push:


Here's about to cross the finish line and attemps a Olu hop (more later):


Time for that 6k: 29:18 (4:53/km, 7:51/mile)
time for the 3k out: 14:22 (4:47/km, 7:47/mile)
time for the 3k in: 14:56 (4:59/km, 8:00/mile)

Chip time for the race: 1h25m49s, 4:46/km, 7:40/mile

Final results:
22n overall out of 96 entrants or top 22.9%
6th out 22 in Men 40-49 or top 27.2%

VERY happy with these results. When I started training for it, my goal was an average pace at about 4:45 per km but that was before realizing it would be that hilly of a course, I'm satisfied with 4:46 per km and with the race being 18k, I now know I could run a full 21.1 half marathon.

Also looks like the faster 40-49 runners all signed up for the 18k. Had I decided to do the 12k, I would have place 2nd out of 26 with my straight 12k (i.e. without any pushing)!

Right after the race, rocking the badass gloves!


Wife told me to smile, apparently I don't smile much when I'm gasping for air. Again rocking the badass gloves


That was my first bling in a race. That first 10k I did back in August didn't give out medals to finishers.

I also got a bottle, you know the metal type with a sort of latch on it.


After race
I was ok for maybe 5-10 minute then it got real cold, and wet! Feet were spongy as heck.

Waiting to get some after race snack:


Today, I'm pretty sore on some spots I hadn't been sore in a while. Hammies are screaming, calves are sore, shins & ankles ouch. Mostly the pounding of going downhill for the calves, shins and ankles and uphill did the work on the hammies. We'll survive and live to run another day.

Now what?
Well, racing season is about over around here. There's an indoor marathon with distances of 10k, HM and marathon that's to be held in Quebec City on December 8 but that's too soon to my liking to be properly prepared for a half marathon. Might sign up for the 10k but the half, expecially will go to next May. Would like to do my first half outdoors and not around an indoor track...


Outtakes/extras/bloopers!
So, you wanna laugh? Here's my try at a little hop, not jump, and a near faceplant as I cross the finish line. I'd almost call my hop more a stomp cause my feet stomped the ground pretty hard there
attempt at a Olu hop - YouTube

If you're still reading, thanks! And big thanks for all the help and support you guys provide!
============================

I never followed up on that indoor race, as you'll see in a future installment...

Thanks for reading folks!

FM

[FrogMan]

Seeing my rankings compared to the overall field and my age category in that 18K made me remember that while I did not finish my half marathon, I still recorded at a couple of splits measure so I went back and looked what my times were and how I was ranked...

They had two chip intermediate times, one at 11.1 km (or with 10 km to go) and one at 16.1 km (or with 5 km to go)

At the 11.1 km mark, my chip time was 0:47:09 or an average pace of 4:15/km (6:50/mile) and I ranked 105th overall out of 1564 entrants with a time. That's top 6.7%. I ranked 24th out of 286 in the male 40-49 category, or top 8.4%.

At the 16.1 km mark, my chip time was 1:09:28 or an average pace of 4:19/km (6:57/mile) and I ranke 124th overall out of 1564 entrants with a time. That's top 7.9%. I ranked 29th out of 286 in the male 40-49 category, or top 10.1%.

That's a pretty big improvement over my placements in the 18K race, even thought the field was pretty small in the 18K race... Now gotta work on crossing that darn finish line.

FM

[FrogMan]

This morning was the big 11x400m at mile pace that I dreaded so much. It wasn't easy but I got it done!

Based on recent race times, my expected mile time as per the Jack Daniels' calculator would be 5:51 so for 400m, that would have to be 1:27. I hit it, or pretty close to it for 4 of the first 5, then slipped a bit for a few and got back close again for the last one... I remember that some of those had a decent headwind and over 400m going as hard as you can (or just about) this can mean a couple seconds off over 400m.

times
1) 01:24.8
2) 01:29.5
3) 01:26.4
4) 01:26.7
5) 01:31.9
6) 01:27.8
7) 01:33.2
8) 01:34.0
9) 01:35.8
10) 01:34.5
11) 01:28.8

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/499244530

The first one I felt fresh but wasn't feeling the running. The second one felt rough but the 3rd and 4th one I remember feeling very good doing them, about the pace, the rythm and all. After that, fatigue started setting in a bit. Still pretty happy with the workout. Feeling it in the legs now which is a good thing. Was a lot of mental work though. After the 2nd it was, "oh crap, still got 9 of those to do!?!". Then after the 4th it was, "come on man, more than a third of it done!" Then after the 6th, "oh yeah, more of it done than what's left!" Then after the 9th, "hell yeah, only two left!!!"...

I did 300m in between reps, split 150m walk, 150m easy jog. I usually don't walk during my runs but I thought this was the best way to maximize the use of this many 400m reps going hard...

Also, I usually shied away from running in the rain last Summer and would plan my runs around it because I could. I mean, I wasn't really committed to a training plan and pushing a run back a day because it was raining was ok. Now with a tighter schedule, I feel that I need to stick to my schedule or else, why spend the time planning the dang thing? I have to run in the morning or else it's not happening in my days and if it's raining, then so be it. I could go down to the basement and run on the treadmill, and I probably will for some of those easy 5K but for speedwork and pace based work, I'd rather do them on the streets. And you know what, I'm actually enjoying running in the rain!

