Octopus Overlords

Spam is afoot!

When I first started running six years ago, I joined a coached 5k group through my local Fleet Feet store. They taught elements of good running form, and one of those principles was high cadence...move your feet quickly and don't overstride (make sure your feet land under your hips). Part of the idea is that if you you're moving your feet quickly, you can't get them too far out in front of your body. Maintain the same cadence, but regulate your speed and effort by changing length of your stride. It seemed like a crazy idea, but I trusted their expertise

I started running in the winter and did my runs at home on a treadmill, with a foot sensor linked to my Garmin watch that constantly showed my cadence. The fixed pace and real-time cadence monitor helped me to train at that rate from the start. As a result, my comfortable cadence is now 180-185 without giving it any thought, and I stick at that regardless of my actual speed. Want to go faster? Push off harder but still make sure my feet land under the rest of my body...something that happened naturally as I became stronger. Want to a slower pace, going up a hill, or getting tired of at the end of a long run? Take smaller strides, but maintain the same rhythm at all times.

The technique works for me because I learned it from the start, but I can see how it's something difficult to learn if you've been running differently for a while. I still see a lot of quick runners that take long, slow strides and it works for them, but I can't imagine doing it that way.

Awesome to hear that it worked for you. I've toyed with the idea of getting a Garmin again (haven't had one since the late 20-zeroes). Maybe that and a foot sensor would be worthwhile. Now that I'm back in the swing of regular running, I plan to attack my cadence more consistently.

On a different note, I visited my brother's new running store last week and he sold me on a pair of Altras (Escalante, specifically).

They're a newish brand that focuses on a wider, more natural toe box and 'zero drop' cushioning where the heel is not elevated unlike nearly every other running shoe. I'm only two runs in but really like them so far. They look and feel a little weird at first but it's nice to not feel like the front of my foot is squished when it's expanded 30+ minutes into a run. I've always run without much if any heel strike, so the zero drop actually feels pretty natural to me. I'm told these can take some time to get used to if you're a heavy heel striker (which is kind of the point, as heavy heel striking is Really Bad, mmmkay?).

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:49 pm Yeah, it was counter-intuitive to me, as well. Lately I've been shortening my stride slightly while turning over more. Targeting 180 but not there yet.

Largely unrelated: I ran a 5k this past weekend and came in 3rd. It was a light field. The winner finished just shy of 17 minutes, 2nd place was about 19 minutes, and then there was me more than four minutes behind him. I don't have an explanation for this field--3rd out of 70+ dudes with a time that I'm happy with for 2018 me, but that frankly would normally put me well behind 3rd place.

That’s awesome! IT COUNTS!

Thanks.

I've been able to run again this week, without pain in my shins. Missed 3 weeks so I lost a tad of conditioning, but I'm good.

As far as cadence goes, I'm a believer. I use a metronome app that I play through headsets. I see a huge difference when my cadence is 175 or 160.

Zaxxon, where is your brothers store at?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Chicago suburbs.

oh, outside of my driving range then

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Probably.

The Ragnar team that Xmann and I are on has lost some runners lately, so I figured I'd toss a hail-mary here to see if anyone's interested in joining. This is the Ragnar Colorado, Copper Mtn to Aspen, on 8/10-8/11. Should be a ridiculously good time, but I realize we're at short notice at this stage.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:38 pm The Ragnar team that Xmann and I are on has lost some runners lately, so I figured I'd toss a hail-mary here to see if anyone's interested in joining. This is the Ragnar Colorado, Copper Mtn to Aspen, on 8/10-8/11. Should be a ridiculously good time, but I realize we're at short notice at this stage.

12 people, 200 miles, 2 days... 10-19 miles for each runner in kinda bite size chunks. This is very interesting to me, but I'd have to actually run - also holy hell the elevations.

Color me interested. I'd also require a ride in your car and maybe a place to sleep the night before and maybe after?

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:06 pm Color me interested. I'd also require a ride in your car and maybe a place to sleep the night before and maybe after?

All of which can be arranged.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:10 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:06 pm Color me interested. I'd also require a ride in your car and maybe a place to sleep the night before and maybe after?

All of which can be arranged.

I'll talk to the wife about it tonight. It looks $205 round trip on Frontier with no carry-on. Running clothes don't take much space. Might be a bit chilly overnight in the mountains?

I think the challenge would be fun, but barring a lottery win, I can't see how I could get myself there. Be sure to do an AAR though!

