AM – 5 miles with Lucy. From a pace, HR perspective, almost embarrassingly slow. 9 min pace average, AHR at 140. I just am not awake with these mornings. Lucy is getting in good (great actually) shape.
Started reading "Relentless Forward Progress” last night. Easy reading, as I was at page 50 in pretty short order. I will get a more comprehensive review out soon.
The Ryan Hall interview on Competitor is good.
Another good review of MUT news from the TA.
Yesterday I added back to the post about a result from last year’s PPA … a 16 year old putting up a 2:47 is fairly impressive. Been thinking about Pikes a bit … but less about performance and more about things I think that could “spice” it up. Here are a few ideas:
1.) Team competition. Last year’s PPA race was a WMRA team race. I thought that extending this to various other teams could be interesting. Fleet Feet versus Pearl Izumi versus Inov8 versus Boulder Running Co. You get the idea.
2.) Up the ante on the awards … Comrades has different awards to folks finishing at different intervals (really not much different than belt buckles at some of the ultras). I’d love to see a PP buckle for different levels.
3.) Provide longevity awards … provide an award to the people that have done this race, oh – ten times. I guess that could happen in five years if a person doubled that many years in a row, so maybe it is for 20 finishes.
So of course, 1 and 2 can become its own spin off combination … awards for the fastest team, the fastest couple, the fastest doubler, the fastest parent sibling. I also wonder what ever happened to Zeb Pike giving out the awards. He was there the first year I competed but I have not seen him since.
Question that came up in my head yesterday given Jeff’s comment … should races like BTMR and Pikes actually have entry not open until closer to race day? I get Jeff’s point that is hard to commit to a race that far out because you may get injured, or other things happen. Alternatively, a race should open up its doors sooner so that folks can plan (logistics in addition to training) well ahead. Thoughts?
Been thinking about trying out the Hokas … simply I might be looking for a more cush ride on downhills … because I have become much more tentative on those over the last couple of years.
On that front, not Hokas but took these Technica Diablo’s for a spin this afternoon. 9 miles easy. Legs were a bit dead but the afternoon pace was right … , floating around 8s, 140 HR. I am leaning a bit (52, 48) more towards the 25 today, and thinking I just push up a general build up this week. It feels right. For whatever reason, 2 weeks ago, getting a speed run or two a week felt right and it does not now.
Picked up RFP as well, will start it after I finish Marshall's book. Nice to see you figuring out how to train for an ultra before Saturday.
ReplyDeletere: Race registration...
ReplyDeleteMaybe a good compromise would be the option to transfer your bib like they do at Imogene for a small, but fair fee (like $5 or $10). How tough is that? Delete old name/age/info, insert new.
Got a PP tri idea..... Drive up PP Highway (PP Hill Climb style), Bike back down to Manitou on the same road, then run the Ascent.
ReplyDeletere: Race registration part 2
ReplyDeleteAlso, Fu#K the ill fitting purple or lime green race shirt after a certain date and/or make it an option (cheaper race fee without).
Brownie - still on the fence as to whether that is a 50 or a 25. I may not know until I get to 25 this weekend. Drop me a line if you want to stay up in Fairplay the night before.
ReplyDeleteSean - so are you saying he left his XC season on the mountain? Obviously you don't need to answer that.
Jeff - yeah, I hear you. Devil's advocate ... it is a logistic hassle for the RD - and probably more so with Pikes because of the checking of credentials (race history).
Chris - drive a car? Then bike down? Then run up? That is awesome. Someone would surely die though.
>Hokas
ReplyDeleteI'm just going to tie on a couple of partially-deflated basketballs. That ought to do it.
Seriously, I think about them at the end of every long run when my legs are pounded. They are crazy light too.
Jeff, out of curiosity you have any blister issues in the Hoka heel? I think you said you've run in them.
>PP... drive
Hmmm, time to watch this again: http://tinyurl.com/3fgo5ha
Craig, I had a similar idea for a Mt. Evans tri - swim in Echo Lake, bike to the summit, run the trail back down.
