Jim Kelley's (Birkierunner) General and Long Course Group (OPEN) (Page 13)

Originally posted by Snaaijer Hi Trig, welcome I ran 39:30 in the 10k today! Really surprised. I also paced it well, contrary to normal footraces. It was deadflat but the first 2k were headwind, so i drafted a little off of others (perhaps more mentally than physically) and kept it steady toward the turnaround. Then the final 2k I let er rip and passed so many people (they had started the 5k 10 minutes after the 10k, so I was overtaking the slower 5k folks, this definitely helped mentally). Now I'm secretly scheming to go 1:26-1:27 in the half mary in 4 weeks. What do the seasoned runners think? I still think the longer distance suits me better.

Nice, Thomas! Way to go! Passing people in the second half of a race who sped off in front of you in the beginning is one of my favorite things in life! The half marathon has been a persistent nemesis for me, so I won't offer any pacing advice. I'm running one in March and hoping to finally go sub-90 then.

Race A:  HITS Marble Falls Triathlon April 25, 2015 (70.3)

Race B:  TBA

Race C: TBA

I have used 4-5 "pace calculators" to see where I should be for longer races based on results from shorter races.  Most of them say that I should be running marathons in about 2 hrs and 40 minutes and I have never even broken 3 hours so I don't trust most of them.  I do however like Jeff Galloway's Magic Mile Calculator.  http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/magic-mile/

Based on your 10K time it puts your half marathon predicted time at 1:27:34.  A goal for something between 1:26:00 and 1:27:00 is right where it should be.  It will push you but is well within your grasps. 

Hi Tirg, you are more than welcome to join our group!

Bill, I'm not familiar with those bikes so I can't really comment on the accuracy of the actual mileage if you divide the total rotations by 200 to get miles.  Not sure how it can be that regardless of gearing 200 rotations equals a mile.  I would base your progress on time.  For your longer workouts, if you are in reasonable shape, 2+ hours at such low wattage should not feel like a significant workout.  However, its hard to say for sure because we don't know what your functional threshold power/critical power is at this point.  That would give you a better idea of the intensity of 95-100 watts. 

Well, I went through the MRI process for my shoulder last Wed and went to the doctor on Friday to go over the results.  He barely even had the door closed and hadn't even sat down yet before blurting out "yeah, you've got a complete tear of the labrum".  The labrum is essentially fibrous tissue around the ball and socket joint of the shoulder.  I asked whether rehab alone would suffice and he wasn't very encouraging on that strategy and he recommended surgery.  Nice.  Due to my schedule and schedules of a couple surgeons I can't even get a consultation until March 2 so I'm guessing surgery will be in mid-March.  I've got a 50km x-c ski marathon in 2 weeks that I am definitely not going to miss (this will be my 18th year of doing that race) so I will see how I do with one good arm.  Its gonna be tough but I simply am not going to NOT do it.  This puts racing IM Couer d'Alene in June in jeopardy and I will have to wait and see.  I purchased the cancellation insurance (first time doing that ironically) so I assume that surgery would be a valid excuse to ask for the refund.  Luckily I can still run and ride the computrainer so its not a total loss but swimming is out for a while.  Recovery is supposed to be 6 weeks post-surgery and full recovery in 3-4 months.

Originally posted by Snaaijer Hi Trig, welcome I ran 39:30 in the 10k today! Really surprised. I also paced it well, contrary to normal footraces. It was deadflat but the first 2k were headwind, so i drafted a little off of others (perhaps more mentally than physically) and kept it steady toward the turnaround. Then the final 2k I let er rip and passed so many people (they had started the 5k 10 minutes after the 10k, so I was overtaking the slower 5k folks, this definitely helped mentally). Now I'm secretly scheming to go 1:26-1:27 in the half mary in 4 weeks. What do the seasoned runners think? I still think the longer distance suits me better.

Based on Daniels' VDOT tables a 39:30 10k time would translate to roughly a 1:27:04 half marathon time so (as others have also stated) your goal for your race in a month is very realistic.  But those tables assume that your are adequately preparing to race the distance you are targeting.  Too many people run a short race, look up their VDOT and assume they can run the corresponding times for longer races for that VDOT.  

I have always favored an even split strategy for longer races.  I personally think a negative split strategy is risky and requires the person be very aware of their own capabilities which requires a lot of experience and practice in training.  I'd rather train for an even pace and maintain that pace for the duration. 

That sucks, Jim. Hoping for a quick recovery and a way to put together a satisfying season. 

I started off with the cortisone route but it didn't really help as I had hoped.  With a complete tear I doubt the cortisone would have prevented surgery.  The shot itself was nothing...just a pin like a flu shot.  However, I've heard stories of others who had docs that didn't know how to inject properly into a joint without causing pain.  As far as post-surgery....no swimming for a month until the incisions from the arthroscopic surgery heal, then a total of 6-8 weeks for initial recovery.  Probably up to 4 months for complete recovery.

Time to ask those race day questions you've always had but were afraid to ask......