~The BOT Battalion~ BOTS On The Run

[KeenHo]

D-bags?

Good day residents of Botsylvania! I did not make it out last night for an additional run. Cam and I ended up going up to West Chester, PA to Otto's BMW and purchasing a car. It took most of the evening from 5:30 to 8:15. We placed an order for a 2010 BMW 128i Convertible, Black with Boston Gray Leather seating with the Premium Package. It will be built for us and should arrive sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

On the running front, I got out early this morning and it went fairly well. No major pains or issues. 3 miles in 27:29 for a 9:09 pace.

Have a super day!



Howard

 

[Theta]

Hi friends,

A little training to report. 90 minutes of yoga AND 4 miles yesterday. I had to ice my knee last night, but it is still feeling OK. I have 12 or 13 miles scheduled for this weekend. Hopefully it will go well.

Jodi, are you really only running 16 miles for your longest run? How are the feet, legs, etc, today?

Cam, so happy you are getting relief from the shot.

Dave, how are your injuries coming along? Feeling better?

Cindy, a 12 week plan? Stay healthly, be careful these first few weeks.

Mike and Kathy, when are you two back?? Seems like SO long we saw you at Disney. I will try and get some of the pics up on FB either today or tomorrow. They are really good!

 

[Jodi]

Howard - Congrats on the car AND the run this a.m.!.

Cindy - 9 miles??? So I guess you're not subscribing to my training plan.

Hey everyone - need your input/suggestions.
1. So I got both Achilles acupuncture"d" yesterday as they were getting very tight. Judging by this a.m. first walk after my snooze, it seems as if has worked very well, as I wasn't hobbling for the first few minutes . Scheduled for 14 Sat., but it's going to rain, so I'll do that tomorrow. However, I'm planning to split it into 2 runs; 6 in the a.m., then, if pain/soreness allows, 8 tomorrow p.m. Just to play it safe...good plan?

2. Stupid question, I know. Does anyone know of a good, cheap watch that'll beep every 4 minutes, then every 2 minutes? Can I program a simple timex watch to do this? Spencer's going to need this for his run/walk training program for the Disney 1/2. Don't necessarily want to give him my Garmin to use (he wouldn't wear something that big on his wrist anyway).

3. Has anyone looked into Jeff Galloway's run/walk program for old hags? I've heard so much about how it helps to take walk breaks during marathons, etc. I've always thought I was "failing" if I stopped to walk , I'm done with that theory. But Galloway contests that you can actually run a marathon faster, if not the same time as just running, if you take these walk breaks. Anyone tested this out? Do you really have more energy? See, I'm convinced the reason why I've injured myself is b/c I was A. ill-prepared for the 1/2 marathons I ran in April & May & B. I tried to run them too fast. I definitely lose my form when I speed up so I need to stop. However, I still have enough foolish pride left in me that I don't wanna extend my existing marathon times tooooo much.

Whew, long-winded, sorry. Thoughts?? Comments?? Be nice!

 

[StitchAttack]

Has anyone looked into Jeff Galloway's run/walk program for old hags? I've heard so much about how it helps to take walk breaks during marathons, etc. I've always thought I was "failing" if I stopped to walk , I'm done with that theory. But Galloway contests that you can actually run a marathon faster, if not the same time as just running, if you take these walk breaks. Anyone tested this out? Do you really have more energy?

I think that Galloway makes sense in some situations and it probably can help you run faster if you typically "blow up" at marathons and end up walking or slowing down significantly in the last few miles. Many runners (I know I'm guilty of this) tend to start out too fast in the first half of the marathon and then slow down or walk a lot near the end. I think that Galloway is good because it forces you to focus on your pacing from the start with all of the walk breaks.

I've never tried Galloway, but my big concern is that when I start walking it is really mentally hard to start running again, especially once you are tied.

Also someone I work with has had bad issues with his hamstring for the last few years and he swears by walk / run as a way to help him do marathons without re-injuring his hamstring. He doesn't claim it makes him faster, but it does allow him to complete the marathon distance pain free, which he couldn't do if he tried to run the whole distance. I think he does something like 9 minutes running followed by 1 minute of walking. He says that this helps his hamstring from getting too tight.

I just googled for "galloway pace calculator" and here is an example they give:

If you want to run a 4:15 marathon with a 5 minute run / 1 minute walk ratio, you would need to do the run portions at 9 minutes 5 seconds per mile. If you wanted to run a 4:15 marathon and you just ran the whole time you would need to run at a 9 minute 44 second pace per mile. I think you would have to test it out to see whether running at 9:44 per mile is easier or harder than running at a 9:05 per mile for 5 minutes and then walking for 1 minute.

 

[rKyDeX]

Jodi
I think that another advantage of the walk/run programs is that it seems to be easier on your body to vary speeds. I know that if I go out and run a long time at a constant speed, it seems hard to get back up to speed again if I slow down.

But, when I run at a differing paces or have frequent walk breaks, it seem easier to pick up the pace and keeps my legs fresher.


