Runners! My first race is coming up in 6 weeks! Should I go for the 10k or half marathon?!
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TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »blueeyez939 wrote: »Scared off, to say the least..... Lol I understand that many of you don't understand my logic, think that I have no common sense, and think I'm racing for the wrong reasons, and that's fine..... I am racing for my own set of reasons, one of which is the satisfaction of being better than someone else at something. Is that not the heart of just about all true competitors to begin with? I understand a passion for what you do is the first key, but passion alone won't get you first place, passion plus will power does though. I don't know, I'm certainly not here to get anyone fired up or on a rant. But I'm a competitive person, when I am participating is something where there is a winner and a looser, I prefer to be the winner lol I don't see anything wrong with that. Not saying there is "something wrong" with being last either, it's just not for me, I refuse to be last at anything that is a reflection of my effort. Maybe I have never ran a race before, but I have participated is sports for years and I know the satisfaction of winning and the discouragement of getting your butt whooped... It's all part of the game, no matter what your game. And I agree, even in defeat you have to come out ready to do better next time. But, Im very strong willed and enjoy pushing myself, so I didn't think it was unreasonable to think I would be better off walk/running the whole half marathon and likely still end up getting a better position then exhausting myself to be lucky if I'm in the last 10% of the 10k. But, everyone sees things differently and I appreciate everyone telling me your honest thoughts
So your best bet then is to get to the front of the pack at the start line. You want to make sure you clear the crowding as quickly as possible. Most HMs are best handled on a slight negative split, so aim for an eight minute mile initially, and pick up the pace after the seven mile point.
It's easy to get caught up in slower movers at aid stations, so avoid stopping and don't take on any water or fuel. Slowing down to eat or drink disrupts your pace.
Have fun.
Make sure you do not have to pee.. stopping for that..is a time killer.
I had to pee for the last 5 miles of my first HM.... but all the toilet stops had MASSIVE queues so I wasn't having that!
clearly your an amateur if you can't whip it out and pee while you're running.
No, but I am a girl, so there's nowt to whip out... :laugh:
where's your shewee thing!!! whip that out!!!
LMAO1 -
To be fair, she doesn't want to win the whole race, she just wants not to lose, and to make that happen, she plans to enter whichever race has the most runners who are likely to be less good at running than her. It's a solid strategy. Lots of people enter half marathons under-prepared and have a painful, miserable time - if it's a big enough race there's bound to be plenty who can't even run 5 miles. So she'll be ahead of all them. Personally I'd find it more rewarding to beat people who were difficult to beat, but you can't be too picky if you've only got 3 months worth of training behind you.3
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »blueeyez939 wrote: »Scared off, to say the least..... Lol I understand that many of you don't understand my logic, think that I have no common sense, and think I'm racing for the wrong reasons, and that's fine..... I am racing for my own set of reasons, one of which is the satisfaction of being better than someone else at something. Is that not the heart of just about all true competitors to begin with? I understand a passion for what you do is the first key, but passion alone won't get you first place, passion plus will power does though. I don't know, I'm certainly not here to get anyone fired up or on a rant. But I'm a competitive person, when I am participating is something where there is a winner and a looser, I prefer to be the winner lol I don't see anything wrong with that. Not saying there is "something wrong" with being last either, it's just not for me, I refuse to be last at anything that is a reflection of my effort. Maybe I have never ran a race before, but I have participated is sports for years and I know the satisfaction of winning and the discouragement of getting your butt whooped... It's all part of the game, no matter what your game. And I agree, even in defeat you have to come out ready to do better next time. But, Im very strong willed and enjoy pushing myself, so I didn't think it was unreasonable to think I would be better off walk/running the whole half marathon and likely still end up getting a better position then exhausting myself to be lucky if I'm in the last 10% of the 10k. But, everyone sees things differently and I appreciate everyone telling me your honest thoughts
So your best bet then is to get to the front of the pack at the start line. You want to make sure you clear the crowding as quickly as possible. Most HMs are best handled on a slight negative split, so aim for an eight minute mile initially, and pick up the pace after the seven mile point.
