To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)
- Thread starter DopeyBadger
- Start date
Congratulations! So happy for you. Can't wait to read the recap.
avondale
DIS Veteran
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- Oct 24, 2017
- Messages
- 1,974
Wow, congratulations! Great job under what were apparently very though conditions!
SarahDisney
So ... Yeah
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2014
- Messages
- 9,322
Congrats on the AG win and 3rd overall! My prediction was only like 20 minutes off. But in what seemed like awful conditions, you still came out of there win some great victories!
*DisneyDreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2007
- Messages
- 1,774
Congrats on the AG win and great race despite the weather! It was tough out there this morning for sure!
lhermiston
Beer-powered running machine
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2013
- Messages
- 2,792
Great job! I'm sure it was a tough race. I can't wait to read all about it.
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
- Messages
- 10,345
HOT2Trot HM Recap
This entire training cycle was filled with its ups and downs. Dopey went as about as well as I could have asked for. But as soon as I returned from Dopey, it was clear things weren't right. After some weeks spent trying to self solve the problem with some recovery, it was time to see a doctor. Unfortunately, I received some sad news as I was diagnosed with a fibula stress fracture. So that mean time off from running. I took a few weeks off, and then set myself up with an indoor virtual biking system to try and keep up some of the aerobic capacity. After 4 weeks off from running I was finally cleared to start running again in mid-March. Then it was time to be extra cautious and build back up the intensity and volume slowly. I followed the Daniels method of returning from injury for 6 weeks. Then, following the 6 weeks of recovery running I reintroduced actual training and pacing. After 6 weeks of recovery and 8 weeks of training, it was finally time to run a race again. The simple goal was to celebrate being injury free and to kick off Chicago Marathon training for the big goal.
The week build-up was spent focused on the forecast and then late in the week on my shin. It became quite clear early in the week that this was going to be a hot race. In fact, it was going to be the hottest race I've ever participated in. And after coming back from injury and not quite knowing where my fitness is, it would be a challenge. After my last run on Thursday, things were feeling good. But oddly, I woke up on Friday morning with some shin pain. Almost the same location as the 2016 area of concern after the 2016 Lakefront Marathon. I still have that bone distortion in that area, and a few times I've bumped it since 2016 it's become extremely noticeable. So I wasn't sure if I was dealing with a case of just bumping it while I slept, or a warning shot from my body that I may be learning to another stress fracture. Could it be mental as well? I mean I was going to be racing the next day, and I had had zero issues in the weeks leading up to race day. Normally you get some sort of signal something is wrong during a run rather than just during the day. So I spent Friday icing my leg at work in anticipation of whether it was real or not.
Woke up on Saturday morning at 4:15am. We had an absolute torrential downpour (apparently 3 inches of rain) that night that was completely unexpected. So I figured it was going to wreak havoc on the crushed gravel trails that make up the 1st half of the race. Given the weather conditions, the race director had increased the number of aid stations from 6 to 8. A welcomed addition and a nice touch by the RD to show they are taking the conditions seriously. I rolled out of bed and went and ate my pre-run breakfast. A bagel + PB + honey and a banana. I also drank about 20-24 oz of water. I then headed to the shower and then rested up on the couch. I placed a ice pack on my leg. I didn't feel any issues but I was trying to be proactive. Because of the weather the plan was to not have a WU and spend as much time in the car as possible. Since the race was only about a mile away, we left as late as possible from home. So I was able to stretch at home within that 60 min window at 6:15am. Then we made our way to the start. As we sat there in the car, I covered myself in ice and turned the A/C way up. We sat there until about 6:45am. I drank my 17oz of Maurten 320 drink mix. We made our way to the start line. I used the bathrooms with no lines for the last time at 6:53am. I took a chunk of ice from the ice bag and just kept rubbing it all over myself pre-race while waiting in line. I checked out the other runners and took note of the two runners I figured where the two I had tagged earlier. And with little down time prior to the gun start it was time to go. I had my Nathan bottle completely filled with ice.
As a reminder, I race blind. So while these splits are present in this recap, I had no idea how well or poorly I was doing. For mental reasons, I find I race better when I remove the mile split data from my mental headspace.
MILE – SPLIT (PREDICTED TIME)
Mile 1 – 7:11 (1:34:10)
The race started and immediately runner 1 was off to the front. I knew he was significantly faster than me. Runner 2 was also right with me at the start and I figured it would be a toss up whether I could beat her. There were a few other runners with us in the first half mile or so, but soon enough it was just me and the two in front of me. I glanced at my watch real quick as I was moving it to watch mode and saw "7:xx" so I knew I was in the right place. I pulled back a touch and settled in. The plan was to be conservative and make sure things felt right from the start. Surprisingly, the trail was in good condition. Not as much as a mess as I envisioned given the rain we had. After almost a mile, I decided the weather didn't feel that bad. In fact, little did I know since I couldn't get the weather app to work that morning that it was a T+D of 140 so a little better off. The trail was also nicely shade covered so it wasn't awful inside that little jungle. I decided to go ahead with the RunGum which I was carrying in my pocket. The ice bottle worked out well too because as I ran it started to melt and gave me some cold water to pour on my head and drink. Never did see a mile marker #1 or feel the buzz on my watch. So the first mile felt like it lasted forever.
