To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[TeeterTots]

Are you just going to PM him 100 times asking for one day plans?

Omg no! I bug him enough already! Lol! sorry, Billy, I’m talking like you’re not here! Haha

 

[SarahDisney]

Billy,
Can you please make 97 more plans, then make my plans for the 10 miler in September, WDW Marathon, and then NYC Half next March? Thanks.

(See ... no more need for the rush to 300. I've already claimed it)

 

[DopeyBadger]

Omg no! I bug him enough already! Lol! sorry, Billy, I’m talking like you’re not here! Haha

Certainly never bugging me though! I'm here to help! So PM away! I think the limit is somewhere around one every 15 seconds, not that I would know....

Billy,
Can you please make 97 more plans, then make my plans for the 10 miler in September, WDW Marathon, and then NYC Half next March? Thanks.

(See ... no more need for the rush to 300. I've already claimed it)

I doubt I'll have another 97 written by September. Probably another 30-40 or so. But I have already had some requests for Marathon Weekend so people are getting lined up already. BTW, it's far too early for me to write Marathon Weekend plans, but I'm putting a note in for those that request. That post-January plan for March NYC will probably be pretty close to #300.

 

[Bree]

Certainly never bugging me though! I'm here to help! So PM away! I think the limit is somewhere around one every 15 seconds, not that I would know....





I doubt I'll have another 97 written by September. Probably another 30-40 or so. But I have already had some requests for Marathon Weekend so people are getting lined up already. BTW, it's far too early for me to write Marathon Weekend plans, but I'm putting a note in for those that request. That post-January plan for March NYC will probably be pretty close to #300.

I think I have mentioned it, but this is my official request to be put on the waiting list for Dopey.

Wow at 200 plans. That is super crazy, but it just shows that they work!

 

[DopeyBadger]

I think I have mentioned it, but this is my official request to be put on the waiting list for Dopey.

Wow at 200 plans. That is super crazy, but it just shows that they work!

No worries. There's no wait list. It was merely new people requesting plans way in advance and me telling them that we wouldn't start until August/September. Once your plan wraps up in September we'll jump into the next one.

To be fair, it's you guys that continue to show it works! I merely translate what I've learned and read into working plans for others.

 

[lhermiston]

Those aren’t just training plans you’ve written, Billy; those are lives that have been changed. Pretty dang cool.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Those aren’t just training plans you’ve written, Billy; those are lives that have been changed. Pretty dang cool.

Appreciate it! Guess I didn't think of it that way. But I'll certainly take it.

 

[jennamfeo]

Me this morning reading the testimonials:


Billy, I know you think you just supply us with a training plan, but there is so much more to it. You guide us, teach us, lift us up when we hit a wall, believe in us. It's all of those things plus your training plans that make us better runners and probably better people. So thanks!

 

[FFigawi]

GOAL #82 of 102!

82. Write 200 training plans - Completed 5/1/2018 by writing @roxymama 's first marathon plan for the Chicago Marathon! Fun fact, @roxymama was also Training Plan #3 way back in January 2016 for an 8k.

Thank you @roxymama and everyone else for making my running goal #82 achievable. Without you, there is no success on that goal. So !

When will you finish her Dopey plan?

 

[roxymama]

When will you finish her Dopey plan?

I feel like he's secretly building my plans over time to end up with dopey. I'm not quite sure how yet but I have my suspicions. #conspiracytheory

 

[FFigawi]

I feel like he's secretly building my plans over time to end up with dopey. I'm not quite sure how yet but I have my suspicions. #conspiracytheory

You know it's going to happen

 

[rteetz]

 

[DopeyBadger]

When will you finish her Dopey plan?

Lol, I guess when she gives me the all clear. Maybe #500?

I feel like he's secretly building my plans over time to end up with dopey. I'm not quite sure how yet but I have my suspicions. #conspiracytheory

Who me???? Never...

 

[rteetz]

Maybe #500?

It will be like #250...

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Catching up... do you think it's time to quit your day job?

Somewhat off topic. I read one of your posts about the proper amount of time to warm up before each race distance, but now I can't find it. Can you repost? And maybe make it a link on your first post (if not already there)? I know you said something about 6 minutes (?) to get from anaerobic to aerobic. Can this also work if the warm up is done on a bike? When I run at the gym or around my house, I like to do 10 minutes on the stationary bike because I like how it warms up my quads. However, for a race this is most likely not practical due to timing (I can't do the bike warmup then get to most races within 60 minutes before the race start and still want to be early).

Thanks!

