Forums >Racing>Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023
Problem Child
Flavio it was 15 years ago. I've even told my wife she would have been impressed and would have like that guy more, but as with all things I wanted to be the best, or thought I did, because it's more fun when you're really good at it. Why stop at 2 beers when you can drink 8? I'm sure you're better at travel than I am.
Josh sounds like ultra marathon shit.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
Part of TLC
I wouldn't know because I never ran farther than 43,5 km. I tentatively planned on running my first two ultras this year since my eternally injured foot doesn't act up while running easy pace. A 6h race the first weekend of June (cancelled, probably because I couldn't participate) as a dress rehearsal for an extremely flat 100k in August. That will have to wait two or three years now, I guess. On the plus side: I'll be up another AG then .
Don't hurry - next AG will start 2026
Pain is my friend
I'm finally getting around to posting about my crazy 24 hour race. The short RR is I ran for 24 hours on and indoor concrete track in Milwakee. My feet hurt. It was 55 degrees inside. Every thing went great up untill about hour 17. I started to puck and lose hope after I lost lots of time. I called it quits after 22 hours. Couldn't take the pain in my feet and legs. I stopped having fun and couldn't see a reason to keep running. I finished with 125.9 miles.
If my 4 lines don't say enough for you keep reading the long verson.
I showed up a day early to Milwakee with my wife (Crew). My wife got this airbnb close to the Pettit ice center. It we has to take the back 3 flights of stairs to the 2 floor of this place. I was swearing at my wife already before the race started. I knew after the race the stairs would be hell. We walked to walmart about a half mile away to get food for the weekend.
Then day before the race we spent the morning at the Milwakee zoo. Was mush bigger than my local zoo. Spent the rest of the day with my feet up chilling with my wife.
Race day:
9 am start was nice to sleep in a bit. Got there early to set up. I had a friend from Colorado doing the race also. We shared a table and Then our crews could work together. I thought I would love the 55 degrees inside. But I was to hot at times with gloves, long sleeve and hat on and then the to cold later. I made sure I took extra salt pills.
Race plan was to run a 9 min pace or 2:28 per lap as long as I can. My goal was to run 145-150 miles to qualify and make the US 24 hour team. Nutirtion plan was 16 oz of Formula 369 drink mix (Carb based drink mix. 60 carbs/220 cal an hour) every other hour and water the other hour with 2 gels. I also eat fruit snakes with my carb drink. It worked great till hour 17 when I pucked up a gel and all the water in my stomach.
After 4 hours my feet started hurt. I had the thought to call it quits. But I knew it was my first of many lows. Just before we turned around at 6 hours I was back on top and positive again. There was runners of all paces and goals. There was a few guys running faster than me and a woman. I have run with her before. She is a hoka elite. One guy set out to beat the 55-59 100 mile record. He pulled the eplug 5 hours in. The 12 hour race started at noon. Right away this guy was flying and not slowing down over time. I think he set some kind of 50 mile record and 100k. He finshed the 50 miles just over 5 hours.
I finished the 12 hours with little problems and finished my 2nd fasted 100 in 15:46. At hour 17 is when things went south. Pucked up a gel and all my stomch contents. I then spent the next hour walking and jogging. Got some chicken broth with noodles that stayed down. By this time I had slowed down enough that I knew it would be hard to make my goal of 145 miles. I started to get negitive and didn't want to run any more. This is not normal for me. I am always positive. But my feet and legs hurt so much. I took some pain killers but they didn't help. It stopped being fun. I only found happyness when I decided to stop running at 20 hours.
I sat down and my head was in a fog. I couldn't think straight. My wife tried to get me to keep going. My last 3 laps I picked it up. Only because I knew I was stopping. Then my friend wasn't doing well and was walking. My wife tugged on my heart strings. "Your friend need someone to walk with her. You came here on this day for you can run the same day. You love to help others. Get up and walk with her!" I reluckently said FINE. I have been sitting for at least 20 min. My legs didn't want to go. We walked a few miles till her gi system cased her to back a lot of bathroom stops. I thanked her for stopping because now I could stop.
What I learned from this race: Running on concrete sucks. I don't mind tracks that have a little bit of padding. Happyness can some times come from places you don't think it would. If Plan A-F are out the window you need to have another plan. Some times it's not your day and there is nothing you can do about it. Trail running is so much more fun than the road or track. Never do I think when I am on trail that I wish I was on the road. But on the road I wish I was trail running all the time. Over all I feel like I did my best. Don't know if I will do a 24 hour loop on a track again. But I still think if I could have everything go right, I could hit that 150 mark.
