The Running Thread - 2020

[garneska]

yes - I saw one of the last legs is going up North Ave. YUCK! I walked that hill almost every day for a number of years...at least the North Ave. incline isn’t quite as steep as The Hill on campus! I’ve been running some more hilly terrain on my last couple of long runs, so hopefully I’ll be somewhat prepared. My running buddy has been terribly sick ☹, poor thing, so I imagine we’ll be going at a somewhat slower pace than I’ve been training. I’m just going to enjoy it! I’m looking at the Savannah Women’s Half in April as my “serious” race.

yeah i usually run down North ave and that is because my up is The Hill. I use that hill for hill repeats.

 

[MommaBerd]

yeah i usually run down North ave and that is because my up is The Hill. I use that hill for hill repeats.

Wow! That’s amazing!!! I think I have a ways to go before taking that step!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

QOTD: Do you use training plans and where did you get yours?

Training plans help me stay on track. I started out with Galloway plans and used his plans for many years. In 2018, I switched to a @DopeyBadger plan to see how I liked it and found that they worked much better for me. I set one PR despite having a miserable race and then the following year crushed that PR in a race that I took easy. His plans also provided a reasonable path to the marathon that did not involve running for 5-6 hours every two weeks given my pace.

I will say I perform better 100% of the time when I follow my plans vs when I slack off or don't use one.

I'm the same way. I don't trust myself to run without a plan and when I follow a plan even loosely, I always see the benefits of following that plan on race day.

I'm not averse to one in the future, but will probably want to go with one that's more tailored to me.

I'm now a firm believer in custom plans. They help me start with where I am and allow me to adjust as necessary depending on time crunches, travel, et all. Given that training for Disney World April races requires a bigger time sacrifice than normal for running given my work demands during training, I look forward to my first custom plan for this year's Star Wars Rival Run.

 

[Smilelea]

ATTQOD: I started my running career by following the C25k app and had to repeat it a few times before I finally stuck with the whole running thing. After that, I just ran 5ks over and over at different paces until I decided it was time to challenge myself. I then contacted @DopeyBadger who created a 10k Plan to get a POT for MW2019 and then a 2nd plan for the WDW half. I’m currently recycling those in order to get a 10k POT for W&D and then train for the W&D half.

I hope to ask him for a 10miler plan in 2021 to get a POT and then one for my first marathon in 2022

 

[flav]

ATTQOTD: I have been following plans from Run Better: How To Improve Your Running Technique and Prevent Injury, a book by Jean-François Harvey, for the last three years. I choose the plans and the paces based on my goals and current fitness level. It worked really well for me do far and with the acquired experience, I can make small ajustements if my week or the weather demands it. Depending on how Ottawa goes in May, I might be looking for another approach for my fall races.

 

[LSUlakes]

QOTD: After a year of little to no running and probably the 6 months before that I was doing just enough... ok not near enough. Also during that time I aged some as well. So my question is, when would you disregard your old PR's and consider starting "over"?

ATTQOTD: My thought is every 5 years, my best running has happened between 30-35, and while it is possible to improve upon those times I am not sure how much or if I will be able to. So for the sake of motivation, I am considering a new set of PR's to come based on 36-40.

 

[garneska]

ATTQOTD: I am not sure, but if that works for you for motivation, then do it!! I do think some of it depends on when in your life you started running. If you were running in high school and kept doing it then i would say 40, but if you started running later you may just be setting PRs now. I just set one last year in my 5k and I was 45 at the time. Now if i could drop a few pounds (holidays are not food friendly), I might still have a few more in me.

 

[roxymama]

ATTQOTD: Relatively new runner here. My first race was in 2015 and almost every race (not all) I ran for the next few years was a PR. Mostly because I kept trying new distances which got me automatic PRs. And then I was much better trained and pushed myself more to start getting new PRs. I'm still most proud of my HM PR during a marathon. But last year I got zero new ones.
I'm "only" 39 now and so I think I can still eek out some better times in several distances. I just have to keep being disciplined. I gained 15 lbs last year just not running as much as I used to so I gotta also outrun my fork too!

 

[Bree]

ATTQOTD: I’m a started seriously later in life runner. I ran in high school and then off and on over the years, but nothing serious until 2014. Gonna be 43yo next month! I’m not sure I’ve peaked yet so I’ll probably see some PR’s in the next couple years. Hoping to run a sub 2 half just once in my life!

 

[Professor_Cookie]

Attqotd: I’m not ready to disregard my PR yet which was set at 33, and I would like to give it one more shot, but probably not up here, unless my weight finally gets down to my long-standing goal of 205. My PR was run at Disney at 225(2:00:32, did not run tangents) and I would like a sub 2. My next chance for disney is 2021 W&D, and I have a lot of stress between now and then, so if I don’t make it there it’s probably time to set a new one.

 

[Neon Cactus]

I'm also in the later in life runner category. My first race was 2016. My intent was just a one and done at Disney and I got addicted to the races, but I'm 52 now, a pretty slow runner and I'm happy to be upright when I cross the finish line, so PRs haven't been that much of a concern for me. I'm running more races so I probably will pay some attention to it, I'm just far away from a point where I'd even consider resetting them.

 

[LSUlakes]

I gained 15 lbs last year just not running as much as I used to so I gotta also outrun my fork too!

I'm up 25 lbs from Jan 2019 and from my low in 2018, almost 50 so I know the feeling. We can do it! Back to myfitnesspal app and running with purpose.

