To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[DopeyBadger]

Ah CIM is the race I wanted to BQ at. That article was so inspirational, but I find running is easier once they turn 2. So I probably won't make my goal for 2018-2019 - oh well, life happens.

I'm so excited to see what happens when you're able to get back at it!

Another prediction contest! I'll be on the sidelines for now since I'm only on these forums sporadically and I've done terribly in the past, but good luck!

Well you could always make your prediction now. I'll allow it!

 

[opusone]

I'm interested to see what tweaks @opusone has to the rules from 2017

I’m paying attention… just underwater this week. Give me a few days!

 

[ZellyB]

I seem to remember you did up an awesome spreadsheet about the various hotel options for Chicago. Could you point back to that?

 

[DopeyBadger]

I’m paying attention… just underwater this week. Give me a few days!

No rush, take your time!

I seem to remember you did up an awesome spreadsheet about the various hotel options for Chicago. Could you point back to that?

 

[ZellyB]

No rush, take your time!

View attachment 288591



View attachment 288592

Thank you!

 

[DopeyBadger]

In the excitement of the Marathon Weekend thread, I forgot to even post here. I ended up with Dopey bib #20134. I'll be in corral A for all four races as I expected. I would have been in corral A under the 16 corralling system as well.

In addition, over the last 7 days I've done the following:

Last Thursday - Set a 10k PR of 42:35 (besting 42:50 from my run/walk (speed intervals) 10k PR in April 2017) with hills
This Past Tuesday - Set a 10k PR of 41:35 (besting the 42:35 set less than 7 days prior and it was technically run/walk (speed intervals)) on a flat stretch
Last Night Thursday - Set a 2nd fastest 10k time of 42:25 (beating the week prior's what was a PR at the time by 10 seconds) with hills

I don't think I could argue with the idea that I'm in peak physical shape at the moment as none of these were 10k race pace efforts.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Amazing 10K times-and the fact that you are so quickly surpassing your new personal bests, is definitely a testament to your hard work and dedication!!

 

[ZellyB]

You are so fast!!!

 

[roxymama]

In the excitement of the Marathon Weekend thread, I forgot to even post here. I ended up with Dopey bib #20134. I'll be in corral A for all four races as I expected. I would have been in corral A under the 16 corralling system as well.

In addition, over the last 7 days I've done the following:

Last Thursday - Set a 10k PR of 42:35 (besting 42:50 from my run/walk (speed intervals) 10k PR in April 2017) with hills
This Past Tuesday - Set a 10k PR of 41:35 (besting the 42:35 set less than 7 days prior and it was technically run/walk (speed intervals)) on a flat stretch
Last Night Thursday - Set a 2nd fastest 10k time of 42:25 (beating the week prior's what was a PR at the time by 10 seconds) with hills

I don't think I could argue with the idea that I'm in peak physical shape at the moment as none of these were 10k race pace efforts.

That bib number is #goals! I wish I could be there to save your spot on the tape with a VIP velvet rope and clip-board while you warm up so that you don't have to fight the crowds off the starting line.

You've made a huge improvement since your 10k on 10/15! Over 10 minutes in only less than two months!

But seriously, that's awesome. And now I gotta start thinking about my predictions...hmmmmmmmm

 

[DopeyBadger]

Amazing 10K times-and the fact that you are so quickly surpassing your new personal bests, is definitely a testament to your hard work and dedication!!

Thanks! Just got to carry this over into the next 3 weeks!

You are so fast!!!

LOL, thanks!

That bib number is #goals!

Someday when I make it back to Disney, I'm gunning for an Elite bib.

I wish I could be there to save your spot on the tape with a VIP velvet rope and clip-board while you warm up so that you don't have to fight the crowds off the starting line.

Yea, it's probably not the best year for the corrals to change for me. I would have started with only ~500 runners in previous years. Now it'll be more like 1300 runners. Regardless, I'll do me whatever that means.

You've made a huge improvement since your 10k on 10/15! Over 10 minutes in only less than two months!

But seriously, that's awesome. And now I gotta start thinking about my predictions...hmmmmmmmm

I was just thinking the same. I was looking at 2015/2016 training data trends leading into those Dopeys (2016/2017) to see if I could make some hypotheses. Seems like 2015 training did not have this sudden uptick, but 2016 training did. Dopey 2017 without the HM led to race equivalent performances by pace (thus the time was skewed by extra distance on the GPS 3.16 for 5k, 6.26 on 10k, and 26.4 for M) at all 3 races. Lots of data to comb through, but I think this recent uptick will result in a similar performance to 2016 (minus the slowdown caused by the HM proceeding the M). That's the real question though. How much will I slow down post HM in the M? Will it be like 2016 Dopey with an 8.8% slowdown from race equivalent, or 2015 Dopey which yielded a M time only 7 min (2.5%) off PR from only 8 weeks prior? 2016 would say about a 3:18, but 2015 would say 3:04:30. I'd venture to guess a wide net guess of anything between 3:00-3:40 is certainly possible. It's going to be interesting!

