Mad Manatee Mentors CLOSED (Poptart/pet pic bribes?) (Page 100)

Glad to hear you're back in the saddle again, Michael.  Coping with mental stuff can be hard but it looks like you've got experience with that and managed to get through it again.  Keep up the good work taking advantage of those endorphins!!  Good to get some races on the schedule too; that helps give you some incentive to get out there.  Dr. Shortstop is lucky to have somebody so concerned about making sure she gets plenty of fresh fruit.

Originally posted by glfprncs Just in from this mornings very wet 10K and while I'm a smidge disappointed that I didn't finish within my goal time (I missed it by 35 seconds), I'm still ridiculously happy with my overall race. The weather was not very enjoyable. Steady rain started 15 minutes before the start and continued all morning. Fortunately, it was 30 degrees WARMER than it was on Friday morning, so temps were in the upper 40s. Every mile (except mile 3 which included the steep 3/4 mile climb up Walton Way hill) was faster than the previous mile and I had a very solid negative split. Miles 4, 5 and 6 were run in 9:17, 9:11 and 9:10, so I'm super pleased with that pace, particularly at the end of 6 miles. It's nice to see that my commitment to training and nutrition is starting to show in my run. I can honestly say that this is the fittest I've felt while running during my entire 'career' as a runner. I'm glad I made the choice to pursue shorter races and triathlon this year so that I could push the pace and base fitness rather than always struggling to build. On a side note, one of the boys I taught last year when he was in the 8th grade saw me at the start of the 10K and he started in the corral ahead of me. I caught up with him at mile 5.5 when he was walking and helped him push through that voice in his head, too. He finished strong just ahead of me. I even got a big hug at the end.

Way to run through the wet conditions, Nancy.  Between that and your fabulous performance, you have every right to be ridiculously happy!!!  So cool to see how you continue to encourage the young runners, both your niece and your former student.  You really deserved that hug.  You're awesome!

Goodness gracious, we've managed to make it to 100 pp. and it's not even the end of February.  I love this bunch's chatty ways.

I'm not sure what the "RW plan" is? Is that a 3rd one going on or another name for one of the previously mentioned ones?

TJ, what is the objective on switching plans? Shifting the days shouldn't be too much of an issue if you stay on the plan you are using. I'd be concerned on the mileage bump for the LSr's were I you, but it all depends on your comfort level, which looks good, according to your logs.  But I do keep going back to the original question in my head, "why change now"?

Sean, being that often makes it sound like a tire, rim, or installation issue, doubtful it's a tube quality issue. If you have one of the tubes, look for the hole. Is it on the outer portion of the tube or the inner? This will help narrow down where the issue resides. If it on the outer portion, have you run your fingers or a cloth around the inside of the tire, looking for anything sharp or out of the ordinary? If the hole is on the inner part of the tube, check to be sure the Rim tape is ok and where it should be. Or the tube could be pinched during installation, although that is kind of a long shot.

I had a shard of glass in one of my early Michelins that took out a couple of tubes, before I found it. Be careful searching for something like that. Don't ask how I know this 

I'm wondering that too.

Also, I can't see the entire RW plan, but from the descriptions given I see everything listed about it as no difference or even a negative. Think I see why some aspects might seem appealing, but from a development viewpoint with the information given I don't see where these are actually better.

Definitely check the insides to see if something even semi-sharp is in there. Both the inside of the tire and on the wheel & rim tape. I've used my finger before and done ok, but have heard of using cloth, or even cotton swabs. Try going both directions too. I've gone around a couple times as well.

Pinch flats are also possible. Do you check to see that the tube is inside the tire after fully seating the tire on the wheel? A little bit can peek out under the tire beads. The tube should have just a little pressure in it to help with the install, but this is before pumping it up to normal pressure.

Hey, everyone.  Been MIA traveling on business the last couple of weeks.  I'm on a bit of a barnstorming tour of our offices for a project I'm working on, first CT then Denver then Chattanooga and Nashville, now up to Philly later this week.  Thankfully my travels haven't been interrupted by this winter mess - I think I'm dodging bullets there.  Trying to get 'er done in the hotel gym - at least I'm keeping up with my strength training anyway.

We had a nice little snowstorm here Saturday, under-forecasted and it hit about two hours early so travel went to hell in a handbasket quickly.  Took me about 90 minutes to make a 40-minute round trip to drop off my daughter, and it got worse from there.  People were abandoning their cars all over the place; officials were saying it was the first traffic situation they've ever seen here, and that's on a Saturday afternoon.

Still catching up a bit, but here's a thought or four:

@Melanie:  glad things are looking up for you - I'm looking at similar dental surgery that I keep putting off because I'm a wimp.  And I agree with giving winter the boot.

@Sean:  I've had groups of flats like that where I just couldn't explain it; I'm talking like 5-6 over the course of 100 miles or so of riding.  Then it just stopped.  Agree with Ben on using cotton swabs; sometimes those little sharp areas are tough to find.

@Nancy:  Awesome job mentoring the kids racing; that's awesome.

Looking forward to the RRs...with my running pretty curtailed right now I don't have anything on the calendar bike-wise until May, so I have to race vicariously through you all.  :-0

I suppose the reason(s) for looking at different plans stem from the discussion last week. I'd been concerned, anyway, that the Higdon plan "only" went to 20. While the Runners World plan also "only" goes to 20 it does it twice. Also, I like that the longest mid-week run is 7 because fitting 9 and 10 mile runs in to an already busy weekday could be challenging.

