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Taper vs. One Last Long Run
Replies
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autumnblade75 wrote: »As a first time marathoner whose goal is just to finish the race, would you consider it more beneficial to back off the running for 2 weeks prior to the race, or making sure that you were absolutely confident that the distance isn't beyond your ability by running 26.2 the week before?
I'm a month out and haven't gotten beyond 22 miles, ever. Ideally, I'd like to hit 26.2 two weeks before the race and accept a slightly shorter taper. I'm just running out of time and worried about Everything.
I did not read all the responses but am positive that 99% of all experienced runners said taper. 22 miles was longer than what my training plan suggested prior to my first marathon.
Pushing yourself to run further this close to your marathon is a really bad idea0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »Or am I still missing some other point that you're trying to make? Please use small words. I'm not getting it.
You're fixated on your plan having not included a 26.2mi distance. The vast majority of plans top out at 20 miles and people successfully use them to prepare for marathons.
Meanwhile:- The plan you chose wasn't appropriate to your ambition; a four hour plan with a five hour target is significantly different
- You didn't follow your plan, either pace or distance. I'll assume that as you were winging the plan you probably didn't do the runs in their intended sequence either.
- Your feeding plan was inadequate - This is a purely planning issue, rather than rehearsal. I take in about 200 cals per hour when I'm running long, on the basis that I'm burning c600 per hour. The only rehearsal I do is using the nutrition on a run to ensure I don't have an adverse reaction.
- You went out too fast - You ran faster than you had done in training, you recognised that and just went with it. If you'd slowed to your planned pace it's likely you would have completed as intended.
There are lots of lessons in there for you to learn from, or you could just continue to insist that you're a special snowflake and just winging your own plan that'll take you to 26.2mi in advance of your race is the way ahead.
With respect to using an Ultra plan, noting that the plan linked to above relates to a 50miler, paces are significantly different. My road marathon pace is 9:30/mi, my trail marathon pace is 10:30/mi, my planned 12 hour pace is 12:30-13/mi in the early stages and I'm fully anticipating that dropping to 15-16/mi later in the race.
Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel. I have no desire to argue with you about that. I simply do not feel the same. As an exercise in data collection, I may decide to make a better attempt at plan selection and follow more closely.
You may hold the opinion that my fueling problem was due to poor planning. I will continue to maintain that a practice run would have highlighted the necessity of better planning quite nicely. Sometimes, I need to learn the hard way. I recognize this.
I did not run faster than I did in training. I made a note of how much my treadmill lies and carried on. To the level of my training. At which point I ran out of gas. We could argue all day about why that was, but I ran what I trained.
If you're already expecting to have to drop the pace by 2 minutes per mile in your 50 mile race, does that mean that you intend to go out too fast?0 -
MinimalistShoeAddict wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »As a first time marathoner whose goal is just to finish the race, would you consider it more beneficial to back off the running for 2 weeks prior to the race, or making sure that you were absolutely confident that the distance isn't beyond your ability by running 26.2 the week before?
I'm a month out and haven't gotten beyond 22 miles, ever. Ideally, I'd like to hit 26.2 two weeks before the race and accept a slightly shorter taper. I'm just running out of time and worried about Everything.
I did not read all the responses but am positive that 99% of all experienced runners said taper. 22 miles was longer than what my training plan suggested prior to my first marathon.
Pushing yourself to run further this close to your marathon is a really bad idea
Thanks. I did the taper. I wasn't completely satisfied with how the race turned out, even though I achieved my target time. I'm still planning to run the full distance in practice before I tackle the next one, and I've picked up a few tips that might help, too.
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autumnblade75 wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »Or am I still missing some other point that you're trying to make? Please use small words. I'm not getting it.
You're fixated on your plan having not included a 26.2mi distance. The vast majority of plans top out at 20 miles and people successfully use them to prepare for marathons.
Meanwhile:- The plan you chose wasn't appropriate to your ambition; a four hour plan with a five hour target is significantly different
- You didn't follow your plan, either pace or distance. I'll assume that as you were winging the plan you probably didn't do the runs in their intended sequence either.
- Your feeding plan was inadequate - This is a purely planning issue, rather than rehearsal. I take in about 200 cals per hour when I'm running long, on the basis that I'm burning c600 per hour. The only rehearsal I do is using the nutrition on a run to ensure I don't have an adverse reaction.
- You went out too fast - You ran faster than you had done in training, you recognised that and just went with it. If you'd slowed to your planned pace it's likely you would have completed as intended.
There are lots of lessons in there for you to learn from, or you could just continue to insist that you're a special snowflake and just winging your own plan that'll take you to 26.2mi in advance of your race is the way ahead.
With respect to using an Ultra plan, noting that the plan linked to above relates to a 50miler, paces are significantly different. My road marathon pace is 9:30/mi, my trail marathon pace is 10:30/mi, my planned 12 hour pace is 12:30-13/mi in the early stages and I'm fully anticipating that dropping to 15-16/mi later in the race.
Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel. I have no desire to argue with you about that. I simply do not feel the same. As an exercise in data collection, I may decide to make a better attempt at plan selection and follow more closely.
You may hold the opinion that my fueling problem was due to poor planning. I will continue to maintain that a practice run would have highlighted the necessity of better planning quite nicely. Sometimes, I need to learn the hard way. I recognize this.
I did not run faster than I did in training. I made a note of how much my treadmill lies and carried on. To the level of my training. At which point I ran out of gas. We could argue all day about why that was, but I ran what I trained.
If you're already expecting to have to drop the pace by 2 minutes per mile in your 50 mile race, does that mean that you intend to go out too fast?
I suspect that you actually did run faster. I've seen several posts by runners who typically run on a treadmill switching to road running, and all of them complained that running at what was supposedly their pace on the treadmill seemed way too slow. Running at what they felt was their normal pace tired them out more quickly.
