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

[DopeyBadger]

Congrats on your time trial! So fast!

Thanks!

 

[Declanb]

Hmm, that is definitely strange. It doesn't look it's lining up with cadence (which can be the case sometimes). Are you wearing a chest strap HR monitor? Is it really dry out and it's losing wetness contact with your skin? Are you sure you have it positioned correctly on your chest? How old is the battery (or device)?

Just spotted this before leaving work, Sorry Guys, Sorted it - Out with a new Chest Strap this morning and HR is down to 134 BPM Average.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Just spotted this before leaving work, Sorry Guys, Sorted it - Out with a new Chest Strap this morning and HR is down to 134 BPM Average.

Glad to see you got it figured out!

 

[opusone]

Just spotted this before leaving work, Sorry Guys, Sorted it - Out with a new Chest Strap this morning and HR is down to 134 BPM Average.

Yes, this was going to be my recommendation if you confirmed it was a chest strap. I have had bad ones before that signaled 200+ HR as well. Glad you got a new one!

 

[roxymama]

Didn't get a chance to read up on everything until recently (too busy being a disneyland park zombie) but glad you survived the bunny-head trials. Pretty cool to have a 5k that starts with a 1, not too shabby!
Dancing banana for you.

 

[Declanb]

This is very helpful information. It will be useful in coming up with a nutrition plan during running.

Look forward to it.

Click on my Garmin profile in my signature and send me a request. Based on how the HR data looks there are a few explantations. Many of us from the DIS are also on Strava which has a nice dashboard for viewing others running. It can sync automatically with Garmin which is a nice feature.

Thanks, Done the request on Garmin - also set up a Strava account and uploaded all runs from 17/3/17 which was my half Marathon PR.

Alright, then make the following changes:

5/27 - 10k at LR
5/30 - 5k race with 3.2km WU (during the WU include strides during the later portion of the WU)
5/31 - 6km at EA

then proceed as written.

Will Do.

The WU prior to the 5k should help tremendously with performance. Just conduct the WU within 60 min of the start but no sooner than 15 min to start. Although this past weekend I finished mine about 5 min before start and I felt fine. I think longer distances (10k, HM, M) probably need a bigger gap between WU and start.

Should be an interesting Race night - If I can get close (within 1 min) to my PR (22:48) I'd be very happy

Try weighing yourself pre and post running. This will help determine your sweat rate. The goal is to be close to neutral as possible. If you come home and weigh 5 pounds less, than you need to drink more water when you're running. I personally take 3oz of water per mile. The other thing to consider is taking in carbs requires 2 oz of water for every 1 g carb consumed. So eating a gel or something similar of 20g carbs would need 10oz of water available to digest. It doesn't mean you have to consume it right there and then at the same time. Just available.

I suck at the Liquid intake - I'll Try the before and after weigh in - I suspect I'm not taking anywhere near enough liquid on board.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Should be an interesting Race night - If I can get close (within 1 min) to my PR (22:48) I'd be very happy

I predict 23:11 under ideal conditions.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Bunny Head 5k Time Trial #2 - Sunday, May 21

So the workouts this week haven't been the greatest (good, but not as good as last week Tuesday), but the weather looks amazing for Sunday morning (T+D of 99, cloudy and 9 mph wind). So I'm giving it another go. I'll have 60 hours of easy instead of 84 hours, so I'll also be interested to see how that plays into how I feel race morning. Warm-up wise I'll do the same thing (2 miles + strides) because I felt appropriately prepared to race.

Since the time trial last time was bogged down by a ridiculously fast start, I'm going to try pacing myself better (with Garmin alerts). I'm thinking of setting up pace windows of a 0.5 mile to keep myself in check. My HRvPace calculator (given the HR of 161 for the last 5k) predicts an 18:47. So, I'm going to shoot for an 18:59. That's a 6:06 min/mile.

So I'm thinking...

0.5 - 6:10-6:15
0.5 - 6:05-6:10
0.5 - 6:01-6:10
0.5 - 6:01-6:10
0.5 - 6:01-6:10
to finish - as fast as I can go.

Thoughts on the pacing structure? Any predictions on finish time?

 

[roxymama]

Bunny Head 5k Time Trial #2 - Sunday, May 21

So the workouts this week haven't been the greatest (good, but not as good as last week Tuesday), but the weather looks amazing for Sunday morning (T+D of 99, cloudy and 9 mph wind). So I'm giving it another go. I'll have 60 hours of easy instead of 84 hours, so I'll also be interested to see how that plays into how I feel race morning. Warm-up wise I'll do the same thing (2 miles + strides) because I felt appropriately prepared to race.

