The Running thread

[____no5]

I’m thinking that a person who had the drive & dedication to post a meme a day for a year or so, he is mentally fit to cope with the consistency needed to prepare for a marathon.

 

[____no5]

@DJMayes I was dead serious man! @Spambot you'll have a blast of a time, go on with your plan!

On other news, I applied for Wuxi half marathon for March 2024 a week ago. My next target is to run a sub 5:00 /km pace half marathon thus sub 1:45 hrs. There is that of Shanghai, which is packed plus I'd like to run a course with better landscape views and Wuxi is ideal for that, being adjacent to Tai lake.

Unfortunately I wasn't selected in the lottery (less than 10% of the 250,000 applicants make it) and will try to either pay an extra fee or find another race. It's important to have a fixed date so I tailor my training accordingly.

 

[____no5]

That's it! I paid a hefty price and secured a place in Wuxi half marathon with target time ~1:42 which is a pace of 4:50/km

Wuxi is a mega rich city and very important silk manufacturer from the silk road times up to today. The half /full marathons of Wuxi are famous for their scenery as they are held next to the lake Tai.



As soon as I was confirmed I started planning my supplements, as below:

Q10 x30mg before each run.
B1 x100 -B6 x200 -B12 x02mg, Fe x80mg, C x1000mg, 2 hours after dinner.
Mg x350mg, fish-oil 500mg, E x100mg after speed sessions, intervals or long runs.
40g of protein + 10 almonds to be consumed within 20' after speed sessions, intervals or long runs.
500ml water with electrolytes to be consumed before, during and after each session.

Today I did some terrific treadmill sessions, I put 6% inclination plus 2' x 6 at threshold /VO2 max zone which is ~157 -161 in my case.

 

[Onhell]

Like I stated before, my running days are behind me, but now that I've sold my car I'm doing a lot of walking. Not just while I teach at work (10 hours a day), but to and from the bus stop. Especially when I come home. The bus that leaves me close to my house (I still have to walk about 1k, takes about 12 min.) takes FOREVER to go by. Therefore I just walk home from where the bus from the university leaves me and it's a 30min walk. I'm walking about 11 hours a day three times a week (I only have to go Mon/Wed/Fri). I've also started doing push-ups as part of my limited exercise routine. I bought a Push-up board with handles and depending where you place it on the board you are mainly working your chest, shoulders, back or triceps, pretty neat. The first week I was only able to do two push-ups at a time and I was shaking the whole time and with horrible form. Now, in week three, I can do sets of 5 reps with no problem, no shaking and perfect form. So that's going well.

I bought new shoes last November, but I still had my car back then and they're inexpensive lace less, slip on sneakers/trainers. Now that I'm walking much more my feet are hurting by the end of the day. Any recommendations on good walking shoes?

 

[____no5]

I’ve recommended ASICS Gel-Nimbus 25 to a friend who walks and she thanked me after, "best walking shoes I've ever had". Plus there must be on sale now.
I have 600+ km on them and considering that version 26 are a bit firmer on the midsole and vamp (toe-box) and that they are on sale I might buy a second pair of fancy colour.
I keep them for the long runs and recovery runs and sometimes I walk on them too; i.e., when I run the marathon I had them in the bag so after the run to wear them and "cure" my feet, they are that comfortable!
Now I am used to them and they are worn too, but when they were fresh I was looking fwd to do my long runs every Sunday as kind of reward for the feet after the tiring interval and race pace sessions during the week.

I just realised that ASICS has a walking shoes section, curiously they don't have the Nimbus 25 there, but they do have older versions of Cumulous which are quite similar.
*Ok got it, they have older version of recovery suitable running shoes, which are half price or more than the discounted Nimbus 25, makes sense.

From all the brands I've tried and I've tried many, ASICS are the most comfortable. The Gel-models are quite good for walking as the gel is placed usually on the heel where the walking foot lands.

If I could find a discounted Nimbus 25 in the colour below, I would definitely buy me a second pair.
For the history my official walking shoes are Onitsuka Tiger X-caliber, as sometimes I like a firmer ride, but I wouldn't recommend them as easily as the Nimbus 25.