ATY 24 141.445 2019 1st
Bear 100 22:08 2021
Jackpot 100 Feb 14:59 - 5th
Pulse endurance 48 hr 175.3 miles
Bonnevile Backyard ultra
Ute 100 Aug
24 hour loop race?
Hot Weather Complainer
Hagley Park Run 5km
This wasn't a goal race, but more a chance to see where my HR threshold is at post-marathon. I got halfway into the town (30 mins drive) and realised I forgot my chest strap. I hoped my watch might have an accurate day but it clearly didn't.
Did a 30 minute warm up, with 5 mins in the Endorphin Pros. It was cold, about 0C (32F). After my warm ups I had about 12 minutes until the start so I jogged over and still had 8 mins. They made lots of announcements for milestones etc and started at 8:05 so I was pretty cold by then.
About 20 people take off in front of me, and I try to slip into about 3:55-4:00/km pace to work into it. I felt like I was not working hard enough, even that early so tried to lift the pace but found it was a struggle. Go through the first km in 3:57, feeling strong but wondering if I'll be able to lift the pace. During the second km I passed about 5 people who'd clearly gone out too fast (some young, some old), and spotted Nathan Jones about 20 metres ahead. I know he had a serious knee injury (and afterwards I find out he had surgery 6 weeks ago) so I was impressed to see him going at that pace, although he was around 17 minutes pre-injury). Second km is 3:47 and I feel like I'm rolling now. I wasn't expecting a PR but I still do the calculations and realise it's probably gone already - a lesson for my PR attempt in 5 weeks.
A young-ish female was about 10 metres ahead and I pulled up to her about halfway and she's breathing really hard. I felt like I was working now but pulled away from her quite fast. Nathan and another guy are still 20 metres ahead and they give me a good target. Third km is 3:49 and I feel like I may struggle to hold on now - both 5km races I've done I've felt like this at 3km, then found more. It's a different beast.
During the 4th km Nathan looks like he's coming back to me and I realise I do have some gas in the tank. I hold it steady for a 3:49 and know I don't have much longer so it's time to empty the tank. I thought sub 19 even if not a PR would be a good goal, but my calculations told me I needed around 3:30 (brain wasn't capable of getting the exact number). There's a hairpin turn with 800 metres to go and I'm right behind Nathan now. I lift my effort and pass him ("hey Steve, how's it going? Sorry, can't talk") and set my sights on the next guy who I get about 100 metres later. Now I'm pretty solo and check the watch and work out I have about 90 seconds of suffering left. I really push now to try and get 19 minutes and go through the 5th km in 3:38 and finish straight after my watch flashes (turns out it is well measured). Watch says 19:03 but it took me a second to stop it with cold hands so get an official 19:02 for 10th overall in a field of 420. Missed my PR by 9 seconds.
Pretty happy with that line in the sand, and I think I have a good shot at the PR in 5 weeks. Some good lessons too about needing to be sharp from the gun, which will need some strategy in the cold.
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23
2024 Races:
Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55
Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024 1:27:34
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024 DNF
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Krash great job you are one tough dude. You haven't sold these ultras to me though
Steve excellent effort and very impressive with the fast last km. Top 10 is bloody good in that sized Parkrun.
I bailed on my Parkrun as the wind was around 25 knots and ended up going to the new Parkrun at Papamoa which were having a test run before they officially open next week.
I jogged the 6k from my place to the start. There were only about 30 people there. I decided to run something around sub 20 pace.
The course was an H shape so 4 180 degree turns and a few rollers all on fine gravel.
I ended up in the lead after the initial leader faded after 2kms.
Course measured a little long which was refreshing for a kiwi course 😉
Jogged the 6kms home after so gave me a nice workout. Will be handy as a workout every Saturday but with other people.
55+ PBs 5k 18:36 June 3rd TT
" If you don't use it you lose it, but if you use it, it wears out.
Somewhere in between is about right "
king of the non-sequitur
Trail running is so much more fun than the road or track. Never do I think when I am on trail that I wish I was on the road. But on the road I wish I was trail running all the time. Over all I feel like I did my best. Don't know if I will do a 24 hour loop on a track again. But I still think if I could have everything go right, I could hit that 150 mark.
Krash, it sure takes a lot to get you into the not having fun zone! i think you have a very strong mentality but maybe it's a good thing to see where it breaks in a way. i always think that the times i learn the most are when things dont go to plan. to this day i am still processing my DNF from like 5 years ago and while i dont get the confidence and pride of having finished, i do understand a lot more about myself. if i were a psychiatrist id have my patients run 100 miles as a form of self discovery ...quoted statement = well said!
i hope no one was offended by my remark about SF and glad i didnt start anything. i am just so disappointed because it used to be the most beautiful city. fwiw Seattle (my home) is quite similar
Bridle Trails 50k 1-13-24 5:39
Cottontail 6 Hour 4-13-24
Cougar Long Series (May,June,July,Aug 2024)
Carkeek 6 Hour 10-19-24
Asmith I think we have seen the same thing in lots of cities around the world. A congregation of homeless drug addicts in the CBD areas.