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:13 pm

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:10 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:06 pm Color me interested. I'd also require a ride in your car and maybe a place to sleep the night before and maybe after?

All of which can be arranged.

I'll talk to the wife about it tonight. It looks $205 round trip on Frontier with no carry-on. Running clothes don't take much space. Might be a bit chilly overnight in the mountains?

Sweet. It's not clear yet that we'll be able to find enough folks to get back to 12, so I wouldn't book anything yet. Hopefully it all gets figured out.

stessier wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:13 pm I think the challenge would be fun, but barring a lottery win, I can't see how I could get myself there. Be sure to do an AAR though!

One will be done, assuming we do the race!

Hey Zaxx, thanks for doing some leg work.

I'm mentally spent on finding replacements and managing this thing. There's also 2 more on the team that has mentioned recently they might not be able to run.

I'm still all in, but I'm done trying to coordinate everything.

Sent from my Galaxy S9 using Tapatalk

Wow, Runner 3 has it made! (Assuming they can run at all at 9500'.)

stessier wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:31 pm Wow, Runner 3 has it made! (Assuming they can run at all at 9500'.)

Not as well as Runners 9 and 11 by my subjective count (3 has more elevation loss, but also more miles).

You can make this work, too, stessier, right? Right?

Come on, MHS...show them what that new kidney of yours can do!

stessier wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:31 pm Wow, Runner 3 has it made! (Assuming they can run at all at 9500'.)

The elevation is the biggest concern. I wouldn't have time to acclimate at all.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:17 pm Sweet. It's not clear yet that we'll be able to find enough folks to get back to 12, so I wouldn't book anything yet. Hopefully it all gets figured out.

My co-captain from high school cross country (and mutual best man) might be interested. I can ping him too if you like.

At this point, I'd say go for it. It sounds as though if this is going to happen, we're going to need to add at least a few teammates and someone's going to have to either take over for Xmann as team lead or at least co-lead. Since we're only two months out, time is of the essence to figure this out.

Apparently he hasn't kept up with his running...

Lol does he care how slow I run? Does 2 miles help the cause?

I told him around 16 miles in 3 legs at an 11:00 pace would be a little more helpful.

You aren't looking for any trophies are you?

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:46 pm Apparently he hasn't kept up with his running...

Lol does he care how slow I run? Does 2 miles help the cause?

I told him around 16 miles in 3 legs at an 11:00 pace would be a little more helpful.

You aren't looking for any trophies are you?

No trophies, but we have to maintain a team average that I think is in the 10 or 10:30 min/mile range. I can look up the specifics later tonight, unless Xmann knows offhand.

That sounds about right.

And I had another runner step down about 30 minutes ago. At this point, that's 4 open spots and no telling who might else back out.

I'm still in for running though.


Sent from my Galaxy S9 using Tapatalk

I've debated trying to swing a local ragnar, but that would require my being social. Not exactly my comfort zone. Hope things come together with your team/event. Logistics always seem like a major hurdle for these things.

Side note: just completed the Utah Valley Marathon. Largely downhill. Nice weather. My results continue to get slower and slower over the years. But it is the 18th marathon completed, and the 16th state visited. I think my wife and I might hit the Vegas one in the fall.

Nicely done! That is a large number of marathons.

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:25 pmMy co-captain from high school cross country (and mutual best man) might be interested. I can ping him too if you like.

So you're both in, right? Right?

He is a little less interested and confident than I am. Apparently he hasn't kept his weight down as well as I have. He does have family somewhere in CO though.

If you can get the other slots filled, I'm 90% sure that I can take one of them.

I have a cousin that has done a couple trail centuries solo, he might get bored with only running 1/12th of the course and I am not sure he would want to interrupt his trail training and it might interrupt his high school soccer coach pre-season activities as well.

I am trying to think of other people I know that could jump in, but travel to CO would be a problem for most of them.

Awesome. I think we will be good for runners at this point, as we have one slot filled elsewhere, plus you, and I've got 1-2 more that are seriously interested. The biggest issue currently is that Xmann is having to give up the captainship, and no one person is jumping in to take it. I'm willing to share it, but not sure there's another person willing to take the other half.

Is that person you?

Note: if we get > 12 people, that's a good problem to have. One, to have extras in case anyone else drops, and two, we can always use pacers, drivers, etc.

