The Running Thread - 2018

[jmasgat]

Congratulations! What was your cushion? I still haven't received confirmation on my entry, but I'm still pretty confident given my BQ-6:00 margin.

I had 13 minutes.

 

[SheHulk]

I had 13 minutes.

DANG!!!

 

[jmasgat]

DANG!!!

Don't be that impressed. Being a 60 year old female means you get a big jump in qualifying time. My time was 15 minutes slower than the last time I qualified. It's one perk of getting older!

 

[michigandergirl]

I had 13 minutes.

DANG!!!

DANG is right! Awesome!!

 

[SheHulk]

Don't be that impressed. Being a 60 year old female means you get a big jump in qualifying time. My time was 15 minutes slower than the last time I qualified. It's one perk of getting older!

Uh my marathon PR is only a BQ if I'm 80 or older and I'm only 47 right now so I'll be impressed if I wanna! If I ever get a BQ no matter what I demand everybody be impressed.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Uh my marathon PR is only a BQ if I'm 80 or older and I'm only 47 right now so I'll be impressed if I wanna! If I ever get a BQ no matter what I demand everybody be impressed.

I’m pretty sure mine would only work if they accepted the hypothetical possibility of a 480-year-old marathon runner and extrapolated the times accordingly.

 

[jennamfeo]

Great participation so far!! For those of you who have not submitted your answers yet (you know who you are!!), I will leave the Google Form open until Monday September 17 Noon ET and begin revealing the results Monday evening.

Dang it. Totally forgot to do this.

 

[roxymama]

Don't be that impressed. Being a 60 year old female means you get a big jump in qualifying time. My time was 15 minutes slower than the last time I qualified. It's one perk of getting older!

Too late...already started my slow clap...no turning back now.

 

[cavepig]

Thanks for posting about your experience @cavepig. Sorry it was a rough weather day and the event has gone down hill.
I had hoped to go to Omaha and do this race but maybe I should do the one at the Nebraska State Fair instead? I think it's in August. Have you tried that one?

I have not done the "Nebraska Sate Fair" marathon because it's 2.5 hrs away and end of August has an even more chance of being brutally hot (although what's normal anymore as yesterday was above normal weather wise). It's a small field, but flat I've heard.

The most recommended Fall marathon now is the "Heartland" one in Omaha, it's Sep. 23 this year. It's only a few years old and basically was created to boycott the HITS one. It's still a small field, but locally owned and I've heard actually uses timing mats. The problem is none of these get the crowds of lots of runners so for a full you are sometimes all alone. This one might be catching on though, I'm going to follow it Sunday and see what people say and the totals. Last year only had 98 marathoners.

Then the "Nebraska" marathon in October in Omaha, locally owned as well, I really haven't heard much on. A friend did the half last year. Not a lot of runners. It was also created to boycott the HITS one and only a few years old.

Omaha by HITS gets the most crowds for Omaha because of name only anymore. I would tell you totals of finishers, but no results yet, which is totally unacceptable in this day and age.

Otherwise, Lincoln marathon in May is the most popular in Nebraska.

 

[GreatLakes]

I have not done the "Nebraska Sate Fair" marathon because it's 2.5 hrs away and end of August has an even more chance of being brutally hot (although what's normal anymore as yesterday was above normal weather wise). It's a small field, but flat I've heard.

The most recommended Fall marathon now is the "Heartland" one in Omaha, it's Sep. 23 this year. It's only a few years old and basically was created to boycott the HITS one. It's still a small field, but locally owned and I've heard actually uses timing mats. The problem is none of these get the crowds of lots of runners so for a full you are sometimes all alone. This one might be catching on though, I'm going to follow it Sunday and see what people say and the totals. Last year only had 98 marathoners.

Then the "Nebraska" marathon in October in Omaha, locally owned as well, I really haven't heard much on. A friend did the half last year. Not a lot of runners. It was also created to boycott the HITS one.

Omaha by HITS gets the most crowds for Omaha because of name only anymore. I would tell you totals of finishers, but no results yet, which is totally unacceptable in this day and age.

Otherwise, Lincoln marathon in May is the most popular in Nebraska.

I was just talking with a friend in Cheyenne about doing a Nebraska half in the next year or so. We found a few out in western NE we may aim for (Twisted Crawdad or Platte Valley Companies Monument) but will make sure to avoid the HITS race for sure if we end up in the eastern part of the state.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

Mill Race 5K Recap

Sorry, this ended up being WAY longer than anticipated. BLUF, if you're in a hurry: 23:06 1st place AG.

Goals/Motivation for running the race: In the past, I've run an average of about 6 5Ks a year. Life, work, and marathon training got in the way, and I realized it's been over a year and a half since I ran a 5K. I also realized I felt scared to run one. Late Friday evening, I decided to remedy the situation. I tossed out sub-24 as a goal. I wanted to find out what 5K shape I was in and see if I remembered how to race a 5K, and if not, start to relearn it.

Location: The race is about 25 minutes away at a county park. The park has a covered bridge, a grist mill and a 1850ish restored village. The race is in conjunction with an annual festival.

