To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[pixarmom]

LOL, oh I meant if Dopey was sub-zero with snow. Then we'd have it made with our training. Poor Floridians...

I haven't done a Lighthouse Event yet, but I hear good things about them. It does seem the participation wanes from Oct, Nov, Dec and on. Although two of my co-workers are doing the whole series. Age 40-44 women's 10k division is quite tough from her experience as she hasn't cracked top 10 yet. I'm almost fast enough to make a dent in my age group, but not quite yet. Maybe in 2018 or 2019.

Oh, I get it!

Love Lighthouse. I registered for the series with our little one this year. (Although I'll miss the NYE run because we're flying to Disney!) Great kids' shirts - all tech material. I never have to buy shirts for him for cross-country practice because lighthouse has him covered! I always run lighthouse events with at least one of the kids (and sometimes, the dog!) so I'm not sure how I would do in my age group at this point if I ran a 5K or 10K at full effort. Not just lighthouse, but for most races around here, there are so many of us in 40-44 women's! A friend of mine in 40-44 men's wins his division literally all the time.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I thought I'd be a shoe-in for an age group at last year's frosty 5k, but I didn't account for the volume of crazy people who like to run fast in the cold. Why were there so many of them? Haha.

The only age group I've gotten was in a downpour race running my EBish pace. So I guess storms scare more people off than cold is my lesson learned.

Duly noted. Find races with precipitation and hope it scares away others. I love the "cold" when defined as 30-50. But sub-zero and man I'd have to have a good reason to race that. Although it sounds like we're tied on age group awards as I've only come in 2nd once.

Ugh that weather. You are tougher than me. I will go out in the low 20s and run and even have a couple of times in the teens, but that's my limit. Well done on facing the elements and getting things done.

Thanks! It's been unseasonably cold and I'd prefer not to have to train in sub-zero, but #goals and all keep me going. Maybe not taking the treadmill guy up on the tester role was a mistake after all...

The shot with Gigi is so cute and I also want that magic watch. I love her little outfit.

Thanks! I picked that out in Macy's clearance last Christmas hoping I would nail the sizing. I can't wait to see her reaction on Christmas morning.

We are almost there now!!!!

EEK! I know. I. AM. SO. EXCITED.

I'm loving where my fitness is at right now and can't wait to go out there and just crush the Dopey course. It's going to be SO FUN!

Oh, I get it!

Love Lighthouse. I registered for the series with our little one this year. (Although I'll miss the NYE run because we're flying to Disney!) Great kids' shirts - all tech material. I never have to buy shirts for him for cross-country practice because lighthouse has him covered! I always run lighthouse events with at least one of the kids (and sometimes, the dog!) so I'm not sure how I would do in my age group at this point if I ran a 5K or 10K at full effort. Not just lighthouse, but for most races around here, there are so many of us in 40-44 women's! A friend of mine in 40-44 men's wins his division literally all the time.

Seems like they do things the right way and if I were to run a race I would emulate a lot of the things they do. That 40-44 women's division is rough! If it weren't for Dopey every year it would definitely be something I would be more apt in participating in on a regular basis.

 

[roxymama]

Duly noted. Find races with precipitation and hope it scares away others. I love the "cold" when defined as 30-50. But sub-zero and man I'd have to have a good reason to race that. Although it sounds like we're tied on age group awards as I've only come in 2nd once.



Seems like they do things the right way and if I were to run a race I would emulate a lot of the things they do. That 40-44 women's division is rough! If it weren't for Dopey every year it would definitely be something I would be more apt in participating in on a regular basis.

My hometown has a slim Male 30-34 field, much to my husbands happiness. I just checked and fastest male 30-34 at my local winter run was 25:14.8 So just drive on down to my suburb and to get your tiny slice of glory
Now, all the 40+ age groupers in my area eat lightning for breakfast, so I figure I have this small window left to try again for one.

 

[DopeyBadger]

My hometown has a slim Male 30-34 field, much to my husbands happiness. I just checked and fastest male 30-34 at my local winter run was 25:14.8 So just drive on down to my suburb and to get your tiny slice of glory

What a world of difference! My group here is in the 20 or under 5k area. I could do a 25:14 though for sure!

 

[roxymama]

What a world of difference! My group here is in the 20 or under 5k area. I could do a 25:14 though for sure!