Mile 2 – 6:59 (1:32:52)
Things started to settle in at this point. I felt like I was chugging along at a good clip and felt strong and comfortable. The HR ended up being around the right place (155). I could still see the runner in front of me and I had a bit of a gap behind me.
Mile 3 – 6:49 (1:31:42)
Still flat course. Still good conditions on the trail. A few branches down here or there, but nothing that couldn't be dodged. I could still see 2nd place, and could still see a sizable gap behind me. Hit the aid station and drank some water and poured the rest on me. Things felt alright and I felt locked in. But maybe I was pushing a bit too hard (read - Yes I was). HR was now averaging 157 which is my LT HR or 60 min race pace. I had now entered the danger zone for a HM race and was unaware of it.
Mile 4 – 6:57 (1:31:33)
Still clicking along and felt good. Knew the hairpin was coming up and was focused on getting that first look. HR in the 157 range
Mile 5 – 7:03 (1:31:44)
Feeling alright, thought maybe a touch too fast. I knew this was the beginning of the hairpin turn, but I saw something really strange in the distance. I had lost sight of 2nd place and all I saw was a wall of trees. Umm, where did the course go? I passed the hairpin entrance and the volunteers shouted out - tree down. AHHH, now I see. A giant tree had fallen across the course and there was only a small sliver of pace to pass by it. The real trouble was going to be on the way back since we'd have two directions of runners hitting that at the same time. I was convinced there should have been an aid station around here but I was not finding anything. I was hoping to hit this aid station twice (out and back). I was plum out of water in my bottle. HR still up in the 158 range.
Mile 6 – 7:24 (1:32:36)
I approached the turn around and got my confirmation of 1st and 2nd with a sizable gap between all of us. Then I hit the turnaround and tossed my bottle to the volunteers. I also got the opportunity to see behind me and confirmed I had a nice lead on the next runner. Not too long after the turnaround my body said, HEY YOU YOU'RE GOING TOO FAST. I suddenly had a realization that I was pushing much harder than I wanted. Either with the idea of a conservative start or because even an aggressive pace/HR in the 157-158 is simply asking for a doom clock countdown. So my body had this sudden urge to pull back on the pace. Not surprisingly, it appears this is when my HR peaked around 162 which is up in the 10k pace zone. It finally clicked that things needed to change to manage the remainder of the race. I finally saw the 2nd aid station (at mile 5.9) and took a very short walking break through the aid station. Knew I needed a few extra seconds of break to try and calm things down. I also needed to pull back on the pace if I was going to manage moving forward. Took about 42 min at 60 min HR pace to realize I wasn't going to make it 90 min racing at 60 min race pace.
Mile 7 – 7:17 (1:33:01)
Back on the road and didn't feel like I lost too much ground to 2nd place. I took a measured approach to slowing down and trying to manage the remainder of the race. The goal was to maintain 3rd place. Maybe catch 2nd place, but that was going to take a really tough effort. Hit the halfway point and based on the data my assessments were pretty good. 2nd was about 90 seconds ahead and 4th was about 120 seconds behind. Had our first real hill and I took it easy as I wanted to. It was a 45 foot gain in about 0.1 miles. As soon as I crested the hill I looked back on saw a nice 1-2 min gap on 4th place and decided to take a short break at the top of the hill. I could tell my HR had climbed again and I needed to reset. There was a 3rd aid station in the distance and the goal was to make it there and take a short walking break. Got the HR down to 156 average.
Mile 8 – 8:16 (1:34:56)
Made it to the 3rd aid station and took another short break. Allowed myself to recover and get back to it. I could feel a side stitch develop and there was little I could do to stop it. We were out of the shaded area since mile 6 and it was starting to catch up to me. The T+D was about 143 now and very few clouds in sight. We were starting to roast on our nicely paved black country roads. Just before the 8 mile mark I was able to sneak a peek backwards and still see a nice gap before 4th place. I was doing my part to hold off that dot in the distance. HR average was 153. So finally back into HM zone being around 153-155.
Mile 9 – 8:21 (1:36:33)
I knew I had a few remaining rolling hills to go. Every 0.25 miles I tried to peek back and see if I could find 4th place in the distance. Still holding the same size gap. Hit the 4th aid station and took another walking break at the top of the hill. Making good progress and still holding my placement. 2nd place was no where to be seen and it was all about holding my placement. HR at 152.
