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DC Road Runners Mile

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20072008
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Location:

Alexandria,VA,USA

Member Since:

Jun 03, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

4:34 mile, DC RR Mile, 2007

15:39 5k, Occidental College, 2007

25:52 8k, Rockville Twilighter, 2007

32:54 10k, Shelter Island (tough course!), 2004

49:30 15k, Tulsa Run, 2001

52:21 10 mile, Broad Street Run, Philly (fast course!), 2007

1:08:49 half marathon, Hobble Creek (downhill), 2001

2:28:55 marathon, St. George (downhill), 2006

2:33:04 marathon, Chicago, 2001

Short-Term Running Goals:

15:20 5k

4:25 mile

2:26:00 marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

sub 15:00 5k

sub 2:22:00 marathon

Personal:

I live in Alexandria, VA, but still consider myself affiliated with Wasatch Athletics in Salt Lake City, UT, and High Noon A.C. in Ithaca, NY. My coach is Demetrio Cabanillas.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: DC Road Runners Mile (1 Miles) 00:04:34, Place overall: 5
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

NOON: NIST 2 15:12 shakeout

PM: DC RR Mile, Wakefield H.S.

3 mile warm up, 1 mile strides and drills

Splits: 69.0 (409m), 67.5, 68.5, 68.7 = 4:33.8 PR!

Their hand timer had me at 4:34.2. But I think the dude was snoozin'. So on my "official" time I posted to the blog I split the difference.

The weather was good and the track was nice. This is a really good event. Simple but competitive, and FREE! The Pacers team showed up to take the tape on pretty much every race. The mile was won in 4:24. The elite women's mile was won in 5:06.

After the mile I also ran the 3000 m as a workout in 9:26.7. I started out running 78 and to my pleasant surprise managed to start hitting 75s as the race progressed. Can't remember what place I cam in here. The winner was 9:00. I was like 5th again. All in all, a pretty productive evening. I figure I got in about 10 miles total for the night, giving 12 for the day. I leave for Tulsa tomorrow morning early and get in late. It is going to be a challenge to get my miles in for the week since I already took Tuesday easy before this mile race.

Check it out... Joe LaMonte sent me this link. Apparently, someone from Georgetown Running Co. took a video of the mile. Joe (who ran for Cornell, by the way) is the one leading the second group (once the race gets going), and I am in the white singlet, trailing in the second group for most of the race. Man, it looks like we are jogging!

http://georgetownrunningcompany.blogspot.com/2007/07/video-of-dcrrc-mile-race-on-072507.html#links+



Comments
From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 18:01:56

Congratulations on the mile PR! This is always exciting.

From Randy on Wed, Aug 01, 2007 at 14:32:41

Sasha, Check out the video of the mile. It is humbling to see oneself in action.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Aug 01, 2007 at 14:45:40

Randy - you actually look OK, better than I anticipated. Have you ever had your VO2 max tested? I would predict yours around 68. Also, for an experiment - can you bound for 100 meters from a standing start (after a good warm-up , of course) to try to cover it in the smallest number of steps? I am predicting you will take 45 steps. And, also, run 100 meters all out (find a partner to race, that makes it a lot faster)? I am predicting 13.4.

From Randy on Wed, Aug 01, 2007 at 15:23:23

Thanks Sasha. I was thinking my form has improved too. I think I could swing my arms a little more. But I played the video back frame by frame, and I think my push off and leg swing look ok, actually. I have never had my VO2 tested. I am not a big believer in dwelling on that stuff. I figure if I just train with a balance of miles, tempos, intervals and speed, then I am going to get there. Are the bounding exercises to be done as weekly drills, or is this just a curiosity? Never tried a 100 all out, but I doubt sub 14 is possible at the moment. If I were focussed solely on the mile, this is something I could work on. But right now I am building my mileage back up and speed is not my primary concern.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Aug 01, 2007 at 16:00:35

Randy - here is why I am curious about those measurements. VO2 Max will to a great extent reveal how efficient you are. The bounding test shows raw leg power. The 100 meter test compared to the bounding test is a test of efficient form - can you fully use your leg strength to run? So if you hit all of my predictions, then I would say the key to you running a sub-2:20 marathon is to maximize your aerobic power, and perfect the condition of your liver and muscles to store the maximum possible amount of fuel. This would be achieved through a very high volume of aerobic training, and the healthiest possible diet. In that case, I would not worry about form at all, it is good enough. Just try to become a super-aerobic runner.

However, if your VO2 Max is 75, your jump is 40 steps, and your 100 all out is 14.0, I would say there are some biomechanical issues that we do not see in the video, and that you will not be able to qualify for the Trials until those are fixed. You can increase your aerobic as well as explosive muscular power, but due to the bad biomechanics, the rate of waste increases exponentially as you run faster (think of running through the mud, it takes 9:00 effort to run 9:30, but it takes 5:00 effort to run 6:00).

From Randy on Wed, Aug 01, 2007 at 22:35:42

Sasha, That is interesting. I have no idea how to actually know what my VO2 is. I can do the bounding and 100m tests though. I'll let you know.

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