Conversely, I've tried to run on a treadmill after road running, and my treadmill pace is quite a bit slower than my road running pace.
There was a study done that showed the same phenomenon happens with other runners: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22357398. Hardly conclusive evidence, of course, but it does indicate that you were not likely running at the same pace you were on the treadmill, no matter what it felt like to you.0 -
It's also really easy to run faster in a race without realizing it. I did a 17 mile race as a training run in Jan with the intention to run at my training pace and thought I was until I checked my watch about 5 miles in (I had been trying to run by feel) and realized I was much closer to race pace and slowed down. And even so it was a struggle to keep my pace down throughout the event and I felt like I was going super slow, which is not how I feel during a normal training run.0
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autumnblade75 wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »Or am I still missing some other point that you're trying to make? Please use small words. I'm not getting it.
You're fixated on your plan having not included a 26.2mi distance. The vast majority of plans top out at 20 miles and people successfully use them to prepare for marathons.
Meanwhile:- The plan you chose wasn't appropriate to your ambition; a four hour plan with a five hour target is significantly different
- You didn't follow your plan, either pace or distance. I'll assume that as you were winging the plan you probably didn't do the runs in their intended sequence either.
- Your feeding plan was inadequate - This is a purely planning issue, rather than rehearsal. I take in about 200 cals per hour when I'm running long, on the basis that I'm burning c600 per hour. The only rehearsal I do is using the nutrition on a run to ensure I don't have an adverse reaction.
- You went out too fast - You ran faster than you had done in training, you recognised that and just went with it. If you'd slowed to your planned pace it's likely you would have completed as intended.
There are lots of lessons in there for you to learn from, or you could just continue to insist that you're a special snowflake and just winging your own plan that'll take you to 26.2mi in advance of your race is the way ahead.
With respect to using an Ultra plan, noting that the plan linked to above relates to a 50miler, paces are significantly different. My road marathon pace is 9:30/mi, my trail marathon pace is 10:30/mi, my planned 12 hour pace is 12:30-13/mi in the early stages and I'm fully anticipating that dropping to 15-16/mi later in the race.
Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel. I have no desire to argue with you about that. I simply do not feel the same. As an exercise in data collection, I may decide to make a better attempt at plan selection and follow more closely.
You may hold the opinion that my fueling problem was due to poor planning. I will continue to maintain that a practice run would have highlighted the necessity of better planning quite nicely. Sometimes, I need to learn the hard way. I recognize this.
I did not run faster than I did in training. I made a note of how much my treadmill lies and carried on. To the level of my training. At which point I ran out of gas. We could argue all day about why that was, but I ran what I trained.
If you're already expecting to have to drop the pace by 2 minutes per mile in your 50 mile race, does that mean that you intend to go out too fast?
I suspect that you actually did run faster. I've seen several posts by runners who typically run on a treadmill switching to road running, and all of them complained that running at what was supposedly their pace on the treadmill seemed way too slow. Running at what they felt was their normal pace tired them out more quickly.
Conversely, I've tried to run on a treadmill after road running, and my treadmill pace is quite a bit slower than my road running pace.
There was a study done that showed the same phenomenon happens with other runners: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22357398. Hardly conclusive evidence, of course, but it does indicate that you were not likely running at the same pace you were on the treadmill, no matter what it felt like to you.
That doesn't seem to be the same direction as I'm describing. When I run outdoors, trying to go nice and slow so that I can finish the 18 mile run, or this past Sunday, racing a marathon, 10:15 - 10:30 is what my GPS reports. If I tried to do 10:30 on my treadmill for 20 miles, I would fail. It is too fast.
Whatever anyone believes about how fast I was running - if I were truly running even 10 seconds faster per mile than I had in training, I am doubly impressed that I accomplished such even splits for the first 20 miles.0 -
autumnblade75 wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »Or am I still missing some other point that you're trying to make? Please use small words. I'm not getting it.
You're fixated on your plan having not included a 26.2mi distance. The vast majority of plans top out at 20 miles and people successfully use them to prepare for marathons.
Meanwhile:- The plan you chose wasn't appropriate to your ambition; a four hour plan with a five hour target is significantly different
- You didn't follow your plan, either pace or distance. I'll assume that as you were winging the plan you probably didn't do the runs in their intended sequence either.
- Your feeding plan was inadequate - This is a purely planning issue, rather than rehearsal. I take in about 200 cals per hour when I'm running long, on the basis that I'm burning c600 per hour. The only rehearsal I do is using the nutrition on a run to ensure I don't have an adverse reaction.
- You went out too fast - You ran faster than you had done in training, you recognised that and just went with it. If you'd slowed to your planned pace it's likely you would have completed as intended.
There are lots of lessons in there for you to learn from, or you could just continue to insist that you're a special snowflake and just winging your own plan that'll take you to 26.2mi in advance of your race is the way ahead.
With respect to using an Ultra plan, noting that the plan linked to above relates to a 50miler, paces are significantly different. My road marathon pace is 9:30/mi, my trail marathon pace is 10:30/mi, my planned 12 hour pace is 12:30-13/mi in the early stages and I'm fully anticipating that dropping to 15-16/mi later in the race.
Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel. I have no desire to argue with you about that. I simply do not feel the same. As an exercise in data collection, I may decide to make a better attempt at plan selection and follow more closely.
You may hold the opinion that my fueling problem was due to poor planning. I will continue to maintain that a practice run would have highlighted the necessity of better planning quite nicely. Sometimes, I need to learn the hard way. I recognize this.
I did not run faster than I did in training. I made a note of how much my treadmill lies and carried on. To the level of my training. At which point I ran out of gas. We could argue all day about why that was, but I ran what I trained.
If you're already expecting to have to drop the pace by 2 minutes per mile in your 50 mile race, does that mean that you intend to go out too fast?
I suspect that you actually did run faster. I've seen several posts by runners who typically run on a treadmill switching to road running, and all of them complained that running at what was supposedly their pace on the treadmill seemed way too slow. Running at what they felt was their normal pace tired them out more quickly.