Here is a comparison of the plans. The 1's on the RW plan are TT's and the first run each week includes strides.

ETA: the last column is weekly total

(plan comp.bmp)

Michael - glad you're back at it.  Endorphins are some of the best stuff out there (exercise is totally my anti-depressant!).

Nancy - great raceS (emphasis on the plural)!  Very cool to have that interaction with the next generation, too!

Pops - congrats on the sublime suffering.  Can't wait to read just why...

TJ - agree on the "why now?" for a couple reasons (more below).  That said, I've always taken training plans as guides - sometimes more and sometimes less strictly followed.  So, there's usually room to modify for your needs (back to the "why" to determine how you might modify).  I've run a number of races with Higdon's plans (10k's and HM's) and liked them, but always either worked them to include some level of multisport or tweaked the days to fit schedule (if a run only focus).  But I did that knowing I was going to at the front end and so was able to follow a "mindful" progression in the run training.  Plans are different but usually have more similarity than difference - you just have to be careful (IMO) if a switch or modification bumps your training from say a mid-mileage portion to a high mileage one or jumps the long run mileage discontinuously or such.

As for my HIM question, I appreciate the responses.  Actually got me noodling, rather than just registering!  Thought about my goals, and they've actually changed a LOT in the last couple years.  From go fast at a given race to being able to continually race year on year.  This season I'm more out to get back into enjoying the race scene, with Sweden being TOTALLY about enjoying the scene (I have no illusions as to how I will place there, even if I had unlimited time to train!).  While some folks like the training and races are stressors, for me they go hand in hand.  I can train without the race, but it's not as fun (and vice versa is a recipe for disaster, of course).  So, I'm going to register for the HIM (yes, it's Galveston, actually) and race to my ability there.  The only A race I plan this season will likely be a HIM in OK in September, but that will even be work dependent.

I'll be happy just to show up trained well enough to race, even if I'm not competitive in my AG. Reminds me of the stages of a fisherman...

Hmmmm.... the above makes sense to me, but I'm not sure I quite got the gist of it in words.  Any rate, thanks for the responses and questions - really helped!

Matt

My sweet mad polymath--much love to you. I think about you nearly every day; you're a hero to me. Tickles me no end you still call me palawan, too.

Golfie--dog anal glands ROMBL (on my bed) snerksnoooort and ... good run!

Teej--the cliche about switching horses midstream. I am not a fan of plans that pack a lot into the long run (Higdon is already right on that border), especially in novice/beginner ones (though most do!). It is just not about the long run. The best and most experienced minds and evidence (so much so that it's too much to list--really! though there are some good directions/links to point you to) have consistently borne out that it's the volume of running over time ... not how far the long runs are. Couple that with people doing those long runs at marathon pace (or doing all of their runs at the same pace, so long run included) and it's too much of a risk for injury.

But, let's talk about you your running's been solid and it would probably bear up with either plan. Given that you've been following one, though, a different one should have clear advantages over the original one, especially in places of weakness. I'm not seeing those weaknesses in the Higdon plan. Conversely, I am seeing them in the RW plan.

Me--the overall trajectory is very slowly better over several days, not day-to-day. Today was pretty good, even got teeny tiny little no-sweat (literally) no impact 'workouts' done. But some days (and tonight) every piece of tissue I've ever broken, strained, sprained, torn, or overused (which would be ... most of them) feels like it's been redone. And that's on major anti-inflams and a dollop of codeine.

Yanti so glad you are seeing improvement, even if it is a long trajectory. Don't overdo your attempt at recovery. There will be other IM's!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yanti, glad to see you're feeling up to getting in a tiny little bit of activity, but sad that it then wholloped you afterwards.  Two steps forward, 1 step back still amounts to 1 step forward.  Keep up the good work and keep taking care of yourself, dear one.

TJ, be really careful about jumping up the mileage in your long runs.  DH did that and ended up with a cartilage tear in his hip.  Trust me, you DON'T want that!!

As for me, I'm excited about my training plan this week.  Coach Tess says to try an itty bitty amount of walk-run 2x this week as well as 20 min. at the pool.  Can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to getting back to doing something other than toe raises and standing on 1 foot!!!!!!  I've been doing some stairs without any problems.  I think the walk/run shouldn't be a problem; we'll see. The pool time is at the end of the week and I'm really hoping my shoulder settles down by then.  It's still grumpy, which I think is in part to all the foam rolling I've been doing (15 min./day, mostly focused on my legs/hips/glutes).  I'm going to take a few days off from the rolling to see if that helps. 

Teej and Happystoned--you are very wise to caution me about being cautious. It's like you guys know me or something and right back atcha, with warm {MELON PRESS}!

First....road race....this Sunday..../twitch

I have a feeling my focus is going to be crap as the weekend gets closer.

I don't know what it is but of the ten or so flats I've had over the years I have never flatted the front.  Just once I'd llike to go through the change task without getting greasy fingers.  As others have said, my first guess is there is still something in there that is not easily seen.  Second guess would be worn or misaligned rim tape.  Better in training than in a race.  Hope you get this years flat out of your system now. 

Oooooh! So exciting!!!!

Here are a few pix of Saturday's race.  The second one is midway up the Rock Trail which is near the top of the climb.  The lady in the foreground is one of the best runners in the area and even she was reduced to a march on this section. Very tough.

Pod, it's time for our Northern-hemisphere winter migration again.

That, and we've gotten to 100pp.

Our brand-spankin' new warm coastal waters here:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=529485&page=1&posts=1#M5095426