EDIT: True to size

 

[Onhell]

I'll see if I can find a local store or one that carries them. I'm not a fan of buying clothing/shoes online in case it doesn't fit. I'll go to a couple of malls near me that have a bunch of sport/sneaker stores and see if they have them. Thanks a lot! Exactly what I was looking for

 

[____no5]

Kelvin Kiptum is dead.
The current marathon WR holder, the man who run just 3 marathons at 23 years of age and in less than a year’s period’s span.

All his marathons were below 2h02min, one of only 3 humans ever to achieve such a time and the only to have achieve it more than twice.
Only human to have achieved a time below 2h01min, with his last marathon WR in Chicago.

He was preparing to run Rotterdam marathon this April aiming to break the 2h barrier under legal conditions.

 

[GhostofCain]

Kelvin Kiptum is dead.
The current marathon WR holder, the man who run just 3 marathons at 23 years of age and in less than a year’s period’s span.

All his marathons were below 2h02min, one of only 3 humans ever to achieve such a time and the only to have achieve it more than twice.
Only human to have achieved a time below 2h01min, with his last marathon WR in Chicago.

He was preparing to run Rotterdam marathon this April aiming to break the 2h barrier under legal conditions.

Very sad news. RIP

 

[____no5]

5k PR smash by nearly a minute New 5k PR 22:28 or 4:30/km pace.

In addition, I was really tired from yesterday's 18hrs flight, temperature was literally zero and the 5k segment was just a part of a wider set of intensive training. Most impressive is that my heart barely touched the anaerobic zone -just one minute in!

5k was my oldest standing record nearly 3 years old (29 May 2021) and the toughest to beat.

In other news, 2 weeks ago, I did an ergometric test in a lab and the results were in line with today's performance: My VO2 max has gone to 55.1 from 47.7 last September. Anaerobic threshold 159 bpm from 151 and speed at threshold 12.5 Km/h from 11.0! This is a solid improvement over just 5 months.

My validated training paces look like this now:



Previous training paces here. Pace calculator here.

 

[DJMayes]

I did my last long run prior to the Cambridge Half Marathon this week. 15.4km at a 5:59 /km pace. I had planned it to be longer, but I had set out at a faster pace than I plan to run it (I have entered for a 2:15 marathon, which is a 6:24 /km pace).

Now onto the taper! I really want to finish the race this year, as I still have a shirt from last year I have refused to wear because I didn't finish...

 

[____no5]

You keep us informed how it went, looking fwd to it

On other matters between longer distance and faster pace for a long run, choose always longer distance. Long runs are there for teaching your body burn fat, thus for a 6:24/km race there's zero problem to do 20k 6:45 long run.

As a rule of thumb try to be absolutely inside your zone 2 during long runs -even better inside the lower tier of that zone. Good luck on Sunday! Drink a lot of water this week, last 3 days put some dose of electrolyte inside a 1 1/5 litter of water and slowly drink it during the day.

Have you planned to take any gels during the race?

 

[DJMayes]

You keep us informed how it went, looking fwd to it

On other matters between longer distance and faster pace for a long run, choose always longer distance. Long runs are there for teaching your body burn fat, thus for a 6:24/km race there's zero problem to do 20k 6:45 long run.

For sure but it wasn't really a choice between them - I just didn't monitor the pace so well because it felt good during the first half.

As a rule of thumb try to be absolutely inside your zone 2 during long runs -even better inside the lower tier of that zone. Good luck on Sunday! Drink a lot of water this week, last 3 days put some dose of electrolyte inside a 1 1/5 litter of water and slowly drink it during the day.

I still suck at heart rate running. My Garmin zone 2 is 120-140bpm, which I cannot maintain unless I'm at a really uncomfortably low pace (like 8:00/km). I assume it is because I am quite overweight and cannot breathe through my nose properly.

Have you planned to take any gels during the race?

Yes! I bought a taster pack of Hi5 gels and have been trying all of them during my long runs. I have found my favourite flavours but haven't fully decided whether I take 1 or 2.