 

[jennamfeo]

Whoa. That's some impressive PR's going on. And not even at 10k race pace efforts. That's amazing.

 

[kski907]

Awesome 10K's I now have a new goal. Get through the 5K before dopeybager runs it twice. That might be my goal for all 4 races.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Whoa. That's some impressive PR's going on. And not even at 10k race pace efforts. That's amazing.

Thanks! The weather plays a big role this time of the year. 20s and 30s are just optimal temps for me to fly.

Awesome 10K's I now have a new goal. Get through the 5K before dopeybager runs it twice. That might be my goal for all 4 races.

 

[DopeyBadger]

17 Days to Go (The Peak!)



Date - Day - Scheduled Workout (Intervals within desired pace)

12/11/17 - M - MBW
12/12/17 - T - 2 mile WU + 2 x 3 miles @ T w/ 2 min Rest + 2 mile CD (6/6)
12/13/17 - W - 7 miles @ 7:54-8:28 min/mile
12/14/17 - R - 3 mile WU + 9 miles M Tempo + 3 mile CD (6/9)
12/15/17 - F - 7 miles @ 7:54-8:28 min/mile
12/16/17 - Sat - 11 miles @ 7:54-8:28 min/mile
12/17/17 - Sun - 19 miles @ 7:35 min/mile (16/18)
12/18/17 - M - MBW

Total (training) mileage = 69.4 miles
Number of SOS intervals within pace = 28/33 (85%)

Monday

Normal medicine ball workout

Tuesday

This was it... the peak of the Tuesday Daniels Threshold paced runs. Over time it's built from 4x1 to 3+2 to 6x1 to 3+2 to 3x2 to 3+3.

2 mile WU + 3 mile @ T + 2 min Rest + 3 mile @ T + 2 mile CD

WC of 18, no wind, night

I'll admit it. I was very nervous about this one. My official 10k PR is a 43:25 (Disney 10k in Jan 2017). My unofficial 10k PR is 42:35 set just this past Thursday. But I did some back of the envelope calculations and if I ran this one as scheduled then I would blow those PRs out of the water.

Daniels T Pace = 6:33 min/mile
Daniels T window = +/- 5 seconds

Nice, cold run. The goal was to start slow and then to hold on for as long as I could.

Daniels T = 6:38, 6:28, 6:29, 6:33, 6:33, 6:28

BOOM! That first interval dinged me at 0.5 miles that I was too slow. True story! I was around a 6:47 min/mile and knew the only way to get this one into the window was give it a best effort push down to 6:28 min/mile pace (still within window and bring the whole interval to 6:38). Just decided to hold that pace for as long as possible. It wasn't that hard through mile 2, but man oh man was my body fighting me during mile 3. I was able to get the interval in. As soon as the "rest" started, I was thinking to myself "how the heck am I going to do that again?" I was beat. But I let the second tick away and just jogged around slowly. Then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go time... The same strategy again. Start slow and then hold on. But surprisingly when I had my first check in, my "start slow" was a 6:28 min/mile. Woot Woot! Great sign, but I really needed to pull back. I didn't want to start too fast and then fade. Clicked off the 6:33 min/mile and then said just 2 more miles. Clicked off the next 6:33 and said, alright just do that one more time. Keep holding on. Thankfully and surprisingly this 3rd mile was not nearly as difficult as the first 3rd mile. A 6:28 min/mile to finish it off.

I knew it would be close to a new 10k PR. I thought somewhere around 41:30s. Low and behold, a 41:35! So a 1 min PR, 6/6 intervals, and 6:31 min/mile average. Nailed it! Thankful to crush the most difficult Tuesday Daniels T run of the plan. Things will start to wind down from here as we're only 23 days out from the 5k start.

The HR average was 152. That's more marathon tempo than Threshold HR, but I KNOW I could not maintain that pace for a marathon. Something between 6:58 and 6:31, sure. But not 6:31.

Great start to a peak week!

Wednesday

Super windy and snowy run! WC of 8, wind of 18-29 mph, with light snow. Average pace of 8:36 with HR of 131.

