race reports, training plans

I'd like to hear some race reports. First timers, old timers,.. who ever. Maybe you can give some details like:

Was if your first race?

Have you run this course before?

What is the course like (dirt, paved, hilly, flat, etc.), and what was the weather.

What kind of goal did you have? Finish, run the whole thing, certain time, get a PR?

Most importantly: How did it go?

Also, if you are planning on a race, or races, soon, feel free to tell us what kind of training you are doing for that.

Ran my first and only 10k some months back after having taken up running for about 3 months.

Time: 44:07

It was in Nashville, TN. Cool conditions. Mostly flat course though it did have a small part with a small ascent. I started off slow (relative to final average pace) and kept on building throughout. Didn't have a watch or anything to pace myself with, but I felt surprisingly great and just kept going faster and faster. Flat out sprinted the last 200 m or so.

Haven't ran since. Been traveling too much and recently moved. Now more focused on lifting and cycling.

It was a great race though, I thoroughly enjoyed it and never really suffered during it. I was amazed at how well I paced myself.

I assume you're talking about running races?

I did my first race 3 years ago. It wasn't really a race (Terry Fox Run) but it was my first time running a determined distance. My goal was to take it slow and steady but do not stop running. No walking breaks, even if that means running really really slow. The course was mostly flat but there were two hills that lead to bridges over a street. I managed to finish the 5k in under 45 mins. Last year, I did the same race in about 30 mins. It was really cool to accomplish the feat of running a 5k but it didn't make me a "runner for life". more of a fun thing to do once in a while.

Edit: For upcoming races, I'm running another 5k on July 8th, maybe a 10K on August 26th and the Terry Fox 5k in September.

No straight running races ahead.

I have Cornhusker Games in Lincoln, NE in July; 2 master's open water swim races in August; an Olympic tri in Flagstaff in August; Olympic tri and several aquathlon sprints in September and my half Ironman in October.

My training involves 1-4 hours a day of training right now of swimming, biking, running with at least one brick a week, speed swim intervals twice a week, run speed intervals once a week and weight lifting three days a week.

All of these races are simply training events to prepare me for Ford Ironman Arizona 2013. I'll let you know how it goes afterward, haha!

I ran my first race (5K) on June 2nd.

Was if your first race? Yes.

Have you run this course before? No.

What is the course like (dirt, paved, hilly, flat, etc.), and what was the weather. The race is called The Hospital Hill Run. So, it's very hilly. It is run annually through downtown Kansas City, specifically an area called Crown Center. We ran in the streets and mile 1-2 was entirely uphill, about a 3% grade. It was chilly. My teeth were chattering before we started. That's pretty unusual for June.

What kind of goal did you have? Finish, run the whole thing, certain time, get a PR? My goal was to simply finish. I'd never run a 5K before.

Most importantly: How did it go? I ran with my husband and we really enjoyed ourselves. He pushes me to keep going when I would normally stop and because of him, I ran the entire thing. He did break off from me during the last kilometer so he could sprint to the end. It was great seeing him waiting for me at the finish line! I finished in 33:04 which I felt pretty good about for my first time.

Also, if you are planning on a race, or races, soon, feel free to tell us what kind of training you are doing for that. I run another 5K this Saturday with a friend. It's described as "fast and flat" which should be nice. I also picked up Hal Higdon's Novice 10K training program this week with plans to race a 10K on my 30th birthday this October.

Last race:  New York Marathon last Nov.  45,000 runners.  Extremely crowded.  At mile 16 my achilles was barking at me pretty good.  Backed off pace  ...  finished in under 4 hours but that wasn't my goal.  At the end, I knew it was "time".  Time to get my foot repaired.  3 weeks later I had surgery to remove a heel spur and have my Haglunds Demormity fixed  (bone was shaved down).  This has been the most pain I have ever endured.

6 months later I am running again. Summer time is "off season" training but I am running 40 mpw now and should be back over 60 in 2 weeks. 