Mile 10 – 7:49 (1:37:09)
Time for the GIANT downhill. A 100 foot drop in 0.2 miles. It was so hard to run down that steep of a hill. SO GLAD we didn't run the opposite direction. Not long after this I started to settle in. I could tell that I had hit the reset button well enough and things were feeling good again. Not able to race faster, but enough that I could maintain. I was feeling good about it and gaining a lot of confidence keeping that gap from 4th place. HR at 150.
Mile 11 – 7:41 (1:37:28)
Feeling good. Making good progress. Still holding 3rd. Can see 4th in the distance, but the gap still seems sizable. Maybe 1-2 min still. HR at 151. Starting to hit the easy groove again. This was kind of my "maintain" pace. Knew I couldn't push it faster. If I HAD to I probably could, but as long as I was holding 3rd then I wasn't going to push it to the next level. Save that kick in case I get challenged.
Mile 12 – 7:54 (1:37:59)
Feeling alright. Don't feel the need to stop at aid stations anymore. Just clicking off the miles and maintaining. HR at 153.
Mile 13 – 8:05 (1:38:36)
Making the last moves towards the end of the race. It was cool because the 1st and 2nd place runners had already finished. So the lead bike came back and found me and was leading me into the finish. It's always been a dream to have that lead bike with me, and while it wasn't the real thing since I was in 3rd, it was still very fulfilling. I looked back a few times and couldn't see 4th place so unless they had a invisibility cloak I was going to be safe.
Mile 13.45 – 3:30 (1:38:42)
Saw the finish in the distance. I knew the course was short because the beeps always seemed off sync. Saw the final clock at 1:41:xx and just cruised into the finish.
Final Finish time - 1:41:21
Official PRs: 0
Unofficial PRs: 0
Overall Standing: 3rd/99 (3%) *PR for OA Standing %
Gender Standing: 2nd/31 (6%) *PR for Gender Standing %
Division Standing: 1/3 (WIN) *PR for AG Standing %
I cruised over the tent. Drank some chocolate milk, ate some cookies, and did some stretching. I was positive I finished in 3rd OA and 1st AG. G had a good race as well. My mom also did well in the 5k with a 1st place AG as well.
Overall, I'm pleased with the race. I went out too fast, but had enough self awareness (finally) at mile 5.5 to realize I was headed for doom. I think I was able to salvage the race and take the necessary measures to finish it out strongly. I even was able to recover enough to pick the pace back up for the latter stages. The end of the race stages was at a T+D of 148. So we went from 140 to 148 which was relatively close to predicted. I think if I had some more water in the early stages of the race I might have been able to hold on for a touch longer. But a solid race. Post-race I evaluated the finish times of the other two runners. They were both about 8-10 min off times they recently ran. So I knew I was probably in the right place. Fitness being around a 1:30-1:31 at the moment under better conditions. The course did end up being a little long. The RD admitted that because of the extreme weather the night before it washed away some signs and all of their pre-race work on spray painted mileage. So they were fairly sure they placed the hairpin turnaround maybe 0.1 miles too far (so added 0.2 miles on the total distance). I wasn't bothered by it though because today was a race against others not necessarily the clock.
Now after the Hot2Trot HM is behind me, it's time to buckle down and get to Chicago training.
Some pics!
This entire training cycle was filled with its ups and downs. Dopey went as about as well as I could have asked for. But as soon as I returned from Dopey, it was clear things weren't right. After some weeks spent trying to self solve the problem with some recovery, it was time to see a doctor. Unfortunately, I received some sad news as I was diagnosed with a fibula stress fracture. So that mean time off from running. I took a few weeks off, and then set myself up with an indoor virtual biking system to try and keep up some of the aerobic capacity. After 4 weeks off from running I was finally cleared to start running again in mid-March. Then it was time to be extra cautious and build back up the intensity and volume slowly. I followed the Daniels method of returning from injury for 6 weeks. Then, following the 6 weeks of recovery running I reintroduced actual training and pacing. After 6 weeks of recovery and 8 weeks of training, it was finally time to run a race again. The simple goal was to celebrate being injury free and to kick off Chicago Marathon training for the big goal.
The week build-up was spent focused on the forecast and then late in the week on my shin. It became quite clear early in the week that this was going to be a hot race. In fact, it was going to be the hottest race I've ever participated in. And after coming back from injury and not quite knowing where my fitness is, it would be a challenge. After my last run on Thursday, things were feeling good. But oddly, I woke up on Friday morning with some shin pain. Almost the same location as the 2016 area of concern after the 2016 Lakefront Marathon. I still have that bone distortion in that area, and a few times I've bumped it since 2016 it's become extremely noticeable. So I wasn't sure if I was dealing with a case of just bumping it while I slept, or a warning shot from my body that I may be learning to another stress fracture. Could it be mental as well? I mean I was going to be racing the next day, and I had had zero issues in the weeks leading up to race day. Normally you get some sort of signal something is wrong during a run rather than just during the day. So I spent Friday icing my leg at work in anticipation of whether it was real or not.