It's easy to get caught up in slower movers at aid stations, so avoid stopping and don't take on any water or fuel. Slowing down to eat or drink disrupts your pace.
Have fun.
Make sure you do not have to pee.. stopping for that..is a time killer.
I had to pee for the last 5 miles of my first HM.... but all the toilet stops had MASSIVE queues so I wasn't having that!
I did too at mile 7.. can't believe it, I thought I was running on empty, so I thought..
The toilets were nasty and I was still trying to run while going.. it was a terrible experience.
Have to say that's one of the best things about trail races. Find a convenient tree...
Yeah I thought a dude would come on and say how easy it was for them!
Maybe I should wear depends this coming year... LOL
We have LGBT friendly trees. Nobody cares.
I am both laughing and speechless at the same time...that's rare.. I mean for me to be speechless..
If you're going to pee in the forest, woman, you need one of these! It's the great equalizer, lol.
Doesn't it have potential to be painful if used incorrectly like when used in a quick hurry, like running races, I am in it to win it.. LOL
The one I have is soft silicone so it's safe, lol...I've never used it without stopping first though
I did use it on plenty of barren, treeless mountaintops in the Andes though and looked super suave. 2 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »blueeyez939 wrote: »Scared off, to say the least..... Lol I understand that many of you don't understand my logic, think that I have no common sense, and think I'm racing for the wrong reasons, and that's fine..... I am racing for my own set of reasons, one of which is the satisfaction of being better than someone else at something. Is that not the heart of just about all true competitors to begin with? I understand a passion for what you do is the first key, but passion alone won't get you first place, passion plus will power does though. I don't know, I'm certainly not here to get anyone fired up or on a rant. But I'm a competitive person, when I am participating is something where there is a winner and a looser, I prefer to be the winner lol I don't see anything wrong with that. Not saying there is "something wrong" with being last either, it's just not for me, I refuse to be last at anything that is a reflection of my effort. Maybe I have never ran a race before, but I have participated is sports for years and I know the satisfaction of winning and the discouragement of getting your butt whooped... It's all part of the game, no matter what your game. And I agree, even in defeat you have to come out ready to do better next time. But, Im very strong willed and enjoy pushing myself, so I didn't think it was unreasonable to think I would be better off walk/running the whole half marathon and likely still end up getting a better position then exhausting myself to be lucky if I'm in the last 10% of the 10k. But, everyone sees things differently and I appreciate everyone telling me your honest thoughts
So your best bet then is to get to the front of the pack at the start line. You want to make sure you clear the crowding as quickly as possible. Most HMs are best handled on a slight negative split, so aim for an eight minute mile initially, and pick up the pace after the seven mile point.
It's easy to get caught up in slower movers at aid stations, so avoid stopping and don't take on any water or fuel. Slowing down to eat or drink disrupts your pace.
Have fun.
Make sure you do not have to pee.. stopping for that..is a time killer.
I had to pee for the last 5 miles of my first HM.... but all the toilet stops had MASSIVE queues so I wasn't having that!
I did too at mile 7.. can't believe it, I thought I was running on empty, so I thought..
The toilets were nasty and I was still trying to run while going.. it was a terrible experience.
Have to say that's one of the best things about trail races. Find a convenient tree...
Yeah I thought a dude would come on and say how easy it was for them!
Maybe I should wear depends this coming year... LOL
try the thinx panties- less bulk than depends. LOL (I kid I kid)
Although all jokes aside- I use them for my lifting- lifting + big lifts + belt = piddle.
either pee
use pads
or now I use thinx.
MUCH less embarrassing- and MUCH more comfortable.
