February 2018 Running Challenge

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  • HRKinchen
    HRKinchen Posts: 202 Member
    girlinahat wrote: »
    I’ve found my reason for running. It’s because I can.

    Right on. :heart:
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    girlinahat wrote: »
    here's one for the maths geeks here:

    updated formula for marathon prediction

    Now I'm SERIOUSLY depressed.....

    Heh. If I use R=1.15, and use 1:31 for a half marathon, the formula spits out a marathon time of 2:21 or 2:22. My early half marathons were in the 1:30:high to 1:32:medium range, and my first marathon came in at 2:20:53. Am I average, or what? (Let's not talk about the things that went wrong with subsequent marathons.)
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    cburke8909 wrote: »
    @PastorVincent love the article and it makes me wonder about my strategy for my 10k in March. The course has some serious hills through the first 4 miles. I want to run a sub 45 minutes race which would mean a 7:15 pace.(ambitious but I think I could) I was thinking about setting the virtual pacer for 7:15 and trying not to exceed that pace through those first 4 miles but now I wonder if I should cut that back to 7:25 or 7:30. The last 2.1 is downhill and if I'm feeling good, I bet I can easily make up the time.

    Race strategy taking into account the geography of the course is more of an art than a science. I ran my PR 10K at Dedham, Massachusetts in the 2017 USATF Masters 10K/James Joyce Ramble. The course is an out, loop, and back. You go out a mile downhill, through a loop that is flat for over half the distance but has some interesting rolling hills in mile 4, and come back with the last mile uphill. My race plan was adapted from what Coach said he did for his best time on that course: Go out like a bat out of he!! for the first downhill mile, moderate to some more sustainable pace when it levels out, grind through the hills, and hang on as best I can for the end. I ran the first mile in 6:00, and the total 10K in 39:54. It's only time I've broken below 40 minutes for a 10K, and the first time I broke below 41 minutes. Two weeks later, I ran a 40:04 10K on a course that was down, flat, and up using a similar strategy.

    I don't think I'd be as successful running the first mile hard in a 10K that was fairly flat all the way through, and I expect I'd do best with a slower start on a 10K that starts uphill. But that's a guess; I haven't run 10Ks on all that many different courses.
  • Teresa502
    Teresa502 Posts: 1,873 Member
    February 3 – 13.1 miles
    February 4 – 6 miles
    February 5 – 5 miles
    February 7 – 5 miles
    February 9 – 7 miles
    February 10 – 14 miles
    February 11 – 3.8 miles
    February 12 – 5 miles (treadmill)
    February 14 – 5 miles
    February 17 – 12 miles

    @simcon1 – Congratulations on your PR!
    @MobyCarp – Congrats to you also on your successful run today.
    @polskagirl01 – Good luck in your race tonight. Sounds like a very emotional one.
    @HRKinchen – Good luck to you tomorrow! Have fun!

    Got in a good 12 miles this morning. It was 43F at the start. A few sprinkles hit towards the end and it’s been raining all afternoon so I’m glad I got my butt up out of bed at 4:30 this morning to get it done. For some reason my Garmin will not sync with the phone app. This happened over a year ago. At that time I deleted my Garmin on the app, added it back and still nothing. Tried it again in a couple of months and it started working. I hope it doesn’t take that long this time. I’ll give it another try tomorrow before I delete and start over.

    exercise.png


    Upcoming Races:
    February 24-25 – Gasparilla Amber Challenge (15K & 5K on Saturday; Half Marathon on Sunday)
    May 6 – Pittsburgh Half Marathon
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
    Oh so there’s an endurance race today in Virginia Beach. 100k or 50k. It’s a single 2.3 mile loop through a golf course. The runners have to run the same loop 30 times to complete the 100k. How boring!

    Apparently it’s a qualifier for the Spartathlon in Greece. Still seems crazy boring.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,188 Member
    I have a couple of random questions. I am training for a HM in May. So far my longest run has been 9.5 miles and it took me 1 hour 58 minutes. I know if I plan to fuel during the HM I need to practice that in advance. At what point do I need to refuel? Or do I even need that for an HM?

    And for those of you with Garmins. Do you wait until your battery is almost dead to recharge it? Or is it ok to top it off when ever you get an opportunity like when you are showering, or if you are sitting on the couch for an hour or two watching a movie?
  • RunsOnEspresso
    RunsOnEspresso Posts: 3,218 Member
    kgirlhart wrote: »
    I have a couple of random questions. I am training for a HM in May. So far my longest run has been 9.5 miles and it took me 1 hour 58 minutes. I know if I plan to fuel during the HM I need to practice that in advance. At what point do I need to refuel? Or do I even need that for an HM?

    And for those of you with Garmins. Do you wait until your battery is almost dead to recharge it? Or is it ok to top it off when ever you get an opportunity like when you are showering, or if you are sitting on the couch for an hour or two watching a movie?

    I take a gel around mile 5 and 10. I think they recommend after an hour of activity. Not everyone fuels for halfs. It's another one of those do what works for you things. I have taken fuel as early as 4 miles, it just depends on how I feel. I also found if I wait to take it until I need it, I struggle more.