Woke up on Saturday morning at 4:15am. We had an absolute torrential downpour (apparently 3 inches of rain) that night that was completely unexpected. So I figured it was going to wreak havoc on the crushed gravel trails that make up the 1st half of the race. Given the weather conditions, the race director had increased the number of aid stations from 6 to 8. A welcomed addition and a nice touch by the RD to show they are taking the conditions seriously. I rolled out of bed and went and ate my pre-run breakfast. A bagel + PB + honey and a banana. I also drank about 20-24 oz of water. I then headed to the shower and then rested up on the couch. I placed a ice pack on my leg. I didn't feel any issues but I was trying to be proactive. Because of the weather the plan was to not have a WU and spend as much time in the car as possible. Since the race was only about a mile away, we left as late as possible from home. So I was able to stretch at home within that 60 min window at 6:15am. Then we made our way to the start. As we sat there in the car, I covered myself in ice and turned the A/C way up. We sat there until about 6:45am. I drank my 17oz of Maurten 320 drink mix. We made our way to the start line. I used the bathrooms with no lines for the last time at 6:53am. I took a chunk of ice from the ice bag and just kept rubbing it all over myself pre-race while waiting in line. I checked out the other runners and took note of the two runners I figured where the two I had tagged earlier. And with little down time prior to the gun start it was time to go. I had my Nathan bottle completely filled with ice.
As a reminder, I race blind. So while these splits are present in this recap, I had no idea how well or poorly I was doing. For mental reasons, I find I race better when I remove the mile split data from my mental headspace.
MILE – SPLIT (PREDICTED TIME)
Mile 1 – 7:11 (1:34:10)
The race started and immediately runner 1 was off to the front. I knew he was significantly faster than me. Runner 2 was also right with me at the start and I figured it would be a toss up whether I could beat her. There were a few other runners with us in the first half mile or so, but soon enough it was just me and the two in front of me. I glanced at my watch real quick as I was moving it to watch mode and saw "7:xx" so I knew I was in the right place. I pulled back a touch and settled in. The plan was to be conservative and make sure things felt right from the start. Surprisingly, the trail was in good condition. Not as much as a mess as I envisioned given the rain we had. After almost a mile, I decided the weather didn't feel that bad. In fact, little did I know since I couldn't get the weather app to work that morning that it was a T+D of 140 so a little better off. The trail was also nicely shade covered so it wasn't awful inside that little jungle. I decided to go ahead with the RunGum which I was carrying in my pocket. The ice bottle worked out well too because as I ran it started to melt and gave me some cold water to pour on my head and drink. Never did see a mile marker #1 or feel the buzz on my watch. So the first mile felt like it lasted forever.
Mile 2 – 6:59 (1:32:52)
Things started to settle in at this point. I felt like I was chugging along at a good clip and felt strong and comfortable. The HR ended up being around the right place (155). I could still see the runner in front of me and I had a bit of a gap behind me.
Mile 3 – 6:49 (1:31:42)
Still flat course. Still good conditions on the trail. A few branches down here or there, but nothing that couldn't be dodged. I could still see 2nd place, and could still see a sizable gap behind me. Hit the aid station and drank some water and poured the rest on me. Things felt alright and I felt locked in. But maybe I was pushing a bit too hard (read - Yes I was). HR was now averaging 157 which is my LT HR or 60 min race pace. I had now entered the danger zone for a HM race and was unaware of it.
Mile 4 – 6:57 (1:31:33)
Still clicking along and felt good. Knew the hairpin was coming up and was focused on getting that first look. HR in the 157 range
Mile 5 – 7:03 (1:31:44)
Feeling alright, thought maybe a touch too fast. I knew this was the beginning of the hairpin turn, but I saw something really strange in the distance. I had lost sight of 2nd place and all I saw was a wall of trees. Umm, where did the course go? I passed the hairpin entrance and the volunteers shouted out - tree down. AHHH, now I see. A giant tree had fallen across the course and there was only a small sliver of pace to pass by it. The real trouble was going to be on the way back since we'd have two directions of runners hitting that at the same time. I was convinced there should have been an aid station around here but I was not finding anything. I was hoping to hit this aid station twice (out and back). I was plum out of water in my bottle. HR still up in the 158 range.
Mile 6 – 7:24 (1:32:36)
I approached the turn around and got my confirmation of 1st and 2nd with a sizable gap between all of us. Then I hit the turnaround and tossed my bottle to the volunteers. I also got the opportunity to see behind me and confirmed I had a nice lead on the next runner. Not too long after the turnaround my body said, HEY YOU YOU'RE GOING TOO FAST. I suddenly had a realization that I was pushing much harder than I wanted. Either with the idea of a conservative start or because even an aggressive pace/HR in the 157-158 is simply asking for a doom clock countdown. So my body had this sudden urge to pull back on the pace. Not surprisingly, it appears this is when my HR peaked around 162 which is up in the 10k pace zone. It finally clicked that things needed to change to manage the remainder of the race. I finally saw the 2nd aid station (at mile 5.9) and took a very short walking break through the aid station. Knew I needed a few extra seconds of break to try and calm things down. I also needed to pull back on the pace if I was going to manage moving forward. Took about 42 min at 60 min HR pace to realize I wasn't going to make it 90 min racing at 60 min race pace.