My Tuesday and Wednesday night runs turned into Wednesday and Thursday early morning runs due to working late and thunderstorms both nights. Working late again tonight and hoping the rain will stop by 10pm, If not, then it will be a fast 3 miles at 5:30am.

Back to work for me.


Chester

 

[Jodi]

Mindy - Thanks for checking Galloway's website for me. See, that's what I mean, though, about taking walk breaks. At Philly I think I ran a 4:15, but looking @ the walk method, I'm not sure I could maintain 9:05 while I'm running, even with that walk break. A 9:44 seems more doable (and I've done it,so...). And I NEVER have a problem going out too fast. But I do worry about getting going again - I might say hey, "might as well keep walking".

But then I look @ what you have to say, Chester and it makes a lot of sense. Less wear & tear on this old body, fresher legs, speed variation..

Sigh, I guess I'll just have to play around with it.

Hope you're able to get out there tonight Chester - what's your training schedule like, Mindy?

 

[Theta]

Jodi, I find I can run MUCH faster with walk intervals, not sure how long I can keep it up, but we will see on Nov. 1st.

 

[jbucci]

Howard and Cam: congrats on the new wheels-- sounds nice

Jodi: I know I'm not nearly as fast as the rest of you Bots, but I think the run/walk is a good thing. I always felt like taking walk breaks was cheating in some way and was training to be able to run the entire distance. During this time period I had recurring ankle and knee pain in my one leg. I decided to give intervals a try and have done much better at maintaining a pace for greater distances and not getting any pain-- varying the muscles you use does seem to really help and I am able to run faster and slightly improve my overall time. We'll see how it goes for the full in Jan, but it has really helped so far...

 

[KeenHo]

Jodi~ I've only ran one race in my life where I had a plan to run intervals. I ran with Lynn (XterraTri) and Kevin Zurmuehlen (KZMarathon). We ran one of the Disney Marathons by running 4 minutes, walking 1 or something similar. Lynn kept the time with her Garmin (it beeped) and we walked. I kept watch on our pace on my Garmin and Kevin kept track of miles completed and to go on his. It worked out pretty well. It was strange to start a marathon and walking after 4 minutes. It is a mind teaser. I am not disciplined to do that on my own. I usually do the variable thing and then end up walking some (too much) toward the final few miles.


Hi Everyone! Jen, Colleen, Chester, Cindy, Matt, CindyLou, Dave, Mike, Lou, etc.



Howard

 

[Jodi]

Hmmm....Thanks for all the feedback, guys. Keep it coming!

Maybe if I do walk intervals for the first 1/2 of the marathon...then run the second 1/2? I think, too, Howard, if I started taking walk breaks @ the end of the marathon that'd be it for me . That happens to me all the time @ the NYC 1/2, I always stop the last 3 miles @ the aid stations, but really I'm just looking for an excuse to walk. At that point in the race it's really hard to get going again.

 

[StitchAttack]

Jodi My training schedule has been a bit crazy. I'm using the same advanced marathon training plan I used last year for Philly, but this year I started on the 24 week plan instead of the 18 week plan. Despite being longer, I think the 24 week plan is actually a bit easier, since you build up your miles slower and more gradually.

Still I missed 2 weeks of training while we were in Japan and the weather has been so hot here recently that I haven't been able to do all my runs the way I would like to. Both of my 20 miles so far have, how do I put it.... SUCKED! So I'm not real confident. I had a really good 17 miler this last weekend, but this morning I tried to run 11 miles and only made 10 (with some walking) and felt terrible. hmmm.

I'm hoping that just keeping my miles per week up will compensate for the crappy long runs. I'm also hopping that I can pull things together before the Baltimore marathon in 6 weeks and that the weather cools off a bit. 75 degrees and 92% humidity at 5:45 AM makes me want to cry.

 

[Theta]

3 more miles for me today. That makes for an all time NYC training high of 13 miles for the week!

 

[Jodi]

Matt - Those training schedules you & Mindy are following are hideous!! Do NOT worry about those nasty 20 milers, 20 miles is awesome, no matter how you look @ it, even though they didn't feel like you wanted. You've been running long enough now that you KNOW if the weather is heinous chances are your run will me heinous. You'll be fine in Baltimore - and if the weather's good, it might not actually feel too bad, . Hey, when are YOU gonna run Boston???

Colleen - 3 miles is better than no miles, sista! NYC is waiting for you! We're gonna have such a blast. Many videos will be taken that weekend (and subsequently posted on FB & Youtube!)

So where is everyone staying in Jan for Disney? We're (me, mom, Spencer, brother & niece) staying in a 2BR @ Animal Kingdom! Can't wait!

 

[KeenHo]

Good evening! I got up early this morning to find rain falling. I decided to stay in bed and ended up sleeping later than I wanted to and got to work a couple of minutes late. So, when I got home and it was merely drizzling, I figured I could sneak one in. I did, but it started to significantly rain while I was out. I had fogged up glasses with rain spots I was trying to see through, running into puddles I couldn't see, barely missing tree branches sticking out onto the sidewalk, etc. It was a foggy, wet run. But it is in the record books!