There's a couple local races that hubby did this year and last and I "would have" age grouped...you know...if I actually ran them and actually ran them well. I'm talking 30 and 31 min. for some second and third places And I got pouty because I didn't run them and I was missing all my "could have been" glory. I can guarantee when I go to run them this year (if I do) that all of a sudden the awards will all be down in the low 20's. What is the running version of Murphy's Law?

 

[DopeyBadger]

There's a couple local races that hubby did this year and last and I "would have" age grouped...you know...if I actually ran them and actually ran them well. I'm talking 30 and 31 min. for some second and third places And I got pouty because I didn't run them and I was missing all my "could have been" glory. I can guarantee when I go to run them this year (if I do) that all of a sudden the awards will all be down in the low 20's. What is the running version of Murphy's Law?

It's true! I ran Last Call HM last year and got 4th in 1:38:xx. I was half thinking of signing up just to get that 3rd place award because I'm faster now. I decided not to and focus on Dopey post-October injury. 3rd place this year was 1:27 so I would have likely still missed (especially given the weather this year) and gotten around 4th-5th.

 

[roxymama]

Like the Cougar run last year, 7th place. Great! Shave a full minute off my time this year aaaaand....7th place!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Plan B in place!

If Sunday is too extreme and unsafe to run 18 miles, then I've got the green light to run it on Monday (-14 to -10) instead. Work is good with it and G-ma is good with it. We shall see.

 

[dis_or_dat]

Yay for awesome grandmas!

Quick question, are you racing Dopey or just trying to best your previous time? I mean racing as in trying to PR each individual distance? If so: brava!

About age group placement: part of the reason I signed up for my September race was because the first place in my division was 1:40:32 the last time it was held. However, I think a lot of ladies also saw that and I ended up beating that time but placed 4th (7th technically as my division had top overall finishers). As you know, I only placed when 2 women in my division were top overall in my last race and luckily it was small and local (whereas the other Turkey Trot had 24,000 people!).

 

[DopeyBadger]

Yay for awesome grandmas!

Yea, she is our normal Mon-Fri babysitter (we do compensate her though). So this was just making sure she was ok with the idea even though I had the "day off".

Quick question, are you racing Dopey or just trying to best your previous time? I mean racing as in trying to PR each individual distance? If so: brava!

I will be attempting the Sextuple PR Dopey Challenge. As of right now, I will attempt to break all 6 of my PRs for all the distances (5k, 10k, HM, M, Goofy, and Dopey) regardless of being a previous Dopey time or not. So that means I will attempt to break my October marathon time of 3:23:43. My current Dopey marathon PR is 3:55:xx. Now with that being said, I'm pretty confident I will get the 5k, 10k, HM, Goofy, and Dopey without too much above my normal effort if I stay injury-free. But the marathon will be a tough one to break. As always I will race blind, so I'll be just as surprised at the times as everyone else. Now racing blind in Disney is tough 1) because I'm likely in corral B so clock time is almost my time and 2) there are soooooo many mile clocks. Hard to ignore them each time. But I will do my best.

About age group placement: part of the reason I signed up for my September race was because the first place in my division was 1:40:32 the last time it was held. However, I think a lot of ladies also saw that and I ended up beating that time but placed 4th (7th technically as my division had top overall finishers). As you know, I only placed when 2 women in my division were top overall in my last race and luckily it was small and local (whereas the other Turkey Trot had 24,000 people!).

Ugh, hate when that happens...

 

[dis_or_dat]

I will be attempting the Sextuple PR Dopey Challenge. As of right now, I will attempt to break all 6 of my PRs for all the distances (5k, 10k, HM, M, Goofy, and Dopey) regardless of being a previous Dopey time or not. So that means I will attempt to break my October marathon time of 3:23:43. My current Dopey marathon PR is 3:55:xx. Now with that being said, I'm pretty confident I will get the 5k, 10k, HM, Goofy, and Dopey without too much above my normal effort if I stay injury-free. But the marathon will be a tough one to break. As always I will race blind, so I'll be just as surprised at the times as everyone else. Now racing blind in Disney is tough 1) because I'm likely in corral B so clock time is almost my time and 2) there are soooooo many mile clocks. Hard to ignore them each time. But I will do my best.

I just saw those corral bib placements, those are some tough times! Lucky you're A for all of them!

 

[DopeyBadger]

I just saw those corral bib placements, those are some tough times! Lucky you're A for all of them!

