MJ - LOL you are right. Up next we're going to Köln for an adventure.

Mmerkle - that is hot weather for a marathon. You will now have the hard decision of going for time or being sensible and adapting to the heat. No easy choice!

Mark - thanks for the race report. It does sound interesting, if only, super tiring.

I suppose trail running can be super fun if you get the pace right, if you go out too fast it will be a nightmare cause now you're super tired but need to be alert to avoid potholes, tree roots etc.

Dorothea - I had a feeling my fitness was better before the vacation but maybe it was just a feeling.
Regardless, we all know I'm going to go for the PR on race day and either PR or have a giant crash, like every race before.

Cal - Hmm, none of those problems (jet lag, extra strength training session, cold symptoms) really take much time heh.

I do have extra time compared to most due to my controversial decision to be childless.

No, I'm not the heir to an oligarch though that would probably be nice (except if you're a Russian oligarch, they seem to suffer lots of accidents, such bad luck).
I'm the proud son of (now retired) an elementary school teacher and a subsistence farmer.

It's interesting you mention cold showers, we didn't have a hot shower at home until I was 13, I believe, so up until then we only had cold showers 😎

Just checking in with a few quick shoutouts (sorry - haven't had time to pull my week together yet) -

Dave- Congrats on the race  - that's a very good sign.  As for the VFs - I set my marathon PR in the original VFs when they had nearly 200 miles on them - FWIW.

Merkle - good luck this weekend (hopefuly I'll be able to check in before).  I think that running in that forecast coming off of the summer that we have had is very different (and much easier) from running in those temps coming out of winter.  I set a then PR at Grandma's Marathon running in the mid to upper 50s (so not that much cooler) - the key, again, was a few weeks of Northern Virginia summer training.

Also, what will the dew point be?  And will you have cloud cover?  Those factors really count here.

Mmerkle - 60F sounds amazing after running in the heat all summer. The forecast for my 10k this Sunday just changed from 74 down to 63 at the start and I am pumped. If the dew point is anywhere down in the 50's, it will feel very nice. I like to plant frozen water bottles on the course whenever I race in temps of 60 and above. Pouring cold water on your back will at least give a mental boost if not help a little. Trying to do heat acclamation at this point seems like it would just deplete your electrolytes so I wouldn't do anything different.

Mark - nice work in the series. I enjoy running race series for the additional challenge of the cumulated performances over time. It also gives an ordinary 5k in the heat of summer something more enjoyable since it will impact results months later.

How much of a taper would everyone put in for a 10k if I am shooting for a big PR? I am really thinking of just running my normal routine/volume with some strides during a run tomorrow or Thursday and then making sure I take it easy Saturday for the race Sunday morning. Not planning any strength work this week but just extra stretching with dynamic drills.

So sorry to disturb here but I read a great joke that some European politician made about oligarchs:

 

Medwedew, the Russian prime minister to Putin: "President, we have a real issue to solve. Russia is a big country with many time zones. When I called my wife to wish her and the kids a good night, she was actually up already and had taken the kids to the beach in the morning. We must harmonize the time zones!"

Putin: "Yes, I had something very similar happen to me the other day. When I called the Prigoshin family to give them my condolences, the airplane had not even taken off yet!".

 

Köln it is - the one you swapped for some baltic race. I saw you already started tapering (35'E)

 

And yet another joke was the Mexico City marathon a couple of weeks ago. The organizers had to disqualify 11k (around 1/3 of all participants) for cutting corners. This is people taking public transportation in between checkpoints etc. This is the result of being part of the Boston qualification races. Wonder how many of the Boston qualifiers actually earn their spot. Btw where is RP?

Weighed in at 10st 2Ibs this morning (64.4kg) so I’ll need to buy some new clothes that fit for my trip to CIM.

Keen - Sounds to me like you're just extremely confident in your fitness, and with those numbers who can blame you?  A biggest month in all those measures is big for anyone but especially someone who already had such a high bar.  Those years of tough races will hopefully be a thing of the past when you crank out a sub 2:55 later this year.

 

 

If I was extremely confident in my fitness I’d be taking advantage of it and racing for PRs….not thinking about a casual 2:58. 🤦🏻

 

I think he was saying he could cruise to a qualifier on any given weekend.  I think his goals will be somewhat higher for a goal race.

He reminds me of a guy called swim who used to post in the sub3 thread.

For the Kiwis:

Why Is New Zealand So Often Left Off World Maps?

Andy There's already good advice on the taper. I'll just add by saying that my routine for A races is often to take the day off 2 days before, and do an easy run with strides the day before. I think tapering is one of those things that takes trial and error to figure out what works best for you. Some do longer, more gradual tapers of a week or so, and some do "sharp" tapers where the mileage comes way down for 2-3 days leading up to the race.

dw/Commander Now it looks like on and off rain is a possibility, and high humidity obviously. The good news is there will probably be cloud cover the whole time, and the wind doesn't look too bad. I'm actually contemplating the idea of running shirtless if I'm allowed to put my bib on my shorts. Has anyone tried this? I feel like a wet tank will just weigh me down if it's going to rain.