Big Soccer Runners Thread (R)

Discussion in 'Other Sports' started by hangthadj, Nov 9, 2007.

  1. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Since I've moved out to Connecticut a few months back, I've actually taken up running. It started just at the gym, and then suddenly I found myself registering for 5k races, 5 mile races, and actually next years Indianapolis Mini Marathon as well.

    I was actually pretty encourged with my first 5k two weeks back. I finished in 23:58. Averaging 7:43 a mile, and finished 31 of 70 (very tiny race). I ran another 5k in Philly last weekend, with much larger particapation and finished in under 25 for that as well, even though the first quarter mile was just more or less power walking shoulder to shoulder. before traffic seperated a bit.

    Now I have a 5 miler thanksgiving morning. But, of course the longterm goal is the mini in Indianapolis the first weekend in May, which I hope to do in around 1 hour 50 minutes.

    Anyone else training for races in the near future?
     
  2. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Finally got an email with my results from last weekend. Turns out I was 131st out of 700. So...while I didn't beat my time from the weekend before, I did finish higher percentage wise. (31st outta 70 my first race).

    Since this thread is so hopping. Let's talk about gear. As of right now, I am running in Nike Air Zoom Vomero 2's. They also have the nike + running capability so i got that ipod chip and have been running with that.

    Are there any great sites online for winter running gear?

    I try to support my local shops, but being local and small, they are sometimes a bit pricey.
     
  3. Jeff

    Jeff Member

    Apr 14, 1999
    Alexandria, NOVA
  4. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Looks like you got a good local store, Jeff. Very cool. I love when the local stores get really involved in promoting races and shit all around the area and whatnot.

    So, I am still in training mode. Five miler Thanksgiving morning and I am excited. I ran a 8 mile training run today at a 8:20 pace per mile. I would love to finish the five miler in under 40. That would be mega. But, being only my third race, and definitely my longest, i am just looking forward to having a good time above all.
     
  5. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    How'd you like the nike + stuff, Hang? I'm going to go buy the ipod sensor today, I think. It seems like a good motivational tool to get me running regularly. I have to get one of the lace pouches, though, as I'll be sticking with my Asics GT 2020s. How'd your 5 miler go?

    Q
     
  6. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew

    I love the nike + stuff. It took me several weeks before I utilized the website, but I've loved that as well once I figured it all out. It's pretty incredible. The only problem is I've gone through 3 sets of headphones in the past few months. Apparently my long hair sweat seeps into the headphones. Bogus. I wound up getting soom Nike shoes as well, but everyone that I've talked to that has the lace pouch has had no complaints whatsoever. How do you like those Asics? I've tried on a few pairs recently and loved them.

    My 5 miler was sorta meh. I wasn't too pleased with my time. I finished in 39:47. Under 8 minute splits so thats okay, I just wasn't happy at all with my last mile, I definitely faded a bit there and had a real bad side stich about a quarter mile from the end.

    Since then I've had two really good races though. One 3 miler where we I finished 6th (of 22) in my class (30-40 males) and had 7:17 splits. And, I had one 5k last weekend where I set a personal best (21:55). So I was thrilled about that.

    Tomorrow, I have my first 10k of the year, and am gonna attempt to finish in 48 (which would be 7:30 mile splits). It might be a bit ambitious, but I feel good about my training, we'll see how it goes.
     
  7. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    I've been wearing the Asics GT 2xxx series almost exclusively for the past 10 years. I loved my 2100s, didn't like my 2110s (didn't fit well, gave me arch problems), and like my 2120s so far. I was reading some reviews that people who didn't like the 2120s are happy with the changes to the new 2130s. I've got a ways before getting to those, though.

    Good luck on your 10K tomorrow. I'm hoping to be up for one of those by the end of the year, although, I doubt I'll be ready for the big local one, the Bolder Boulder, in May.

    http://www.bolderboulder.com/

    Should probably start with a 5K this summer.

    Q
     
  8. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Unofficially I finished my 10k (6.2 miles) in under 46 minutes. My goal was 48 minutes. I'm on cloud nine right now. I thought I went out far too fast. Around the five mile mark there was a steady uphill, for about half a mile. Here is the course and elevation map...

    [​IMG]

    At the top of that hill i was 60% sure I had to vomit, but i got through without doing so.

    And beyond that people are starting to recognize me at the races. A few times during warmups and while crossing the finish line I heard an, "Alright, scotty!" or "Hey, Indianiapolis!"

    Pretty damn cool.

    I am thrilled.
     