My week done. Down a bit in mileage due to tapering for the 5k that never happened but a good Saturday and Sunday brought the mileage some respectability.
Steve - good effort on the 5k. As much as I enjoy the cold, I think it probably cost you a few seconds. Around 6-8c is ideal, but any colder and I find it harder work to get the legs turning over - which is important for a 5k.
Piwi - haha pipped you again (just!).
A Smith - I was in SF a few years ago. Honestly it was kinda unique and we did some cool stuff there, but one defining memory was how bad the shopfronts stank of urine. It hadn't rained in about 40 days when we were there and it really smelt bad (and I don't even have a very good sense of smell).
Me - kind of a week of two halves. Up until Friday I felt awesome... best I've felt in maybe over a year. Smashed out back-to-back-to-back workouts Tues, Wed and Thurs. Then my delightful daughter kindly brought a cold home from school. Nothing too bad, but it definitely took me down a notch or two. The third of six races in the Xterra series was Sunday, so I decided to just take it pretty conservatively. Although this one had less climbing, it did have the big challenge of a 6k stretch around rocky coastline at low tide early on. It's rained basically all week and that had caused some slips off the cliffs so there was clay on the rocks in places - which is as treacherous as it sounds. Anyway I was very careful around this bit, and a ton of people went past me. It ranged from the occasional sandy patch to full-on rock hopping at times. Each race in this series seems to have a different trick in store!! Once we got back on the trails I was able to pick it up and made up quite a bit of ground. There were some absolutely stunning views of the Hauraki Gulf from the ridgeline (the rain miraculously stopped about 10 minutes before race start and we had clear skies for this part!). I got chatting to another runner about how great this series was for discovering awesome new parks and trails. The next surprise was some farmland which was super wet and muddy after all the rain, I bailed once in spectacular fashion which must've been hilarious for the people behind me, although I was not the muddiest by a long shot. With a couple km to go I was in 4th and gaining on 3rd, probably about a minute back, but the slippery mud meant that I had to sacrifice some speed. The last 500m or so was super swampy too so although I was making up ground, I'd left it a bit late and despite a late push I was a few seconds short. Still, another very enjoyable event. At the halfway point, I'd honestly say doing this series has been a great call so far. It's been really tough, really fun and a very different style of running. The next one is probably the mellowest of the series, with mostly hard pack trails so I may have to race that one hard as it will probably suit me more than the more technical stuff.
3,000m: 9:07.7 (Nov-21) | 5,000m: 15:39 (Dec-19) | 10,000m: 32:34 (Mar-20)
10km: 33:15 (Sep-19) | HM: 1:09:41 (May-21)* | FM: 2:41:41 (Oct-20)
* Net downhill course
Last race: Runway5 / National 5k Champs, 16:22, National Masters AG Champ!
Up next: Still working on that...
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Mmmm Bop
Yup. Covid-19. No hospitalization / intensive care needed, but Long / Post Covid syndrome nonetheless. Brain fog, hard to concentrate on things or tasks, elevated RHR, and a very volatile HR. Why is it that you never mentioned you've got kids ?
Yup. Covid-19. No hospitalization / intensive care needed, but Long / Post Covid syndrome nonetheless. Brain fog, hard to concentrate on things or tasks, elevated RHR, and a very volatile HR.
Why is it that you never mentioned you've got kids ?
🤡🤡🤡
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
Not an 80%er
Steve - That must have been a confidence booster!
me - A nice week. I'm now so so close to complete all the streets in Porto, the anticipation is building up!
Have any of you watched the 5000m in Lausanne? That was another insane race with Aregawi running 12:40 and Cheptegei 12:41!
PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021
Up next: some 800m race (or time trials)
Tool to generate Strava weekly
Steve- Nice race!!
Krash- I know it didn't work out as planned but that was one hell of a race! I'm with Piwi...not sold on the ultra's (yet)
RP- Story of my life. "If it's worth doing it's worth OVERDOING."
Piwi- Got out of the boat yesterday and after searching and releasing many, many, many shorts I finally found my limit of black sea bass (closest equivalent to you would be a snapper). Amazing table fish so it was a family fish fry at my house last night!! Of course the boat ran perfect and then one of my drain hoses failed and I had to put her up on land for some repairs this week. It is always something with boats!