Race: It was 73 degrees with 95% humidity at the start of the race. The race is not chip timed, but it's a small race, so not a problem to get up front at the start. The course is a relatively flat loop with 134 feet of elevation gain. It's paved roads with about a mile on a gravel/dirt road.

I used a different method to manage my pace for this race. Normally I just look at the split time every mile and adjust accordingly. On a 5K, that only gives you 2 meaningful adjustment points. For this race, I set up a data screen on the Garmin with average pace and lap pace. I knew my goal pace (7:43). If average pace is at or below goal pace, I'm good. If not (or if average is too far below goal) then a correction was in order. If I needed a correction, I watched the lap pace to make a reasonable adjustment without overdoing it.

I missed seeing the first mile marker, which is always disconcerting. (Oh God, is this the LONGEST mile ever?) I had distance displayed but wasn't paying attention to it, so I marked the first split long, but since I was working off pace instead of time, it didn't matter. The first split was pretty close, 7:45. The second was even better, 7:43. At mile 2, I felt pretty good, so I stopped looking at the watch and tried to hit a pace that I felt like I could maintain for another mile, but not any longer. Last mile was 7:14, my fastest mile ever according to the watch! As is usual for me in a 5K, it was a near-death experience, with the near-death hopefully happening on the far side of the finish line.

Post-race: They had water, Gatorade, Powerade, cookies, bananas, and apples. A bottle of water and a banana and I was back among the living. I don't think I've ever sweated that much after a race. Even after toweling off and a quick change of clothes, I sweated for an hour. I stuck around for the awards ceremony and snagged a 1st place AG. The post-race meal was at Chick-Fil-A, with semi-healthy food and a diet Arnold Palmer. My body almost revolted: 'Don't we get pizza and beer after a race?'

Post-post-race: After a nap, I went back to the festival to meet my college age nephew (DN). I listened to bluegrass music while waiting on DN. He arrived, we walked around and each had a Scooby-snack of a bratwurst with sauerkraut. Then we watched the Civil War reenactment. At first I thought it was kind of hokey, but as the cannons were booming, rifles firing, battle field filling with smoke, re-enactors starting to 'die', it was moving. Especially when you realize how many times, on much larger scales, this scene was played out. For the record: the blue team won! DN and I decided we had enough festival food and stinking heat, so we went to a local pizza place and devoured an 18 inch carnivore special. It was New York style, not sure how authentic. Thin crust, big fold-able pieces, not much tomato sauce. It seemed pretty greasy, but that may have been all the meat piled on it. We quickly discovered that after you fold it, if you tip it forward, the crease made a effective grease gutter, saving a few calories. They had a semi-local IPA on tap so finally my body was happy.

Official Results: 23:06, pace 7:26, 1/6 age group, 14/97 overall. I'm pretty happy with that. My PR, set on a better course in much better weather, is only about a minute less than that. It looks like I did not forget how to race a 5K and my new method of managing pace seems to work.

Old Sweaty Goofy Guy after the race:

 

[Kerry1957]

@LSUlakes just signed up for a run in McHenry, Illinois:

09/22 - @Kerry1957 - Moraine Hills Run for the Hills HM (2:59:59 / NA)

I have a 13 mile long run on my @DopeyBadger training plan for Saturday. So why not just run a hilly trail HM?

My training plan calls for about 14 minute miles for my long runs, but I know the competitive juices will start flowing and there is no way I want to finish over 3 hours. 13:44 minutes per mile will sneak me in just under 3 hours. Having only finished my first HM 2 years ago, I can't believe I'm now doing one for a training run, immediately following the toughest week of training this week and just before my taper for a full trail M on October 13.

 

[BikeFan]

Don't be that impressed. Being a 60 year old female means you get a big jump in qualifying time. My time was 15 minutes slower than the last time I qualified. It's one perk of getting older!

Sorry, I'm just going to go ahead with being impressed!
First, you finished a marathon, so there's that. Second, you did it at 60, which is also impressive. Third, you did it fast enough to BQ with a very comfortable margin, and you beat the median marathon time for men and women of all ages. That's solid stuff!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Okay, training in Florida officially sucks. I don't know how you guys and gals run down here. I had a 16 mile run on Sunday. Started the run at 3:30am. It was already 80 degrees, 95% humidity and a real feel of 91 degrees - yeah, at 3:30 in the morning. I ran slow on purpose and still lost 9 lbs. I ran 11 miles in Alabama last week at 70 degrees with 100% humidity and it was easy compared to the run on Sunday.

The runs of 8 miles or less are not too bad, but these longs runs in this weather are horrible.

 

[ZellyB]

Great job on that 5k @OldSlowGoofyGuy

And, I'm chiming in on the chorus of those being impressed @jmasgat

 

[Slogger]

Awesome race @OldSlowGoodyGuy. Congrats on a great time and AG award.

Hope you have stopped sweating by now.