 

[Dis5150]

Lol and while you are doing that for @PaDisneyCouple would you mind linking to your pre-race routine? I know you posted it for me before but I can't find it! The time line one?

 

[DopeyBadger]

Catching up... do you think it's time to quit your day job?

Hahaha, yea not quite yet. Not even close to brining in the same kind of money so it wouldn't be a feasible alternative (more like something I can do in a few moments of down time).

Somewhat off topic. I read one of your posts about the proper amount of time to warm up before each race distance, but now I can't find it. Can you repost?

Depends on the distance. But here is the just of it for me:

The warm-ups are key for anything faster than "long run" pace which includes HM Tempo, Daniels T, and Tempo. Essentially, there are two main pathways for the body to use oxygen to produce energy. The aerobic pathway is mostly used in slower running. The closer you get to the point where it becomes harder to breathe (Ventilatory Threshold) the more you use the anaerobic pathway. The aerobic pathway is more efficient and faster at creating energy, whereas the body uses anaerobic when the aerobic can't keep up (because you're going too fast).

The most interesting part between the aerobic and anaerobic pathway is that even though the aerobic is used mostly during slow running it takes about 6 minutes of running before it can be used. This means for the first 6 minutes we're stuck with the slow, inefficient anaerobic pathway. So if you don't do a warm-up, and you're running faster than "long run" pace (about MP + 9%) you push the anaerobic pathway too hard. This creates a deficit in energy within the first 6 minutes that becomes harder to overcome. As this deficit starts to catch up with you in later miles, it causes our running form to suffer.

I do dynamic stretching before all of my races. I suggest my runners do whatever pre-training run stretching routine prior to the race as well. So some stretch. Some don't stretch. Good research to show that changing the routine is more likely to lead to injury than either to stretch or not stretch.

After the dynamic stretching comes the race day WU. If the distance is a 5k, I'll probably do 30-40 min of running at a very easy pace (like 20% slower than marathon pace). For 10k, maybe 20-30 min. For HM, maybe 10-20 min. For M, I usually only do about 6-10 min. The pace isn't super important as long as it isn't faster than MP + 20%. If my body thinks easy is MP + 30%, then I go with that. Towards the end of the WU is when I'll add some strides in. Strides are short bursts of speed lasting in total duration of no more than 10 seconds. Three seconds building pace, three seconds holding pace, and three seconds of gradually slowing down. These are a neuromuscular stimulus. You've likely tapered leading into race day. Which means you were likely doing a lot of easy running the last few days/weeks. These strides reawaken the muscles to say, hey guys it's race day. I do maybe 4-5 strides in total with at least 45-60 seconds between them. The goal is not to be super fast and burn up energy. It's meant to be short and sweet. I start this entire running WU no sooner than 60 min to race start. I finish the WU no closer than 15 min to race start. Earlier than 60 min and the WU loses its effectiveness. Closer than 15 min and you start to infringe on your racing ability.

One thing I'll add that was not in the original post. If the weather has a T+D above 130, then I don't recommend a WU. This T+D means that your core body temp is likely to rise significantly during the WU, that it will hinder race performance. So at that point, just plan to take the first few miles of the race easier than you would have originally intended. Normally I aim for a 2% slow down at the beginning, so this would be a 3-4% slow down instead. Just to let your body play catch up right at the start. It's also a consideration when the conditions are really cold as well. Because you don't want to WU to the point of a sweat in cold weather, because you'll cause the shivers and your bodies focus may go elsewhere rather than being primed for racing.

Can this also work if the warm up is done on a bike? When I run at the gym or around my house, I like to do 10 minutes on the stationary bike because I like how it warms up my quads. However, for a race this is most likely not practical due to timing (I can't do the bike warmup then get to most races within 60 minutes before the race start and still want to be early).

It could probably be done on the bike as well. If we take the basic principle of aerobic gains from biking vs running, then one would assume the WU might be similar. The basic idea shows that biking is 1/3 the training load of a run of the same duration and intensity. Thus, if we extrapolate (which I can't guarantee would work), then you'd be looking at 18 min of biking to be of a similar WU to a 6 min run at a similar easy intensity. But for it to be beneficial it would need to occur between that 60-15 min timeframe.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Added link to first post now as well.

 

[DopeyBadger]

It will be like #250...

Well that would mean Dopey 2019 and I'm pretty sure she ruled that out already. But possibly 2020 or 2021?

 

[rteetz]

Well that would mean Dopey 2019 and I'm pretty sure she ruled that out already. But possibly 2020 or 2021?

There is still time