  9. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Got my first Nike+ run in Sunday. Pretty cool. The website has some great motivational tools. Running for team Rapids in the MLS Team Challenge. Running for CU in some of the college alumni ones. Lots of fun graphical representations of my run. Looking forward to my second one today. Q
     
  10. The-FIFA-kid

    The-FIFA-kid New Member

    Mar 30, 2007
    Scotland
    yeh, i felt i needed to get my fitness up so just started jogging about 4-5miles a couple of times a week. My fitness got a lot better and got more active and trained a lot on the treadmill at the gym. I entered the cross country team for my school beating the top runners in my school so am now just planning on sticking at running. (Although after xmas hoildays, i ate a bit to much so struggling a bit :eek:). Any way i am basically just going to do cross country with my school and train at gym then enter the 10K Lock ness run in October. My long long term goal is when im 18 finish the Loch ness marathon then hopfully London marathon when im in my twentys. If i ever do a marathon i will probably do it for charity.
     
  11. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    How's it going for everyone? I hit a road block this week when my cold moved into my chest. Coughing and running don't go well together. Got back out this weekend, though. Still looking good to get my goal of 12 runs in 4 weeks. Its really nice to be back out running regularly after a sporadic few years. Q
     
  12. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Don't colds suck for running?

    January was a rough month for me outside of the 10k race. Oh, and I wound up finishing 25th outta 228 in a 5k race as well. That was great news.

    I was pushing 30-35 miles a week at the end of December, only to fall back a bit mid month. Colds, and freakin sore knees!!! I found out that it wasn't really my knee though, but my IT band. I wound up looking up some better streches to do pre-post run and I am feeling better again now. Last week I got in 26 miles, which is my longest so far in January. And I got in a 9 miler on Sunday, which is my longest run of the new year.

    Looking at the calendar I hope to get in 1-2 races in February, and then really start pushing towards the Indianapolis Mini in May.
     
  13. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Have you ever tried yoga? My Dad swears by it to get through his injuries. I've always felt it works well strengthening and stretching simultaneously. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get into one of the classes at the rec due to timing. I think I'll be trying one in the summer.

    How do you find out about local races? I've been perusing the web today. Found one site that seemed fairly informative.

    http://www.runningintheusa.com/Races.asp

    I'm hoping to try a few 5Ks in May and June.
    Q
     
  14. Chizzy

    Chizzy Member+

    She/Her
    United States
    Aug 7, 2003
    Upper Left, USA
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I run just to keep myself in shape and my current lbs where it should be. I'm getting married, so I can't afford to gain (or lose) more! ;)
     
  15. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Yeah, i really would love to be doing some yoga more often. I have some simple core exercises that a friend taught me, but I haven't taken any classes just for lack of funds.

    That running in the usa site is helpful. I look on there for races in different states quite a bit. But for connecticut races, it's much easier for me to check a few local resources. www.hitekracing.com just rocks for it's connecticut schedules. every state should have a resource like that by law!

    got in a solid ten miles yesterday. feel pretty darn good about that.
     
  16. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Ran my first 5K in about 11 years today. Wasn't really ready for a race, but the campus triathalon team was having a fundraiser, so I thought I'd give it a try. Wanted to beat 25 minutes, ran a 24:12, so I'm pretty happy with that. Something to build off of anyways.

    Q
     
  17. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    dude, thats great. beating your goal time by almost a full minute in your first race in 11 years? that's freakin awesome. how much were you training before then? how many miles a week?

    I gotta 4 mile race this weekend, Saturday morning. Supposed to be freakin 25 degrees at race time. And I've gone down from about 30 miles a week to 15-20 the past month and a half while fighting off a few aches and pains. Not exactly confident going into it. But, I'm gonna throw out a 28:30 goal and see if I can somehow make it happen.
     
  18. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    After 11 years, I wasn't sure what I was hoping to beat. Knew I couldn't run like I could back in highschool, but wanted to push myself past my training rate, so yeah my time makes me happy. It is fun getting back out racing... making an ill-advised surge at the half-mile mark that I knew I'd pay for at the 2-mile mark and stuff like that.

    I was training about 10+ miles/week. Running three to four times and adding some spinning and weights on off days.

    Good luck on your 4 miler and the cold weather. Q
     
  19. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Man oh man. My race this morning kicked my ass. I think I need a coach, or at least a watch, my race strategy is just awful these days.

    It was a 4 miler, the YMCA Sweetheart Run. I had no training at all this week, so I was debating even skipping it. But then I looked at last years results and saw that if I ran a 30 minute race, I would have placed for my age group last year, so I figured that was doable and I should go. What I didn't figure was that the hills would kick my ass completely.

