swbkrun mentor group 6 years running closed (Page 186)

I must have missed you at the imaginary land half.  I did however increase my miles per week and start working hard to improve my speed in my 12-15 mile training runs over the year since the Surf City race on the link.  I have been fortunate to improve to about 7:50-8/mile for that distance in training runs. Thanks for your concern.

Did you get the 1:35 HM time from a training run??? That's a very fast training run and not the best way to train, especially with your last official HM being 1:55. There's no way I could run at that pace and hold a conversation!

To all our racers this weekend...... REPRESENT!!!

I have the State and Regional Cross Championships on Sat / Sun this weekend.  State is scored for the Series Cup, Regional's is not.  Only one guy can challenge me for the overall Series win and he has to win this weekend to do it.  And then, even if he wins, I would have to finish 6th or below to allow him the win by 1 point.  He has yet to beat me head-to-head this year without me having a mechanical so I feel really good about my chances.  Would like to be a little greedy and take the State Title also.......  I feel good, legs are good, course suits me, so we will see.

Prayers with all those with Parents or In-law issues in the last couple of weeks.  Sucks, but don't forget you always got the support of MG!        

GO DINO!!! That is exciting!! Yay!!

John, crush all those kiddos in the one mile and show 'em who's boss.

Good luck to all other racers!

Wow, it's been way too long since I've been back here.  My computer actually logged me out!  Sad.  Anyway, just thought I'd stop by and say hello again.  Life has been super crazy and sadly my BT MG time was the first thing to go. 

Training is very so/so.  Don't get out nearly often enough but was pleased that a girlfriend and I banged out a 9 miler last weekend and I didn't die.  Guess that's something.  Marathon  training starts this month as the beginning of the IM season.  Funny,  I'm more intimidated by this marathon than I am the IM.  But that's why I'm doing it.  If I want to be faster at the IM run then I need to find the pain cave in a stand alone marathon right?   For some reason the idea of a stand along marathon sounds harder to me than doing one after 114.4miles of swimming and biking!  

I"m looking forward to finding some time this weekend to catch up on my BT MG lives and see what's been going on.  I hope everyone is behaving themselves and being super supportive and generous with their love and encouragement.  That's why we are all here correct?

Nice to see you stop by Tracy.  I personally don't think you need to do a marathon to be faster during the IM Marathon (says the girl who is doing a stand alone marathon for the first time since '09).  There are plenty of ways to deliver pain and torture to make you faster during IM LOU!

Good luck Dino!  You do know they're predicting some snow showers here,right?  Not much accumulation, but should make it nice and messy.  

Good luck Fatty!  Don't walk the 1 miler

My FIL is scheduled to be released from the hospital today after getting his pacemaker yesterday.  He is doing well.  We are doing our best to convince him to stay with us over the weekend so that we can help him get around.  He's stubborn so we'll see.

Happy Weekend.

Tracy welcome back.  Long time no chat.  I like your idea of logging some miles in training for the marathon.  This will indeed help you in the "long run."  If it doesn't physically help you it will definitely help you mentally.  After doing my 50k this year, I have all the confidence in the world now training for any tri related distance.  Based solely on the fact that I ran my butt off for several months.  Now I build on that!  Good luck!

Suzy... Great news about the FIL...

Nice to see you, Girl!  Good job on the 9 miler!  It's been so long since I've run longer than 4 or 5 miles, I am jealous!

Dino, good luck on your race this weekend!  Be a Beast and Represent!

Lots to say about stand alone half marathon vs. HM at the end of a HIM (my favorite distance), but suffice it to say, I think experience counts for a lot.  Knowing what you can and can't do is impossible if you never fail.  I fail on a pretty regular basis, ask Kathy!, usually in training and sometimes in races, but I figure I can always learn from my mistakes.

I think it's the effort that counts the most.  I would caution against trying to hit a certain time for the run in a triathlon.  Weather and course difficulty can really put a kink in those plans! Knowing what a tempo effort feels like is the goal I try to hit, and it is probably closer to marathon pace than I would like, but hey, if it is the effort I can sustain for 13 miles and not blow up, then I can be happy at the end of the day. 

Oceanside is a fun course with a relatively easy run, but only if you have the bike fitness for those big hills.  I don't think bricks help much for HIM training but that's from my own experience.  I think we all have to learn how our bodies react to training.

Have a great Friday, everyone.  Kathy and I are off to the land of the Mouse this weekend! 

I'm a bit pi$$ed off! I've never had my cholesterol checked partly because I couldn't be bothered and partly because I eat well, I'm slim and I exercise.

