Let's Talk Marathons (Page 2)

Ok you marathoners, I just signed up for the Raleigh 70.3. Anyone else in?

That seems like a long way from where I am now...! I might sit it out this year and just do short-course stuff and try do that fast. But that doesn't mean we can do some riding and running together!

I would LOVE to race Raleigh, but wife is going to be out of town, so I doubt I can swing it.

Thinking of the Cary Du LC, though, which is two weeks prior.

If d00d does the long course Du, I will do the short course one, which gives me a decent chance of finishing before him! :-)

Actually, here is what I am thinking as of today. Tobacco Rd marathon in March, then Beaverdam OLY in April if I can start swimming and cycling again (but that might be too soon after TRM). If not Beaverdam then Cary DU. Thinking about Triangle Tri in July and then maybe Pinehurst or something like that in the fall. All short-course. Time to do 3 triathlons in a year again (only did 2 last year) to get a USAT ranking again. And if I am going to get a ranking then its better for me to do short-course :-)

Hey Louiskie, I am considering Beaver Dam again but I'm also considering White Lake a week later. It's a little farther away but I'm a little Beaver Dammed out. And I am considering trying to do enough Set Up events to complete the series. We can discuss it at length during our run this weekend : )

BTW, just curious, what's with the USAT ranking thing? I am aware that it's out there but never knew much about it. Does it get you anything?

Hey smoom. What do you mean by "get you anything"? You don't get world elite status or anything like with WTC but if you are super fast you get all american mention/honors in the magazine USAT puts out. I don't care about that though. I just use it to tell my wife that I got an 82 (or whatever) and she is always SO impressed ;-). Seriously though, what I like it for is because it normalizes performance year-over-year so I think it is a much better predictor of performance gains (or losses) over a longer period of time. Don't ask what the algorithm is but I have found it to be pretty spot on with how I think I did in a race. It also gives you an idea of how you are compared to peers nationally. Some people think its bogus but I think it is actually pretty accurate. We can discuss between mile 4 and 6 on Sunday. You have to do 3 races a year so you could easily go and look up your yearly ranking on the USAT site. I like to get the race-by-race breakdown though and those are not available for previous years anymore I don't think (just the yearly average).

White Lake? Ugh. Why do people going BACK there?

I'm probably going to do WL in spring and fall. That's a race I like to do every year as a fitness gauge.

The way smoom has been training lately, the elites better watch out!

TIME TO TAPER!!!!

You mean "time to taper and fuss about minutia"

What about me fgump? I just gotta go without

 Yep.  Bring an extra pair of socks just in case.

;P

I don't think I'll be able to holler anything at mile 12! How about squeak? or grunt?

I'm thinking fgump should wait there for me with a jogging stroller and he can pretend to be a Dick Hoyt and push me to the finish-line! I will sit in the stroller eating GU.

you need a fanny pack filled with biltong! you can hand me off a few pieces as we pass each other on the course.

btw, not enjoying taper all that much...

How was the race today? The weather was nice but I did notice it warming up a bit at the end.

The wife and I did the half. We decided last minute (aka last weekend) when some friends of ours got hurt and gave us their bibs. We didn't stick around long as I've been battling a cold and wanted to get home.

Hope everyone had a nice run!

Due to the soggy road and mud, i thought it was not an easy course. I could feel the ground under me give way with every push, which is a big energy drain. That being said, the weather was great, and the atmosphere was pretty good. I saw a bunch of ppl get medic'd out, though. I hope they were all ok.

Funny you mention that, I noticed the same thing. I remember asking myself if I had something stuck in my shoes they felt so squishy at times.

Oh, and nice job on the race!

d00d had an amazing race (8th overall), as did qrkid (2nd master). I had a rough day...lots of pain after about 18 miles. My garmin had me going faster than I was (measured the course at 26.78 miles, so the pacing was off) and when I realized that I wasn't going the pace I thought I was, I lost some desire to try to keep my (not to fast) pace. Anyway, its a great race. I just didn't have a particularly good day.

Actually, I was 9th overall! Totally agree with the pace, though. I kept thinking I was running slower than intended pace, and after the mile would change, I saw i was running right about the correct pace. I think the trees interfered with the signal, but can't be sure.

Louis, you had an amazing race! I think you can attribute the slower time to the path. It was not an easy course today. You were only about 5% slower than you wanted to go, and that's nothing. Great race!

Thanks, tjones2k9!