Mile 7 – 7:17 (1:33:01)
Back on the road and didn't feel like I lost too much ground to 2nd place. I took a measured approach to slowing down and trying to manage the remainder of the race. The goal was to maintain 3rd place. Maybe catch 2nd place, but that was going to take a really tough effort. Hit the halfway point and based on the data my assessments were pretty good. 2nd was about 90 seconds ahead and 4th was about 120 seconds behind. Had our first real hill and I took it easy as I wanted to. It was a 45 foot gain in about 0.1 miles. As soon as I crested the hill I looked back on saw a nice 1-2 min gap on 4th place and decided to take a short break at the top of the hill. I could tell my HR had climbed again and I needed to reset. There was a 3rd aid station in the distance and the goal was to make it there and take a short walking break. Got the HR down to 156 average.
Mile 8 – 8:16 (1:34:56)
Made it to the 3rd aid station and took another short break. Allowed myself to recover and get back to it. I could feel a side stitch develop and there was little I could do to stop it. We were out of the shaded area since mile 6 and it was starting to catch up to me. The T+D was about 143 now and very few clouds in sight. We were starting to roast on our nicely paved black country roads. Just before the 8 mile mark I was able to sneak a peek backwards and still see a nice gap before 4th place. I was doing my part to hold off that dot in the distance. HR average was 153. So finally back into HM zone being around 153-155.
Mile 9 – 8:21 (1:36:33)
I knew I had a few remaining rolling hills to go. Every 0.25 miles I tried to peek back and see if I could find 4th place in the distance. Still holding the same size gap. Hit the 4th aid station and took another walking break at the top of the hill. Making good progress and still holding my placement. 2nd place was no where to be seen and it was all about holding my placement. HR at 152.
Mile 10 – 7:49 (1:37:09)
Time for the GIANT downhill. A 100 foot drop in 0.2 miles. It was so hard to run down that steep of a hill. SO GLAD we didn't run the opposite direction. Not long after this I started to settle in. I could tell that I had hit the reset button well enough and things were feeling good again. Not able to race faster, but enough that I could maintain. I was feeling good about it and gaining a lot of confidence keeping that gap from 4th place. HR at 150.
Mile 11 – 7:41 (1:37:28)
Feeling good. Making good progress. Still holding 3rd. Can see 4th in the distance, but the gap still seems sizable. Maybe 1-2 min still. HR at 151. Starting to hit the easy groove again. This was kind of my "maintain" pace. Knew I couldn't push it faster. If I HAD to I probably could, but as long as I was holding 3rd then I wasn't going to push it to the next level. Save that kick in case I get challenged.
Mile 12 – 7:54 (1:37:59)
Feeling alright. Don't feel the need to stop at aid stations anymore. Just clicking off the miles and maintaining. HR at 153.
Mile 13 – 8:05 (1:38:36)
Making the last moves towards the end of the race. It was cool because the 1st and 2nd place runners had already finished. So the lead bike came back and found me and was leading me into the finish. It's always been a dream to have that lead bike with me, and while it wasn't the real thing since I was in 3rd, it was still very fulfilling. I looked back a few times and couldn't see 4th place so unless they had a invisibility cloak I was going to be safe.
Mile 13.45 – 3:30 (1:38:42)
Saw the finish in the distance. I knew the course was short because the beeps always seemed off sync. Saw the final clock at 1:41:xx and just cruised into the finish.
Final Finish time - 1:41:21
Official PRs: 0
Unofficial PRs: 0
Overall Standing: 3rd/99 (3%) *PR for OA Standing %
Gender Standing: 2nd/31 (6%) *PR for Gender Standing %
Division Standing: 1/3 (WIN) *PR for AG Standing %
I cruised over the tent. Drank some chocolate milk, ate some cookies, and did some stretching. I was positive I finished in 3rd OA and 1st AG. G had a good race as well. My mom also did well in the 5k with a 1st place AG as well.
Overall, I'm pleased with the race. I went out too fast, but had enough self awareness (finally) at mile 5.5 to realize I was headed for doom. I think I was able to salvage the race and take the necessary measures to finish it out strongly. I even was able to recover enough to pick the pace back up for the latter stages. The end of the race stages was at a T+D of 148. So we went from 140 to 148 which was relatively close to predicted. I think if I had some more water in the early stages of the race I might have been able to hold on for a touch longer. But a solid race. Post-race I evaluated the finish times of the other two runners. They were both about 8-10 min off times they recently ran. So I knew I was probably in the right place. Fitness being around a 1:30-1:31 at the moment under better conditions. The course did end up being a little long. The RD admitted that because of the extreme weather the night before it washed away some signs and all of their pre-race work on spray painted mileage. So they were fairly sure they placed the hairpin turnaround maybe 0.1 miles too far (so added 0.2 miles on the total distance). I wasn't bothered by it though because today was a race against others not necessarily the clock.