My week went surprisingly well. I think getting back to some tempo runs and 100M strides has started to pay some dividends. Heat acclimation is also a plus
5K 18:36 (2023), 10K 39:40 (2022), 1/2 1:24:37 (2023), full 2:58:36 (2015)
Fishy - Really nice week! Good to get some workouts in too, with quite a high mileage week.
Flavio - Any dicey streets left? You're in really solid shape.
Yep, definitely a confidence boost. My tentative goal when I planned a 5km 4 weeks after the marathon was PR but after Wednesday I realised jumping straight in without proper speed work was a tough ask, especially on a cold morning. In 5 weeks I'm going all out for it. Maybe even a stretch goal of 18:30.
Mark - Really impressed that you're giving these different races a go. I think you'll come back to road running feeling fresh and possibly with some extra strength.
piwi - Bummer about the Park Run. Will you do another one soon?
Krash - 20 hours running. Holy hell.
My week - Good to get back into some speed and nice to run a race and feel so good afterwards.
Josh Glad to hear things are turning around for you.
Krash I'm more sold on ultras than the others but definitely not sold on a track ultra lol. Impressive 100 mile split.
Steve Nicely done, but I'm wondering if that first kilometer was a pinch too conservative? Great closing k though.
Mark This series sounds interesting, glad you're enjoying it.
My Week:
Doing some base building. Have a 6k race this Thursday and I finally stop working this shit job after this coming week, so I should have more energy to put into running since I won't be on my feet all day. Will probably start doing long runs again next weekend. In the meantime it's about to be my favorite holiday. Time to blow shit up and drink many beers !!!
Mother of Cats
it's about to be my favorite holiday. Time to blow shit up and drink many beers !!!
'MERICA!
***
37 miles running and 4:30 hours pool-running.M: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.T: 9 miles with 6 Iwo Jima hill repeats (~2:15 uphill, 90 second jog, 40 second downhill stride, 60 second jog to bottom; followed with leg strengthwork).W: 9 miles very easy on treadmill (9:34) and streaming yoga.Th: 90 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/coreF: 9 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 3x10 seconds hard at 5% incline, 2x5 minutes at tempo effort (8.5 mph); 6x1:00 at 5% incline (cycling twice through easy, medium, hard), 2x5 minutes at tempo effort. All with 90 second recoveries.Sa: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yogaSu: 10 miles easy (9:25), plus drills/strides and upper body weights/core.
This was intended to be a week of hills and some tempoish stuff, plus a progression long run. But...wildfire smoke and related AQ issues forced me inside from Wednesday through Saturday, so I ended up doing my Friday workout on the treadmill. That left my calves tight, so I shifted my normal Monday pool-run to Saturday to give them 48 hours to recover (which was enough). Then I decided that I wanted to cheer at a 5K on Tuesday morning, so I decided to make Sunday's long run easy mileage so that I could do Tuesday's workout on Monday.
The end result was a week that was a bit lower on mileage and intensity than I had planned. But...I finished the week with healthy lungs and calves, so we'll call it a win.
Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.
And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.
Funny to see a 24 report immediately followed by a 5k report. Takes all kinds!
Krash - you’re insane, I can’t even imagine wanting to try anything like that. I’ll keep mine to 26.2 or less. Sorry it didn’t work out this time, but I know you have the talent, training, and determination eventually hit your goals.
Steve - nice work on the 5k, you’re setting yourself up for more good things to come in that department.
dw - ugh on the smoke. And with asthma you have to be extra careful. I know it will hit us at some point in the summer/fall, it’s just a question of when.
My week - I had a business trip to Texas Sunday evening through Tuesday. Didn’t get to my hotel till 1:30 AM on Sunday night. If I even had a thought about getting up early to run after that, the decision was made for me by their fitness center being unexpectedly closed. Temps were up to 104F (40C) during the day, and humid enough so the dewpoint in the morning was about 74F (23C). So I had zero interest in running outdoors. Switched hotels Monday night to one with a working fitness center (not for that reason, but because I had to drive 3 hrs for Tuesday’s business). Hit their treadmill in the evening and again the next morning.
Wednesday I decided to repeat last week’s 4x1200 workout. Again I ran 3 strides at the end of my warmup to avoid the slow early reps. I like these to be under 6:30 but ideally around 6:20. Got 6:28, 6:23, 6:23, 6:19. Mission accomplished. It was hard though. After my last rep I usually just go right into my cooldown jog. This time I actually stopped cold, to catch my breath for a few minutes.
Saturday LR—nothing extraordinary, just a steady paced 16, but it was actually my longest since mid-March, before I got injured training for my spring marathon. I thought about making it a fast finish with some MP miles, but...didn’t.
Dave