Conversely, I've tried to run on a treadmill after road running, and my treadmill pace is quite a bit slower than my road running pace.
There was a study done that showed the same phenomenon happens with other runners: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22357398. Hardly conclusive evidence, of course, but it does indicate that you were not likely running at the same pace you were on the treadmill, no matter what it felt like to you.
I run about 50% on treadmill and 50% outside. This is absolutely matches my anecdotal experience -- the two types of running are not interchangable. I would recommend that anyone who plans on doing a road race train outside as much as possible to get a sense for the differences in "feel" and pace.
I would never say that running on a treadmill doesn't count (it can still be an intense workout and I do use it as part of my training), but it's more challenging to run outside. You're using more energy and you're having to constantly pace yourself and make the decisions that are made for you on a treadmill.0 -
It's typical to run quite a bit faster in a race than in training.0
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There is no need to run longer than a couple of hours in your build up to the marathon. (I have run many marathons and ultras.) It is completely normal to feel awful in the final miles, but if you are forced to walk or slow way down, then, by definition, you went out too fast. Don't feel too bad about this, as it is a pretty normal thing to do. Just don't do it again. The value of a training program or a coach is the benefit of experience you don't have, and someone else to blame if the race doesn't work out. If you only do part of the plan, or argue with your coach, then you are on your own.
And finally, why does everyone think they have to run a marathon? You can be a complete badass and hard core athlete and only run the 5k. The benefit is that you can run one every other weekend without damaging yourself.2 -
autumnblade75 wrote: »Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel.
No. There's a continuum between slavish adherence, and taking a plan and barely following it, then blaming the plan for not including the one session that has little value to the objective.
Most of my plans end up modified, but it's a question of asking what the value of a particular session is, and how can that value be generated in other ways if there is a change.
As an example, this weekend I'm supposed to be doing a 1o miler today and a 20 miler tommorrow, instead i've got three races; this afternoon, tonight and tommorrow morning, leaving me short. To compensate I've shuffled other sessions around and added an extra 20 miler, two weeks ago.If you're already expecting to have to drop the pace by 2 minutes per mile in your 50 mile race, does that mean that you intend to go out too fast?
That's goin back to plan the race and race the plan, I have a number of objectives in the duration of the race and there is a big difference between going out too fast, blowing out at the 20 mile point and going out to achieve different objectives.
It's a 12 hour race, not a 50 mile, so the plan allows for me to complete my objectives, then keep going for the duration. I'm not wanting to overdo it as I have another race a month later.
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Where's the 'flogging a dead horse' gif when you need it?!2
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Vladimirnapkin wrote: »There is no need to run longer than a couple of hours in your build up to the marathon. (I have run many marathons and ultras.) It is completely normal to feel awful in the final miles, but if you are forced to walk or slow way down, then, by definition, you went out too fast. Don't feel too bad about this, as it is a pretty normal thing to do. Just don't do it again. The value of a training program or a coach is the benefit of experience you don't have, and someone else to blame if the race doesn't work out. If you only do part of the plan, or argue with your coach, then you are on your own.
And finally, why does everyone think they have to run a marathon? You can be a complete badass and hard core athlete and only run the 5k. The benefit is that you can run one every other weekend without damaging yourself.
What is wrong with the culture these days that you think I need someone else to blame? I'm not blaming the program for not getting me there, whether I followed it 100% or barely glanced at it - I'm not blaming anyone here who suggested that I stick to the plan, either. I'm blaming myself for not doing what I "know" I need to do to be prepared for a race - the entire distance of the race. I AM on my own, and I know that.
If you choose not to run a marathon, that's great. Good for you. I set a goal for myself to run a marathon, which I will complete properly to MY satisfaction, because it is MY goal.0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel.
No. There's a continuum between slavish adherence, and taking a plan and barely following it, then blaming the plan for not including the one session that has little value to the objective.
Most of my plans end up modified, but it's a question of asking what the value of a particular session is, and how can that value be generated in other ways if there is a change.
As an example, this weekend I'm supposed to be doing a 1o miler today and a 20 miler tommorrow, instead i've got three races; this afternoon, tonight and tommorrow morning, leaving me short. To compensate I've shuffled other sessions around and added an extra 20 miler, two weeks ago.
The plan just is. I would argue that I gave it more value than "barely following it." The plan is probably completely adequate for it's stated goal. I didn't expect miracles when I started modifying the bits that didn't suit me. I just thought of it as a guideline for building my long runs up to a point that it should support running a marathon.
Because all the things I had read about glucose/glycogen conversion and rates of uptake, I thought I ran too slowly to ever hit the wall. I don't blame that on the training plan. I was wrong. Fine. Beat me up about that if you like.
But I did run what I had trained, and it got me to the point that I had trained to. At this point, I'm just trying to reconcile the idea that "everyone bonks around 20 miles" with the fact that training plans don't carry past that distance.
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TavistockToad wrote: »Where's the 'flogging a dead horse' gif when you need it?!
I could find it for you, but it's probably easier to just unfollow the thread.
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autumnblade75 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Where's the 'flogging a dead horse' gif when you need it?!
I could find it for you, but it's probably easier to just unfollow the thread.
I actually find all the running advice on here useful2 -
If you really want to have a good marathon, or any race distance, the best thing you can do is run with a club and do workouts with a group. The long run is an important piece of proper training, but it's just one piece. It won't make you go faster. You've got to be doing some kind of strength and speedwork. This can be intervals, hills, etc. This is much more fun and rewarding when you do it with other people. You'll push yourself harder, too.
But any marathoner will benefit from improving their 10k time, first.0 -
autumnblade75 wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel.
No. There's a continuum between slavish adherence, and taking a plan and barely following it, then blaming the plan for not including the one session that has little value to the objective.