 

[AntimonyER]

Okay, training in Florida officially sucks. I don't know how you guys and gals run down here. I had a 16 mile run on Sunday. Started the run at 3:30am. It was already 80 degrees, 95% humidity and a real feel of 91 degrees - yeah, at 3:30 in the morning. I ran slow on purpose and still lost 9 lbs. I ran 11 miles in Alabama last week at 70 degrees with 100% humidity and it was easy compared to the run on Sunday.

The runs of 8 miles or less are not too bad, but these longs runs in this weather are horrible.

Yeah running in the south sucks from Late May-Early Oct. (Longer in FL). But its a whole lot better Nov-March than most places

 

[TheHamm]

Yeah running in the south sucks from Late May-Early Oct. (Longer in FL). But its a whole lot better Nov-March than most places

Can you quantify the suck?
Because I committed to a girls weekend and a quick 5K in October & I have my doubts about the friend who said it should be fine.

 

[jennamfeo]

Mill Race 5K Recap

Sorry, this ended up being WAY longer than anticipated. BLUF, if you're in a hurry: 23:06 1st place AG.

Goals/Motivation for running the race: In the past, I've run an average of about 6 5Ks a year. Life, work, and marathon training got in the way, and I realized it's been over a year and a half since I ran a 5K. I also realized I felt scared to run one. Late Friday evening, I decided to remedy the situation. I tossed out sub-24 as a goal. I wanted to find out what 5K shape I was in and see if I remembered how to race a 5K, and if not, start to relearn it.

Location: The race is about 25 minutes away at a county park. The park has a covered bridge, a grist mill and a 1850ish restored village. The race is in conjunction with an annual festival.

Race: It was 73 degrees with 95% humidity at the start of the race. The race is not chip timed, but it's a small race, so not a problem to get up front at the start. The course is a relatively flat loop with 134 feet of elevation gain. It's paved roads with about a mile on a gravel/dirt road.

I used a different method to manage my pace for this race. Normally I just look at the split time every mile and adjust accordingly. On a 5K, that only gives you 2 meaningful adjustment points. For this race, I set up a data screen on the Garmin with average pace and lap pace. I knew my goal pace (7:43). If average pace is at or below goal pace, I'm good. If not (or if average is too far below goal) then a correction was in order. If I needed a correction, I watched the lap pace to make a reasonable adjustment without overdoing it.

I missed seeing the first mile marker, which is always disconcerting. (Oh God, is this the LONGEST mile ever?) I had distance displayed but wasn't paying attention to it, so I marked the first split long, but since I was working off pace instead of time, it didn't matter. The first split was pretty close, 7:45. The second was even better, 7:43. At mile 2, I felt pretty good, so I stopped looking at the watch and tried to hit a pace that I felt like I could maintain for another mile, but not any longer. Last mile was 7:14, my fastest mile ever according to the watch! As is usual for me in a 5K, it was a near-death experience, with the near-death hopefully happening on the far side of the finish line.

Post-race: They had water, Gatorade, Powerade, cookies, bananas, and apples. A bottle of water and a banana and I was back among the living. I don't think I've ever sweated that much after a race. Even after toweling off and a quick change of clothes, I sweated for an hour. I stuck around for the awards ceremony and snagged a 1st place AG. The post-race meal was at Chick-Fil-A, with semi-healthy food and a diet Arnold Palmer. My body almost revolted: 'Don't we get pizza and beer after a race?'

Post-post-race: After a nap, I went back to the festival to meet my college age nephew (DN). I listened to bluegrass music while waiting on DN. He arrived, we walked around and each had a Scooby-snack of a bratwurst with sauerkraut. Then we watched the Civil War reenactment. At first I thought it was kind of hokey, but as the cannons were booming, rifles firing, battle field filling with smoke, re-enactors starting to 'die', it was moving. Especially when you realize how many times, on much larger scales, this scene was played out. For the record: the blue team won! DN and I decided we had enough festival food and stinking heat, so we went to a local pizza place and devoured an 18 inch carnivore special. It was New York style, not sure how authentic. Thin crust, big fold-able pieces, not much tomato sauce. It seemed pretty greasy, but that may have been all the meat piled on it. We quickly discovered that after you fold it, if you tip it forward, the crease made a effective grease gutter, saving a few calories. They had a semi-local IPA on tap so finally my body was happy.

Official Results: 23:06, pace 7:26, 1/6 age group, 14/97 overall. I'm pretty happy with that. My PR, set on a better course in much better weather, is only about a minute less than that. It looks like I did not forget how to race a 5K and my new method of managing pace seems to work.

Old Sweaty Goofy Guy after the race:

View attachment 351619

Great job!!! I kind of feel like your username is mostly a lie. (Mostly because you can be pretty Goofy! )

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

Great job!!! I kind of feel like your username is mostly a lie. (Mostly because you can be pretty Goofy! )

Thanks! I'm working on the 'Slow'. Sadly, there is nothing to be done about the 'Old'.

Although:

Don't be that impressed. Being a 60 year old ... means you get a big jump in qualifying time. My time was 15 minutes slower than the last time I qualified. It's one perk of getting older!

As he googles BQs for the 'next' age group...