This is actually good sound advice.. I wear biker type shorts so the thinner the better.MeanderingMammal wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »MeanderingMammal wrote: »blueeyez939 wrote: »Scared off, to say the least..... Lol I understand that many of you don't understand my logic, think that I have no common sense, and think I'm racing for the wrong reasons, and that's fine..... I am racing for my own set of reasons, one of which is the satisfaction of being better than someone else at something. Is that not the heart of just about all true competitors to begin with? I understand a passion for what you do is the first key, but passion alone won't get you first place, passion plus will power does though. I don't know, I'm certainly not here to get anyone fired up or on a rant. But I'm a competitive person, when I am participating is something where there is a winner and a looser, I prefer to be the winner lol I don't see anything wrong with that. Not saying there is "something wrong" with being last either, it's just not for me, I refuse to be last at anything that is a reflection of my effort. Maybe I have never ran a race before, but I have participated is sports for years and I know the satisfaction of winning and the discouragement of getting your butt whooped... It's all part of the game, no matter what your game. And I agree, even in defeat you have to come out ready to do better next time. But, Im very strong willed and enjoy pushing myself, so I didn't think it was unreasonable to think I would be better off walk/running the whole half marathon and likely still end up getting a better position then exhausting myself to be lucky if I'm in the last 10% of the 10k. But, everyone sees things differently and I appreciate everyone telling me your honest thoughts
So your best bet then is to get to the front of the pack at the start line. You want to make sure you clear the crowding as quickly as possible. Most HMs are best handled on a slight negative split, so aim for an eight minute mile initially, and pick up the pace after the seven mile point.
It's easy to get caught up in slower movers at aid stations, so avoid stopping and don't take on any water or fuel. Slowing down to eat or drink disrupts your pace.
Have fun.
Make sure you do not have to pee.. stopping for that..is a time killer.
I had to pee for the last 5 miles of my first HM.... but all the toilet stops had MASSIVE queues so I wasn't having that!
I did too at mile 7.. can't believe it, I thought I was running on empty, so I thought..
The toilets were nasty and I was still trying to run while going.. it was a terrible experience.
Have to say that's one of the best things about trail races. Find a convenient tree...
Yeah I thought a dude would come on and say how easy it was for them!
Maybe I should wear depends this coming year... LOL
We have LGBT friendly trees. Nobody cares.
I am both laughing and speechless at the same time...that's rare.. I mean for me to be speechless..
If you're going to pee in the forest, woman, you need one of these! It's the great equalizer, lol.
Doesn't it have potential to be painful if used incorrectly like when used in a quick hurry, like running races, I am in it to win it.. LOL
The one I have is soft silicone so it's safe, lol...I've never used it without stopping first though I did use it on plenty of barren, treeless mountaintops in the Andes though and looked super suave.
Looking suave is always the most important thing when it comes indoors or outdoors! LOL0 -
To be fair, she doesn't want to win the whole race, she just wants not to lose, and to make that happen, she plans to enter whichever race has the most runners who are likely to be less good at running than her. It's a solid strategy. Lots of people enter half marathons under-prepared and have a painful, miserable time - if it's a big enough race there's bound to be plenty who can't even run 5 miles. So she'll be ahead of all them. Personally I'd find it more rewarding to beat people who were difficult to beat, but you can't be too picky if you've only got 3 months worth of training behind you.
I think you missed OP's second post on the thread.0 -
Seems odd to me to choose your pond so that you can appear to be a bigger fish. On an absolute scale you are the same size fish regardless of who you compare yourself to. You've only been running for 2 months!
You can put your times into the calculator below and see how you compare on a local/regional/national/world class level.
http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm
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teetertatertango wrote: »Seems odd to me to choose your pond so that you can appear to be a bigger fish. On an absolute scale you are the same size fish regardless of who you compare yourself to. You've only been running for 2 months!
