Ernesto's group (5th season) - OPEN (Page 19)

I have a similar issue on my first mile. I will hit some HR spikes and then Hr settles down as a get into a rhythm. My solution is to focus on HR after I have warmed up. You need 30-40 minutes minimum below MAF to get the benefit of MAF training.

Quick Updates:

I hit 1000 miles for the year this morning in running distance. Previous years were 861, 670, 259, 562, 596 and 112 (2012 and back). I'm pretty stoked.

The milestone came on a 9 miler consisting of 3 x 2 mile intervals at 10K pace. I've struggled mentally and more with this workout and finally hit it this morning. Hoping that's a good sign for my HM in 12 days.

My 6th grader has her cross country meet this afternoon. They're running 1 mile for the 6th graders. We talked about the race last night and how for a mile she just has to dig deep and push at the end. She's really embracing the running. When I come in from my runs these days she's always quick to ask how the run was. She's probably a bit competitive but its motivating her to do well in training. We're also running a 5k together this weekend. It will be fun to pace her and her friends again. Think I'll shoot for less than 30 minutes this time.

Mitch- Congratulations on everything. 1,000 miles is quit an accomplishment. I am in line to hit it at the end of the year. Last year I was about 40 miles short and it has bugged me all year.

Its great that your daughter has embraced the sport. It is a gift you have given her that will last the rest of her life.

GO TIGERS!

GO TIGERS is RIGHT!

She did pretty good on her first mile race. 7:55. She ran 8:15 in practice a few days before, so she raced well. First time for her running hard in a crowd. She was happy with her result so that is good. The winner was a 6th grade boy who ran 6:06. 2nd place overall was a girl I used to coach in soccer, whose mom has had her running for a couple years. She was in the low 6's as well. I was impressed with how fast some of the kids were. On a side note, my wife doesn't believe me when I tell her I think I could beat 6:06. She says the kid has 30 years of youth on his side. Guess after my HM passes I'll have to knock off a mile for fun?

Mitch - nice job on that 1000 mile mark. Sound effort. Getting to run with the kids is a hoot.

My 4th grader is doing a 5K in the Spring and has started to set a goal time. I showed here the McMillan pace calculator and she put in her mile time from last year (6:56) and her projected 5K was 21:32. She looked at me and said that's impossible, but I think I can do 25:00. Would love to see it.

It is also funny that my seventh grader is now definitely a better swimmer than me (not too hard). Watched her 2hr swim practice the other night and they swam close to 4000 yds. I cringed at sets like 4 x 200 IMs and 8 x 150 backstroke (50 left, 50 right arm, 50 both).

Love the use of the McMillan calculator. I did the same with my daughters mile time from yesterday to get an idea of what she might be capable of running this weekend. No way she has the base to run the McMillan prescribed 5K pace, but with training...Awesome that your kids are athletes!

It's funny that you say that. Neither of my kids were drawn to team sports since they (like me) have limited hand eye coordination. Individual sports like swimming and running suit them much better and allow them to compete but mostly against themselves.

That's kind of where my middle one is headed. She is very petite for her age. Competing in soccer became increasingly difficult as the other girls got bigger and stronger. She's tough and plays hard, but at a certain ppoint it started to wear on her. She seems to enjoy running and we'll see what happens as she does more of it. I ultimately think any kind of competition that we can instill in our kids is good in the long run. It shouldn't be the only driving factor in an activity, but certainly an important trait to develop as they get older.

I definitely don't do a lot things right, but having my kids watch my ups and downs instills the right kind of centering that will serve them well as adults. Unlike many others, my wife and I are average, not gifted or blessed with innate god given talents. What we achieve is because of hard work. Being raised on very middle class values, that's what we try to instill in our kids. So, our discussions about racing and accomplishments focus on PRs, splits and the effort we give. They watched me rehab, PT, become hypothermic, cramp and collapse at the end of races. My kids never ask what place did you come, but whether I was happy with the result. Getting your kids to understand the importance of setting and achieving goals is what it's all about. Maybe I'm getting through to them!?!

Great effort Mitch. I'm 8 km off 1000km running for the year. You're a long way in front!

Greg

My HM is on Sunday. Since I so mightily messed up my nutrition at my April HM I'm asking the group to share their successful nutrition strategies for pre-HM and during HM. Thanks in advance.

Mitch: simplicity is best. You have plenty of glycogen in those legs that will take you two hours with nothing else. Weather should be cool so risk of dehydration remains low. Here's my approach: easy dinner on Saturday night. Whatever sits well is key. Low fiber, some protein and carbs. For me I like pasta and shrimp with some olive oil (tomato sauce is too acidic). Breakfast early like toast and nut butter. Sip a sports drink on th way in and eat a banana 20 mins before the gun. Pee and then run. Take some calories every 40 mins or so and fluids every 20 mins. You will be fine. Less is more at a HM. Monitoring calories is really only an issue when going longer than 2 hours.

