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The Official OGBoards Running (and Cycling) Thread: (Insert Season Here)

Did my first century today.

Now to focus on fall foot races.
 
Dkin said:
Congrats! Which event was the century??
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Tour to Tanglewood. Some of my friends did it again today.

It was a great course up around Pilot Mountain and back.

Next year, I’ll try the double century.
 
Ran my first 50 miler a bit over a week ago. Well almost 50 as the course got shortened. Some highlights below:

Course was re-routed 12 minutes before our pre-race briefing the night before, due to wildfires but fortunately they were able to divert us onto the 100 mile course. It ended up a bit shorter, 48.71 per my Garmin. Course started with a massive climb and I was really clueless as to how long a 6+ mile climb gaining 3500 feet of elevation would take to start but it ended up being under 2 hours, which was the cutoff pace. After that and then some running at 10K+ elevation without issue, I was confident of having a solid day, as long as I kept up with nutrition and water.

Took a Gu or Chomp or Chew every hour or so starting 45 minutes into the race. Supplemented this with food at aid stations, started with chips and pickles but it evolved as the day went on to turkey wraps and bacon and watermelon and quesadillas. Also started carrying Tailwind, along with water, with about 20 miles to go or so. Hot day, pushing close to 80 even high up and the reroute had us on some service roads to super exposed. Luckily the heat was never a big issue, just an annoyance at times. NC summer definitely helpful in that regard.

Towards the late stages ran when I could (and it was possible) but saved a bit for the big descent to finish, which I ended up running just about the entire way down, using whatever was left in the legs.

Overall an awesome day and a fun distance.
 
Manifest and I are due to compete in our first 70.3 in 17 days. However its located in Wilmington, and Ironman still hasn't made a decision on the race. Being in limbo is a bitch, and it makes it hard to keep motivating yourself to spend 20 hours a week training when you're not even sure there's going to be a race. Apparently its Ironman's MO to wait until last possible second to make a changes/decisions, so this might continue for the next week or two. I'm having a hard time imagine that its going to go down as planned (innercoastal is polluted, bike route is in needed of major repairs) but I also don't want to drop off until I know. Luckily I've mostly stuck to my plan and have knocked out the three distances individually, so I'm not in a bad training place, its just hard to stay motivated.
 
Good morning from the World Championships ... it's a glorious day in the capital of the Alps.
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BillBrasky said:
Manifest and I are due to compete in our first 70.3 in 17 days. However its located in Wilmington, and Ironman still hasn't made a decision on the race. Being in limbo is a bitch, and it makes it hard to keep motivating yourself to spend 20 hours a week training when you're not even sure there's going to be a race. Apparently its Ironman's MO to wait until last possible second to make a changes/decisions, so this might continue for the next week or two. I'm having a hard time imagine that its going to go down as planned (innercoastal is polluted, bike route is in needed of major repairs) but I also don't want to drop off until I know. Luckily I've mostly stuck to my plan and have knocked out the three distances individually, so I'm not in a bad training place, its just hard to stay motivated.
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They cancelled the swim at IM Chattanooga two days before the event; they cancelled IM Tahoe the morning of in 2014. You're right that they wait, and if common sense is telling you it looks unlikely I'd follow your gut. Are there any other events in the next couple weeks that would allow you to use your training at a different venue? Yes, it's a PITA, but better than being amped for an event only to have the rug pulled from under you.
 
lbE08 said:
They cancelled the swim at IM Chattanooga two days before the event; they cancelled IM Tahoe the morning of in 2014. You're right that they wait, and if common sense is telling you it looks unlikely I'd follow your gut. Are there any other events in the next couple weeks that would allow you to use your training at a different venue? Yes, it's a PITA, but better than being amped for an event only to have the rug pulled from under you.
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They actually canceled it last Thursday, and allowed us to defer to any race in the next year. So we're planning on doing Virginia Beach next May.
 
WFUWaldo said:
Looking for a little advice from marathon vets.

