Comments (21)

By kilax, July 8, 2014 4:13 pm

Ha, I love reading running studies and the conclusions they make. The most recent one I read is “To Run Faster, Get a Rival,” (pdf here). Who are these rivals? People similar in age and gender, who finish in around a 9 sec per mile average kilometer pace to your pace (at mostly local races). And as the title gives away, the article’s conclusion is that, “we race faster when one or more people we regularly finish near are in the race.” Definitely faster when one rival is there, but even faster when more rivals are there, or your top rival. 

Hee hee. This article made me giggle. Because it’s not very true for me, and because I know it’s SO true for many people. It just depends on the type of runner you are! 

I am not a very competitive runner. At the 10K I did a week and a half ago, I encouraged a person I figured to be in my age group as she passed me. She ended up getting second place (the last position to get medals) in front of me. Was I upset? Nah. She was in much better shape than me – she was sprinting up the hills then waiting for the rest of her crew to catch up. The race appeared easy for her. I was excited to see her take on the hills with such gusto! Maybe if I recognized her from previous races as a rival I would have sped up? Nah, I knew I didn’t have a chance. 

Now, I did sprint to the finish line so I wouldn’t get passed in the last .1 mile of that race (image below)! So I am not very competitive, but I apparently don’t like to get passed right at the finish. Ha ha. And I had no idea what age group that person was in behind me (turns out she was in the next age group).

But overall, I am not one to care about finish times or ranking. A lot of people I know are really in to the Strava app because of the segment feature – a chance to ride/run/whatever someone else’s route and see if you are faster than them and claim “King of the Mountain.” I think that is cool and fun for the people who get excitement out of that! But it’s not for me.

So… I don’t think I run faster around what this article describes as my rivals – I don’t even think I’ve noticed seeing the same faces in my age group from race to race (I have noticed people in other age groups though). However… the 25-29 female age group doesn’t seem to be super competitive. Maybe I’ll see a change when I get in to the 30-34.

You know what does make me run races faster? Running with a faster friend, or someone who is pacing me. Or if it’s a rare instance where I have a goal pace in mind.

What about you? Do you have local running “rivals”?

I did think it was interesting that the opening line of the article brought up using this study as an excuse to why you did bad at an out of town race – ha ha – your normal rivals aren’t there!

Comments (28)

By kilax, July 8, 2014 6:50 am

Do you ever feel the urge to try a new route to get somewhere, even if it’s a place you’ve traveled to before? (Ha, and I mean this quite literally – driving or running or what have you. Of course, the question could take on other meanings, too.)

We’ve been on the road a lot lately, mostly to places we’ve visited before, but to some new places, as well. We’ve been checking out different routes to the places we are familiar with, and trying somewhat separate routes (go a different way there than back) to the new places.

It’s reminding me how much I enjoy the excitement of “seeing what’s out there.” I get way overly enthusiastic when I see a brown informational sign on the highway. WHAT COULD THAT POSSIBLY BE?!?!?! I feel like I need to pull over to check out every little “point of interest.”

I don’t, but I mentally note them, and sometimes research them later. 

On our Thursday drive to Iowa, we went through southern Wisconsin instead of our typical Illinois to Iowa route. It was mostly curvy, hilly back country roads. The landscape was so beautiful, it made the drive fly by. We drove through a cut rock road that was really neat! I’d like to drive that route again and stop to take photos. 

And on our trip back on Sunday, we went a bit out of the way to drive through a little town we had been in the night before for fireworks. We had driven there in the dark and just that was an interesting ride – we were curious to see what it would be like in the daylight. It was another curvy, hilly road – even more so than the one we had taken a few days earlier. It added a few extra minutes to our trip, but I felt like it was totally worth it to check out the landscape and little towns on the route. 

We have a lot of traveling this summer, and I am excited to see where else we end up. Sometimes I explore new routes for local travel, again, just to see what else is “out there,” but I am definitely more likely to do it during leisure trips!

Comments (28)

By kilax, July 7, 2014 6:40 am

Gah! What is with these bullpoo age groups?! 19-30? 31-45? 46-60?

Ha ha ha, just kiiiiiiding. Neither my dad or I thought we’d place in our age groups.

That’s right! My first race of the year with my dad! And my first race of the year in Iowa – the Garnavillo Firecracker 5K! 

I ran this race five years ago and have wanted to run it again, ever since. What’s been holding me back? Ha. Not wanting to get out of bed early on the fourth to go do it! But this year my dad was in! Woo hoo!

The race was in a town that is really close to my parent’s cabin on the Mississippi River. We left just after 6:00 for a 7:00 am race start and had plenty of time to register (we got to pick our color of race tee!) and do a warm-up walk. 