 

[Kazrak]

QOTD: After a year of little to no running and probably the 6 months before that I was doing just enough... ok not near enough. Also during that time I aged some as well. So my question is, when would you disregard your old PR's and consider starting "over"?

I have one PR (10k, just under an hour) from over 20 years ago, when I'd been doing two-a-day workouts and lost like eighty pounds. I still track it, but I track "modern" PRs for 10k as well. I have a long term goal of trying to challenge it, but I think my window to do so is shrinking fast.

 

[TheHamm]

QOTD: Do you use training plans and where did you get yours?

I got my one and only training plan through a personal trainer/running coach at the local YMCA. It was not terribly aggressive but being new to running it was enough structure to be helpful. I felt terrible that I swapped about half of the runs around as life is less structured than I think training plans allow. I wanted to try it again, but she moved out of state and I did not like the other running coach/ plan writers I sought out locally. My family and job will come before running, so I do not know that I will end up changing it all the time; I am not sure I have it in me to be that high maintenance and ask someone to tweak a plan every 3rd day so I have not gone back to using one.

QOTD: After a year of little to no running and probably the 6 months before that I was doing just enough... ok not near enough. Also during that time I aged some as well. So my question is, when would you disregard your old PR's and consider starting "over"?

I start over every day I get out of bed. Every race is a PR for that day. Each course is different, and I am different. This is not to mean I think there is no value to having a numerical target, but that I think simply matching a time to a distance discounts other factors. My 10K PR was set on a flat course on a reasonable September morning. I have much more pride in the 10K in pouring rain on rolling hills that was 2 minutes slower- but I'm not going to use it for a POT elsewhere.

I think there are plenty of people on this board that trained for the WDW marathon and if the weather had been different would have crushed their PR. To me, I am much more impressed they pressed on, bothered to show up, and had the guts to stop when they knew it was unhealthy or push through the mental torture.

 

[bovie]

QOTD: I think this is totally reasonable. Like other folks, I started running later in life. A little over a year ago, I was hitting PRs. My past couple times have been pretty crummy. Still working to figure out why, tbh. Regardless, I’m thankful I get to run each day.

 

[roxymama]

I like what @TheHamm mentioned about specific courses/circumstances. Like I've ran multiple rock n roll races in July. I never PR'd any of them, but I am happy when I improved my time vs the previous year on same course. But it's July and not ideal for true PRing.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

ATTQOTD: While I didn't start running until I was in my early 30s, I have recognized that my PR days from those times are likely gone. I can't give up the ghost 100% yet though so I now track two sets: the ultimate (i.e. old) PRs and my "masters" PRs. I find it helps me to not judge myself too much against history and motivates me rather than being disappointed how much slower I am now compared to those years.

 

[GreatLakes]

Washington D.C. is another great source for 10 milers on the East Coast.

I've personally done the Army 10 miler in October and the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in April (the Cherry Blossom lottery is already closed for this year though) and can highly recommend both for being well organized events with interesting courses.

I entered the lottery for the Cherry Blossom and managed to get in the first time. I'm going with three friends. I've done other DC runs and it is a great city for running.

I thing I'm going to use that race to try out the Pace Pro feature that was added to my 945 late last year.

QOTD: Do you use training plans and where did you get yours?

I only use plans for full marathons and for all my marathons so far I used the free Hal Higdon plans. Right now I am planning to do another full this fall in FL and will be using a hybrid of Jack Daniels' plan and Hanson. Some work stuff is up in the air which is filtering down to my ability to travel for Thanksgiving so I'm not sure exactly what 2020 holds for me so far.

QOTD: After a year of little to no running and probably the 6 months before that I was doing just enough... ok not near enough. Also during that time I aged some as well. So my question is, when would you disregard your old PR's and consider starting "over"?

I don't think I will ever be able to get my 5K or Half down to the PRs I ran in my early 30's. I do think I have a shot at bettering my 10K and full. If you are talking about life changes, like a surgery or simply aging, I think resetting your PRs to your new circumstance is a way to go and set a realistic target. I will never run a 5K in the 17's again but I think I can get back below 19:30 if I concentrate on shorter distances so that goal replaces the PR as a target.

If you are looking at a less permanent change, like coming back from a long running break or having a baby and more "point in time" circumstances it could go either way. If you only ran a few years and then took your break or whatever caused you to stop running it is very possible to get into shape and beat those early PRs. I konw very few runners that set their PRs in the first five years of running unless they were high school or college athletes that peaked young. Most of us adult onset runners will peak around year 7.

 

[jmasgat]

ATTQOTD: I think that all depends on age and experience. I started running at 49, and for the next bunch of years chased PR. My 5k PR didn't come until I was 57. Now I am 61, so I don't expect to hit those numbers anymore..

BUT.....I would suggest looking at "age graded performance", which gives you a measure of where you stand relative to age group world best for that specific distance. That way you can make a reasonable comparison of race results at different ages and assess performance. I have had races where I thought my result was sub-par to a previous PR, but on an age-graded standpoint it was as good or better.

 

[surfde22]

QOTD: After a year of little to no running and probably the 6 months before that I was doing just enough... ok not near enough. Also during that time I aged some as well. So my question is, when would you disregard your old PR's and consider starting "over"?

My PRs are my PRs. I don't think I will consider starting over with them. I will likely hit a point where I stop chasing them, but I will always consider them my PRs.