Mitch, I think Joe has nailed it. Keep it simple.

Totally agree with the night before (not too spicy), simple breakfast and something about 15-20 mins before the start. Often a gel or sports drink, depending on the heat

Personally, on a half marathon I only eat one gel at about the 45 min mark, another 20-25 min later. I take another one with me just in case. Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't. I use the sports drink at the aid stations.

However, I'd stick with what has worked for you in your long training runs.

Have a great race. Enjoy

1:38:02 - 7:29 pace

PR for the race by over 10 minutes. PR for the distance by over 5 minutes. I'll post more after I come down off of cloud 9!

Mitch- Great Job on the half! PErfect day for it.

Detroit Free Press International Half Marathon Race Report

Prelude: I raced this event for the first time in 2008. I've raced it every year since except last year as I recovered from a stress fracture. My first time continued to be my fastest for this course at 1:48:12. I had a break thru last year at the HM distance setting a PR in an early season race of 1:43:45. I pursued a new training plan this past winter from Hanson's but tried to incorporate Swim and Bike training alongside it. This (along with a bad nutrition plan) resulted in a dissapointing HM in April of 1:46:10. Once I decided a HIM didn't fit my work/life schedule this year I decided to focus on the run and see what I could do (Thanks to Joe Petto for making this decison clear for me). I didn't adhere 100% to the Hanson plan. It calls for 2 speed/tempo workouts, 2 shorter runs, 1 medium run and 1 long run per week. I focused on the speed, medium and long runs and if I felt I needed a day off because of fitness, work or family fatigue I took it. I was also nursing some shin splints and other minor ailments that convinced me to back off the training a bit in the last few weeks. I think I just listened to my body better than I have in the past. The week before the race I only ran on Thursday and Saturday. Saturday I sprinkled in 4 strider/pick-ups of 30 seconds each.

Race Day Prep: The race was at 7:00AM. I woke up at 4:15AM. Got dressed, brewed a cup of coffee and ate a piece of italian bread toasted with peanut butter. Mixed up a GU electrolyte drink and sipped on that through the morning. I had hydrated well for the last couple days. I wore CEP Compression sleeves, shorts, tech t-shirt and throw away cotton gloves. I had arm-warmers and a running hat with me but made a race time decison to go without them. I had a GU with about 20 minutes to go. I always race this event with my brother-in-law as he is the one who convinced me to start racing HMs. We both were in corral B with about 5 minutes to go to the start. His race strategy was described to me as, "go out at 7s and see how I can hang on". Mine was to go out around 8:00 and pick up the pace after a couple miles. My goal time was 1:40:00 with a stretch goal of 1:38:15 (7:30 pace). Temperature was around 40 with winds from the SW at around 10 to 12.

The Race: The gun sounded and we were off. Being in the 2nd corral was great as I was able to pick a line and stick to it - really no running around racers all day. The race starts off heading West. Then it heads uphill around mile 1.5 to mile 3 (the Ambassador bridge to Canada). Its downhill for mile 4. Flat to uphill from there to mile 8 where you run downhill into the tunnell back to the U.S. The last half of that mile is all uphill as you come out of the tunnel. Its pretty flat from there out to the finish with the exception of a hill around mile 10 (into the wind for a couple miles). During races I hit the lap button every time I see a mile marker...that works when you see the mile markers - as evidenced below I missed a couple in the first half of the race. My first few miles were faster than I wanted. Mile 4 was much faster than I planned (had a GU at mile 4). I kept thinking anytime now the wheels will start to come off this train - but it didn't happen. I kept forcing myself to slow down to the 7:30 range. The tunnel has usually been the bane of my existence. The tunnel usually gets very hot and humid from the racers. I think being near the start of the racers made a big difference. It didn't feel nearly as bad as I remember in the past. I ran relaxed on the downhill and just focused on getting up the hill without killing the rest of the race. My "Underwater Mile" time was 7:33. The remainder of the race was me fretting if I could keep going to the end. I decided to forgo any more calories and just focused on running. With 3 miles I was getting more confident but really began focusing on the 7:30 pace per mile number. With about 1/2 mile to go I caught up with my brother-in-law. I thought of running 15 feet behind him and then sprinting past him at the end. I decided that was a cheap way to win so I announced myself to him and we ran side by side into the last stretch. He ultimately had a bit more in the tank and out kicked me at the end for trhe victory. No worries - when I saw my finish time on my Garmin (I had not looked at total time once during the run) I was ectstatic. 1:38:02. 10 minute plus PR for the course and 5 minute plus HM PR! Couldn't believe I had that race in me. I think I set 5K, 10K, 15K and HM PRs all on the same day. HOO YAH!

