April 2016 Running Challenge

lporter229 wrote: »

Another slow developer here. I have been running pretty consistently, health and life permitting, for 18 or 19 years. It's been so long that I really can't remember my "running story" very accurately, but I know that when I started running (in 1997), it was for my general health and fitness. There were no apps, GPS gadgets or social media groups. I am not even sure there were running groups. If there were, they were few and far between. I pretty much just laced them up and went out for 30-40 minutes, 3 or 4 times a week, with no real goals in mind. I ran between 10 and 15 miles per week max. I did not participate in an organized race until 2002, my first 5K. When I moved to Cincinnati in 2003, I lived in a great running neighborhood and caught a bit of a bug. I ran my first 15K later that year and my first half marathon in 2004. I did all of my races at pretty much the same pace I trained 9:30-10 minutes per mile. My first half marathon was a 2:05. I never really thought of trying to get faster and didn't much care.

I ran on and off for the next several years, as I was battling with Crohn's disease, and did very few races during that time. In 2012, a friend of mine did her first half marathon (Flying Pig) and instantly decided she wanted to do the full in 2013. I agreed to train with her. So in 2013, we ran our first marathon together in just under 5 hours. I would not trade the experience for anything in the world, but it left me wanting to see what I could do on my own. In early 2014, I had another serious bout with Crohn's disease that forced me to drop out of marathon training due to inadequate nutritional absorbtion and severe weight loss. Furthermore, I had developed a stress fracture in my foot, likely due to prolonged use of high doses of prednisone. I was angry that I may not be able to run any more and angry that I had to deal with this illness. I vowed that when I finally got through the rough patch, I was going to make it my mission to show Crohn's disease who's boss and I was going to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I used that as my motivation for the next year and a half and finally achieved my goal in October of 2015 in Columbus with a time of 3:38:26, giving my a 16+ minute cushion for the 2017 Boston Marathon.

Ok, I guess I got a bit off track there, but now that it's out there, that's my story in a nut shell. One thing I did want to mention is that I believe that all of those years of slow, easy running were critical in getting me where I am today. Matt Fitgerald says that over time, your body will adapt to a more efficient running form. A lot has been said about the values of having a high cadence. I never measured my cadence until 2 or so years ago. But when I first measured it, it was in the 184-188 range consistently. Currently, all of my runs are in the 190s. Even though I am very short, which probably makes for a naturally high cadence, I doubt that if I had measured my cadence all those years ago, that the numbers would be that high. It's not something I ever practiced or intended for, but something that I believed developed over time. I guess my point is, that even though we all want to be super fast, like yesterday, for some of us, the slow road to speed is the best one.

Ashleedeathbarbie wrote: »

Can I get in on this action? I'm training for my second marathon so I'd love to have something to check in with.

MobyCarp wrote: »

ceciliaslater wrote: »

@greenolivetree - The Jenks Half hardly qualifies as a crowd. There were only about 300 people total last year. I ran a 2:10:54 race and literally could not see a single person in front of or behind me for the last half of the race! Very chill experience, so it might be a good one to start with. No pressure (nudge, nudge--come on--nudge, nudge). You've got til November to psych yourself up for it. LOL

I've only run one race where I couldn't see runners ahead of me for any substantial distance. That was a 15K with I think 83 total finishers, and the road marshals saved me from missing turns or taking wrong turns a couple of times. There were markings, but it was hard to see blue arrows on wet pavement. I suppose I could have seen people behind me if I'd turned around; but I took Satchel Paige's classic advice to heart.

The following year the field expanded to 85, and I was fast enough to see people ahead of me for substantially the entire route. And it was easier to see the blue arrows on dry pavement. And I knew the route better, having seen it the year before. But I still appreciated having road marshals.

WhatMeRunning wrote: »

Question about the doubles while it is on topic.

I was planning to start adding in some doubles a few weeks from now as I continue building up from my current 42 mpw to 60 mpw. My reasoning for the doubles is that during this base building phase my workouts are long runs and by that point I will be doing 2 to 3 long runs (90 to 180 minutes) per week. There gets to be a point where it is impractical to add distance to the long runs due to either total running time (pushing 180 minutes) or time in regular life (2+ hour mid-week runs are very difficult to fit in). Likewise my non-long runs can't go any longer because at that point they would go well past 60 minutes each and start creeping towards 90 minutes which would make them long runs technically. So my plan was to take some of those non-long run days and do doubles so I can get the added mileage without making them too long. They would be between 35 and 60 minutes each run on these double runs.

Does that sound right or am I incorporating doubles inappropriately?