What does co-captain-ship entail? I'm fine as long as I don't have to do anything! But seriously, other than matching people to slots on the relay and telling people where to be, I can't imagine what the responsibilities would be. I've captained our mud run teams a couple times, but there was nothing special for the captain to do.

coopasonic wrote: ↑Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:14 pm What does co-captain-ship entail? I'm fine as long as I don't have to do anything! But seriously, other than matching people to slots on the relay and telling people where to be, I can't imagine what the responsibilities would be. I've captained our mud run teams a couple times, but there was nothing special for the captain to do.

It's not so much that there's a ton of work to do, as that there's a lot of small stuff that someone(s) on the team need to be on top of dealing with. Handling additions/drops leading up to the race (thanks, Xmann, for doing this so far!) Knowing who's running which legs, which exchanges each van needs to be at. Who's driving which van for what legs. Making sure each van properly checks in and has the required lights, vests, etc. Picking up/returning the vans (I think Xmann is still handling this). Arranging volunteer credits or volunteers.

Here's The race bible that goes over this stuff.

I'm fine being on the hook for it, but would prefer not to be 'it' on my own.

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:21 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:14 pm What does co-captain-ship entail? I'm fine as long as I don't have to do anything! But seriously, other than matching people to slots on the relay and telling people where to be, I can't imagine what the responsibilities would be. I've captained our mud run teams a couple times, but there was nothing special for the captain to do.

It's not so much that there's a ton of work to do, as that there's a lot of small stuff that someone(s) on the team need to be on top of dealing with. Handling additions/drops leading up to the race (thanks, Xmann, for doing this so far!) Knowing who's running which legs, which exchanges each van needs to be at. Who's driving which van for what legs. Making sure each van properly checks in and has the required lights, vests, etc. Picking up/returning the vans (I think Xmann is still handling this). Arranging volunteer credits or volunteers.

Here's The race bible that goes over this stuff.

I'm fine being on the hook for it, but would prefer not to be 'it' on my own.

First, the wife is OK with me participating. I've looked over the training schedules on the site and nothing there that scares me even if I don't have 12 weeks to get up to speed. The hardest thing would be doing two a days... it's summer... in Texas. That's going to hurt. Part of that pain is that I have never carried water with me while running. Any suggestions on that? I think I might have to test out both a belt and something you hold.

On the HMFIC topic, I read through the entire race bible. That's a lot of information, but it sounds like it is pretty well set up. It seems like one person in each van has to have a good idea of wtf is going on. Preferably two (or at least 1.5) per van because sometimes the one will be running.

It also sounds like they also have an option to cover if we come up short a runner, but it won't make the race any easier.

Finally, if you are pretty confident this is going to happen I will look at getting plane tickets. I'd be flying into Denver Thursday (cheapest tickets are super early morning) and out Sunday (cheap tickets super late). Getting in super early is probably good so I have a little more time (still wildly insufficient) to acclimate to the thinner atmosphere.

It's time to start running!


Note: HMFIC stands for Head Military Figure In Charge (polite form) - I was curious if that was still a known military term so I googled. I guess it is...I had never seen the polite form before

My wife has decided that she's going to take a shot at being an Ultra-distance runner, focused on trails and climbs.

She's broken her regular treadmill and gotten a standing-walking workstation for her home office and walks 10-12 miles per day while she works. She does hill repeats up and down our 700' easement, and goes out for trail hikes/runs with one of her Huskies as often as she can.

Simultaneously, she declared me unfit for running and has stopped even trying to engage in this with me. Between being out of shape, overweight, and having flat feet, I can't even remotely keep up with her slowest pace and she's no longer interested in hanging back with me and needs to GOGOGO when we go out.

Her next goal is to get a $3400(?) NordicTrack treadmill for the basement that can do up to a 40º incline, for the winter's fitness training.

coopasonic wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:21 am First, the wife is OK with me participating. I've looked over the training schedules on the site and nothing there that scares me even if I don't have 12 weeks to get up to speed. The hardest thing would be doing two a days... it's summer... in Texas. That's going to hurt. Part of that pain is that I have never carried water with me while running. Any suggestions on that? I think I might have to test out both a belt and something you hold.

Awesome. I hate carrying water. The least terrible method for me is a belt that puts the bottle over my ass. Seems to minimize the bobbing up and down, which is what kills me. I also use an arm band for my phone.

On the HMFIC topic, I read through the entire race bible. That's a lot of information, but it sounds like it is pretty well set up. It seems like one person in each van has to have a good idea of wtf is going on. Preferably two (or at least 1.5) per van because sometimes the one will be running.