I absolutely love that the proceeds from this race go directly to helping the local K-9 unit. At the beginning of the race the organizers mentioned that they had just purchased a new German Shepherd with last year’s funds, and how thankful they were to see such a good turnout this year. 

There were a lot more people at the race than I thought would be – which is great! I love seeing small town races grow. And this one is SUPER low frills – our bib was a note card we filled out ourselves, there was no timing, and one aid station on the course (that you actually passed twice). 

Gotta love small towns!

We didn’t have a race time goal. Dad actually tweaked his knee earlier in the week, so we were both happy he felt good enough to run at all!

The course is mostly residential:

and some open field (it’s Iowa, of course) areas. 

It was sunny and humid out, but only in the high 50s (!!!) so we were feeling pretty good. Oh, minus the annoyance of hills – uphills for me, downhills for dad (with his knee being stupid). 

I’ll spare you from another elevation chart screen shot, but geesh, how the heck did I forget about those hills? And how did I ever run this thing in under 25:00? Ha, well, it was five years ago!

This year we finished in 30:50! Right on 10:00mm pace! Later, my dad thanked me for running with him and said he always runs faster when he runs with me. Aww. I am proud of my dad! He’s been running for a year now, and has been cycling quite a bit, too!

We walked a bit after the race, re-hydrated and listened to awards (there were some fasties there!) then headed back to get the rest of the crew… so we could come right back for the town parade at 10:00! We proudly wore our new race shirts (which really helped our families find us in the crowds – ha ha!). 

Hopefully I don’t wait until five years to do this race again! I doubt my dad will let me! 

Who else ran an Independence Day race?

Comments (6)

By kilax, July 6, 2014 8:59 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running a 5K with my dad! A fun ride with Steven! Playing volleyball with my family!

Monday | June 30, 2014: 2 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 82°/81°, Time: 18:48, Pace: 9:24 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: excited – trying to beat the storm
Tuesday | July 1, 2014: 3 m run (w/Kelly) + 7.7 m ride (w/Steven)
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 66°/66°, Time: 29:26, Pace: 9:50 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: okay (sluggish and bathroom issues)
Loc: Prairie Path, Temp: 79°/76°, Time: 48:35, Pace: 9.5 mph avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: oddly tired/happy Steven enjoyed the ride
Wednesday | July 2, 2014: 3 m walk/run (w/xaarlin)
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 62°/63°, Time: 46:56, Pace: 15:49 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good – it was beautiful outside!
Thursday | July 3, 2014: teaching strength class + 2 m run (w/Bobbi)
Strength: Med Balls and Body Bars Partner Workout, Difficulty: medium, Felt: good
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 55°/56°, Time: 20:58, Pace: 10:28 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Friday | July 4, 2014: Garnavillo Firecracker 5K (w/Dad)
Loc: Garnavillo, Temp: 55°/59°, Time: 30:50, Pace: 10:00, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | July 5, 2014: 8.25 m ride (w/Dad) + sand volleyball (w/fam)
Loc: Guttenberg, Temp: 66°, Time: 50:32, Pace: 9.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | July 6, 2014: rest

Notes:

• We had a derecho come through Monday night so class was canceled for safety reasons (for travel to class). It felt SO weird not to be at the studio! It’s such a habit now. When I quit the Wednesday night class after taking it for a couple of years, it felt odd to suddenly have Wednesday night free. Do you have nights of the week you’re usually not home and it feels weird if you are?
  
• Gosh, riding my mountain bike feels so challenging after using my road bike! Steven and I went on a ride Tuesday night, and I felt like I was riding through mud! Hmm, maybe it’s that I hadn’t ridden in a month and NOT the bike? Ha ha! We had such a fun ride though. At the turnaround, we got in front of this guy on an electronic scooter, and I was laughing so hard, trying not to let him catch up with us!
• My long run didn’t happen this weekend! I stayed up late (for me) hanging out with my family and didn’t wake up early enough to run (I usually get up before everyone else as to not miss out on the day’s activities). Oopsie. I actually feel more upset about not getting that long run one-on-one time with my dad… more than missing the mileage. At least next week’s long run is already set – a 20 mile trail race!

