swbkrun mentor group 6 years running closed (Page 12)

Thanks, George!   ....and that's WILDFLOWER, I think!!

Ok, here's my bio, I copied the format from George..!

NAME:  David

STORY:  I had my sporty moments when I was young but mainly did them for the fun or social aspects; rugby and squash were my main sports and so I concentrated on sprinting and avoided endurance training.

About 8 years ago we emigrated to Australia (from the UK) and I decided to train for the City2Surf race in Sydney - a 14km very hilly run with 85000 runners, biggest fun run in the world. I got hooked on running and did some HM's and then we moved up to Noosa in Queensland and I got into triathlons.

So far I've done some sprints and Oly's and I'm hooked again!

FAMILY:  Married since 1996, 3 kids a labrador and a Siamese cat.

My youngest 2 kids have done some kids triathlons and are quite sporty; they're all good swimmers, most kids here swim to squad level.

My wife isn't really into the sport thing but since we moved up to Noosa she's started playing tennis and ran a 3k fun run with the kids.

HOBBIES: I'm a volunteer surf life saver at Noosa Surf Club and do a bit of surfing. My job's fairly demanding so triathlon is the main hobby I can fit in.

TRAINING:  I try to stick to a fairly set routine which fits in with my life; I've used Don Fink's book (Be IronFit) to help with scheduling.

I'm good at following a plan but struggle when I'm between plans.

Currently I'm in week 4 of a 16 week marathon plan.

2011 RACES:  Some sprint tri's, a HM, 5k's,10k's, 2 Oly's

2012 RACES:  The season here is a bit wierd, it starts in September, stops around Christmas due to the heat and humidity then re-starts until May, then it's running season until September again.

I've done the Mooloolaba Oly and next will be the Gold Coast Marathon with a HM somewhere before the marathon.

I need to come up with a bigger triathlon target race.

WHAT I BRING TO THE MG:  I know a bit about running and ocean swimming but I'm still learning about cycling.

I try to chip in if I know something!

WEIGHT:  I gained weight when we first had kids but got rid of it quickly and I'm good a controlling it now.

I'm just over 6 foot and weigh 76kg (167lbs) and this seems to suit me.

This group is great! It's not really a question and answer type of MG, it's more like hanging out with people who know a lot more about the sport and just picking up gems as you go along; there's a huge amount of knowledge here and lots of support!

 ??

I've been waiting for the 500 posts as taper madness sets in...haven't seen it yet.  Getting excited for you!

Finally got in a half decent swim. I did a time trial with the club here. Only 500 m and took me 10 minutes but it was the first continuous 500m  I've done this year. I've been having a lot of trouble with my shoulder over the past 6/7 months but it is starting to get better. Not sure exactly what it is but the second rib is pushing up on my collar bone and causing lots of pain. It's a challenge to get my arm over my head doing the free style crawl.

anyway off to the pool again this morning for a coaching ans swim session.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Dan, love the post-swim pic.  You're ripped!!! Dayum!  Are you trying to make George feel bad? 

Its working...

Rob, way to push through and swim your 500 m TT. Take care of that shoulder!

Just finished the Scotland 10k in 44:14 so I didnt make my goal of 43:39 I set from Mcmillians calculator based of a 20:58 5k I did on the 1st. That 5k was on a flat course while this was in Central park which has a bunch of rolling hills and a congested course(approx 11k runners). Splits were 7:03,7:02,6:59,7:23,6:59,7:02, 1:47(.26 miles).

I did however set a new PR from my last 10k race in 2010 which was a 48:27.

PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, though, congratulations!! Nice race!! Macmillan does let you adjust your VDOT based on conditions (hills, weather, wind) -- so you were really close to the prediction, IMO. Well done!!!!

Speaking of Macmillan, I have a physiological/philosophical question. Most things one reads about run training talk about doing most of one's miles easy, with a certain percentage at tempo, race pace, threshold, etc. I get it. The question is, if you're out running and feel good and just run faster for whatever amount of time, without necessarily hitting a tempo pace or threhold or anything "scientific," is there a benefit?? What is it?

My gut says yeah, of course there's a benefit (not to mention the fun factor of just feelin' good and going with it). I'm just curious what would be happening physilogically or if there is a reason not to do that (injury risk). I'm not running scientifically these days by any means -- I do what I want, when I want, how it fits into my schedule, with my friends, wherever. I do try to run faster sometimes. I run on hills sometimes. I go easy much of the time. Mostly I listen to my body, but if I have a "goal" workout in mind (tempo, track, whatever) then I pay attention to pace/RPE/HR whatever.

So am I making sense? What is happening in that "sweet spot" (or sour spot??) between EASY and TEMPO/insert pace word here when you just do it for a random amount of time (no percentage of run time/miles) because it's fun??

I'd be darn happy with that result. HUGE PR! What happened at the 4m mark?  Stop to fix the arm warmers?

Way to crush it Andre!!  Very consistent splits!

that would have been bada$$ if you had to eat a bowl of haggis at the 5k.  awesome job!!!  congrats, that's huge. 

Arms fell off from lack of circulation!

Awesome huge PR!  Congrats

George, you should post the Rocky pic.  Still my fav!

I absolutely think so.  Back when I trained for the Marine Corp marathon I found a training plan that was purely based on time only.  No description of different runs and I didn't do any research.  I trained completely on feel.  On days I felt good, I ran fast and pushed myself a bit and days I felt bad I didn't worry about it.  Come marathon day I ran (approx) 9 min miles up til mi 17 where I got bad leg cramp. Ended up walking close to the last 3 miles and finished in 4:2X:XX. I was most certainly not a runner before training for that race.  Physiologically (not an expert in exercise physiology but I do have a MA in human physiology) I can't really speak to increasing your Vdot or whatever but I think at a minimum you benefit from helping convert your muscle type from slow twitch to fast(er) twitch.  The sheer increase in amount of time you spend at the higher pace aiding the conversion. 

Congrats on the PR, Andre! 

no doubt about it, there's a big benefit .  the proof is in the pudding.... look at the progress i've made over the past few years.

also, i get why you asked the question, because all of us train to some "scientific" program in one form or another.  suzy probably following the strictest regime. maybe me on the other end up until 10 weeks ago and even still, i've been slacking lately because of the move.  but i suspect that once you leave our community the majority of people just run for some random amount of time with nothing "scientific" behind it and make some sort of improvement.  (i'm throwing in things like hal higdon, bt beginner programs, fink and so on all the way through an elite coach into the "scientific" program.  i think all provide great value if used properly.)

and don't forget other benefits not necessarily linked to physical improvement.  take, for example when you have a rough day.  a 30 minute whatever pace run smooths things out a bit. 

this scene is gonna play out again tonight, hopefully trev can last more than a few seconds though

happy anniversary michelle!!!!