Most of my plans end up modified, but it's a question of asking what the value of a particular session is, and how can that value be generated in other ways if there is a change.
As an example, this weekend I'm supposed to be doing a 1o miler today and a 20 miler tommorrow, instead i've got three races; this afternoon, tonight and tommorrow morning, leaving me short. To compensate I've shuffled other sessions around and added an extra 20 miler, two weeks ago.
The plan just is. I would argue that I gave it more value than "barely following it." The plan is probably completely adequate for it's stated goal. I didn't expect miracles when I started modifying the bits that didn't suit me. I just thought of it as a guideline for building my long runs up to a point that it should support running a marathon.
Because all the things I had read about glucose/glycogen conversion and rates of uptake, I thought I ran too slowly to ever hit the wall. I don't blame that on the training plan. I was wrong. Fine. Beat me up about that if you like.
But I did run what I had trained, and it got me to the point that I had trained to. At this point, I'm just trying to reconcile the idea that "everyone bonks around 20 miles" with the fact that training plans don't carry past that distance.
Do you think people would bonk less around 20 miles if they pushed themselves harder in training and had even less physical reserves going into a race? Not trying to be snarky, but I'm not following the logic there.
Long runs are hard. Doing longer runs doesn't necessarily make you less likely to bonk on subsequent runs.0 -
I finished a half marathon this morning. My objective was to go way slower than I am capable so as to have less recovery issues. (I am working on my second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and don't want to have to back off on my classes this coming week.)
I though I came out WAY slow. I made the mistake of not turning on my stopwatch, and timeclocks were infrequent on the course.
This "crawling" pace was 1:12 faster than my goal pace. I have tons of experience, and still can't believe my pace was that far off.
Perception of effort in a race situation can be really unreliable....0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel.
No. There's a continuum between slavish adherence, and taking a plan and barely following it, then blaming the plan for not including the one session that has little value to the objective.
Most of my plans end up modified, but it's a question of asking what the value of a particular session is, and how can that value be generated in other ways if there is a change.
As an example, this weekend I'm supposed to be doing a 1o miler today and a 20 miler tommorrow, instead i've got three races; this afternoon, tonight and tommorrow morning, leaving me short. To compensate I've shuffled other sessions around and added an extra 20 miler, two weeks ago.
The plan just is. I would argue that I gave it more value than "barely following it." The plan is probably completely adequate for it's stated goal. I didn't expect miracles when I started modifying the bits that didn't suit me. I just thought of it as a guideline for building my long runs up to a point that it should support running a marathon.
Because all the things I had read about glucose/glycogen conversion and rates of uptake, I thought I ran too slowly to ever hit the wall. I don't blame that on the training plan. I was wrong. Fine. Beat me up about that if you like.
But I did run what I had trained, and it got me to the point that I had trained to. At this point, I'm just trying to reconcile the idea that "everyone bonks around 20 miles" with the fact that training plans don't carry past that distance.
Do you think people would bonk less around 20 miles if they pushed themselves harder in training and had even less physical reserves going into a race? Not trying to be snarky, but I'm not following the logic there.
Long runs are hard. Doing longer runs doesn't necessarily make you less likely to bonk on subsequent runs.
If the marathon distance long run was 3 weeks or more before the race, so that they had enough time to recover their reserves, would they necessarily have less physical reserves for the race?
I don't know that doing longer runs isn't a learning experience. I can't financially justify a whole ton of races, so I really feel invested in doing well on race day. To me, that means there's no room for surprises. Like, not knowing that my fueling strategy that works for 20 miles isn't going to keep working for another 6. I don't think that there isn't any value in practicing that.0 -
I finished a half marathon this morning. My objective was to go way slower than I am capable so as to have less recovery issues. (I am working on my second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and don't want to have to back off on my classes this coming week.)
I though I came out WAY slow. I made the mistake of not turning on my stopwatch, and timeclocks were infrequent on the course.
This "crawling" pace was 1:12 faster than my goal pace. I have tons of experience, and still can't believe my pace was that far off.
Perception of effort in a race situation can be really unreliable....
I must've gotten REALLY good at pacing with all that steady state, then. My heart rate for that first 20 miles of my marathon, the miles that I ran, matches with the 20 mile training run that I did on the treadmill, 3 weeks earlier. Within 3 bpm. So, either I can run a pace that is 43 seconds per mile faster than my training run at the same perceived level of exertion without having it affect my heart rate, or my treadmill is really calibrated wrong, like I keep saying.
edited to add:
I'm impressed with myself for keeping it down to the level that I ran in training. I know that means I probably ran all my long runs too fast. I'm impressed with how even my pacing was. I never could have done that a year ago. I attribute it to spending all that time working on my cadence. And that got easy when I started editing all the music in my playlist to the same tempo.
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I finished a half marathon this morning. My objective was to go way slower than I am capable so as to have less recovery issues. (I am working on my second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and don't want to have to back off on my classes this coming week.)
I though I came out WAY slow. I made the mistake of not turning on my stopwatch, and timeclocks were infrequent on the course.
This "crawling" pace was 1:12 faster than my goal pace. I have tons of experience, and still can't believe my pace was that far off.
Perception of effort in a race situation can be really unreliable....
I agree with this. I've run races and felt like I've been crawling but then at the mile marker, I'm going a 60-90 seconds faster per mile.
Also, I wanted to comment on doing TKD! I earned my third degree black belt before some crazy things went down at the place I went. Good memories and congrats!0 -
I finished a half marathon this morning. My objective was to go way slower than I am capable so as to have less recovery issues. (I am working on my second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and don't want to have to back off on my classes this coming week.)
I though I came out WAY slow. I made the mistake of not turning on my stopwatch, and timeclocks were infrequent on the course.
This "crawling" pace was 1:12 faster than my goal pace. I have tons of experience, and still can't believe my pace was that far off.
Perception of effort in a race situation can be really unreliable....
