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

DeacHawk said:
Bass Lake is where I've started at. You can pick trails and then circle back to your car or whatnot for refills. It's an awesome place to run.
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Cool. That's what I plan to do. Seems like that area in mid October would be a nice break from more laps around good ol' Salem Lake.
 
Thinking about the New River Marathon for my 2015 marathon. Looking for something late spring, since I plan to start training for the Dopey Challenge next fall. Good race? I've had several friends do the half, but not the full.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Thinking about the New River Marathon for my 2015 marathon. Looking for something late spring, since I plan to start training for the Dopey Challenge next fall. Good race? I've had several friends do the half, but not the full.
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Someday I might run it again just to redeem myself. The course was billed as "flat" but what that means is that there were a lot of steep uphills cancelled out by steep downhills. It was still a nice PR for me at the time, but it was definitely a rough experience. The last 6 miles for me were in direct sunlight and I was dragging by the time I finished. The course is really pretty though.
 
iodeac said:
Someday I might run it again just to redeem myself. The course was billed as "flat" but what that means is that there were a lot of steep uphills cancelled out by steep downhills. It was still a nice PR for me at the time, but it was definitely a rough experience. The last 6 miles for me were in direct sunlight and I was dragging by the time I finished. The course is really pretty though.
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Yeah, they unfortunately focus on the flat parts of the course in their description - and it is true that most of the course is flat along the river (most being the majority of the miles) - but the portions that are not flat are very hard. I have only done the half, and do it every year, but the full course runs right by the house where I grew up and I am very familiar with the roads. From mile 13 or so to mile 19 or so it is really brutal. There is also a long, tough climb in the second mile of the race.

It is as pretty a course as you will find though. The race is smallish - I am not sure of the numbers but I would think it is less than 1000 people for the full and not much more than that for the half. It is pretty well run, parking is easy and it has a beautiful post-race site and environment, with food and bluegrass music, etc. The weather is typically a good temperature for racing.
 
iodeac said:
Someday I might run it again just to redeem myself. The course was billed as "flat" but what that means is that there were a lot of steep uphills cancelled out by steep downhills. It was still a nice PR for me at the time, but it was definitely a rough experience. The last 6 miles for me were in direct sunlight and I was dragging by the time I finished. The course is really pretty though.
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scooter84 said:
Yeah, they unfortunately focus on the flat parts of the course in their description - and it is true that most of the course is flat along the river (most being the majority of the miles) - but the portions that are not flat are very hard. I have only done the half, and do it every year, but the full course runs right by the house where I grew up and I am very familiar with the roads. From mile 13 or so to mile 19 or so it is really brutal. There is also a long, tough climb in the second mile of the race.

It is as pretty a course as you will find though. The race is smallish - I am not sure of the numbers but I would think it is less than 1000 people for the full and not much more than that for the half. It is pretty well run, parking is easy and it has a beautiful post-race site and environment, with food and bluegrass music, etc. The weather is typically a good temperature for racing.
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Thanks for the feedback. Any other quasi-local marathons in the late spring that any pit runners would recommend would be great.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Thanks for the feedback. Any other quasi-local marathons in the late spring that any pit runners would recommend would be great.
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I don't know what quasi-local is to you but...
The American Tobacco Trail marathon and half is in Cary in March,
The Rock n Roll marathon and half is in Raleigh in April.
There is a half marathon in May in Cary/Raleigh that runs mostly in Umstead Park.

All good races.
 
scooter84 said:
I don't know what quasi-local is to you but...
The American Tobacco Trail marathon and half is in Cary in March,
The Rock n Roll marathon and half is in Raleigh in April.
There is a half marathon in May in Cary/Raleigh that runs mostly in Umstead Park.

All good races.
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Yea, I looked at ATT, the out and back seems like it could get boring for a full. I'm not crazy about the RnR series, but I've never done one.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Yea, I looked at ATT, the out and back seems like it could get boring for a full. I'm not crazy about the RnR series, but I've never done one.
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Yea, the ATT trail does get a little boring - but the surface is great for running and it is mostly shaded - so it has its pros and cons.

