STEPH SPRINT FULL Let's do this thing! StephSprint group FULL! (Page 20)

stephsprint - 2012-05-23 6:46 PM

oak73 - 2012-05-21 4:46 PM

Ok, Im my worse enemy.  My second planned race is this Saturday, and I havent trained in a week and a half.  Having a hard time trying to manage all the things in my life.  Oh well, I got to get through this.  Will be able to run tonight, Wensday and Friday.

Not sure if it is a good idea to run Friday.  I havent been running enough, so I dont know if running the day before a race is good or if it can hurt me.  Any suggestions?

I know this is my only second race I have ever done, and I should not be worried about my times for my first year of racing, but no one wants to do worse then their last race.  Im so focused on beating my last time.  Was allways a competitive person, but not feeling too great with a 15min mile pace.  I was looking at last years race results, and my last time would put me around 290th place...lol.

So any suggestions about running the day before a race or any tips how to shave a few seconds off my 5k time would be great.

 

DO NOT TRAIN THE DAY BEFORE A RACE. If you want to do a little pre-race warm-up, fine... and easy mile or two jogging, but that's IT. You can't 'catch up' on training you miss. You have to start where you are. Look, s#&t happens sometimes. Use the race as a training day. Do a slow mile, a slightly faster mile, then run the last mile as hard as you are able. It's called progression training. If you aren't ready for a race.... SO WHAT? Use the time to work on your abs, tighten up your diet, try a new fruit or vegetable... all of these things are valuable. Have you ever looked at the statistics on weight loss? how much a 5lb or 10lb loss can improve your speed? You should. There are a lot of ways to get faster. Ever tried water running? I could go on...

Thanks Steph...its a long process and I just need to slow down.  Ive only been doing this for a few months, I cant expect the world yet.  Heck I still cant even jog a whole mile without walking.  And yes I do need to start a diet.  The amount of Mt. Dew Im drinking is killing me.  I will get there.  I love this site and this group.  Everyone on here that has helped and encouraged me, thankyou so much.  You guys are the greatest.

Hang in there everyone. It's too early in the season to beat yourself up. The side effect of race training? That healthy bullet proof feeling you get after a good workout. I never wanted to race, I was only after the fitness, but now I'm hooked. Listen to your body. If it says "take today off" then do it. Don't push too hard, but push just enough. We are not racing for sponsorships or olympic team spots, are we? This IS just for fun, right? I take this sh*t seriously, but deep down I know it is just a healthy hobby. My family, work, obligations, etc... have all prohibited me from training as much as I'd like, but that's what happens. Find the drive inside to stay with it.

OTOH... I had to go for a night run Monday and Tuesday (night brick on Monday!!) because of family/work time during the day. I really suggest getting your headlamp and trying it. Roots and rocks on the trail are very hard to judge so mind your footing if not at the track.  

[IMG]http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac47/heelrazor/DSCN1521.jpg[/IMG]

Repeating Marcus' thoughts:

Hang in there everyone. It's too early in the season to beat yourself up. The side effect of race training? That healthy bullet proof feeling you get after a good workout. I never wanted to race, I was only after the fitness, but now I'm hooked. Listen to your body. If it says "take today off" then do it. Don't push too hard, but push just enough. We are not racing for sponsorships or olympic team spots, are we? This IS just for fun, right? I take this sh*t seriously, but deep down I know it is just a healthy hobby. My family, work, obligations, etc... have all prohibited me from training as much as I'd like, but that's what happens. Find the drive inside to stay with it.

OTOH... I had to go for a night run Monday and Tuesday (night brick on Monday!! In the rain!!!) because of family/work time during the day. I really suggest getting your headlamp on and trying it. Roots and rocks on the trail are very hard to judge even with a light, so mind your footing if not at the track.  

Skibum,

How to you like running at night?  I tried it once, with a hand held flash light. I found I couldn't really tell how fast I was going.  My neighborhood doesn't have any street lights, so it gets super dark. 

Steph,

Your plan for Sunday sounds great.  Lets make a deal?  No more blowing off races, just turn them into a training day?

I took a gander at BigFuzzyDoug's swimming article yesterday (a great read) and since today was a swim day I thought I would take note of some of his pointers.   I started with paying more attention to my stroke, particularly the recover/catch.  I would have sworn I never lift my head to take a breath, but SOB, I do.  My natural instinct was to start my forward hand a tad early and raise my head just a bit, even though it was turned to the side.  Can't believe I never noticed it before. I see other swimmers do it all the time and always thought "thanks goodness I dont do that".  Looks like I have a few more things to correct in the pool. You would think that if Darwin was right, and we came from the sea, swimming would be so much easier.

