Birkierunner's Group - FULL (Page 4)

I get paranoid about getting sick this time of year as our biggest ski races approach.  I try not to shake other people's hand if I can avoid it (they usually laugh when I tell them why), I don't touch anything in the bathrooms at work without using a paper towel as a germ guard, and I stay away from sick people.  Come to think of it, maybe I shouldn't be reading your posts if you all are sick

Hope everyone recovers soon.  Don't over-do it.

tripletmom01 - 2007-01-21 6:34 PM Ok- I was reading the post in TT aboutt Negative splits (which I am NO good at ) and was just wondering what your thoughts are on this? I have a friend I run with sometimes- who really likes to do this in his races- and he is a pretty fast runner. I would think an even pace and maybe a fster last mile would be better?? Tammy

Why does  your friend "like" to do negative splits?  Has he/she experimented to KNOW that the negative split strategy results in a faster time?  Or is it just a psychological thing that may or may not result in a faster time?

I read Ken Mierke's (a supposed running expert but I don't know much about him) comments on even splits and how he thinks it gets harder and harder to do an even split pace as the race goes on.  Frankly, I think that is a ridiculous argument to use to advocate negative splits.  I think every mile in a race gets harder and harder regardless if you're doing even or negative splits.  So, to ask  your body to go FASTER in later miles seems ridiculous.  Obviously, this applies to longer races.  I guess someone could argue that if you start off reeeeallly slow and then pick up the pace you will be stronger later in the race. But, maybe you'll give up so much time in the early miles that its a wash by the time the race is completed.

I prefer to keep things simple.  In every one of my 10 regular marathons and my IM marathon I attempted even splits.  That doesn't mean I was able to keep that pace for the last 6 miles in every race, but I'm not convinced that doing negative splits would have resulted in a faster time.  Having said this, I admit that there may be some courses (such as the Boston Marathon) where the topography may play a role in your pacing so that you may try to do some sections (uphills/downhills) at a different pace and then make up for the change in pace somewhere else on the course but this is a rare example. 

Since you are focusing on 5k races right now, I don't even think this is an issue to worry about.  A 5k race is literally fast from the starting gun all the way to the finish.  If you are trying to beat a certain person are you willing to attempt negative splits and let that person get away in the early section in the hopes that they get tired and fall back to you later in the race?  Not me.  I'm staying on their shoulder the whole race.   If you're going for time only (sub 22!!!) then I still advocate even splits.  The race is just too short to try to stick to a complicated set of negative splits. 

Finally, here is what Pete Pfitzinger says in his book "Road Racing for Serious Runners" :

"Running an even pace is the most effective way to run the fastest time because it uses oxygen most economically and keeps lactate accumulation to a minimum.  Most distance world records are set by running at an even pace."

I think your idea of even splits and trying to run the last mile faster (or at least the last quarter or half) is a good idea.  Stick with your intuition.

I'm sure that it comes natural (or nearly so) for some people, but not me.  I'll show you how much my swimming sucks.  Lake Waconia triathlon this year my run split was 1/41 in my AG, bike was 2/41 in my AG and my swim split was 23/41 in my AG.  Guess what my limiter is?  

I broke down and started taking lessons because I had no clue about swim technique.  I literally had no idea what a proper pull was like.  I took one lesson/week for a while and then every other week for several months.  Worth every penny.  My problem was that I spent a lot of time on technique and not on trying to get faster.  I'll take more lessons this winter/spring but start focusing more on speed also.

Your pool split will always be faster than your OW due to pushoffs.  It's important to get OW swims in so that you can get accustomed to swimming without the black line on the bottom of the pool, choppy water, wetsuits, and sighting.

That is great news!  Yesterday we found out that my father in law has bladder cancer so it really brought things close to home. 

Hope you can get on that bike soon!

In the next 6 weeks I have business trips to Austin, Denver, Chattanooga, Portland, and WV.  Gotta love that airliner recycled air.  I'll take 100 of those face masks.

x-c skiing builds great legs.  Also, upper body strength is important with x-c and that carries over to swimming in my opinion.  For all around fitness x-c is hard to beat - and you don't have a lot of pounding on your body like you do with running.  Just finished a 1.5 hour workout in 3 degree temps...and tomorrow morning I have to fly to TX - it will be a shock to the system.

Hi.  I have an ErgomoPro powermeter on my bike.  The Ergomo actually replaces the bottom bracket on your bike.  Therefore, you can use any wheel setup you want without having to lose your powermeter.  I went this route because I wanted to have flexibility with training and racing wheels without losing the ability to measure power.  If you build the powertap into a racing wheel you are stuck with using that wheel if you want to measure power during normal training.  I'm not going to risk training on a $1800 pair of Zipps (or at least the rear wheel).  Also, there have been reports about the Powertap not dealing with rain very well - see:   http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=57735&posts=29&highlight=Ergomo&highlightmode=1#M585082

You can learn more about the ErgomoPro at Rich Strauss' site, where I bought mine.  Rich also has good guidance for using a powermeter to pace your Ironman race  http://www.cruciblefitness.com/power/index.htm 

What kind of bike are you looking at??