Ryan

Hootie Hustle 5K Race Report

/ Race Reports / 4 minutes of reading

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

August started out very poorly for training and I was just recovering from a light ankle sprain ten days before race day so I had mixed feelings about my possible race performance. I had a great workout on Tuesday so I did have some confidence.

The weather seemed less than ideal with a mix between a light rain and a heavy mist. The winds were less than ten MPH so that was good.

I did try something new this time and that was eat something about three hours before the race. I, as always drink a lot of water and some Gatorade.

I like to be early to races "just in case," so I got there in plenty of time. I proceeded to pick up my t-shirt and bib and noticed that there was no timing chip. That’s fine – old fashioned scoring and gun time – works for me. As I was pining my bib on the iconic blue Hillrunner Team Shirt Ryan, my friend and coach, pulled up next to my car. We chatted which helped calm my always nervous energy before a race.

We went out for a warm-up of about two miles and Ryan gave me some excellent pointers regarding the course. I stretched some (very little actually) and very lightly and did some easy strides. It was then time to line up at the starting line.

Upon the command of "go" we all took off. After making a tight turn onto the streets I decided to check my Garmin to be sure I wasn’t heading out to fast – especially since I was pretty dang close to Ryan who usually beats me by about two to two and a half minutes in a 5K and holding pretty steady tied for third. "Shoot!" 10.3 MPH and I was hoping to go out at 9.8 for the first 3/4 miles. I dialed it back a bit knowing there was a hill somewhere in the first half of the race but I didn’t want to lose to much ground on third.

I normally check my Garmin every 1/4 mile to see my splits but this time I didn’t check it too often at all. As we hit the hill I decided to make my move on third place so I reeled him in and started to create some space. From there I started to push for what I thought was too hard but wanted to see what I could do. I started to close the gap on second a bit but then he and Ryan pulled away.

I was in no-man’s land. I was losing sight of Ryan and the second place guy and fourth was no-where in sight behind me. This is where the mental battle started. Why should I endure this pain with about 1.25 miles to go when I could ease up and still take third? So I started to back off a hair and then thought – NO!!!!!! I want to come in under 19 minutes and get a solid 20 some second PR.Plus I was coming up on the downhill portion of the race.

The downhill is great! Not too steep at all but just steep enough to lean into it and pick up some extra momentum that didn’t cost that much energy. By the time that I was getting close to the finish line (almost a full loop around the track and then a very tight turn headed to the 50 yard line on the field) I was really hurting and not driving it as hard as I could. Until. Ryan yelled "under 19" "go Ed". That is when I dug in deep and pushed hard for that last 250 yards or so.

Crossed the line looking at the clock and I was elated 18:30. A new PR in the 5K that was almost a minute quicker than last year on a faster course with better weather.

Thank you Coach Hill!!!

Team HillRunner.com: 2015 Al’s Run

/ Team HillRunner.com / 1 minute of reading

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

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Teammates,

I’m terribly sorry for the late start. It’s been a hectic summer and I simply let this slip through the cracks.

I won’t waste anyone’s time on this. Most of you probably know the details. If you don’t, here’s a quick run down.

Race: Al’s Run 8K

Date/time: September 19th, 10:30AM race start

Location: Downtown Milwaukee, starting at the Marquette campus and finishing near Summerfest grounds

Post-race: Cookout at my place

Register here to join the team

Sign up before Wednesday, September 2 if at all possible. If we have 10 people signed up before 5pm on that date, we can get a cool HillRunner.com logo on the backs of our shirts.

I hope to see many of you there. It’s always a fun event!

Don’t overhydrate

/ Training / 2 minutes of reading

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

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Back in 2002, a local runner told me with pride how he finishes all his marathons weighing more than what he did at the start. He was incredibly proud of this and insisted that I would be far better off if I followed his fueling plan. The idea was simple: the more hydrated you are, the better you run.

At the time, though, that idea bothered me. If you’re starting well hydrated or even slightly over hydrated as most runners do, why do you want to be even more hydrated at the finish line?

As it turns out, I was on to something. Since that time, we’ve seen a major change in opinions on hydration. Hyponatremia caused by overhydration has become a major concern and research has shown that moderate dehydration does not affect health or performance. In fact, some research has shown that the fastest marathoners finish fairly significantly dehydrated.

Now, the problem is creeping into other sports. It’s the same problem, people being told they must "get ahead of" dehydration and drink before they are thirsty.

The fact is we now know thirst is a very good indicator. You don’t need to get ahead of thirst. In fact, if you get too far ahead of thirst, the consequences can actually be far greater than if you fall behind.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make sure you’re staying well hydrated. Just be careful to not overhydrate. And, while you’re running, there’s no problem with drinking to thirst.

Don’t trust your GPS on the race course

/ Training / 2 minutes of reading

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

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If you rely on your GPS device to determine your race pace and don’t build in a buffer, you will almost certainly fall slightly short of your goal.

Do you run races with a GPS device? Have you noticed that your GPS usually measures the races as longer than the advertised distance? Your last 5K was 3.2 or 3.3 miles, your last 10K was maybe 6.4 miles? Heck, your last marathon was probably at least 26.5 miles, very possibly 27 miles.

Don’t go yell at the race director before you read on. There’s a reason for this.

Proper race course measurement takes the shortest possible route. Because they need to make sure nobody can complete a race in anything short of the advertised distance, they need to measure the shortest possible route.

However, virtually nobody actually runs the shortest possible route. You simply can’t run in the very inner line of every turn, take perfect tangents between all turns and actually turn on a dime at race pace at every hairpin turn. Other runners may get in the way, your momentum at race pace may prevent you from turning sharp enough to take the shortest possible route. Many things can happen.

In addition, GPS devices aren’t perfect. Earlier this year, I covered why they often measure short on tracks. On a race course, they may measure short or long. It’s hard to say and a lot might have to do with the layout of the course.

In the end, expect to run longer than the advertised distance. I would recommend for most people aiming for a goal time and pacing by a GPS device to aim for about 5 seconds per mile faster than goal pace.

This means you also have to train that way. Are you running race pace workouts and making sure you stay on target by using a GPS device? If so, make sure you’re accounting for the faster pace you need to run on race day.

July’s Update

/ Miscellaneous / 1 minute of reading

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

I know this is a bit late but I was camping deep in the woods for the first week of August.

July was an amazing month. Not only did I run my highest ever monthly total miles but also had my fastest average pace. I did not even have a race in July to bump that average.

July had a total of 28 runs for 229.29 miles and a total run time of 27 hours and 6 minutes. I averaged about a 7:20 per mile pace.

I am also about 8-9 pounds from my goal racing weight (down from 15.)

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