[Alan T]

Running in the rain , especially during the summer when it gets warmer (I know its not warm where you are just yet) is one of those things that people look at and think it would be awful, but in reality, I really love running in the rain once the weather gets warmer. It actually feels pretty good as long as you have the proper clothing for it.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Running in the rain , especially during the summer when it gets warmer (I know its not warm where you are just yet) is one of those things that people look at and think it would be awful, but in reality, I really love running in the rain once the weather gets warmer. It actually feels pretty good as long as you have the proper clothing for it.

clothing, and the wind (or lack thereof) around you is what will make running in the rain a fun or an absolutely sucky experience. Was about 45F this morning so not really warm, but still better than, say, 34F. A tad warmer would be weird for clothing. I wore my cap, jacket and gloves this morning. It was a sort of long run for a weekday, 51 minutes and my feet were pretty wet and mushy when I got back in. Fingers were just beginning to get wet through the gloves, but my tech shirt under the jacket was soaked with sweat so a bit warmer would be either suck it up and get wet without a jacket or endure being too warm. A fine line to walk but I'm ok with it. As I said, for some easy runs I might stick to the TM but for most dedicated workouts I'll try to hit the road.

FM

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

TWas a lot of mental work though. After the 2nd it was, "oh crap, still got 9 of those to do!?!". Then after the 4th it was, "come on man, more than a third of it done!" Then after the 6th, "oh yeah, more of it done than what's left!" Then after the 9th, "hell yeah, only two left!!!"...

I'm constantly talking to myself like that on the interval runs. "Okay, halfway done with this 400, then only 2 more 400s left. 67% done!"

[FrogMan]

Annnnnnd we're back to 2013

After that 18K race, it looked like my racing season was all but over. Temperatures were dropping, the weather was getting less and less kind. What you could see in the race report pictures, well these kind of days get to be pretty much the norm around the end of October/beginning of November in Quebec and that indoor race didn't look like much fun. That was until Strava announced the second edition of their Any Way 10K. They've since made it a monthly racing series but back in November, it gave me a purpose to train for a few weeks and try to PR on the 10K distance.

Again, the way it worked with this kind of Strava challenge is you have to log a run that's 10 km or more in distance between two dates (in this case Nov. 18 and 24) and they rank you based on your average pace. Doesn't matter if your run is 10, 15 or 21.1 km long but it's the average pace of the whole run that will count, not the fastest 10 km stretch you run within it.

Again, I turned to my good friend Hal Higdon for a training plan and settled on his advanced 10K plan that I modified just a tiny bit. After one week of recovery following the 18K race, in which I still ran close to 20 miles but all at an easy pace, I had about 4 weeks to train before the ovember 24 deadline so I used weeks 5 to 8 of his plan.

Here's what the original Hal Higdon plan looked like:


And here's what I ended up going with:


I remember that we had a karate competition/seminars weekend at the end of week 8 and I didn't expect to be able to fit in such a hard run, thus putting it in the middle of the week.

Distance were converted from miles to kilometers but I also lowered some distances, interval reps and tempo run duration because I didn't feel ready going to 6 runs a week. In fact, the only week I ran 6 times was the first in that plan.

As you can also see, I had planned a special long run on November 3rd. That's when I did my first half marathon long run. We ended up with a very nice day that Sunday and not only did I go the distance of 21.1, I ended up running for 22.3 km. That was quite a milestone for me, and instrumental in convincing me to try for a half in 2014.

On November 21st, at about 5:20am, I set out to run a warmup K with the idea of gunning it for a 10K PR right after that. And gunning it, I did, running 10.5 km in 45:24 for an average pace of 4:19/km (6:57/mile). I remember using that 4:19 average pace and figuring out a time of 43:10 as my new PR for a 10K. The feeling was kinda weird though. There I was, alone and panting in the street near our house and nobody to tell it to. I remember being pretty ecstatic about it and telling my wife as I got back home, putting it into perspective to her, comparing my first 10K time of 46:09 to this hypothetical 43:10. She looked impressed and I was proud of myself, that was good enough for a before work kind of celebration.

I entered maintenance mode following that virtual race only to decide to follow a Facebook page's challenge. "I <3 to run" was challenging their followers to run at least a mile every day in December. I started that challenge a couple days early and from November 27th to December 31st, I ran at least a mile for 35 consecutive days and in the process logged my first 200 km month since I started running.

It's also at the beginning of December that I committed to my full plate of racing for the Summer of 2014 but that is for our next installment.

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I'm constantly talking to myself like that on the interval runs. "Okay, halfway done with this 400, then only 2 more 400s left. 67% done!"

yeah, I do a lot of math work during my runs, especially the ones without music...

FM

[Kodos]

I leave the iPod home for interval workouts. On regular runs, I'm much less conscious of how far along I am and I try to just enjoy the run and listen to music.

Interval workouts kinda suck.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I leave the iPod home for interval workouts. On regular runs, I'm much less conscious of how far along I am. Interval workouts kinda suck.

Same for me although I always take my iPhone with me, for safety reasons. And for intervals, I just need to hear the watch beep at me...

And yeah, they "kinda" suck, the same way that hill runs really do suck, but it's where you earn them fast wheels.

FM

[Kodos]

When it beeps at the end of a 3 minute interval, you're just like "thank you!".

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Kodos

When it beeps at the end of a 3 minute interval, you're just like "thank you!".

or when it beeps at the end of the rest period, I'm like "oh come on, really? so soon???"

FM

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

or when it beeps at the end of the rest period, I'm like "oh come on, really? so soon???"

FM

I find that I have the opposite problem with my rest period.. where I get antsy to want to start up again too soon and have to convince myself to take the full rest so I don't blow up from running it too soon.