Next race:  Berlin Marathon in late Sept.  45,000 runners again.  2 million spectators.  It should be fun.

Future races:  I think I will do one in late Oct (if my daughter allows me to).  Maybe San Antonio in Nov.  New Year's day I run the Kingwood Marathon.  I think I might run New Orleans in February.  Then come April  ...  another major marathon ...  London.

In Sept '13 we are planning to run what is called "Rim to Rim" in the Grand Canyon.  Roughly 32 miles from one side down to the bottom and back up the other side.  The next morning we plan to run down to the bottom and meet our spouses and stay in the bottom of the GC for a couple of days.  Already looking forward to that one.

I raced last Saturday

Was if your first race?  No, it was my 14th race this season.  The season started mid march and will end labor day weekend.

Have you raced this course before? No

What is the course like (dirt, paved, hilly, flat, etc.), and what was the weather. It was a .7 mile circuit fairly flat but with an uphill finish.  Mostly sweeping turns but one chicane to keep things under control.  It was a fairly calm and hot day, temp was 91 at the start.

What kind of goal did you have? Finish, run the whole thing, certain time, get a PR? Stay with the main pack and help the team if possible

Most importantly: How did it go?  It started out very fast, then a break got away and we had a teammate in it so we could just help block or sit in.  I mostly sat in.  Top 20 finish with pack.

Also, if you are planning on a race, or races, soon, feel free to tell us what kind of training you are doing for that.  I will be racing Fri, Sat, and Sun.  ITT (13.1 mi.), Road Race (60 miles), and Criterium (45 min.).  This week is mostly just rest.  Sunday and Monday were total rest. I did a very easy 45 minutes on Tuesday.  Last night I did a group ride of 1:15 with 5 or 6 - 2 to 3 minute hard efforts. Today will be total rest.

I don't run.  These are USA Cycling sanctioned bicycle races.

ETA: As far as training goes, most of the long training days were done over the winter.  Since the start of the season training volume is much less.  Hard efforts are done on race or event days and one night a week on non-racing weeks.  The rest of the time it's recovery or rest. 

I've broken the season into to halves.  The first half will end June 30 with Hyde Park Blast.  Then I will take 10 days of complete rest.  Then I will start my build for the second half of the season building up to the final weekend of racing at Gateway Cup Labor Day weekend.

September and October are for fun fall non-competitive rides.  In November training starts for next season.

My first marathon was the Ocean State Marathon in Newport RI in 1983. I finished 4h 21m. I was 30 years old. Last year, when I was 57 years old I ran my second marathon, the Hartford ING Marathon, and finished in 4h 13m. Funny how 28 years later and much older I had a better time. I believe the book "Born To Run" pointed out running is the only sport where its possible to be as good or better near 60 years old as one was when in their 20's. Can't happen in golf, baseball, football, soccer, tennis, etc. Now that my children are grown I have more time for training. I see myself running many races for many years to come.

Original Post by nicholas_shannon:

Wow. Those are impressive, guys. 10k in 44 mins.? That's like six 7 min miles right? Iron man? Triathlons? Dang I thought this site was just for fat ppl lol

Ha! There are lots of people on these forums who run much, much faster than me.

But thanks!

I hope to run a marathon sometime, I just need to actually go through with the training for one. I got up to 15 miles in under 2 hrs semi-comfortably but never ran any more than that.

Original Post by miket53:

My first marathon was the Ocean State Marathon in Newport RI in 1983. I finished 4h 21m. I was 30 years old. Last year, when I was 57 years old I ran my second marathon, the Hartford ING Marathon, and finished in 4h 13m. Funny how 28 years later and much older I had a better time. I believe the book "Born To Run" pointed out running is the only sport where its possible to be as good or better near 60 years old as one was when in their 20's. Can't happen in golf, baseball, football, soccer, tennis, etc. Now that my children are grown I have more time for training. I see myself running many races for many years to come.

