Wednesday, July 23, 2008

RACE SCHEDULE

I’ve said it before. We sure like to bitch about the weather around here. But how about a little praise when it’s been spectacular? I’m talking 80-85 degrees and sunny with a dew point in the mid-50s. Does it get any better than that?

I thought May and June were really nice and have been waiting for July to be miserable. However, we’ve only had a few really crappy stretches of weather and they seem to have only lasted a day or two.

This morning I just ran an easy 5 miles. I’ll run another 5 tonight on the treadmill while watching the TdF’s Alp de Huez stage. Tomorrow I’m taking the day off of work and plan on running my longest pre-TCM run. Hopefully the low dew points can hold out for one more day.

Looking at the calendar, there are just over 10 weeks until TCM. That’s kind of the point where it seems a long ways off, but really it’ll be here before you know it. I was laying out my upcoming race schedule and here’s what I came up with;

7/26 Fire Chief’s 10K
8/10 MDRA 15K
8/23 Rochester Half
9/1 Victory 10K
9/7 City of Lakes 25K

I’m going to try and arrange Daniels’ workouts to fit these types of races. For example, the 15K will replace a 45-50 minute tempo run. And the half marathon and 25K will be used at marathon pace/tempo workouts like I did with the 30K back at the end of May.

Double commented on adding in some shorter repeats. Daniels does have 3 or 4 workouts that combine intervals and these shorter reps. So far there has only been one on the schedule and I replaced that with a race. I’ll try to get in a couple of shorter rep workouts – along with strides 1-2 times per week.

I seem to be gaining fitness and confidence with each passing week and feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

Quote of the day;

“I can lose in Munich and live with it if I give 120 percent, but if I lost because I’d let it go to the last lap and got outkicked…I’d always wonder whether I might have broken away.” – Steve Prefontaine, prior to the Munich games

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've seen that run of Pre's a dozen times. I was old enough to watch and remember the out takes of Pre before the race. Visiting his small trailer, going over his days at Oregon, and how it seemed here was a guy with little to no support trying to take on the world. To this day when I watch the race, I believe he can still win it. I've heard the negative stuff, even from some who ran that particular race, but man he didn't sit there and watch it just happen. He made a move which didn't work, but he was damn close. Those were great runners. The best in the world and he layed it out there. I wish more people raced that way. If I'm correct, it is called a race?

The marathon is the most difficult and to me the fullest extent of how one displays their running skills. You have to master all the specifics. Seldom do they go as planned and that is why I believe you pre-race schedule will do nothing but aid you in a successful performance. You get a glimpse of what your good at and what you need to work on. Plus it prepares you for the rigours of racing. I never had a marathon were it all came off as planned because there are too many variables. Weather, the competition, hydration, pacing, hills, flat spots, etc. With enough races prior to, you get a sense of how you can get through one tough spot and on to another. I don't like going off pace early, but sometimes you have to evaluate what is best without going overboard. For sure, when you get to 15-16 you have to lock your strategy in based on what you have. Mentally you have to concentrate on getting to 23 without totally gassing out. Sure, your shot, but most people are shot at 20-21. Don't get off pace prior to because when the slow miles start coming at 20-21 no one has the mental facilities to rough it out for 5-6 more miles. Get to 23 and then take it mile to mile. That always seemed doable to me and sometimes you surprise yourself, especially when your passing people. There is a great mental boost when you are moving up through the field.

Double

Anonymous said...

I reread my post and I don't want you to think I was putting too much emphasis on running hard early. Primarily you have to get to 15 with your legs under you, but in those 15 miles you have to be careful of feeling too good. I'm saying that the ebb and flow of the course getting there comes at many varied paces. I've seen too many people feel good at 10 and start dropping the pace by 10-20 seconds a mile. Now this may happen occasionally as you understand, but I always try and remind people you have to remember your body is primed to want to go. Your tapered and those good spots are not to be messed with. They can turn the other way in a few seconds. We know the same people who have written race reports reflecting this dozens of times. You know Pski layed it out there, but he wasn't dropping down to 6:15 - 6:30 range for miles on end. I have ran faster early for a few miles only because it was someone I was competing against and I wanted to see how they reacted. Sometimes they took off and I let them go. I never regreted passing them later. Sometimes you want to stay in a pack if the weather dictates this, but again if it is too much FOR YOU then back off. It's hard sometimes because you know damn well there are people in the pack who shouldn't be there so you stay anyway. People subconsciously are always racing, but you have to be smart enough to ignore their bad decisions and follow yours. You know all this, but to me the race starts at 23. If you can reasonably shed a few people with a little artwork prior to without much hassle do it. Run with reasonable authority. Personally, I didn't like people hanging around me. It was a distraction to my effort. I wanted to concentrate on how I felt, what the pace was, and am I closing on anyone. People bump you, talk, get in your way at aid stations. Hell, I'd skip a station if it made sense, get off me dude. I think it is only natural you start thinking about the other person too much and I call that interference I don't need.

Double

Joseph said...

Chad,

You've got to enter this:

http://track.flocasts.org/sellyoursellf/main

Joseph

Chad said...

Joseph,

Thanks for the link. I may have to send in a photo - and blog about it.