    The first mile was generally rolling with a few short inclines. But when we got to the first mile split and called out the times I was under 6:30. Shit! That was about 30 seconds quicker than I wanted to go out. Mile 2 I was under 14, even after a shoe lace tie. By the end of mile 3 I was at 22 even. But mile four sucked. Almost entirely uphill. Just awful. Steepest race incline that I have had yet. In the final 1/4 mile I traded places with this one guy like three times as we each started our kicks far too early. Finally, I get to the finish line in a last sprint with a time of 29:56. And a few yards later, while still in the finishing queue, waiting for my bib tag to be torn I leaned over and threw up. Ridiculous. I guess that means I couldn't have run any harder. But man, that race just killed me.

    Wound up with 7:29 splits and a 41st place outta 184. A time that woulda been good enough for a trophy placing (3rd) in my age group last year, wound up being 8th this year. No worries though. I still hit my goal (by 4 seconds) and I guess I should feel good about that.

    I need to get in some more hill training though, that was just an unacceptable feeling of tiredness after that race.
     
  20. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    That's a great time coming in without any training that week. Congrats. It still looks like your last mile was pretty good considering it was uphill.

    Race training can be pretty tough. You may want to do some interval workouts (2 mi warmup, then 3 all-out miles with a two minute break between, 2 mi cool down). Other workouts include: Find a big hill. Run up and down it several times. :) Cross-country was such fun in high school!

    I hate being sick. Got a recurrance of my cold after my run Sunday morning. Knocked the crap out of me. Finally got back out there today.
     
  21. FabFiveFigo

    FabFiveFigo Member

    Sep 16, 2002
    Northern SC
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've been running the last couple weeks for the first time in about 10 years. I was a very competative racer in my early 20s, so it feels odd being so slow. I think I may start racing in the summer a bit but I have to mentally prepare myself for seeing some different numbers and doing new math in regards to pacing.

    I'm looking forward to getting back into it. I really enjoy the feeling of being fast, although that may take some time to accomplish.

    HangthaDJ,
    While I'd never hang a shingle out as a running coach, I am a fairly experienced racer (albeit many years ago) and would be happy to chat through strategy if you like.
     
  22. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    How's the mini-marathon training going hang? I've been picking up the mileage and pace really well. I'm looking good to get up to 20 mi. this week.

    We have a Road Runner Sports outlet nearby, so I went in last weekend and got fitted for some shoes. They have some cool technology analyzing your pronation and stability. I ended up switching to a neutral shoe from a stability shoe, the Asics Cumulus 9. I've liked them so far.
     
  23. YankHibee

    YankHibee Member+

    Mar 28, 2005
    indianapolis
    Hey all, just found this thread. I started running again last summer after stopping in Oct 99--the last race I ran in college. I was by no means an elite college runner, but pretty good for the rest of the population--back then I'd do a 5 mile in around 29 minutes most days. Fast forward several thousand packs of cigs, a few injuries, law school, and sedentary lifestyle...anyway, I got sick of all of that and started running again. I have my first 5k race coming up in two weeks, and a half marathon in 5. I've had a few setbacks recently with my IT band flaring up, so I'm not really sure where I stand as far as a goal time. I think there will be too many people in the 5k to get a really good idea, but I plan on just going balls out.

    I've been running in Asics Kayanos since xmas, they're decent, but I'll probably switch back to the GT20 series once I wear these out.
     
  24. hangthadj

    hangthadj Member+

    A.S. Roma
    Mar 27, 2001
    Zone 14
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Hey, I meant to reply to this earlier in the week. It's tough to say how good my training is going. Life has been getting really busy, and I've been taking on more responsibility at work, so my mileage has been between 18-24 per week for the past month. Ideally, I'd love to be getting in more miles, but it just hasn't been happening. That said my long training runs have been around 12 miles. And my splits have been quicker in my long runs than my 6 or 7 mile runs, so thats encourging. I don't have any real long race beforehand. I have a 10k the week before the 1/2 but that will be my longest race before then, which is less than ideal. However, I do think I can finish it in under 1:45 which I'd be happy with for my first half.

    I got in 6 this am and hoping to get 12 or 13 tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

    Isn't that sorta technology great? Glad you found a pair of shoes that works for you. It's incredible what a difference that can make.

    Hey, looking at your location, curious as to which half you are running. Are you doing the Indy half, or maybe the Geist half? If Indy, meet me at the beer tent afterwards.

    A 29 minute five miler is pretty damn awesome.

    Nothing is more irritating than IT band problems.
     
  25. Quango

    Quango BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 25, 2003
    Colorado
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Are you still using Nike+? If you or anyone else wants to do a mileage challenge, let me know. Q
     

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