M40-44: 35/685
Males: 211/4094
Overall: 252/11,008

Miles - Time - Pace - Avg HR -
1.0 - 7:46 - 7:46 - 167
2.1 - 16:21 - 7:47 - 178
0.9 - 6:23 - 7:05 - 174
2.0 - 14:51 - 7:25 - 174
1.0 - 7:31 - 7:31 - 172
1.0 - 7:33 - 7:33 - 170
1.0 - 7:14 - 7:14 - 174
1.0 - 7:26 - 7:26 - 174
1.0 - 7:25 - 7:25 - 173
1.0 - 7:30 - 7:30 - 173
1.1 - 8:06 - 7:21 - 177

Post Race: Grabbed a space blanket, bottle of water and started walking through the post race area. Downed a couple gatorades and a chocolate milk. Through work we had access to the Hard Rock cafe so we went back there and hung for a bit and drank a celebatory beer. Went home, used The Stick on my sore muscles. Ate lunch, mowed the lawn, took my youngest to soocer, made dinner, drank a couple more beers and finished the day off by falling asleep watching the Walking Dead. It was a good day.

Takeaways: (1) Listen to my body; (2) Nutrition - less is more for this distance; (3) Hard, focused and smart work can result in tremendous gains

Thank you to this team here for all the guidance and support.





Edited by trisuppo 2013-10-21 9:00 AM

Mitch

Awesome effort. Congratulations on your PB. It also looks like you pretty well nailed the nutrition

Mitch, I am so glad to see you had a very successful race. You have deserved it for a long time!

Also glad to see your kids and Joe's kids being involved in the sports. What an inspiration!

As for me, I ran for the first time since my marathon in Feb. Managed 4 easy miles. Other than forgetting my IPOD shuffle and having to listen to my breathing, it was really enjoyable. Haven't set a new goal yet. I did go to a women's cyclocross clinic the other day. I might try that once!

Thanks Jackie! Glad to hear you are running again. I just signed up for the Gold membership - 50% off! Time to start thinking about my goals and schedule for next year.

Jackie- Good to hear you are running again.

Mitch- Good report. I hope to do the Freep in two years. My 18 year youth coaching career end Spring 2015, so my Saturdays "should" open up. I am in for The Bear next Summer. I am thinking of doing MiTi next August.

Gabe- I am doing well, thanks for asking. I have nothing going this Fall. I will do a 5k Turkey Trot Thanksgiving weekend. Next month, I will start ramping up for a 15 mile nighttime trail race at the end of January. No swimming available until next month, and it is too nasty to bike. I have taken this time to clean and paint my bike torture chamber. I should be done and have the trainer set up by the weekend.
The kids are doing great! We have three at home and 4 sports going. My son decided to run middle school cross country and my second oldest daughter quit volleyball and run CC this year. They have a really strong team and should qualify for the state meet. She runs in the regional meet on Saturday. Our oldest is thriving in College she started running for fitness this fall, which was nice (previously she did not see the sense in running if she di not have a ball). She is also working for the Michigan State Football team and lives in the athletes dorm, so fitness is a constant topic for her.

Got back in the pool for the first time since I don't know when this morning. Swam 500M, definitely feel out of shape from a swim perspective.

Mitch - kick race, well done. Great prep and better execution makes all the difference.

Gabe & Jackie: glad to hear from ya. Thanks for asking about my wife. She's all healed up and wants to sue. Nothing like a woman (and former attorney) who has been scorned.

Today is six weeks and I am out of the boot. How does it feel? Eh, not so great. My gastroc and soleus on the impacted leg are so stretched out that I am having a hard time even stretching further. The nonimpacted leg is now playing catch up. The heel is still not perfect and I will have to have an interesting discussion with the surgeon next Thursday. My concern is more conservative therapy and flash forward two more months and we have to cut - 6 months lost. Not all is bad. I can now hold a plank on a bosu ball for close to 4 minutes and I joined Team Red White and Blue so that I can start giving back to those who have given so much to our country. If I can't be out there now, I want to support those who can.

Joe- I'm glad to hear you are out of the boot ;/. Hopefully this is a normal thing and you just need to get the strength back. Are you going to work the lawsuit so you can get a referral too. lol.(dang lawyers always looking for an angle). I am glad to hear she is doing better.

Gabe, totally understand about getting out of touch with IM training. Things really have to be prioritised during IM training and it's always good to remember that it is NOT the most important thing in the world we're doing.

IM Copenhagen was absolutely fantastic. This was my first IM, and hopefully the first of many.

I've posted my story on my blog where I store some of my adventures http://cyclist-greg.blogspot.com.au/

Congrats on the new bike. I got a TT bike for Copenhagen and it was one of the best decisions I made in the preparation for the event.