Question for anyone that does a pull drill with a buoy.  Has your body ever wanted to rotate all the way around?  It happened to me a few times today. I suspect my core was just getting tired and when I rotated it just didn't want to stop.  To the life guard, I prolly looked like a dieing (can never spell that word) fish. 

I think it is time to try to get a third day of swimming in.  

On Monday I have my next race.  It is another 5k and the same course I run in November.  It is very flat with very narrow roads.  This is the one race my wife runs in as well, so I will be pushing our daughter in the stroller.  The stroller and narrow roads make it an interesting run, as it is a challenge to maneuver around people. 

Have a great day

Marcus

I always make the day before a race a rest day (and not just no gym - like for real trying to take it easy!). I swear off alcohol (no idea if that actually helps or anything, just what I do, and I'm certainly not competitive with anyone but myself!). I get a good night's sleep, and I don't eat anything new (not a great time to chance tummy upsets!).

Good luck on your race! Have fun with it!

Good question. I have a race on Sat as well. I'm probably going to go for a light bike or just do a cardio core routine tonight, and maybe 1mi faster run on Friday, to keep those legs loose. If I can get through one more day of work without getting a hurt back, I'm going to kill it at the race. Good luck at yours Oak.

Well I went to the local pond for my jog and a funny thing happened.  Its a mile course if you just go around the two ponds, but there is a divider going between the two ponds and if you do the course as a figure 8 its a mile and a half.  So as I was attempting to run the divider section when I ran into a large group of geese and a whole lot of baby geese.  Needless to say the adult geese were not to happy with people going by, so each time I crossed they chased me.  Well after 2 times crossing I decided a mile and a half was good enough for tonight  lol.

Also I would like to call out to all of our members in this support group for a little help.  I have found a weight training program that I have decided I am going to do.  Mondays, Wensdays, and Fridays starting next week.  So please check my training logs once in a while and hold me accountable for sticking to it.  My will power to train has been slipping and I have been letting everything come in the way of training...I feel like I am back a square one with my training.

Thanks

Okey

Sounds great...cant wait for the weight to come off.  Im making Tues, Thursday and Saturday my run days...we will see how this goes.

First race this morning coming up in 3.5 hours.

To keep up with training, I tried an OWS yesterday afternoon. I think I went through every symptom of a cold water swim: dive reflexes, nerves, anxiety...and then a BIG bass swam out from a rock under me and it really freaked me out. 200 yds maybe. Jumped out for a 1K run, then went to the gym for a 1000yd pool session.

My knee got bumped during work yesterday, and it's a little sore. I'm also a little tired from increased work load and poor sleep. Should be a fun race today otherwise. 

Good luck with  your race today.  I also I a race in a few hours and I am not ready...good times!

Race day today.  Please say its not so.  I am so not ready.  My son stressed me out so bad yesterday, told him to come home at 6pm and he finaly came home at midnight.  Oh boy did that make me made.   Stressed me out so bad, I bought a pack of smokes.  So it was not a good restfull night sleep.  Oh well pre race in an hour.

Have a great day, and enjoy your holiday weekend.

Completed my second race EVER!!  Thought I wasnt ready, but I surprised myself.  The course was amazing, beautiful neighboorhood, beautiful houses, great lake shore view of Lake Michigan, and OMG the hills!  Was not ready for hills.  When I hit the second hill, my heart dropped...this is Indiana, where did a hill like that come from...lol.

My time was 44:48, overall 299th place, 9th in my age group.  Not sure how many people there were in my age group, I havent visited the web site yet.  Even though my time was 24 seconds slower then my first race, I have to take in count those hills...lol.  Im proud.

It was such a great event.  So many people showed up to support a great cause.  The coolest thing was that most of the neighbors along the course were out in their lawns cheering, clapping, and ringing noise makers as we passed.  That sure added some extra encouragement and motivation to keep going.

My jogging partner also raced.  Her time was 34:30, overall 231st place, 9th in her age group.  It was great, after she finished, she came back a little bit and was waiting for me, and ran the last leg with me, giving me some more support!

Overall it was a great day.  I hope everyone else had a great day too.

Okey

Just read this article on barefoot running 

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=2466

I have to laugh- the author's "before" shoes, ASICS GT2150 is what I have been wearing- I have no problem with them, should I???!!??

I don't ever see myself barefoot running- I don't even like running around the house barefoot.  Had a fabulous run this morning- ran 3.3mi and felt good doing it.  Half Marathon coming up 9/16- still in the beginner phase of running.  

My first tri is next weekend- I will be volunteering...

Have a great day everyone

Bridget

ps- cannot attach the link to the article, cut & paste if you would like to see

Added a new album with a couple of pics of todays race.