Last thing to sort out is the playlist!

 

[____no5]

I still suck at heart rate running. My Garmin zone 2 is 120-140bpm, which I cannot maintain unless I'm at a really uncomfortably low pace (like 8:00/km). \

That's super comfortable!! Man with every opportunity I apply some walking into my running. Zero guilt!!
Last Sunday I did a long run in Marathon, almost half of it was walking. In the end I did a sprint in positive elevation and managed an average heart rate 132 which is the lowest of my zone 2, to show to my coach, hahah

Yes! I bought a taster pack of Hi5 gels and have been trying all of them during my long runs. I have found my favourite flavours but haven't fully decided whether I take 1 or 2.

Better take 2, one at 7th km and one at 14th.

Last thing to sort out is the playlist!

Yeah!!

 

[DJMayes]

That's super comfortable!! Man with every opportunity I apply some walking into my running. Zero guilt!!
Last Sunday I did a long run in Marathon, almost half of it was walking. In the end I did a sprint in positive elevation and managed an average heart rate 132 which is the lowest of my zone 2, to show to my coach, hahah

This makes me wonder if I'm reading my Garmin correctly because I'd have expected your zone 2 to be lower than mine given relative fitness levels! 120 - 139 is the second tier on my Garmin after "warm-up", showing up as "easy" in blue. Should I be reading the next level (140-159, "aerobic") instead?

 

[GhostofCain]

5k PR smash by nearly a minute New 5k PR 22:28 or 4:30/km pace.

In addition, I was really tired from yesterday's 18hrs flight, temperature was literally zero and the 5k segment was just a part of a wider set of intensive training. Most impressive is that my heart barely touched the anaerobic zone -just one minute in!

5k was my oldest standing record nearly 3 years old (29 May 2021) and the toughest to beat.

In other news, 2 weeks ago, I did an ergometric test in a lab and the results were in line with today's performance: My VO2 max has gone to 55.1 from 47.7 last September. Anaerobic threshold 159 bpm from 151 and speed at threshold 12.5 Km/h from 11.0! This is a solid improvement over just 5 months.

My validated training paces look like this now:

View attachment 34389

Previous training paces here. Pace calculator here.

Well done!

I did 5.2 km in 22 minutes earlier this month. Let’s see if I manage to run 5 km in less than 21 minutes this year.

 

[____no5]

This makes me wonder if I'm reading my Garmin correctly because I'd have expected your zone 2 to be lower than mine given relative fitness levels! 120 - 139 is the second tier on my Garmin after "warm-up", showing up as "easy" in blue. Should I be reading the next level (140-159, "aerobic") instead?

Can you post a screenshot from the Garmin App?

In any case, it's useless to compare yourself with others, each has his own particulars. You can only compare with yourself; with time and structured training you'll gain fitness and your heart zones will move up, not by too much, but enough to make a difference.

Spoiler: Here are my zones measured in lab, on September 15th when I started training with a coach and on February 8th.

September 15th

Zone 1	<130
Zone 2	130 -143
Zone 3	144 -150
Zone 4	151 -159
Zone 5	>159

February 8th

Zone 1	<132
Zone 2	123 -145
Zone 3	146 -157
Zone 4	158 -169
Zone 5	>169

 

[DJMayes]

Can you post a screenshot from the Garmin App?

In any case, it's useless to compare yourself with others, each has his own particulars. You can only compare with yourself; with time and structured training you'll gain fitness and your heart zones will move up, not by too much, but enough to make a difference.

I've attached a copy here.

 

[____no5]

Something doesn't add up. Your max heart rate is 200? What is the biggest value you have actually seen with your eyes?

 

[DJMayes]

Something doesn't add up. Your max heart rate is 200? What is the biggest value you have actually seen with your eyes?

I don't remember but I do know that the heart zones on my watch changed after detecting a higher max heart rate than it had estimated during one run.

What value would you be expecting for a 29 year old male?

 

[____no5]

What value would you be expecting for a 29 year old male?

191 by the rule of thumb. Nevermind, 200 is right. Reverting.