Friday, November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving Races

We had 5 TFI athletes running races yesterday. What better way to start Thanksgiving than to pre-burn your calories?

RT was running a 12k race to Hoover Dam outside of Las Vegas. It was a hilly course on gravel roads which presented a new challenge for RT. Because of the hills and numerous tunnels (how cool is that) he had no gps for pacing. He used heart rate and rpe (rate of perceived exertion) to set his pace. He finished strong picking off runners all the way to the finish line.

As previously blogged, OB and Ang were both running an 8 mile Turkey Trot in Dallas. OB used the race to test our LT calculation. When we did his test we tried to be conservative in calculating his LT to avoid running too hard and potentially getting injured. The race results reflected this as he was able to run at LT and then kick it in for the last mile well above LT. Great job OB!

Ang was using the 8 miler as a tuneup prior to the Rock n Roll 1/2 in Las Vegas, December 6. It went as planned and she is now recovering and tapering in preparation for the big race.

BK and Coach Rich ran the Fast Before the Feast 10k in White Bear Lake, Mn. BK stuck to his plan and finished strong (passing Coach Rich with just under 2 miles to go). Add the 1 hour massage BK won in the raffle and he had a superb morning. Coach Rich knew his training had fallen off and had backed off his pace goal. Even the revised goal turned out to be too ambitious as his knees started complaining and he had to shut it down at mile 4; finishing a couple minutes back. Sometimes life gets in the way for all of us.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Value of a Priority C Race

First things first. What's a C Priority Race? It's a race you do while training for a more important race. Typically, you do not adjust your training leading up to the race (i.e. no taper). The reasons for doing such a race are many: already signed up for it, breaks up the training regimen, racing is fun.

You can use a C race for different purposes. TFI has 2 athletes, OB and Ang, running a Thanksgiving Day 8 mile Turkey Trot down in Dallas. Ang is using the run as a supported (think gatorade stops) run 10 days before she runs the Vegas Rock n Roll Half Marathon. She's going to test her morning routine including breakfast, attire and her pacing.

OB on the other hand doesn't have another upcoming race until April. He's going to use the race to validate the LT we calculated for him earlier this month. He's going to go out at a pace that will be at his LT and hold it for the race. It should be a tough effort, but he should be able to hold it for the whole race. If he can hold it, but barely, we'll know we hit the LT.

Other TFI athletes racing on Thanksgiving include Coach Rich and BK running in the Fast Before the Feast 10k in White Bear Lake, Minnesota and RT running the Six Tunnels to Hoover Dam in Vegas. Look for photos and reports here sometime on Black Friday.