Since the time trial last time was bogged down by a ridiculously fast start, I'm going to try pacing myself better (with Garmin alerts). I'm thinking of setting up pace windows of a 0.5 mile to keep myself in check. My HRvPace calculator (given the HR of 161 for the last 5k) predicts an 18:47. So, I'm going to shoot for an 18:59. That's a 6:06 min/mile.

So I'm thinking...

0.5 - 6:10-6:15
0.5 - 6:05-6:10
0.5 - 6:01-6:10
0.5 - 6:01-6:10
0.5 - 6:01-6:10
to finish - as fast as I can go.

Thoughts on the pacing structure? Any predictions on finish time?

You probably already know this (I'm sure you were the one who taught it to me), so maybe it's just a friendly reminder. I have found that when I do look at my pace during a race...I try to focus on only that pace right then and there and I try to ignore the overall finish time...like I don't even look the countdown clock..well until like real close to the finish. I try everything possible not to start doing race-math about my predicted finish, etc...more like just see how I'm doing right in those moments with pace to adjust up/down/or say "good, I'm where I should be" and then I keep running.
Depending on the race or training run I will check in at the mile "lap" BUT AGAIN...I try to forbid my brain from doing race math (which I guess is easier in longer races to stop yourself from than in shorter ones...because math is easier with smaller numbers.) It's more of a "ok, how'd I do right now compared to how I wanted to do right now"

I know it's super hard to go from totally blind to "checking in on yourself" again...but just fight the race-math that can get you down on your run.

Hope my pep-talk helped. I'm guilty of lots of mental breakdowns, but certainly the above has helped me immensely

And it's ok if you are thinking "yeah, duh"

 

[DopeyBadger]

You probably already know this (I'm sure you were the one who taught it to me), so maybe it's just a friendly reminder. I have found that when I do look at my pace during a race...I try to focus on only that pace right then and there and I try to ignore the overall finish time...like I don't even look the countdown clock..well until like real close to the finish. I try everything possible not to start doing race-math about my predicted finish, etc...more like just see how I'm doing right in those moments with pace to adjust up/down/or say "good, I'm where I should be" and then I keep running.
Depending on the race or training run I will check in at the mile "lap" BUT AGAIN...I try to forbid my brain from doing race math (which I guess is easier in longer races to stop yourself from than in shorter ones...because math is easier with smaller numbers.) It's more of a "ok, how'd I do right now compared to how I wanted to do right now"

I know it's super hard to go from totally blind to "checking in on yourself" again...but just fight the race-math that can get you down on your run.

Hope my pep-talk helped. I'm guilty of lots of mental breakdowns, but certainly the above has helped me immensely

And it's ok if you are thinking "yeah, duh"

Agree completely! Race math is exactly one of the reasons I stopped looking at my watch while racing. Knew where I was suppose to be and if I wasn't, then things started to fall apart and "race math" happened. I'm hoping by setting up the intervals at 0.5 mile that it'll make that race math harder and I can try and focus solely on staying within the pace window. I actually don't have my watch tell me overall time, so I won't be able to even peek to see where I'm at relatively. And since the laps are less than one mile, I won't even get 1 mile splits either.

 

[cavepig]

No thoughts on pace or predictions, but good luck! I love how you are doing these time trials. I don't race much anymore, so am planning out some time trial runs for this summer and fall to help set me up/gauge my pace for the marathon in Jan. It's just nice reading someonse else doing timed runs like this on their own as well.

 

[DopeyBadger]

No thoughts on pace or predictions, but good luck! I love how you are doing these time trials. I don't race much anymore, so am planning out some time trial runs for this summer and fall to help set me up/gauge my pace for the marathon in Jan. It's just nice reading someonse else doing timed runs like this on their own as well.

Thanks! It wasn't going to be possible to take full advantage of the Daniels 10k race season based on what was available in the area. Plus, doing the time trials has given me the flexibility to do them on my own terms whenever I choose and feel ready to do one. I think the biggest advantage (and one I didn't think of when setting this up) is that like you I don't race often (and 5k/10ks even less) which means these time trials are giving me valuable experience in learning what racing a 5k/10k feels like. The necessity of pacing and how to better deal with the inner thoughts that happen while I'm racing. Because if you have a bad 5k race, no big deal you can do it again the next weekend. But if you have a bad marathon race, you're likely out of luck for several months before you can be in peak "A" condition. So I'm using these time trials as a multi-layered system to learn more about my abilities for future training plans and aspects of racing that I don't work on that often (like pacing).

