Ryan

Race report: 2017 Walleye Run – righting a wrong

/ Race Reports / 10 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Last year, I got a little bored with always showing up to the Walleye Run 5 miler and finishing in the top 10. So I decided to try adding a challenge: the 2 mile, which starts 75 minutes after the 5 mile starts.

It didn’t go so well. Between not great preparation and ridiculously warm weather, the wheels came off in the 2 mile.

Pretty much before I finished the 2 mile, I knew I would be back this year to do it right. I couldn’t let the experience end that way.

This year, in preparation for the double, I changed a couple things in my training. First, I really worked to toughen up the calves. Second, I actually did some quarter mile repeats. I did them at the back end of workouts, when already tired, because I wanted to simulate what I would be experiencing during the 2 mile, after already racing the 5 mile, but this is the first time in a long time I have done quarters in any format.

During the week of the race, I was a little concerned. I felt like maybe I had one week too much of hard training. I was really having trouble recovering in time for the race. I was worried that especially my left hamstring would not be ready and that could spell trouble, especially at the faster pace I was thinking of for the 2 mile. That said, by late week, things were getting quite a bit better by the day. The morning of the race, there was a little lingering tightness but not enough to be concerned about.

I was watching the weather report for the race and it looked like the forecast was getting warmer as the week went on. On the morning of the race, it was already in the 70s by the time I got there and the wind was getting a little noticeable. I picked up my bibs and found a good spot between the start lines and the finish line. I brought 2 singlets so I’d have a clean and dry one to start each race so I was able to put both bibs on a singlet and then I went out for my warmup.

The warmup didn’t feel great. I just didn’t feel all that sharp. That said, I was still confident that I can at least lock into 6 minute pace and ride it out. On my strides, I even started feeling halfway decent.

At the start, I got out well, initially in about 8th-10th place before letting others burn themselves out and settling in around 12th-13th. After a fair bit of relatively straight running, we go around a gradual turn to the left where there was a Chevy display this year with a handful of vehicles blocking the inside of the corner. Fortunately, traffic wasn’t too bad and I was able to get out and around this display. After negotiating the display, I worked my way up a bit. I figured I was in about 10th-11th place after passing a few people, then someone said we were all in the top 10, which meant I figured I was in 9th place. Just before the mile, I caught a fairly young looking runner and he surged as I pulled up next to him. He pulled ahead a bit, then settled in and when I came up by him again he surged. Right about at the mile mark, he finally didn’t have it to maintain and dropped back. With an earlier, uneventful pass, this got me into 7th place.

5th and 6th were spread out in front of me, seemingly within reach but at a distance that I felt would require some patience and gradual whittling away at the lead. As I was trying to first just maintain the distance 6th had on me, someone joined me from behind. I didn’t want to let him just pass me so I picked up the pace and ran with him. We went back and forth a bit but mostly were going side by side through the 2 mile and well into 3. At one point in mile 3, there was a family on the side of the street and he said that was his family. I took just a touch off the gas so he could be a half step ahead of me for the kids and the photo op, then I joined him again once the family was behind. After a turn, I felt like 6th place was falling back just a bit and I said we can catch him, let’s go. His response was I can’t, I’m just going to try to hang on to you. So I set out in trying to work on 6th and this guy I was running with fell a couple steps back.

Neither catching 6th or getting away from 8th was coming easily. It was getting very warm, the headwind at this point was somewhat cooling but mostly was just sapping my legs. I pushed on, kind of yo-yoing with 6th place, and never completely separating from 8th.

At one point shortly before the 4 mile mark, 6th nearly caught 5th and I was thinking he was going to be the guy to chase, possibly fading and not too far ahead of me, but he responded and pulled back solidly into 5th. Meanwhile, I was not gaining on 6th overall. The good news was that it seemed 8th was falling back some.

Typically, with a mile to go, I reassess and tell myself it’s a mile race now. This time, I reminded myself I have another race to go. It was becoming more and more clear that I wasn’t going to catch 6th so all I had to do is run hard enough to not get caught by 8th. I still took a shot or two at moving up on 6th but it just wasn’t happening so I ended up in the last 1/2 mile and last 1/4 mile not trying to pick it up like I usually do. Comfortably in 7th down the final straight, I picked up the pace a bit but I didn’t kick. I was focusing on saving something for the 2 mile.

I ended up crossing the line in 7th with a 30:20. 1st in the 40-49 age group.