I agree with this. I've run races and felt like I've been crawling but then at the mile marker, I'm going a 60-90 seconds faster per mile.
Also, I wanted to comment on doing TKD! I earned my third degree black belt before some crazy things went down at the place I went. Good memories and congrats!
Earning my black belt at 53 may be my favorite fitness achievement. I joined to role model to my sedentary step sons, who joined with me.
The super slow pace (2:43) worked. I don't feel like I raced at all, so I am good for my classes.1 -
autumnblade75 wrote: »edited to add:
I'm impressed with myself for keeping it down to the level that I ran in training. I know that means I probably ran all my long runs too fast. I'm impressed with how even my pacing was. I never could have done that a year ago. I attribute it to spending all that time working on my cadence. And that got easy when I started editing all the music in my playlist to the same tempo.
Good job on HR, usually studies show by perceived effort that people go faster off-treadmill than on, with normal increase in HR and that means carb-burning as energy source increase too.
Which I'd wager is a major reason why so many hit the wall - excitement at the start with faster pace than intended being other reason.
That cadence aspect is so true, especially as getting tired and usually sloppy with form, usually at really the wrong time to do so.
What did you find that allows getting the tempo out of a song? I have a Windows program that samples the MP3's then writes it into the file tagging field for it. Sadly I have no player I use normally that reads or sorts by that field, so I have to make playlists to use just those songs.
I was surprised how few are in the right range of stuff I liked.0 -
autumnblade75 wrote: »edited to add:
I'm impressed with myself for keeping it down to the level that I ran in training. I know that means I probably ran all my long runs too fast. I'm impressed with how even my pacing was. I never could have done that a year ago. I attribute it to spending all that time working on my cadence. And that got easy when I started editing all the music in my playlist to the same tempo.
Good job on HR, usually studies show by perceived effort that people go faster off-treadmill than on, with normal increase in HR and that means carb-burning as energy source increase too.
Which I'd wager is a major reason why so many hit the wall - excitement at the start with faster pace than intended being other reason.
That cadence aspect is so true, especially as getting tired and usually sloppy with form, usually at really the wrong time to do so.
What did you find that allows getting the tempo out of a song? I have a Windows program that samples the MP3's then writes it into the file tagging field for it. Sadly I have no player I use normally that reads or sorts by that field, so I have to make playlists to use just those songs.
I was surprised how few are in the right range of stuff I liked.
Thank you, about the HR. It would seem strange not to be impressed by the evenness of it, and the fact that it was so well-matched with what I had done in training. I have gone out much too quickly in other races, so I do recognize how easy that can be.
I use MixMeister BPM Analyzer to find the tempo, then Audacity to change it. Some things sound really strange at 170 BPM - Ministry's Just One Fix is probably the goofiest one that still works. Some songs have tempo changes that really confuse the Analyzer, and just don't work out in practice. I had to dump Kid Rock's American Badass for that. And a lot of 80's Hair Metal seems to be offbeat - Like, the verse of the song is sung on the beat, but the drummer is working the spaces between beats? That's really hit or miss. Motorhead's Ace of Spades does that, too. I don't want to drop it, but it makes it harder to run to.
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autumnblade75 wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »Or am I still missing some other point that you're trying to make? Please use small words. I'm not getting it.
You're fixated on your plan having not included a 26.2mi distance. The vast majority of plans top out at 20 miles and people successfully use them to prepare for marathons.
Meanwhile:- The plan you chose wasn't appropriate to your ambition; a four hour plan with a five hour target is significantly different
- You didn't follow your plan, either pace or distance. I'll assume that as you were winging the plan you probably didn't do the runs in their intended sequence either.
- Your feeding plan was inadequate - This is a purely planning issue, rather than rehearsal. I take in about 200 cals per hour when I'm running long, on the basis that I'm burning c600 per hour. The only rehearsal I do is using the nutrition on a run to ensure I don't have an adverse reaction.
- You went out too fast - You ran faster than you had done in training, you recognised that and just went with it. If you'd slowed to your planned pace it's likely you would have completed as intended.
There are lots of lessons in there for you to learn from, or you could just continue to insist that you're a special snowflake and just winging your own plan that'll take you to 26.2mi in advance of your race is the way ahead.
With respect to using an Ultra plan, noting that the plan linked to above relates to a 50miler, paces are significantly different. My road marathon pace is 9:30/mi, my trail marathon pace is 10:30/mi, my planned 12 hour pace is 12:30-13/mi in the early stages and I'm fully anticipating that dropping to 15-16/mi later in the race.
Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel. I have no desire to argue with you about that. I simply do not feel the same. As an exercise in data collection, I may decide to make a better attempt at plan selection and follow more closely.
You may hold the opinion that my fueling problem was due to poor planning. I will continue to maintain that a practice run would have highlighted the necessity of better planning quite nicely. Sometimes, I need to learn the hard way. I recognize this.
I did not run faster than I did in training. I made a note of how much my treadmill lies and carried on. To the level of my training. At which point I ran out of gas. We could argue all day about why that was, but I ran what I trained.
If you're already expecting to have to drop the pace by 2 minutes per mile in your 50 mile race, does that mean that you intend to go out too fast?
I suspect that you actually did run faster. I've seen several posts by runners who typically run on a treadmill switching to road running, and all of them complained that running at what was supposedly their pace on the treadmill seemed way too slow. Running at what they felt was their normal pace tired them out more quickly.
Conversely, I've tried to run on a treadmill after road running, and my treadmill pace is quite a bit slower than my road running pace.
There was a study done that showed the same phenomenon happens with other runners: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22357398. Hardly conclusive evidence, of course, but it does indicate that you were not likely running at the same pace you were on the treadmill, no matter what it felt like to you.
That doesn't seem to be the same direction as I'm describing. When I run outdoors, trying to go nice and slow so that I can finish the 18 mile run, or this past Sunday, racing a marathon, 10:15 - 10:30 is what my GPS reports. If I tried to do 10:30 on my treadmill for 20 miles, I would fail. It is too fast.