Now after the Hot2Trot HM is behind me, it's time to buckle down and get to Chicago training.
Some pics!
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
- Messages
- 10,345
Great job in the heat and on the 1st in AG and 3rd overall!For selfish reasons I'm glad my time didn't come in avoiding the tie-breaker with @run.minnie.miles!
Thanks!
Thanks! Hoping for a whole shelf of them in the future.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Congrats on your AG win and 3rd overall! Maybe not the time you were looking/hoping for, but with that heat I'm hoping you're pleased with your performance.
Note to self: wait to make time prediction next time until the T+D is a little more settled.
Thanks! Yea, it's certainly a game with the predictions. Wait until weather is more solid but possibly lose out on the tiebreaker.
Thanks!
Nice!!!!!!
Congrats!!!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks! Maybe next time. Still eyeing that December HM.
Thanks! It was a hot one!
Thanks!
Thanks!
dis_or_dat
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2016
- Messages
- 1,045
Congrats and Happy Fathers Day!
Question: how did you know you were going too fast? Did your body just automatically start slowing down? Effort? HR?
Question: how did you know you were going too fast? Did your body just automatically start slowing down? Effort? HR?
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
- Messages
- 10,345
Thanks!
I could tell based on the effort. There's a really fine line between HM and LT pace. I could feel my muscles and breathing saying to me you've pushed too far. I could tell it was a pace that was not sustainable for another 7.5-8 miles. So I reassessed and adjusted the effort. I welcomed the few walking breaks to try and push the reset button on my own before my body forced me too. Just after mile 9, I knew I had successfully pushed the reset button and gotten back to a sustainable pace. From there it was a decision of push just a tiny bit harder or maintain this ever so slightly lower effort to the finish as long as I'm not being challenged. It allowed me to not have to take any more walking breaks and allowed the overall average pace to increase.
dis_or_dat
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2016
- Messages
- 1,045
Ah, so much experience. It must have taken tremendous will to do those walk breaks, but it paid off in the end!
Sleepless Knight
Jedi Knight Seeking His Jedi Princess
- Joined
- May 15, 2008
- Messages
- 4,964
Nice job on the race. I'm especially impressed with the insight into needing to slow down because you were asking for trouble.
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
- Messages
- 10,345
Thanks!
Thanks!
Every training run is a learned experience. It's just a matter of drawing on those past experiences and trusting yourself. Doing enough training that you can feel what feels right and wrong. Figured at the time that taking those very short intermittent breaks was going to be the path to most success given the occurrences in the race to that point.
Thanks! And the sooner you can figure that out in a race the better. Of course, if I were better able to manage/set pace expectations and watch them mid-race then I'd be in a position to not hopefully put me there. But for me, I quite enjoy remaining oblivious to the actual pace. If you would have asked me, I would have said I was going much slower than reality. So it was a nice surprise to review the data post race.
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
- Messages
- 10,345
2018 Chicago Marathon Training Plan
Well ladies and gents, here we go! Time for the Chicago Marathon training plan. This one has been on the list for a while. So it's an absolute treat to get to run it. The hope is to finally break that 3 hour marathon barrier. But I'm going to take everything in stride and see where the chips may lie come October 7th.
Pacing
As always, we start with the pacing which I find to be one of the most critical aspects of training plans. I'll have a set pace schedule, but honestly in the summer I just go by what feels right. Somedays will be slower or faster than others merely by the T+D.
The ultimate key is making sure that easy stays easy, because if easy doesn't feel easy, then it isn't easy. So I can certainly go slower than 7:42 and 8:16, but I should never be going faster than it. If I want to run a 9:00, then I'll run a 9:00 if it feels right. Stay easy on the easy days, so you can do hard on the hard days.
The Plan
I've got 16 weeks to go starting from next week. I peaked in the last plan two weeks ago at 55 miles (7:42 duration). After 1.5 weeks of easier running and pulling back the training ahead of Hot2Trot, I'm now ready to build back up. Since I ran the HM hard, I need at least 7 days of easy running. So I'm going to go back up to 52 miles (6:45 duration) with almost exclusively easy running. The duration might be a touch longer, but ideally I'd rather have the mileage be lower and the mileage stay as is if it's necessary to slow down more.
For this marathon cycle, I'm trying Daniels 4 week cycle for the first time. It focuses on 6 days running per week, only 2 hard days (but really hard), and peak weeks being exclusively easy. It's different than what I've used in the past and my hope is it mediates the injury risk of my previous plans.
