This week I’m trying to balance recovery with getting in my miles. Therefore, I’m keeping my runs short, but running twice a day. Yesterday I ran two 6 mile runs and I plan on doing the same today.
Duncan had an interesting post the other day on his other blog where he challenges us to speak our mind and encourage debate amongst fellow bloggers. I have to agree, I mainly fall into category #2 with an occasional #1 post or comment thrown in every now and then. We need more #3 type posts and comments amongst the running bloggers. Sure it’s nice to see a “nice job” comment and I’ve left my fair share. However, I’d like to see people challenge other’s training, race schedule, diet, commitment, etc. Ask questions, seek answers and try to understand better. Hopefully it’ll help us all learn and improve.
With that in mind I’ll start by “ripping” on some of the people at Saturday’s race, then I’ll go after the blogging community.
I don’t care if you wear a GPS unit, HRM, iPOD, cell phone or camera, but don’t let those devices keep you from “feeling” and “listening” to your body. For example, there were 2 guys at the start of the race – literally 1 minute into the race – that were comparing the speed their gadget was transmitting. One guy’s said 6:20 pace and the other’s said 5:40. Keep in mind we’re going down a gradual hill for 3 blocks with a tailwind. Hey dipshits, you probably have 90 minutes left of running, stop playing with your toy and settle into a pace based on what you’re body is telling you – not some electronic gizmo that may or may not be accurate.
Now I don’t expect everyone to run even or negative splits, but you should be able to tell if your first mile is 30 seconds per mile faster you should be going. I’m sure there were guys that did this too, but since it’s easier to pick out the women near the front, I’ll pick on them. 2 gals went through the first mile in 6:15, yet finished well back. Since I know 3 of the first 4 gals (and it wasn’t them), the fastest these two could have run are 6:47 pace and 6:56 pace. I suspect that with their fast early mile, they dropped even further. Again, you should be able to tell the difference between 5k pace and half marathon pace, just by listening to your body. That sound you hear, over your heavy breathing, is lactic acid building in your legs.
I think the guy that was wearing just a t-shirt (with pants) thought he was really cool at the start – remember it was about zero degrees with the wind. He even looked good as he was 2 places behind Jenna at the halfway point. When I passed him just before 10 miles he looked cold, not cool. Yeah, not running in a long-sleeve shirt really saved you a lot of time.
Okay, feel free to leave a comment and tell me how much you hate my “new style.”
Ok, I’ll bite.
ReplyDelete“Hey dipshits, you probably have 90 minutes left of running, stop playing with your toy and settle into a pace…”
Logical fallacy: Attack the Person. A form of distraction, attacking in a public forum frames the Attacker as an aggressive individual. People are less likely to strongly confront an Attacker’s arguments thus strengthening their position of power.
“Now I don’t expect everyone to run even or negative splits, but you should be able to tell if your first mile is 30 seconds per mile faster you should be going… That sound you hear, over your heavy breathing, is lactic acid building in your legs.”
“I think the guy that was wearing just a t-shirt (with pants) thought he was really cool at the start… When I passed him just before 10 miles he looked cold, not cool. Yeah, not running in a long-sleeve shirt really saved you a lot of time.”
Logical fallacy: Appeal to Ridicule. Mocking is to put something or someone at a lower social level. If someone is associated with this, they too would find themselves at the lower social position. This strengthens the Ridiculer’s argument by reducing or removing the social desirability of an alternative stance. Others will be slow to strongly oppose the argument.
While valid arguments for your position exist beneath the veneer of invective, it’s hard to grant credibility to them and gain useful debate until they surface. It’s been said, “If you can’t say something nice…”
I like the old style.
My God, I have unleashed Hades. Andrew's response has me in a logic box. Nicely put my Maine man!!! I fail both fallacies - time and time again, but damn it sure is fun. Do I get a Dennis Miller honorable mention for the posting at least? :) or ;)?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't care for the new style. Partially because it is a slippery slope, but mostly because I would say everyone to a person blogs as an extension of their own ego, and to introduce uninvited criticism in any form into the comments would likely cause that person more harm than good.