After a short time congratulating other runners, I grabbed a couple cups of water, then headed back to my gear. I changed back into my warmups, pushed a lot of fluids, stretched, then did a little running to keep warm and loose. On that bit of running, I realized how difficult the 2 mile was going to be. The 5 mile, combined with the heat and battling the wind, sapped my legs of their speed. I did a couple strides toward the end of that running and just didn’t feel sharp at all. There was just no snap in my legs. That said, I knew I was fit enough to at least gut this one out and I had toughened up my legs so I was confident they wouldn’t fail me this year.

After some more stretching and switching singlets and back to my racing shoes, I went over to the start line. I saw Josh, we chatted a bit, then did what we had to in order to complete our preparations. I did a little mobility work and a few strides and form drills, then lined up.

At the start, I again felt like I got out well, then settled in to let the fast starters burn themselves out. This time, even after warning Josh to be careful of the Chevy display, I found myself getting into a place where I nearly got myself in trouble. I extricated myself just in time and moved out to actually pass a couple people while going past the display.

Pretty quickly, I found myself in about 8th place with potential targets to pass still in front of me. The legs are holding out and things are looking reasonably good, especially compared to last year. Eventually, I work myself up to 5th place, less than a half step up on 6th who happened to be someone I was talking with at the start who was targeting a similar time to me and was in my age group. That didn’t matter, though. I was now seeing the potential for a top 3 finish and the opportunity to make age groups irrelevant (top 3 overall are a separate category). Through the mile in 5th with 6th right on my heels, I was now closing on 4th. Around a turn and I turned on the gas a bit. I passed both runners ahead and moved into 3rd before going around another turn.

Now, second is pretty far ahead but I have a lot to run for here. I have at least 2, if not 3, guys right on my back. I’m in for the overall top 3 finish if I can hold them off. I know what that means, don’t let it come down to a kick. Every step, I’m telling myself to push a little harder. The legs don’t like it but they are doing all they can. I can still feel one guy on my left shoulder. Then he moves to my right for a few moments before moving back to my left. He’s drafting on me as we run into what is a pretty stiff headwind. But what can I do? If I let up, will he even take the lead and let me draft? Anyway, if I do that, I’m just setting him up to outkick me. I know my only hope of holding him off is to run his kick out so this is my only option. So I go on pushing, hoping I can take the sting out of his legs. We come around a turn and are approaching what I know is about 1/4 mile to go. I want to be moving before we get that close to the finish so, about 100 yards before my 1/4 mile to go mark, I pick up the pace. I knew I wasn’t picking up the pace much but it was all I could do. In response to that, the guy on my shoulder picks up the pace more. I want to respond but my legs have nothing. Right behind him is the guy in my age group. With about 1/4 mile to go, it looks like he might get the pass to move into the top 3 but this younger guy ends up pulling away.

Meanwhile, I want to run faster but I just don’t have it. I do my best and just hope nobody is going to catch me from behind. Fortunately, nobody did.

So I end up crossing the finish line in 5th with an 11:36. 2nd in the 40-49 age group.

Overall, I’m happy with this. The times weren’t quite what I was hoping for but I think everyone’s times were off a bit with the heat and the wind both taking their toll. More importantly, I finished in the top 10 overall and the top 3 in my age group in both races. That was essentially my goal going in and I did it comfortably.

Plus they had some nice hardware. This year, coasters for age group awards:

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Will I do the double again next year? I don’t know. Running 2 races with roughly 45 minutes between the finish of the first and the start of the next is brutal. My legs are going to hurt for days after this. That said, it is a fun challenge and I hardly think I’ve mastered it.

Just scanning the results, it looks like I was the only finisher in the top 10 of either race to also finish in the top 20 of the other. Maybe aiming for that kind of accomplishment, if not top 10 in both races like I pulled off this year, is a new challenge to keep going for over the next few years. Until I get bored with that and decide to move on to something else.

Warm weather racing

/ Training / 4 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

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Summer is here! School is out, family vacations are planned, and the summer racing season is firing up!

The summer racing season is a fun time. All runners, from high schoolers to masters, come together at the same races. We’re all out of season as the younger runners are thinking of the upcoming cross country season and the older runners are planning out their fall marathons or other fall plans. However, we’re all together giving it all we have in the summer.

I love that aspect! One of the drawbacks of the spring and fall road racing season is that you see very few runners younger than about 22 at these events. Not that there is any problem with older runners. I am one of them after all but I for one enjoy seeing those younger runners out there.

This is a fun time of the year but it can also be challenging. The heat and humidity that comes with the summer racing season can take its toll on us. So how do we prepare for this?

