Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 44)

Awesome Warren!!!!  We were virtual running partners!  How cool is that?! 

Here's a quick recap of my half marathon.  I don't have time to do the RR yet.

The race began 5 minutes early.  I was trying to get through the crowd to the front of the line and all of a sudden, the gun went off.  I was a bit perturbed because I was behind a bunch of walkers and slow runners.  The crowd thinned out enough for me to run after about a half mile.  My friend (who ultimately won the half mary) went blazing past me.  He got caught behind everyone due to the 5 minute early start, too.

I kept a nice even pace for the whole race.  The course is fairly flat.  There are only a couple of inclines.  In fact, the course is so flat, it feels like it is uphill the whole way!  The ginormous redwoods are awesome but they mess with my mind.  I think they make me feel like I'm running uphill.  It's weird.  Others have the same sensation out there.

Like I said, the course was long.  Everyone's Garmins were beeping at each mile at the same time and then the mile marker came along.  That's too much coincidence.  Regardless, I'm super happy with my time and will accept it as my half mary PR.  My next goal will be to go below 1:45!

BTW....I could have run faster but I was afraid of blowing up.  My average HR was a lot lower than I expected.  I wasn't gassed at the end at all.  The 10 mile race I ran in March was a very similar course.  I ran better at the half mary than the 10 miler.  I guess my training is coming along nicely.

Question to the awesome mentors:  What can I do to get my half mary pace into the sub 8 min/mi range?  I don't have a half scheduled but would like to work on any kind of base that will get me there.

Jonathan - Dirk said everything in my heart on the matter of your sister.  All politics aside, the sacrifices made for us always amaze me, and I hope we understand that we sleep relatively safe at night in large part due to them.  I have though if I even run a marathon it would be the Marine Corps Marathon in honor of a close college friend of mine who died in the first Gulf War.  When I see stories like this one, it makes me really want to step it up and get to that event.  How did your event go, BTW?

JoAnne -Super job on completing your first marathon.  That distance still seems like science fiction to me.

Allison - Nice 5k race, despite the injury affecting your prep.

Tracy - That's an amazing time.  Great race, and definitely keep the glass!  Certified courses are actually almost always at least a little bit long, I think it's part of the certification, but that one sounds really long.  I was wondering how you were doing as I was running.

Ok, since Dirk think I have beady eyes here's my report.

The race was a little weird in the mile markers too, but opposite Tracy's story.  All the beeps were after the markers, and by the last few miles WAY after.  In fact, at mile 12, I mentally prepped for another 1.1 miles and it seemed to go FOREVER.  After the race I commented to a few people about it, and they agreed and one even said that his GPS had the last "mile" from the mile 12 marker to the finish at 1.5 miles, though he also said the mile 12 marker was actually at 11.7.  The entire race was pretty accurate (13.2 by my and most everyone's GPS) so the markers must have just been off the whole way.  Seems cruel!

I'm less than 3 weeks from my first tri, and I have some questions.

First, eating/drinking in the race.  I've never done anything like this before, and I have no idea what to do, or if I should start adjusting how I eat and drink now in training.

Second, tapering.  I have read a wide variety of advice on how much/how long to taper before race day.  I know I should be well-rested, but I don't want to get too lethargic.

David

David, how long is your triathlon?

How you should taper will depend on what your training has been up to the last 3-5 days before the race.  Let's give you a specific prescription for taper the Monday before your race.  I expect it to be something like no intense or long rides after Wednesday.  No intense or long runs after Tuesday.  Easy swim or short run on Friday (if racing Saturday).  And only more rest than this if you feel like you have dug yourself in to a hole with your training load.

Is this a sprint?  If so, I'm not sure there's really any need to use anything but water.  I've never had an energy issue during a sprint with only water.  If it's longer it requires more thought.

As far as taper, I'm becoming more and more convinced we age groupers taper too much.  We simply aren't doing enough to really require the 10-14 day taper.  Again, if this is a spring I'd back off a tad the week of the race.  I'll let others give their specific recommendations, but I propose to back off about 15-20%, but do your normal workouts most of the last week, then 2 days prior as a swim only day, and then do either a very short bike or run the day before with some race pace efforts.