Thursday

21 days to go!!!

3 mile WU + 9 miles M Tempo + 3 miles CD

WC of 21, no wind, night

M Tempo pace = 6:58 min/mile
M Tempo window = +/- 10 seconds

My left knee has been bothering me since Wednesday morning. I think I sat too long after the Tuesday run and things tightened up. It didn't bother me during the Wednesday run, but was fairly noticeable throughout the day on Wednesday and Thursday. So I wasn't completely sure whether it would hinder today's Max M Tempo run. Normally, I'd take this to 10 miles. But this is a reduced training cycle because of the short time frame between Lakefront and Dopey.

M Tempo = 7:15, 7:02, 6:51, 6:52, 6:47, 6:50, 6:53, 6:55, 6:40

The beginning of the run was a downhill with a consumption of the only E-gel. I think I was trying to be a bit conservative with the start in case the knee was going to be an issue. As time progressed and I got no indicators of an issue, I continued to fall into my natural groove. As before, it's not uncommon for me to start slow and finish fast, so this run was very natural feeling. After the first two miles above pace, the remaining 7 were below pace. The last mile came as a bit of a shock because I in no way felt like I was running a 6:40 min/mile pace. That's HM Tempo and not too far off the Daniels T pace which felt fairly hard to maintain for 3 miles. Another feather in the cap I guess.

After setting a 10k PR last week on the M Tempo, and then a 10k PR on Tuesday's Daniels T, I followed it up with a 2nd fastest 10k during today's run. Not sure if I've ever been in better shape than I am now. Partially the cold, but partially just getting all the ducks in a row. Can't say for sure what will happen on race day, but I'm excited. And if something unforeseen happens between now and then, it's Disney and there are other ways to enjoy racing in Disney other than being a PR-machine.

The final average pace was a 6:52 min/mile, the GAP average was 6:49, and the HR average was 140 (marathon historical is 148-152). I have a REALLY hard time believing that HR is real at 140. I updated my watch yesterday so something has to be screwy. That last mile was 6:40 at HR of 138. That's LR HR! No way that's possibly true.

Well not many training runs left. 2 more Max M Tempos, 1 CV run, and 1 Max LR. Other than that, it's easy street from here until the Sextuple PR Dopey Challenge begins!

Friday

WC of 27, 7 mph wind, light snow, and night. Average pace of 8:39 and HR of 128. Felt reasonably tired throughout this run. I may have overdressed a tad, but that's not a bad thing since heat acclimation is right around the corner.

Saturday

Early morning run. Up at 5:45am and out the door at 6:45am. WC of 24, 4 mph wind, and mostly cloudy. Average pace of 7:49 and HR of 133. Felt better for the majority of this run. Still tired, but the run was solid.

After the run was over, it was a me and G day. We had lots of fun doing lots of different activities. But, I noticed my left leg was a little distorted in the same shin area as the shin splints I had last year (x-ray, MRI, etc.). I made a poor decision and rubbed my hand over that spot. Instant ouch! Not sure if this is an isolated incident or if it always feels like this. Then as the day progress it was "noticeable". Mental games starting early? I wasn't sure how the Sunday max LR would go. But I decided to give it a go and take what my body will give me.

Sunday

18 days to go and the last max long run on the training plan. Get through today and it's on to taper town!

19 miles at LR pace.

I could still "feel" my shin in the morning. Up at 5am and out the door at 7:15am.

Long Run pace = 7:35 min/mile
Long Run window = +/- 10 seconds

Long Run = 7:31, 7:34, 7:26, 7:25, 7:28, 7:30, 7:26, 7:29, 7:29, 7:32, 7:19, 7:26, 7:31, 7:22, 7:27, 7:23, 7:28, 7:27

This was a classic hard long run. The breathing was fine throughout, but man those legs were beat up. It didn't take long for my legs to say "we're tired". So each mile clicked off at or below pace and yet the feedback I kept getting was "this is rough". But I just tried to maintain the pace. While it felt unsustainable from pretty much mile 5-6 on, the miles were still clicking off at or under pace. This is exactly how the run should feel. Kept saying you can't keep this up, but yet keep it up. This was a good Dopey marathon simulator. I ended up taking an E-gel at mile 3.5 and 11. I lost count at mile 17. At that point, I was thinking I'm not sure I can keep this up for 3 more miles. And then to my complete shock the mile feedback came back at 17.0! I was like, thank goodness because that means only 2 miles. Suddenly I wasn't dragging as much and could feel the end of the run coming (#mentalgame).