You can put your times into the calculator below and see how you compare on a local/regional/national/world class level.
http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm
Cool! I just plugged in my 20:28 for a 5k at age 31 and it gave me a 25:55 for my current age of 60. Something to shoot for! Thanks much!1 -
To be fair, she doesn't want to win the whole race, she just wants not to lose, and to make that happen, she plans to enter whichever race has the most runners who are likely to be less good at running than her. It's a solid strategy. Lots of people enter half marathons under-prepared and have a painful, miserable time - if it's a big enough race there's bound to be plenty who can't even run 5 miles. So she'll be ahead of all them. Personally I'd find it more rewarding to beat people who were difficult to beat, but you can't be too picky if you've only got 3 months worth of training behind you.
I think you missed OP's second post on the thread.
Think she's using the special 'not coming last' definition of '...that makes me a WINNER!!!'0 -
For OP. It doesn't mean you won't come last in a 13 mile race as the distance is so far, and you'll be much slower than your 5 mile pace by the end. It depends on the other entrants. With 5 miles under your belt, you could run 10K and set your 10k race time to beat for the next time. Nobody else's race matters, when you're learning how to do something. We're all out there, just doing the best we can on any given day.
Do what you want to do, but just remember that if you attempt to run it, you could end up with stress fracture, have your toe nails go black and fall off, or risk not finishing if you try it all at your current 5 mile time. On the other hand, you could come back and tell us it was all fine and you walked 9 miles or are a natural born runner, gifted and blessed with steel bones. You could tell us anything actually and we wouldn't know the truth. If your goal is to finish, you might be able to do it, but that doesn't mean it's sensible.1 -
I actually think she could be fine - she'd have a pretty difficult and miserable race, probably, but if she can do 5 miles now and she's got 6 weeks, she can practise running slower, do three or four runs a week for 5 weeks (3 miles, 5 miles, 3 miles, 7 miles) building to a 'long' run of maybe 8 or 9 miles, and as long as she moderates her pace enough (i.e. run SLOW), she'd get round, probably without actually injuring herself. She might do some walking, but she'd be better prepared than some of the other people there.
I still agree with everyone else that it's a bit pointless though. The programme I've outlined above is probably exactly the same as I think she should do if she enters the 10k, which would be a much better experience and which she'd manage to run all the way (a better definition of WINNER if it doesn't mean actually winning).0 -
teetertatertango wrote: »Seems odd to me to choose your pond so that you can appear to be a bigger fish. On an absolute scale you are the same size fish regardless of who you compare yourself to. You've only been running for 2 months!
You can put your times into the calculator below and see how you compare on a local/regional/national/world class level.
http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm
I have to work on my time. I completed the last one at 2:27:14 and this was a PR.. and my age grade was for 2:14:26..
I have work on this this winter before March to beat my PR but I am another year older..sigh.. 0 -
teetertatertango wrote: »Seems odd to me to choose your pond so that you can appear to be a bigger fish. On an absolute scale you are the same size fish regardless of who you compare yourself to. You've only been running for 2 months!
You can put your times into the calculator below and see how you compare on a local/regional/national/world class level.
http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm
I have to work on my time. I completed the last one at 2:27:14 and this was a PR.. and my age grade was for 2:14:26..
I have work on this this winter before March to beat my PR but I am another year older..sigh..
Interesting comparison. For my age it has me about 10 minutes slow for HM, based on my last HM which was trail and a week before my last Ultra, so I didn't thrash it.
I'm fairly firmly in the middle of the pack, so quite happy with the forecasting, since it doesn't account for elevation or surface.0 -
No, you don't "know." You think you know, but there is a huge difference, a difference you have to experience to understand. When your left calf is cramped up at mile 10, and you still have a 5k left to run, it's an entirely different mental game.blueeyez939 wrote: »I know there is a huge difference between 6.2 and 13 miles....
Running my second full marathon this weekend, and that goes into an entirely new place. Something about miles 15-18 wants to mentally crush me.