Maximize gains and minimize risk.
Train smarter not necessarily harder.
Easy must be easy.
All things I plan to remind myself throughout this plan.
So the next two weeks are focused on hitting that duration of around 7.5 hours. Daniels requests calculating the peak mileage and working from that. I wanted to peak at around 9 hours which worked out to 71 miles. Then Daniels schedules weeks at 90%, 80%, and 70% peak. The days marked in a black box are days I'm taking off work. I'm doing this for the second year in a row so that I can maximize my family time outside of running. So I chose days where I was going to be running greater than 1:45 as days I would take off. I'll also hopefully better be able to choose tolerable running temps. The plan starts off right out of the gate with a 6+6 MP workout. I've got some fireworks of my own on 7/4 with 8 total miles at T pace with some R mid-run. The week as a whole is relatively easy with only a LR on the weekend (no hybrid). The week of 7/9 represents peak mileage, but exclusively easy. This is an interesting concept to me, so I'm interested to see how it plays out in reality. Back when I reviewed Ian Williams paper on the new race equivalency calculator, I questioned a plan that peaked so early. But this is different because the peak is in almost all easy mileage. So possibly those who were in the Williams paper were doing the same. lastly, the week of 7/16 represents my first triple paced run (T to I to R) and then a MASSIVE 14 mile M Tempo run. I primarily chose this Daniels plan because of its extreme focus on marathon paced workouts. The goal is to really really drive home that pacing. I want it engrained in my brain come race start. Doing 90 min of M Tempo is far more than I've done in the past. I generally felt I struggled the most with M Tempo workouts, so I'm eager to give them the desired improvement they deserve.
Another 14 miles M Tempo but split with an easy mile between. Then a weekend run with 9 miles at Daniels T! The key is the mileage is pulled way down. So all of the mid-week runs are only at 5 miles (no 7 milers or 12 milers). The week of 7/30 is an easy week from an intensity standpoint, but the mileage goes up a touch. The week of 8/6 represents the peak again, but this time with a little M Tempo workout in it (instead of exclusive easy). The week of 8/13 is up in the air for me. I haven't signed up for the Madison Mini HM yet, but I want to. But after this weekend's HM, I'm considering not signing up so I can focus on training. I've got some time to consider my options before the next price increase. I'm likely to opt out of the optional blue run.
What happens the week of 8/20 will be dictated by whether I do actually race the Madison Mini. The cycle continues with another 9 mile T run, then 15 miles M Tempo, then a triple paced run, then lastly a 15 mile M Tempo run in the midst of the maximal 2.5 hr run. The peak of the plan is hit for the last time the week of 8/27 6 weeks out. Normally it's 3 weeks out, but Daniels does it earlier with a massive focus on intensity late in the plan.
Now the true crux of the plan centers around the three 2.5 hour runs on 9/9, 9/12, and 9/16. We shall see about this. That 9/12 would be my longest training run ever at 21 miles (with 16 at MP). Then 12 miles at LT pacing. Seems quite insane and maybe needs to be toned down come actual week of. The plan starts its descent from there in a normal 21 day taper.
In total, only 2 weeks of 9+ hrs and 1 week of 8-9 hrs. The goal is to maximize training but keep the load small enough that my body can tolerate it. We will see whether it works in reality as much as I hope it does in theory.
The goal
To have an enjoyable Chicago marathon experience and to let the cards lie wherever they may land. It's just a matter of time.
Well ladies and gents, here we go! Time for the Chicago Marathon training plan. This one has been on the list for a while. So it's an absolute treat to get to run it. The hope is to finally break that 3 hour marathon barrier. But I'm going to take everything in stride and see where the chips may lie come October 7th.
Pacing
As always, we start with the pacing which I find to be one of the most critical aspects of training plans. I'll have a set pace schedule, but honestly in the summer I just go by what feels right. Somedays will be slower or faster than others merely by the T+D.
The ultimate key is making sure that easy stays easy, because if easy doesn't feel easy, then it isn't easy. So I can certainly go slower than 7:42 and 8:16, but I should never be going faster than it. If I want to run a 9:00, then I'll run a 9:00 if it feels right. Stay easy on the easy days, so you can do hard on the hard days.
The Plan
I've got 16 weeks to go starting from next week. I peaked in the last plan two weeks ago at 55 miles (7:42 duration). After 1.5 weeks of easier running and pulling back the training ahead of Hot2Trot, I'm now ready to build back up. Since I ran the HM hard, I need at least 7 days of easy running. So I'm going to go back up to 52 miles (6:45 duration) with almost exclusively easy running. The duration might be a touch longer, but ideally I'd rather have the mileage be lower and the mileage stay as is if it's necessary to slow down more.
