davemunger Member

It depends on the race. Check the race website and see if a drop bag is an option at the first aid station.

In nearly every 5K there are people who walk the whole way, so you almost certainly won't finish last! The best thing about 5Ks is how supportive all the runners are of each other. The winner of the race, who might have finished in 16 minutes, will often cheer all the runners in to the finish! I started running in high…

Absolutely no need to pack water unless it is an unusually hot day. I just looked at the course map and they have water stops starting at mile 2, and then nearly every mile thereafter. You will have plenty of opportunities to drink! If it is super hot, you might consider wearing a hydration pack because big races are known…

Either one can be good -- I would suggest doing both; that way you work different muscle groups and probably reduce your chances of getting injured. If you feel like you're not getting as much of a workout in one versus the other, just increase the speed. You'll feel it, I guarantee it! One thing to watch for when you are…

I find the most dangerous thing about running in snow / ice is trying to hop from dry patch to dry patch. Stay off the roads, on the sidewalks, and just tread carefully. The only times I have fallen is when I hop around trying to find "safer" terrain.

One thing I always recommend to runners (regardless of the aid station situation) is to drink 8-12 ounces of water immediately before the race starts. It doesn't help much to drink bottles and bottles of water 3-4 hours before only to pee it back out again before the race begins. In fact, it can be harmful because you will…

Depends on a lot of things: weather, hilliness/technical nature of the event, your personal needs, etc. If it is a hot day and the aid stations are more than, say, 5 miles apart, you might be pushing it with just a handheld. There are so many different vests out there it may be that the one you tried just wasn't a good fit…

Yes to bleachers -- they are definitely lower-impact than hill training. But you will need to do at least some training running up and down hills to prepare your body for the race. I would say just do hills or bleachers once a week. if you notice the hamstring issues starting to creep up again, then ease back on them but…

I use my Hoka Stinson Tarmacs for hilly long runs and races (20-plus miles). Even though they are technically a road shoe I find they perform very well on trails! For shorter and flatter runs I feel like the mushiness of the Hokas means I have to put out too much effort to run. But I do like them for the hills --…

...and I see you ran even farther on Sunday -- awesome! 5 days left in February, with most folks still on track! Finish strong!

I remember it well from last year. Fortunately there were thousands of people screaming at me not to stop and walk!

This is brilliant. Those programmers at Google just keep getting smarter...now what AG are they in and what is their PR?

It calculates your easy run pace for you, and predicts your best performance at any distance (assuming you've properly trained for the race). You enter a recent result at any distance, and it will first give you your projected race performances based on that result. If you click on "Training Paces" you will see recommended…

Wow, glad to hear you are okay! And happy to give (and receive) advice -- this is truly a great running community.

It's probably something that comes with experience. I find it quite common for new runners to have difficulty picking a pace and sticking to it. One suggestion: If you find yourself running "too fast" on your long slow runs, then take a walk break. Say you are shooting for a 10:00 pace. If you finish a mile in 9 minutes,…

I agree, if they don't want people to submit paper entries, they shouldn't provide the paper entry form! Send in the form, and keep a copy of the cancelled check. If you notice a couple months out from the race that you are not receiving any email updates about the race, then send them another message verifying that your…

Doing your long runs 9 days apart is not going to affect your fitness. In fact, 9 days might be a better training cycle than 7 days; people just use 7 days because the weekend is usually the most convenient time to do long runs. It might be a bit harder on the other end -- doing another long run 5 days later. If you want…

I understand your need for confidence. I have been there and tried that. A couple years ago I paced a friend on a marathon about 4 weeks out from a target marathon. I thought it would give me confidence to run my target race, and since I'd be going about 1.5 minutes per mile slower, I didn't think it would take too much…

Just to give you some context for this, the reason is that once you go over 20 miles, you are just taking too much out of your body and recovery will take several weeks. Some elite runners get away with 24- and 25-mile training runs, but they are only running for maybe 2.5 hours when they do this so it doesn't take nearly…

I'm going to be a contrarian and say that depending on pace, Larabars can be fine fuel for a marathon. If you are running 8-minute miles then you probably want to stick with easily-digestible gels or maybe shot blocks if you don't like gels. But if your pace is closer to 12-minute miles, you are going to be out there for…

I would imagine you are adding a little fat to the beans when you do that. If you really want to know how much, you could try cooking the wings in water without the beans. Then skim off the fat that rises to the top and measure that (even better, cool the water with the fat till it solidifies). I don't see a listing for…

Awesome! It's fine to pre-log miles; they won't show up on the monthly tally (the second page of the spreadsheet) until the date actually arrives. But if you pre-log and then don't actually run those miles, make sure you remove them!

I don't really want to change my appearance, I just want to be fitter and a better runner. ...Okay, that's a lie, I'd prefer to look like that guy who plays Wolverine, but I'm realistic enough to recognize that's never going to happen, so I'm settling for being fitter.

This would be the equivalent of consuming 10 gels every 45 minutes. Not even sure how you could carry that many, let alone digest them! The 100 calories is based on your body's ability to metabolize the fuel while running. Much more than that while running at marathon pace, and you will start filling up, and eventually…

It depends on the event. You can consume / digest a lot more fuel when you are riding than when you are running. General rule of thumb for running is 100 calories per 45 minutes. But if you are running slower you may find you can consume more, and everyone is different.

10 days left in the month. I updated the spreadsheet -- most folks are right where they need to be, with about a third of their mileage left. Keep it up, everyone!

Me about halfway through a 4-hour trail run. That creek-like mire behind me is actually the trail. One of the toughest runs I've done to date.

Yep, a "good" 5K time is definitely in the eye of the beholder. I am a race timer, and I have seen thousands of people finish 5Ks. I've seen folks disgusted with 14:30s, and I've seen people elated to finish under an hour. It all depends on the individual. As others have said, your goal for the first race should really…

Yep, I'm with Pete and Elizabeth. The best way to train for a race is to do the type of running that race requires. So train for track runs by running a track, hilly races by running hills, and road races by running roads. But if you prefer doing treadmill runs, just throw in a road or track run once or twice a week and…

I would say you need to run a lot. But I really want to bench 200 pounds. I'm not sure I understand how this is relevant.