Whatever anyone believes about how fast I was running - if I were truly running even 10 seconds faster per mile than I had in training, I am doubly impressed that I accomplished such even splits for the first 20 miles.
This is probably pointless since it's been so long, but the direction matches exactly. From your previous post:autumnblade75 wrote: »4:55:15
I was right where I expected to be, regardless of how much walking I did in the last hour and twenty minutes. My treadmill is not well-calibrated, and I have no true idea of my "easy" pace. I impressed myself with those first 20 miles, though. By effort, it felt like what I'd been doing on the treadmill, which the machine insists are 11 minute miles. GPS called them 10:15's.
Going only by how much effort you felt you were using, you were running slower on the treadmill than on the road. That's the same as the study indicates. Same as my own experience.
My 'average speed' runs if I'm well rested are around 9:30. On a treadmill it's more like 10:00+ if I go by how I feel. I am capable of running a < 8:00 mile on the road. On a treadmill, I'd be shooting off of the back of the machine if I tried to go that fast.
The study gives some hand-waving explanations like the road is more stable than the treadmill, etc, so therefore you can go faster. But, they also mention that cadence/turnover is faster on the treadmill at the same speed. I don't know about anyone else, but my HR is really affected by my cadence. I can run faster with a lower heart rate (i.e. less effort) if my cadence is slower.
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autumnblade75 wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »Or am I still missing some other point that you're trying to make? Please use small words. I'm not getting it.
You're fixated on your plan having not included a 26.2mi distance. The vast majority of plans top out at 20 miles and people successfully use them to prepare for marathons.
Meanwhile:- The plan you chose wasn't appropriate to your ambition; a four hour plan with a five hour target is significantly different
- You didn't follow your plan, either pace or distance. I'll assume that as you were winging the plan you probably didn't do the runs in their intended sequence either.
- Your feeding plan was inadequate - This is a purely planning issue, rather than rehearsal. I take in about 200 cals per hour when I'm running long, on the basis that I'm burning c600 per hour. The only rehearsal I do is using the nutrition on a run to ensure I don't have an adverse reaction.
- You went out too fast - You ran faster than you had done in training, you recognised that and just went with it. If you'd slowed to your planned pace it's likely you would have completed as intended.
There are lots of lessons in there for you to learn from, or you could just continue to insist that you're a special snowflake and just winging your own plan that'll take you to 26.2mi in advance of your race is the way ahead.
With respect to using an Ultra plan, noting that the plan linked to above relates to a 50miler, paces are significantly different. My road marathon pace is 9:30/mi, my trail marathon pace is 10:30/mi, my planned 12 hour pace is 12:30-13/mi in the early stages and I'm fully anticipating that dropping to 15-16/mi later in the race.
Thank you for your input. Now I understand that you are of the belief that the training plan is the gospel. I have no desire to argue with you about that. I simply do not feel the same. As an exercise in data collection, I may decide to make a better attempt at plan selection and follow more closely.
You may hold the opinion that my fueling problem was due to poor planning. I will continue to maintain that a practice run would have highlighted the necessity of better planning quite nicely. Sometimes, I need to learn the hard way. I recognize this.
I did not run faster than I did in training. I made a note of how much my treadmill lies and carried on. To the level of my training. At which point I ran out of gas. We could argue all day about why that was, but I ran what I trained.
If you're already expecting to have to drop the pace by 2 minutes per mile in your 50 mile race, does that mean that you intend to go out too fast?
I suspect that you actually did run faster. I've seen several posts by runners who typically run on a treadmill switching to road running, and all of them complained that running at what was supposedly their pace on the treadmill seemed way too slow. Running at what they felt was their normal pace tired them out more quickly.
Conversely, I've tried to run on a treadmill after road running, and my treadmill pace is quite a bit slower than my road running pace.
There was a study done that showed the same phenomenon happens with other runners: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22357398. Hardly conclusive evidence, of course, but it does indicate that you were not likely running at the same pace you were on the treadmill, no matter what it felt like to you.
That doesn't seem to be the same direction as I'm describing. When I run outdoors, trying to go nice and slow so that I can finish the 18 mile run, or this past Sunday, racing a marathon, 10:15 - 10:30 is what my GPS reports. If I tried to do 10:30 on my treadmill for 20 miles, I would fail. It is too fast.
Whatever anyone believes about how fast I was running - if I were truly running even 10 seconds faster per mile than I had in training, I am doubly impressed that I accomplished such even splits for the first 20 miles.
This is probably pointless since it's been so long, but the direction matches exactly. From your previous post:autumnblade75 wrote: »4:55:15
I was right where I expected to be, regardless of how much walking I did in the last hour and twenty minutes. My treadmill is not well-calibrated, and I have no true idea of my "easy" pace. I impressed myself with those first 20 miles, though. By effort, it felt like what I'd been doing on the treadmill, which the machine insists are 11 minute miles. GPS called them 10:15's.
Going only by how much effort you felt you were using, you were running slower on the treadmill than on the road. That's the same as the study indicates. Same as my own experience.
My 'average speed' runs if I'm well rested are around 9:30. On a treadmill it's more like 10:00+ if I go by how I feel. I am capable of running a < 8:00 mile on the road. On a treadmill, I'd be shooting off of the back of the machine if I tried to go that fast.
The study gives some hand-waving explanations like the road is more stable than the treadmill, etc, so therefore you can go faster. But, they also mention that cadence/turnover is faster on the treadmill at the same speed. I don't know about anyone else, but my HR is really affected by my cadence. I can run faster with a lower heart rate (i.e. less effort) if my cadence is slower.
I'm pretty sick of arguing how fast I was going. My cadence is definitely the same either way, as it's governed by my modded music.
