A closed mouth gathers no feet

ahh.... that is a good saying for me to go by!!! good luck!!!!

I would start bribing her now if I were you! You are in trouble my man!

Although if you could fake an injury you could also get out of it!

That certainly sounds like the best option so far.

Good luck!!! That is great you made a challenge like that. I made a similar one with my bro last year even though we were a little more evenly matched. I would work on increasing running times by running more days rather than running more distance each day initially. Don't build mileage too fast. Depending on your tri goal, in preparation of 5K, I doubt if you ever need to build to more than 8-10 miles in a single run. I believe in making challenging goals, but making goals about beating other people (including saying top 60% in agegroup like my current goal) can be dangerous. For example, you may be able to run a sub 21 min 5K by that point, but your daughter may be able to run a sub 20 min by that time. I think it is great that you made the challenge and I encourage you to attempt to make the goal as long as you remember that staying healthy is more important than winning a bet.

Well...

I notice that no one is giving you actual running advice, only preparing you for the worst (and at a 7 minute mile pace, I'm inclined to join them!! :-) )

But here IS something to help you pick up a little speed. It's a type of interval training. I don't really do interval training, but for the last 5 minutes of every run, I through in a little... now don't laugh... fartlek-ing.

Here's a link: http://www.coolrunning.com.au/expert/1997c002.shtml

Take a look and see if it would be of assistance to you. I was a 13 minute mile person and this technique has helped me come down to an 11 minute mile. I consistantly ran the 13 minute mile, even though I was getting in better shape, because... somehow... it is really hard to alter your pace much if you run on a treadmill or just have a consistent pace all the time. (Sort of a muscle memory thing, I think.)

I'm not sure you can beat Nellie, but at least she may be only to read nothing more than a short story or a long poem before you come across that finish line!!

ALL the best to you, wrybosome!!

Dana

Hi RNA-rich cytoplasmic granule,

Old age and treachery beats youth and ability every time. I recommend tying a gift certificate to the Gap to a rock. Showing it to Nellie at the start, then throwing it in the opposite direction of the race. Once in the lead, you toss out various earrings, cool socks and other daughterly treats to slow her down. She will stay behind you if your sack of stuff is big enough. I predict certain victory. I am the voice of experience with three mostly grown daughters.

TW

I've found that running improvments come slowly and take a lot of work. Good luck.
It depends what you are doing now. If you are running 10 miles 3-5 days a week you might not be able to improve much, if you're not maybe you could really improve just by running more at a slow steady pace.
If you are already doing decent milege maybe some hill reps or track sessions are what you'll need.
As far as injuries, slower is lower risk. Faster is higher risk.

I'm sorry if I repeat what others might have said [i didn't read the responses yet], but you have to build up your fast twitch muscles. I think you can do it, your training has to include more sprint workouts- like maybe some fartleks, sprint repetition sets, watch arm position. I could go on and on, but i don't want to overwhelm you [I coach J.H track and was once in HS track].

I hope this helps.

LMAO,ROFL. Thank you everyone! Some posts were helpful, some were hilarious, and a few were both. I will follow up on this advice, train with it like I was Rocky, and at least try to not lose too badly. Or I might take a trip to the gap like Tech Geezer said. Or in Nellie's case, Hot Topic. I think one key is going to be not running on the treadmill anymore. I went outside for my run today and had a much better time of it, got my time down further and had less pain.

Thanks again all, you guys are great.

I am slow. But I want to improve and so far my guide has been the book Training Guides for the Multisport Athlete- I am training for a 1/2 Ironman and that book plus the Triathlete Training Bible are really informative. Pick up this month's runners mag, there is info in it on how to increase your speed with one workout.

Also Plyometrics, I was told, are helpful. I found they have increased my force and in the long run, endurance. You might could look into it. The first book I mentioned explains the Plyometrics really well. You can find the book via Amazon.com and get it cheap, if you don't mind used.

Good luck, and if you want to beat her- you'll have to strive for 18 or 19 minutes because if you'll improve in two months, she'll be faster in two months.