 

[opusone]

I would suggest only paying attention to the watch lap pace during the first mile (keep it in the 6:08-6:12 range), especially during the first half mile, then go by feel after that.

 

[opusone]

19:12

 

[DopeyBadger]

I would suggest only paying attention to the watch lap pace during the first mile (keep it in the 6:08-6:12 range), especially during the first half mile, then go by feel after that.

I think I can manage that! I'll give it a try!

 

[GollyGadget]

I dislike eggs. Hate the smell. Hate the taste. But I've learned to tolerate them because I know they can make me better. Lots of good protein to help rebuild and strengthen those muscles.

At first, this thread seemed way too intimidating so I steered clear. Now that you've linked me to it a few times, I decided to give it another shot.

This part is so funny and relatable to me. Fellow egg hater here. I'm constantly trying to convince myself I like them because I know it's an easy source for protein. So far, I haven't made much progress. The closest I've got is mixing a couple eggs with some shredded zucchini, garlic, and cheese then cooking in the waffle iron. Maybe someday, but as of today they're still too gross on their own.

 

[mankle30]

At first, this thread seemed way too intimidating so I steered clear. Now that you've linked me to it a few times, I decided to give it another shot.

This part is so funny and relatable to me. Fellow egg hater here. I'm constantly trying to convince myself I like them because I know it's an easy source for protein. So far, I haven't made much progress. The closest I've got is mixing a couple eggs with some shredded zucchini, garlic, and cheese then cooking in the waffle iron. Maybe someday, but as of today they're still too gross on their own.

One thing I've tried is cracking an egg into a small bowl of oatmeal and stirring around. Sometimes I'll do this before I reheat some leftover oatmeal and put it in the microwave for a minute or so, stirring every 30 seconds. You can't really taste the egg but it adds some creaminess to the oatmeal.

But I really like eggs, so.....

 

[DopeyBadger]

At first, this thread seemed way too intimidating so I steered clear. Now that you've linked me to it a few times, I decided to give it another shot.

Oh no! I'm glad you decided to join in! I'm a friendly person, I swear!

This part is so funny and relatable to me. Fellow egg hater here. I'm constantly trying to convince myself I like them because I know it's an easy source for protein. So far, I haven't made much progress. The closest I've got is mixing a couple eggs with some shredded zucchini, garlic, and cheese then cooking in the waffle iron. Maybe someday, but as of today they're still too gross on their own.

For me, it's all about the siracha. Burn the taste buds so bad you can't taste it anymore. Is it bad for someone to hate eggs so much yet eat 21 eggs a week?

One thing I've tried is cracking an egg into a small bowl of oatmeal and stirring around. Sometimes I'll do this before I reheat some leftover oatmeal and put it in the microwave for a minute or so, stirring every 30 seconds. You can't really taste the egg but it adds some creaminess to the oatmeal.

But I really like eggs, so.....

Ahhh.... yea not sure I could do that... But I think it's all about finding that method to mask it that works for someone.

 

[michigandergirl]

I'm thinking if your weather is anything like ours this weekend, you'll have a nice cool day. I'll guess 19:00 flat. Good Luck!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Bunny Head 5k Time Trial #2 - Recap

T+D of 102, southwest wind of 14-19 mph, and full sun.

Final Time - 20:11

This is a tale of two winds a tailwind and a headwind. Unfortunately the wind was from the southwest, which is probably the worst case scenario for the design of this course. The two longest stretches are to the west and the south. And the long south run is also up the only hill. So, it was tough to overcome. It looks like the tailwind sections were around ~6:10 and the headwind ~6:45. I know this one is less of a representation of where I'm at. The race equivalency is a 3:13 marathon and more importantly a 7:00 min/mile 10 miler. This is important because I just wrapped up a 6:55 11 miler not too long ago during a training run. So pretty positive this was the best results today, but not a great representation of the whole package. My resting HR was 56 this morning (+9 from normal) and since the rest of the house has a cold it would appear I might be next.

I always try to look at the positive side, and so the positive side is that I made a split decision to time trial last weekend and was rewarded with a 19:29. This weekend was the original plan, so I know I would be much more disappointed in the race performance and conditions today if it weren't for last weekend. Another big positive, is that while my daughter and wife were unable to make it to the race, they were waiting for me when I got home with a "medal".

Strava
Garmin



The pacing worked, although given the conditions it was probably a touch too much still. But the pace was fairly even from beginning to end (or at least more so than attempt #1).