I totally disagree.  There are plenty of golfers who are as good or better in their 60's as they were in their 20's.  This only applies to the masses.  Elites, well tell me the last time you saw a 60 year old who could compete at the elite level with 20 year olds.

Original Post by cpa_pfs:

Original Post by miket53:

My first marathon was the Ocean State Marathon in Newport RI in 1983. I finished 4h 21m. I was 30 years old. Last year, when I was 57 years old I ran my second marathon, the Hartford ING Marathon, and finished in 4h 13m. Funny how 28 years later and much older I had a better time. I believe the book "Born To Run" pointed out running is the only sport where its possible to be as good or better near 60 years old as one was when in their 20's. Can't happen in golf, baseball, football, soccer, tennis, etc. Now that my children are grown I have more time for training. I see myself running many races for many years to come.

I totally disagree.  There are plenty of golfers who are as good or better in their 60's as they were in their 20's.  This only applies to the masses.  Elites, well tell me the last time you saw a 60 year old who could compete at the elite level with 20 year olds.

Maybe not 60, but the 30-35 age group, at least for females, tends to be very, very competitive and even up to 40, those are the age groupers who tend to be in the top, beating the much younger athletes. There are some wicked fast younger age groupers, don't get me wrong, but I tend to see the 28-36 age range. 35-40 men tend to be pretty fast, too. But it depends on the race. At max sprints, it's the younger folks. At Olympics and Half Iron, I tend to see the ultra young not on the podium.

And hey! I can't wait til I'm 60 so I stand a chance of winning my age group!!!

At age 59, Tom Watson finished 2nd in the British Open a year of two ago against the best golfers in the world.  Not age group, the world.  That has never happened in running.  At age 20, while he was quite good but still in college and not ready (or qualified) to compete against the best in the world.  He was better in his late 20's and 30's though.

Still, there are plenty of golfers who are better later in their life than they were at age 20.  Especially those whose children are now gone and they too have time for more golf (training). 

So again, I think the premise of your (or McDougall's) statement is incorrect and easily refuted.   McDougall is prone to hyperbole (in order to generate book sales) so it doesn't surprise me that he would make that statement.

My point was as an individual one can have many years of solid performance well into your '60s. It's very, very rare that an individuals in non running sports can perform better at 60 years old than what they did at 25 years old. Take 100 baseball or football players and compare to 100 runners. There will be a higher percentage of runners in their 60s still performing well than other sports. And I mean the more physical sports. Golf has a lot to do with club control, finess, etc. I know since I am also a golfer. Yes Tom Watson and others have performed wonderfully in later years but that reflects much more than just physical ability.  The original request was for significant running experiences. Running has allowed me to overcome some health challenges in life and it feels good to be a runner at 58 years old. 

I ran a 10K on June 2nd. It was my fourth race of the year.

Have you run this course before?

I did it last year, liked it, and wanted to do it again.

What is the course like (dirt, paved, hilly, flat, etc.), and what was the weather.

It is 100% dirt, about 80% of that is narrow single track trail (hard to pass people). The first mile is steep uphill to a plateau, then you come back down at the end. There is about 800 feet of elevation gain. The Lowell observatory (where Pluto was discovered) is on that plateau, and you run near it. It was sunny, but you are running through large ponderosa trees the whole time, so the course is mostly shaded. The prizes are jewelry, hand made by native americans.

What kind of goal did you have? Finish, run the whole thing, certain time, get a PR?

I wanted to beat my last year's time. I also wanted to beat a specific runner who has be just ahead of me in several local races. She has become my nemesis.

Most importantly: How did it go?

It was great fun, except for the dust cloud at the start.  I took it easy on the steepest hills to save some energy for the big downhill near the end.  I beat last year's time, but not my nemesis. My wife was in the 5K, and took second in her age group. That was cool, and the prize was a necklace made by Native Americans (they organize this race).