Anyway, I changed my life insurance and had some bloods done last week and this time they set me a copy of my results: my total cholesterol is above average and my TC:HDL ratio was 5.3

I've never smoked and my overall risk is low but I still feel a bit let down by the results. Has anyone else had to deal with this, and anyone have views on the Paleo diet??? I'm not going on medication, if diet doesn't work I'll just live my life in as healthy way as possible...

Don't be p.o.'ed David.  Sometimes we just cannot escape our genetics.  I agree with you on not wanting to do meds, but see how diet goes first before you get all stubborn!!!  (you've got the exercise down already!)

David,

Yes it was during training.  There were 3 runs in my program to test race pace.  While it may not be the best way to train all the time it was a good focused effort that helped get me identify areas I needed to work on.  The plan was not to run this pace all the time, the test runs were near the end of the almost 6 of training and left plenty of recovery time.

My goal is to lower my previous best race pace which had been an 8:15 "on my watch" at San Francisco Half 2010 by about 30 seconds/mile and then be able to maintain that improvement throughout race season 2013.  

I agree with Kim, genetics can play a big role.  My TC=203, but my HDL at 112 is crazy high. My mom weighs at least 50lbs more than me, never exercises, eats whatever she wants and her HDL is 100.

The Paleo Diet isn;t anything special IMO, eat vegetables, fruits and lean protein with limited grains and very little crap.  I think eating that way most of the time makes sense, but for me giving up too many CHOs doesn't fuel my workouts.  I also eat some crap and won't change that either.

Out of curiosity, why so negative on statins?  There have been some very interesting studies (and no John I don't have them) that have shown they provide very positive benefits for most people. 

Hey everybody,

Just stopping by to say hi.  I'm not racing this weekend, but I have my longest training run tomorrow morning (20 trail miles) for my race later this month.  Hubby is out or commission with a sprained ankle, and the women I've been doing some of my long runs with has to be at a swim meet for her daughter.  So, it's going to be a long quiet morning out there. 

Have a great run, Jayne!

Yes, I agree that statins are probably a good thing for most people. I think I just don't want to admit I'm getting old and might have to go on meds!

Don't be!  You are 100x healthier than the average Joe.

Regarding a low CHO diet, I do have a friend who is a doctor, he had an awful cholesterol profile, including triglycerides in the 300s. After researching it, he went on a ketogenic diet and his blood profile changed dramatically.  He also lost about 20lbs over a year.  The caveat here is he is not an athlete so getting in enough CHOs wasn't a big deal to him.  If you're interested in making a diet switch, maybe do some real research and commit to cutting out the crap or over-eating carbs and see how you perform.  If things go well, cut some more.  Get your bloodwork on the normal schedule and see if it changes.

Having just gone through everything with my FIL, I personally wouldn't be against statins, but I know it's your choice.

Was hoping to run with John this morning, but I've been battling a stomach bug lately and it's still winning.  

Hope you're having a great run, Jayne.

Good luck this weekend, Dino!

I'll jump in, Birdy

I got my 20 miler done yesterday.  Well it wasn't actually 20 miles.  The mountain bike course is marked 10 mi/lap, but according to my Garmin it was only 9mi/lap.  Anyway, the course is brutal (for me), so I didn't feel the need to try to add 2 extra miles after I finished.  My Garmin says 5,200 feet of ascent.  Like a roller coaster.  It had been wet and rainy earlier in the morning.  The rain had stopped, but the leaves and ground were wet.  I was the only one out there for over 4 hours.  Never saw another soul.  I wore my hydration vest which had to add another 5 pounds, and ran like a granny, very slow and careful. 

Did the first lap without tunes, and enjoyed it a lot.  Stopped back at the car and put dry clothes and shoes on, ate a few snacks, and headed out for lap 2.  Listened to some music on my second lap, and tried to think about the parts of my body that didn't hurt instead of everything that was screaming at me.  My race course is not nearly as technical, nor will I be carrying as much extra weight.  Should seem like a piece of cake, right?

The best part of the evening was how my feet and legs felt after I spent 15 minutes with them in a bucket of ice water.  Ahhhhhh

I wish it would snow.  Nothing worse than cold rain in December. 

Congrats on that long trail run Jayne!! I don't do that much ascending on my bike.  I guess you will have a few sore muscles tomorrow.

Wow. What did Birdy say?  Did it have something to do with decorating trees?

It was a beautiful weekend for some CX......  2012 State Champion.....  2012 Wisconsin Series Cup Champion....  USA Cycling Upgrade email in my inbox at 7:30 this AM....  10th today in Midwest Regional's today in the snow in 45+ Open.  More later, it's time to watch the Pack.  

(winter CX picture.jpg)