Before my husband bought me a treadmill so that I'd stop dragging him to the gym, I always tried to use the same treadmill at the gym. They aren't all calibrated the same. That one seemed to match my outdoor pace the best. The one right next to it felt "easier" by about 45 seconds per mile. The one my husband bought felt harder from day one, but I didn't get to compare it directly to the gym's treadmill. I can definitely feel a difference if I try to bump the pace up or down by another 45 seconds per mile. I run most of my runs on the mill, so I think of my pace in terms of what it says on the screen. It's always nice to go outside and see how much faster the GPS calls it.
Since I'm short and my cadence is 170 bpm and I'm not really going all that fast, I don't have to shorten my stride to run on the treadmill comfortably. Sorry for all you long-legged guys who don't have that luxury. I'm sure that makes a difference.
Another factor is that the treadmill at it's 0 incline is still slightly uphill. I have played around with chocking the back end up with my aerobics step (but that gives me a downhill) and adding incline to get to a flat surface. I hadn't thought to compare running at "marathon pace" on that and seeing what it says. I'll have to give it a shot.
Comparable heart rate and steady for 3+ hours similar to training says "identical actual effort" to me, rather than "perceived effort" so I'm pretty happy with all aspects of the first 20 miles of my marathon. I also looked at a marathon pace prediction chart that said my performance in my last 5k didn't make a 4:30 marathon too crazy of a proposition. (My most recent race, tho, was an 8k, and if you put the numbers in the 5M box, 4:45 was more likely.) So, I'm really thinking this wasn't as much a pacing as a fueling issue. And I still think a full-length training run would have highlighted that for me, with time to make corrections.
I found a training plan that calls running the full distance in training "common-sense" which is more in line with my own philosophies. It should come in handy for next year's marathon, since there aren't any Fall marathons near me that I'd like to run. It isn't for any particular prescribed finish time, either, so there will be fewer undesirable modifications available to me, should I decide to not follow exactly. I'm already looking forward to it.
Edited for spelling mistakes.0 -
autumnblade75 wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »edited to add:
I'm impressed with myself for keeping it down to the level that I ran in training. I know that means I probably ran all my long runs too fast. I'm impressed with how even my pacing was. I never could have done that a year ago. I attribute it to spending all that time working on my cadence. And that got easy when I started editing all the music in my playlist to the same tempo.
Good job on HR, usually studies show by perceived effort that people go faster off-treadmill than on, with normal increase in HR and that means carb-burning as energy source increase too.
Which I'd wager is a major reason why so many hit the wall - excitement at the start with faster pace than intended being other reason.
That cadence aspect is so true, especially as getting tired and usually sloppy with form, usually at really the wrong time to do so.
What did you find that allows getting the tempo out of a song? I have a Windows program that samples the MP3's then writes it into the file tagging field for it. Sadly I have no player I use normally that reads or sorts by that field, so I have to make playlists to use just those songs.
I was surprised how few are in the right range of stuff I liked.
Thank you, about the HR. It would seem strange not to be impressed by the evenness of it, and the fact that it was so well-matched with what I had done in training. I have gone out much too quickly in other races, so I do recognize how easy that can be.
I use MixMeister BPM Analyzer to find the tempo, then Audacity to change it. Some things sound really strange at 170 BPM - Ministry's Just One Fix is probably the goofiest one that still works. Some songs have tempo changes that really confuse the Analyzer, and just don't work out in practice. I had to dump Kid Rock's American Badass for that. And a lot of 80's Hair Metal seems to be offbeat - Like, the verse of the song is sung on the beat, but the drummer is working the spaces between beats? That's really hit or miss. Motorhead's Ace of Spades does that, too. I don't want to drop it, but it makes it harder to run to.
I use that MixMeister too, I have older version (noticed an update that removed some features) that writes the file tag.
I hadn't thought about tweaking some song speeds that were close to get them to 88-92. That would increase the amount of songs which would be great for treadmill. Barring them sounding too distorted.
As opposed to @stealthq - I found that around 180 turn-over to provide best efficiency at most speeds, slower purposeful jogging, to fast pace interval sprints.
I do tend to slow it down when tired, and may hold to almost same pace, but HR and form and tired muscles all suffer more then. But I think I'm going to revisit the form aspect when jogging slower, if longer strides slower cadence doesn't help keep form better.
I think that's where treadmill comes in great, even if not a pace that can translate to road, but at least the other stuff that can - if you can duplicate it.0 -
autumnblade75 wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »edited to add:
I'm impressed with myself for keeping it down to the level that I ran in training. I know that means I probably ran all my long runs too fast. I'm impressed with how even my pacing was. I never could have done that a year ago. I attribute it to spending all that time working on my cadence. And that got easy when I started editing all the music in my playlist to the same tempo.
Good job on HR, usually studies show by perceived effort that people go faster off-treadmill than on, with normal increase in HR and that means carb-burning as energy source increase too.
Which I'd wager is a major reason why so many hit the wall - excitement at the start with faster pace than intended being other reason.
That cadence aspect is so true, especially as getting tired and usually sloppy with form, usually at really the wrong time to do so.
What did you find that allows getting the tempo out of a song? I have a Windows program that samples the MP3's then writes it into the file tagging field for it. Sadly I have no player I use normally that reads or sorts by that field, so I have to make playlists to use just those songs.
I was surprised how few are in the right range of stuff I liked.
Thank you, about the HR. It would seem strange not to be impressed by the evenness of it, and the fact that it was so well-matched with what I had done in training. I have gone out much too quickly in other races, so I do recognize how easy that can be.
I use MixMeister BPM Analyzer to find the tempo, then Audacity to change it. Some things sound really strange at 170 BPM - Ministry's Just One Fix is probably the goofiest one that still works. Some songs have tempo changes that really confuse the Analyzer, and just don't work out in practice. I had to dump Kid Rock's American Badass for that. And a lot of 80's Hair Metal seems to be offbeat - Like, the verse of the song is sung on the beat, but the drummer is working the spaces between beats? That's really hit or miss. Motorhead's Ace of Spades does that, too. I don't want to drop it, but it makes it harder to run to.