ReplyDeleteHoly cold swim.
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ReplyDeletegee, I wonder from whom mtrunner2 heard that hokas destroy your feet...
ReplyDeleteSo, no one seems to think putting on race events cost money. Most rely on registration money to pay for things well in advance of the race. Shelling out $2,000+ for race shirts out of your personal funds is no fun. Lots of expenses leading up to races. I seem to be the minority but I like early reg. I was staring at the Bear 100 race site waiting for that sucker to open reg.
Yeah, I'm with TL actually. I know it sucks to put the cash up before hand, but seeing some of the back end of race setup and support I understand why it's done. Especially with a race (races) like PPA/PPM that are such a logistical clusterfu*k, having things done and not having to worry about them would be huge.
ReplyDeleteThat said, as a poor man, I have a tough time shelling out the cash. Part of the reason I have less and less desire to shell out the $10K it would take to get into States one of these days.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteJust to play devil's advocate here:
It seems like actually kicking him off the team for the reason of him acting out of his own self-interest would mean that you'd have to kick off (a hypothetical) someone with the talent to be on your varsity but just so happens to REALLY like the taste of cookies and cake and so is too fat and out of shape to contribute when if he could just lay off the sugar he'd be leading the team.
Kicking a kid off the team for being too fat probably wouldn't go over very well. Kicking anyone off the team for not living up to their expected talent seems like a very tenuous proposition to me.
Kid's make all kinds of dumb decisions acting out of self-interest, but if he races Pikes and still wants to race cross-country it doesn't seem like you can kick him off the team just because he races slower than you think (probably, KNOW) he could be.
Totally awesome that you're a high school coach, though, I didn't know that. Also, I don't envy your position in this situation. It's a tough one.
Also, any chance he doesn't have the talent at the shorter stuff but is just more suited for longer races? I haven't looked up the kids times, so I'm just putting that out as a possibiity.
Finally, total sidenote: what the hell ever happened to Andy Dimmen?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnton:
ReplyDeleteAndy Dimmen works for UCCS or something like that. He was working with Andrew Subudhi in the Exercise Phys department as a grad assistant. I went to high school with Andy. It seemed that back then he was going to be the next great mountain runner and he was training very hard with Matt Carpenter. I think he just ran himself into the ground. I know he was doing the incline all the time and running on Barr quite a bit. I think he dosen't even run anymore.
Hey Adam,
ReplyDeleteHunh. Yeah, I'd known he'd kinda dropped off the scene, but it's too bad it sounds like he's quit running altogether.
T
Not sure if this is the case with Andy, but ... I see folks who have had a modicum of success in the competitive side of the sport, and then struggle when they can't maintain that. And in fact, would rather do nothing in the sport if they can't do that at the level they once did.
ReplyDeleteI'm always late to the comment party:
ReplyDeleteOn the topic #2, a few months ago I suggested to Ron that the PPA/M start handing out nicer jackets, but he kicker is that they were color coded based on your AG placement. Black for the top 25%, Red for 25 -> 50 and green for the rest (adjust % as needed). While a bit more of a pain, folks could actually try on the jackets at the expo and select the size that fits them, then the race can place the order the week after for exactly what they need (vs the current stock situation where they basically have to guess at who will show up end up totally out of larges and x-smalls, have a ton of XL's, etc). Folks will also know that the one they ordered will actually fit, unlike the usual game of chance we play when we select a size based on nothing other than the description of 'shirt.'
Also, for the Colorado Tri: Swim at Chatfield, bike (Highway 67 -> 24 or similar) to manitou and then do the PPM. Hold it in mid September due to the stable weather we have then.
On the race entry bit, for races that fill up fast (PPM) they could go with a tiered registration system: 1000 slots, 900 are 'early bird' for say $100, the remaining 100 are 'last chance' and open 4 weeks prior to the race at $200 (donate the delta to whoever). A lack of commitment will cost you. :-)
John - I like the shirt idea. They sort of do that with the Doubler shirts now ... you could order your "awarded" shirt.
ReplyDelete