Of Mice and Marathons

Phil's Tavern Quarter Marathon

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Location:

Lake Orion,MI,

Member Since:

Dec 28, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

PRs

16:52 Phillies Charities 5k (2016)

35:52 Beach to Beacon 10k (2015)

58:10 Broad Street 10 Mile (2016)

1:16:02 Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon (2015)

2:46:54 Philadelphia Marathon (2015)

Personal:

I live in Michigan with my wife, Megan, and our boys, Charlie and Sawyer. I started running in September 2010.

(Please note that Strava links might contain blog inappropriate langauge)

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Miles:	This week:	20.20	Month:	20.20	Year:	1868.65
Miles With Megan Lifetime Miles:						613.75
Miles With The Boys Lifetime Miles:						99.90
Nike Zoom Streak LT4 Mr. Pinks Lifetime Miles:						21.60
Saucony ISO Freedom 3 #2 Lifetime Miles:						253.80
Altra Rivera Lifetime Miles:						353.35
Altra Rivera (Dark Blue) Lifetime Miles:						137.10
Saucony Kinvara 13 Lifetime Miles:						440.50
Saucony Endorphin Pro Lifetime Miles:						287.00
Saucony Freedom 5 Lifetime Miles:						304.80
Saucony Kinvara 13 #2 Lifetime Miles:						270.65
Saucony Endorphin Pro White Lifetime Miles:						23.40
Kinvara 14 Blue/Grey Lifetime Miles:						40.50
Saucony Ride Teal Lifetime Miles:						23.40
Saucony KInvara 14 Yellow Lifetime Miles:						12.40
Nike XC Flats Lifetime Miles:						4.10

Sat, Jul 11, 2015

Race: Phil's Tavern Quarter Marathon (6.55 Miles) 00:39:04, Place overall: 7, Place in age division: 2

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.50	0.00	6.50	0.00	17.00

AM: Phil's Tavern Quarter Marathon - 12 miles total w/ 6.5 in 39:05 or just under 6:00 pace

The race was $15, they had cash, pies to age group winners, and breakfast so I signed up back in April. We got a decent break in the weather after the crazy storms on Thursday that I got caught in. A tick under 70 degrees to start with lowish dew point.

Warmed up 3.2 w/ a half mile steady. Changed into my flats and did some strides. Felt flat but my strides felt okay. We started 10 minutes late but it was announced and I was okay with that. They had drones to take video, which was so freaky because they were hovering at head level and looking at us.

Goal was to run just under 6:00 pace for a few miles, then start ripping off goal pace splits for Beach to Beacon (5:40-5:45) but I never really got there. Sections of the race were on very soft woodchips and very windy trail, some sections of wet grass, but mostly roads. I kind of enjoyed the cross country sections even though they slowed me down a good deal. Not really to much to report for the race.

I passed a few people and couldn't quite gut it out to pass the two guys ahead of me. I think I counted about 7-8 seconds on them at one point. I felt pretty stale the whole race and it was mentally tough. My breathing was pretty good, but legs just didn't want to turn over. I think part of my problem is I rarely run before 10:30 and this race was at 7:30, meaning I had to get up at 5:45, which never happens. Might need to think about some early runs for a number of reasons.

The mile markers seemed to be missing in at least one place, another time my watch split early, so I resplit about 9 seconds later to make sure it was on. However, below are the "smoothed" Strava splits (basically even if you don't split your watch Strava takes splits for you).

5:48, 6:21 (windy, wood chip trail), 6:00, 5:49, 5:57, 6:09 (hill, then grass and some soft, but dry mud for a good bit of this), 5:44 (for last half mile or so)

I split at 10k to get that running time, and ran the last .35 at 5:15 pace, which had a slight downhill at the end. 37:15 for 10k.

Not a great race but not terrible. I'm not going to dwell on it. I don't have too much LT stuff and nothing of any duration, which will probably bite me in three weeks but I also have a 5 mile race I will use as a final workout. Just going to keep rolling and beating my head against the wall and see if I can turn myself into a decent runner.

My former training partner ran a 5k PR today in 15:55 and he has gone sub-16 in a 4-miler. He runs a third of my mileage (or less) and he has been running about the same amout of time. I'm doing something wrong.

Run this afternoon with Megan. Hopefull she takes it easy on me. 10 minute guy might be in 1st place for the PM run.

PM: Forbidden Drive w/ Megan - 5 miles. HR 116?

My blood sugar dropped pretty seriously around mile 2 and I was very light headed and dizzy. Snapped out of it. Not sure if my monitor is working correctly. One mile I was running 100 BPM but it also corresponded almost exactly to when I was trying to keep from falling over. I enjoyed the run other than bonking at 10+ minute pace. HR got to 89-90 at one point.

Newton Gravity III Miles: 5.00	Kinvara 5 Blue Miles: 5.50	Miles With Megan Miles: 5.00	Nike Zoom Streak LT2 Miles: 6.50

Weight: 175.00

Comments

From SlowJoe on Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 10:05:04 from 45.18.50.53

But did you get a pie?!