I use that MixMeister too, I have older version (noticed an update that removed some features) that writes the file tag.
I hadn't thought about tweaking some song speeds that were close to get them to 88-92. That would increase the amount of songs which would be great for treadmill. Barring them sounding too distorted.
As opposed to @stealthq - I found that around 180 turn-over to provide best efficiency at most speeds, slower purposeful jogging, to fast pace interval sprints.
I do tend to slow it down when tired, and may hold to almost same pace, but HR and form and tired muscles all suffer more then. But I think I'm going to revisit the form aspect when jogging slower, if longer strides slower cadence doesn't help keep form better.
I think that's where treadmill comes in great, even if not a pace that can translate to road, but at least the other stuff that can - if you can duplicate it.
I'm still working towards 180 bpm. In the beginning, it did seem more draining to run with quicker turnover, but it seems to come much more naturally, now. I did start at around 125-130, so it's a bit of improvement. I use Zombies, Run! (story segments interrupt the music) and it's like singing along with the radio when you go through a tunnel - so satisfying to match right back up with the song on the other side.
Are longer strides and slower cadence supposed to conserve form? I hadn't heard that.
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Me neither, but the above comment had me wondering about experimenting.
I have better form when doing faster pace - which means I'm striding out longer. So if the workout was supposed to be easier with slower pace, I'm curious if attempting to keep the longer stride but slower cadence would keep the more efficient form.
I'm doubtful - but I test all kinds of ideas.
I enjoy my bike rides intense, so that usually means the jogging is slower either for recovery from prior day, or so I'm not too tired the next day to do one.
I'm still thinking about all the times I see someone with turn-over that just looks so slow, and they are bounding into the air and landing so hard with slow cadence - i don't think it'll work. Especially since I do minimalist method of mid-foot strike.
Tomorrow.
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autumnblade75 wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »autumnblade75 wrote: »edited to add:
I'm impressed with myself for keeping it down to the level that I ran in training. I know that means I probably ran all my long runs too fast. I'm impressed with how even my pacing was. I never could have done that a year ago. I attribute it to spending all that time working on my cadence. And that got easy when I started editing all the music in my playlist to the same tempo.
Good job on HR, usually studies show by perceived effort that people go faster off-treadmill than on, with normal increase in HR and that means carb-burning as energy source increase too.
Which I'd wager is a major reason why so many hit the wall - excitement at the start with faster pace than intended being other reason.
That cadence aspect is so true, especially as getting tired and usually sloppy with form, usually at really the wrong time to do so.
What did you find that allows getting the tempo out of a song? I have a Windows program that samples the MP3's then writes it into the file tagging field for it. Sadly I have no player I use normally that reads or sorts by that field, so I have to make playlists to use just those songs.
I was surprised how few are in the right range of stuff I liked.
Thank you, about the HR. It would seem strange not to be impressed by the evenness of it, and the fact that it was so well-matched with what I had done in training. I have gone out much too quickly in other races, so I do recognize how easy that can be.
I use MixMeister BPM Analyzer to find the tempo, then Audacity to change it. Some things sound really strange at 170 BPM - Ministry's Just One Fix is probably the goofiest one that still works. Some songs have tempo changes that really confuse the Analyzer, and just don't work out in practice. I had to dump Kid Rock's American Badass for that. And a lot of 80's Hair Metal seems to be offbeat - Like, the verse of the song is sung on the beat, but the drummer is working the spaces between beats? That's really hit or miss. Motorhead's Ace of Spades does that, too. I don't want to drop it, but it makes it harder to run to.
I use that MixMeister too, I have older version (noticed an update that removed some features) that writes the file tag.
I hadn't thought about tweaking some song speeds that were close to get them to 88-92. That would increase the amount of songs which would be great for treadmill. Barring them sounding too distorted.
As opposed to @stealthq - I found that around 180 turn-over to provide best efficiency at most speeds, slower purposeful jogging, to fast pace interval sprints.
I do tend to slow it down when tired, and may hold to almost same pace, but HR and form and tired muscles all suffer more then. But I think I'm going to revisit the form aspect when jogging slower, if longer strides slower cadence doesn't help keep form better.
I think that's where treadmill comes in great, even if not a pace that can translate to road, but at least the other stuff that can - if you can duplicate it.
I'm still working towards 180 bpm. In the beginning, it did seem more draining to run with quicker turnover, but it seems to come much more naturally, now. I did start at around 125-130, so it's a bit of improvement. I use Zombies, Run! (story segments interrupt the music) and it's like singing along with the radio when you go through a tunnel - so satisfying to match right back up with the song on the other side.
Are longer strides and slower cadence supposed to conserve form? I hadn't heard that.
No, no - not really. It's more that there are 'sweet spots', I suppose, where your cadence and stride length combined are more efficient. I'd expect it's entirely an individual thing due to training and physiology.
For me, If I run around 11:00 with a cadence of 180 my HR is somewhere in the 170-180 range. I can't put much oomph into the push-off, my stride is purposefully shortened, and my legs are churning away much, much faster than necessary for me to travel at that pace. If I were to back off of my cadence to around 160, I could run that same pace with a HR down around 140 and keep it going for longer.
On a similar note, if I run the way I 'naturally' do, my cadence is around 170, I put a decent amount of kick in the push-off and I can run 9:30 and my HR will be in the 160-170 range.
I wouldn't know any of this except that I was trying a training plan where the point was to run long and slow and keep HR low (as a measurement of effort). Independently, I had been making a point of keeping my cadence at 180+. Had been for a at least a year. Turns out I couldn't do all three. I couldn't get my HR below 150 with a cadence of 180 unless I literally ran in place. Slow cadence down, and suddenly I could run at my slow pace with my HR in the 130-140 range.0
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