RnR also has pros and cons - it is a big race and pretty crowded, especially early - but the music and crowds also help motivate you and move you along...
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Yea, I looked at ATT, the out and back seems like it could get boring for a full. I'm not crazy about the RnR series, but I've never done one.
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my mom did the ATT half and said it was kind of blah because of the lack of spectators on course, but it was nice because at least for a good bit of it you were passing other runners going the opposite way so it's not like you were out there alone.
 
I just had a terrible lunch run; just felt super hard and never felt like I could catch my breath. Normally I'd say this sounds like an 'overtraining' situation because legs still felt fine, but given the last couple of weeks I don't think this is the case; just an off day. Thankful to get it out of the way now...

Doing a 70.3 next weekend and looking to roll 8:15-8:30 for a 1:50ish run split. Today was 7mi @ 8:05 - 8:15-8:30 should be in the sweet spot after the bike (and swim).
 
lbE08 said:
my mom did the ATT half and said it was kind of blah because of the lack of spectators on course, but it was nice because at least for a good bit of it you were passing other runners going the opposite way so it's not like you were out there alone.
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I did the ATT full back in 2012 and loved it. I was supposed to the half in 2013, but was hurt. Most of the specators are other runners, which was weird but still fun. I loved loved loved the course. The full is a T, so mentally it was easy to break it down into manageable chunks. The surface is really nice too. The course is flat and fast. Couple small hills at the very end, but I think they only felt like hills because I was finishing a marathon not because they were large hills. Lots of free pizza and beer at the end too, which is always important.
 
lbE08 thank you so much for the Portland run recommendation. I had a top 10 run of my life today. Portland is such a badass city. I'm staying downtown, and hopped on the Max (light rail). I went 4 stops to the zoo. I ran the Forest Park Wildwood Trail out and back for 7 miles. So beautiful, so hard because of the elevation change ( I live in Dallas).

Food has also been great here. I'm 2 lunches and 2 dinners into Portland and it's awesome.

Portland rocks.
 
So, a friend wants me to do a half on November 1st... The most I've ever run is 6.2mi and the most I've run in a long time is a little over 5. Is this doable properly? I don't want to make a half-assed show.
 
bym051d said:
So, a friend wants me to do a half on November 1st... The most I've ever run is 6.2mi and the most I've run in a long time is a little over 5. Is this doable properly? I don't want to make a half-assed show.
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You could totally do it. If you wanted to do it right, you might be cutting it a little close, but not by more than a few weeks.
 
bym051d said:
So, a friend wants me to do a half on November 1st... The most I've ever run is 6.2mi and the most I've run in a long time is a little over 5. Is this doable properly? I don't want to make a half-assed show.
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You can work your way up to 10 miles and just 'drenaline the final 5k. Absolutely doable.
 
How tired is a regular person after a half? My wife and son will be at a soccer game that weekend. Can I drive home shortly after?
 
bym051d said:
How tired is a regular person after a half? My wife and son will be at a soccer game that weekend. Can I drive home shortly after?
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Not so bad. You will feel it in your legs mostly. Eat and drink plenty of post race carbs and protein, and walk around a good bit prior to getting in the car though. Moving your legs to get out of the car when you get home, otoh...

Just settle into a nice pace, and don't be afraid to walk a bit (especially through te water stops). Have you looked at training plans?
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Not so bad. You will feel it in your legs mostly. Eat and drink plenty of post race carbs and protein, and walk around a good bit prior to getting in the car though. Moving your legs to get out of the car when you get home, otoh...

Just settle into a nice pace, and don't be afraid to walk a bit (especially through te water stops). Have you looked at training plans?
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No, not in a while. I've got the Hal stuff bookmarked though.
 
bym051d said:
No, not in a while. I've got the Hal stuff bookmarked though.
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Try to find something in the 8-12 week range, and start a couple weeks in or modify the first few week to catch up. It's really about adding mileage to your weekend long run more than anything at this point. All the midweek miles, while beneficial, are more about maintenance with a goal of finishing your first. I wouldn't wait to start training, even if you are unsure about the race.
 
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