ReplyDeleteHere's an extremely mild example that nearly had me taking my blog off the web. Somebody commented to me after my first marathon distance run ever that if I could run a marathon in 3:06, why do I need to be motivated by others (through my blog) to continue running? As if I have it all sewn up because I happen to train at someone else's fully tapered goal pace! Name that tune, Andrew. =)
I have tremendous respect for anyone who puts in the time and effort and makes the sacrifices to attain whatever goal it is they are working toward. In most of my life, I'm not a big 'Good Job!' guy, but it seems to come naturally in the blog world. That's good for everyone.
It was a nice try, Zeke, but I don't think you could keep it up anyway! You're from Minnesota.
Well I left you a long post earlier and of course it was at the same time blogger went out of service and it was lost.
ReplyDeleteI am of the belief that running bloggers vary to such a great deal that in order for us to constructively criticize each other about our training methods then we would need to know what each others specific goals and reasons are for running. We all train differently and I am more of an encouraging person then I am confrontational. I do not argue because I am not an expert on anything and I believe that almost all of the running bloggers are not experts on running either so why should they criticize other people. Just because a person can run a 2:30 marathon does not make them an expert. Of course everyone has the right to criticize and be confrontational, but I would much rather encourage and just stop by and say "good job" even if it seems like a simple pointless act.
I think that people like to know others are reading and if I am the only one commenting on someones blog then I hope that I inspire them in some way to keep writing about whatever they wish. If people are annoyed by my comments then I guess they do not deserve them in the first place. Honestly, if I notice that I am commenting to someone and they show no desire to communicate with me in any manner then I usually do not waste my time reading their posts and move on to someone who deserves my time. I believe in reciprocal relationships, even if they are virtual, and I do not like snobs who think they are better than the rest.
Although I am not saying that to you, but rather to those who may read this and are snobs themselves. Whatever you want to write Zeke is alright with me.
I have to agree that most of us just can't complain the way Duncan does. Your arguments are valid, but you sound like a nice guy trying to be mean.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the theory in Duncan's post that we should feel free to speak our minds instead of simply being cheerleaders. However, unless your goal is to start a fight or just make fun of people, we need to speak our minds in a constructive way. Just taking shots at people accomplishes nothing.
ReplyDeleteI think Duncan's main beef is with lemmings. So now you're following him off the cliff???
ReplyDeleteJust be yourself Chad.
Chad,
ReplyDeleteIt seems that you have struck a nerve with all the gadget wearing, 'I have no idea of my pace' joggers, and 'I saw some guy wear this in Runner's World' weekend warriors!! Has everyone been so blinded by political correctness that they can not or will not see people for who or what they truely are? I have a hard time imagining all these people who responded not thinking the same thing or something equally "mean" if they came across the same situation. This is the pot calling the kettle black! Seriously people, lighten up!!
Keep it up Chad!! The rest of us human beings enjoy it.
Now back to running.
Nice job of handling all the miles. Make sure you get enough rest. What pace do you generally run your runs at? Maybe your program takes into account running faster after the base phase, but I always thought that by running faster for longer periods of time (built over time), a body can adapt (learn) to handle the stress of race pace.
Now Chad, you know I am not a marathon runner in the truest sense, and maybe this approach can't work for marathon training and is more suited for shorter distances. I don't know. But I worry that by logging 80-100 miles at 8 pace and trying to keep the milage up in this range, you could be using energy for workouts that could be teaching your body to run faster, ie. handle the stress by running less miles. Quality vs Quantity.
You and I have know each other for a long time and you know where I am coming from with this. I am not a high milage type of person and I am not trying to burst your bubble. I want you to run fast and wonder how this will do it.
Take Care, bear