For this marathon cycle, I'm trying Daniels 4 week cycle for the first time. It focuses on 6 days running per week, only 2 hard days (but really hard), and peak weeks being exclusively easy. It's different than what I've used in the past and my hope is it mediates the injury risk of my previous plans.
Maximize gains and minimize risk.
Train smarter not necessarily harder.
Easy must be easy.
All things I plan to remind myself throughout this plan.
So the next two weeks are focused on hitting that duration of around 7.5 hours. Daniels requests calculating the peak mileage and working from that. I wanted to peak at around 9 hours which worked out to 71 miles. Then Daniels schedules weeks at 90%, 80%, and 70% peak. The days marked in a black box are days I'm taking off work. I'm doing this for the second year in a row so that I can maximize my family time outside of running. So I chose days where I was going to be running greater than 1:45 as days I would take off. I'll also hopefully better be able to choose tolerable running temps. The plan starts off right out of the gate with a 6+6 MP workout. I've got some fireworks of my own on 7/4 with 8 total miles at T pace with some R mid-run. The week as a whole is relatively easy with only a LR on the weekend (no hybrid). The week of 7/9 represents peak mileage, but exclusively easy. This is an interesting concept to me, so I'm interested to see how it plays out in reality. Back when I reviewed Ian Williams paper on the new race equivalency calculator, I questioned a plan that peaked so early. But this is different because the peak is in almost all easy mileage. So possibly those who were in the Williams paper were doing the same. lastly, the week of 7/16 represents my first triple paced run (T to I to R) and then a MASSIVE 14 mile M Tempo run. I primarily chose this Daniels plan because of its extreme focus on marathon paced workouts. The goal is to really really drive home that pacing. I want it engrained in my brain come race start. Doing 90 min of M Tempo is far more than I've done in the past. I generally felt I struggled the most with M Tempo workouts, so I'm eager to give them the desired improvement they deserve.
Another 14 miles M Tempo but split with an easy mile between. Then a weekend run with 9 miles at Daniels T! The key is the mileage is pulled way down. So all of the mid-week runs are only at 5 miles (no 7 milers or 12 milers). The week of 7/30 is an easy week from an intensity standpoint, but the mileage goes up a touch. The week of 8/6 represents the peak again, but this time with a little M Tempo workout in it (instead of exclusive easy). The week of 8/13 is up in the air for me. I haven't signed up for the Madison Mini HM yet, but I want to. But after this weekend's HM, I'm considering not signing up so I can focus on training. I've got some time to consider my options before the next price increase. I'm likely to opt out of the optional blue run.
What happens the week of 8/20 will be dictated by whether I do actually race the Madison Mini. The cycle continues with another 9 mile T run, then 15 miles M Tempo, then a triple paced run, then lastly a 15 mile M Tempo run in the midst of the maximal 2.5 hr run. The peak of the plan is hit for the last time the week of 8/27 6 weeks out. Normally it's 3 weeks out, but Daniels does it earlier with a massive focus on intensity late in the plan.
Now the true crux of the plan centers around the three 2.5 hour runs on 9/9, 9/12, and 9/16. We shall see about this. That 9/12 would be my longest training run ever at 21 miles (with 16 at MP). Then 12 miles at LT pacing. Seems quite insane and maybe needs to be toned down come actual week of. The plan starts its descent from there in a normal 21 day taper.
In total, only 2 weeks of 9+ hrs and 1 week of 8-9 hrs. The goal is to maximize training but keep the load small enough that my body can tolerate it. We will see whether it works in reality as much as I hope it does in theory.
The goal
To have an enjoyable Chicago marathon experience and to let the cards lie wherever they may land. It's just a matter of time.
jennamfeo
Powered by Pizza
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2017
- Messages
- 2,597
Great job on your race!!! I learned last training cycle how well my body responds to those short walk breaks. I am just impressed on how well you can listen to your body and adjust. #goals
Training plan for Chicago looks good. I like how you are going to take days off of work to balance your running / home schedule. That's amazing that you can accommodate something like that.
Training plan for Chicago looks good. I like how you are going to take days off of work to balance your running / home schedule. That's amazing that you can accommodate something like that.
DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
- Messages
- 10,345
Congratulations and great job on placing!
Thanks!
It takes time, and experience. But it opens a lot of doors to be in sync with your body so that you can adjust when necessary but still feel confident that you're doing your best.
Thanks! Definitely a necessity with having 2+ hr training runs mid-week. I get home at 4:45 and out the door at 5:15 most days. So a 2.5 hr run puts me at 7:45pm best case scenario on walking back through. Add stretching and CD and I'm looking past 8pm before dinner. I aim for 8+hrs of sleep so that means in bed by 9pm most nights. Not a lot of time in there for other things like family. And this plan is predicated on those long mid-week days. So I felt a necessity to fit my running around my life rather than the other way around. I'm lucky that at my current job time off is almost never an issue. I've got 14 days off scheduled between now and October and I'll still have 32 days off remaining through July 2019.
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