I'll pray for you and GOOD LUCK. You CAN do it!! ;-) :-)

Fartlek: I'm glad this was brought up because this is how I love to train. I don't like really strucktured training. I read about it first in my cycling days and did Fartlek bike rides and now that I am a runner also I train this way in running. I like the freedom of being in the woods. I like how it is based on feel. When you feel good you go fast when you start to fade you slow down and recover and then you go hard again. It teaches you how to listen to your body and the pace you are able to hold for a given length of time. I think it comes from the German meaning to go or to wander. It is like playing. On the bike my friend Joe, who is an amazing time trailist and sprinter, and I have done some long hard fartlek bike rides with sprints and hard TT efforts of 10-20km where we just didn't let up. Then we slow down and ride steady and just talk. These are the fun rides. This is what I think training programs should be built on. When you are fresh and feel good you will do more speed work, when you are tired you will do less.

ah, another believer!!(o:Dana (I'm glad there is someone out there who doesn't think I was just suggesting rude (but fully natural) noises...)Let's see, my German is pretty rusty, but I fahr means to drive in German and lek is either a form of laufen (to run) or lecken (to leak). My inclination would be that it's related to run... but who knows??

I will third the motion on fartleks. It is the best overall method of improving on your speed; I used it quite successfuly in eighties. You can bring your time down from a 13 minute mile a 9 minute mile quite easily in 3 or 4 months using the fartlek method. As far as bringing your pace down to a 7 minute mile, I don't know, it depends entirely on your fitness level and your drive. I went from a 13 min mile to a 9 min mile in about 2 months, but it took me about 2 years to get down to an 8 min mile.

You and my husband should talk. I beat him by 3 minutes in a 5k when I was 8 months pregnant because he couldn't keep his mouth shut, wait at the finish line and hold my towel like a man. He will NEVER live this down. You need to acknowledge the inherent effortless superiority of your womenfolk and stop trying to compete with them.

Either that or cheat.

I used to beat my wife in races all the time. However, due to a long layoff, her doing an Ironman and my turning 50, things have changed. I don't worry about it anymore. The only one you should compare yourself to is you! Keep improving and doing your best. That's the most important thing.

(Cheating is a good idea)

Thanks for the information about fartlek. I have heard the term, and had a general idea about it, but have never really tuned in to it. Now I think I understand it a bit better, and will start using it when I get to running the entire 5K (which I walk/run now).

Been a month. So how is the progress? Are we getting faster?

All right here we go,

Here is some more running advice. The workout advice is the best information that I can give you. If you have a good base of slow running built up underneath you, then doing some speed work is bound to help. I have found that slower runners tend to drop large chuncks of time easier than faster runners do. If you really, and I mean really want to beat both of them, you will probably first need to up your running mileage just slightly. The next thing you should do is run a 5k time trial. Do it by yourself or find a running club or a cheap road race to do it at. This way you know how to base your workouts. Next, you will want to do speed workouts to build up that endurance and lactate threasehold. My freshman year of cross country we use to go out for a 4 mile warm up, come back, run 4-8 800 meter repeats, then do a mile cool down about twice a week. You will probably want to do two workouts a week. The 800 meter repeats should be slightly faster than your time trial pace, but not as fast as your goal pace. Fartleks, will also be a great thing to work in. Tempo runs too. Hill workouts are nice too. If you can find a hill with a decent grade that goes up hill for about a quarter mile, that's what I'm talking about. Try to incorporate these into a strong schedule. If you were to do a 5 day week, have it look something like this.

Mon: Easy
Tues: Repeats
Wed: Easy/Rest
Thurs: Fartlek
Fri: Easy
Sat: Easy/ Long
Sun: Rest

The long day should be slightly longer than the rest of your easy days, but slower than normal pace. I hope that this helps you out and good luck. I am now tapped out on my running knowledge and should think about going running for myself. Take it easy.

Cory

Edited by Bigdams 2004-03-12 1:20 PM