Thanks! We shall see. To be fair, the 5k PR is last year's Dopey, the 10k PR is from the June 80s temp day, and the HM PR is now 12 months old. So those are all but guarantees outside of injury and extreme temps. But the marathon, that will be the real challenge... Although, if there is any year that I can pull off the Sextuple PR Challenge it will be this coming year.

Almost time to open up the prediction contest to see where you all think I'll come in at. I'm thinking of opening it from 12/21 through 12/29.

I know I'm A for 5k and 10k and will very likely be B for HM and M (as long as no mistake occurred with POT). Although with as few people in A and B as there is I see no reason that crowding will play a role in me hitting my times or not. Should be fun! I'm excited to meet as many of the people from here as well at all the scheduled meet-ups.

 

[DopeyBadger]

So, I'm not going to have access to my computer while in Disney so running the prediction contest involving closest guesses, calculating points, and day-to-day updates would be a bit more tedious for me to do by hand. Any chance someone would be willing to post the results on here from that day's event as well as the current standings? I have created an excel file that I would send to you via email that has everything already setup for you. All you have to do is type in my time into a cell once it becomes "Disney official" and wammo! Instant results! Any volunteers? Should take no more than 1-2 minutes of your time each day.

 

[roxymama]

So, I'm not going to have access to my computer while in Disney so running the prediction contest involving closest guesses, calculating points, and day-to-day updates would be a bit more tedious for me to do by hand. Any chance someone would be willing to post the results on here from that day's event as well as the current standings? I have created an excel file that I would send to you via email that has everything already setup for you. All you have to do is type in my time into a cell once it becomes "Disney official" and wammo! Instant results! Any volunteers? Should take no more than 1-2 minutes of your time each day.

I'm in excel all day anyways. Just give me instructions and I'll keep track of you Least I can do.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'm in excel all day anyways. Just give me instructions and I'll keep track of you Least I can do.

Thanks! Once the prediction contest ends I'll send it your way.

 

[canglim52]

It looks interesting. You'll have to let me know how you like it. Does it require you to run with your phone? Because I haven't done that in quite some time. I'd be interested in an in-person evaluation too, but would prefer it to not be on a treadmill because I feel like I run differently on a treadmill.

So it is pretty interesting! It doesn't require you to run with your phone at all I don't have a treadmill, so I only did half of the analysis. That said, it has still given me some interesting workouts! It seems to be correct in its assessment. For mine, it said I needed to work on foot stability, stiff calfs, 3D hip mobility, and slumped shoulders. Every day it gives me 5 excercises, and it gives me an option to update the app with any new aches and pains as they come up. I never thought my posture was an issue, but now that I'm aware I feel a major difference.

 

[DopeyBadger]

So it is pretty interesting! It doesn't require you to run with your phone at all I don't have a treadmill, so I only did half of the analysis. That said, it has still given me some interesting workouts! It seems to be correct in its assessment. For mine, it said I needed to work on foot stability, stiff calfs, 3D hip mobility, and slumped shoulders. Every day it gives me 5 excercises, and it gives me an option to update the app with any new aches and pains as they come up. I never thought my posture was an issue, but now that I'm aware I feel a major difference.

Interesting! Sounds like something I should give a try too!

 

[FFigawi]

I'll leave this here and come back in a few hours (minutes?) to see how long an exposition our host writes about it.

http://trisutto.com/intensity-measuring-tools/

 

[DopeyBadger]

I'll leave this here and come back in a few hours (minutes?) to see how long an exposition our host writes about it.

http://trisutto.com/intensity-measuring-tools/

Honestly, it's a very good and succinct post on exactly how I feel about tech vs perceived effort. It's also why in every training plan I write I incorporate "blind" running. Because as the author says it's hard for beginners to know what something should "feel" like. But my belief is by incorporating "blind" runs every few weeks we don't sacrificed too many crucial workouts, while still teaching the runner to learn to run by perceived effort. Once a person hones those perceived effort skills, then one can use them to make honest predictions about their fitness given matched weather conditions. Now if someone creates a tech tool that beats perceived effort, then I'll be all ears to listen and learn and incorporate. Thanks for sharing!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Ugghhh... It was so hard not to go run the max run today. I know it's the best decision because of the -30 to -20 wind chill, but still... Thankfully a plan is in place to get it done tomorrow afternoon with a short day at work and the temps around -10 to 0 instead. Almost time for that victory lap!