Reflection from race and for upcoming races
1. The value of long distance
As part of my training I always reflect on the run I had just finished. In this case a 50k through the woods of Philadelphia. Generally speaking I take a look at my pace, the way I felt after, and the gear I used. I want to make myself a better runner, so it takes really break down how things, broke down during the race.
The first thing I always look at is my pace through the race. I have a tom-tom with the app that allows me to look at everything from my pace to elevation. My focus goes directly to the first 5 miles. The way I see it, those first five miles can make or break the rest of the race. Start out to fast and ruin your legs for the second half or the last couple of miles of the run, go out to slow and be safe with your legs, but not be able to catch the other runners you should normally be running against. I want to always shoot for anywhere between 9 and 10 minutes per mile, the slowest being 10:20 and the fastest being 9:00 flat. I don’t like starting out to fast because I need my legs and feet feeling ok for the end of the race. I am always critical about my pace, always, but this time I feel like I need to be. The first five miles were all under 9:00, closer to 8:30 per mile. I never want to be that fast, I want to stay back and let my legs and feet get the motion and the feel for the ground. During race day I couldn’t feel myself getting faster, I could feel the ground though stomping under my feet. I did however notice at mile 6 that I slowed down, there didn’t seem to be any elevation, so it must have been a conscience thing to get my pace back on track.
So how do you fix it? The first way is by constantly saying the mantra, run your own race. During Spartans, during ultras, during regular runs I say this to myself. Who cares if there a guy running faster than you, who cares if you are getting passed along the way. I need to remind myself that it is my race, and I can either destroy myself in the beginning, or run a race that I am proud of. I was very proud of my time this year, don’t get me wrong, but I could have felt a lot better after the race if I would have just slowed down in the beginning. Lesson learned, but I need to find a way to really feel the change in my stride and speed. This weekend I am going for a longish run, probably 15 miles, I am going to try to focus on staying in the sweet spot the entire time and getting to know how I feel during that area of pace. I am going to religiously look at my watch and slow myself down and ONLY keep it in that zone. The ONLY time I am in the 8’s is when I feel good and it is closer to the end.
2. Prepping for the next race
My next race will be my first marathon. I have never run a marathon race before, so I thought I would try it. Twenty-six miles through the woods. It is so close to an ultra that I am going to run the race just as I would run an ultra. I will also be training as such. Tomorrow will be my fun run for watching my pace, but it will also be for the feel of it. I don’t think my nutrition was off this last race, but I think I want to see how far I can go without it. I have gone 9 miles before, but I think I can go 15 miles without food. It will be for nothing more than to get the feel of it.
I have opted for a new running plan that incorporates lifting and going to the gym. I was looking for something that was not going to be as mundane as just running all the time, yes, running is important when preparing for a running race, but I feel like getting the muscles in the legs and core are just as important. Think about it, besides recently, I did not run the entire time at a 50k, there was time I hiked to catch my breath or relax my feet. The dirty German was the first race I actually ran the whole way. There were three phases to the running calendar. I am sharing the second phase because I am not starting with the first one. I have too much of a background to go back and run a 3 mile with some tempo. Here is the phase and plan I am using for the next 9 weeks (basically throughout the summer) to help me meet my goals and needs as a runner.
BUILD PHASE: 9 weeks Add some hiking into your long runs, and gradually increase your mileage until you reach around 50 miles per week. MON: Easy run 4 to 5 miles, with a few pickups or strides thrown in (start with 15 seconds, and build to 1 minute) TUE: Strength workout Increase to 2 x 12 reps and boost the weight. Optional: 30 to 45 minutes of XT or easy running. As you progress in the build and peak phases, use Tuesday and/or Thursday to up your mileage with an easy run. WED: Tempo run 4 to 5 miles at 80 percent effort. Choose a course with lots of hills and push yourself, fartlek style, on the steeps (up and down). Or select one steep hill and do 2- to 4-minute repeats. THU: Strength workout (repeat Tuesday) FRI: Rest SAT: Long run Start with whatever you built to in the base phase, and add 15 to 30 minutes each week. Introduce power-hiking in this workout, on hilly trails if possible. By the end of this phase, your long run should be 18 to 20 miles. SUN: Rest or walk/jog 2 to 4 miles
3. Major strengths and weaknesses
Strengths:
I ran a solid 30 miles. Normally when I run a 50k I run and hike a good portion of the last 12 miles. I have been trying to push myself to run as much of every 50k as I can. The Dirty German had a lot of hills so it took a little bit to get to the top, but I didn’t stop unless I needed to. The moving time on my watch says roughly 13 minutes of walking/no movement. This tells me I did a nice job of trying to keep up with my pace and staying on my feet.
Another strength I feel I had worked on was my nutrition. I noticed that during my ultra-beast I did not eat well, nor drink well, and because of this I felt like death. I had practiced for the two weeks to make sure I understood how to eat properly and keep up with my calories throughout the entire race. I felt like I did that. From start to finish of the race I thought my nutrition was on point, even foregoing some of the rest stops because I didn’t want to ham the caloric work I had done throughout the race.
Weakness:
My biggest weakness was the fact that I started out way to fast. As I mentioned in the AAR, I started my pace with an 8:00 to 9:00 minute pace and I should have started with a 9 to 10 minute pace. Starting out slower would have been better to help my pace and to continue a better pace throughout the entire race. I know this was a weakness and it is something I am currently fixing.
The secondary weakness is time on my feet. I am starting to realize I need to spend more time in the woods or the road on my feet than I have in the past. After the last race I wanted to find an answer for the question: why do my feet hurt so badly. The answer? Time on feet needs to be more. After the last race it felt like someone was poking my feet with a hot knife. I couldn’t shake it regardless of the stretching or walking on grass I was doing. I went around for a few days without any type of restrictive shoe, but nothing really worked. I know my weakness of not spending enough time on my feet is a big problem, I have a very limited amount of time for training, so I try to get as much in as I can, but clearly it wasn’t enough. Adopting the new training plan I had decided to get up at least 3-4 days a week and really push the time on my feet.
4. Goals:
After finishing the Dirty German with a PR of more than an hour I realized I want to become faster. With this goal I plan to push myself to get into the top tiers of my age group and get my percentage on ultrasignup.com every higher. I started out running ultras with a 35% rating. Through the last two years I have slowly started to work my way up into the standings. Recently, finishing the Trap Pond in 1st place, PR’ing my Dirty German by an hour, has helped my overall score to 84% for age and 70% for overall. I know it is a lofty goal, but I would like to see my percentages in the 90th percentile. To achieve that goal, I have set my plan in place, and now I just need to work through it.