How could this happen? - Part II

Have your ever head of tapering? Take it easy before a race. Training tears your body down. When it
is rebuilt it is better. During training this is an ongoing process. However at race time, you want
to be in your best shape. Take some time to give your body a rest before a race.

The best time is different for each of us, but most people believe a very easy week the week
before a 5K and maybe increasingly easy weeks for three weeks before a marathon is most helpful.

Also we all have good and bad days. It happens, live with it. I might also add that it appears
you started off too fast and that did it. In any race, especially long ones, start slow, if you
are doing great, you can make it up later. The other way around just does not work. Kill
yourself at the beginning of the race and you do [censored] the rest of the race.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

"Parker Race" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was inspired by the subject of the previous post titled "How could this happen". I guess it
could be "what happened"? I started racing again last Sunday. It was my first race since injuring
my foot on August 11th. I have been running regularly again since August

22nd.

Quoted message said:

I ran a somewhat disappointing 21:56 in a 5k that I ran 20:30 in last

year.

Quoted message said:

I thought I'm rusty, it will get better, etc. Yesterday I ran an very disappointing 22:42 in 5k
that I ran 20:31 in last year! It is a tougher course but 46 seconds? I knew what was coming as I
ran the course before at 9:30 pace and it felt tiring. I had run 50 miles in the six days prior
including a 19+ miler on Tuesday and a hard run on Thursday, but I did take Friday off completely.

This is frustrating and somewhat embarrassing. I'm considering dropping

out

Quoted message said:

of the NYC marathon after this. How long will it take to get back to running faster with some
degree of comfort again? I ran the first mile in 7:11 and it felt like I was racing the mile! I'm
a little leery of track work as my foot isn't back to normal yet. Maybe I should run intervals on
a treadmill?

Any suggestions are more than welcome!

"Joseph Meehan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Have your ever head of tapering? Take it easy before a race.

Training

Quoted message said:

tears your body down. When it is rebuilt it is better. During training this is an ongoing process.
However at race time, you want to be in your best shape. Take some time to give your body a rest
before a race.

The best time is different for each of us, but most people believe a very easy week the week
before a 5K and maybe increasingly easy weeks for three weeks before a marathon is most
helpful.

That hasn't been my practice and I've done well without tapering in the past. My wife and another
team mate ran a track and tempo this week and placed 2nd and 3rd in the women's race. My wife
took Friday off but I am pretty sure the other woman ran at least 8 or 9 on Friday, she doesn't
take days off.

Quoted message said:

Also we all have good and bad days. It happens, live with it. I might also add that it appears
you started off too fast and that did it. In any race, especially long ones, start slow, if
you are doing great, you can

make

Quoted message said:

it up later. The other way around just does not work.

The point is 7:11 is a slow start for me in a 5k. My 1st mile in a 10k is usually around 7:00.

Quoted message said:

Kill yourself at the beginning of the race and you do [censored] the rest of the race.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

"Parker Race" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was inspired by the subject of the previous post titled "How could

this

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

happen". I guess it could be "what happened"? I started racing again last Sunday. It was my
first race since injuring

my

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

foot on August 11th. I have been running regularly again since August

22nd.

Quoted message said:

I ran a somewhat disappointing 21:56 in a 5k that I ran 20:30 in last

year.

Quoted message said:

I thought I'm rusty, it will get better, etc. Yesterday I ran an very disappointing 22:42 in 5k
that I ran 20:31 in last year! It is a tougher course but 46 seconds? I knew what was coming as
I ran the course before at 9:30 pace and it

felt

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

tiring. I had run 50 miles in the six days prior including a 19+ miler on

Tuesday

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and a hard run on Thursday, but I did take Friday off completely.

This is frustrating and somewhat embarrassing. I'm considering dropping

out

Quoted message said:

of the NYC marathon after this. How long will it take to get back to running faster with some
degree of comfort again? I ran the first mile in 7:11 and it felt like I was

racing

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the mile! I'm a little leery of track work as my foot isn't back to normal yet. Maybe I should
run intervals on a treadmill?

Any suggestions are more than welcome!

Joe, Parker is an old poster around here. He slings enough BS to make a farmer jealous. Ignore him.

Parker Race said:

"Joseph Meehan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Have your ever head of tapering? Take it easy before a race.

Training

Quoted message said:

tears your body down. When it is rebuilt it is better. During training this is an ongoing
process. However at race time, you want to be in your best shape. Take some time to give your
body a rest before a race.

The best time is different for each of us, but most people believe a very easy week the week
before a 5K and maybe increasingly easy weeks for three weeks before a marathon is most
helpful.

That hasn't been my practice and I've done well without tapering in the past. My wife and another
team mate ran a track and tempo this week and placed 2nd and 3rd in the women's race. My wife took
Friday off but I am pretty sure the other woman ran at least 8 or 9 on Friday, she doesn't take
days off.

Quoted message said:

Also we all have good and bad days. It happens, live with it. I might also add that it
appears you started off too fast and that did it. In any race, especially long ones, start
slow, if you are doing great, you can

make

Quoted message said:

it up later. The other way around just does not work.

The point is 7:11 is a slow start for me in a 5k. My 1st mile in a 10k is usually around 7:00.