That's a pretty good result given the course and conditions. If I were you I'd chalk your old training partner up as an extreme outlier (unless he's younger, which makes it explainable) and forget about it. I think you're doing things right, and you'd take him in a marathon!

From Jason D on Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 10:52:59 from 68.80.27.222

I feel okay about the race. I don't have anything longer than 5k since early May. A few more workouts and at least one more race.

He's my age. I have this debate with myself all the time, and I don't want to run 20-30 miles a week all at 6:00-6:30 pace.

I got a small pie, but not a big one. Still. . . pie! They had cherry, blueberry, and apple, all of my least favorites. I am kind of glad that it wasn't a big one because it wouldn't last long.

From flatlander on Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 15:35:52 from 76.31.29.220

That was smart to take a 10K split in a non-standard race. I never remember to do that. Good race.

From Drew on Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 20:05:49 from 173.171.218.92

Running invites comparisons, but it's a treacherous path. If you go purely by percentages, our times are much faster than most people lining up for a 5k. And it's not that they're doing anything wrong.

Equally, there are people (I got beat by one tonight) who will be faster with equal age and less mileage, due to any range of factors, most of them out of our control.

Sorry if that sounds didactic, it's not supposed to, and I know you know all of that.

I'm just trying to say that what is under a runner's control is their own improvement, and the good news is most of us have huge potential to improve. I strongly believe there is no reason to give up hope that those people in front of us will always be out of reach.

From Jason D on Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 20:17:11 from 68.80.27.222

Flat: They had a 10k register anyway, which I knew so I am not sure why I took the split. I was monkeying with my watch late in the race, which is why I should switch back to my Timex. Only one relevant screen and a lot less information. But I generally use my Garmin in non-certified courses. If I run off course due to bad marshaling I want credit for every mile!

Well said, Drew. I always think what I wrote in the entry and then quickly realize that I don't want to run that way if I have to run at fast easy pace. I like to run fast but I like to run slow too. Sometimes painfully slow.

I ALWAYS appreciate running advice, didactic or otherwise. It's one of the many reasons I continue to be on the blog. Just don't call me fat or slow and we are good :-)

From Drew on Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 20:26:55 from 173.171.218.92

Fair deal. Speaking of running advice (and apologies for switching topics) - I'm planning to run the 4-3-2-1 long run you recommended at some point this week.

What rest do you think makes sense between items? I was thinking maybe one mile easy recoveries...just wondering if that is too much.

From Jason D on Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 21:42:04 from 68.80.27.222

The time is given by the number of miles in the set but it's honest easy. I usually run 8:45-10:00 for typical recoveries but for this one the marathon paced miles I tried to keep it under 8 min pace given that I usually run a straight 8 mile tempo as the same pace as the 4 mile segment.

Given how far out you are you could do a mile recovery and repeat it in perhaps a month. I'll dig out some examples. Matt, "FreakityPopo" on the blog, did either half or a full mile with everything at MP. Look for his Saturday or Sunday runs starting in Feb and into March of this year. I'll find some old Paul entires for his version, the one I do, but a min slower per mile.

From Jason D on Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 21:49:20 from 68.80.27.222

Clarification: (4 miles/4 mins, 3 miles/3 min . . . ). It's mostly for volume without killing yourself but it's not easy if you do it progressively. For instance, your paces might be:

6:00-5:50, then ~5-10 sec faster, 10 seconds faster (about HMP), then 1 mile fast but controlled (maybe 5:15-5:20 for you)

From Jason D on Sat, Jul 11, 2015 at 22:03:50 from 68.80.27.222

I may have sent this before but here is when I did it. This was about 6-7 weeks out from my race and ran 6:15-6:30 for my split deviation on race day.

http://jasondodge.fastrunningblog.com/blog-10-07-2014.html

Here's one from Matt, slightly different, done Feb with a marathon in mid April (first entry), but he did several like this

http://freakitypopo.fastrunningblog.com/blog-02-2015.html

Here's Jake:

http://jkrong.fastrunningblog.com/blog-AM-20-mile-long-run-with-4-3-2-1-mile-/02-21-2015.html

You get the idea.

From RileyCook on Sun, Jul 12, 2015 at 14:26:11 from 73.52.134.194

Nice job Jason.

As far as your shakeout run in the PM, I sometimes get really weak and light-headed when I need my heart rate to increase for a lighter activity, but it doesn't. For example, it happens a lot hiking. My HR is like 80 bpm, but I'm trying to hike a steep hill. I just am not getting enough oxygen to the muscles. I usually snap out of it by picking up the pace or running a bit to increase the heart rate and I usually feel much better.

From Jason D on Sun, Jul 12, 2015 at 16:09:25 from 68.80.27.222

That makes sense to me. I told Megan I needed to get my HR up, so I picked it up so I was at least 118-125 and I felt better. It happened several weeks ago when I was doing an afternoon shakeout after a race with her. I didn't think it was lack of calories because I had plenty, but wasn't 100% sure.

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