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blueeyez939 wrote: »I have been running for a couple months now and want to try running in a "real" race just to see if I enjoy it and to see how my time compares to other women my age. I know I'm not gonna be anywhere near the front of the pack no matter which race I choose.... Lol but I want to pick the one that will have the best chance of me at least not coming in last! So, what do y'all think? I know there is a huge difference between 6.2 and 13 miles.... Lol but when I look at the times of women who ran the same race the last couple years, it seams like the half marathon has a lot more participants and a lot more times that are in the range of my goals where the 10k seemed to be a smaller group and even the slowest times would be pretty tough for me to keep up with.... I just can't decide and with $50 entry fees, I wanna make the best choice! Oh, one other thing! I have never ran more than probably 5 miles at a time, but I don't have any injuries or any body limitations. I have been reading up a lot and read that people with low resting heart rates tend to be better at endurance events rather than speed events, and I happen to have a extremely low heart rate, 30's while sleeping 50's while awake more of the time. So, that's another thing that makes me wonder if I wouldn't be better off going for the half marathon rather than the 10k Would love some opinion :-) thanks!
Depends for what are you working. If you are working more on speed, shorter distance,intervals go for 10 k if you go more for LSD (long slow distance) go for half either way just have fun and enjoy it 0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »teetertatertango wrote: »Seems odd to me to choose your pond so that you can appear to be a bigger fish. On an absolute scale you are the same size fish regardless of who you compare yourself to. You've only been running for 2 months!
You can put your times into the calculator below and see how you compare on a local/regional/national/world class level.
http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm
I have to work on my time. I completed the last one at 2:27:14 and this was a PR.. and my age grade was for 2:14:26..
I have work on this this winter before March to beat my PR but I am another year older..sigh..
Interesting comparison. For my age it has me about 10 minutes slow for HM, based on my last HM which was trail and a week before my last Ultra, so I didn't thrash it.
I'm fairly firmly in the middle of the pack, so quite happy with the forecasting, since it doesn't account for elevation or surface.
I think I can shave of 14 minutes to beat it this year.. today that sounds hard and training in winter is a challenge for me.. I am going with "I think I can, I think I can"..
I don't think I have a whole in me let alone an Ultra.WOW.. I like the word "thrash".. 0 -
Cave_Goose wrote: »
No, you don't "know." You think you know, but there is a huge difference, a difference you have to experience to understand. When your left calf is cramped up at mile 10, and you still have a 5k left to run, it's an entirely different mental game.blueeyez939 wrote: »I know there is a huge difference between 6.2 and 13 miles....
Running my second full marathon this weekend, and that goes into an entirely new place. Something about miles 15-18 wants to mentally crush me.
she's an askhole.
asks- but isn't interested in the answers.
I'm pretty sure at this point she posted and ghosted because she actually DIDN"T want answers- she wanted someone to pat her on the back and say- "you go do it honey- you got this ish".3 -
I think that blueeyez939 (OP) lost interest.0
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teetertatertango wrote: »Seems odd to me to choose your pond so that you can appear to be a bigger fish. On an absolute scale you are the same size fish regardless of who you compare yourself to. You've only been running for 2 months!
You can put your times into the calculator below and see how you compare on a local/regional/national/world class level.
http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm
That's an interesting calculator. I always thought that I had a more competitive advantage at longer distance races, but the calculator ranked me in a higher percentile with my 5K time than my marathon. Who knew?0 -
lporter229 wrote: »teetertatertango wrote: »Seems odd to me to choose your pond so that you can appear to be a bigger fish. On an absolute scale you are the same size fish regardless of who you compare yourself to. You've only been running for 2 months!
You can put your times into the calculator below and see how you compare on a local/regional/national/world class level.
http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm
That's an interesting calculator. I always thought that I had a more competitive advantage at longer distance races, but the calculator ranked me in a higher percentile with my 5K time than my marathon. Who knew?
And I thought my 5k time was much better than my 10k, but they both were exactly the same.0
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