    I charge my Garmin when it gets into the 20s and plug it in when I go to bed. I have topped it off when I've had a race the next morning and feared not having a charge (which was ridiculous lol). I've always been told it's best to let the batteries drain fully before charging but not sure how true that is anymore.
  • pudgy1977
    pudgy1977 Posts: 13,499 Member
    Everyone’s killin it!!! No run/walk for me today. With the family all day then work at 4
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    February Running Totals (miles)
    2/1 – 5.01 easy
    2/2 – rest day
    2/3 – 7.00 paced run
    2/4 – 5.17 almost easy
    2/5 – rest day
    2/6 – unplanned rest day
    2/7 – scheduled rest day
    2/8 – 5.17 easy with fast finish
    2/9 – rest day
    2/10 – 6.17 partly paced run
    2/11 – 6.52 at marathon pace
    2/12 – rest day
    2/13 – 7.78 easy with hills
    2/14 – rest day
    2/15 – 5.06 easy + one stride
    2/16 – rest day
    2/17 – 7.97 Freezeroo #5 - 8 mile race
    2/18 – 6.05 easy

    February running total to date – 61.90

    Nominal challenge goal: 100 miles

    Real goals: Transition from recovery to base building by end of month. Give myself a chance to start and complete Boston 2018.

    Today's notes – Just a nice, routine run with temperature in the upper 30s F (3 or 4 C) on a pleasant afternoon. I was confident enough to plan a route in advance, thinking 5 to 6 miles. Had a stretch of gravel road, but I was pretty sure the snow would all have melted before I got there. It had, and the wet spots weren't muddy enough to be a problem. I did notice that my recovering leg doesn't like the uneven surface as much as smooth surfaces; the gravel road was softer and less even than asphalt, though harder and more even than a typical cross country grass surface.

    Twinges in the leg reminded me that I'm not really *all* better yet, and I worried for a bit that perhaps I should have taken a rest day after my 8 mile race yesterday; but I seem to have got away with a shorter run, and tomorrow will be a scheduled rest day anyway.

    2018 races:
    February 17, 2018 Freezeroo #5 (Valentines Run "In Memory of Tom Brannon" 8 Mile) (Greece, NY) finished in 54:48
    February 24, 2018 Freezeroo #6 (White House Challenge 4.4 mile) (Webster, NY)
    March 17, 2018 USATF Masters 8K (Shamrock 8K, Virginia Beach, VA)
    April 16, 2018 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA)

  • Teresa502
    Teresa502 Posts: 1,873 Member
    February 3 – 13.1 miles
    February 4 – 6 miles
    February 5 – 5 miles
    February 7 – 5 miles
    February 9 – 7 miles
    February 10 – 14 miles
    February 11 – 3.8 miles
    February 12 – 5 miles (treadmill)
    February 14 – 5 miles
    February 17 – 12 miles
    February 18 – 9 miles

    9 miles before church this morning. Beautiful morning. Temp was 35F at the start but the sun was up before we finished and it's been shining most of the day.

    I usually take at least one gel during a HM. I'm one of those who carry my own water also. I think it's more a security thing as there are usually plenty of water stations. My water bottle has a zipper pocket that is great to carry gels, car key, etc.

    Upcoming Races:
    February 24-25 – Gasparilla Amber Challenge (15K & 5K on Saturday; Half Marathon on Sunday)
    May 6 – Pittsburgh Half Marathon

    exercise.png
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    7lenny7 wrote: »
    @kgirlhart I think it's worth refueling if you race for 90 minutes or more.

    Key points
    • You likely have enough glycogen in your body for at least 90 minutes of hard running
    • It takes about 30 minutes for the calories you ingest to be available to your muscles
    • Most people can only digest 200 to 240 calories per hour. Taking in more that than can have detrimental effects.

    Based on that,
    • first refuel should be about 60 minutes after start of the race
    • last refuel should be about 45 minutes before the end of the race
    • Take no more than 200 calories per hour unless through training runs you've found you can take in more.
    • If you can run a 90 minute half, you probably don't need to refuel. You may not even need it for a longer run, but it won't hurt.

    This only applies to a half. For a full, I'd start taking in calories about 15 minutes before the race. Since you can't digest as many carbs as your body is using through glycogen, you want to start that refueling process immediately to try to keep topped off as long as you can. For a half, you're not running long enough to warrant immediate refueling

    One note on glycogen: if you've been eating at a deficit for a long time (which a lot of people here have, since this is a site devoted to calorie counting) your glycogen stores may already be depleted and you may not have nearly 90 minutes.

    And if you're a diabetic on medication, all bets are off - learn what your personal tolerances are like well in advance by stopping and testing. I'm on metformin, which slows the release of glucose into the blood stream, and I feel much more comfortable eating something at least every half hour, although I'm getting to the point that I can manage an hour. And fifteen minutes of really intense exercise such as HIIT cycling can drop me from severely elevated into the 70s. A normal person would then quickly come back up, but the metformin slows that recovery process.

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