Step 1: Training

In training, embrace the heat. Don’t shy away from it. If it’s hot on race day, you don’t get to hit the treadmill to run the race. While sometimes it might make sense to do so in training, if you do this all the time, you’re not going to be prepared for the heat. Generally, it’s going to be best to get out there and face and even embrace the heat. There are physiological changes that will help you handle the heat and the psychological benefit of knowing you’ve faced that in training can’t be overlooked.

Throughout the summer, as you should ideally be doing all year, make sure you’re staying well hydrated. Hydration isn’t something you can do part time. To be properly hydrated, you need to be consistent. That means throughout the day, every day. Develop the habit.

Step 2: Pre-race

Even before race day starts, you need to ensure your hydration is where it should be. Again, this isn’t something you can just do a crash course for. You can’t properly hydrate starting a few hours or even a day before a race. It’s a long term thing.

On race day, you may want to rethink your warmup. Especially if the race is longer, ask yourself whether you really need to spend as much time warming up as you do when it’s cooler. In some cases, the answer may be yes. In others, you may come to the conclusion that it’s better to not extend yourself in the heat before the race even starts.

Step 3: Race

In my opinion, the most important thing to keep in mind during the race is that you will be slower. Accept and embrace it. This is where running by effort, which I’m a big fan of, comes into play. If you are running by effort, your pace will automatically adjust to the conditions. If you insist on checking your splits, I can’t tell you how much to adjust because we all handle the heat differently. However, make sure you do adjust. If you don’t, you will pay the price later and, in the heat, it can be a hefty price to pay.

Don’t be shy about grabbing some water at aid stations. Even in short races, I do this when it’s warm but I don’t drink the water. I pour it over my head. I’m sure you’ve seen runners doing this when racing in the heat. It feels good. Some research also says it is beneficial, potentially more beneficial in cooling than drinking it (and, if you’re running fast, you don’t have to worry about actually getting it down or choking on it). Also, if sprinklers are out, use them. The same for shade. It may even be beneficial to run a little farther to get shade rather than running a shorter path but in the sun if those are your choices.

Step 4: Reap the benefits

So what does all of this get you? Well, beyond the thrill of competition, there are actually benefits to running in the heat. You’ll be a faster runner when fall comes around (and not just because you kept your training up).

So get out there and race this summer! Just make sure you’re well prepared and you have a race day plan.

Photo credit: Castlepollard 5KM 2014 -The race start by Peter Mooney, on Flickr

We are all individuals

/ Training / 3 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Where are the training plans on HillRunner.com?

I get asked this frequently. My answer? I hate pre-canned training plans and will never place one on HillRunner.com.

Ok, hate is a strong word. Maybe I don’t “hate” them. I just strongly dislike them. Never is a long time. I guess I can’t completely rule out the possibility. But don’t count on it.

Why do I so strongly dislike pre-canned plans? Because those plans assume everyone will benefit from the same things. In short, they assume we’re cookie cutter people. We’re not.

So what do I like better? I like building around a core set of principles, then adjusting to the strengths, weaknesses, and needs of the individual runner.

What does this mean in practice?

Start with core principles. If you’re going to run a marathon, you need some good long runs. For any distance race, you need a base of aerobic conditioning. You need some running at or very near race pace. You need to run faster than race pace at times. You need to run slower than race pace at times.

Don’t tie yourself to any one philosophy. Lydiard had very good ideas. Igloi had very good ideas. Coe had very good ideas. Daniels has very good ideas. The Hanson brothers have very good ideas. I could go on and on. All of these people and many others did things a little differently but they all had very good ideas and applied them in very thoughtful ways. Also, if you get to know how they worked with runners, they adjusted their core ideas to fit the needs of the runners.

Adjust according to your individual needs. Personally, I respond very well to long runs and tempo runs. I need some shorter interval work to run my best but too much burns me out. So I do a lot of long and tempo runs and use intervals sparingly. Others are just the opposite and may need a more steady dose of intervals with fewer long and tempo runs. Some people need a big base of weekly mileage to run well, others are at their best with lower volume. The key is to figure out what the best balance of variables is for you. That does mean some trial and error is necessary. Some mistakes will be made. Learn from them, improve, and move on.

In the end, there are no plans on HillRunner.com because there is no plan I can write that will be the best possible for everyone reading it. Instead, my goal is to give you the tools you need to come up with your own plan.

Pre-race stress and yogurt better than milk?

/ Roundups / 2 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

We all know that pre-race stress is not good for our race performances. But why? Well, there are a lot of reasons. We now have another.

We all also know that calcium is important for our bones and dairy is a good source of milk. But what if one type of dairy is better than others?