Here's a picture from the end of the race.  I'm in pink.

Well, my sister finished the HM before the time cut off.  It ended up being a very hilly course for her and she struggled a bit to finish.  Not being a runner at all I am amazed that she took this on and stood in for her husband in his absence.  Such an amazing person she is.

Thank you to those of you who contributed to their cause.  They are incredible people and deserve it. 

I didn't mention my race on Saturday yet...I will get a race report up ASAP. 

Congrats to your sister.  Good for her!

Jonathan congrats to your sister for finishing that HM. Tthat is pretty awesome and amazing to hear that she was able to do it before the finishing time.

X2, Tracy that is pretty freakin good for not running that distance in that amount of time. Geez you could probably be winning your AG if you did that distance more often.

Jonathan sorry it didn't go as planned for you with the run and you had some problems there with your breathing but you had good effort overall especially with swim and the bike.

Catching up, can't wait to to read all of the race reports.

Jonathan kudos to your sister. What a fighter!

My tummy trouble on Saturday turned into a full blown banished to the couch all day stomach ache by Sunday. I'm not sure what the issue really was - something I ate, a flu bug or what. My stomach felt like something was eating away at it with some nasty stabbing pains thrown in too. Finally took some pepto at 8:30 & 10:00 last night and feel better today. Weird.

Oh no!  Get better soon.

Hey Junkies,

Looks like some great race times over the weekend. Good job everyone getting out there and getting it done.

Update on me is: I tried a 2 mile run Saturday and it was a disaster. The pain in my knee came on and stuck with me for the whole day. I really had no relief until Sunday morning when I did a family bike ride with my wife and our girls. I've been getting pretty depressed about not being able to run. I had not realized how important running had become to me until these past couple week where I haven't been able to.

Looks like I'll be off of running for a couple weeks at least now. Next week (May 14th thru 18th) I'll be completely offline. I'm going to be a camp counselor at an environmental camp for 5th grade students. I should get several hours of hiking in each day and I plan to bring my mountain bike for some trail riding during my free time in the afternoons.

Hey Tracy, have you ever done this event? It was last week, but it looks awesome and I'm looking at it for next year.

http://tuccycle.org/

Tour of the Unknown Coast, Saturday May 5, 2012. Humboldt County Fairgrounds, Ferndale, CA. 100-mile, 100-K, 50-mile, 20-mile and 10-mile rides. Entry fee includes fully stocked rest stops; lunch stops and post ride BBQ included on the 50-mile, 100-K and 100-mile.


Registration is open right up to the day of the event. Start times: 100-Mile 7:00am, 100-K 7:30am, 50-mile 8:00am, 20-mile 10:00am, 10-mile, 11:30am.



Courses: 100-Mile route travels under the giant redwoods of the famed “Avenue of the Giants, then crosses over the coastal ridge to the “Lost Coast” before the final climbs that bring the riders back to Ferndale. The 100-K and 50-mile rides are out-and-back routes that venture onto the Avenue of the Giants. The 20-mile ride is a mostly flat course through the farmlands of Ferndale. The 10-mile is a family-friendly route through the farmland that is completely flat.



FEES: 100-mile $50, 100-K & 50-mile $45, late fee of $10 in effect for these rides beginner April 15. 20-mile ride $20; 10-mile ride $15 or $10 per rider for a family of 4 or more. No late fee for the 10 or 20-mile rides.



Helmets are required for ALL PARTICIPANTS, including children riding in bike trailers. The start/finish/sign-up are at 1250 Fifth St., Ferndale. The event is brought to you by the Tour of the Unknown Coast, a 501c3 non-profit. Proceeds of the event are donated to the local non-profits that help produce the event. Over the past years over $150,000 has been raised for such organizations as Humboldt State University Cycling Team, Redwood Acres BMX, Green Wheels, Humboldt Bay Bicycle Commuters Association, Humboldt County Search & Rescue Team, Humboldt Amateur Radio Club and others.

Well, that does suck, but luckily you'll have your hands full next week!  Have you tried to tape that knee up at all?  You still getting the same exact pain?  What sort of treatment have you tried on it?