Food for thought! Last year this last long run (on Sunday) was on a -30 wind chill day. That most certainly got moved to Monday last year. It was the theme of 2017 Dopey training. Lots of negative wind chill training days. Thankful that hasn't been the case this year. I've been able to put in solid training throughout and now coming into the home stretch. Ended up just over 9 hours for the week. Seems crazy to me that for Lakefront 2016 training I was over 9 hours of training for like 10 straight weeks. I think it only reaffirms to me how far I was pushing it in that training cycle.

After the run it was Santa time! My MIL took G to her house while I was running. So this allowed me to wrap some Xmas presents. Apparently on the way out of the house, G stepped in some Lucy poop while wearing her nice boots. G's response, "I was having such a good morning..." G played a bit more shy with Santa this time around. A bit shy and a bit pure excitement. No pics yet, but I'll post when they become available.

Weight check-in = 159.0

Down 8-10 pounds and feeling slim and trim. I'm in the range I want to be now (155-160). Now it'll be about maintaining this area.

Next week brings the beginning of the heat acclimation training, another Max M Tempo, and the opening of the prediction contest once we hear from @opusone!

 

[FredtheDuck]

This sounds like such an intense week. I really enjoyed reading about how you kind of processed mentally during some of the difficult periods. You always strike me as so confident in your running, so seeing you think a couple of times that your running was not sustainable or was too hard and then seeing you push through anyways is a good lesson for me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this...

While it felt unsustainable from pretty much mile 5-6 on, the miles were still clicking off at or under pace. This is exactly how the run should feel. Kept saying you can't keep this up, but yet keep it up.

... is a good lesson in mental toughness and letting your body set your limits, not your brain.

 

[roxymama]

This sounds like such an intense week. I really enjoyed reading about how you kind of processed mentally during some of the difficult periods. You always strike me as so confident in your running, so seeing you think a couple of times that your running was not sustainable or was too hard and then seeing you push through anyways is a good lesson for me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this...



... is a good lesson in mental toughness and letting your body set your limits, not your brain.

Yeah I think that is a good note to take. Even when the brain and body thinks "woah there, this is hard" it's good to just see how long your body will just do it anyways. Especially as well trained as you are. I think I'll be using that thought process during my big races to come (and for sure already kinda have used that to some extent last year.).

Also "I was having such a good morning" would describe most Monday's for me.

Pssst...I hear a marathon PR bell ringing in the distance...somewhere in the Epcot parking lot...i hear only people who believe can hear it
(I may have read polar express too many times this weekend)

 

[Anisum]

Pssst...I hear a marathon PR bell ringing in the distance...somewhere in the Epcot parking lot...i hear only people who believe can hear it
(I may have read polar express too many times this weekend)

Is this one of those things where I have to clap if I believe in Marathon PRs?

 

[roxymama]

Is this one of those things where I have to clap if I believe in Marathon PRs?

Yes. Yes it is.

 

[DopeyBadger]

This sounds like such an intense week.

It definitely felt like it. To have a PR and 2nd fastest 10k in a span of two days was certainly a good but tiring feeling. That's why I wasn't terribly surprised with how the long run felt.

I really enjoyed reading about how you kind of processed mentally during some of the difficult periods. You always strike me as so confident in your running, so seeing you think a couple of times that your running was not sustainable or was too hard and then seeing you push through anyways is a good lesson for me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this...

... is a good lesson in mental toughness and letting your body set your limits, not your brain.

I'm definitely confident in what I can control. But I also know that the end of the training plan is designed to take you right up to the edge. The goal is to not go over the edge. So the run may feel unsustainable, but as long as it wasn't unsustainable then the goal was accomplished. Those feelings of unsustainability and questioning being able to continue to move are classic feelings at the end of the race. It's training moments like these that help prepare you mentally for what will become a challenge on race day.

Also "I was having such a good morning" would describe most Monday's for me.

Yeah I think that is a good note to take. Even when the brain and body thinks "woah there, this is hard" it's good to just see how long your body will just do it anyways. Especially as well trained as you are. I think I'll be using that thought process during my big races to come (and for sure already kinda have used that to some extent last year.).

I certainly felt that way on both the 2x3 at T and the LR this week. Can I really do this? And then I was doing it. And then I did it.

Pssst...I hear a marathon PR bell ringing in the distance...somewhere in the Epcot parking lot...i hear only people who believe can hear it
(I may have read polar express too many times this weekend)

Is this one of those things where I have to clap if I believe in Marathon PRs?

 

[Sailormoon2]

Can we post predictions now???