It's September, and here in the northern hemisphere, at least, the heat has moderated and it's nice and cool for running in the mornings. How is your running going?
My running is going very well! I just ran my goal trail race on Saturday, and came away with an incredible PR of almost 20 minutes, beating not just my "A" goal but my sooper-seekrit stretch goal that I was too nervous to tell anyone about! Here is my race report if you want to see.
And I didn't comment over there, but, go you! I still think that race is completely insane, but I'm glad you did so well. And I'm really impressed by your downhill skills--I'd be flat on my face.
Good and bad and everything in between. I can now run a very slow 8K, but when I tried going for 10K last Sunday, it was way too hot. I have upped my weekly mileage a lot and am now at between 20 and 30K a week.
8 weeks left until my 10K race. I'm a bit nervous.
I wouldn't worry about your race - 8 weeks is plenty of time to prepare. If you can run a couple of weeks at 30K or even 35K, and get your slow long run up to 13-14K, you should be able to run a hard-effort 10K faster than your regular pace. (And collapse in a heap afterward! And rest for several days!) Even if you only run 10K at most, you should be able to run faster in the race.
I'm doing rather a lot of it these days - weekly mileages of well over 30 are still new to me but they do have an effect: last Sunday's 5K race was just as fast as last year's PR but felt easier (also, it involved lots of walker-dodging on really crowded streets).
Two weeks ago, I ran for longer than three hours for the first time ever, which has left me with a sense of slight amazement (what, me? 17.5 miles in a row?) and a newfound appreciation for comfy running shoes and interesting podcasts.
It's going pretty well! My distance and pace are gradually increasing, not as fast as I'd like, but I'll take whatever progress I can get. I've been throwing in speedwork more often, which always helps. And the weather in the morning has been *perfect* for running for the last week or so.
Progress is progress. And good weather always helps. I have a number of friends who'll be running the Chicago Marathon this year and are hoping for continued coolth in the midwest (for a change!)...
The weather for the marathon is usually terrific, with occasional dramatic exceptions. (Like a few years ago when it got up to 90--not fun.) There are reasons why so many elite runners choose Chicago to try to set records. Way too crowded for me, though.
I am so, so bad about getting out and running right now. Part of this was some really crazy medication and pain issues in July/August, leaving me literally flat on my back at least two days a week. Part of it is just lack of kicking myself in the butt hard enough. I signed up to run a half-marathon the first week of October with my brother-in-law, but he had to drop due to lots of craziness. My friend the triathlete has pointed out that if I have to walk the damn thing, I will still have finished a half-marathon. So I'm just pretending that's not coming up and training up for a 10k in December, since my running distances right now are in the 5k range. Agh.
It's pretty tough when you have had injuries (whether running related or not) messing with your body. I dunno - if it were me I would probably drop the half, but do what works for you.
Training for another attempt at the Richmond Half in November (I dropped to the 8K last year on account of being severely undertrained). I'm using a Hal Higdon plan, which I like because it's dead simple. Mostly I'm looking forward to increasing my mileage & getting to the point where continuous running is more fun than painful (if I go slow enough). Cardio-wise I'm more than there, but my joints & muscles are still working to catch up.
The first week in September was great! 17 miles in the week, including an approx 6.2 mile long run, both my highest ever. Then I went on a family trip and only fit in one short run during that week. But today I got back on my routine, I'm preparing for a 5k trail race in 2 weeks and my first 10k race in November. I did the 6.2 mile run 10 days ago in 1:08, including several walk breaks due to the heat. So I'm assuming by November, with better weather, I'll be able to complete a 10k faster, but I'm not yet sure what time I should aim for.
Thanks! I ran a 5k road race just two weeks ago and my time was 30:51. But it was hot - 75 and humid - which meant that I had to take several walk breaks and frequently poured water on my face and head to prevent overheating (I don't sweat on my head.) So...I know I can go faster, but I don't have any other accurate recent times.
Are there formulas for projecting race times? Or do you do it based on your experience?
There are lots of formulas, and you can find nifty web predictors at http://runworks.com (which also includes a temperature compensator) and http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/calculator, as well as (my favorite) a downloadable Excel spreadsheet from http://mymarathonpace.com. The idea is that they calculate equivalent race performances, which can be used as predictors IF you are equally well trained for the races at different distances. The problem, of course, is that a lot of people train well for a half marathon but their mileage isn't really good enough for a marathon, but they assume they can hit the projected time, and have a miserable last 8 or so miles.
Your 5K projects to about a 1:04 10K, but you have lots of time to train, and you're right in that the cooler weather should lead to a faster time.
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8 weeks left until my 10K race. I'm a bit nervous.
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Two weeks ago, I ran for longer than three hours for the first time ever, which has left me with a sense of slight amazement (what, me? 17.5 miles in a row?) and a newfound appreciation for comfy running shoes and interesting podcasts.
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Continuous running should be fun, yay!
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Are there formulas for projecting race times? Or do you do it based on your experience?
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Your 5K projects to about a 1:04 10K, but you have lots of time to train, and you're right in that the cooler weather should lead to a faster time.
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