Yep, that's what I was thinking. Really we only need a 'captain' to handle the interactions with the Ragnar crew and to assign/moderate the assignment of legs. Other than that it's just making sure that a couple of people in each van know WTF is happening.

It also sounds like they also have an option to cover if we come up short a runner, but it won't make the race any easier.

So long as we have 10-11 I think we'd be OK. It wouldn't be too hard (I don't think) to kill the 11th and 12th-hardest slots and absorb those legs among 10 people. I'd still rather have a full 12, or even 14 to include a dedicated driver/pacer. But so long as we have 10+ on race day, I think we're good to do this thing.

Finally, if you are pretty confident this is going to happen I will look at getting plane tickets. I'd be flying into Denver Thursday (cheapest tickets are super early morning) and out Sunday (cheap tickets super late). Getting in super early is probably good so I have a little more time (still wildly insufficient) to acclimate to the thinner atmosphere.

I think it's happening, but let me hear back from the 1-2 other folks that I'm reeling in. If they commit then I think we're solid. I've taken Thursday off of work already, so if you need a ride from the airport (*cough* 'need' being subjective, of course. The ride would be in a Model 3), that can be arranged.

It's time to start running!

Woot woot.

Note: HMFIC stands for Head Military Figure In Charge (polite form) - I was curious if that was still a known military term so I googled. I guess it is...I had never seen the polite form before

I did not know it, so thanks for saving me a Google.

Paingod wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:29 am My wife has decided that she's going to take a shot at being an Ultra-distance runner, focused on trails and climbs.

She's broken her regular treadmill and gotten a standing-walking workstation for her home office and walks 10-12 miles per day while she works. She does hill repeats up and down our 700' easement, and goes out for trail hikes/runs with one of her Huskies as often as she can.

...

Her next goal is to get a $3400(?) NordicTrack treadmill for the basement that can do up to a 40º incline, for the winter's fitness training.

She crazy. I have a treadmill desk and get about 6 miles/workday in, and that's a lot for my legs since I'm also getting a run in most days.

Paingod wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:29 am Between being out of shape, overweight, and having flat feet, I can't even remotely keep up with her slowest pace

If you've ever wanted to run, don't let flat feet stop you. My doctor is amazed at how flat my feet are and I can still get around pretty well. You might need orthotics (custom or otherwise), but it can be done!

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:45 amShe crazy...

No doubt.

She's become obsessed with Ultra-distance trail runs in the last couple of months. Used to be that she'd do a half-marathon or two a year, maybe. Sometimes fly down and run with her brother on a race. She discovered a few videos on Amazon Prime about some 100 mile races and has been watching them on repeat for a while now. Her favorites are the Ouray 100 and Barkley Marathons movies. She wants to go for a 50 to qualify for a 100 and then tackle the Ouray 100, which brings her back to her native Colorado. Her first big goal.

I've completely lost the ability to understand what she's doing in this as these people we watch are going through some pretty intense suffering and pain. Some of them, in particular in the Barkley Marathons, come back looking like they've been completely broken. She's inspired by this. I'm watching people screaming in pain and trying to just keep walking and I cringe. I'm simply happy she's happy.

That sounds about right.

I have 2 Ford Transport vans on reserve that if someone is willing to take over, I'd appreciate it. Collecting the money for the vans would need to be coordinated.

Securing 3 required volunteers still needs to be worked as well.

Getting firm commitments at this point is the biggest challenge it seems.

With my new position at work and school, anything other than training is tough to manage.

I'm still in for running!

Sent from my Galaxy S9 using Tapatalk

I ran a 5K on Saturday. This was a casual race hosted by my workplace and open to family members, so it was more of a fun run thing. Since I was doing some walking/waiting on groups I wound up with a time of 37:26.

Still, it gave me some confidence back with my running. I've been in a bit of a rut lately. I've been running regularly, but I haven't really been pushing myself and haven't had any set training regimen. Getting that race behind me has motivated me a bit, and I'll be picking up some new shoes this weekend.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 2:31 pm Still, it gave me some confidence back with my running. I've been in a bit of a rut lately. I've been running regularly, but I haven't really been pushing myself and haven't had any set training regimen. Getting that race behind me has motivated me a bit, and I'll be picking up some new shoes this weekend.

I think there is an event coming up in colorado that you could use to give you some motivation to get back to training.