Link to Training Week 245

Comments (21)

By kilax, July 3, 2014 6:27 am

• Today I am thankful for internal alarm clocks! I taught my “Friday” 5:00 am class this morning since tomorrow is a holiday, and thought I had set my alarm… nope! Gah! Good thing I woke up in time! I would have felt like a total ass if I slept through a class I was supposed to teach (and especially after moving it to another day of the week!). Do you have an internal alarm clock? For what time is it set?
• Last week I was talking with an engineer who works for the company that designs OFF! bug spray, and he reminded me that mosquitoes are attracted (among other things) to the CO2 we exhale. Of course, my brain immediately started thinking about the increased amount of CO2 we exhale when we start to reach ventilatory thresholds during exercise… and made me wonder if there is any correlation to mosquitoes being more attracted to people who work out. I mean, it helps if you are outside to start, where the mosquitoes are. But I wonder if the higher amount of CO2 makes much of a difference. Hmm. Let me know if you run across a study on that. Ha ha. 
• Despite whining about growing my toenails out for a pedicure for my snister’s wedding, I actually really liked the pedicure (it was my first ever!) and have been enjoying having polish on my toes, since then. Maybe this is something I will do more often! (Or maybe I will get my bike shoes on and have to trim the nails <— that may be more likely)

• Ha! After I scratched myself up so badly attempting to slide at a softball game before the wedding, I was careful not to get dinged up anymore. But now that the wedding is over, all bets are off! Ha ha. I “slid” in to a base at the next game, and dove for a ball at the game after that. Who needs pretty legs (I have my pretty toes… and legs that are covered in mosquito bite scars anyway)?

• Does anyone else have the habit of listening to half on song on their music player before skipping to the next one? I notice myself doing this lately, whether I’m in the car or riding the train… I listen to part of a song, sing along, decide I’ve had enough and skip ahead. Ha ha. 
• I never got that tattoo I talked about last October. Not that I was planning to. But I am still thinking about getting one, and have a design, location and someone to do it with (not the artist, but someone to get a tattoo, as well), in mind!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 63

Comments (15)

By kilax, July 2, 2014 7:22 pm

I know I’ve written/asked something similar before, but I was thinking about this again, and, eh, mostly different audience now, so new answers!

At the beginning of each month, I review the pictures from the previous month and add them to the digital photo frame in my kitchen. It’s an exercise that allows me to review all of the fun stuff we’ve been up to, and feel grateful for the people and activities in our lives.

Well, I started reviewing June photos yesterday, and I was grateful for something different – my paparraza mother. I have so many fun photos from the six days I spent with my mom in June – it’s taking me a lot longer than normal to go through all of them (and Steven took a lot of fabulous photos for me to sort, too*)!

Hee hee, but it’s not me who thought to call her paparraza! Jacquie, the bridesmaid to the left in the photo above, actually said that about that photo on Facebook: “Your mom is like the paparazzi! These photos are so candid, didn’t even know she was taking them! Love it!” And another friend mentioned they were glad to have a photographer there to capture those moments. 

If there was such a thing as a good paparazzo, that would be my mom – the person there documenting your normal every day life (and special events like weddings, ha ha). Gosh, saying that makes me think of a favorite quote from the movie Shall We Dance?, about people wanting a witness to their lives. But this is already sappy enough. Back to the point!

Do you have a paparrazo/a in your life (someone documenting your normal day-to-day, not necessarily someone taking candids you don’t realize are being taken, ha ha)? Do you want those moments captured?

Photos are very important to me. I spend a lot of time organizing, editing and enjoying them. I probably got this from my mom – cause when she is not there, I am taking all the pics!

*Especially at TLD!

Comments (11)

By kilax, July 2, 2014 7:01 am

When we were in Kansas City, my mother had THE NERVE to wear these sandals

in to a home with FOUR Iowa State graduates in it! Steven quickly remedied them for her:

I think I will have to get her a pair of these*:

Ha ha ha. So what is the big deal? Well, nothing really. At least to me – I was just joking around. I think the whole rivalry between schools thing is pretty goofy. But it did completely crack me up that she wore University of Iowa/Hawkeye sandals around a bunch of Iowa State/Cyclone graduates… someone was bound to notice and comment!

But like I said – it’s not a big deal, to me, anyway. I have never really gotten in to the “we don’t like them cause they’re the rivals!” mentality. I didn’t even realize there was a college rivalry until I was in school, and would hear about it.  I remember being around relatives during holiday breaks and them razzing me about how the Cyclones were doing in whatever sport… and me having no idea what was going on – because I didn’t pay attention to it at all. Seriously. I spent most of my time working on my architecture projects. I WAS SO FUN! 

And even now, I don’t follow it, but I am more likely to play along with the “I don’t like the Hawkeyes” game, and suggest races like this to my brother-in-law. I get that it’s fun to tease, and bond over something… um, hopefully a shared pride for one team, and not a hatred, for another!

Are you big in to team rivalries (college or professional or whatever)?

I am curious to hear what you have to say! It’s so interesting to me to find out how people were raised and if sports and certain loyalties were a part of growing up, or if it came later on, or if like me, it wasn’t part of your life at all and it’s not really a “thing” for you. 

*She actually gave these to me!