Quoted message said:

Kill yourself at the beginning of the race and you do [censored] the rest of the race.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

"Parker Race" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was inspired by the subject of the previous post titled "How could

this

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

happen". I guess it could be "what happened"? I started racing again last Sunday. It was my
first race since injuring

my

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

foot on August 11th. I have been running regularly again since August

22nd.

Quoted message said:

I ran a somewhat disappointing 21:56 in a 5k that I ran 20:30 in last

year.

Quoted message said:

I thought I'm rusty, it will get better, etc. Yesterday I ran an very disappointing 22:42 in 5k
that I ran 20:31 in last year! It is a tougher course but 46 seconds? I knew what was coming as
I ran the course before at 9:30 pace and it

felt

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

tiring. I had run 50 miles in the six days prior including a 19+ miler on

Tuesday

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and a hard run on Thursday, but I did take Friday off completely.

This is frustrating and somewhat embarrassing. I'm considering dropping

out

Quoted message said:

of the NYC marathon after this. How long will it take to get back to running faster with some
degree of comfort again? I ran the first mile in 7:11 and it felt like I was

racing

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the mile! I'm a little leery of track work as my foot isn't back to normal yet. Maybe I should
run intervals on a treadmill?

Any suggestions are more than welcome!

Parker Race said:

That hasn't been my practice and I've done well without tapering in the past.

Operative word, the "past." You are not back to same training level recovery rate. You race times
etc. are telling you that you have a ways to go. I'll use the dirty word "patience."

Do the marathon but tone down your finish time expectations.

--
Doug Freese [email hidden]

In article said:

I was inspired by the subject of the previous post titled "How could this happen". I guess it
could be "what happened"? I started racing again last Sunday. It was my first race since injuring
my foot on August 11th. I have been running regularly again since August 22nd.

I ran a somewhat disappointing 21:56 in a 5k that I ran 20:30 in last year. I thought I'm rusty,
it will get better, etc. Yesterday I ran an very disappointing 22:42 in 5k that I ran 20:31 in
last year! It is a tougher course but 46 seconds?

A tougher course could make that much difference IMO.

Quoted message said:

I knew what was coming as I ran the course before at 9:30 pace and it felt tiring. I had run 50
miles in the six days prior including a 19+ miler on Tuesday and a hard run on Thursday, but I did
take Friday off completely.

I'm not sure I get your point. Do you think that you're going to run *faster* *immediately* after
doing high milage ? It doesn't work like that. You're going to be worn down from a relatively tough
training week. Read my response to Ryan.

There's a huge difference between

(a) steadily building up to 50 miles a week, then coming down from that milage and racing
(b) running 50 miles in a week and then racing before you've even adapted to the milage.

Quoted message said:

This is frustrating and somewhat embarrassing. I'm considering dropping out of the NYC marathon
after this. How long will it take to get back to running faster with some degree of comfort again?
I ran the first mile in 7:11 and it felt like I was racing the mile! I'm a little leery of track
work as my foot isn't back to normal yet. Maybe I should run intervals on a treadmill?

Any suggestions are more than welcome!

You should get your speed back very quickly, provided that you don't run yourself into the ground. I
ran a 10k race after a layoff at an embarrassingly slow (7:24) pace. It was my slowest race of the
year, 24 seconds per mile slower than a 10 miler at the start of the year. I was back to normal
times after a week of training. This was with very light speedwork (just some fartlek).

It sounds like you're at serious risk of overtraining. For now, I'd suggest just doing light fartlek
for speed work. It will address the neuromuscular aspects of running. I'd also suggest brining the
milage down a little maybe more like 40 miles per week.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

In article said:

"Joseph Meehan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Have your ever head of tapering? Take it easy before a race.

Training

Quoted message said:

tears your body down. When it is rebuilt it is better. During training this is an ongoing
process. However at race time, you want to be in your best shape. Take some time to give your
body a rest before a race.

The best time is different for each of us, but most people believe a very easy week the week
before a 5K and maybe increasingly easy weeks for three weeks before a marathon is most
helpful.

That hasn't been my practice and I've done well without tapering in the past.

Yes, but this time, you did the opposite of tapering. Tapering is when you come *down* from
*high* milage. But this time, you came *up* from *no* milage. There's a limit to how badly you
can train and still get away with it. In the big scheme of things (the upcoming marathon), your
50 mile week and long run wasn't really a "bad" thing, but in terms of the 5k race, it was
nothing short of suicidal.

So don't worry about it too much, but try to bring your volume down a little. That way, you will
reap the benefits of the previous week.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Parker Race said:

I ran a somewhat disappointing 21:56 in a 5k that I ran 20:30 in last year. I thought I'm rusty, it
will get better, etc. Yesterday I ran an very disappointing 22:42 in 5k that I ran 20:31 in last
year! It is a tougher course but 46 seconds?

Any change in weight?

"steve common" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Parker Race said:

I ran a somewhat disappointing 21:56 in a 5k that I ran 20:30 in last

year.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I thought I'm rusty, it will get better, etc. Yesterday I ran an very disappointing 22:42 in 5k
that I ran 20:31 in last year! It is a tougher course but 46 seconds?

Any change in weight?

Yes, I'm a little lighter.