Pre-race stress

You already know to avoid pre-race stress because it’s not good for your race performance, right? You might even know some of the reasons it isn’t good, right?

Well, here’s another way:

During acute psychological stress—in this case, seeing and being told they were failing at a pressure-packed task—the triathletes’ pain thresholds decreased significantly.

In short, your pain threshold is reduced after dealing with psychological stress. As a result, you can’t push as hard through the pain that is inevitably a part of racing.

Is yogurt better than milk?

We all know that calcium is important for maintaining bone health and dairy is a good source of calcium. But is it possible that one kind of dairy could be better than others?

It appears this may be the case:

He noted that other dairy products did not produce a similar effect and cautioned that some yogurts are high in sugar, “so we have to be careful about that.”

It’s not everything but it appears yogurt may be a super food (besides the high sugar content in some flavored varieties) in yet another way.

Thoughts on the Breaking 2 project

/ News/Elites / 4 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

As I’m sure most of you are aware, Nike had its Breaking 2 run this past weekend. Three runners were given every advantage (some that broke IAAF rules, making the run record ineligible) to see if someone could break 2 hours in a marathon.

The final result? Eliud Kipchoge came closer than many, myself included, expected by running 2:00:25. The other runners ran 2:06 and 2:14. Outside of Kipchoge, the results had to be seen as disappointing. Kipchoge, though, proved how great of a marathoner he is.

Yes, I’m late to the game in talking about this but I really didn’t have anything to add to this and didn’t want to post something just because I could. Now, though, I have some thoughts after the fact that I’d like to share.

What was this all about?

This was billed as testing the human limits. In my opinion, though, it was primarily a very well executed marketing ploy by Nike. They had a product line they wanted to gain some publicity for and, through this project, they got the kind of publicity you can’t buy. Hat tip to them for the excellent marketing.

Beyond that, it was an interesting science experiment. If you put everything together, short of crazy things like running down the side of a mountain, how fast can a person run a marathon? Bring together the best of everything, bending and breaking a few rules along the way as necessary without making the whole effort seem ridiculous, and see how fast an elite athlete can go.

What it wasn’t is a race. This was purely a time trial.

What did we learn?

Eliud Kipchoge is an amazing athlete.

Nike knows how to get people talking.

Personally, I learned a lot about optimizing marathon performance. For example, the draft given by the car and clock as well as by the pacers was apparently worth probably 60-90 seconds. According to Nike, they were saving 7 seconds per aid station by having someone moving alongside them to hand their fluids off.

What about the shoes?

Nike can claim all they want that these shoes make you 4% faster. That doesn’t make it true.

For a 2:05 marathoner, 4% faster would be exactly 2:00. Do we really believe Kipchoge, with all the benefits he was given Saturday, could have only run a 2:05+ in another pair of shoes?

What did we miss out on?

If only we knew. The biggest disappointment I have in this whole process is that we missed an opportunity to see Kipchoge line up against the field in London. That was still a great race but what would have happened with Kipchoge in there? It might have been an epic race. Personally, as a greater fan of racing than of time trials, I feel like it’s a shame we’ll never know.

To be honest, I was very disappointed about this when I first heard of this attempt. After the fact, I’m still a bit disappointed but, as long as this doesn’t become an annual thing, I think it was an interesting experiment. I wouldn’t say I’m happy they did this but I’m OK with it. It was interesting to see how it worked out and hear the analysis of what these different factors do to an elite marathoner’s time.

What comes next?

I thought this would be a one off thing. We’d see the attempt, they would come up 1-2 minutes short of the goal, and this would fade into memory. Now, with Kipchoge coming in 1 second per mile short of the goal, I have to wonder if there will be another attempt in the near future. To be honest, I kind of hope not.

As much as I dislike time trialing and uncompetitive record attempts, I kind of hope Kipchoge will run Berlin this fall and see what happens if he takes a shot at the world record. At this point, I think that’s the most likely thing to happen. At first, when I thought about his run on Saturday, I figured he could take a minute off the world record. The more I think about it and read about what likely led to this performance (such as this analysis by Ross Tucker) the more I suspect something more in the 20-30 second range if everything works out. That said, to think about a 2:02:30 is pretty amazing itself.

Beyond that, I have no idea what’s up. Hopefully, Kipchoge has some races left in his legs and can keep going for a while. That said, he’s not a young guy. The next generation is already here but there is no obvious successor to Kipchoge’s level of brilliance. Not that someone won’t come along but I don’t think we know who that will be yet.

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