In early March, I began training for a half-marathon that was on June 3. My goal was to run a sub-2:00 half, and I barely squeaked in ahead at 1:57:58. Being my first-ever half, I realized afterward that there were a lot of small improvements I could make to cut down my time. I ran my second half-marathon this past weekend, and the tweaks and additional training got me across the finish line at 1:50:56, despite it being off-and-on rainy the entire time. I was able to finish strong and felt good the rest of the day Sunday and on Monday, rather than crossing the finish line and feeling like crap.

As I approached my first half in the spring, I decided to sign up for the Chicago Marathon on October 7. This will be about 30 total weeks of training from early March, and 18 weeks from the date of my first half on June 3. Given my time this past weekend, the fact I know the Chicago course very well (the half this weekend was basically a truncated version of the full marathon course), and the fact I have another 11 weeks of training, it seems like running a sub-4:00 marathon is a somewhat realistic goal, particularly if the weather cooperates a little more than it did this past weekend.

Thus, where I'm seeking advice. From a pacing perspective, everything I have read advises against splits that vary significantly during a marathon. That said, I'm a little uneasy with the idea of starting off at a 9:09/pace and assuming I won't slow down at all during the run. Without knowing how I'll react to the wall, is pacing for a 3:55 marathon a good approach? How much should my splits vary: would something like 8:40/mile the first hour, 8:50/mile the second hour, 9:00/mile the third hour, and 9:10/mile the rest of the run too dramatic of a pace difference between splits? Given that an 8:28 over a half felt fine, would finishing the first half in about an 8:45 pace keep me energized enough for the back half?

Part of me also wonders if I should aim for getting to 14 miles in the first two hours (8:34), allowing me to slow down pretty dramatically the last 12.2 miles. That idea of "banking time" seems to be what everyone advises against, though.

Most articles I've read about the subject are incredibly generic and not very helpful, so any thoughts/tips would be helpful. I've had a few runs with mileages in the mid-teens and felt fine (with gels and lots of water along the way), but getting past 20-miles will be pretty foreign to me- even come race day. Naive question, but is the "wall" real, or is it largely indicative of someone who hasn't trained/prepared/ate/hydrated enough?
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Waldo: are you running Chicago this weekend? If so, good luck!
 
bym051d said:
Tour to Tanglewood. Some of my friends did it again today.

It was a great course up around Pilot Mountain and back.

Next year, I’ll try the double century.
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The Winston to Pilot roundtrip is one of m all-time favorite rides.
 
Posted this on Facebook, but thought I would copy it here. All in all, a really fantastic experience:

I missed my goal time by nearly 13 minutes. I got a bad cramp in my left calf and shortly thereafter my right thigh around mile 17. I got rained on. My stomach was nauseous for more than a half hour. But I got to kiss my wife and daughter near Chinatown. And I saw my brother, and some of my oldest friends along the way. And my in-laws came out with one of my nephews and nieces. And I received an overwhelming amount of support before, during, and after today’s run. And, most importantly, I helped raise more than $2,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Today was a great day. #4:12:53

———————
Side note for ogboards- I was real surprised by the cramps and the nausea. I did training runs up to 22 miles and largely felt fine, and had never cramped before. I didn’t go out too fast compared to my training runs, so I’m a little confused on what caused it. One theory is that I didn’t start running yesterday until 8:06am, where my training runs would normally start around 5:30am. I didn’t alter my pre-run nutrition, so maybe I didn’t have enough food in my system before the marathon? May have also contributed to the nausea, as my stomach would have the gels on a more empty stomach than normal? I’m not sure- any thoughts?
 
Considering running Flying Pig in May. I'm guessing that some of you here have run it before? Any opinions?
 
My favorite race, I've run it twice and met the RD both times. Great course and crowd support too. Highly recommend.
 
Flying Pig is a great race, solid course. I still remember the bread factory you pass in the early miles. Decent crowd support and fun way to see the city and surrounding area.
 
What’s the best way to train for the hills? Treadmill? With Chicago being as flat as a board, there isn’t much opportunity for outdoor hill training.
 
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