Miles: 5.0
Time: 46:46
Pace: 9:21
Splits: 9:23, 9:49, 9:19, 9:10 and 9:03

Have a great weekend!



Howard

 

[Optimator]

Hi Guys and Gals,

Checking in from lovely Vero Beach, FL.

Jodi - First, there's no shame in walking at any time so flush that crap from your head. Second, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about most of the time. That said, here are my thoughts on the run-walk interval thingy:

I can fully see how the run-walk can save some wear and tear on the old hag-bag body. Chester and Jen make good points about varying paces and different muscle groups, etc. My only problem is that I'm a little skeptical about it making that much difference in the very late miles of a marathon. Just speaking from my one experience, once I've run out of gas at the end no amount of walking fills the tank back up. Then again, I guess the whole purpose of the run-walk is to keep the tank from getting empty at the end.

Try it and let us know what you think. BTW, I always walk through the water stops (and often a bit longer than that). I'm not coordinated to run and drink at the same time.

Howard and Cam - Congrats on the new ride!

Colleen - It has been a long time since we saw you in Disney!

Dave - Just by dumb luck with all the launch delays we were able to watch last night's shuttle launch from the beach here in Vero. It was our second launch and first at night. It was really quite spectacular! Much better at night in my opinion.

I noticably won't mention any training.

See ya!

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Good Morning Everyone: I got my first run in a couple weeks done. I ran 5 miles in 46 min flat. My legs were feeling tired, but I just need to build them back up. I'm disapointed because my shin's a little sore again. Blast! I have a rest day today, and then I'll try running again on Monday.

Mike- That's very cool you got to see a night-time shuttle launch. Now that I saw a launch from Orlando, I'd love to see one up close at Cape Canaveral.

 

[Theta]

Try it and let us know what you think. BTW, I always walk through the water stops (and often a bit longer than that). I'm not coordinated to run and drink at the same time.

!

Mike, I am reading this to Jeff, he says, "Ah, that's got to be fixed!" Way too much time is lost at water stops drinking.

Now to our report, we are sitting here drinking coffee and complaining about the parts of our bodies that hurt.

 

[KeenHo]

Good morning all... I am just in from a run in 80 degree weather with 52% relative humidity.

Miles: 6.0
Time: 1:01:18
Pace: 10:13
Splits: 9:41, 9:29, 12:05, 10:00, 10:15, 9:49

I am golfing over in New Jersey this afternoon, I am sure it will be hot out there.

I hope everyone has a great day!



Howard

 

[CynthiaCindy]

Cindy: Glad your run was good. Good luck with the 55 miles/week. I cannot even imagine that many miles. I'm not very good about tracking my miles, but I'm not sure I've done more than 40 in a week. Yikes!! It'll either get you in awesome shape, or nearly kill you.

CindyLou - I used the 18 week/55 mile to train for Philly last year so I’ve kind of done it before, I just think I was in better shape starting the schedule last time than I am right now.

How is your hip feeling?

FatBashterd/Mike - Glad to hear you're having fun & indulging, you deserve it!!! MUST share an Optimator with you & the rest of the BOTS on Sunday after the marathon! :

Wait – you are going to be around the Sunday after the marathon? Shouldn’t you have a 10 AM flight on Saturday?

So, do you think you will try the run/walk thing? I’d be interested to hear how it goes. I don’t think that I am disciplined enough to do that, but I do think it makes a lot of sense as an injury reduction strategy.

Mike – I hope you and Kathy and the girls are still having a great vacation. How did you like the new roller coaster at Universal?

Howard – I saw those pictures you posted of your mom’s yard from last weekend. Wow. It looks like you did a ton of work. I can understand why you were so sore.

Colleen – That rate you mentioned for the BC, that’s a great rate, is that a bounce back offer? I’m glad to hear that you were able to get a good deal for Richmond!

Lou – I also hate hearing about bad things happening to runners. It makes me mad that there are probably women out there who will stop running because of something like that.

Chester – I’m glad to hear that your training is going well.

Dave – I hope your shin feels better tomorrow.

Jen – Are you off to CA?

As for me, I ran 13 this morning. It was pretty awful. I actually walked for almost the entire 12th mile because I felt so horrible. I’m feeling pretty beat up now. Oh well. I’m going to blame it on the heat and humidity. That makes 35 miles for this week. Next week I’m supposed to run 39, but I’ll see how I feel and I might cut a few of those out, especially from the scheduled 11 mile run on Thursday.

I think a number of people asked about hotels for marathon weekend. We haven't booked anything yet, but I'd really like to stay by EPCOT again, but the prices kind of suck, although I am considering booking the Boardwalk through Anthony Travel - that seems to be the best rate I can find.

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

I think a number of people asked about hotels for marathon weekend. We haven't booked anything yet, but I'd really like to stay by EPCOT again, but the prices kind of suck, although I am considering booking the Boardwalk through Anthony Travel - that seems to be the best rate I can find.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the hotel for Marathon Weekend question. I'm going to be down there for a week from Jan 10-17 to lead a group of students from the college I work at for an Alternative Break Trip to the Give Kids the World Village. I'll be staying at a house I rented offsite near Give Kids the World.