Also, if you are planning on a race, or races, soon, feel free to tell us what kind of training you are doing for that.

I'm in a 15K this coming Saturday. Pure trail, at 8000 to 9000 feet elevation.
I have a road 10K the week after that.
The race that I really care about at the moment is a 7 mile pure hill climb that is in late July. That is what I'm thinking about when training.

I mostly train on dirt roads and trails right from home. Once a week I meet training partners at a trailhead near Flagstaff for a 2400 foot hill climb. If we don't race, DW and I do a long run together on Saturdays. Most other days, we do a three mile trail run in the morning before going to work.

In the Fall, I switch to slower endurance training and do at least one 50 miler.

I ran a 15K trail race yesterday. Mostly single track, and high elevation (avg 8400 feet), with some steep hills (sum of the uphill parts was 1200 feet elevation gained).

I was doing well, and was passing people toward the end of the race. But, got off route, had to back track to get back on the course .  

It was a pretty rough course, and many people took falls. The women's overall division was determined by a fall.

Anyone else race this weekend? How did it go?

This morning I did my first 5k.

My goal time was 33-34 minutes, I had been running around my neighborhood (it's really hilly) and estimated that time based on my regular runs.

Well, I'm pretty happy to report I did much better than expected! I finished in 31:10s.  I'm pretty happy with my performance considering I only started running at the end of April and could barely run for 3 minutes when I first started!

I think what helped is that the course was very flat, part dirt part paved, and I did make sure I had a carb heavy breakfast 1.5 hours before the start time.

Had my race today.

Was if your first race? no

Have you run this course before? No and Yes.  I ran the 10 km event, which I haven't done before.  I previously ran the half marathon.  The 1st 5 km are run together then the 10km runners split off and loop back to the start/finish.

What is the course like (dirt, paved, hilly, flat, etc.), and what was the weather. The course is a flat road race.  The weather was generally good.  It was a 7:15 start, temperature was about 15.  The humidity was high, that would be my only complaint.

What kind of goal did you have? Finish, run the whole thing, certain time, get a PR?  I wanted to finish under 1 hour.  I have run faster but "long ago in a far away land" ie. more than 8 years ago.  So I now count this as my PR.

Most importantly: How did it go?  It went well. I did not bring a watch, I wanted to run based on how I felt.  I ended with the time I wanted 58:15.  I had what I thought would be a strategy.  1st mile take it easy. more of a warm up.  then up to miles 4-5 just push along. Last 1 to 2 miles see if I could push more.  I tried at mile 5 and found I had nothing extra so I just had to hang in there for the last bit.  Seeing my time I'm not surprised that I didn't have anything left.

 Also, if you are planning on a race, or races, soon, feel free to tell us what kind of training you are doing for that.  Picked out my next race this afternoon.  I decided on a sept. 23 date. 10km.  I'll continue where I left off with this one for my training. Week 5 of stage 1 NROWLFW and my own concoction for running.  6 days of running a week: day 1 10km, day 2 4 mile tempo, day 3 speed, and repeat then 1 day off.  I'll do this for another month and decide from there.

TR: how did the 60 mile road (bike) race go? Was that also as part of a team?

I'm in a 10K road (foot) race on Saturday.  I haven't run on pavement since Sept. of last year, and I wonder how much of an effect that will have (I've been running only on dirt). That is an example of non-specific training I guess.  

Anybody racing this weekend? Any predictions (don't jinx yourself though, lol).

Original Post by oldguysrule:

Anybody racing this weekend? Any predictions (don't jinx yourself though, lol).

Double Dipsea on Saturday. I predict there will be lots of hills and stairs.

Original Post by jturnerx:

Original Post by oldguysrule:

Anybody racing this weekend? Any predictions (don't jinx yourself though, lol).

Double Dipsea on Saturday. I predict there will be lots of hills and stairs.

How did Miwok go?